About Me 0090: January 2011

Monday, January 24, 2011

About Making Money

Beer Money. The team of Robert Roode and James Storm have been tagging together since 2008, and are currently enjoying their fourth reign as TNA World Tag Team Champions.

Each man came from a successful tag team to form perhaps the best tag team that TNA has ever seen. But where do they rank among the best of all time?

Despite fans’ many criticisms of TNA, including my own, it appears that historically the company does seem to care more about its tag team division than WWE does.

Roode’s former faction Team Canada, Storm’s former team America’s Most Wanted, along with Team 3D, LAX, The Voodoo Kin Mafia, The British Invasion, Generation Me, and The Motor City Machine Guns, have all vied for TNA tag team gold in recent years.

The division has thrived since the beginning of the company, and has been featured on TV and pay per view.

Then there’s WWE.

We all know that the current state of tag team wrestling in WWE is virtually non existent, with the championships currently held by Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov.

Bound together by necessity, which is a polite way of saying that WWE creative didn’t really have anything for either guy to do, Marella and Kozlov have actually looked pretty good since winning the straps.

Now, everyone calm down, I didn’t say they were The Road Warriors or anything.

But, for the WWE, we can’t really hope for much more than the tired old formula of two mix-matched guys thrown together for the sake of a lousy, half-hearted push. When it comes to their tag team division, it’s par for the course.

My, how things have changed in this business.

Once upon a time, the National Wrestling Alliance not only featured the greatest singles wrestlers in the sport, its tag team division was second to none with The Rock n Roll Express, The Road Warriors, The Russians, The Midnight Express, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

These guys perfected the art of tag team wrestling, and gave Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Ricky Steamboat a run for their money when it came to the best match on the card.

Man, where’s the Wayback Machine when you need it?

Of course, WWE hasn’t always neglected its tag team division.

Arguably the greatest era for tag team wrestling in WWE was 2000 to 2001. Three teams came together for a tag team war the likes of which had not been seen since the 1980’s NWA. Three teams redefined tag team wrestling in the business with three little words: tables, ladders, and chairs.

Edge and Christian. The Hardy Boyz. The Dudley Boyz. Three of the best tag teams of all time, blowing the roof off of arenas all over the country every week, each team pushing the other, bringing out the best in every man involved.

This was, without a doubt, a tag team renaissance, a great time for fans who yearned for a revival of the division.

These guys all understood their roles in the company, and fought to carve their names into wrestling history, next to the greatest teams ever. They also wanted to steal the show, and give fans something to remember.

Mission accomplished on both counts.

But with the focus shifted away from tag team wrestling in WWE, and TNA looking to grow as a company, the art of tag team wrestling now has a new pair of Rembrandts. Beer Money.

Yes, that was impossible to say without a smile.

The truth is, Beer Money works on a couple of different levels. One, because of Roode, who brings an intensity and ice-cold determination to his character and approach as a heel. Two, because of James Storm, because he’s funny as hell.

I love this guy. He is a riot, and every time he opens his mouth, or for that matter, just smiles at someone, it’s comedy gold. He makes the team, gives them a bad-boy edge that would make Jake Roberts jealous.

James Storm’s gimmick works so well because it’s so normal. He’s just a guy with a cowboy hat and dark glasses with a beer in his hand.

He looks less like a wrestler and more like the lead singer in a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band. He plays the part so well, and is more comfortable in his gimmick than perhaps anyone in the promotion.

For me, Storm would be a star in either company, on any level.

Fortunately for fans, right now he is one half of TNA’s biggest tag team, Beer Money. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy this team and their work in the ring.

Aside from Storm’s comedy, the guy can work, and he is a great fit with Roode. Beer Money, in a lot of ways, is a throwback to the classic heel teams of the NWA.

They have the tough streak of The Minnesota Wrecking Crew, the finesse of The Midnight Express, and the swagger of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard.

And much like these three teams had memorable feuds with The Rock n Roll Express, Beer Money has had a momentous run against The Motor City Machine Guns.

The pace and tempo of the Guns, matched up against the fierce ground and pound of Beer Money, have made for some great moments in TNA. Both teams are working hard to own the night, every time they set foot in the ring.

That’s what tag team wrestling is all about, and I for one am glad to see it happening again. The only question I have is, how long will Beer Money stay together, before TNA creative, such as it is, decides to split them up?

It would be a shame if their run as one of the best teams in the company lasts only three years. Beer Money deserves to have a legacy, an opportunity to be considered among the all-time greats. But perhaps that is not meant to happen in TNA?

Considering that WWE gave up on its tag team division years ago, the chances of seeing Storm and Roode work for Vince appear to be slim to none.

But, if given a chance, I have to believe that not only would Beer Money make the best of it, they would do what they continue to do every week in TNA: steal the show.

It’s an interesting bit of speculation, when it comes to debating Beer Money’s place in tag team history. Perhaps it’s too soon for that. Perhaps as Storm and Roode continue to build their reputation week in and week out, we should just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Let the renaissance begin…again.

Sumitted by Mike Krieger of Kam LP

The people must be helped to think naturally about money. They must be told what it is, and what makes it money, and what are the possible tricks of the present system which put nations and peoples under control of the few.

- Henry Ford

U.S. investors should welcome, not fear, climbing commodity prices. The increases are "largely a reflection of the fact that the pace of economic growth, particularly in the U.S., has picked up," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at consultants IHS in Lexington, Massachusetts, and a former Federal Reserve official who has been covering the global economy for more than 35 years. "It's not something to be worried about."

- Bloomberg article from yesterday

Why Fiat Money is Immoral

Today’s email is going to be a little different. A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine from NYC who is not in the business but is on my weekly email distribution list asked me to explain fiat money and why I think it is the wrong way to go. Below I am going to paste my response to her. There is so much disinformation out there about money it is scary. Sadly, the strategist at my former employer added to this several weeks ago. He wrote: “Gold, which is effectively just another fiat currency.”

Clearly he failed to look up the definition of fiat currency.

Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law.

Definition of Fiat: An authoritative or often arbitrary official order or decree. THIS DOES NOT EXIST TO GOLD AS MONEY TODAY AT ALL.

Gold is not money under “fiat” in any country at the moment. Rather the market is making gold as money today which is the OPPOSITE of fiat money.

With that off my chest, here is the response to my friend…

Ok, so let’s do a brief thought exercise on why I believe commodity money is preferable to fiat money. When you have fiat money, a government, or in the case of the United States today, a banking cartel (the Federal Reserve), is granted exclusive authority to create the nation’s money. Laws are used to enforce the use of this money otherwise people probably wouldn’t use it. Under a commodity money system, where let’s say the U.S. issues dollars but those dollars are backed or convertible to a commodity (in many cases gold but it can be other things) there is a limit to the amount the government or banking cartel can print or issue and this is in relation to the amount of the commodity that exists or is available to the government or central bank. The current propaganda that is rife throughout economics textbooks and the like tell is the notion that commodity money is bad since it stifles human innovation in relation to the amount of gold or whatever commodity used. They say this is bad and that there should be no “limit” on money creation based on something as arbitrary as a commodity and that this is bad for growth. This is complete nonsense and is used to keep people in the current fiat system where money power is exercised most egregiously by the few against the many. The reason they defend the current system is simple. With the power to create unlimited currency at will (via the Federal Reserve) you possess total and absolute power over almost EVERYTHING in the economy and society at large. The Fed not only creates the money but they distribute it where they want. In QE1 and QE2 they decided to buy specific assets. In the case of QE1 where they bought toxic assets, this was just another bailout of the banks and others that made poor investment decisions. Did the money go to build new schools? No. Did the money go to build high speed trains as is done in China? No. Did it go to building out massive alternative energy infrastructure? No. It went to save the banks because at the end of the day the Fed exists as a backstop to the banks and it is to the banks that the Fed answers to at the end of the day. It is a brilliant scam that 95% of Americans do not comprehend. So in this case all of the money is going to the banks (which destroyed the global economy in the first place) and other players in the financial world. Remember, the banks ARE the Fed and the Fed creates the money. Gate keepers at the Federal Reserve and academia make understanding economics, the Fed and money seem so “complex” but the scam is really VERY simple.

I am not saying that I necessarily back the classic gold standard but it is much more of a moral and genuine capitalistic system than what we have today. One of the arguments against the gold standard is that the rich have all the gold anyway and they will still have the power. Ok, well let’s suppose this is true. Under a gold standard they would need to mobilize this gold to exercise their power and influence and pay people off to do their bidding. This has a real cost to them. Gold will be spent. At some point they will choose not to spend it on this or that and ultimately they will lose their power/money by spending too much gold. They can’t just create more out of thin air to exercise unlimited money power on the populace.

This is in complete contrast to how things work today. With the dollar they can create more and more everyday and buy people off without ANY cost in the short term (until the dollar itself collapses). This is why the most dangerous thing that can happen would be a global fiat currency to replace the U.S. dollar.   They could start over in their never ending system of money power with a new currency that can be printed at will and used to buy up the world and all its resources at no cost to them. The end result would be slavery for the masses of humanity. The global monetary system as it stands is one of the most immoral social structures ever created by man. Most of us in America do not understand this since we have been the beneficiaries of it up until now. We are like the feudal lords in pre-revolutionary that couldn’t see the world beyond their favored social status until they lost their heads. The system as it stands has led extreme exploitation and corruption, not true capitalism. If we continue on this path the next stop is a feudalistic fascism.

In a Fiat System Banks Must be Like Utilities

At the Sanford Bernstein conference several years ago Joseph Stiglitz spoke and said a good and healthy financial system is a small financial system. I couldn’t agree more. This is especially the case in a purely fiat money system. Money is too important to allow greedy children in expensive suits on Wall Street and dangerous academics at the Fed to play around with. I do not claim to know what the ideal money system is but I want to be very clear on this point. If we have a fiat system like today the banks should be the most regulated industry on the planet and operate like utilities. They are supposed to help the productive economy innovate and create wealth. They are not supposed to be parasites that suck the lifeblood out of the real economy and compose 16% of the weight in the S&P500 (only technology is bigger at 17%). Something is VERY, VERY wrong here.

I placed the quote at the top of the email to demonstrate just how entirely disconnected the corrupt elite class is in the United States is today from the average citizen. Many historians assert that Marie Antoinette never said “let them eat cake,” but surely she made comments similar to those at the top of this email from the Bloomberg article. What is happening now is nothing new. It has happened over and over again for millennium. The elites of every era always think they will stay in control no matter what. They will be wrong once again.

Watching the circus from Colorado,
Mike

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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Making Money Scams

You've heard of "flipping" houses, well now there's "flopping." While the first was speculative, this one is outright fraud.

"Flipping" refers to when home values were rising so fast and the market was so hot that you could buy a house, slap on some new paint and fix up the yard and throw down some marble countertops and turn it around and sell it for a tidy profit.

Now that the bubble has burst and people are trying to offload all these houses, one of the ways they are doing it is in a "short sale" where the bank agrees to allow the house to be sold for less than the value of the mortgage. Doing so lets them avoid the costly foreclosure process and gets the bad loan off their books.

But what "floppers" are doing is pay a crooked appraiser to say that the house is worth even less than its real current market value. They then have a "straw purchaser" buy it, and then they turn around and sell it for what it's really worth.

The Federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently released a report indicating that mortgage fraud suspicious activity reports rose 7% in the first half of 2010, the terms "short sale" and "broker price opinion" showing up 827 times and 41 times, respectively.

THE TAKEAWAY: What this means for homeowners is that banks are making it harder to do short sales, preferring to instead go for foreclosure, even when it costs them more money. Several cases have come out where the bank has insisted that the short sale price was too low to allow the sale to go through, only to turn around and try sell the house at auction for less than what the short sale price was.

What you can do if your short sale is initially declined is try to convince the bank that the "auctionable cash-price," the price they can sell the house for at auction, is lower than what they think. Submit in one big packet at once any interior deficiencies, renovation costs, or engineering reports that you think will make the case. Include several different contractor estimates and bids and broker price opinions to help make your case.

For more information on preventing foreclosure, check out this Consumer Reports article.

Mortgage Fraud Suspicious Activity Reports Rise 7 Percent Increase in the First Half of 2010 [FINCEN.gov]Wary lenders denying short sales [Boston] (Thanks to chiieddy!)

SIGTARP Quarterly Report to Congress April 20, 2010 (PDF) [SIGTARP.gov]

Short Sale Denied; Advice to make Bank Reconsider? [ths.gardenweb]

Obama is history!

Obama was always a one term show!

any political strategist knows few black candidates win statewide re-elections, no black candidates wins re-election win he or she pisses off their liberal base.

Obama was always a Clarence Thomas Clone, Obama knew that a black conservatives never would win the White House, so he done a Reagan, “ACTED” like he was a Democrat. (Reagan acted like he was a President, History will say Reagan started the decline of the USA)

The MSM final act with OBAMA is to make sure no real Democrats primary this clown! (the games have already begun, listen closely, Obama always beats Palin, does Obama beat Romney? NO!!!)

the target of the intelligent left should be the 23 democrat senators up for re-election in 2012! Why? it is very simple, these Senators want to win re-election, (the intelligent left must get ahead of the KABUKI game, Obama is old news, attack the 23 Dems up for re-election in 2012! and you may force them to dump OBAMA)

The left must tie OBAMA around the necks of all these Senators up for re-election! Obama is already TOXIC, make him NUCLEAR WASTE and the Dem Senators will force a primary of OBAMA!

Listed below is the OBAMA necklace that all Dems Senator must wear in 2012

1st Obama endorses the Bush agenda of spying on and killing americans

2nd Obama attacks Unions (the F! the UAW moment screams republican)

3rd Obama double downs on Bush Wars, (now they are Obama wars)

4th Obama attacks Teacher Unions (teacher unions now hate OBAMA)

5th Obama does not attack the Banks? he bails them out? (sorta like what the GOP does)

6th Obama passes the Bob Dole Health Care Bill (Bob Dole is a republican)

7th Obama kills the Public Option

8Th Obama kills Drug Importation

9Th Obama APPOINTS an insurance executive to manage his health care Bill

10th Obama does not APPOINT Dawn Johnsen

11th Obama hand picks the cat food commission to destroy Social Security

12th Obama supports Blanche Lincoln, a candidate who hates Unions, and has no chance of winning

13 Guantanomo still open for business

14.Patriot Act renewed

15. renditions continue

16. Bernanke reappointed

17. Americans targeted for assassination

18 Obama is all for sending more USA jobs off shore

19 Obama is for tax cuts for the RICH!

20. Obama and the TSA porno Scandal

21 Obama freezes federal wages for 2 years

22. OBAMA TARP Funds for Legal Services for Foreclosure Victims Blocked By Treasury

23. Obama lowers estate tax for the rich

24. Obama tax bill of 2010 GUTS Social Security

25. Obama wants WikiLeaks Assange charged with espionage.

26 Obama Fake Net Neutrality Caves to AT&T,Comcast

Coming in 2012

Gas prices above $4.00 close to $5.00 a gallon (this will end OBAMA)

Mass un-employment!

99ers living on main street (Homeless at an all time high)

social security cuts

the MSM will scream how Obama is un-beatable, if you believe that garbage, go visit Santa Clause in the North Pole and telling him hello from all of us! :)

Source:http://removeripoffreports.net/

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Friday, January 14, 2011

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The situation is a bit different if what is in dispute is a house. Obviously, the house cannot usually just be sold to repay a Legal Aid bill (it may be home to children) so what happens therefore is that the board will attach what is known as a "Statutory Charge" to the house in respect of monies owing. This means that when the house is sold or re-mortgaged then the Board will get their money. It is not a free loan however. Interest attaches to the charge and continues to accrue. It is rare for the board to agree to postpone their charge in the event that the house is eventually sold or is perhaps re mortgaged in the interim but they will consider it. As I stated earlier, there is no "free lunch".

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It can be very hard when you are applying for a bad credit mortgage, and it feels like all the odds are stacked against you. The feeling of going in to see a loan officer just hoping that they will be favorable toward you and that you might just have a chance of buying a home. The situation may be grim and you're feeling completely overwhelmed anyway, but know that millions before you have been in your same shoes. There is light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dark it may seem. Here are three simple steps that you can use to help you apply and possibly get a bad credit mortgage.

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Making Money Job

Making the morning rounds, non-championship edition.

• We hardly knew ye. All-American cornerback/punt returner Patrick Peterson plans to officially announce his departure from LSU today at a noon press conference, on the heels of a junior season that fulfilled all of the five-star recruiting hype in 2008, and then some: Peterson was a first-team All-SEC pick as a corner and a return man, a unanimous All-American by every major selector and winner of both the Jim Thorpe and Chuck Bednarik awards as the nation's best defensive back and best overall defensive player, respectively. With his exceptional size (6'1", 225 pounds) and accolades, Peterson is a lock for the top 10, and with certain No. 1 pick Andrew Luck's decision to return to Stanford last week, has a decent chance of replacing Luck as the first player off the board to the Carolina Panthers. [Baton Rouge Advocate]

Peterson leads a parade of notable early exits over the weekend, which also saw official draft notices from:

• Wisconsin running back John Clay, the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Year in 2009, who churned out his second consecutive 1,000-yard season as a junior despite watching the Badger offense explode in his absence down the stretch. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]

• Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams, whose production plummeted from more than 1,600 yards rushing as a redshirt freshman in 2009 to just 481 yards as a sophomore, thanks to an early injury that cost him four games and allowed '09 injury casualty Darren Evans to regain the feature role. With Tyrod Taylor's graduation and Evans also leaving school early, the Hokies lose more than 6,400 career rushing yards and 75 touchdowns in one swoop. [Associated Press]

• Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith, another breakout redshirst freshman in 2009 whose star faded a bit as a sophomore thanks to an early injury. Smith presence was still felt sharply enough for Big 12 coaches to make him a first-team all-conference pick. [Kansas City Star]

• West Virginia safety Robert Sands, a first-team All-Big East pick on one of the nation's top defenses who has to intrigue scouts with his 6'5", 220-pound frame. [Associated Press]

• Aw, that plane could be here for anybody. LSU fans hoping the "Les Miles to Michigan" buzz might die down over the weekend woke up instead today to photos of a certain Maize 'n Blue Learjet parked at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport:

The plane reportedly belongs to Michigan booster Richard Rogel, and arrived in Baton Rouge Sunday from Savannah, Ga. The same plane was also in town Friday, when LSU was in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. Meanwhile, Michigan athletic director David Brandon was rumored to be in Dallas Sunday on a private jet owned by his former company, Domino's Pizza, either talking to Miles, Miles' agent or any one of thousands of coaches in town for a giant coaching convention. Still, the only word from Miles comes via two LSU players, quarterback Jordan Jefferson and receiver Russell Shepard, who both said after the Tigers' win over Texas A&M on Friday night that Miles has assured the team he's coming back. [Baton Rouge Advocate, MGoBlog]

• Make him turn you down. Stanford is the latest "Big Six" outfit in need of a head coach to make a run at Boise State's Chris Petersen, whose name has been initially linked to every major job opening over the last four years without so much as an interview on Petersen's part to suggest he can be lured from Boise. (In this case, the prospect of coaching Andrew Luck might be enticing, if Petersen didn't have a returning Heisman finalist of his own under center, Kellen Moore.) At any rate, the Cardinal's search will begin at home: Stanford plans to interview three holdovers from Jim Harbaugh's staff, including running backs coach/assistant head coach David Shaw, who has the support of Cardinal players. [ESPN, San Jose Mercury News]

• Raiders walk themselves down the plank. The NCAA accepted several self-imposed penalties by Texas Tech, which reported 234 impermissible text messages to 45 recruits under former coach Mike Leach between August 2007 and February 2009. The men's golf and softball programs got it worse (unlike football, they were both cited for a "failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance"), but the Raiders were still hit with two years probation, one lost scholarship and a host of minor recruiting restrictions, all self-imposed. [NCAA.org, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]

Quickly... Robert Bolden's high school coach says Bolden may be staying at Penn State, after all. ... Florida has eight early-enrolling freshmen already on campus. ... Terrelle Pryor has foot surgery. ... And Michigan may regret firing Rich Rodriguez yet.

- - -

Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

As we get ready for John Boehner to take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, I find myself thinking back to the last time a Republican speaker took control of the House from a Democrat -- and reflecting on how far down the wrong road we have traveled since then.

It was January 1995, and Newt Gingrich, now considered a right-wing bomb thrower, was taking the gavel from Tom Foley. After taking the oath of office, he delivered a speech that praised FDR as "the greatest president of the 20th century" and presented concern for the least among us as a shared national objective. "The balanced budget is the right thing to do," he said. "But it does not in my mind have the moral urgency of coming to grips with what is happening to the poorest Americans."

For the incoming Republican speaker, reducing poverty and lifting the poor into the middle class was a moral imperative beyond the left vs. right battlefield -- not just the purview of lefties, socialists, and community organizers:

I say to those Republicans who believe in total privatization, you cannot believe in the Good Samaritan and explain that as long as business is making money we can walk by a fellow American who is hurt and not do something.... If you cannot afford to leave the public housing project, you are not free. If you do not know how to find a job and do not know how to create a job, you are not free. If you cannot find a place that will educate you, you are not free. If you are afraid to walk to the store because you could get killed, you are not free.

So now, with poverty higher than it was 16 years ago, with greater income inequality, and with the middle class struggling to hold on, what will Speaker Boehner make his number one priority? According to the Washington Post, it's "cutting spending," followed by repealing the healthcare law, and "helping get our economy moving" (no specifics on how he plans to do that).

Yet we saw on 60 Minutes that he's very aware of how fragile the American Dream has become, telling Lesley Stahl, "I can't go to a school anymore. I used to go to a lot of schools. And you see all these little kids running around. Can't talk about it." And he choked up when he did try to talk about "making sure these kids have a shot at the American Dream, like I did. It's important."

Interestingly, in his first speech as speaker, Gingrich also talked about being moved by the woes of school kids.

"I have seldom been more shaken," he said, "than I was after the election when I had breakfast with two members of the Black Caucus. One of them said to me, 'Can you imagine what it is like to visit a first-grade class and realize that every fourth or fifth young boy in that class may be dead or in jail within 15 years? And they are your constituents and you are helpless to change it?' For some reason, I do not know why, maybe because I visit a lot of schools, that got through. I mean, that personalized it. That made it real, not just statistics, but real people."

But the trajectory of our political discourse over the last decade and a half has meant that taking on poverty has gone from a moral imperative and shared national objective to an afterthought -- or no thought at all.

The question is, is there anything that can be done to help Boehner make the connection between the policies he supports and the effect those policies have on the kids who bring him to tears?

Newt Gingrich failed to follow through on the moral imperative he identified in his first speech as speaker, trading in his moral vision and replacing it 15 months later with an announcement that the Republican agenda could be reduced to six words: "Earn more, keep more, do more."

Will Boehner's take be "Earn more, keep more, cut more"? Or is there a chance he will surprise us? Maybe it's because it's close enough to Christmas that I still believe in miracles, but wouldn't it be great if the John Boehner who takes the gavel on Wednesday is the one who weeps at the thought of kids denied a shot at the American Dream?

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