It seems the one laptop for every child left behind is off to a slow start, so the backers have now decided to try to kick up the giving spirit. For each laptop bought at $399.00

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University for over two hours. In what could probably only happen in America, the president ripped the US which it claimed was sponsoring terrorist organizations.

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It seems President Bush will skip all the meetings being held at the U.N. on global warming, but will find time to make it to the dinner. I’m not saying I’m the biggest green peace maven on the planet, but I think I would find time to at least be in attendance to hear what the rest of the world thinks of it. Read the rest of this entry »

Can you talk about globalization without oil? With oil running at record prices many are asking how high can it go. If you ask the producers they will say it should not be this high, but they have no control over it “cough”. One does have to wonder why the price is so high with no storms or supply disruptions. So why is oil at these sky high prices? The free market for all its benefits often runs the price up on speculation. Of course the producers talk a big game, but you know they want the price where it is. While the dollar falling certainly plays into the mix, it would seem that this is just more excuses for the exuberant prices.

I doubt the prices will get any better either. The global economy storms on with no end in sight. I doubt they will ever catch up; which brings alternative sources even closer to the helm. Someone is going to make a fortune investing in these alternatives. It’s not without its gambles though obviously. I don’t think for example, ethanol is the answer as it’s not plentiful enough, and we need it for food. In my opinion it will have to be hydrogen or something of that ilk, but it too will have to be subsidized in the beginning. Either way something has to be done as we all try to find cheaper energy. The days of 20 dollar a barrel oil are long gone.

Why do I have to watch Russia slip further away from the global landscape and what seems to be more of the old “Iron Curtain” attitude. I really thought they were heading in the right direction. It seems Putin who has been a lousy leader IMO, wants to really shape his legacy send off. I’m not saying we’re blessed with great leadership at the moment ourselves, but when you see quotes such as

“Although Kremlin officials have tried to portray the groups as independent players, Nashi and the others owe their financing and political support to their status as creations of Mr. Putin’s administration. They are allowed to hold marches, while demonstrations by the opposition are prohibited or curtailed. Their activities are covered favorably on state television, while the opposition’s are disparaged or ignored.” you have to wonder what the real motives are. Obviously these guys are pretending to be a democratic country, but are far from that as anyone can see. I was kind of hoping my children were not going to have to grow up with things such as fallout shelters and the like. I guess it’s all just wishful thinking. It’s bad enough the future generations will have to deal with in terrorism, but do we really need another cold war brewing? Why can’t we all just get along?

Full article here

When I first read the headlines of this article my first thought was this was to do with circumcision for young infants or boys. After reading however I found myself in shock that this kind of thing actually still happens. This site is focused on globalization and the respect of cultures and rituals is valued by me. This however is one of those things that crosses the lines. It seems that in Egypt the men are so insecure with themselves that they revert to mutilating young girls genital areas. Can you believe this stuff? I got one for you. Learn how to treat them with respect and honor and maybe you won’t have to worry so much. My fine line in all the cultural barriers is crossed at the oppression of women. I fully can’t understand how someone could physically allow or perform this sort of procedure. It seems they are finally starting to actually enforce the bans on the procedure and they media is bringing it out of the dark for all to see. It bothers me to even really talk about it, but I had to vent on this one. I also know the arguments could be made against circumcision for young infants etc, but this is another league; at least in my opinion.

You can see the full article at the Times

It seems Mr. Greenspan is worried about backlash to the globalization trend. Stating in his new book “He worries that the backlash to globalization could create a “truly serious economic crisis”. I would tend to agree with his hypothesis, although I think he should talk a whole lot less these days. He seems to really miss the limelight of the media, as he appears it seems weekly stating one of his opinions. We don’t really need a former Fed chairman speaking his mind or second guessing the current Fed chief. Back to the globalization side, I do worry sometimes about how everyone seems so scared of globalization and their job security etc etc. If you step back and embrace it you will often find that it has created jobs where they never existed or create opportunities that were not there before. Being scared of something never leads to anything good. One things for sure; it’s not going away so people should learn to deal with it, and try to make something positive out of it.

The Iphone will hit the UK on Nov 9th according to Mr Jobs. As an Iphone owner myself I would highly recommend our British friends pick one up. It really is a game changer (at least it was for me). I hated the big clunky Blackberry or Treo lines and it fit me well. I also can fly on the keyboard just as fast after a little bit of a learning curve. It’s not without it’s fault though as they will see it. They need to get to a 3G version of the phone asap so I can pawn mine on ebay and get the new one. I’m not going to complain about a price drop either. I guess the Iphone brought in a lot of newbie gadget buyers that have not learned early adopters usually pay a price for it.

Well if you thought that the old ladies pulling their money out of Countrywide was bad, just take a look at this one. Are people wanting to go back to the mattress piggy banks or what? I’m not sure how their banking system is as far as insurance(FDIC Equivalent), but the government said that they would back all deposits. If it gets that bad(not trusting the government), standing in line for your money is going to be the least of peoples worries. It should be interesting to see if the Fed cut today will alleviate some of the stress in the bond and credit markets. I think it’s all just fear, and has little to do with the fundamentals of the economy. Now the depression was a time when you actually had the fundamentals to back some of the fear, but some of these fear mongers crack me up.

Here’s a real shocker. Russia and china are spying on us. I guess the fact that it’s at cold war levels would shock some, but why would anyone expect anything less? It’s not like we’re not spying on them. In this day and age the act of spying is as simple as pulling up google maps(ok maybe a bit dramatic),and clicking the mouse while zooming in. Something tells me this is the backdrop for Uncle Sam getting his wish with the “Protect America Act”. I’m all for protecting our national interests, but let’s not use “cold war levels” to strike fears to get your way. Does anyone think that we’re not being spied on with todays technology?