Sunday, April 30, 2006

CNN.com - Day labor -- not a niche market anymore - Apr 29, 2006

CNN.com - Day labor -- not a niche market anymore - Apr 29, 2006

Homeowners are the number one employers of day laborers, the majority of which are illegal, according to this article. Many are hired right outside of Home Depot stores.

Personally, I've not run into this phenomenon, but this appears to be widespread. I lean more toward giving the immigrants some sort of status. This is the only practical thing to do as there are 11 million illegals here in the US and there's absolutely no way they're all going to be deported.

I have to say however, that the american worker is set upon by all sides; white collar technical jobs are being sent overseas and those engaged in low paying manual labor type jobs now have to compete with immigrants willing to work for less. On top of it all, defined benefit pension plans (the one's that pay you for life) and social security are going the way of the dodo bird. If that's not enough, the stuff the average person needs (i.e. fuel, housing, health care and etc.) is escalating dramatically in cost.

In short, there's not much help out there for the average worker, yet our government is prepared to pay $ 2.o trillion to pursue war in Iraq. How many Allentowns can be saved with that money? How many displaced workers can be retrained with that money? Could the social security system be shored up with that money?

We're told that the cost benefit of that expenditure is now that of making sure the Iraqis have "freedom". That's like saying that I'm going over two towns over to install a spinkler system in somone's house while my own house is a tinderbox about ready to go up flames. That makes absolutely no sense at all.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Spanked woman awarded $1.7 million - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

Spanked woman awarded $1.7 million - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

The tort system in this country has run amok. It's ridiculous that this woman got this kind of money for a mock spanking! What's next? Children suing their parents for spankings?

Hell, if they're passing money out like that, I may join them as opposed to fighting them. I think I'm going to sue my high school dean of boys for that paddling I got 35 years ago. I'm still traumatized:-)

High gas prices propel a new 'moped madness' | csmonitor.com

High gas prices propel a new 'moped madness' csmonitor.com

When gas prices spiked last summer, I recall going into a filling station and watching a guy with a motorcycle fill up. A quick thought passed through my mind that said that's not a bad idea!

I drive a late model Nissan Maxima that gets 19 mpg in the city and about 25 mpg on the highway, which isn't bad. The only problem is that I paid nearly $ 50 yesterday to fill it and I have to do that once a week if I stay on the PA side. If I go to my NJ location a couple of times, then it's twice a week. Gas is now getting at an inflection point where one has to take a look at managing the cost differently. Maybe getting a moped for the daily drive from home to work and back wouldn't be a bad idea and I'll save the Max for highway driving and the winters.

I think we've reached a permanent plateau of high gas prices. Peak oil production is either here or close by. That's significant mainly because that means dwindling supplies in the face of increased demand.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Interactive: What's your state's take at the pump? - Automotive - MSNBC.com

Interactive: What's your state's take at the pump? - Automotive - MSNBC.com

Here's an interesting graph about federal and state exise taxes on gas. This is something most people don't necessarily think about until gas prices get crazy like they are now. Here in Pennsylvania, total federal and state exise taxes add nearly $ 0.50 to every gallon of gas we purchase. In other words, the gas I bought this morning for $ 2.89 per gallon would have cost $ 2.39 if it wasn't for the exise taxes.

Congress is going after the oil companies, which they should, but the taxes need to be reigned in as well. Fifty cent a gallon for exise taxes is excessive.

Is this the year for black, Republican candidates? - Politics - MSNBC.com

Is this the year for black, Republican candidates? - Politics - MSNBC.com

This article is about two black gubernatorial (including Lynn Swann) and two black senatorial candidates running under the GOP banner this year.

I'd be the first to admit that the GOP has made some visible strides in diverse appointments, but like the article says, the main thing they've got to overcome is the history of the southern strategy; a despicable and divisive strategy that is constantly deployed in national contests. To top it off, I find people like Bush and Rumsfeld highly objectionable. Moreover, their image of being the party of fiscal responsibility is almost laughable with their advocacy of so called supply side economic policy. The only thing those policies have ever produced are yawning budget deficits. The GOP has been hijacked by a bunch of right wing radicals IMO.

It is interesting to note however, that a fair number of African-Americans were in the party of Lincoln up to the advent of Barry Goldwater in the 60's. In a way, both political parties switched positions in the liberal/conservative political spectrum with the Republicans taking up the conservative position. Going back in history, you'll find that the parties occupied exact opposite positions on that spectrum compared to the positions they occupy today.

With the Bush administration's declining poll numbers, it appears that the GOP may have some near term challenges. The new fight for votes between the two parties will be toward the middle rather than the extremes. It should be an interesting November.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

CNN.com - Fox�anchor named�Bush press secretary - Apr 26, 2006

CNN.com - Fox�anchor named�Bush press secretary - Apr 26, 2006

If you've ever wondered about whether there's a inappropriate relationship between the Bush adminstration and its main media cheerleader, Rupert Murdock's Fox News, then this article should remove all doubt. It's not enough that Fox News takes the adminstration line on nearly everything they report. Now they're going to do so officially by having a fomer news anchor serve as Bush's press secretary.

Most of the national corporate media have laid down and died long ago. Fox News is just an egregious example of being effectively a cheerleader and apologist for this adminstration's policy blunders. I couldn't let this pass without comment.

Monday, April 24, 2006

What Happened at Duke? - Newsweek

What Happened at Duke? - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com

A lengthy article from Newsweek concerning the rape case at Duke University. The article purports to lay out what happened. What do you think?

Would I lie to you? Five cons still kicking - BusinessWeek Online - MSNBC.com

Would I lie to you? Five cons still kicking - BusinessWeek Online - MSNBC.com

This article concerns scam artists out to fleece the aspiring entrepreneur.

The dream of many people is to open and operate a sucessful business. Sometimes, the rush to do that begets a type of greed or naivete that others capitalize on. As a CPA, I'm generally sitting in the "catbird's" seat to observe what's going on in a business and I've seen a number of people get ripped off in schemes ranging from multilevel marketing scams to scams involving the sales of franchises.

The key to avoid this sort of thing is doing one's homework. Above all, if you're considering going into a particular business, give consideration to working for someone who is already in the business for a year or two. You'll you gain valuable experience, obtain a good idea about the viability of the enterprise and the resources that you'll need to run the business. Knowledge (and a lack of greed) are the scam artists' worst nightmare.

MSN Money - The housing bubble has popped

MSN Money - The housing bubble has popped

Here's an article by one of my favorite authors on the housing bubble. As you know, in the Tri-City newsletter, I've provided a number of articles on the bubble in a variety of markets (Boston, Northern NJ, Long Island, DC, CA, Northern VA and others.) Like most manias, this bubble has been fueled by easy credit and the belief that real estate is a "can't lose" proposition.

Up until recently, I believed that the Lehigh Valley was immune from the bubble, however, now I'm not so sure. I happened to be driving around Bethlehem this past Sunday and dropped in on an open house. The place was a wreck and yet they were asking nearly $ 180K for the place and were saying that if the house were in reasonably good shape, it would go in the low $ 200's. I just shook my head knowing what I paid for a couple of real estate purchases here in the Valley over the last 3-5 years.

One argument for the lehigh valley real estate market revolves around the relative cheapness when compared to Northern NJ and Philadelphia. This is quite true, even with the price increases here. A 2o% to 30% reversal in prices in Northern NJ would still leave valuations there well above average prices here, however, I remain unconvinced that a reversal of that magnitude would leave our markets here unscathed. Moreover, many folks here commute to jobs in NJ or Philly and with fuel costs rising, an impact might be felt by many exurban communities that people are fleeing to. The bottom line is that the price of any asset should reflect the underlying economic fundamentals. For real estate, this generally means local well paying jobs, which are few and far between in the Lehigh Valley. What remains to be seen is whether our markets can sustain themselves with people commuting to far flung jobs in the face of high gas prices.

New Orleans vote split on racial lines - Race in America - MSNBC.com

New Orleans vote split on racial lines - Race in America - MSNBC.com

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has resulted in a number of unanticipated consequences. The displacement of many of the city's citizens has changed the demographic makeup of the Big Easy. The GOP is starting to salivate at the prospect of changing political winds to their favor and many civil rights leaders supported delaying the election pending some clarity on the status of the evacuees. It does appear that incumbent mayor Ray Nagin will need to fight to keep his job. What are your thoughts? Should this election have been delayed considering that Katrina ravaged the city only six months ago?

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Racism seen nationwide in market test : The Morning Call Online

Racism seen nationwide in market test : The Morning Call Online

Here's a story from the April 16th edition of the Morning Call on housing discrimination. I used to have a client who routinely sent testers out to ferret out this sort of thing, so I'm familiar with what was done to determine discriminatory patterns. I have to say however, that I've not experienced this in my own home purchasing experiences and I believe that that's largely been a function of exhaustive research that I do before buying in a given area. That is to say, I always do my homework by using a variety of sources to develop independent information about any sort of purchase. This leaves me less reliant on the salesperson for information. Having good information leaves me in the "driver's seat" as opposed to being "steered" around. Better information and education can overcome most of these discriminatory practices.

Frederick Douglass once said "the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Find what a people will willingly allow, and you'll find the exact measure of injustice imposed upon them"

I have a very low tolerance for "enduring" too much of anything. What's your position? Have you experienced steering or housing discrimination?

Black-owned businesses among fastest growing - Small Business - MSNBC.com

Black-owned businesses among fastest growing - Small Business - MSNBC.com
This has been a theme for African-American owned businesses. I believe that this is being driven largely by disenchantment with corporate america and reduced employment opportunity. It used to be that one was more at risk when endeavoring to start a business, however the converse is true nowadays; one is more at risk by being employed (The risk revolving around layoffs and downsizing). What do you think?

New Blog

Welcome to my new blog. The about me section provides some background on me and the reason why this blog was created. I'm really interested in fostering some discussion around certain topics. With all that's going on nowadays, I believe that there's an urgent need for folks to discuss a few things at a minimum and I'd like to establish a forum that facilitates this.

To comment on any news article or post, just click the comments link at the bottom of the post and type your response where indicated. You can maintain your anonynmity when posting by choosing a handle or by choosing anonymous as your handle.

I'll be posting new material a few times a week, so you'll probably want to check back frequently. To do that quickly, just bookmark this site in your web browser.

It will probably take awhile to get any significant discussion going, but once things are going, discussions can get heated at times. When disagreeing with someone, please remember to attack the idea rather than the person presenting it. Also, posts containing foul language or incendiary comments about race, gender and etc will not be allowed.