All Too True

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

(Sent from my 3G iPhone)

Local Dollars?

Back in the early days of the USA, it was a common thing for states, towns, and banks to issue their own currency. This allowed local communities to control their own economies, and for people to do business with companies backed by the faith of local governments who could afford to do reasonable oversight. That system was abandoned with the rise of the Greenback in the 1800s, when we went to a single Federal currency. But now, local currencies are seeing a rise in popularity again.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-04-05-scrip_N.htm

The idea behind these local currencies is NOT to control the local economy, but to keep sufficient liquidity on the local level when money is tight on the Federal level. It is an interesting idea, but one that is likely to cause problems if it becomes widespread. Bad money tends to chase out good, leaving businesses with an uncertainty about the value of the cash in their boxes and accounts.

A Car Company Pays DOWN Debt

A largely unreported fact amidst the madness of Chrysler and General Motors, is the many steps Ford has taken to stay out of government bailouts and to show their strength. Yesterday, Ford actually paid down its debt rather than looking for a bailout to accrue more of it.

Ford used $2.4 billion in cash and 468 million shares of its common stock to buy down $9.9 billion in debt, reducing its leverage by 38 percent.

"By substantially reducing our debt, Ford is taking another step toward creating an exciting, viable enterprise," Ford chief executive Alan Mulally said in a statement.

One can't help wondering if soon the "Big Three" automakers will be reduced to the "Big One." Hopefully, the president will do as much to reward Ford for doing the RIGHT things, as he has done to punish GM for doing the WRONG things.

Fired over Pirated Wolverine Review

Roger Friedman has been the major driver behind FOX411, an entertainment rumor and gossip column running on FoxNews.com for years. It has brought in a number of advertisers, and has been the source of quite a few "scoops" on new movies and projects in development. Last week, he posted a review of the pirated WOLVERINE movie that was floating around on torrent sites last week. He praised the film, despite its unfinished state. But now, FOX has enforced their "zero tolerance for piracy" policy by firing their reporter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/business/media/06fox.html?_r=1

This is sure to stir some major controversy. It is likely that Friedman published the review on orders from above, and it is equally likely he'll be picked up by another news source quickly as he is a guaranteed source of readers.

Time for a Mindless Monday

I decided to bite the bullet and do my taxes over the weekend (thank you, TurboTax - what once took 3 days now takes 1 hour). So my brain is a bit fried at the moment. Rather than try and find something deep and meaningful today, how about a mindless time waster. Click over and try out this Chrome experiment built entirely with Javascript. But be warned. Do NOT click unless you have a LOT of time to waste. It is hypnotic.

Yes, this IS my life