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POPSA Credit Crisis or a Collapsing Ponzi Scheme? 
the scheme is exposed, because when legal authorities begin examining accounting records of the so-called enterprise they find that many of the 'assets' that should exist do not." here’s where we are today. The promoters have clearly not vanished as in outcome 1. In fact, they are behaving as if they know they have nothing to fear. We are definitely seeing all the signs of outcome 2: the scheme is collapsing under its own weight; there are panic runs around the globe wherever Wall Street has left its footprint. outcome 3 Instead of arresting the perpetrators and shutting down the schemes, Federal authorities have developed their own new schemes and pumped over $2 trillion of taxpayer money into propping up the firms while leaving the schemers in place. Equally astonishing, Congress has not held any meaningful investigations. This has left many Wall Street veterans wondering if the problem isn’t that the firms are “too big to fail” but rather “too Ponzi-like to prosecute.
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POPSThe American Dream delusion Chances of you being well-off are, at best, one in twenty; of being wealthy, one in a hundred. Yet nearly half of us think we will be. That's what keeps those hamster wheels spinning.
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POPSDetroit Automakers a Relic of the Past No one in the private sector is willing to pony up a dime for this business plan. GM stock is below its 1946 price, and one investment house has priced it at zero. The Detroit Three are taking advantage of the passage of the $700 billion financial bailout to argue that they, too, need government money to go on. But as Megan McArdle of The Atlantic argues, the finance firms are different. If credit coagulates, everyone suffers, while if the Detroit Three go bankrupt, their shareholders lose their stake, employee and retiree pay and benefits are cut, and real estate values go down in areas where the companies and their suppliers operate -- but life for most of us goes on. McArdle further argues that the capital invested in keeping the hulk of the Detroit Three operating pretty much as they are, unprofitably, will not be available to those whose startups could morph into the Microsofts and FedExes of the future.
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POPSGorillas Endangered by New Ordinance Some business owners told 11 News that there are so many definitions of seasonal decorations that the inflatable signs may stay up after this ban takes effect, but they’ll have a holiday twist.
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POPSInstead of a Bailout How about a Buyout? Another example of why "GIVE ME'S" never work out. Take for example the current problems facing the big three auto companies. Union negotiated contracts are taking and ever increasing portion of company profits to maintain. Giving benefits to those who are no longer producing or contributing to the profit making potential of the company is leaching resources from the parent. A large portion of society taking from the public watering hole is depleting the supply faster than those who are contributing can replace it. In the end failure is inevitable. All this BAILOUT business is BAD BUSINESS, and will only delay the inevitable. Considering there are market solutions to market problems I would certainly support using those options instead of looking for another hand out. What say you?
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POPSPeople Power Can Beat Climate Change Engaging communities involves a lot more than simply asking for sacrifices. A supportive planning system and the guarantee of a stable, premium price for energy sold back to the grid has given people an incentive to join forces and create renewable energy. At a time of economic downturn and rising fuel costs, it is hard to imagine that the advantages of this opportunity to develop sustainable income streams would be lost on the general public. It offers politicians, business and investors the opportunity to unleash an entrepreneurial spirit capable of reaping financial and environmental returns for both the people and the planet.
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POPSEmpty Words ??? We must wait, watch and see. The man has delivered in the past. His fast ascendancy shows efficiency ... that makes one to give him time.
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POPSAnd You Thought New York Had High Taxes Before Perhaps now we can finally win back our #1 ranking from New Jersey as the worst business tax climate in the country! For a sense of how much economic damage this might inflict on American business generally, consider the fact that the 40-some Fortune 500 companies based in New York City alone account for well over a trillion dollars in annual income. State Senate Dems undoubtedly salivate at the though of this bottomless piggybank which they can now use without obstruction to fund their bloated adventures in big government. Past experience has given us little reason to assume they'll stop to consider the impact of increasingly punitive taxes on job creation, the value of investment portfolios (retirement accounts) that hold stock in large companies, or the general health of the state economy, already nearly crippled by a tax scheme that gives capital and successful businesses every incentive to relocate across state lines or overseas.
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POPSFinancial Speculation About the Authors Jose D. Roncal is a truly global executive with over 20 years of experience in international business and finance, having worked and travelled frequently in six continents|Jose N. Abbo has two decades of experience in the capital markets. Mr. Abbo has authored numerous articles and speaks frequently on the financial markets and the global economy.
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POPSSubterranean Fortress # The perfect home theatre room. # A music studio # Artist /craft space # Kids space/noise proof space # Day Care Center # The Best Halloween Haunted House Ever # Huge wine cellar # Party/Rec. room/pool table/wetbar # Dark room # Meditation spaces # Fitness area # Unique home business space # Do tours to cover expenses # Meeting room/conference room # Build fireman’s pole down Man Hole for quick entrance into the “Big Room” # Actually use it as a “Bomb Shelter”, can hold up to 300 people for 1-2 weeks, or one-two families for a few years. # Office Space with full working phone/internet capabilities. # Would make great Hollywood house for filming movies in.
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POPSYou Unemployed Blue-Collar Workers Can Freeze In The Dark, Too Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. This ought to be a big hit with coal miners. Or, for that matter, anybody else since we currently produce half of our electricity with coal. But hey, candlelight is so romantic. What are we talking about? The ObaMarx’s energy “plan”, that’s what. The plan under which he intends to put the coal business out of business . . . But why don’t we let him speak for himself?: What I’ve said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else’s out there. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted. http://www.nicedoggie.net/2008/?p=2850
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POPSBush Looting Public Wealth. No-Risk Capitalist. There has been no nationalisation, partial or otherwise. American taxpayers have gained no meaningful control over the banks , which is why the banks are free to spend the new money as they wish. At Morgan Stanley , it looks as if much of the windfall will cover this year's bonuses. Citigroup has been hinting it will use its $25bn buying other banks, while John Thain, the chief executive of Merrill Lynch , told analysts: "At least for the next quarter, it's just going to be a cushion." The US government, meanwhile, is reduced to pleading with the banks that they at least spend a portion of the taxpayer windfall for loans - officially, the reason for the entire programme.
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POPS Why I'm Voting For Barack Obama It’s time we all reached down deep, some maybe deeper than than others, to Save the Children. It’s Obama as the Sally Struthers of our national conscience. It’s more than that. He’s the guy on our big national speedboat with lots of babes in bikinis. What are you waiting for? He’s got the secret to attaining universal health care and wealth equity, you just have to buy his tape. America can have killer abs, without all that sweating and going to the gym and kicking down third-world mudhut doors. It is that easy. Return it in four years, no obligation, if not fully satisfied. And that’s why I’ve decided to announce that I’m voting for Obama.* * That’s what I’ll be telling pollsters, the national media and everyone I know, anyway. What I do in the polling booth is my own damn business. Look, the leadership of the free world and all that is really important, but the last thing I want is anyone to think I’m a racist. Or even worse, not cool.**
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