Archive for February, 2010
Credit Default Swaps (CDS)
For many of you, today’s topic might not be the most exciting one of the year, so if you want to pass this one by and continue watching the Olympics, I understand. For the rest, I’ve got a topic you need to understand. Greece’s economy is crumbling, and many other countries are trying to stay [...]
Killer whales – not as safe as they sound
Not to make light of a tragic situation, but when a killer whale accidentally drowns a trainer, it really shouldn’t come as much of a shock. Despite the whale’s inclination to usually avoid aggressive behavior toward humans, we’re talking about a 6 ton living thing with a mind of its own. One little mistake or [...]
RickRolled for internet newbies
I’ve been waiting a long time for this Dinner Topic, and finally I have a reason to include it. The original video used to “RickRoll” people for years has been taken off of YouTube for the old standby of “terms of use violation.” There are still plenty of videos floating around the internet for which to [...]
Explaining Consumer Confidence
Stories about consumer confidence being at its lowest level in 10 months are being published in business papers and websites this morning. We all know what that means, but do any of us really know how “they” decide how “we” are feeling about things? Similar to the Nielsen ratings, which track a minute percentage of [...]
Miracle on Ice facts
It was 30 years ago today that the United States hockey team pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports by defeating the almighty Soviet team in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The story is as timely as ever with yesterday’s impressive victory by the United States over Canada. The captain [...]
Red herring and idioms
The new Martin Scorsese movie, Shutter Island, debuted yesterday to mixed reviews. The New York Times review suggested the movie was a little too heavy on the red herrings.1 “Red herrings” is a phrase you hear all the time but may have never understood the meaning without some context. Red herring is an idiom and [...]
Buddhism Briefing
Everyone will be talking about Tiger Woods’ public apology tonight, and if you haven’t seen or heard it, first of all, you’re not missing anything, second of all, a quick Google search will give you what you need. One item that will likely be discussed as well is Tiger’s mention of returning to Buddhist traditions.1 [...]
Gold Medal has little gold metal
Now that we are knee deep in Olympics coverage and gold is trading at or near all-time highs, I’m sure you’ve had that moment where you thought to yourself, “hey, are those REAL gold medals?!” Not exactly, although the medals were made out of the metals that you would have assumed back in 1912.1 Nowadays, [...]
