A Las Vegas Sun article dated August 27, the first day of classes for the Fall semester, reports;

The College of Southern Nevada is stepping up oversight of maintenance and construction work following reports by the Sun about alleged abuses at the school.
...
Former and current employees have accused [college construction chief Bob] Gilbert of using his position to arrange sweetheart deals with contractors who helped build his personal ranch estate off Kyle Canyon Road. The Nevada attorney general's office raided college offices, Gilbert's ranch and WGDL in June as part of a criminal investigation.
...
Gilbert is now on leave, which college officials say is to recover from shoulder surgery.
...
Interim CSN President Michael Richards said college officials had taken action, including closing some contracts, when circumstances showed that collusion occurred. He would not be more specific.

Richards inherited the problems this summer when former CSN President Richard Carpenter left to take a job in Houston . Carpenter told the Sun earlier this year that an internal investigation into Gilbert's activities found no actionable offense

As of yet, no one has said, "At least I'm not going to jail!" I wonder if Carpenter thought he was pulling an Atkinson-Gates by getting out of the job before an investigation included him. We know we have crooked cops, crooked lawyers, crooked doctors, crooked judges, blatently crooked politicians, crooked developers, crooked hospital administrators, crooked roads, etc. I wonder if I missed something; is there a special class that Nevadans take where some of the students learn to be ruthlessly corrupt and the rest to be unbelievably apathetic?

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the Las Vegas Sun today former Clark County Commissioner, Lynette Boggs, was indicted on felony charges stemming from allegations that she didn't live in the commission district she represented and that she paid a nanny with campaign funds.

She was ordered to appear Sept. 5 in Clark County District Court to answer two charges of filing false or forged documents and two counts of perjury.

At the same time LasVegasNow is reporting that Federal agents have uncovered new evidence about money Michael McDonald received while he was still a Las Vegas city councilman.

The agents have discovered that McDonald, while he was a councilman, was paid monthly by a law firm and received a loan from a catholic priest.

Both the law firm and the priest have connections with former Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo who is now in prison.

And today there was news concerning Rick Rizzolo, when the Crazy Horse Too was seized by the U.S. government after practically bending over to allow Rizzolo to find a "qualified" buyer for the club which recently lost its liquor license, despite efforts by Las Vegas Mayor Goodman, and finally closed.

Plus, former commissioner Yvonne "at least I'm not going to jail" Atkinson is still being investigated for allegedly using her son for her campaign and receiving money back, while former county commissioners Dario Herrera, Mary Kincaid Chauncy, and Erin Kenny are all serving time for their "stellar" performance as public servants for Clark County.

Posted by Zounds Off at 1:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The booming Chinese stock market was responsible for up to half the earnings growth of companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen duirng the first six months of 2007 - a worrying trend that analysts say will exacerbate any market downturn.

After all the booming housing market was responsible for half the rise in our GDP in 2005 and look where the U.S. market is today. Just putting money into something doesn't mean it really increases in value. Because of the fever of investing in the Chinese market, profits increased on average 71 per cent in the first half for the more than two thirds of listed Chinese companies that have published results, but profits from core operations increased only about 35 per cent. This just might mean an upcoming boom of a different sort, namely implosion.

Posted by Zounds Off at 2:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday oil futures prices rose sharply in New York as fears receded about an economic crisis from the meltdown in the US subprime mortgage market as reported on Yahoo News.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, advanced 88 cents to close at 71.97 dollars after briefly topping 72 dollars a barrel. That followed a rise of 1.26 dollars on Friday.

John Kilduff at MF Global said the worst fears about the impact of the credit squeeze have begun to ease.

But today all confidence seems to have evaporated as the stock market plunged as investors grew more uneasy about the economy and whether the Federal Reserve will take the steps needed to prevent credit market problems from spreading further. The Dow Jones industrials fell 280 points.

Financial services stocks were among the hardest hit during the session as investors reacted to not only economic reports that could affect the group, but a downgrade of several major players. Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski cut ratings on Citigroup Inc., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and Bear Stearns Cos. due to concerns about earnings.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest investment house, fell $3.47, or 6 percent, to $54.28. Bear Stearns, the fifth-largest investment bank, fell $3.78, or 3.4 percent, to $108.42. Citigroup Inc. fell $1.65, or 3.5 percent, to $46.14.

At the same time the S&P housing report pushed shares of homebuilders lower. It was reported that U.S. home prices fell 3.2 percent in the second quarter and when home prices fall, owners have a hard time refinancing, which can lead to more defaults and delinquencies.

All this means to me is that, one:
None of the so-called experts know what is going to happen day to day.
Two:
All of Wall Street wants someone else to bail them out of their poor performance--namely the Federal Reserve, which means the ordinary citizen will pay because the value of the dollar will fall again, causing rising prices, creating a need for more borrowing, creating more lending, creating more debt, creating more crisis--should I stop now?
Three:
Investors spend too much time following the herd and ignoring the facts.

Posted by Zounds Off at 2:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to an article from Rebel Yell, Brad Lord-Leutwyler a Philosophy professor from UNLV is running to be the next leader of the United States. His platform, "give the people what they want."

From the article:

Last week, Lord-Leutwyler officially launched his independent campaign after his website, www.voteforbrad.com, had received 250,000 hits and his MySpace friends reached nearly the same number as Hillary Clinton's when her page first launched - close to 10,000.

These are impressive numbers for anyone with a background in philosophy. Let's see if he makes it to Steven Colbert.

Posted by pokerprof at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Should be another interesting year for Nevada education. Some of the summer highlights include:

1. CCSN is now CSN meaning that Community College of Southern Nevada is now College of Southern Nevada--not to be confused with Southern Nevada College. As if dropping the word community from the name will somehow make this a "real" college.

2. Clark County School District has announced it's C.A.P.S. program--also not to be confused with a similar sounding program known as Exploited Children Comprehensive Action Program ("M/CAP"), although when it comes to education in the valley, our children are certainly exploited and shortchanged. But with a few fancy letters and some public relations work, we can pretend that something has changed in our public schools, except for failing to educate our students

3. University of Nevada Las Vegas has announced a new program of study in engineering of stage show productions. The course will include hands on experience and internships with Cirque du Soleil shows at Strip venues. Sounds to me like an euphemism for unpaid labor and fewer dealings with unions but on the plus side, UNLV claims that students will actually have to learn some math and physics for a change.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new model developed by a finance professor helps banks test the strength of their investments.

Tim Yeager, an associate professor of finance at the University of Arkansas and formerly an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis, is attempting to help banks avoid heavy losses in commercial real estate loans that can wipe out capital and cripple a bank's lending ability.

Yeager, also the holder of the Arkansas Bankers Association Chair in the Sam. M Walton College of Business, developed the model based on reports from northwest, northeast and central Arkansas banks.

The model can be applied to different lending categories and investments at individual banks to see what a shock would do to the overall financial stability of the bank.

After a couple centuries of banking in this country and leading banks having their pick of graduates of the "elite" schools such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. finally someone--and certainly not at an elitist institution--now is creating a model to show that when you make really bad loans, you really screw up your business. I have never used this little colloquialism but here comes...DUH!

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. and AEG announced plans for of an approximately 20,000-seat, privately financed, state-of-the-art arena hoped to be Las Vegas' new home for sports and entertainment events. The site will be one block east of the Las Vegas Strip on approximately 10 acres of land that Harrah's owns.

Oh, boy! A new home for a lack-lustre arena football team and a Barry Manilow comeback tour? Oh, wait...Barry is retreading his act already at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater.

Posted by Zounds Off at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday announced the recall of Chinese-manufactured children's jewelry and toys containing the toxic metal lead, including 250,000 SpongeBob SquarePants address books and journals.

China has poisoned its country; it probably has the largest number of coal fired power plants with the fewest emmission controls, putting the most soot on glaciers around the world; and it has certainly ignored all safety regulations required by the U.S. on products we import. The only major concern China appears to have is the embarassment to China by those officials who weren't savvy enough to not be found out.

Posted by Zounds Off at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

San Diego-based Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., which issued $15.77 billion in home loans last year, said it will cut about 1,600 of its 2,600 positions, close 65 branches, and stop accepting new mortgage applications in the United States as it struggles to stay upright.

Southern California is about 15 major earthquakes behind its quota for the past century, so the lending companies created their own disaster. Go S.C.

And another quake hit the New York area as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the nation's fourth-largest investment bank, announced it is closing its subprime mortgage business, BNC Mortgage LLC, eliminating 1,200 workers at 23 offices.

Maybe these companies should eliminate a few CEO's who were perfectly aware that the lending market couldn't sustain the run; not one company could have created all these bad loans without the CEO's knowledge and/or encouragement. Get rid of one CEO and you can probably save 1200 jobs for what the CEO's pay themselves to have five homes and drink expensive wines and whiskey and run companies into the ground.

Posted by Zounds Off at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dubai World, a holding company for the Persian Gulf state of Dubai, has invested $5 billion which gives it a piece of MGM Mirage and 50 percent of the 76-acre CityCenter complex under construction in the heart of the Strip. Dubai World's subsidiary, Dubai Ports World, was forced to sell its U.S. port operations after an uproar in Congress last year.

Dubai...isn't that where Haliburton has moved to?

Posted by Zounds Off at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

2007 eleven most endangered historic places according to Preserve Nevada include:

1. Sprawl-Free Landscape - Gilcrease Family Properties, Las Vegas
2 . Historic Austin
3. Historic Goldfield
4. Commercial Row, Wells
5. First Presbyterian Church, Carson City
6. Hillside Cemetery, Reno
7. The Huntridge Theatre, Las Vegas
8. Nevada Northern Railway East Ely Shops and Yard, Ely
9. Round Hill Pines Resort, Tahoe
10. Southern Nevada Adobe Structures - Kiel Ranch, Las Vegas
11. Virginia Street Bridge, Reno

Just in case you blinked passing through Goldfield, here is what you missed.

Posted by Zounds Off at 3:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Capital One Financial Corp. said Monday it will cut 1,900 jobs and close its wholesale mortgage banking business.

The company will close 31 GreenPoint locations in 19 states, after just acquiring them last December when it paid $13.2 billion for North Fork Bancorp Inc. For more go to Capital One slashes jobs, mortgage industry swoons.

Another financial coup by the wizards of high finance. Obviously, they majored in beer drinking during college and not sound investment. What I hope is that Capital stops sending me applications for credit cards every week. I would consider telling them to stop but I figure they would double their attempts just because I noticed the previous attempts. Along with HSBC, these credit card companies are wearing out my shredder. If every telemarketer, unsolicited mailer, and spammer went out of business, do you suppose unemployment would exceed ten percent? Hey companies, the only thing I can't seem to say no to is a good book. How about sending some free samples for reviewing?

Posted by Zounds Off at 3:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just when more products from China are found to be tainted and dangerous and Hillary Clinton has made China product bashing her global mantra (to "prove" she isn't really a globalist), here comes a product she can really put her foot into--Foot Trolleys of Death and Fireball Suicide Shoes as named by a British website.

Posted on Gizmodo:

Customs officers in Britain have seized 150 pairs of motorized roller blades, amid safety fears. The skates, known as Gasoline Skating Shoes, are fitted with a 25cc motor and have a top speed of 20mph. Since the skates are classed as a motorized vehicle, users would need a driving license, insurance and L-plates, were they legal.

From China, these Foot Trolleys of Death are controlled via a handheld throttle and can burn up to max speed in just a few seconds. Instead of a brakes, there is a shut-off button (probably bright red with "SHIIIIIIIIT" inscribed on it in a nice Gothic script) which acts like an emergency stop--meaning that when the skates come to a brisk halt, you probably won't.

A 10-pound engine encased in a seven-inch box on the heel of the right boot sits above a plastic fuel tank--that will make for some interesting ankle burns in a worst-case scenario--which holds one liter of two-stroke petrol.
Because of its exhaust vent and starter cable, safety officers have likened the Fireball Suicide Shoes to a lawnmower.

I apologize up front but this could be a "hot" item among terrorists.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. Defense Department said on Thursday that a flawed system designed to rush supplies to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan let a small-parts supplier improperly collect $998,798.38 to ship two 19-cent washers.

The lock-washer incident was the last in a series of abuses by twin sisters running a South Carolina company that bilked the Pentagon out of about $20.5 million in fraudulent shipping costs, federal prosecutors said after obtaining guilty pleas earlier in the day.
The owners of C&D Distributors of Lexington, South Carolina, submitted online bids to the Defense Department to supply hardware components, plumbing fixtures, electronic equipment and other items, according to court papers.

Can I have a contract with the Defense Department? Please!

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In Yahoo News First Magnus Financial Corp. has laid off 99 percent of its nearly 6,000 employees nationwide and closed all of its more than 300 offices.

According to a notice filed with the state Friday, the Tucson-based company that originated home loans and then sold bundled loans into the secondary loan market expects to retain only about 60 of its employees.

First Magnus officials said a bankruptcy filing was possible.

Several mortgage companies down and more to come while the Federal Reserve bails out the big boys like Bear Stearns, involved in the subprime mortgage hedge fund investment crisis, and ordinary people lose their homes

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lately, I hear again that unions are complaining about Wal-Mart and its policies on employee health care. Just to let you know, this is an issue that has been around for quite some time.

Wal-Mart health care policy denounced by unions
March 1, 2006

In the second attack on Wal-Mart's polices in Massachusetts in a month, labor unions rallied on the Statehouse steps Tuesday afternoon to protest the alleged tax burdens Wal-Mart's healthcare policies place on state citizens by not providing adequate healthcare for its employees.

In a press conference following the rally, speakers said Wal-Mart's tax contribution to Massachusetts, which was $13.4 million in 2004, falls below what the speakers' consider an acceptable payment.

And:

The Wal-Mart Tax: A Review Of Studies Examing Employers' Health Care Cost-Shifting
March 31, 2005

As job-based health coverage declines and employers shift ever-growing
health costs onto employees, workers increasingly must turn to taxpayer-funded
programs like Medicaid to get health care for themselves and their families.
Meanwhile, Medicaid is wrestling with explosive cost growth, increasing 56
percent since 2000. Medicaid is the second largest expense for most states,
accounting for around 16 percent of state budgets, on average. States' spending
on the program is expected to grow almost 12 percent this year, four times faster
than the increase in states' general fund spending.

Overall health care costs, particularly for prescription drugs and hospital
care, are growing, so it is not surprising that Medicaid costs would rise too. What
sets Medicaid apart, however, is that increased enrollment in the program also
plays a decisive role in driving cost increases. A number of factors account for
growing caseloads, but one reason is that employers--including some that are
highly profitable--are shifting onto taxpayers the costs of insuring their workers.
Recent studies in 13 states have examined the extent to which employers'
workers utilize public health programs to secure health coverage for themselves
and their families. As the following summary of those analyses reflects, in each
one of these states, Wal-Mart ranks at or near the very top of the list of
employers that are shifting to the public the cost of providing health care
for their workers. In so doing, Wal-Mart is directly contributing to the nation's
Medicaid crisis.

That Wal-Mart should play such a prominent role in the Medicaid crisis is
unjustifiable by any measure. Wal-Mart rakes in profits at the rate of $20,000 per
minute; last year, its profits were $10 billion, the largest amount in its history.
The 2004 compensation package for Wal-Mart's CEO Lee Scott was almost $23
million. Five members of the Walton family who are major company stockholders
have a combined net worth exceeding $90 billion, making them half of the 10
wealthiest Americans. And over the last two decades, Wal-Mart has benefited
from at least $1 billion in economic development assistance from state and local
governments, including several states featured in this report

Just another corporation which has figured out how to play the system so they win and the public loses.

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Las Vegas Business News:
Carrying placards that stated, "Never have so many owed so much to so few," more than two dozen members of a national community action organization protested what one member termed "unbelievably high" power bills during a demonstration at the West Sahara Avenue headquarters of Nevada Power Co. recently.

"I live in an apartment, and I'm paying $300 a month for power," said Diane Graves, a member of ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. And as the acronym suggests, the national organization intends to bring about changes in the utility scene of Southern Nevada, where scorching summer temperatures drive up usage and power bills to levels that are among the highest in the nation.

In June -- just before the start of summer -- residential power rates increased 11.5 percent, which was the amount granted by the Public Utilities Commission, following the company's general rate case earlier this year.

One of the little secrets of southern Nevada is the higher cost of living here than almost everywhere else in the country. Although, Nevada doesn't have the state income tax that other states have, there is a fairly high sales tax, all kinds of fees, and high food, housing, utility costs, gasoline, etc.

Plus, there is another culprit here but consumers don't seem to be all that interested in this little scam. Here's a little test for all residents in southern Nevada. Go outside your door and rap on the outside wall and listen. If it sounds like a drum, you probably have the bare minimum of insulation for your walls; most likely the builder put up a thin insulation board and stuccoed over it. Common sense would suggest that the more insulation added would lower heating and cooling bills and have the added benefit of reducing the noise from your neighbors. But somehow (?) builders have managed to use the barest minimum and still get their homes rated as energy efficient in Nevada. Interestingly enough, I have lived in some apartments in the past where there was no insulation at all between apartments, yet in several other states, builders are required to build a fire resistant and sound deadening wall between apartments. Another case of making it easier for the developer? You be the judge.

Posted by Zounds Off at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Although the Clark County School District has hired nearly 1,800 teachers for this school year, supposedly due only to the valley's growth, as of the week of August 13, the district is still 445 teachers short.

And probably part of the reason the district needed 1800 teachers might be because after working for a failing district many teachers leave each year. And I just can't wait to see the new "crop" of teachers brought into the district by recruiting in Midwest cities that have laid off teachers or that have an abundance of unemployed teachers. If I had to guess, I would say that those available teachers are the ones that have the least experience and poorest qualifications, leaving them unemployed and ready to enter Clark County schools. Perhaps we will end up with 40 percent or more of all teachers only qualified to teach P.E.

Posted by Zounds Off at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Reno Gazette-Journal poll conducted Aug. 14-16 by Research 2000 shows the frontrunners in Nevada both have substantial unfavorable ratings among the general voting pool in the state. Hillary Clinton has a 44 percent unfavorable rating compared to her favorablr rating of 43 percent. Similary, Mitt Romney has an unfavorable rating is 45 percent against a 40 percent favorable.

Probably more disconcerting for Republicans as they look ahead to the general is that only two of the frontrunners have positive favorability margins-- and they're tiny. Fred Thompson has a two-point spread (35 percent favorable to 33 percent unfavorable) and Rudy Giuliani has a one-poit spread (41 percent to 40 percent.)

The only frontrunners in either party to have favorable ratings substantially higher than their unfavorables are Obama, +15 points; Richardson, +13 points; and Edwards, +9 points.

Just seems to show that this will most likely be another contest involving people either simply following the easy route of supporting the frontrunner for the reason they want to say they voted for the winner, or they will cast their vote against a candidate rather than finding one they actually feel they can trust.

Posted by Zounds Off at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Las Vegas Sun reports Nevada's unemployment rate rose for the fourth consecutive month, hitting 4.9 percent in July as the housing slump continued and private-sector employers weren't able to provide a lot of temporary summer jobs.

The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Friday that the seasonally adjusted rate was the highest since January 2004, and exceeded the national rate of 4.6 percent.

Everything that Las Vegas promised a few years ago has vanished. Jobs, affordable housing, water. The Las Vegas area has now made the top ten for least affordable housing in the country, only behind cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Boston.

Posted by Zounds Off at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nina Easton of Fortune writes in her article, The China Conflict, that for the Democrats, China -- and its massive trade imbalance with the United States -- has emerged as a favorite parable about the dangers of globalization, especially when this adversary/ally holds more than $400 billion in U.S. Treasuries.

She reports the line played well Tuesday night before an AFL-CIO audience that broke into applause when Illinois Senator Barack Obama said he would "take [China leaders] to the mat" for "manipulating their currency," adding that huge U.S. deficits, financed in part by the Chinese, must end.

"It's pretty hard to have a tough negotiation when the Chinese are our bankers," Obama declared to a cheering crowd.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton added "bad food from China" and toys that sicken children to the list of complaints about the country. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson cited the country's human rights record and failure to "put pressure on the Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur." Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd described China as a competitor but "be careful, it's getting close to adversary."

Unfortunately, this is the same party whose Democratic National Committee took millions in donations from Chinese citizens when Bill and Al were running for office in the 1990's; the party which put a Chinese agent, John Huang, into the Commerce Dept.; the party of Woodrow Wilson, the original globalist who signed into law the creation of the Federal Reserve, a central bank based on European models of central banking, signed into law the first income tax, and created the League of Nations, a failed attempt to move the world in the direction of a world governing body. And now Democrats are against globalization? Only in front of union labor, but in the back rooms of power with international bankers, globalization is the way to go.

Boys and girls, if you support the Republicans, you will get globalization; if you support Democrats, you will get globalization; only the rhetoric on the way will be different.

Posted by Zounds Off at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Regardless of anything else a Candidate says:

"My investments have been held in a blind trust, which means I have not directed where they invest nor do I know where they invest," said the former Massachusetts governor during a swing through Atlanta on Wednesday. "The trustee of the blind trust has said publicly that he will endeavor to make my investments conform with my positions, and I am confident that he will." (ref.)

Candiate: Hello, I'm a highly religious, completely moral guy with strong values.

Candiate's Trust Manager: And I'm the guy that runs this guy's Quarter Billion dollar Empire. I don't always tell him what I'm doing, it's a blind trust. *wink* *wink*

Just because you have confidence in a blind trust does not mean your blind confidence is to be trusted.

Posted by pokerprof at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Market Watch reports Asian stocks dropped sharply Wednesday after Japanese banks, including Mitsubishi UFJ, reported losses from U.S. subprime mortgage defaults, with local concerns sending shares in Indonesia down nearly 9%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index (JP:1804610: news, chart, profile) ended 2.2% lower at 16,475.61, its lowest closing level in 2007. The broader Topix index (JP:1804609: news, chart, profile) slid 2.6% to 1,594.15.
Shares of banking giants led the fall, with those of Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU9.12, -0.32, -3.4%) ending 5.3% lower, on reports that it incurred roughly five billion yen ($42.5 million) in appraisal losses as of July 31, on its portfolio of 280 billion yen in products linked to U.S. subprime loans.

Stocks in Indonesia tumbled the most within the region, with the Jakarta Composite Index slumping 8.8% to 2,043.58 in late afternoon trading.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended 3% lower at 5,788, New Zealand's NZX 50 index lost 1.5% at 4,004.46 and Taiwan's Weighted index (XX:1805301: news, chart, profile) declined 3.9% to 8,568.22.

Singapore's Straits Times Index (XX:1815656: news, chart, profile) dropped 3.3% to 3,276.09, in afternoon trading.

South Korean and Indian markets were closed Wednesday for national holidays.

In yesterday's news from Smart Money, some of the largest firms in the $1.5 trillion hedge-fund industry have been hit this month by big losses among so-called quantitative funds, which use computer models to generate trading ideas.

The turmoil reached "historical" proportions last week, according to one hedge-fund executive, but now many of these same firms are saying there's money to be made when dislocated markets recover.

Goldman Sachs (GS) , an investment bank that's also the second-biggest hedge-fund firm, said its $9 billion Global Alpha quant fund is down 27% so far this year, with more than half of those losses coming last week.

Another $3.6 billion Goldman quant fund, called the Global Equity Opportunities fund, lost more than 30% last week. A third known as the North American Equity Opportunities fund has also lost money recently.

I guess what computer models don't predict is what happens to the markets when greed and "cowboy" risk management pollute the model. The managers of these funds are supposed to be the "brightest" of our financial wizards and look what they can do, make bad decisions, ride the wave of optimism--because if they don't, another will and who wants to see profits go to another firm, and wait for the Federal Reserve to pump 90 or 100 billion dollars into the problem so only the American people lose.

For a look at the same situation, only involving tech stocks of the 1990's, try reading Blood on the Streets by Charles Gasparino, which chronicles how market analysts overated tech stocks so that they could keep the market rising, thereby insuring increasing profits for their firms. Guess who suffered from that crash? Today the same craziness helped fuel an unsustainable housing bubble just so money could be made during a rising market. Sometimes I think the financial world has a shorter attention span than five year olds, and five year olds probably have a better grasp of the concept: What goes up must come down.

Posted by Zounds Off at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay more than $3.9 million to about 50,000 current and former employees in California who were underpaid overtime and other wages, the state's labor commissioner said on Tuesday.

The world's largest retailer also agreed to pay $198,900 in civil penalties to the state, Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet said in a statement.

In 2005, Wal-Mart voluntarily notified the labor commissioner that errors in its payroll processes had led to underpayment of overtime and other wages. It pledged to correct the problem and pay affected workers all they owed.

"This is a matter we discovered and reported ... and the situation has been corrected," said Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley.

What the spokesman left out is how Wal-Mart has been successfully sued in the past by employees, even in California, for the same behaviors. The claim that Wal-Mart has so graciously stepped forward this time sounds more like something which should be bagged and sold in the garden department.

Some of Wal-Marts past payments include:
2007 DOL (Department of Labor) v. Wal*Mart: $33 million nationwide
2005 DOL v. Wal*Mart: $134,540 nationwide

2006 Private class action v. Wal*Mart: $172.2 million (California only)
2006 Private class action v. Wal*Mart: $78.5 million (Pennsylvania only)

Posted by Zounds Off at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Excerpt of article, Tax Panel Slammed For Secrecy, in the Las Vegas Sun:

When the Nevada Tax Commission awarded a $40 million tax refund to the Southern California Edison Co. in 2005, it did so behind closed doors -- after not even bothering to inform interested parties that the case was pending.

When the Legislature in 2005 decided to reward those who constructed environmentally friendly buildings, the Tax Commission developed such generous guidelines that large casino companies and other mega-projects stood to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for investing in "green" facilities.

And when the Legislature the same year set caps on a property tax relief measure, the commission was accused of undercutting legislators' intent by adopting a regulation that allowed large landowners to divide their property into smaller parcels to qualify.

Although each of those decisions spawned controversies, public protests to Tax Commission rulings typically come after the fact, when it is too late to influence the outcome. That's because in contrast to most other states, Nevada's Tax Commission operates largely in secret, making it difficult for average taxpayers to participate.

Exactly! I think we should have a more open commission, like the Las Vegas City Council, which openly supported Rick Rizollo and the Crazy Horse Too; and the Clark County Commissioners, who openly voted to give Vinnie Faraci favored employee status so he can run a strip club when he gets out of prison; and the former Clark County Commissioners who freely discussed bribes over the telephone so the FBI could record the conversations on wiretaps. Really, unless you are committing a federal crime, you might as well be openly crooked as the Nevada media seems unusually pathetic at following many stories--see how many stories are broken by the L.A. Times first when it involves corruption in Nevada--and how seldom city and county prosecutors get involved in corruption cases; although if you make fun of prosecutors on your MySpace page, District Attorney Dave Rogers will go after you, then. See Substitute judge in North Las Vegas loses job over MySpace blog.

Posted by Zounds Off at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The federal government decided last year to drop out of an international study that would compare U.S. high-school students who take advanced science and math courses with their international counterparts?

The study, called TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) Advanced 2008, measures how high-school seniors are doing in algebra, geometry, calculus and physics with students taking similar subjects around the globe. In the past, the American results have been shockingly poor. In the last survey, taken in 1995, students from only two countries--Cyprus and South Africa--scored lower than U.S. school kids.

Yeah, and we keep voting in politicians from our "one party" system, who mostly mouth education platitudes, suffer the dumbing down of our schools by teachers, administrators, teacher's unions, school boards, state school boards, our teaching universities which allow as many as 90 percent of teaching graduates to be certified physical education teachers. In a society which has so glorified the professional athlete, we have a plethora of "certified" teachers who simply used college as a way to continue in the area of sports, even though they haven't the skill or talent beyond their high school "glory days."

The bottom line is that somewhere else in the world are better educated workers who will work for less than we expect, so expect to see the U.S. as a third world power in the next twenty years or so. We certainly don't have the will to improve education with the same enthusiasm as we watch and absorb sports, and we won't. And that's a RANT!

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, the median price of single family home dropped by $10,000 in one month.

The median price in July was $295,000 as compared to $305,000 in June and there are a record number of homes for sale.

Also, prospective buyers bid for nearly 100 homes and condominiums when the largest single home foreclosure auction in Las Vegas history took place this past Sunday.

Just might mean another drop during the month of August.

Posted by Zounds Off at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November of last year, the attorney general in the state of Washington reached a settlement with two companies, including LA Weight Loss Franchise Company (LA Weight Loss), which agreed to pay settlements to consumers of up to $50,000.

Last month Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers filed a lawsuit against LA Weight Loss Franchise Company (LA Weight Loss) and an Oregon franchisee alleging false and misleading representations about the costs, fees, products, and benefits associated with the program. Named in a complaint filed in Marion County Circuit Court is LA Weight Loss Franchise Company, a Delaware corporation operating out of Horsham, Pennsylvania, and an Oregon franchisee, NWM, Inc., of Lake Oswego.

Wednesday Channel 8 News reported that all valley locations of LA Weight Loss are closed with the following sign:
"Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are no longer able to conduct business."

Isn't it nice that it is all about circumstances beyond their control, that apparent fraud isn't a circumstance they could control. My suggestion is grab the old lady and pack up the babies, I mean get your spouse, or friends, or children, turn off the TV and get to a park and walk, play, do something, do anything but stop at a fast food restuarant on the way back. Also, there are several day trips that can be planned; go to Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston and the Toiyabe National Forest, and check out trails, rock formations, big horn sheep. Just some (free) weight loss advice from Zounds Off.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On LasVegasNow Brian Atkinson Turner, son of former Commissioner Yvonne Gates, and his wife, Katherine O'Gara, were taken into custody on drug and child endangerment charges.

Police arrived at the home in Southern Highlands because they received reports that O'Gara was driving erratically, possibly under the influence, and with her three-year-old in the car, unrestrained. Inside the house, they found filth and garbage and more, including marijuana and a hydroponic growing system favored by indoor pot farmers. A loaded handgun was in the glove box of the car, just inches from where the child had been.

Law enforcement are still tracking down leads about Gates and has long suspected that some of the money paid by Gates to her family members-- more than $400,000--for her campaign made its way back into her own pocket.

So far, Turner is only charged with possession with intent to sell marijuana and was released Wednesday evening on $10,000 bail.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From ABC News Wall Street fell sharply again Thursday after a French bank said it was freezing three securities funds that struggled to find liquidity in the U.S. subprime mortgage market. The Dow Jones industrials were once more down by triple digits.

The announcement by BNP Paribas raised the specter of a widening impact of U.S. credit market problems. The idea that anyone institutions, investors, companies, individuals can't get money when they need it unnerved a stock market that has suffered through weeks of intense volatility triggered by concerns about available credit and bad subprime mortgages.

A move by the European Central Bank to provide more cash to money markets perhaps intensified Wall Street's angst. Although the bank's loan of more than $130 billion in overnight funds to banks at a bargain rate of 4 percent was intended to calm investors, Wall Street saw the step as confirmation of the credit markets' problems.

The Federal Reserve followed suit, adding $12 billion to U.S. markets to help ease liquidity constraints, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Anyone want to guess where that $12 billion comes from? The Federal Reserve, which is not a government agency, doesn't have 12 billion in cash handy; it just makes believe it has money and hopes that the loan gets paid back while this imaginary money is insured by our government if it doesn't; then it comes out of our pockets. Adding billions of "new" money into the mix is why we have inflation which is really a devaluation of the dollar as there are suddenly more of them. So companies which made bad decisions are allowed to continue, thereby protecting the wealthiest citizens and big investors, and we get higher prices. Hopefully, with Europe also dumping billions in "new" money, the Euro won't rise any higher as against the dollar. One might think that a lower dollar might make U.S. products more attractive for export, but we don't make much of anything anymore, and a lower dollar affects trading in currency, which is a bit more complicated than this little tirade has space for. Just remember, bankers rule the world, not politicians.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To the cheers of 17,000 union members at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears football team, Obama defended his recent comments that he would be willing to strike al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan without the approval of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, according to Reuters.

Clinton, a New York senator, and fellow Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut questioned Obama's judgment. Dodd called the comments "irresponsible" and Clinton warned of destabilizing Musharraf's government. She called Obama's approach "a very big mistake."

"You can think big, but remember you shouldn't always say everything you think if you're running for president because it has consequences across the world. And we don't need that right now," Clinton said.

OK, isn't this the same Clinton who first called Obama naive because he said that he wouldn't use nuclear weapons on an attack on Pakistan, claiming that a president never takes the nuclear option off the table--and now she thinks Obama's remarks could destabilize Musharraf's government? Are her remarks somehow silent, forgotten, forgiven?

And then...

Former Senator John Edwards, who trails Clinton and Obama in national polls, has pushed hard for union support and made it a key part of his strategy to win the nomination.

He attacked Clinton as a Washington insider, prolonging a fight started at a weekend debate where Clinton defended taking money from lobbyists who represent special interests before Congress.

Edwards and Obama are pressing fellow Democrats to agree to stop taking the funds.

Has anyone reminded Hillary that she and Bill orchestrated the donations of millions of dollars to the DNC from Chinese companies and businessmen with ties to Triads and to Chinese military intelligence and, as a quid pro quo, put John Huang in the Commerce Department and the DNC while he was an employee of the Lippo Group, known for intelligence gathering for the Chinese, and for giving away sensitive military technology and tools which allowed the Chinese to build their intercontinental missiles and then threaten Taiwan and the United States? Of course, the DNC claims to have returned all that money--after it was spent and Clinton and Gore won again, while the Senate hearings into the illegal Chinese money, led by Senator Thompson--you know, good ole likable Fred, soon to run as the Republican Reaganesque candidate--decided that the DNC was just an innocent victim of those unscrupulous, inscrutable Chinese. That's why all those Chinese agents had their pictures taken with Bill and Hillary--they were hiding!

For readers who don't think our politicians have our best interests in mind, I might suggest reading the Year of the Rat, by Edward Timperlake and William Triplett; for those who think they do have our best interests in mind, I strongly suggest reading the Year of the Rat, by Edward Timperlake and William Triplett

Posted by Zounds Off at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Education Week reports that Congress approved legislation last week that seeks to bolster mathematics and science education through improved teacher recruitment and training and promote successful classroom practices through federal grants.

The bipartisan legislation, which the House approved by a 367-57 vote and the Senate passed unanimously, had the backing of numerous business and education organizations. Members of Congress have dubbed the proposals, now consolidated into one bill, "competitiveness" legislation, because they believe it will strengthen the quality of the U.S. workforce and gird the American economy against foreign competition.

The bill now goes to President Bush, who lawmakers believe will sign the bill.

However, at the same time the National Conference of State Legislatures has taken a hard-line against any form of national academic standards, declaring that any attempt to unite school curricula across states would be unacceptable until perceived flaws in the federal No Child Left Behind Act are fixed.

The strongly worded new policy against national standards--even voluntary ones--prompted virtually no debate today and was approved on a voice vote during the Denver-based group's business meeting at its annual conference here, which drew nearly 9,000 attendees. NCSL policies such as the new one on national standards set the Washington lobbying agenda of the legislative group.

So Congress wants to improve our science and math achievement in public schools--which is pretty dismal but so is our performance in language where our students spend class time text messaging their friends--and the states want the money but they don't want to be accountable for what actually goes into the curriculum. Some schools will proabably claim that their sports programs actually meet math and science requirements for the grant monies...understanding the physics of baseball design makes homeruns go farther, when we all know it really is steroid use, DYK. (Don't you know, for those who don't.)

Posted by Zounds Off at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reported in Yahoo News: Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pulled out Wednesday from a council of hundreds of Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders aimed at reining in militant violence.

The most popular reason for the pull out is the recent rhetoric by U. S. Presidential candidates proclaiming their tough foreign policy stances by threatening to bomb al-Qaida targets inside Pakistan.

But it's nice to know that Obama's remarks on bombing a "soft" ally and Clinton's desire to up the "toughness" by bringing nuclear weapons into the argument, so that they can win political points at home, are partly responsible for undermining attempts by Afganistan and Pakistan to gain peace in their region. Add the Republicans' denounciation of Obama--the easier target to condemn--in their un-watched debate and I think the message might be that none of the candidates on both sides actually has a good foreign policy plan, a strong grasp of political and strategy nuance, and the experience to implement foreign policy beyond their own narrow political ambitions.

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Signed into law

- First minimum wage increase in a decade. (Note that Congress has given themselves at least seven pay raises during the same time period.)

- Implementation of many remaining 9/11 commission recommendations, including screening of all air cargo.

- Short-term authority to expand the government's ability to eavesdrop without warrants on communications that pass through the United States.

Vetoed by President Bush

- Time line to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. House upheld the veto.

- Expansion of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. No override votes have been held.

Passed House and Senate in different forms; awaiting compromise

- Expansion of the health care program that covers lower-income children. The House bill also includes significant changes in Medicare. Bush has threatened to veto both versions.

- Student aid expansion.

- Energy legislation with new efficiency standards for appliances, tax breaks and subsidies for hybrid cars and demonstration projects for burying greenhouse gases underground. (Hey, if burying the gases works--which has been a proposed solution even I have heard of--does that mean Harry Reid will stop posturing on stopping the three coal burning power plants proposed in Nevada?)

- $20-billion for water projects. Bush has threatened to veto. (Compromise bill has passed the House and is awaiting a Senate vote.)

Killed by Republican filibuster in Senate

- Immigration legislation.

- Requirement for the government to negotiate directly with drugmakers for lower consumer prices under Medicare.

Passed House

- Farm bill that includes crop payments to farmers and funds for conservation and nutrition programs. Bush has threatened a veto. (The bill it covers farm price and income support, soil and water conservation, alternative energy development, nutrition programs, agricultural trade, farm credit, research and extension, forestry, rural development, horticulture, organic agriculture, crop insurance, food labeling, meat and poultry inspection, and some sort of tax increase.)

Passed and awaiting presidential action

- Tighter congressional ethics provisions and greater disclosure of lobbyists' fundraising. (Disclosure doesn't mean fewer contributions, just greater measures by parties to figure out how to make contributions look innocuous. Remember how much money the Democratic National Committee had to return because it came from Chinese frontmen, Buddhist temples, etc. during the Clinton/Gore campaigns, though not until after they won in 1992 & 1996. Several millions! I wonder where some of Hillary's money is coming from and if she will continue Bill's legacy of quid pro quo for Chinese money.)

- Legislation calling for $33.6-billion over the next three years for science, technology, engineering and mathematics research and education programs.

And after Nancy Pelosi claimed that this new Congress would work more than the 103 days Congress put in last year, the first thing she did is call a day off to watch the NCAA basketball tournament and since then Congress still only works two to three days a week.

Posted by Zounds Off at 1:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

President Bush on Sunday signed into law an expansion of the government's power to eavesdrop on foreign terror suspects without the need for warrants.

The law, approved by the Senate and the House just before Congress adjourned for its summer break, was deemed a priority by Bush and his chief intelligence officials.

Bush signed the bill into law on Sunday afternoon at his retreat at Camp David, Md.

For more go to Bush Signs Bill Expanding Terror Surveillance Powers.

Posted by Zounds Off at 7:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

American Home Mortgage Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, the latest casualty of a mortgage industry that has plunged into distress.

The New York-based real estate investment trust, one of the largest independent U.S. home loan providers, filed for protection from creditors with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The filing came after American Home closed most operations on Friday, laying off all but about 750 workers. The company started the year with more than 7,400 employees.

Another casualty in the home loan market is Bear Stearns Cos co-president and co-chief operating officer Warren Spector, who resigned on Sunday, amid a credit risk crisis at the investment bank. (Yahoo News)

Bear Stearns said that, effective immediately, Alan Schwartz has been named the company's sole president.

Spector's departure follows Bear Stearns' assertion on Friday that it is weathering the worst storm in financial markets in more than 20 years after a major rating company warned mortgage credit problems could hurt the investment bank's profits.

Standard & Poor's warned that the recent collapse of two Bear Stearns-managed mortgage funds could hurt the company's performance and reputation for an extended period.

The collapse of the funds triggered a downturn across credit markets, put a damper on corporate buyout financing and sparked fears about Wall Street's trading and banking profits.

One day you're up and the next day you're out. At one time Spector was regarded as a possible successor to Chairman and Chief Executive James Cayne and now he probably just has a measly multi-million dollar parachute package to console him in his fall from grace. But just think, if this credit crisis gets bad enough, our government might just step in and bail out the "big boys" like it has for Lockheed (1970), First Pennsylvania Bank (1980), Penn Central Railroad (1970), Chrysler (1978), Continental Illinois (1984), and even New York City in 1975; because we wouldn't want corporate officers to suffer just because they don't know how to manage a company, unlike small business owners who don't donate tens of thousands of dollars to our "two party" system.

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Military officials in Iraq reported issuing 355,000 weapons to Iraqi security forces from June 2004 through September 2005, including 185,000 rifles and 170,000 pistols, the GAO (Government Accountability Office) said.

But the Defense Department could not account for 110,000 rifles and 80,000 pistols, the GAO said. Those sums amount to about 54 percent of the total weapons distributed to the Iraqi forces.

The GAO quoted officials as saying the agency responsible for handling weapons distribution was too short-staffed to record information on individual items given to Iraqi forces.

One senior Pentagon official told The Washington Post some weapons probably were being used against U.S. troops.

You have to love our military bureaucrats; it's a shame our soldiers have to work for them. Remember the $600 hammer of the '90's which even led to Vice President Al Gore's "Hammer Awards." Although, according to an article I read, the hammer actually cost $15--it was the $420 research and development costs attached to the hammer which raised the price to $435--well below $600, just part of a military accounting creativity experience. (See "The myth of the $600 hammer.") And if Al Gore actually knew what was going on in government, he might have known that. But that might take the fun out of SNAFU--situation normal, all f***ed up.

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dan Lyons, a senior editor at Forbes, has admitted to writing as Fake Steve, parodying Apple Inc. (AAPL.O) chief executive, Steve Jobs, after a New York Times reporter found resemblances between the blog and Lyons' published work and asked him whether he was behind the long-running satire.

Lyons told the Times he had started the fake blog last year to poke fun at the lack of candidness he saw in the growing number of CEO blogs that were attracting media attention.
Lyons used his adopted persona to poke fun at Real Steve Jobs' reputation for being a highly demanding, even arrogant, manager, offering gems such as this one:

"The MBAs say you should set high standards, let people know what's expected of them, and hold them to that. I do a little twist on that and say, hold people to an impossibly high standard, but here's the twist -- don't tell them what that standard is. And fire them if they fall short."

It's time I also come forward; I am the fake Zounds Off; the real Zounds Off is currently vacationing on a tropical island drinking rum concoctions and listening to heavy metal played on steel drums.

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Travel expert Marybeth Bond has written a book geared to women who want "gals only" trips. The National Geographic guide 50 best Girlfriends Getaways in North America is now in its second printing.

I suspect a lot of men might browse the book in bookstores and libraries--if men can read--just so they know where all the women are. I am trying to refrain from going to Amazon.com as I write, but then, I don't think I can afford to go to San Fran or New York, anyway.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a study to be presented at a conference on management this weekend, almost two-thirds of the 240 participants in an online survey said the local workplace tyrant was either never censured or was promoted for domineering ways according to a Reuters report.

The study will be presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, a research and teaching organization with nearly 17,000 members, from Sunday to Wednesday in Philadelphia.

The next study I would like to see done might confirm a suspicion I have had for a long time; in most companies and unions and workplaces with more than a few workers, if there is someone who is bright and efficient, that person will be driven out by the co-workers who don't want someone around who shows up how lazy or unproductive they are. But I guess those co-workers are getting their just rewards--they end up with the bad bosses.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. today reported second quarter financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

Net revenue for the second quarter of 2007 increased 18.6% to a record $612.9 million, compared to $517.0 million in the second quarter of 2006.

MGM Mirage Inc., operator of the MGM Grand, Bellagio and other casinos, announced its second-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by a gain on the divestiture of some properties and sales of Las Vegas condominiums.

Earnings soared to $360.2 million, or $1.22 per share, versus $146.4 million, or 50 cents per share, in the previous year.

Even smaller organizations have posted gains. Boyd Gaming reported second quarter 2007 income from continuing operations of $22.9 million, or $0.26 per share, compared with $12.4 million, or $0.14 per share, in the same period 2006.

Investment in residential housing bad, oil companies and gambling good. Strange rule of thumb: when the economy sours, people gamble, when the economy really tanks, will people really gamble?

Posted by Zounds Off at 2:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to state investigators, the operators of at least 11 Purrfect Auto locations had a scheme designed to rip off six out of every ten customers by charging them for repairs that either weren't needed or were never done reports News 3.

State investigators say anyone who thinks they have been ripped off by Purrfect Auto should contact the Nevada Attorney General's office to file a formal complaint at 486-3194.

Posted by Zounds Off at 2:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday Obama ruled out the use of nuclear weapons to go after al Qaeda or Taliban targets in Afghanistan or Pakistan, prompting Clinton to say presidents never take the nuclear option off the table, again questioning whether Obama has enough experience to be elected president in November 2008.

If Clinton thinks her tough talk will get her the nomination, she may be right because--except for Obama--most of the Democrats are non-entities in this race. It's shaken down to Barak and Hillary, and I for one am not impressed with Clinton's new position. Hillary was well known to work with John Huang, Hong Kong banker, in the fund raising for her husband's campaigns and, through Huang and Charlie Trie, Bill Clinton took millions in contributions from the Riadys, including James Riady--of the Lippo Group, a major Indonesian conglomerate--and various Chinese organizations including Chinese intelligence. The quid pro quo then appeared to be Bill Clinton giving over technology, despite the protest by our state department, which allowed the Chinese to improve their rocket guidance systems and radar installations--including those used by Saddam in Iraq during the no fly zone days. Now this Clinton is suggesting nuclear weapons could be used against soft allies. If I was a conspiracy nut I would almost believe she is sending a message to the Chinese who wish for Asian domination and have profited greatly from a Clinton administration before. But then, if I believed that, Democrats would just say I'm crazy. So I'll say it first...that's just crazy...or is it?

Posted by Zounds Off at 2:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is time for me to give the possible consequences of the Iraq war another thought after reading in Yahoo News the following:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has praised Sean Penn for his critical stance against the war in Iraq, saying the two chatted by phone and soon plan to meet in person.
....
Chavez read aloud from a recent open letter by Penn to President Bush in which the actor condemned the Iraq war and called for Bush to be impeached, saying the president along with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are "villainously and criminally obscene people."
....
He called the actor "well-informed about what is happening in the United States and the world, in spite of being in Hollywood."

What's more, Chavez said, "he's made great films."

Just when I am almost convinced that the Iraq war is a disaster, these two come together to criticize--the criminally insane and the criminally inane. I will not try to sway anyone's view of the Iraq war; it is probably as polarizing as the issue of abortion--neither side will budge. But I have to admit that when Chavez and Penn get together and agree on this topic, two people who don't seem to have the U.S. interest in mind, ever, then I have to wonder what they are afraid of. Is it possible that a democracy might arise in Iraq; is it possible that Iran is being checked because U.S. troops are just over the border, despite the wild threats of Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; is it possible that the Saudi position of funding terrorism is getting weaker; is it possible that the current "destabilization" of the Middle East has hindered OPEC's desire to see $100 dollar a barrel oil prices? No, better scratch that as the oil companies and world banks want that also, so Poor George is for it. Is it possible that in 20 or 30 years Bush might not be viewed as the "worst president ever" according to Democrats--who will still be in the war if they take the White House, and check out Obama's posturing on launching strikes into Pakistan; then try to figure out which is a good invasion and which is bad under Democratic logic?

That's a scary thought!

Posted by Zounds Off at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Utah lawmakers want Congress to spend more than $6 million to examine the proposed Las Vegas water pipeline, fearing it could lead to dust storms in the highly populated Salt Lake valley.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to pipe groundwater from northern Nevada to Las Vegas, and in April, Nevada State Engineer Tracy Taylor authorized the Southern Nevada Water Authority to take up to 40,000 acre-feet of water annually from the aquifer west of Great Basin National Park.

One problem is that some of these aquifers just don't sit conveniently under one state but straddle those pesky boundary lines. Same thing with individual ranchers already sitting over the aquifers--if someone next to you starts taking water from under their property, and if they take enough (like trying to water the lawns in Las Vegas) the level of the whole aquifer goes down if it can't be replenished. So southern Nevada could be taking water which affects aquifer levels in Utah. I remember reading how a town in Texas took so much water from the aquifer under it that the whole town dropped several feet as the aquifer emptied. Of course, Texas has a cowboy attitude toward water rights--he who can get it, can have it, even if his neighbor loses the water in his well. It might not take much for the wells of ranchers in Nevada or Utah to run dry if the aquifer level lowers. So who to appease...a few measly ranchers and the state of Utah, or Sin City, a glorious citadel of conservation and productivity.

Posted by Zounds Off at 1:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nevada merchants sold $4.11 billion in goods during May for a 3.6 percent decline compared with the same month a year earlier, according to a Nevada Department of Taxation report.

But according to Gov. Jim Gibbons consumer spending remains strong in several business categories, helping the state maintain its "sound" economic footing.

The Taxation Department report shows that vehicle and auto part sales were down 14 percent in May while building material sales were down nearly 29 percent and restaurant-bar sales--indicators of tourist traffic--were down about 16 percent.

Clothing store sales were up nearly 32 percent, amusement-gambling-recreation industry sales were up 35 percent, and food and beverage store sales were up nearly 26 percent.

Compared to the Economic Forum's May 1, 2007 projections, fiscal year to date cigarette taxes are 2.35% or $2.7 million below projections. The liquor tax is 7.21% or $2.8 million above projections.

Well I know the prices in my local grocery store went up 26 percent, so I am not sure anybody is selling more, just charging more. It's enough to make me want to drown my checkbook in a six-pack of cheap beer--which may be why liquor sales are up while foreclosures rise. That doesn't sound like a strong economy to me, and with the housing woes and high energy costs, if there is an attendant drop in tourism (which really fuels the economy), then Governor Gibbons can eat his words--at least he can afford them.

Posted by Zounds Off at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Chinese wildlife research centre has come up with a novel idea to profit from panda poo -- make Olympic souvenirs out of it.

Researchers at the centre in Chengdu, capital of mountainous Sichuan province, had sculpted photo frames, bookmarks, fans and panda statues out of the 300 tons of the stuff produced by 60 giant pandas each year.

Sometimes I just sit amazed at the useless stuff I can find on Yahoo News, but in this case I just have to make the obvious pun; this sounds like a crappy idea to me...unless of course it sells.

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Yahoo News: Shares of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. plunged 90 percent Tuesday after the company raised fears it may become insolvent, renewing concern about worsening credit quality in the mortgage market and killing a Wall Street rally.

The struggling mortgage lender said its financial backers have essentially pulled the plug. The Wall Street banks that lend American Home Mortgage money for home loans -- which include firms like UBS AG, Bear Stearns Cos., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. -- will not extend the company any more money, and some have demanded back the money they have lent.

And about our neighbors in California, the source of Las Vegas' housing woes...this article called Golden dream or foreclosures by the sea?a>