some guy in lebanon

The vast majority of Americans (and citizens of the West in general) will awake soon, if they haven’t already, to staggering debt. Let’s assume that the average American’s debt load is similar to the average Public Debt per Capita, roughly $30,000. That seems about right, given that average credit card debt, when you check around [...]

From the Daily Star, by Your’s Truly - Published on December 27th, 2008 - Click here for the original
BEIRUT: A strategic partnership between Lebanese technology companies EDM and eSharing is breaking the “go-it-alone” status quo of the Middle East IT sector. eSharing will develop enterprise resource software that interfaces directly with EDM’s new Global Positioning [...]

Although I find their analysis a little hackneyed and sadly standard, this is a nice article about the current calm and the future challenges facing Lebanon. As Nick said, “Using an unknown business man as the central pillar of a tired argument does seem like a stretch.” From the article:
Construction cranes dot Beirut’s Mediterranean skyline. [...]

So Bernard Madoff has admitted that the Financial Services and Management division of his company is essentially an enormous Ponzi Scheme. $50 Billion U.S. is at stake, as are the subsequent investments of hundreds of millions of dollars hedged on money, debt, and guarantees from Madoff’s organization. In the end, charities are being closed, and [...]

Link to the Original Article, Published December 5th, 2008, Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon is well-positioned to offer web development, digital marketing, and information technology services to local, regional and international clients, according to several owners and partners of companies in and around Beirut. These experts agreed that Lebanon’s global position for IT services, outsourcing and off-shoring [...]

Link to Original Article Published in the Daily Star, Published December 3rd, 2008
BEIRUT: The American University of Beirut (AUB) on Monday welcomed esteemed Harvard Business School professor John Quelch for a discussion on the ramifications and theories of his most recent book, “Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy.”
Quelch, the senior associate dean [...]

I was the second person to arrive at the Captain’s Cabin at 7:30 PM yesterday, a bar here in Hamra where I’m staying in Beirut. I had been assured by several people that this particular bar had sworn to stay open until an American President was selected, many thousands of miles away…
And so it did. [...]

If every American could watch this video, this would be a very different country. A very different country indeed. Thank you Dr. Brzezinski for talking some bloody sense into those idiots on the television. Why can’t we vote for HIM for President?
If you cannot see the video, (like if you’re receiving this in an e-mail), [...]

“In this economy, racism is officially a luxury. How is John McCain going to win if he can’t win those voters? -

FiveThirtyEight.com has an amazing story out of Western Pennsylvania. A polster, traveling block by block attempting to learn more about working-class America’s election leanings reports:
“A canvasser goes to a woman’s door in Washington, Pennsylvania. [...]

To begin what is really an extended diatribe, consider this quote from Nathan Gardels’ interview with George Soros on Friday:

U.S. influence will wane. It has already declined. For the past 25 years, we have been running a constant current account deficit. The Chinese and the oil-producing countries have been running a surplus. We have consumed [...]