Free Republic

The bubble in social networking has burst, decisively. LiveJournal, the San Francisco-based arm of Sup, a Russian Internet startup, has cut 12 of 28 U.S. employees — and offered them no severance, we're told. The quirky site, part blog and part social network, is best known for its users' weird obsessions — like the troublesome clique of Harry Potter erotica writers, whose outré tastes ran afoul of LiveJournal's efforts to comply with U.S. child-pornography laws. (Oddly, the site also gained a following in Russia, which led to its acquisition by Sup.) All that adds up to an environment even more...

Someone in the world of editorial columns recently predicted that a “bailout backlash” would begin in the year 2010. Could we arrange for that backlash to get started a little sooner - - like, now? It’s understandable if Americans aren’t paying attention to the machinations of government at the moment. Most of us just wrapped-up a somewhat anxious holiday season, and gladly said goodbye to a difficult 2008. But the new Congress launches this week, and the new President takes office in less than three weeks. And if you’ve been angered by the ways the current President and Congress have...

There is no such thing as “clean coal,” environmentalists insist. Burning coal to generate electricity emits soot particles that cause respiratory problems, lung cancer and heart disease, killing 24,000 Americans annually. It’s the kind of claim that eco-activist Bruce Hamilton says “builds the Sierra Club,” by generating cash and lobbying clout for his and similar groups. It’s also disingenuous, unethical and harmful. Since 1970, unhealthy power plant pollutants have been reduced by almost 95% per unit of energy produced. Particulate emissions (soot) decreased 90% below 1970 levels, even as coal use tripled, and new technologies and regulations will nearly eliminate...

Culprit was deregulation You recently ran an article which asked if 2008 could be the start of a great depression. It could well be. I have never seen anything like this in my life and I have been around for several decades. One thing is certain: it was adherence to the neocon philosophy of laissez-faire capitalism and deregulation which brought us to where we are now. The American people were warned about this by the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s (subprime's little brother) and the recession of 1990. Reagan and his successors engaged in deregulation of the...

The rolling script of the Pininfarina trademark is as much a part of a Ferrari Testarossa as the V-12 engine, but ownership of the name that spells Italian sports car design has been forfeited in a mountain of debt. The founding family of Pininfarina has lost its battle to keep control of the design firm and boutique car manufacturer. After months of wrangling, a banking syndicate led by Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit have agreed to reschedule debts of almost €600 million (£575 million), but the family must sell its 50.6 per cent stake in the company. Potential buyers of the...

America is on the verge and it’s no joking matter. This financial tsunami just off shore has been building for decades and is about to come crashing on beaches across the country. Sadly, there really isn’t much we can do to stop it though one thing is for sure, even if we could, we’re not even close to the real solution. Until someone is willing to take a stand against the tyranny that awaits us, things are just going to decline real fast…real fast. Why so gloom and doom you ask? Well, almost everyone offering a solution is missing the...

Many professors, mostly on the liberal side of the political spectrum, use their classrooms to proselytize students. I have taught economics for the past 40 years and challenge anyone to find even one student, among the thousands who went through my classes, who can say, "Professor Williams used his class to proselytize students." While acceptable at most universities, it is nothing less than academic dishonesty to do so. Like others I have my own values and opinions, such as those expressed in some of my nationally syndicated columns, but they never become a part of classroom discussion. Learning how to...

When Marci Needle and her husband began to contemplate divorce in June, they thought they had enough money to go their separate ways. They owned a million-dollar home in Atlanta and another in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as investment properties. Now the market for both houses has crashed, and the couple are left arguing about whether the homes are worth what they owe on them, and whether there are any assets left to divide, Ms. Needle said. "We're really trying very hard to be amicable, but it puts a strain on us," said Ms. Needle, the friction audible in her...

A senior UN official has used the Christmas holiday to lash out at the world's richest countries. The UN Assembly President said greed was the root cause of many of the problems blighting the world. In his New Year greeting, Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann said prosperous countries were responsible for a lot of the misery faced by poor communities. "All the most serious problems that are right now a source of so much pain to so many people in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Oceania are man-made problems,” he said. “And for the most part, caused by...

Is the author of this complaint any relation to Madoff. They appear to have the same last name.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. said Friday that the 2008 holiday season was the online retailer's "best ever," with more than 6.3 million items ordered and 5.6 million units shipped during its peak day on Dec. 15. Amazon's upbeat take on the holiday season bucked the drumbeat of generally dismal news from retailers. Holiday sales typically account for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailer's annual total, but rising unemployment, home foreclosures, the stock market decline and other economic worries led many shoppers to slash their shopping budgets this year.

Barack Obama wants to use the recession to remake the U.S. economy. "Painful crisis also provides us with an opportunity to transform our economy to improve the lives of ordinary people," Obama said. His designated chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is more direct: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." So they will "transform our economy." Obama's nearly trillion-dollar plan will not merely repair bridges, fill potholes and fix up schools; it will also impose a utopian vision based on the belief that an economy is a thing to be planned from above. But this is an...

Ten businesses and business models that will soon be history.

Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, a founder of the hedge fund Access International Advisors, was found dead early Tuesday in his office in Manhattan, the French business daily La Tribune reported on its Web site, after losing as much as $1.4 billion that had been invested with Bernard L. Madoff, the money manager accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Mr. de la Villehuchet, 65, committed suicide, La Tribune said, citing a someone close to Mr. de la Villehuchet. Mr. de la Villehuchet had been trying to recover the money that Access International raised in Europe and invested through...

With revenue plunging as readers and advertisers flee to the Web, many newspaper companies have turned to selling off their buildings to raise money or save on costs. But now that option may be drying up too, as frozen credit markets make commercial real estate deals scarce. At least half a dozen newspaper companies have said this year they plan to sell their buildings, some with the intention of leasing back space for their news operations. Others are moving to smaller offices to save money as staffs dwindle and the era of commanding downtown newspaper buildings appears near an end....

The U.S. economy is sinking deeper into recession and companies are shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs, but the technology firms that Santa Fe, N.M., venture capitalist Trevor Loy invests in haven't stopped growing. In fact, they're still adding to their payrolls, and they plan to continue doing so next year. The firms that Loy is funding are developing products such as state-of-the-art water purification systems and the next generation of construction site surveying cameras. They're part of a select swath of the U.S. economy that's been protected — so far — from the bad economic weather. They're schools and...

One of the great achievements of our time has been the conquest of inflation. In the 1970s, it ravaged our savings, raised our taxes and kept the economy on a roller coaster. So it is a measure of our current economic crisis that the return of inflation might be the best thing that could happen. Over and over during the postwar era, the Federal Reserve has decided that overcoming inflation was worth suffering a recession. This time, it ought to recognize overcoming a deep recession is worth enduring some inflation. The existing downturn already looks certain to be the most...

Butcher, baker, candlestick maker -- all noble professions, indeed. Stay-at-home Mom? Well, get a real job. At least, that's what one Australian mom was told when she went to buy a cell phone. Lyndal Fair, a thirty-six-year-old mother of three, wanted to purchase a mobile phone, presumably to keep track of her brood, to call their schools and doctors and to be available in an emergency. Not good enough, said Vodafone -- they don't sell phones to moms. In fact, the store employees suggested she get her husband to purchase the phone under his name for her. Sound familiar? "I...

Japan's government has forecast that the country's economy will have zero growth in the year ending March 2010. It is the first projection of no growth from the world's second largest economy in seven years. It follows a revised projection for the current fiscal year that the economy will shrink by 0.8%, instead of the 1.3% growth forecast in July. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has cut its key interest rate to just 0.1%, down from 0.3%, taking it lower than US rates. The BOJ also announced that it would increase its purchase of Japanese government bonds to 1.4 trillion...

“GOP to Detroit: Drop Dead!” So may have read the headline Friday, had not President George Bush stepped in to save GM, Ford and Chrysler, which Senate Republicans had just voted to send to the knacker’s yard. What are Republicans thinking of, pulling the plug, at Christmas, on GM, risking swift death for the greatest manufacturing company in American history, a strategic asset and pillar of the U.S. economy. The $14 billion loan to the Big Three that Republican senators filibustered to death is just 2 percent of the $700 billion the Senate voted to bail out Wall Street. Having...

In less than three months recently (from August 30 to November 19), the Federal Reserve System increased bank reserves in U.S. banks to more than $650 billion from under $50 billion. To remark that this was both a large and an unprecedented action would be an understatement. Since banks are permitted to lend a multiple of such reserves, it is possible that some day the U.S. money supply will begin to skyrocket amidst a new lending boom. Mr. Bernanke may now longingly dream of that day when he can become the stern central banker who must "take away the punch...

Farmers Panic About a ‘Cow Tax’ By Kate Galbraith Should their greenhouse gases be taxed? (Photo: Steve Ruark for The New York Times) The comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency’s exploration of greenhouse gas regulation ended last Friday, with farmers lobbying furiously against the notion of a “cow tax” on methane, a potent greenhouse gas emitted by livestock. The New York Farm Bureau issued a statement last week (PDF) saying it feared that a tax could reach $175 per cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and upward of $20 for each hog. Such a tax would represent a...

NY officials want older trucks fitted with emission-reducing equipment; cost put at $195M ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York is taking steps to reduce diesel emissions in its construction fleet. The Department of Environmental Conservation is floating proposed regulations requiring trucks made before 2007 to be fitted with emissions-reducing equipment and to use ultra-low-sulfur fuel by 2011. The new regulations would apply only to state-owned trucks or trucks used for state contract work. The DEC estimates it will cost $195 million to retrofit about 30,000 state trucks. The New York State

PEORIA, Ill. - How is the economic downturn affecting motivational speakers who rouse breakfast audiences - those seminar stars who promise to spur sales and company coaches that seek to boost the bottom line? The short answer is that when business goes bad, business experts get busy. That's the consensus of several people who make their living addressing companies across the country and around the world. "We call them 'one-day wonders.'" said Mary Pille, CEO of the Employers Association, a group that plans meetings for business audiences throughout the year. "One of the first things to go when times get...

Many years ago, the late visionary writer Michael Crichton wrote an op-ed piece that basically predicted everything that has since happened in the newspaper industry. He talked about how information would be delivered electronically to people’s own personal devices, and how these technological advances would render the printed newspaper obsolete. One of the newspapers that was actually willing to run the piece was my hometown Detroit News, but it ran a rebuttal alongside from a staff member who excoriated Crichton for having the gall to say such things. The newspaper industry is in financial trouble, not because reporting and journalism...

What’s the worst that could happen? That’s a question that James Rickards spends a lot of time pondering these days, as he sifts through the national security implications of the financial crisis facing the United States. Rickards will lay out his worst case scenarios in a lecture sponsored by the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy tonight. And his forecasts aren’t for the faint of heart. Rickards calls it the “A to Z” problem: What are the threats that could make the U.S. economy look less like America and more like Zimbabwe? He sees them...

Doing the kind of investigative reporting we should expect from the major media, a financial research and consulting firm has released a major analysis of the “credit crisis” that concludes that the claims made by Treasury Department Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to justify a socialist takeover of the financial industry were demonstrably false. The analysis, Flawed Assumptions about the Credit Crisis: A Critical Examination of US Policymakers,concludes that the result of the unjustified massive federal intervention in the economy could be similar to the economic crisis in the Weimar Republic of 1922, where disastrous hyperinflation...

A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks. “Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,” said the War College report. The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique...

A jury sentenced a Lakeview man to 10 years in prison for growing nearly 7,500 marijuana plants. Andrew Stever, 40, was sentenced on Monday after a three-day trial in the Federal District Court in Medford.Ten years is the mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted of growing 1,000 or more pot plants. In July 2007, officers from several local, state and federal agencies found 7,459 plants growing on Stever's Lakeview property, which bordered Forest Service land. Two men fled the scene, leaving behind personal property and three firearms, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Portland. Physical evidence and testimony linked...

Better than a bailout By Jeff Jacoby Jeff Jacoby Printer Friendly Version Email this article http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | During last week's battle over a federal rescue for Detroit's automakers - after a deal had passed the House but before it collapsed in the Senate - the Gallup Organization summarized its latest findings: "Bailouts Aren't Increasing Consumer Confidence." To put it mildly. More than 60 percent of Americans now rate the economy "poor"; a whopping 82 percent expect economic conditions to get even worse. "Americans seem to be suffering from so-called 'bailout fatigue,' " Gallup observed, "opposing not only the auto bailout,...

STRASBOURG (AFP) – The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the EU's climate change package, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, lifting the last hurdle to the ambitious plan. Six texts on the package, already agreed by the 27 European Union member states, were passed by a large majority of the MEPs present. "We have sealed the climate package," said European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering, after the vote. The so-called "20-20-20" climate package, which Europe hopes will serve as a model to other nations, will oblige EU nations to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent...

If “cash is king,” then Middle East coffers are irresistibly enticing. During a recent tour of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt applauded the “growing role” of Arab banks in the U.S. economy. Treasury is seeking buyers for its newly acquired bailout assets because more than $1 trillion in cash is urgently needed to rescue the largest U.S. banks. However, cash from the Arabian Gulf comes with a vital string attached: Islamic banking, erroneously viewed as an ancient practice. In fact, Islamic banking is a newly invented institution: “Neither classical nor medieval Islamic civilization featured...

In "Uncle Shariah" in the Washington Times, December 16, Frank Gaffney details why AIG's nationalization is so worrisome: The insurance giant AIG has lately become the poster child for corporate risk-taking, mismanagement and greed. Its unimaginably large losses, rooted in insurance it extended to financial companies engaged in subprime mortgage-backed transactions, have destroyed both AIG's corporate reputation and balance sheet. Indeed, but for the fact that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson - who during his days running Goldman Sachs had extensive ties to AIG - deemed the insurance firm "too large to fail," the company would surely have gone under by...

You drink diet soda, so you must be healthier. Right? That's what New York Gov. David Paterson is talking about with his proposal for an "obesity tax" — a 15 percent slap on non-diet sugary soft drinks. Think $1 for a Diet Coke, $1.15 for a Coke. There's just one problem: Studies have found links between drinking diet sodas and obesity and diabetes. A 2005 study at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and separate studies released in 2007 at the University of Alberta in Canada and the University of Massachusetts found that diet soda drinkers were...

Since Ecuador eliminated requirements for entry visas for all foreigners entering their country, growth in the arrival of Chinese from China has jumped from an average of twenty a month to over one thousand a month with goals of entering the United States illegally Saturday 12/13/08 El Universo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 12/13/08 "Ecuador, stopping point in the traffic of undocumented Chinese" When officials entered a humble abode in the middle of Guayaquil in early August they found 28 Chinese citizens, the majority of them young women, crammed into two rooms awaiting travel to the United States in search of the American...

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson released a $121 billion slash-and-burn budget Tuesday morning that slams New Yorkers with 88 new fees and taxes - even on their iPods. Calling the budget the "greatest economic and fiscal challenge of our lifetimes," Paterson acknowledged his spending plan cuts deep. But he said the pain must be shared to deal with the fallout from the Wall Street collapse. The budget will cost the city an estimated $650 million in aid. But it's the $4 billion in new fees and taxes that are sure to aggravate everyday New Yorkers, who would be

From the moment customers enter the front door, the Conservative Cafe is serving up caffeinated doctrine. Ann Coulter books sit stacked by the fireplace, and a picture of Ronald Reagan hangs on the wall. Fox News plays on all the televisions, and stock market quotes scroll along an electronic ticker above the cash register.Behind the counter, owner Dave Beckham smiles proudly in a khaki T-shirt that reads "Zip It, Hippie." The shirt is for sale at the Crown Point, Ind., cafe, along with ones that say "Peace through Superior Firepower.""It's a change from the traditional liberal bastion coffeehouses," Beckham says....

The Arena Football League will suspend the 2009 season as it tries to improve its long-term economic model, the league's board of directors announced Monday. "Every owner in the AFL is strongly committed to the league, the game, and, most importantly, the fans," said acting commissioner Ed Policy. "Owners, however, recognize that, especially in light of the current unprecedented economic climate, the AFL, as a business enterprise, needs to be restructured if it is to continue to provide its unique brand of this affordable, fan-friendly sport." A source told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the "deal-breaker was ESPN saying it...

The celebrated openness of the Internet -- network providers are not supposed to give preferential treatment to any traffic -- is quietly losing powerful defenders. Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own content, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Google has traditionally been one of the loudest advocates of equal network access for all content providers. At risk is a principle known as network neutrality: Cable and phone companies that operate the data pipelines are supposed to treat all traffic...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – On the day Muslims around the world began to celebrate Eid al-Adha, Fatuma Mohamed was at the Mall of America (MOA), far away from where she would normally say her prayers. But she and other Muslims needed to take time from the activities of the mall and find a quiet area to pray as Muslims do during the festival that commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his only son for God. “I said my prayer right at that corner,” Mohamed said, pointing to the spot. Another Muslim, Amran Ali, did the same. “I had to say my prayer...

Pictures of the new currency that will supposedly replace the US dollar have appeared on the Russian Internet. The United States is reportedly working on the new currency, the amero, which will be common for the USA, Mexico and Canada. The unstable financial situation in the world, the collapsing oil prices and the growing foreign debt of the United States may eventually crush the US dollar as the world’s major currency. Needless to say that the US authorities reject the rumors and promise to keep the dollar afloat. Amero notes have no portraits of US presidents on them and resemble...

Ironically, 2008 is on pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line. Experts say it's thanks to a La Nina weather variation. While skeptics are already using it as evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming.

No other stimulus provision will be as immediate and as effective,' says small business lobby Posted: December 14, 2008 10:51 pm Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily WASHINGTON – Big business bailouts and "economic stimulus packages" are all the rage in the Capitol these days. Most involve massive transfers of wealth from taxpayers to government-directed projects. But a new and very different bill, proposed by a heretofore little-known congressman from Texas, is gaining traction from Republicans – and even a few Democrats, according to the sponsor. It's called "the tax-holiday plan." And one version of it picked up support from the National...

There are three ways to react to an organizational crisis. One way is to turn your head to ignore the situation and hope that it will fix itself (best of luck!). Another way is to run around in a panic-induced cost-cutting frenzy that could seriously impair the organization’s long-term growth potential and future state. The third and, of course, smartest method is to recognize the impending threat to both your top and bottom line, and quickly adapt the organization’s strategic outlook and business model to the new environmental conditions. So, the question to answer is this: “what are the decision...

Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance. Not so very long ago, Google disclaimed responsibility for its search results by explaining that these were chosen by a computer algorithm. The disclaimer lives on at Google News, where we are assured that: The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program. A few years ago, Google's apparently unimpeachable objectivity got some people very excited, and technology utopians began to herald Google as...

Gov. David Paterson is heading near Indian Country to sign a bill that would call for the state to collect taxes on sales by Indian retailers. Despite urgings by the Seneca Nation for the governor to veto the measure, he is traveling to Oneida County to sign the legislation in Utica on Monday

New taxes, deep cuts to education and health care, and a restructuring of the state's economic development programs will be hallmarks of Gov. David Paterson's first budget plan to be released in two days, according to interviews of people briefed on components. The plan will come with a host of revenue raisers — increased taxes on hospitals and insurance policies, for instance — and at least one new assessment, a so-called obesity tax on non-diet soda to raise $404 million. The governor also is contemplating requiring new license plates to raise cash, reviving sales tax on clothing purchases, removing the...

A MAIN benefit for those who own real estate investment trusts has been their low historical correlation to the rest of the financial markets. In other words, REITs have tended not to move in tandem with most stocks and bonds, thus making them good portfolio diversifiers. All of that seemed to change this year amid the deepening credit crisis and Wall Street’s meltdown. Just as stocks fell fast and furiously, so, too, did most REIT shares. (And at those times when stocks were rallying back, REITs also moved higher.)

The Bambu rolling-paper company is smoking mad at a Barack Obama-loving artist for using its iconic packaging on T-shirts that show the president-elect smoking a joint. Seamus McGovern and his "Love Fatigues" Web business were hit with a trademark-infringement suit for putting Obama's name and face on the beige and white cover of "the world's finest rolling papers." The Manhattan federal court case claims the $22 "Obambu" shirts expose Bambu to "criticism and scorn" because they show Obama smoking weed, and could "confuse the consuming public" into believing they came from the company.

When the jobs report for November came out last week, many so-called "experts" were shocked at the massive loss of an estimated 533 thousand jobs. Even a Time /CNN organization called "The Curious Capitalists" were at a loss to explain it. Let me attempt to help out these "curious capitalists" (though I am still skeptical that anyone working for CNN or Time is either curious or a capitalist). I caused part of this job loss and I know precisely why; the election. The results portend big trouble for small business. The job destruction process has started. We are about 20%...