DAN RATHER REPORTING U.S. FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

I saw this on HDNet last night, it was pretty shocking about the changes the government has allowed in corporate banking and how many U.S. citizens funds are at risk.

YOU WOULD THINK THAT IN THE WAKE OF THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL MELTDOWN SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION, WITH FINGER POINTING FROM WASHINGTON TO WALL STREET AND A POPULIST OUTCRY ON MAIN STREETS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THAT SOME MAJOR OVERHAUL OF THE AMERICAN BANKING SYSTEM WAS INEVITABLE. BUT LITTLE HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR. AND EVEN THOUGH THE POLITICAL PROCESS FOR REFORM IS IN MOTION, IF THE DEBATE OVER HEALTH CARE IS ANY GUIDE, TURNING LOUD ARGUMENTS INTO LAW WILL BE DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY WITH BIG MONEY LOBBYIST HEAVY IN THE MIX. BUT BEFORE WE MAP OUT THE FUTURE, IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE IN THE FIRST PLACE. WE TALKED WITH CHARLES GASPARINO, A JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR WHO NOW WORKS FOR THE FOX BUSINESS NETWORK. HE RECENTLY WROTE THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BESTSELLER, THE SELLOUT, ABOUT HOW OUR CURRENT ECONOMIC MESS WAS DECADES IN THE MAKING. WELL FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR DOING THIS. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. WELL, THE TITLE OF YOUR BOOK IS SELL OUT. WHO SOLD OUT? LET'S TALK ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY. WALL STREET HAS ALWAYS BEEN A NECESSARY EVIL, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED. AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S A PLACE THAT PEOPLE FORGET. YOU KNOW, THEY THINK THEIR STOCK BROKER IS THEIR FRIEND. AND THEY'RE NOT. YOU KNOW, THEY JUST SELL YOU STUFF. WELL, YOU DESCRIBE IT AS BASICALLY BOOK MAKERS. THEY ARE. THEY ARE. AND SOME OF 'EM MIGHT BE NICE GUYS. AND THEY MAY GIVE YOU A GOOD INVESTMENT. BUT I THINK PEOPLE FORGET THAT THESE GUYS ACTUALLY ARE THERE TO SELL YOU STUFF. AND I THINK THE CULT-- THAT CULTURE OF SELLING YOU STUFF, EVEN STUFF THAT'S BAD, THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, GOT WORSE AND WORSE. AND I TRIED TO SHOW HOW THAT HAPPENED. AND HOW THE CULTURE OF TAKING RISK WAS BEHIND THAT, YOU KNOW? MAKING AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU CAN IN THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME. AND THEN YOU GOTTA ASK YOURSELF, "WELL, WHAT WAS THE SORT OF ULTIMATE INDUCEMENT TO DO THAT? I MEAN, BECAUSE PEOPLE JUST DON'T DO THAT." YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU TAKE RISK, YOU CAN ALSO LOSE A LOT OF MONEY. AND THE ULTIMATE INDUCEMENT I-- I BELIEVE, AND I TRIED TO SHOW IN THIS BOOK WAS THE GOVERNMENT. THE GOVERNMENT BAILING THESE GUYS OUT, YOU KNOW EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. WELL, YOU TALK ABOUT, AND YOU'VE WRITTEN ABOUT, A-- QUOTE "A NEW BUSINESS MODEL." THAT WALL STREET EMBRACED. WHAT WAS IT? WELL, THAT WAS THE RISK MODEL. YOU SEE IN THE OLD DAYS, THE GOOD OLD DAYS, RIGHT? WALL STREET-- I MEAN, WHAT DID WALL STREET DO? YOU WENT TO YOUR-- IF YOU'RE AN INDIVIDUAL, YOU GO TO YOUR STOCK BROKER AND HE SELLS YOU STOCK. A STOCK, A BOND, A MUTUAL FUND. IF YOU'RE A CORPORATION YOU GO TO GOLDMAN SACHS. AND THEY WOULD SAY, "WELL, DO YOU WANT TO MERGE WITH SOMEBODY ELSE? DO YOU WANT TO BUY SOMETHING? OR IF YOU'RE A BIG INVESTOR, LIKE A PENSION FUND, YOU GO TO WALL STREET AND YOU SAY, "YOU KNOW, CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME RESEARCH ON WHERE I SHOULD PUT MY MONEY." AND IT WAS AN ADVISORY BUSINESS. IN THE LATE '70S, EARLY '80S, IT CHANGED. AND IT-- IT BECAME A BUSINESS PRIMARILY BASED ON RISK. AND THERE WERE LOTS OF FORCES. AND THERE'S NEVER ANY ONE REASON WHY SOMETHING HAPPENS. ONE REASON WAS THAT-- THAT THEY FOUND THEY COULD MAKE MUCH MORE MONEY ON RISK, RIGHT? THE ADVISORY BUSINESS WASN'T-- WASN'T TOO GLAMOROUS. THEY ALL BECAME PUBLIC COMPANIES. SO, THEY WERE PLAYING NOT WITH HOUSE MONEY. REMEMBER WALL STREET FIRMS ARE GENERALLY PARTNERSHIPS IN THE PAST. THEY WENT FROM PLAYING WITH HOUSE MONEY TO PLAYING WITH SHAREHOLDER'S MONEY. SO, THEY'RE A LITTLE MORE WILLING TO-- TO ROLL THE DICE. AND THEN YOU HAD A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF GOVERNMENT INDUCEMENTS, EARLY. AND IT KEPT-- IT KEPT BUILDING OVER THE YEARS. THEIR MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES BECAME ONE OF THE PRIME WAYS THEY TOOK RISKS. ONE OF THE REASONS WHY IS BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT MADE IT EASY TO CREATE THESE THINGS AND SELL THEM. AND FOR PEOPLE TO BUY THEM. AND THEN WHEN I THINK IT WAS PRETTY KEY, THEY ALSO KNEW THAT AS WALL STREET STARTED GROWING IN SIZE, THE GOVERNMENT WAS THERE A LOT OF TIMES TO-- TO LESSEN THE PAIN, WHEN THEY -- WHEN THEY ROLLED THE DISC, WHEN THEY ROLLED THE DICE AND LOST. THERE IS THIS MOOD IN THE COUNTRY, IF I'M ANY JUDGE. AND I'M SOMETIMES WRONG ABOUT THESE THINGS. THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS FAVORED WALL STREET AND THE BANKS. HE'S TAKEN CARE OF THEM, AT THE EXPENSE OF PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE INCOME RANGE AND THE LOWER INCOME RANGE AND THE POOR. ANYTHING TO THAT? IT'S NOT JUST OBAMA. IT'S A GROUP THINK OF PEOPLE THAT ARE RUNNING GOVERNMENT. AND ESPECIALLY THE POLICYMAKING PARTS OF GOVERNMENT, INVOLVING FINANCE. THE FED AND THE TREASURY. IS THAT EVERY TIME WALL STREET GETS BAILED, GETS IN TROUBLE, WE GOTTA BAIL 'EM OUT, BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO BIG TO FAIL. AND ONE OF THE THINGS I SHOWED IN MY BOOK IS THAT IF YOU LOOK AT 2008-2007, WHEN THEY MADE THE-- THE HUGE LOSSES, AND OBVIOUSLY THEY GOT-- THE MASSIVE BAILOUT IN 2008. IT WAS A BIG BAIL OUT IN 1998. THERE WAS A BIG BAILOUT IN 1994. AND THERE WAS ONE IN 1986 OVER BONDS, BELIEVE IT OR NOT. NOT STOCKS, BONDS, WHICH ARE ALWAYS MORE TOXIC AND CAUSE MORE LOSSES. AND THE BAILOUT GENERALLY INVOLVES GIVE 'EM FREE MONEY, TAKING' INTEREST RATES DOWN. IN 1990, IT WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT. THEY ACTUALLY DIRECTLY INTERVENED AND BAILED OUT A HEDGE FUND WHERE ALL THE WALL STREET FIRMS ARE CONNECTED TO. EXCUSE ME. ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THROUGH THE REAGAN, BUSH I, CLINTON ADMINISTRATIONS, AS WELL AS THE BUSH II ADMINISTRATION? ABSOLUTELY. ALL THIS WAS BUILDING? IT WAS BUILDING FOR YEARS. AND IT WAS 30 YEARS OF RISK TAKING. AND WHAT-- WHAT YOU DO IS WHEN YOU BAILOUT WALL STREET, BESIDES THE FACT THAT YOU'RE BAILING OUT, YOU KNOW, WALL STREET, (LAUGH) AND YOU'RE NOT BAILING OUT MAIN STREET. IS YOU'RE CREATING SOMETHING CALLED MORAL HAZARD. YOU'RE-- ESSENTIALLY, YOU'RE-- YOU'RE TELL-- TELLING THEM THERE'S NO REPERCUSSIONS FOR DOING STUPID THINGS, FOR GAMBLING. THAT'S WHAT YOU MEAN WHEN YOU WROTE ABOUT MORAL HAZARD? THAT'S IT. THAT'S-- RIGHT THERE. MORAL HAZARD IS WHEN I-- WHEN I GIVE YOU SO MUCH-- WHEN I BAIL YOU OUT EVERY TIME, YOU TAKE MORE RISK. BECAUSE YOU KNOW THERE'S NOT A REPERCUSSION TO YOUR-- TO TAKING RISKS. SO, YOU ROLL THE DICE IN EVEN WORSE WAYS. AND THAT'S WHAT WALL STREET DID UNTIL 2008. IF THEY DIDN'T BAIL 'EM OUT THAT TIME, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, I HAVE NUMBERS IN MY BOOK. $100 TRILLION OF DERIVATIVES AND MORTGAGE BACKS. I MEAN, WHOEVER HEARD OF THAT? $100 TRILLION. BY THE WAY, CAN YOU DEFINE A DERIVATIVE? A DERIVATIVE IS-- A SECURITY THAT'S-- IT'S -- IT'S DERIVED FROM ANOTHER SECURITY. IT'S NOT QUITE THAT SECURITY, BUT IF YOU KIND OF FIN-- FINAGLE THE INCOME STREAMS, AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN CREATE A CONTRACT OUT OF THAT WHERE I CAN BASICALLY OWE YOU SOME MONEY IF CERTAIN THINGS HAPPEN. AND YOU DO IT BASED OFF A SECURITY. I BUY IBM, I BUY PUTS IN IBM. THAT'S AN OPTION TO-- TO SELL IBM AT A CERTAIN PRICE. SO, THAT-- THAT SECURITY, THAT OPTION IS DERIVED OFF THE-- THE-- THE STOCK ITSELF. WELL, THAT'S JUST DIRECT-- DEFINITION AS I'VE EVER HEARD. BUT TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, DERIVATIVES-- STRIKES YOU AS JUST SO MUCH FINANCIAL WALL STREET GOBBLEDYGOOK. WELL, IT IS GOBBLEDYGOOK, IN THE SENSE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN. LISTEN, THESE GUYS ARE SMART. THEY WEREN'T TOO SMART THAT THEY-- THEY CREATED THIS HUGE DERIVATIVES MARKET, WHERE IF YOU HAD THE SLIGHTEST SORT OF-- BUMP IN THE ROAD IT ALL SORT OF FAULTED. AND-- WE HAD MORE THAN A SLIGHT BUMP IN 2007. WE HAD A MAJOR BUMP. AND THAT'S WHY THE WHOLE THING IMPLODED. BUT GETTING BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL QUESTION, IF YOU LOOK AT WALL STREET, THEY GET BAILED OUT ALL THESE TIMES. THEY GET BAILED OUT LAST YEAR IN A MASSIVE WAY. AND MAIN STREET NEVER GETS BAILED OUT. BUT YEAH, EXACTLY. IF YOU HAVE A CLEANING ESTABLISHMENT OR A CONVENIENCE STORE. YOU'RE DONE. YOU DON'T GET BAILED OUT. NO. AND IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT'S GOING' ON. YOU HAVE THE BANKS, THE TRADITIONAL BANKS, CITIGROUP, J.P. MORGAN, BANK OF AMERICA, WELLS FARGO MAYBE. JUST-- THOSE ARE THE MAIN-- THE BIG ONES. THOSE ARE THE TRADITIONAL BANKS. THEY ACTUALLY HAVE DEPOSITS. THEY HAVE,THEY LEND, SOMETIMES (LAUGHS). NOT-- NOT ENOUGH, OBVIOUSLY. ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU HAVE THE INVESTMENT BANKS, THE REMAINING ONES. YOU HAVE MORGAN STANLEY AND GOLDMAN SACKS. LOOK AT THE INVESTMENT BANKS, THEY ARE CONSIDERED COMMERCIAL BANKS. THE MINUTE THEY GOT BAILED OUT, IN ORDER TO SAVE THEM, BECAUSE THEY WERE ABOUT TO IMPLODE, TOO BECAUSE THEY TOOK-- THEY DID ALL THIS RISK TAKING. THEY WERE ALLOWED-- ABOUT TO IMPLODE LIKE BEAR STEARNS DID, LIKE LEHMAN BROTHERS DID, LIKE MERRILL LYNCH DID BEFORE IT WAS-- YOU KNOW, IT WAS-- IT WAS ON THE VERGE BEFORE IT WAS SOLD TO BANK OF AMERICA. THEY DECLARED THEM COMMERCIAL BANKS. OKAY? IT WAS A STOP GAP MEASURE. RIGHT? IT TOOK THE INVESTMENT BANKS TO COMMERCIAL BANKS. RIGHT. NOW, WHY DOES THAT MATTER? WELL, WHEN YOU ARE A COMMERCIAL BANK, YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY BACKED UP BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE. YOU CAN BORROW FROM THE FEDERAL RESERVE. INVESTMENT BANKS CAN'T REALLY DO THAT. YOU GET ALL THESE SORT OF LENDING'S. YOU KNOW, EASY LENDING. AND SO, IN THAT-- SO, THAT'S WHAT HELPED SAVE THEM. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THEY WERE BEING TOO BIG TO FAIL WITH THE GOVERNMENT BACKING THEM UP. CREDITORS EXTENDING THEM LINES OF MONEY, LINES OF CREDIT. THEY WERE ABLE TO SURVIVE. ALSO, IT -- IT GIVES THEM OPPORTUNITY TO GET CHEAP FINANCING, BOTH FROM THE FED AND THE MARKET, BECAUSE IF SOMEONE KNOWS YOU'RE BACKED UP BY THE FED, THEY CAN LEND TO YOU, AT FAVORABLE RATES. WELL GUESS WHAT? THEY'RE STILL COMMERCIAL BANKS. IF YOU THINK ABOUT, GOLDMAN SACHS IS-- SHOULD NOT BE A COMMERCIAL BANK RIGHT NOW, RIGHT? WE ARE ALLOWING THEM TO MAKE MONEY, HAND OVER FIST, YOU KNOW, WITH A GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY. IT MAKES NO SENSE. MORGAN STANLEY SHOULDN'T BE-- A COMMERCIAL BANK RIGHT NOW. THEY'RE GETTING THE TAXPAYER'S MONEY AT VIRTUALLY ZERO INTEREST. ABSOLUTELY. INVESTING IT AT TWO PERCENT INTEREST. IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT -- IT'S-- IT'S KIND OF WHAT THEY DID IN THE PAST, ONLY NOW IT'S-- HOPEFULLY THEY'RE NOT INVESTING IT IN MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES THAT ARE ABOUT TO BLOW UP. IT-- IT'S A SUBSIDY, WHEN YOU'RE DEEMED A COMMERCIAL BANK, WHEN YOU'RE BACKED UP. AND BY THE WAY, IF YOU REALLY SCREW UP, YOU CAN BORROW FROM THE FED, IF YOU WANT. BUT THAT SUBSIDY ALLOWS YOU TO GO OUT AND BASICALLY EARN THAT TWO PERCENT WITH NO RISK. AND IT'S SCARY. AND IT'S ON THE TAXPAYER BACK. THE OTHER HAND IS YOU HAVE THE BANK BANKS. NOW, SHOULD THEY BE CONSIDERED TOO BIG TO FAIL? AND THAT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION. I MEAN, THAT'S ONE THAT-- IT'S HARD FOR PEOPLE TO GET THEIR ARMS AROUND. I MEAN, YOU KNOW THE, SORT-- THE-- THE FREE MARKETERS, I MEAN, HE SAYS, "NO WAY." BUT, YOU KNOW-- IF WE DON'T HAVE A FUNCTIONING BANKING SYSTEM IN THIS COUNTRY, THEN WE'RE IN DEEP TROUBLE. WELL, YOU SAY THE FREE MARKET CHAMPIONS. BUT THESE SAME FREE MARKET CHAMPIONS ARE GETTING THESE SUBSIDIES ARE THEY NOT? YES AND NO. THE ODDITY IS WALL STREET WAS NEVER A PURE-- THEY NEVER BELIEVED IN REAL FREE MARKET. YOU KNOW, THEY ALWAYS-- WALL STREET ALWAYS LOVED THE INSIDE GAME. I MEAN, LISTEN, THERE'S-- THERE'S A LAW THAT I THINK IS A KEY PART OF-- OF THE REASON WHY WE'RE IN WHAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW. IT'S-- IT'S-- ACTUALLY, THE-- THE LAW WAS GOOD, GETTING RID OF THE LAW WAS BAD. IT WAS CALLED GLASS-STEAGALL. IT SEPARATED COMMERCIAL BANKING ACTIVITIES, LENDING TO SMALL BUSINESSES. YOU KNOW, HOLDING DEPOSITS, CHECKING ACCOUNTS, FROM RISK-TAKING INVESTMENT BANKING. THEY DID IT FOR-- FOR A LONG TIME. THAT GREW OUT OF THE-- THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE '30S. RIGHT. RIGHT. THEY SAID, "LISTEN, BANKS OUGHT TO BE BANKS. AND INVESTMENT HOUSES OUGHT TO BE INVESTMENT HOUSES." RIGHT. 'CAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO MIX RISK-TAKING WITH, YOU KNOW, GRANDMA MILLIE'S CHECKING ACCOUNT. AND IN 1999, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG-- THE POWERS THAT BE ON WALL STREET, WORKING WITH THE POWERS THAT BE IN WASHINGTON SAID, "WELL, LET-- THAT LAW'S OLD THINKING. WE SHOULD LET INVESTMENT BANKS ALSO DO COMMERCIAL BANKING." YEAH, THEY CALLED IT FINANCIAL MODERNIZATION. AND BEFORE THAT LAW WAS ACTUALLY KILLED, RIGHT? THERE WAS THIS MAJOR MERGER THAT BROUGHT COMMERCIAL BANKING AND INVESTMENT BANKING TOGETHER. IT WAS CALLED CITIGROUP. I WAS ALWAYS CRITICAL OF IT BECAUSE, SAY YOU WANTED TO BUY A STOCK FROM-- FROM YOUR BROKER AT-- AT CITIGROUP. HE HAD SO MANY CONFLICTS. HE WOULD HAVE TO PROMOTE THE STOCK TO YOU, RIGHT? HE WOULD SAY, "WORLDCOM, ENRON, GREAT STOCK." AND THE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE CITIGROUP HAD SO MANY MULTIPLE RELATIONSHIPS WITH-- WITH ENRON. AND THE FOLLY WASN'T, UNFORTUNATELY, JUST THE FACT THAT CONSUMERS WHO WENT THERE AND TRIED TO BUY STOCKS GOT A RAW DEAL. AND BY THE WAY, CITIGROUP PAID MANY, MANY, MANY MILLIONS IN FINES, BECAUSE OF THOSE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST LATER ON, AS THE SCANDALS-- CAME OUT IN 2002-2003. BUT THE REAL PROBLEM ACTUALLY BECAME A BALANCE SHEET PROBLEM. THAT YOU ACTUALLY MIXED-- THINK ABOUT THIS, RISK WITH AVERAGE BANKING-- ACTIVITIES. WHERE YOU SOMEHOW INFECTED DEPOSITS WITH THIS INSANE BOND TRADING ON THE SIDE, AND THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT HAPPENED. AND HERE'S WHY THE FREE MARKETERS WERE SO WRONG. JUST THINK ABOUT IT. WE-- IN THIS COUNTRY, WE'VE TAKEN THE POSITION, WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH IT OR NOT, THAT -- THAT DEPOSITS SHOULD BE INSURED. THAT WE NEED BANKS. THAT THE F.D.I.C. SHOULD BACK UP BANKS. SO, WHAT FREE MARKETERS FORGOT IS THAT WHEN YOU COMBINE RISK TAKING WITH -- WITH THIS, WITH -- WITH DEPOSITS, YOU BASICALLY STARTED TO GUARANTEE, AND COVER, AND MAKE -- MAKE RISK TAKING SORT OF PROTECTED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IT'S A SORT OF TAILS I WIN. HEADS, I WIN. YEAH. BUT THINK ABOUT IT. WHAT'S SO FREE MARKET ABOUT CITIGROUP? IT CAN LOSE ALL THIS MONEY, AND BECAUSE ITS DEPOSITS ARE BACKED UP BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL MAKE GOOD ON THE DEPOSITS IF IT GOES UNDER. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BEING MY TAX MONEY OR YOURS. YOUR TAX MONEY. BECAUSE IT'S SO BIG, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S GONNA COME IN AND BAIL THEM OUT. CITIGROUP IS -- IS A BASKET CASE. IT'S NOW DIRECTLY OWNED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. SO, AS A TAXPAYER, I OWN PART OF IT. YOU DO OWN PART OF IT. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT IT, BUT YOU OWN IT. BUT WHAT I'M SAYING IS THAT IT WAS THE LEAST FREE MARKET LAW IN THE WORLD. WELL, WHAT YOU'VE LAID OUT, AND CORRECT ME IF THIS PERCEPTION IS WRONG, BUT IT SEEMS TO LAID OUT THAT BIG BUSINESS, WALL STREET, IS IN BED WITH BIG GOVERNMENT. HAS BEEN FOR YEARS AND STILL IS. AT THE EXPENSE OF THE REST OF US. YEAH. I MEAN, THE EXPENSE KEEPS BUILDING UP. I MEAN, WE'VE HAD 30 YEARS OF THE-- I GUESS THE CASH REGISTER GOING ON THIS THING. AND-- YOU KNOW, IT'S SCARY, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, NINE-- AFTER 2008, AFTER THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION CAME IN THERE, THERE WAS A POINT WHERE YOU THOUGHT MAYBE SOMETHING RADICAL MIGHT CHANGE. AND I DON'T MEAN RADICAL IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, A REVOLUTION. I MEAN, SOMETHING THAT-- THAT MIGHT SORT OF BREAK UP THIS-- THIS SORT OF NEXUS-- REAL REFORM. YEAH, REAL REFORM. AND YOU KIND OF KNEW IT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN HE DIDN'T DISBAND THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, IF THERE WAS ONE ENTITY THAT FELL DOWN ON THE JOB IN A MAJOR WAY OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS OF SCANDALS, IT'S THE S.E.C. I MEAN THERE'S NO DOUBT... WELL, THE S.E.C., THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, IS SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING AFTER MY INTERESTS AND THE INTERESTS OF OTHER INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE INVESTORS. RIGHT. AND NOT ONLY THAT, THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO MONITOR THE CAPITAL LEVELS OF THE INVESTMENT BANKS, WHICH THEY-- THEY MIXED UP-- THEY MISSED ON THAT. BUT WHEN THE BERNIE MADOFF SCANDAL, THE MASSIVE PONZI SCHEMER WAS EXPOSED, I GOT A REPORT FROM A HEDGE FUND, DUE DILIGENCE FIRM THAT ACTUALLY LOOKED INTO MADOFF AND TOLD HIS CLIENTS NOT TO-- NOT TO INVEST WITH HIM. BECAUSE HERE ARE THE FIVE REASONS WHY THEY-- YOU SHOULDN'T. THEY WERE PRETTY COMPELLING REASONS. YOU KNOW, THE GUY KEEPS SAYING HE NEEDS 12 PERCENT A YEAR FOR 20 YEARS. THAT NEVER REALLY HAPPENS. HE WAS EXAMINED BY THE S.E.C. EIGHT TIMES, EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN'T CATCH ANYTHING, THAT'S A HUGE RED FLAG, THAT HE KEEPS COMING' UP ON THEIR-- ON THEIR LIST. AND I SAID, "YOU KNOW, THIS IS INTERESTING." HE WAS EXAMINED BY THE S.E.C. EIGHT TIMES AND THEY NEVER CAUGHT HIM. AND IF THERE WAS EVER A RATIONALE-- AND BY THE WAY, THEY-- THEY DIDN'T CATCH HIM, BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T SAY, "LET ME SEE YOUR TRADING RECORDS. LET ME MAKE SURE YOU DID ONE TRADE." IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME WHEN TO GET RID OF THE S.E.C., IT WAS THEN, BECAUSE THEY WERE OBVIOUSLY AN INCOMPETENT ORGANIZATION THAT WAS INCOMPETENT BECAUSE OF CONFLICTS. I MEAN A LOT OF THOSE GUYS AT THE S.E.C. WANT TO GO WORK FOR THE BERNIE MADOFFS IN THE WORLD. LET ME TALK ABOUT THE FEDERAL RESERVE. LAY OUT FIRST WHAT THE FEDERAL RESERVE HAS BECOME. WELL, THEY ARE KIND OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, A SORT OF REFEREE FOR WALL STREET. AND WHAT THEY'VE DONE IS THEY'VE GONE IN AND BY BAILING OUT-- BY THE WAY WHEN-- WHEN THE FED-- WHEN I SAY BAILOUT, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? THE FED GOES IN AND SLASHES INTEREST RATES. IT CREATES FREE MONEY. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS FREE MONEY. WELL, IT IS IF YOU WORK ON WALL STREET. IF YOU CAN BORROW FROM THE FED AT ZERO, THAT'S PRETTY FREE, OR NEXT TO ZERO. THAT'S PRETTY FREE. AND THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT'S GOING ON. AND THERE'S A HISTORY OF THAT. AND THAT'S-- THAT-- THAT IS THE-- THE MORAL HAZARD THAT WAS CREATED. IF YOU KNOW YOU COULD-- THE FED IS ALWAYS THERE. IS GONNA BAIL YOU OUT. I MEAN, THE FEDERAL RESERVE WAS NOT CREATED TO BAILOUT WALL STREET, YOU KNOW? BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY'VE DEVELOPED INTO. THE LAST 30 YEARS THEY HAVE. LET'S GO BACK TO THE WORST DAYS OF LAST YEAR. I REMEMBER THOSE. PRETTY SCARY FOR EVERYBODY. WERE WE CLOSER THAN WE THOUGHT TO THE GREATEST DEPRESSION? NOT JUST GREAT DEPRESSION? OR LOOKING BACK ON IT, DID THAT TURN OUT TO BE A LITTLE OVERSTATED? NO, I THINK WE WERE. YOU KNOW, I'VE SAT HERE FOR AWHILE TELLING YOU WHY WE SHOULD CUT OFF THE UMBILICAL CORD AND NOT BAIL THESE GUYS OUT. WE NEEDED TO BAIL THEM OUT IN 2008. JUST BECAUSE WE BAILED THEM OUT SO MANY TIMES IN THE PAST, THE AMOUNT OF RISK EMBEDDED IN THE SYSTEM, THAT $100 TRILLION OF DERIVATIVES AND BONDS AND ALL THE GARBAGE THAT'S ON THE BALANCE SHEET, THAT WAS ABOUT TO BLOW. SO, YOU THINK IT WAS EVERY BIT AS BAD AS WE ALL THOUGHT IT WAS. IT WAS HAPPENING. I SAW IT. MAYBE WORSE AND THIS TIMEFRAME WAS WHEN? WAS THAT SEPTEMBER? IT WAS SEPTEMBER 5TH; IT WAS RIGHT AFTER LEHMAN'S BANKRUPTCY. DAYS AFTER LEHMAN BANK. SO, MORGAN AND-- AND GOLDMAN WERE ABOUT TO IMPLODE. THAT'S A HUGE THING, 'CAUSE THESE GUYS, THEY TRADE STOCKS. I MEAN, WHY DOES IT MATTER THAT PEOPLE TRADE STOCKS? WELL, YOU HAVE A PENSION FUND, RIGHT? YOU'RE-- YOU'RE A NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL TEACHER, PENSION FUND, DO YOU WANT IT TO GO TO ZERO? I MEAN, THAT'S A POSSIBILITY, IF PEOPLE AREN'T TRADING. THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM WAS SEIZING UP IN SUCH A MAJOR WAY, WHERE NOTHING WAS BEING TRADED. WHERE BANKS WERE GONNA HORDE CASH, WHICH THEY ARE RIGHT NOW. COULD YOU IMAGINE AS BAD AS THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW HOW-- HOW MUCH WORSE THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IF WE JUST LET IT ALL FALL-- FALL IN, IMPLODE? WELL, THAT BRINGS UP THE QUESTION, IF BEN BERNANKE, HEAD OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE, WERE HERE, HE MIGHT SAY, "LISTEN, DAN RATHER, YOU TALKED TO THIS TERRIFIC INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER. BUT IN THE END, WE SAVED THE COUNTRY FROM GOING INTO POSSIBLY THE GREATEST DEPRESSION. OKAY, MAYBE WE DIDN'T HANDLE LEHMAN BROTHERS AS WELL AS WE SHOULD. MAYBE WE HELD OUR NOSES AND DID WHAT WE HAD TO DO WITH A.I.G. IF YOU LOOK BACK ON IT, WE PULLED THE COUNTRY BACK FROM THE PRECIPICE." DOES HE HAVE A POINT? YEAH, I AGREE. HE HAS A POINT. I THINK THEY WERE TOO SLOW TO DO IT. BUT IT-- BUT THE QUESTION IS, "WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DO ALL THIS?" AND THAT'S WHAT MY BOOK ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER. I MEAN, THIS WAS A HUGE THING. WELL, MY BOOK SAYS, "THEY HAD TO DO IT." IS BECAUSE THEY DID IT IN SMALL FORM SO MANY TIMES IN THE PAST THAT IF YOU DIDN'T DO IT NOW, IT WAS ALL OVER. WELL, AS WE SIT HERE TODAY, HAS WALL STREET LEARNED ITS LESSON? I DON'T THINK SO. AND THE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE WHEN YOU-- WHEN YOU SUBSIDIZE THEIR STUPIDITY, AS WE CONTINUE TO DO, YOU KNOW GOLDMAN, THERE'S NO REASON -- I KEEP HARPING BACK TO GOLDMAN SACHS, IT'S SUCH AN OBVIOUS EXAMPLE. IF YOU'RE GONNA ALLOW GOLDMAN SACHS TO OPERATE WITH SUBSIDIES. THEN YOU'RE GONNA-- THEN WHAT YOU'RE TELLING THE WORLD IS THAT THERE'S NO CONSEQUENCE. YOU'VE WRITTEN SELL OUT, THIS BOOK. IT WAS SOME WONDERFUL REPORTING IN THE BOOK. WHAT'S THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW? I BELIEVE GREED WAS AT THE CENTER OF THE IMPLOSION. BUT THERE'S A REASON FOR THAT. AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE WHAT WE HAD ON WALL STREET WASN'T JUST SIMPLE GREED. WE HAD SUBSIDIZED GREED. AND IT'S A BIPARTISAN SUBSIDY. IT WASN'T DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS. YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A LOT OF FINGER POINTING IN WASHINGTON. YOU KNOW WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS. THIS WAS LARGELY BIPARTISAN. THERE'S THIS SORT OF PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN WALL STREET AND BIG GOVERNMENT. BIG WALL STREET, AND BIG GOVERNMENT, WHICH I BELIEVE IS DETRIMENTAL TO THE -- TO THE AVERAGE AMERICAN. AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. YOU CAN VOTE PEOPLE IN OFFICE THAT MIGHT WANT TO CHANGE THAT. BUT JUST KNOW THAT IT'S THERE. AND IF THERE'S ANY OUTRAGE IN MY BOOK, THAT'S THE OUTRAGE. CHARLES, THANK YOU.

"Betsy" Elizabeth Danheim, you will be missed

ELIZABETH "BETSY" DANHEIM, 43, passed away Friday, Jan. 30th while vacationing with her husband Eric Danheim in Maui, Hawaii. The two were diving near a small coral reef when she suffered a heart attack. Betsy was born April 26th, 1965 in Dayton Ohio and grew up in Houston, She graduated from Bellaire High School in 1983 and The University of Houston In 1989. She went to work as a correspondent for the Baytown Sun, became an editor of the Houston Press, and later went on to work for Microsoft Sidewalk. In Nov of 1998 she was married to Eric Danheim, guitarist for the Houston band "The Hollisters". Betsy later was employed by Amazon.com in Seattle, until the couple moved back to Texas in 2004. Betsy will be remembered by many as a happy, kind, fun-loving person who would always put the needs of others before her own. She loved Texas, Texas music, long road trips and her beloved dogs. Her bright blue eyes and glowing smile will be missed by many. Betsy is survived by her husband Eric, parents Ginger and Bill Bentz, brothers Martin, James, Jason and Richard.

12 lessons from Stephanie Tilenius (VP of Commerce at Google).

1. Hire the best talent. Surround yourself with smarter people who have complementary skills and who challenge the status quo.
2. Think big. Develop BHAGs: big hairy audacious goals. Imagine the impossible and you will be surprised how much you can accomplish.
3. Aim to make a difference. Make the world a better place.
4. Say what you mean and do what you say. Execution and follow-through are critical. Thomas Edison said “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” My father used to always remind me of this.
5. Competition makes you stronger. It also makes you serve your customers better.
6. Always put the customer first. And remember, you have to have a great product or service that is differentiated to win.
7. Take on the hardest challenges. Get out of your comfort zone. If you have not failed at something, you are probably not innovating.
8. Truth-seeking is half the battle in winning. You need to know where you stand in the war.
9. Move fast in a land-grab. Get network effects first. Remember, you need both popularity and profitability.
10. You can be an entrepreneur in a big company.
11. Pay it forward. Be a mentor.
12. If you make a mistake or fail, it’s OK. Fix it fast and move forward. But make sure to take the lessons away so you do not repeat them. Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Zen saying

In the wheel of life and death, there are no big ends, only little ends.

Unknown author

Saying to start the day

If you live each day as it is your last, you will question if what you are doing is worth it.

Gregory Harold Boe, you will be missed my friend

Gregory Harold Boe, a resident of San Jose, Calif., passed away on Nov. 9, 2009 in San Jose.

Greg was born in Prineville, Ore., on Aug. 26, 1959. In 1977, he graduated from Crook County High School, where he especially enjoyed participating in varsity Cowboy athletic programs.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business at the University of Portland, graduating in 1981, and he moved to California, pursuing business interests.

He enjoyed fishing, hunting, golfing, traveling, playing cards, and spending time with family and his many close friends.

Greg is survived by his parents, Wallace and Rosemary Boe of Prineville; brothers, Stephen Boe of Bend, Ore., and Michael Boe of Sacramento, Calif.; and sisters, Denise Smith of Prineville, Teresa Patterson of Santa Cruz, Calif., Mary Ann Queen of Powell Butte, Ore., and Amy Harmon of Cornelius, Ore.

At the request of the deceased, no service will be held.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Crook County Athletic Programs at 1100 SE Lynn Blvd., Prineville, OR 97754.

Update from Amanda

 

Hello my lovely friends and family! Suwadee Kah!
I have so much to tell about, so prepare to read for a while! I'll start with Bali first...

After staying in Ubud for two nights, where I watched fascinating ethnic Balinese dances and visited "Elephant Cave" and the Monkey Forest Sanctuary, I was picked up by a very friendly driver named Wayan. He took me to Munduk, where Nyoman lives and where I would (I thought) work on school gardens. We taught each other English and Balinese along the drive, and he took me for lunch and drove the long way to see some beautiful rice paddies and other farms. When we got to Munduk it started to rain, and not a warm tropical rain, but a very cold heavy rain that you only experience in high elevations in Bali. The rest of my stay there I wore jeans and a flannel it was so cold! After a little rest, they took me to see the house where I would stay in a village called Sanda. Along the way we stopped at the office to meet Eloh, Nyoman's daughter. These names are very common in Bali; Nyoman means third born, while Eloh and Wayan mean first born. Eloh stayed with me at the house in Sanda, which I now call my garden house because it was completely covered in vines and cacao and vanilla and surrounded by rice paddies. It really was a beautiful sanctuary for me. I didn't start teaching until after the weekend, once Kuningan - the holiday celebrating Hinduism in Bali - had passed. I worked for two hours in the morning with a kindergarten class, mainly teaching English nursery rhymes and songs (we weeded the small garden on the last day of my stay there), and also taught a 4th grade and a 6th grade class for one hour. The kindergarteners were so cute and so fun to be around. They know no english but can understand my meaning just by expressions and pictures and games. One day after class, Nyoman took me to see the huge Banyan tree up the road from my garden house. It was over 600 years old, and you could climb in and out of it through the massive hanging roots! On the last day of my stay, Eloh took me to a waterfall which was huge and so powerful. That night I stayed at Nyoman's house and helped them cook a delicious feast of rice, noodles, chicken, fried vegetables, corn paddies, and so much other food that I could never explain in text! The next morning Wayan took me back to Kuta to the airport, where I set off for Thailand. I landed in Bangkok and went straight to the train station to catch the night train up to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand, where I would meet three of my friends from UCSC...

After a long 15 hour train ride and not really sleeping on chairs in a overly air-conditioned train, I found where my friends were staying, and finally got to enjoy Thailand. The food here is amazing and soooooo cheap! Everyone you meet here is smiling and everyone says hello where ever you go! I have to say its the perfect place to be travelling on my own, and in fact I would have it no other way. I spent Halloween in Chiang Mai, which was pretty uneventful as Thais don't normally celebrate it. The next night however was the start of Loi Krathong, where everyone sends off paper lanterns and sends "krathongs" - a boat made of banana leaf with candles, incense, food, flowers, maybe coins - down the river. You are meant to release something with the lantern and send away your bad luck and sins with the krathong (you can also make a wish on the krathong). The festival lasted two nights, and both nights there were parades through town, fireworks blown off at random by small children, tons of street food and street markets and way too many tourists! I also went to the Saturday and Sunday markets. They are held at night and are huge! Bags, shoes, jewelry, scarfs, candles, wooden figurines, postcards, and an abundance of cheap street food is what the girls and I were herded through by all the crowds of people. Everything was so cheap - 10 baht for pad thai, 5 baht for 2 spring rolls, 13 baht for an ice cream. (The currency is 33 baht to 1 USD!)

After revelling in the madness of the holiday in Chiang Mai, I set off for a town called Pai with my 3 girlfriends and 4 boys they had met in the south - 2 Danishmen and 2 Englishmen. I planned to spend a week or less there, and I ended up staying for almost 10 days! Pai is a really sweet little hippie town consisting of about 3 main streets, tons of artists and live music over several bars every night. The boys rented motor bikes, and us girls hopped on the back and cruised around the north, stopping for a waterfall here, a nice look out over rice paddies there. Scooter gang!!! The girls and I went on a 2 day, 1 night trek around the north of Pai, starting on the day before my birthday. The first day we hiked up a massive hill and stopped at a waterfall for lunch, then continued to a Lahu Hilltribe village where we ate dinner and slept. I was awakened by a full chorus of every rooster from every corner of town at about 4AM, and the ballad of the farm did not stop from then on. But I have to say I would want no other way to spend my birthday then to wake up in a village of such kind, gentle people in the middle of a bamboo forest in Thailand. The rest of the trek was a bit tiresome as we had to hike along a river and ended up crossing this river about 20 times. Oh and there were leaches in the river - yay. Luckily no blood-suckers found my skin, only my sock and boots!
A day later the girls left and I stayed in some nice bungalows by myself and ended up meeting a crew of amazing Isreali people that had taken over the rest of the hostel! Pai also had a really nice pool to lounge by, which was extremely convenient as it was extremely hot my last few days in Pai. I also tried to go on an elephant ride. It was something I've wanted to do even before leaving for Thailand so I was really looking forward to it. I went with a really nice girl from Hawaii named Chelleigh and both of us were amped to finally get to be with the elephants. What we didn't know was that the elephant camps were actually enslavement camps. The elephants were chained maybe 5 feet from a post, not free to graze on banana trees as they would have liked. We rode a 45 yr old female elephant (elephants live to be about 80, so this one was getting old). You could tell she had given rides her whole life and was tired. She would walk really slow, and sitting on her back I could feel her bones shift with each huge step. Every once and a while she would stop and the guide sitting at her neck would hack at her with this horrible tool that looked like a small grim reeper cane. The top was metal, and was not sharp to the touch, but could definitely leave a mark, and it was then that we noticed the scars on her forhead. The tour was meant to last for an hour, but neither Chelleigh nor I could bare to see her hit like that for more than 5 minutes. Our guide didn't understand when we said we wanted to go back, but eventually steered her around, pushing with his feet on her ears.When we got back to the camp they let us feed the elephants. I made a point to give them as much banana tree as I could carry, while Chelleigh argued with the owner of the camp that hitting the elephants hurt them. "Oh it doesn't hurt them" they say, "they have thick skin." But Chelleigh had a good point, "then why would they react to you hitting them if it didn't hurt?" The man who organized the tour was shocked, not at how they are treated, but at our disliking of it. He was very apologetic and refunded us half of our money, and later bought us a drink at the bar.

After realizing I'd spent over a week in one place, and had less than two months to see so much more, I headed back south for a night in Chiang Mai, then went up north the other way to Chiang Rai. The fiance of a man I used to go sailing with lives there, Nattaya, and she was very helpful and showed me some wonderful parts of Chiang Rai. The night I arrived we went to the night market and went through a bit of the Saturday ngiht market. I bought a kilo of mandarins for 15 baht! The next day we went to the White Temple, done by the most famous artist in Thailand who lives in Chiang Rai, but whose name I forget (its a long one). This was unlike any other temple I have seen. Most have very traditional images of buddha or buddhist art around it. His temple included traditional art, but also had a really modern, clever touch to it. The whole thing was painted white and embroidered with tiny glass mirrors. White flowers were planted around it, and white fish swam in a pond around it too. The entrance had hands and skulls (painted white of course) coming up from the ground like from the depths of Hell. Once inside the temple, you are confronted with a thought-provoking mural. At the entrance is an image of a giant (like the one at the entrance to Goa Gajah - see pics!) and coming out of his mouth is "civilazation." Right near him are Western images - Batman, Spiderman and Superman all watched over the wretchedness of western civilization - prostitution, Pepsi, the twin towers burning, gasoline being pumped into ancient dragons' mouths, converse sneakers, profanity, police...you get the picture. Floating away from that were images of really happy families in lotus petals, all with their hands in prayer. They seemed pulled by their happiness to the back of the temple, where a monk sat still in meditation. A contrast, perhaps, of east and west...
Yesterday I went on a long-tailed boat ride with a couple of Canadians that I'd met in Pai, and bumped into randomly on the bus comin to Chiang Rai from Ch Mai. We took about an hour journey throught the river to a hot spring, which unfortunately was closed for cleaning, then went to a hilltribe village where they had a massive boa constrictor. It was 100 baht to take a picture using your camera holding the snake, and the three of us went in on it. She weighed 40 kilos and was 10 years old, just at her prime. At first she lay limp in our hands (I held the back end!) then after a while she started to move a bit. I was amazed at how strong she was - she could easily kill something much larger than me! Then I saw pictures of her on the walls, stretched out for 8 hands to hold. Looking at her cage, which wasn't half the length of her full body, I felt so sorry for her. She was captured from the forest, and now was making money for her owners off of awe-struck tourists. I find it hard to support such abuse, and stayed for a while to watch her, to see what she feels. You could tell she wanted out, that she didn't know why she'd been captured or why people had to hold her all the time. She drew her head near me and sniffed the air with her tongue. I bent down to see her face and she hissed ever so softly. I just imagined her praying that I would unlock the cage and set her free, and I wished that I could...
I am back in Chiang Mai now for the afternoon, catching a bus tonight to head down near Bangkok to the ancient capital of Ayuttaya. After a day there, I'll catch another night bus to go south to the province of Krabi - watch out beaches, here I come!

Statistics Show Social Media Is Bigger Than You Think

1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia (note that Facebook is now creeping up – recently announced 300 million users)
6. Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this)
7. comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network
8. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
9. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
10. % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
11. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
12. Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres (combined) have more Twitter followers than the population of Ireland, Norway, or Panama. Note I have adjusted the language here after someone pointed out the way it is phrased in the video was difficult to determine if it was combined.
13. 80% of Twitter usage is outside of Twitter…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
14. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
15. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
16. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
17. Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
18. There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
19. 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
20. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
21. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
22. Facebook USERS translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks and cost Facebook $0
23. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
24. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
25. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them
26. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
27. Only 14% trust advertisements
28. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
29. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
30. Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
31. 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
32. According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available
33. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
34. In the near future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media
35. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
36. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
37. Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

Chopper

 
SOA move over :-)

Long live Kelly Binley, rest in peace

Today at 4:10 a.m. Kelly passed away. She is survived by her son Kurt and our daughter Sam. She was a wonderful person and mother, and she will be missed by many.

Bud Selig should be fired!

I am amazed as more stories continue to surface regarding steroid use in Major League Baseball how Bud Selig has kept his job and not been disband from baseball all together.

The rise of steroids in baseball was transparent to the world. Suddenly aging stars were having their most productive years at the end of their careers. Just look at the original Barry and the pumped up Barry. Suddenly in 2000, an older slower Barry is knocking more balls out of the park. Mark McGwire suddenly had a long forehead, and is hitting 24 homeruns to 70 in one season, humm something has changed. Now long after the fact the witchhunt is on for former MLB players - why? Why not focus on the top of the problem, the man that let it exist, profit from it the most, and did nothing to address it in a timely fashion - Bud Selig.

The single worst side effect of this entire scandel is that the game will never recover. This is a sport that is built and measured on statistics, and now this will never matter. There will be no more legends of MLB, what will you compare them to? So as the leader of the sport during the darkest peroid of history - Bud Selig should be fired!

Sam at Elk Fest

 
Sam, Kari and I spent the weekend at Elk Fest in Spokane. The Elk is a bar that host concerts in the street in Spokane. We had a great time.

Haircut against Cancer

 
I have someone close to me who is battling cancer. I told her if she lost her hair again I would shave my head. So here it is, a picture of my hair going away!

Sam at Santana Row

 

Sammy motorcycle shopping

 

Happy 50th to Vic

 

We spent last weekend celebrating our friend Vic's 50th birthday driving around Northern Ca wine country. It is a tough life and someone has to do it.

Wine tasting

 

Kari and I were traveling around Gilroy area tasting wines, and she had some company!

New car day!

 
Sam, Ben (boyfriend), Kari and I went car shopping in Spokane and found Sam a great deal on a Beetle. She was very happy!

Sad Day

I just received recent news that someone very close to me was dying of terminal cancer. No words come to mind on how I am to process such terrible news. I need to help her and those around her on how to say goodbye. Today is a very sad day.

My childhood house

 

This was the house I lived in from very young to sixth grade. There are a lot of great memories from this home.