some guy in lebanon

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Note (8/19/09) – This post has been getting a lot of attention recently due to a link from a blog called ‘Dances with Klingons‘ – So I wanted to add a remark. Something that I didn’t understand when I posted this article, is the degree to which it is possible, if you have no dependents, [...]

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 [...]

“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. [...]

Update: Please note that this is a follow-up article to a previous post, “The Coming American Diaspora.”
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 [...]

Daily Star’s Nick Kimbrell Reports on the state of the Lebanese economy, given the current global economic volitility:

BEIRUT: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) senior resident representative to Lebanon praised the country’s central bank late Tuesday, saying the banking sector had few direct links to the current financial crisis and that Lebanon would likely prove more [...]

Given that our government is in the process of radically socializing the American economy, and also given my increased interest in Libertarian Socialism, I am of the impression that we are about to witness a market-driven rapid growth of communes here in the United States. My general assumptions for such a communal movement include,

Prior to [...]

Update: Also read “Part 2 of the American Diaspora – Economic Consequences of the Bailout” which is currently a top-ranked article on Google for the keywords “American Diaspora”! I can’t believe I wrote this in early October… guess I had a little foresight, eh?
People ask me why I’m leaving the country – why I’m going [...]

Woa – You know things are bad when the Journal’s saying stuff like this:
Last week, Republican presidential candidate John McCain called for a commission to “find out what went wrong” on Wall Street. It was an excellent suggestion: Public inquiries into Wall Street practices served the country well in the 1930s.
And Mr. McCain has a [...]

Ron Paul weighed in on the Bush Administration’s planned financial bailout on CNN’s “Late Edition” today:
WOLF BLITZER (“Late Edition” host): What do you say to the president who wants you and your fellow Republicans and Democrats to quickly pass this $700 billion bailout package?
PAUL: Well, I think that’s a mistake because we don’t have the [...]

Really, the question on everyone’s mind is, “Where is this going, and when is it going to stop?” The point Joel Archenbach is trying to make is clear: If people were either responsible with their money or coerced into being irresponsible, at what point is it the tax-payer’s responsibility to bail out Wall Street in [...]

Direct effects of subprime fallout muted by Arab banking practices
According to the Daily Star,
The prudent policies of Arab banks and financial institutions have allowed these entities to avoid the negative effects of the acute crisis that hit the stock markets in the United States and part of Europe, a leading Arab banker says. Addressing a [...]

[youtube]Xzc0re_3hQw[/youtube]
Original Post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzc0re_3hQw