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3 May,2009 – 8:44 pm
My days consist of working on my computer (plastic), talking on my BlackBerry (plastic), making coffee in my coffee maker (plastic), driving around in my Land Rover (plastic) and then falling asleep in my bed (plastic). What’s the common denominator of my day? Plastic. It’s the one thing I can count on to be there regardless and to be consistent in its performance.
Our lives, landfills and oceans are all consumed by plastic. As human beings we’re dependent on this near indestructible material and this blinding nearsighted need is catching up with us. It is in everything, without it we would be no more advanced than our primate cousins. Because plastic is as normal in our lives as the air we breathe, so rarely do we stop to realize just how reliant we are on it or how badly our need of it is killing our future.
I just saw Ian Connacher’s ...
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Tags: Energy, Landfills, Plastic, Pollution, Recycle
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29 April,2009 – 1:19 pm
Oligarchs, a fancy name for crooked business entrepreneurs in Russia or a label made for guys just trying to make it big? The Russian Oligarchs originally date back to the late 1980’s as the Soviet system was being dismantled and the Russian economy began seizing capitalist opportunities. They found ways to profit from the black market by smuggling rare goods such as PCs and jeans into the country and then turning them for a huge financial gain. This enabled these business hustlers to build enough of a financial foundation to then become meaningful business men with a shady background and connections to whomever they needed to continue building their empires. Corrupt government officials were a big element in the success of the oligarchs as they were able to hide the oligarch’s illegal activities under the safety of the political umbrella. This relationship is still active in today’s Russia and is ...
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29 April,2009 – 1:10 pm
We’ve all heard the line, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”
Over recent years Dubai has become the birth place of turning architect’s wet dreams into costly realities. They’ve created their own version of The World giving the well-to-do an excuse to drink out of coconuts with little umbrellas while laughing haughtily at everyone who doesn’t own their own sand dredged island. They’ve created a city of malls all gleaming with the twinkle of consumerism and even went so far as to put a snowy mountain in the middle of the dessert. As if islands formed in the shape of our great Earth that could be swallowed up by global warming isn’t enough to impress you, then how about a big indoor ski resort that blatantly defies the rules of nature thus burns through our natural resources? Still not packing your bags and grabbing your ...
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23 April,2009 – 2:06 am
When baby birds are ready to leave the nest there’s no doubt their little birdbrains must be racked with fear. Their fuzzy little heads peek out over the edge of their twig made home and spy upon the ginormous fall that awaits them. Stricken by the fear of the splat, some babies will huddle back into the safety of their mother’s feathers while other’s take a leap of faith. In nature, it’s been known that some mother birds will literally push their babies out of the nest, forcing them to fly on their own.
I’m not a bird watcher and don’t exactly fancy being woken up by the black birds that inhibited the trees near my house but this analogy isn’t about feathers. It’s about the Government and their pushing of GM to splat.
Fritz Henderson, the new CEO of General Motors Corp, must being feeling like he’s on a ledge being ...
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23 April,2009 – 2:03 am
I remember when pagers were all the rage in the 90’s. Sending a page with 80085 to your bros was hilarious and the ability to send someone your phone number as a request to call you back was just plain genius. We then evolved into our first mobile phone which weighed 20lbs and looked like a toolbox. However in 2009 we’ve long passed the tech-limitations of the pager or first mobile phones and are now completely consumed if not controlled by our phones, computer and anything that has a screen.
My cell is my girlfriend, assistant, entertainment and all around lifeline to the world that buzzes around me. It never leaves my side and is rarely turned off, if ever. As a busy business owner, I can’t afford to miss a call, text, BBM, email, facebook message, LinkedIn connection, Twitter or picture thus I’m reliant on my technology and a slave ...
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23 April,2009 – 2:01 am
There’s nothing more annoying than sitting down in front of the TV to watch a little Columbo to find that every channel has become an onslaught of political campaign ads. But whenever we Americans are placing our votes to replace one shysty politico with another, we’re forced to suffer the consequences of our First Amendment Rights.
We have the infamous Dwight D. Eisenhower to thank for politicians taking over our beloved TV. He was the first American presidential candidate to use the television to reach the voters of our nation. But today, as politicians find more ways to enter our daily lives, we have only ourselves to blame.
Political campaigns have grown into a media penetration that Ike would’ve scoffed at and could’ve never predicted. With the realms of technology and communication intermingling to an extent that there’s no longer a line to separate them, everyone from politicians to celebrities to Joe ...
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23 April,2009 – 1:58 am
I travel, extensively. Recently I stayed at a Kimpton hotel that had slanted, floor to ceiling windows that created a rain slip n’ slide. Romantic if I wasn’t minus 1 but relaxing just the same. In addition to the ambiance, this lover-birds nest also offered a pretty ambitious amenities basket that provided the essentials many forget while traveling, toothbrush, umbrella, sex kit and a flashlight. Their concern for the dryness of my clothes and well-being was refreshing and frankly, in this economy, surprising. But hotels are doing more to take care of their weary wanderers then just dental care.
Life is evolving with the technological advances quicker than most people can keep up. So the changes we’re seeing in hotels only mirror our incessant need for a world virtually beyond our own. Many hotels have offered the latest and greatest in technology in their luxury suites but my curiosity lies in ...
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23 April,2009 – 1:55 am
I bleed blue and gold. If shame of being “that guy” wasn’t a reality in painting your face, I would wear the colors of my Wolverines daily. Why am I telling you this? Because U of M isn’t in the Final Four this weekend, MSU is. Regardless, my loyalties still lie in Michigan but are rooting for the turnaround of its economy rather than its home team winning the NCAA tournament.
Michigan is my home state and despite the fact that I now reside in Colorado, I will always be a diehard supporter of my U of M and the state that I grew up in. So with the win of MSU, not only am I excited to have the battle of the Final Four on my old stomping grounds, but I’m also hoping that this will possibly help my hurting Motor City with its money problems. It seems I’m not ...
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23 April,2009 – 1:52 am
Unless we’re in a recession and then they‘ll have to settle for cubic zirconia. The economic downturn has greatly affected the unemployment rate, housing market and Wall Street. But has it changed the way our upper class consumers are spending?
Gucci, just reported its worst third quarter since 2005 because of our cash conundrum. With consumers spending smarter rather than harder, high-end brands are feeling the heat of no longer being the recipients of the disposable income of upper class shoppers. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t spending at all. Shoppers worldwide have just adjusted the way they’re dropping their dollars thanks to the tactics retailers are taking to entice us to spend. Tiffany & Co. have taken a hit below their diamond studded belt. Their fourth quarter sales dropped by 29% but CEO, Michael J. Kowalski, is confident that despite their slipping sales, they’ll have a strong year by releasing new ...
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23 April,2009 – 1:49 am
Imagine a private equity company as a pool….. It’s small, safe and predictable without a lot of people splashing around in it disrupting the natural motion of its waves. Now imagine an Olympic sized pool filled water wing-to- water wing with the entire world’s publically traded companies. Look close and you’ll see Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle Group and all of their other private equity friends playing around in it, fighting to swim in the same water while the world watches their every move. Not a pretty picture is it?
It’s not a pretty picture, yet more and more private equity companies have taken the dive into the waters of the public. There once was a time when turning your company over to the masses to be traded was a trend. From about 1996-2006, returns on private equity averaged 11.4% vs. 6.6% for the SP500 stock market index. This, no doubt, was a ...
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