| The Iran Hysteria: At the Brink of the Abyss
We're doing it all over again. Not only do we not learn from history, we cannot seem to learn from last year or last week. In March, the Democrats have removed an item from the military appropriations bill that would have required the President to seek Congress' approval to go to war against Iran, after a number of "moderate" and conservative Democratic congressmen expressed concern over the danger to Israel. Removing the military threat "would take away our bargaining power," they said. Whatever the political realities the Democrats face, we're giving our out-of-control President tacit permission to threaten Iran with military force, including the likely use of "tactical" nuclear weapons, to prevent Iran from supposedly developing nuclear weapons. We are at the brink of an abyss potentially greater than the one we have already fallen into.
US daily gives thumbs up to Hyundai Veracruz, says perception ...
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor's new strategy to take on the luxury market appears successful, although the company's image remains a challenge, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, has done well until now by "faking humility," rolling out vehicles for budget-minded consumers, the paper noted.
But the 2007 Veracruz Limited, a utility vehicle, runs against the popular Lexus RX350, made by a company that dominates the market, but costs thousands of dollars less.
Based on a day-long test drive, the U.S. daily found the Hyundai vehicle to have more standard equipment than the Japanese-made Lexus, plus matching and surpassing crash-avoidance equipment.
"In design and creature comforts, the Veracruz, especially the fully loaded Limited edition, is an undisputed winner," it said.
Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Tracking Caterpillar
Caterpillar (CAT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) at $63.16 is wrong, "a travesty of a mockery of a sham," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Friday. Caterpillar, probably the single best stock people can own this quarter, has everything going for it, yet it's down 14% year over year, he said incredulously. "This is a sale on a best-of-breed stock." Meanwhile, Terex (TEX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is up. "The market is stupid," Cramer said. Caterpillar trades like it's levered to housing, he said. But if other construction machinery manufacturers, such as Terex, Cummins (CMI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Paccar (PCAR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Manitowoc (MTW - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), are up, then Caterpillar deserves to go higher too, Cramer said.
Frugal gardeners thrive without seed money
Spring is in the air, the time when a homeowner's fancy turns to thoughts of a lovely lawn and garden. For many homeowners, those fanciful thoughts are dampened when faced with the price of loveliness: $110 for a Japanese maple, dozens of dollars for flowering annuals, $65 to rent a tiller, and on and on. Can a yard be beautiful on a budget? With some careful planning and organization, even the most frugal homeowner can present a well-groomed lawn to the neighborhood this spring. .
30 years of fraud, fraud and more fraud
It doesn't matter how many times a judge or securities regulator convicts him, the diminutive, blue-eyed fraud artist would get out of jail or prison and make an immediate comeback in crime. Sometimes, the irrepressible con man with a flair for figures and organization wouldn't even wait that long. He would be busy putting the final touches for his next scheme while on parole. "I'm coming out of retirement," he told a broker here a few years ago. He made the remark in the middle of hatching his latest big fraud in Markham while on statutory parole near the end of a four-year prison term for a major stock swindle in Vancouver. Mitton, a 48-year-old father of three, finally paid for the latest one in a downtown courtroom last week after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering in the case of an obscure penny stock called Pender International Inc.
Nigeria: Duke Realises the Tinapa Dream
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday, this week commissioned the Tinapa Business Resort Limited- a project reputed to have gulped N50.32 billion so far. Those who know say it is another pointer to the big potential of Nigeria's money and capital market. But above all, it is a testimony to the power of the human spirit, when there is a will. And Governor Donald Duke and all those who have partnered with him on the project ought to be very proud of their achievement. When Duke first muted the idea, not many gave him a chance given our history of white elephants and politicians love for the grandiose. But from the very beginning, Duke employed a different method. He went about it, the way a proper business should be approached, starting with a proper visibility study which KPMG Professional Services- one of the best at what they do-handled.
Students and the war in Iraq
The war in Iraq is front page news almost every day in our country. We hear stories of bombings, Congressional debates and endless opinions ad nauseum in a variety of different media outlets. Lost in the filler that is our media is how the war in Iraq affects the normal American who lives in, loves and depends on our country. How does the war in Iraq affect us, American students? Sadly, the war in Iraq affects us in many negative ways. Every one of us has plenty of opinions and issues that shape our lives. For me, it’s a focus on veterans’ issues that give me my passion. I am one of the few who have issues which have been somewhat helped by the Iraq War. Regular American people have seen the effects of war on our troops and the lack of veteran care at the hands of the Bush Administration and have been rightly outraged.
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