Opening Stuff
The nation hangs on the words of Timothy Geithner. Why? He has never run a business or ever made a business decision. He has only been associated with big finance. Which has contributed to an impressive succession of resume building jobs. This doesn't mean that he isn't smart, it just means that he has done anything. If you check into his entire career you'll find that he has been nothing more than a bureaucrat. And do you know what bureaucrats do? They protect their bureaucracies.
You know that you're developing a personality problem when "smart" phones reject your name and number.
I was watching an AARP commercial on the debt dealings and the implied selfishness sickened me. But...I thought! -- That is the problem with a America. The failure to teach people to understand the the big problem but rather to use people to produce one sided solutions. How are we every going to accomplish anything difficult when you have groups like AARP extorting government representatives with threats revolving around the power of 80 Million votes. Everybody does it and that is why we are in a hole. -- Wall Street, Public employees, farmers, environmentalists and Indian chiefs too. Somebody is out there trying to drill a new air and food hole, but the granite in our leaders heads is making progress slow.
The Question:
Name the top 10 brands receiving the "Most Buzz", according to the Brandindex Buzz scores:
The Headliners:
--House Passes Energetic "Cut, Cap And Balance" Economic Future Bill; Bill Model For Strong Action Going Forward; Senate Expected To Wimp Out With Traditional Band-Ade Compromise.--Markets Flat.
--June Home Sales Fall.
--NFL Players Say They Are Not Tied To Thursday Deadline To Get deal Done.
--Clinton Says He Would Raise Debt Ceiling Without Congressional Approval.
In case you are wondering, the word is that Casey Anthony eloped with Strauss-Kahn.
America's Got Talent Department: The biggest dilemma I saw was Dani Shay. She finished up strong but as they say on AI, she was a little "pitchy". I say dilemma becasue I like her. This was not a great night on AFT. A bad comedian, an uninspiring magician, a mistake prone juggler all capped by a horsed dropping a large one on the stage. Which some say may have been the best performance of the night. The act of the night was probably The Sillouettes, where this night the shadow makers created patriotic figures. Also decent was Mona Lisa and Daniel Joseph Baker. Not a memorable two hours.
I was watching the British Parliament interrogation of the Murdocks and came away with the same impression that I have taken form US congressional assaults. The elected haughty can't understand why a good business can't run like them, a Government. With all of the inefficiencies, the over staffing and the redundancy. It's why they keep on asking questions that have been answered. It's why business people have martinis when the leave Congressional or Parliamentary hearings.
In 2002 it was 55%. Today 77% of all US banking assets are controlled by 10 Banks. The big six are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, BofA and Wells Fargo The other 4 are MetLife Inc., Taunus Corp, HSBC and US Bancorp. None of the problems that caused the big 2009 failures have been fixed. These giants still have mountains of risk, debt and leverage all resulting instability. All of the QE's and Bailouts were designed to get the banks to start lending. But it looks as though they are using most of that cash for expansion. 1,000 banks are on the "Problem List". Are you scared yet?
Some laws are passed to assure that products are brought up to higher standards. But when those standards are met and often surpassed, they never rescind the mandates but just make people pay for something they don't need year after year. A good example of thgat is the annual emissions testing. Sometime in the nineteen seventies the laws were passed to establish testing for auto emissions. But, today's new and improved cars have pretty much licked the problem. Yet consumers are still ordered to pay under penalty of fines $60-100 Bucks to test something that works perfectly.
And...Alabama is still collecting a tax to "serve the neediest of Civil War Veterans"!
We lost the manufacturing business for pretty much the same reason that the average investor struggles while the only big money made consistently on Wall Streets is from derivatives. . Side bets! In both industries the MBA trained new manager looked beyond the main business because of the demands for profit which were not possible through normal operations. It is why jobs disappeared. I totally believe in the capitalist system. And, it has performed best when business people remembered that responsibility to the country comes along with the license that enables "Free Enterprise".
Almost Near: Chapter 30. --"Hello. Hello? Tucker?" As hard as she wished him there she was only rewarded with, "Hi you've reached Tucker. I'll call you back. Leave a message." This time she slammed down the phone. She needed his words. She needed to hear his voice. he is what made her fairy tale Lobster Cove so perfect She heard a car out side, and jumped up. But it was just a UPS truck turning around in the driveway.
She looked out, and decided to take a walk to town. She needed to talk to someone. Her little windbreaker slipped on easily and she reached in and pulled her cell phone out of the pocket. The screen door slammed beind her as she walked down the path to the road. She felt better already. She dialed Tucker's cell phone and this time left a message. "Hi, Miss me?" She laughed warmly into the phone. "When are you coming home? I miss you. O.. Anyway, I just called to tell you when you call, call my cell phone. I'm going for a walk."
Within minutes she could feel the stronger breeze off the harbor. And the smell. The beautiful smell of salty air. Before she knew it, she was opening the door to Lilies. There were a few tables taken but it wasn't the morning noise. She decided to endure The Grump, so she sat at the counter.
"Hello".
"Coffee." Words were spare when you sat at the counter. She was used to this now. Originally she was concerned that nobody knew her, and the surly Thelma reinforced her sense of isolation. But now she knew that this waitress was just not a talker.
The thud of the cup and the rattle of the spoon brought her back. She stirred the coffee for no reason. Maybe it was a habit because she never took cream or sugar. Now she felt odd, and as she looked up she saw Thelma staring at her. And, with a little smile on than granite face. Samantha blushed.
"Ya know. You look kinda like that missin' woman. You know, that one the good lookin' lawyer's lookin for. Well, how about that!"
.
People say they don't want experienced business people in relevant cabinet positions because it is like having the fox guarding the hen house. Yet people are willing to elect union leaders to state legislatures to create laws controlling the income of their members. Go figure. I guess the news media doesn't understand.
Boy, do I sound angry this morning. But as I look around at AARP, and people complaining about having to work til they 're 70, and why isn't somebody taking care of me... I just know as many do that this country is totally out of control. When I see elected officials worried primarily about getting re-elected than bringing a America back to its greatness where self initiative combined with caring hearts with little or no government intervention were the ingredients of the American pie. Where freedom rang best when it was coupled with resposibility. That's why I'm angry. It's tough to keep it in.
The Answer: Number one is Subway, proving once again that without question Buzz does not translate into good quality. The rest in order are Ford, Lowes, Amazon, history Channel, Netflix, Cheerios, UPS, Discovery Channel and Google.
Is this the most important congress since the beginning of the United States of America's time? Haven't we reached the "Fat, Dumb and happy" point on the curve that describes the life cycle of a nation. Either we wake up, put "United" back into the formula and go froward. Or we sit in our lazy boys or yachts or bar stools or church pews or poker tables or kayaks and complain about the other guy while we flush away the greatest, most giving country in history. It's that simple.
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