In Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series, I’ve presented various reasons why I believe the current Hollywood business models are flawed. But what good am I yelling out what everyone already knows if I can’t offer any solutions?
So here are my solutions. They have their own flaws, to be sure, but […]

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Somewhere just south of the Erie Canal, in a small suburb of Buffalo, where a Starbucks can hardly be found, the American pioneer spirit is alive and thriving.  I am not referring to the rugged individualism of exploration and development, nor to the blind risk taking and abiding optimism that we associate with economic gain, […]

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Thoughts on Honduras

All of the facts that can be gleaned through the news media indicate that the OAS (Organization of American States) is acting irresponsibly. They have called the ousting of former Honduran President Zelaya a “military coup” when the facts clearly indicate that the Honduran Supreme Court ordered the military to remove Zelaya after […]

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July the fourth in the market town
Farmers have come for miles around
Bringing their wives and children.
I knew it would not take long to find a fourth of July reference in the world of prog rock. One of the wonderful aspects of the genre is just how accomplished the artists are musically. Many have had a […]

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Continued trouble in the housing market in the form of falling home prices has the federal government considering expanding its mortgage aid programs to include homeowners that are further underwater than is currently acceptable under federal guidelines. Currently, its Making Home Affordable Program serves people who have a loan-to-value ratio of up to 105 percent. […]

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Do you like the idea of a bank that works for you, one that can create specialized financial products that suit your needs? Well your president says ‘fugetaboutit’! Under Obama’s newly proposed Federal Consumer Protection Agency, banks will no longer be in business to meet meet your individual needs, they will be under strict control […]

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Our democracy has remained vibrant for more than two hundred and thirty years, In part because the founding fathers intentionally sought to fashion our system of government to pit leaders who shared common ideals against each other, in hope no one individual or party, would dominate political debate or public policy. Till the appointment of […]

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Most people believe that happy employees are more productive, treat each other better and give better customer service.  That’s not true.
When human resource departments push employee satisfaction initiatives at work, too often they encourage the most selfish, negative and hostile employees to harass, bully and abuse coworkers and supervisors.
Of course, I’m not encouraging companies to […]

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Beware the righteous, for they are righteous when they are right, and they are righteous when they are wrong; they navigate by a missionary compass, and when it loses its North, they steer with conviction toward the South, unknowing.
The Book of Adler 5:15
On June 4, Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana released on the Internet, via […]

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White House Photos, Lawrence Jackson. The President discusses Iran during his opening remarks at the Press Conference at the White House, June 23, 2009.

FreeMediaOnline.org,  Free Media Online Blog,  GovoritAmerika.us, Commentary by Ted Lipien, June 26, 2009, San Francisco – Ronald Reagan’s strong response to the imposition of martial law  against the independent Solidarity trade union in Poland in 1981 was distinctly different […]

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Short Answer: marginally.
Long Answer: There was much sturm und drang over Extended Stay America’s (ESA) Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Monday. Of primary concern to this investor is how the filing may affect Ashford Hospitality Trust’s (AHT) $98 million mezzanine loan that was made to ESA last year.
For investors, it’s important not to panic and […]

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In his new book, Redeeming the Rainbow: A Christian response to the “gay” agenda, author Scott Lively repeats his claim that the rise of Nazi Germany was animated principally by homosexuals. In his first book, The Pink Swastika, Lively chronicles a long line of people who he claims influenced National Socialism and were gay. However, […]

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I’ve always been an anti-union guy, mainly because unionization all but eliminates individual incentives to achieve. The concept of providing the biggest raises and bonuses based on performance is a basic (and necessary) concept for any business that wants to be successful — this makes unionization a formula for failure.
I know that back when unions […]

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I ran across this article this morning that really caught my attention. The New York City Health Department has a plan. They want to pass a law that would require about 12,000 retail stores that sell cigarettes to post large anti-smoking signs at eye level in their store with images of the harmful effects that […]

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While I may vote democrat, I have always respected individuals like Governor Mark Sanford for remaining steadfast in public toward Christian values. In a previous post, I was criticized by some in the main stream media, for defending the absence of the South Carolina Governor.
Rumor in the capitol suggested the devastating legislative defeat he suffered […]

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Satsuma, Florida- Haleigh Cummings has been missing for over four months. What are the chances she is still alive? Statistics say slim to none. There is a revolving door of unanswered questions, quite possibly never to be answered. Where are the ground searches? Where is the media attention she so rightly deserves? Who is out […]

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Josh Kalven blogs over at ProgressIllinois.com. Any time you see the word “progress”
in a website name, chances are it’s a haven for those uneducated about payday loans, or just plain ideologues who don’t let the facts get in the way of their rigid position.
Klaven rambles on incessantly about the alleged evils of payday loans, so […]

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South Carolina Governor Mark Stanford who hasn’t been seen in public for more than four days, is reportedly taking some time off from his daily schedule to address personal issues. It would appear the Governor is not suffering from any life threatening illness that would require him to formally turn running of State government over to […]

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The goal of this series of articles is not to criticize the Hollywood manufacturing process and financial models per se, but to identify the flaws inherent in the system. After analyzing these flaws, the goal is to create a new financial and creative model — one that can achieve maximum ROI in a world where […]

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Short Answer: marginally.
Long Answer: There was much sturm und drang over Extended Stay America’s (ESA) Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Monday. Of primary concern to this investor is how the filing may affect Ashford Hospitality Trust’s (AHT) $98 million mezzanine loan that was made to ESA last year.
For investors, it’s important not to panic and […]

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When I am not being the investigative reporter I do reviews, books, music, video’s, and whatever else comes my way. I recently had the good fortune to watch a great documentary series ‘Every Picture Tells A Story’, in it, world renown art historian Waldemar Januszczak takes us behind the scenes of a number of very […]

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Blogging from Phoenix— I can report with the same veracity and journalistic integrity you have come to expect from say the folks over at FOX, the supreme leader is telling the truth, he didn’t stuff ballot boxes election eve. In this post I will reveal who did and tell you why, as well as name […]

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Numerous articles, including Sandy Maple’s on parentdish.com, “Teen Insult Web Site Shut Down,” have reported that online free speech has bowed to the pressure of community values.  A web site, “People’s Dirt,” has been pulled out of cyberspace by Go Daddy, the internet host, in an effort to stop online harassment, cyber bullying and abuse.  […]

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Self-styled pro-family advocate, Scott Lively, has made a career of drawing parallels from Nazi Germany to modern homosexuality. He has gone around the world with the message that homosexuals were responsible for Nazi totalitarianism. Throughout the next month or so, I will provide counter arguments to Lively’s thesis.
In this article, however, I raise the thesis […]

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From the desk of Charlie Churchill’s Parrot 
“Perhaps the most visible sign of the need for health care reform is the 46 million Americans currently without health insurance. CEA projections suggest that this number will rise to about 72 million in 2040 in the absence of reform.”
           - The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), […]

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The growing divide between Barack Obama and his base is being nourished by establishment republicans who see possible 2010 midterm pick up’s in close races. If the GOP is able to field some moderate congressional candidates, republicans may find a path out of the political wilderness in spite of the caustic rhetoric tossed out by […]

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In response to the Iowa CCI’s press release, the Fairness To Payday Lenders Society issued their own release. Mysteriously, this release was pulled by the news agency that originally released. We suspect that the Iowa CCI realized they had no rebuttal, so they moved to censor free speech.
Shame shame, CCI. What […]

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We all know how the current economic crisis began right? Maybe not right! I emphasized “current” because what we are seeing now really began some decades ago but if you understand the current situation and the forces leading up to it you will be able to look back and clearly see the basic problem.
Following shortly […]

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In his recent ABC news opinion column, “Want to Stop Bullies?” Lee Dye cites new studies that claim that:

Girls are more likely than boys to intervene to stop bullying than boys are.
Girls intervene more because they’re expected to by their parents, best friends and favorite teachers.
Popular males are more likely to pick on weaker boys, […]

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As reported in separate stories by Yadira Betances and Margo Sullivan in the New Hampshire Eagle Tribune, some middle schools are effectively implementing anti-bullying programs.  There are some differences in the programs to stop bullies, but both have the seven elements crucial to success.

1. The programs specify what acceptable and not acceptable behavior is
General statements […]

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