Here are some famous companies that roots are in very different pursuits then you ever would have imagined:
Nokia - Got its start as a paper and pulp mill in Finland. The company bounced around a couple of different industries before getting started in the phone business.
Samsung - Was first opened as a trading shop in Korea mainly dealing with exporting dried fish and fruit.
Wrigley's Gum - Was originally started with the goal of selling soap and baking soda.
Raytheon - Before missiles for the government, Raytheon was focused on a technology to keep your leftover food fresh in the refrigerator.
Hasbro - Before Monopoly and Scrabble, the Hasbro company was focused on textile products and school supplies.
Toyota - Prius problems aside, the Toyota company first created a more efficient way to manufacture cloth.
IBM - Got its start making meat slicing machines and punch cards if you can believe that.
Ben and Jerry's - Was originally envisioned as a bagel delivery service.
From : http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/companies-that-almost-weren2527t-ben-jerrys/12/11/2009/id/25767
4.30.2010
4.28.2010
Obama
It has been over 460 days since President Obama was sworn into office. It is time for a look back and a re-buff of those who say Obama's accomplishments have been less than steller:
- Health Care - Say what you will about the reform not going far enough but President Obama's reform expanded coverage to 32 million more Americans while simultaneously reducing the deficit by $1.3 trillion over the next 20 years. It also made it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and allowed young people to stay on their parent's health care plan until they are 26.
- Economic Stimulus - Obama signed into law the largest stimulus package in history at $787 billion which included spending for health care, infrastructure, education, and direct assistance to individuals. As a result of these measures, the industrial production index has been up 9 months in a row, the readings on GDP last quarter showed 5.9 percent annual growth and employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest gain in four years.
- Nuclear Weapons - On April 8, 2010, President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the latest Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a "major" nuclear arms control agreement that reduces the nuclear weapons stockpiles of both countries.
- Supreme Court - Obama's first Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor became the very first hispanic on the Supreme Court and only the 3rd woman. He now prepares to announce his second nominee.
- Stem Cell Research - On March 9, 2009, Obama repealed a Bush-era policy that prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund research on new lines of embryonic stem cells.
- Environment - On January 27, 2009, Obama directed the Department of Transportation to raise fuel efficiency standards incrementally to 35 miles per US gallon by 2020. Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides $54 billion in funds to double domestic renewable energy production, renovate federal buildings making them more energy-efficient, improve the nation's electricity grid, repair public housing, and weatherize modest-income homes.
- Iraq and Afganistan - On February 18, 2009, Obama announced that the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan would be bolstered by 17,000 new troops by summer in an effort to create a new strategy in the war "Canaidate Obama" promised would be the focus of his presidency. On February 27, 2009 Obama declared his plan for ending the Iraq War in a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
- Nobel Peace Prize - Obama was awarded the Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" . He then donated the $1.4 million given to him in conjunction with the Nobel Peace Prize to ten charities, including the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund and the United Negro College Fund.
What did I miss, and what are your thoughts?
- Health Care - Say what you will about the reform not going far enough but President Obama's reform expanded coverage to 32 million more Americans while simultaneously reducing the deficit by $1.3 trillion over the next 20 years. It also made it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and allowed young people to stay on their parent's health care plan until they are 26.
- Economic Stimulus - Obama signed into law the largest stimulus package in history at $787 billion which included spending for health care, infrastructure, education, and direct assistance to individuals. As a result of these measures, the industrial production index has been up 9 months in a row, the readings on GDP last quarter showed 5.9 percent annual growth and employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest gain in four years.
- Nuclear Weapons - On April 8, 2010, President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the latest Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a "major" nuclear arms control agreement that reduces the nuclear weapons stockpiles of both countries.
- Supreme Court - Obama's first Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor became the very first hispanic on the Supreme Court and only the 3rd woman. He now prepares to announce his second nominee.
- Stem Cell Research - On March 9, 2009, Obama repealed a Bush-era policy that prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund research on new lines of embryonic stem cells.
- Environment - On January 27, 2009, Obama directed the Department of Transportation to raise fuel efficiency standards incrementally to 35 miles per US gallon by 2020. Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides $54 billion in funds to double domestic renewable energy production, renovate federal buildings making them more energy-efficient, improve the nation's electricity grid, repair public housing, and weatherize modest-income homes.
- Iraq and Afganistan - On February 18, 2009, Obama announced that the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan would be bolstered by 17,000 new troops by summer in an effort to create a new strategy in the war "Canaidate Obama" promised would be the focus of his presidency. On February 27, 2009 Obama declared his plan for ending the Iraq War in a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
- Nobel Peace Prize - Obama was awarded the Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" . He then donated the $1.4 million given to him in conjunction with the Nobel Peace Prize to ten charities, including the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund and the United Negro College Fund.
What did I miss, and what are your thoughts?
4.26.2010
Goldman & Mortgages
Golman Sachs has been in the news recently relating to an SEC investigation into a deal the firm created so that hedge-fund manager John Paulson could bet on a collapse in U.S. housing prices. When all was said and done John Paulson made more than $1 billion on the correct bet that people would be unable to pay off their mortgages.
If you ever wondered how a homeowner's loan in America gets put into a financial package that gets sold to investors all around the world:
The entire Wall Street Journal article on the topic is very interesting and well worth the read (thanks to Noah for the link): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704133804575198120387721724.html?mod=mktw
If you ever wondered how a homeowner's loan in America gets put into a financial package that gets sold to investors all around the world:
The entire Wall Street Journal article on the topic is very interesting and well worth the read (thanks to Noah for the link): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704133804575198120387721724.html?mod=mktw
4.23.2010
New Cirque du Soleil
First the Beatles and Elvis, now Michael Jackson.
Cirque du Soleil announced Tuesday that it will put on a live touring show featuring the songs of the King of Pop starting late next year. A permanent production in Las Vegas will follow in 2012.
From: http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/04/20/cirque_to_put_on_show_based_on_michael_jackson/
Cirque du Soleil announced Tuesday that it will put on a live touring show featuring the songs of the King of Pop starting late next year. A permanent production in Las Vegas will follow in 2012.
From: http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/04/20/cirque_to_put_on_show_based_on_michael_jackson/
4.21.2010
Salad @ McDonald's
Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac @ McDonald's?????
Part of the reason is that a huge proportion of our food subsidies go to meat while only 0.37 percent go to fruits and vegetables. That makes meat and dairy artificially cheap, so we end up consuming more of it than we should:
4.19.2010
Ownership By the Few
Every wondered why a rally in the stock market is not indicative of a recovery in the general economy.
This chart below shows the ownership of our countries financial markets broken out by different income brackets.
This chart below shows the ownership of our countries financial markets broken out by different income brackets.
4.16.2010
Wasteful Senator Program
From The Onion:
In an effort to reduce wasteful spending and eliminate non-vital federal services, the U.S. government announced plans this week to cut its long-standing senator program, a move it says will help save more than $300 billion each year.
According to officials, the decision to cut the national legislative body was reached during a budget review meeting on Tuesday. After hours of deliberation, it was agreed that the cost of financing U.S. senators far outweighed the benefits they provided.
"Now more than ever, we must eliminate needless spending wherever possible," President Obama said at a press conference Wednesday. "When we sat down to go over our annual budget, we asked ourselves, where can we safely trim back? What programs can we do away with without negatively impacting the American people? Which bloated and ineffective institutions can we no longer justify having around?"
"The answer was obvious," Obama added. "The U.S. Senate just needed to go."
Established in 1789 as a means of overseeing the passage of bills into law, the once-promising senator program has reportedly failed to contribute to the governing of the nation in any significant way since 1964.
Last year alone, approximately $450 billion was funneled into the legislative chamber, an amount deemed fiscally unsound considering how few citizens actually benefit in any way from its existence.
An analysis conducted last week revealed a number of troubling flaws within the long-running, heavily subsidized program, including a lack of consistent oversight, no clear objectives or goals, the persistent hiring of unqualified and selfishly motivated individuals, and a 100 percent redundancy rate among its employees.
Moreover, the study found that the U.S. government already funds a fully operational legislative body that appears to do the exact same job as the Senate, but which also provides a fair and proportional representation of the nation's citizens and has rules in place to prevent one individual from holding the operations of the entire chamber hostage until he is guaranteed massive federal spending projects for his home state of Alabama.
Not only have U.S. Senators cost the country billions of dollars in misspent funds over the years, but Washington insiders claim they have also derailed a wide range of other government programs, from social welfare to job creation to environmental protection.
So far, reaction to the cutback has been overwhelming positive, with many across the country calling it a long-awaited step toward progress.
Read the whole article here: http://www.theonion.com/articles/us-government-to-save-billions-by-cutting-wasteful,17171/
In an effort to reduce wasteful spending and eliminate non-vital federal services, the U.S. government announced plans this week to cut its long-standing senator program, a move it says will help save more than $300 billion each year.
According to officials, the decision to cut the national legislative body was reached during a budget review meeting on Tuesday. After hours of deliberation, it was agreed that the cost of financing U.S. senators far outweighed the benefits they provided.
"Now more than ever, we must eliminate needless spending wherever possible," President Obama said at a press conference Wednesday. "When we sat down to go over our annual budget, we asked ourselves, where can we safely trim back? What programs can we do away with without negatively impacting the American people? Which bloated and ineffective institutions can we no longer justify having around?"
"The answer was obvious," Obama added. "The U.S. Senate just needed to go."
Established in 1789 as a means of overseeing the passage of bills into law, the once-promising senator program has reportedly failed to contribute to the governing of the nation in any significant way since 1964.
Last year alone, approximately $450 billion was funneled into the legislative chamber, an amount deemed fiscally unsound considering how few citizens actually benefit in any way from its existence.
An analysis conducted last week revealed a number of troubling flaws within the long-running, heavily subsidized program, including a lack of consistent oversight, no clear objectives or goals, the persistent hiring of unqualified and selfishly motivated individuals, and a 100 percent redundancy rate among its employees.
Moreover, the study found that the U.S. government already funds a fully operational legislative body that appears to do the exact same job as the Senate, but which also provides a fair and proportional representation of the nation's citizens and has rules in place to prevent one individual from holding the operations of the entire chamber hostage until he is guaranteed massive federal spending projects for his home state of Alabama.
Not only have U.S. Senators cost the country billions of dollars in misspent funds over the years, but Washington insiders claim they have also derailed a wide range of other government programs, from social welfare to job creation to environmental protection.
So far, reaction to the cutback has been overwhelming positive, with many across the country calling it a long-awaited step toward progress.
Read the whole article here: http://www.theonion.com/articles/us-government-to-save-billions-by-cutting-wasteful,17171/
4.14.2010
Luck of the Draw
It’s 24 hours before your birth, and a genie appears to you. He tells you that you can set the rules for the world you’re about to enter — economic, social, political — the whole enchilada. Sounds great, right? What’s the catch?
Before you enter the world, you will pick one ball from a barrel of 6.8 billion (the number of people on the planet). That ball will determine your gender, race, nationality, natural abilities, and health — whether you are born rich or poor, sick or able-bodied, brilliant or below average, American or Zimbabwean.
This is what Warren Buffett calls the ovarian lottery. As he explained to a group of University of Florida students, “You’re going to get one ball out of there, and that is the most important thing that’s ever going to happen to you in your life.”
According to the world’s third-richest man, that’s a good perspective to have when setting the rules for our world. We should be designing a society that, as Buffett says, “doesn’t leave behind someone who accidentally got the wrong ball and is not well-wired for this particular system.”
Before you enter the world, you will pick one ball from a barrel of 6.8 billion (the number of people on the planet). That ball will determine your gender, race, nationality, natural abilities, and health — whether you are born rich or poor, sick or able-bodied, brilliant or below average, American or Zimbabwean.
This is what Warren Buffett calls the ovarian lottery. As he explained to a group of University of Florida students, “You’re going to get one ball out of there, and that is the most important thing that’s ever going to happen to you in your life.”
According to the world’s third-richest man, that’s a good perspective to have when setting the rules for our world. We should be designing a society that, as Buffett says, “doesn’t leave behind someone who accidentally got the wrong ball and is not well-wired for this particular system.”
4.12.2010
How To Leave A Mark
Scott Fujita was a linebacker on the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints this past season. He was recently signed by the Cleveland Browns but left quite a going away present for his former city. He decided to donate his entire Super Bowl Bonus check ($83,000) to two charities, the relief effort in Haiti and the coastal renovation project in New Orleans.
According to Scott, "The people of this city and region have been so good to me and my family that we just felt strongly about doing something to protect the city we have come to love so much, and helping on the coastal issue has been on the back of my mind since I first got here."
Much ink is dedicated to the athletes who wind up in the news for all the wrong reasons, kudos to Scott who is in the news for all the right reasons.
According to Scott, "The people of this city and region have been so good to me and my family that we just felt strongly about doing something to protect the city we have come to love so much, and helping on the coastal issue has been on the back of my mind since I first got here."
Much ink is dedicated to the athletes who wind up in the news for all the wrong reasons, kudos to Scott who is in the news for all the right reasons.
4.09.2010
The US Military
Where can we find money for poverty reducation and education reform:
Ok so we spend a lot of the military. So much in fact that if you combine the budgets of the #2-9 spenders in the world, that total is less than what we spend.
Ok so we spend a lot of the military. So much in fact that if you combine the budgets of the #2-9 spenders in the world, that total is less than what we spend.
From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/apr/01/information-is-beautiful-military-spending
4.07.2010
Sports in America Survey
The annual Sporting Goods Manufacturers survey was just released and profiled on CNBC. Here were some of the more interesting findings:
- The fastest growing activity in the country is Pilates. With 8.6 million Americans participating in ’09, it’s up 456 percent since 2000
- The activity most Americans participate in is walking (110 million) followed by bowling (57.3 million). Bowling participation is up 10 percent in the last nine years
- About 43 million Americans said they played billiards last year, down 12.3 percent from those that played just a year before
- At the gym, the elliptical machine is the star, as use has increased by 260 percent over the last nine years
- Baseball is the third most popular team sport in the US, behind basketball and soccer, with 13.7 million players, but participation continues to fall. Almost 16 million people played the sport in 2000
- Lacrosse continues its impressive incline. In 2000, there were 518,000 lacrosse players. Today, that participation is up 131 percent to almost 1.2 million people
- Last year’s star of the survey, Ultimate Frisbee, which had grown by 800,000 participants, steadied a bit this year as the number of people playing dropped to 4.4 percent, a 10 percent decrease from ’08
From: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36103179
- The fastest growing activity in the country is Pilates. With 8.6 million Americans participating in ’09, it’s up 456 percent since 2000
- The activity most Americans participate in is walking (110 million) followed by bowling (57.3 million). Bowling participation is up 10 percent in the last nine years
- About 43 million Americans said they played billiards last year, down 12.3 percent from those that played just a year before
- At the gym, the elliptical machine is the star, as use has increased by 260 percent over the last nine years
- Baseball is the third most popular team sport in the US, behind basketball and soccer, with 13.7 million players, but participation continues to fall. Almost 16 million people played the sport in 2000
- Lacrosse continues its impressive incline. In 2000, there were 518,000 lacrosse players. Today, that participation is up 131 percent to almost 1.2 million people
- Last year’s star of the survey, Ultimate Frisbee, which had grown by 800,000 participants, steadied a bit this year as the number of people playing dropped to 4.4 percent, a 10 percent decrease from ’08
From: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36103179
4.05.2010
iPad
The iPad was released at 9am Saturday morning and the lines here in Boston were truly amazing. Early estimates are that between 600,000 and 700,000 were sold this weekend.
One of the first journalists to get an early view of the iPad was Stephen Fry who wrote the cover article for Time magazine this week all about the iPad. Here was what he wrote about meeting with Steve Jobs:
"I have met five British Prime Ministers, two American Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson and the Queen. My hour with Steve Jobs certainly made me more nervous than any of those encounters. I know what you are thinking, but it's the truth. I do believe Jobs to be a truly great figure, one of the small group of innovators who have changed the world. He exists somewhere between showman, perfectionist overseer, visionary, enthusiast and opportunist, and his insistence upon design, detail, finish, quality, ease of use and reliability are a huge part of Apple's success."
The iPad, the future of board games:
The future of medical charts:
The future of sheet music:
The future of watching sports:
One of the first journalists to get an early view of the iPad was Stephen Fry who wrote the cover article for Time magazine this week all about the iPad. Here was what he wrote about meeting with Steve Jobs:
"I have met five British Prime Ministers, two American Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson and the Queen. My hour with Steve Jobs certainly made me more nervous than any of those encounters. I know what you are thinking, but it's the truth. I do believe Jobs to be a truly great figure, one of the small group of innovators who have changed the world. He exists somewhere between showman, perfectionist overseer, visionary, enthusiast and opportunist, and his insistence upon design, detail, finish, quality, ease of use and reliability are a huge part of Apple's success."
The iPad, the future of board games:
The future of medical charts:
The future of sheet music:
The future of watching sports:
The iPad, the future......
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Stephen Gets a Free iPad | ||||
| ||||
4.02.2010
Beer-Buying Holidays Part II
The actual rankings of the Beer-Buying Holidays (# of cases purchased):
11- St. Patrick's Day (48.7 million)
10- Super Bowl (49.2 million)
9- Easter (50.7 million)
8- Halloween (50.9 million)
7- Christmas (52.8 million)
6- Thanksgiving (52.8 million)
5- Cinco de Mayo (54 million)
4- Father's Day (57.7 million)
3- Labor Day (60.2 million)
2- Memorial Day (61 million)
1- Fourth of July (63.5 million)
11- St. Patrick's Day (48.7 million)
10- Super Bowl (49.2 million)
9- Easter (50.7 million)
8- Halloween (50.9 million)
7- Christmas (52.8 million)
6- Thanksgiving (52.8 million)
5- Cinco de Mayo (54 million)
4- Father's Day (57.7 million)
3- Labor Day (60.2 million)
2- Memorial Day (61 million)
1- Fourth of July (63.5 million)
Are you surprised that the Super Bowl and St. Patrick's Day didn't crack the top 5, I was.