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Posted on July 28th, 2008 by Phil.
Categories: History & Politics, Business & Finance.
This morning the White House finally disclosed figures on what is a predicted record deficit of $490 billion for the 2009 budget year. Well actually, they didn’t officially disclose anything. The information was leaked by senior officials, anonymously.
The federal deficit is the difference between what the government spends and what it takes in from taxes and other revenue sources. The deficit would amount to roughly 3.5 percent of the nation’s $14 trillion economy. The government must borrow money to make up the difference. Just what we need, more debt!
President Bush inherited a budget surplus of $128 billion when he took office in 2001 but has since posted a budget deficit every year. The Bush administration has spent heavily on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and faces a large budget shortfall in tax revenue because of Bush’s tax cuts and a souring economy. What great leadership. I personally think he should have been impeached ages ago and should currently be serving prison time for fraud, corruption, gross negligence, and crimes against humanity, but that’s just my opinion.
A Democratic point man on the budget, Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, blasted the administration for its “reckless fiscal policies,” blaming the president’s tax cuts for driving the government into deficit and saying Bush “will be remembered as the most fiscally irresponsible president in our nation’s history.”
Conrad, who chairs the Senate’s budget committee, accused the president of “squandering” the deficit he inherited from President Bill Clinton and said the increased debt the government has taken on to cover the deficit has undermined the value of the dollar and hurt the overall economy. “If they gave out Olympic medals for fiscal irresponsibility, President Bush would take the gold, silver and bronze,” Conrad said. “With his eight years in office, he will have had the five highest deficits ever recorded. And the highest of those deficits is now projected to come in 2009, as he leaves office.”
White House officials countered by saying that the budgetary problems stem from inadequate defense, intelligence and homeland security resources that were handed down from Clinton. Of course, that makes total sense. We didn’t have nearly enough aircraft carriers, so no wonder the economy went to shit. More military spending must be a cure-all for everything. It certainly worked for the Soviet Union during the cold war. Wait…
Posted on July 23rd, 2008 by Phil.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality, History & Politics, Business & Finance.
Inspired by a dinner conversation I had this week, I’ve decided to provide all of you with some not very often discussed facts about the nature of religion in the good old US of A. This information is well researched, very disturbing, and merits a moment of consideration.
Let us begin with a simple recap of how religion came to the country… by boat, running for its life and seeking refuge. The US was forged by people fleeing persecution in their home countries, most often because their sects were considered too fringe to be accepted by the mainstream faiths. Considering the general religious attitude in 18th Century Europe, being too “out there” for the mainstream is a scary thought. English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh Puritans, Baptists, Quakers, and Presbyterians packed up and headed west. Jews, Huguenots, Calvinists, Mennonites, Anabaptists, Dunkers, Salzburgers, and the Amish grabbed their goods and hit the road. A kaleidoscope of sects, nearly all of which were considered too extreme in their view to be accepted at home fled the scene and crossed the Atlantic.
As a result, though the predominant belief structure was and still is still rooted in Christianity, the US has never had one unified national faith. Because of this, a great degree of freedom was allowed to nearly all faiths, and it became a giant round-robin battle to see which ones would predominate and which would wither. The result has been a myriad of faiths, each deeply rooted in their own belief structure, and each very tightly knit and constantly looking to expand their numbers and increase their power.
The examples are too many to summarize, so I offer one here. The Mormons. All hail Salt Lake City! This faith was founded by Joseph Smith, who claimed that the angel Moroni had come to him in a vision, and told him that America was the new chosen land, and the Mormons the new chosen people. Smith claimed that the angel had told him that the New Jerusalem would be in the US, and that it would specifically be in the area near Independence, Missouri. So they set up shop and settled in. Shortly thereafter, Smith was imprisoned and ultimately killed in jail, thwarting his true goal - to run for President of the United States. Needless to say, the remaining believers had to leave their “new Jerusalem”; and led by their new messiah, Brigham Young, they headed west. Young eventually claimed that he too had been visited by an angel, had a vision, and that in fact the new Jerusalem was not in Missouri but rather in Utah. Salt Lake City became their new home. His reasoning was that the geography of the three key feature of the area, the Great Salt Lake, the River Jordan, and Utah Lake, resembled an upside down map of the biblical land of Gaililee, with its River Jordan, and the Dead Sea. I guess that was good enough for the people at the time. The Mormons are now the leading power in Utah and a significant force in about five surrounding states. They still believe that when the world ends, those in their numbers will be the only ones saved by God and taken to heaven. They keep the names of all of the true believers on scrolls, hidden in the Utah mountain surrounding Salt Lake. They also ask all members of the faith to pay to the church 10% of their annual income.
The story of the Mormons is pretty common and fairly middle of the road one compared to many faiths. A good number are founded on belief systems much less plausible, by even more suspect leaders, and are rather transparent in their goals for power and money. Fundamentalist religion is big business. Always has been, and sadly, probably always will be. People living in big cities don’t see and don’t hear about the massive revival meetings going on in the “red states”, where tens of thousands congregate to shake, quake, speak in tongues, and give money to the faith. Remember the scene in Borat where he attends one of these tent sessions. That was small potatoes compared to the real big ones. Books on “End Times”, or Armageddon are selling like hot cakes, pulling in countless millions for their promoters. Not hard to believe when 60% of Christians in the US believe that the Book of Revelations will play out sometime soon, and 45% truly believe that the world will end in an Armageddon battle between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. We’ve all seen televangelists, but do you realize how much cash they make? Even disgraced evangelical leaders like Ted Haggard, who admitted to gay sex with a male prostitute he was buying crystal meth from, are still walking away with mountains of cash.
This is not the few and far between – this is the mainstream in much of America. It is also not a declining trend, it is on the rise.
A few facts for you - all directly from polls taken by Newsweek, Gallup, Time, CNN, and Fox News.
Percentage of Americans who believe:
In the devil: 75%
In hell: 77%
In God’s creation of the earth in six days: 61%
That the bible literally accurate: 55%
That the story of Noah’s Ark is literally accurate: 60%
I don’t know about you, but that scares the shit out of me. It’s 2008, and a solid portion of the nation is strongly backing Armageddon prophecy and literal biblical interpretation. People who believe that America is God’s chosen country, and that we are his chosen people. People that elected George W. Bush into power. Our buddy “W” may be a former alcoholic, cocaine abuser, and life-long underachiever, but he’s also a born-again fundamentalist Christian. Apparently God showed him the wickedness of his ways, and its all good now. Well at least he hasn’t been the leader of an administration rooted in a radical religion, wrapping a vehemently militant, sexist and homophobic vision in patriotic and religious rhetoric. Wait a second…
Don’t be afraid to talk about these things with people. The fact that people are afraid to openly discuss issues of religion in modern society is a detriment to us all. If we are to avoid falling into a deep dark hole of bigotry and fear, we need to voice our opinions.
We also need to do our research. I’ve done mine. If you think I’m wrong, let’s talk about it.
Posted on July 21st, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Travel & Leisure, Consumer Products, Philanthropy & Environment, Business & Finance, Science & Technology, Sports & Health.
From Trendhunter, I give you the fastest boat in the world. Also, the most environmentally friendly. It made me go a big rubbery one as it reminded me of Fight Club, the second best movie of all time after True Romance. TH writes:
The Earth Race boat is a bio-diesel powered boat that runs on human fat and looks like a highly futuristic vessel you’d expect to see on Star Trek.
The inventors of the zero carbon boat intend of breaking the current global speed record, planning to take the boat around the world running purely on fat. It was invented by an enlightened former oil industry engineer from New Zealand who is also an environmentalist. He hopes the project will promote environmental awareness and highlight the fascinating potentials of sustainable resources.
Pete Bethune and two crew members underwent liposuction, gathering a total of 2.5 gallons of excess blubber to power the speed boat. Their fat alone was enough to produce 2 gallons of fuel. He put the lard in motor and says under optimal conditions, the boat could run a successful 9 miles.
This boat is built for speed. While most boats ride over waves in rough seas, the Earth Race boat is built to pierce right through them. He plans on taking a 27,600-mile journey across the world, making the entire journey on 100% biodiesel.
If inventors could find a way to use global muffin tops, saddle bags and beer bellies as energy, these could be revolutionary.
One things for sure—in today’s society, human fat is definitely a renewable resource. So long as the obesity epidemic persists, fueled by pop culture phenomenons like McDonalds, it looks like there will be plenty of fuel to burn.
If we took all the plastic surgeons in LA and Miami and took them to the heartland for a little sucking…we might possible solve all of our energy problems :). Screw $5 gas prices and expensive corn-based ethanol, McDonald’s-generated lipids work too! The update on the boat’s progress is spectacular as well:
Despite being threatened by pirates and having almost been sunk by submerged logs, the Earthrace biodiesel trimaran (powered by recycled human fat) made the fastest trip around the world. This knocks 14 days off the previous record.
Tyler Durden would be more than proud. He would be ecstatic.
Posted on July 15th, 2008 by Phil.
Categories: Business & Finance.
ValueWiki, launched in September 2006, is a collaborative investment research tool where users collaboratively write and share stock information. By presenting investment information in a collaborative environment, they try to level the playing field and help investors make more objective decisions. They are positioning it as the Wikipedia of investing.
I have reservations about the public markets altogether, but that’s another discussion. If the service can provide accurate information on different products, terms, and investment vehicles, then its got value. While the merit of the Wisdom of Crowds approach to investing is debatable, open community-based information tools have the potential to improve upon the issues of transparency in investing, and that is something we need.
Posted on July 11th, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Media & Entertainment, Business & Finance, Humor & Pop Culture.
I just read about Harvey Weinstein’s (of Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and many other movies) professional troubles in Gawker. Called that “indestructible cockroach” of independent movies—New York’s Harvey Weinstein—has had a roller-coaster of a career. Some hightlights:
From Gawker:
Harvey Weinstein’s track record of releases has been disappointing since leaving Disney’s Miramax, where he shepherded modern classics such as Shakespeare in Love. (The once-bullish film producer doesn’t even have the confidence to finance Quentin Tarantino’s next project.) The Weinstein Company’s own backers, led by Goldman Sachs, are rumored to be reconsidering their support. And the independent mini-conglomerate’s forays into media sectors other than movie-making have been mixed at best. (Fashion TV show Project Runwayis a money-spinner but social network A Small World has tiny traffic.)
The point of the story is that it seems lackluster performance of his films is hitting him pretty hard and it’s not clear whether there’s any asset that can be sold for cash in an emergency. He’s not a well loved guy in the industry–epitomizing the egomaniacal fat jewish producer archetype.
Thought this is an interesting random pop-culture post.
Posted on July 10th, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Media & Entertainment, Business & Finance, Science & Technology.
The median age of Americans is 38. Did you know that?? As of last season, the average age of Americans watching live TV is…drum roll…50. Yep. I suppose we already knew this was going to happen but PSFK brought the topic to our attention. This is one of those “thought you should know” posts.
Posted on July 8th, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Travel & Leisure, Business & Finance, Definitions.
Sometimes, I gotta let out my geeky side and throw down some economics. This post draws from this weeks Economist Article called “The domino effect.”
First let me define current-account:
From the article,
Currencies of economies with large current-account deficits should depreciate relative to those of countries with surpluses. This will stimulate their exports and curb imports, thereby helping to slim the trade gaps. America has the world’s biggest current-account deficit and the dollar has dutifully been falling since 2002. Oddly, however, the currencies of many other countries with large deficits had enjoyed big gains until recently. Now, at last, currency markets have started to see sense.
Ergo, when a country consumes more than it produces, it’s currency should lose value. Check the chart below…as you can see that the weakest currencies this year have been in countries with deficits.
Though a current-account deficit is not necessarily bad (because an economy may be borrowing from abroad to finance investment to generate growth) a country with a large current account deficit has greater economic risk. Its economy and its currency may struggle if money flowing in dries up.
So how does this affect us and why is it important of us to know? Well, the dollar is a crap currency right now for everyone travelling abroad. It’s weak as hell you’re gonna get bent over in almost any country you visit. When you wonder WHY this is happening to you (more specifically than we’re in a recession etc. etc.) at least you will understand that the current account is a major driver of your $10 coffee. Hope it tastes really goood…
Posted on July 7th, 2008 by Bijan.
Categories: Media & Entertainment, Consumer Products, Business & Finance, Science & Technology, Coming Events.
“Scientists Set Sights on Invisibility Cloaks”
Such is the title of an article posted on CNN.com last Tuesday. Did you know that? Apparently, scientists from all over the globe have been experimenting with something called a “Superlens” which, essentially, can make things invisible. A superlens has a negative refractive index, meaning that it refracts light that an object projects in the opposite direction, thereby causing the light waves to cancel each other out and, voila! - renders the object invisible. Check it out for yourself.
Yet ironically, since websites like CNN are more concerned with matters such as “Mini Me’s” sex tape and these damn bikini-touting baristas in Seattle (seriously people, its a bikini. GET OVER IT), we oftentimes miss the truly important things that are happening in the world.
But news media debates aside, the scientific community is largely lost in the obscurity of politics, economics and pop culture. Consider the fact that only two decades ago, the idea of an iPhone would have sounded almost as feasible as, well, an invisibility cloak. Websites like the National Science Foundation provide oceans of information regarding the latest scientific discoveries and upcoming scientific research. It is important to note the vast impact even the most minor scientific innovation can have on society as we know it, and, as gradual as these things seem - they aren’t. So don’t be surprised if you find yourself shopping for jetpacks, teleporters and Beryllium Spheres in the near future. Just watch out for shoplifters - always wearing those pesky cloaks…
Posted on July 1st, 2008 by Phil.
Categories: Consumer Products, Philanthropy & Environment, Business & Finance.
This week Ford Motor reported that its U.S. sales have tumbled 28% from a year ago. Massive drops are also being seen at General Motors and Chrysler. Record high gas prices and rising consumer worries about the economy resulted in the weakest month for auto sales in 16 years.
Demand for Ford SUVs plunged by more than half, and demand for pickups and other trucks fell by more than a third. Even the so-called ‘crossovers’, a sign of strength in the light truck segment until recently, saw sales off 18% from a year earlier, as buyers went searching for more fuel efficient vehicles in the face of record gas prices. Ford announced steep cuts in production of its pickup and other truck models last month and a shift towards more production of cars. It also said it expected to announce plans for further cuts in plants and capacity in the months ahead.
It is clear that they are not makng the cars that people want. This wasn’t exactly a hard one to see coming. The auto industry chose short term profits and blatant greed over long term planning and the the health of the industry.
Maybe they should start making electric cars and increase production of hybrids instead of lying, cheating and robbing the American public blind so that they can keep churning out gas guzzling behemoths. For years, the energy industry and the auto industry have been in cahoots with each other (and in bed with the US Government) to perpetuate the use of machines that churn through oil. They have broken laws and misinformed the public in order to stifle the production of energy efficient vehicles. They have acted with a total disregard for the good of the planet and the good of the nation. And they have made countless hundreds of billions of dollars doing it.
I know it would not be great for the US auto industry to fail, but at the same time, it would send a good lesson to other industries. For the government to bail them out would essentially be saying that what they have done is OK, and that we continue to support their business practices. If anything, any financial aid needs to be tied to very strong, and strictly enforced guidelines. For all of us, perhaps we should think long and hard about our next auto purchase or lease, and be sure to make a decision that we can live with.
Posted on June 24th, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Media & Entertainment, Travel & Leisure, History & Politics, Business & Finance.
I’ve been remiss in writing on VM lately…but fear not friends….we continue to look for random, intellectually stimulating, and fascinating pieces of information to share. Check out THIS link! It’s a section of www.newseum.org ’s site, which is a museum in DC that follows the history and development of journalism. The link takes you to today’s Front Page of 575 newspapers. Think about that…these guys compile the up-to-the-day info on what media outlets around the world are writing about.
For all those who lament the US media’s spin and banal topics, you can check out what the topics du jour are in Le Monde or the Moscow Times. The site also provides analysis of what newspapers are writing about on a given day (what’s interesting in many ways is what they are NOT writing about)…
So read all about it folks!
