What corruption?

They say that corruption is hard to quantify and that is probably true. The papers say that Somalia is the most corrupt country in the world. Afghanistan is not far behind. What exactly happens when corruption occurs? For one thing, it engenders more corruption. One rotten apple can turn a whole barrel full of apples rotten, no? But let's say that there is only one corrupt person among many honest ones. That corrupt person takes a bribe for a service not rendered or a product not delivered. It gets in the way of productivity and denies the economic equation its purpose - fair trade. The same can be said of greed. Greed is another form of corruption. But, how does one quantify greed? Ask yourself: do we really need to? How does one quantify hate or love or generosity or sincerity or honesty? Perhaps this topless woman knows.

Stocks

From the 10/25/09 news: “NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street may be roaring again and manufacturers may see a bright future selling their wares in Asia, but for many Americans, it's still a downturn until the jobs come back. This week, earnings from several companies with deep ties to corporate payrolls, consumer demand and the labor market will show whether employers are hiring, firing or holding off on filling vacancies. Here's a closer look at the companies reporting and what their results can tell us about the job market: Monster Worldwide Inc. (job search); WellPoint Inc. and Aetna Inc. (health benefits); Apollo Group Inc. and DeVry Inc. (job training-education); International Paper Co. (product containers.)” This is good to know, even for this beautiful topless woman.

Covering up

From an NPR story: “The federal jury that found former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson guilty Wednesday of 11 felonies, including bribery and racketeering, delivered its verdict four years and two days after FBI agents found $90,000 in his freezer. During the trial, prosecutors laid out five years' worth of deals in which Jefferson wanted payments from business people. The jurors saw a crisp FBI photo of the cash in his home freezer. They also saw a video of Jefferson collecting the money — the moment when the Democratic congressman reached into the trunk of an FBI informant's car and took a briefcase filled with the greenbacks. The informant, a businesswoman, wore a wire during the hand-off and at restaurant meals with Jefferson. She recorded incriminating conversations about business deals in Africa and the payments he expected. The defense case, by contrast, took a couple of hours and argued that Jefferson had been acting as a business consultant, not a member of Congress carrying out official acts.” There is a saying about working for two masters – it can’t be done. There is also a difference between discretion and dealing in cash – discretion is good, but cash is somehow always incriminating. Stay away from it. If you have nothing to cover up, then do everything out in the open. This topless woman knows this very well.

Electocracy

As you know, G8 leaders are meeting in Italy this week. From Reuters: “L'AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) – G8 leaders believe the world economy still faces "significant risks" and may need further help, according to summit draft documents that also suggest failure to agree climate change goals for 2050. The Group of Eight -- United States, Germany, Japan, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia -- kicked off with debate on the economic crisis, after what one analyst called a "reality check" in recent weeks on the prospects for rapid recovery. But few big initiatives were expected as the G20, a broader forum that also includes the main emerging economies, is tasked with formulating a regulatory response to the crisis and meets in September in Pittsburgh after an April summit in London. Not mentioning China's push for a sensitive debate about a long-term alternative to the dollar as global reserve currency, the draft talked only of global imbalances. China complains that dollar domination has exacerbated the global crisis and worries that the bill for U.S. recovery poses an inflation risk for China's dollar assets, an estimated 70 percent of its official currency reserves.” I don’t think these people have a clue – they only state the obvious. I can do the same from my lawn chair. These G8 people are the Electocracy – they behave like royalty, junketing from place to place, enjoying the scenery and camaraderie of the Club but solving not a single problem. They are very much like a doctor who prescribes antibiotics for an illness your body would get rid of on its own. It’s childish. We can do better than this. The woman on the left is also quite tired of this little game. Please.

California' s trouble

From a story on the internet: “WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Tuesday dashed hopes that the federal government would help California overcome a mammoth budget crisis that has brought the state dangerously close to an economic meltdown, saying the state will have to solve the problem on its own. "It's obviously not an easy time for the state of California," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing when asked if the administration would provide emergency financing for the state. "We'll continue to monitor the challenges that they have, but this budgetary problem unfortunately is one that they're going to have to solve," Gibbs said.” Pity the State of California. Perhaps as long as it doesn’t fall into the Pacific Ocean when the next earthquake hits, all is not lost. This woman does not care all that much - she doesn't live in California.

Dangerous neighborhood

From a Yahoo! News story: “WASHINGTON – Space shuttle Atlantis is now in a rough orbital neighborhood — a place littered with thousands of pieces of space junk zipping around the Earth at nearly 20,000 mph. There are more pieces of shattered satellites and used-up rockets in this region than astronauts have ever encountered. As soon as the job is complete, the shuttle will scamper to safety - all those tiny projectiles raise the constant threat of a potentially fatal collision. NASA now puts the risk for a catastrophic collision with junk during the mission at 1 in 229 — greater than typical flights to the space station but lower than the agency's initial estimates. The Air Force is tracking more than 19,000 objects in all sorts of orbits — most of it junk. The dirtiest spots are at 525 miles up where a Chinese satellite was destroyed and 490 miles, where an Russian-American satellite collision occurred. And the higher the space junk orbits, the longer it stays aloft because there's even less drag from the ultra-thin atmosphere pulling stuff down. For example, a 4-inch object 490 miles up will stay in orbit for more than a century, Johnson said. Objects between one-tenth of an inch and 4 inches are dangerous enough to cause major and even fatal damage, but cannot be specifically tracked.” So, why are all the green revolution people not saying anything about this? And, we want to travel to Mars? What for? To pollute it? Please.

Saving Money

From a Yahoo! News story: “BEIJING – China's central bank said Saturday that its foreign exchange reserves rose 16 percent year-on-year to $1.9537 trillion by the end of March. China's reserves, already the world's largest, increased by $7.7 billion in the first quarter. In March, the reserves increased by $41.7 billion, it said, $6.7 billion more than the same period last year. Analysts believe China holds up to 70 percent of its foreign reserves in U.S. dollar-denominated assets, including Treasury securities. Beijing has taken steps to hold down the price of exports by cutting taxes on exporters and stopping the rise of China's tightly controlled currency, the yuan, against the U.S. dollar. Economists say both steps could strain relations with trading partners if China is seen to be competing unfairly.” It’s always easy to say that your competitor is unfair when he’s way ahead of you. The Chinese are good savers and prudent spenders. If they wanted to, they could ruin the U.S. by simply cashing in their poker chips.

Doomsday

From a Yahoo! News story: "WASHINGTON – Congressional Republicans on Sunday predicted a doomsday scenario of crushing debt and eventual federal bankruptcy if President Barack Obama's massive spending blueprint wins passage."

It sounds a little scary. So what happens if the USA goes bankrupt? Any idea? Will China take over? What I would like to know is how many top flight American people already own property in Europe (just in case).