Archive for April, 2010
Summary of the Gulf oil spill
It has been a rough decade for the planet, and the latest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t helping things. Let’s get you up to speed about this massive oil spill which is threatening to be worse than the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Cause: a rig owned by BP called the Deepwater Horizon exploded [...]
Goldman Sachs and the Market Maker Conundrum
The weekend is close at hand, which means after-work drinks, family get-togethers, and plenty of complaints about politicians and Wall Street bigwigs. This time around, the politicians and the financial world clashed on Tuesday when a Senate panel grilled several Goldman Sachs executives about questionable practices involving shorting investments that were offered to their clients. Most [...]
Yes, a new Karate Kid movie is coming out
If you haven’t already seen the trailer, a new Karate Kid movie is coming out this summer, but this time it’s a remake rather than a sequel. I’m not sure why a remake of one of the best movies ever needs to be made, but Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, takes over the “Danielson” role [...]
Basics of derivatives
The big news in Washington this week is the financial overhaul bill attempting to be debated in the Senate. Many Republicans still oppose some items of the bill, but a majority of the public and politicians are in favor of additional controls in the financial markets one way or another; the difficulty is in balancing control [...]
Hollywood says Hooray for Hugh
The famous Hollywood Sign was in danger of becoming history as an investor group who bought the land surrounding the area in 2002 was hoping to construct condos in the area known as Cahuenga Peak. In an effort to keep the sign, a group called The Trust for Public Land (TPL) raised $12.5 million to [...]
Drudge up your news in one place
“I just read it on Drudge.” We have all heard that phrase uttered before, but some of us may have dismissed it because we didn’t know what the heck Drudge was. Drudge refers to the Drudge Report, the news aggregate site found at www.DrudgeReport.com. It’s a slightly slanted and slightly sensationalized webpage of linked headlines [...]
Ricky Gervais – oft misprounced, but often funny
For the record, it’s pronounced “Jer-VAZE,” not “Jer-vis.” Ricky Gervais is a name you often hear and a guy you often see, but you might not have put the two together unless you’re a TV junkie. A British comedian, Americans started hearing his name when The Office was redone for U.S. television and kudos were [...]
Amusing Apple Anecdote
Apple is in the news all week (and seemingly every week) thanks to a record quarterly profit, a “lost and found” conspiracy with an iPhone 4.0 prototype, and the ubiquitous iPad articles. Rather than rehashing the same lines of “hey, you know what is great/stupid about the iPad,” try this little anecdote instead: If every [...]
