KOBE x Jackass

Earthquake Predictions for California

The likelihood of a major quake of magnitude 7.5 or greater in the next 30 years is 46%-and such a quake is most likely to occur in the southern half of the state.

The new study determined the probabilities that different parts of California will experience earthquake ruptures of various magnitudes. The new statewide probabilities are the result of a model that comprehensively combines information from seismology, earthquake geology, and geodesy (measuring precise locations on the Earth's surface). For the first time, probabilities for California having a large earthquake in the next 30 years can be forecast statewide.

The probability of a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake over the next 30 years striking the greater Los Angeles area is 67%, and in the San Francisco Bay Area it is 63%, similar to previous Bay Area estimates. For the entire California region, the fault with the highest probability of generating at least one magnitude 6.7 quake or larger is the southern San Andreas (59% in the next 30 years).

The results of the UCERF study serve as a reminder that all Californians live in earthquake country and should be prepared. Although earthquakes cannot be prevented, the damage they do can be greatly reduced through prudent planning and preparedness. The ongoing work of the Southern California Earthquake Center, USGS, California Geological Survey, and other scientists in evaluating earthquake probabilities is part of the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program's efforts to safeguard lives and property from the future quakes that are certain to strike in California and elsewhere in the United States.

"Woman wakes up from thee dead." WOW!

[CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A West Virginia woman was being transferred to the Cleveland Clinic after walking the line between life and death.
Doctors are calling Val Thomas a medical miracle. They said they can't explain how she is alive.
They said Thomas suffered two heart attacks and had no brain waves for more than 17 hours. At about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, her heart stopped and she had no pulse. A respiratory machine kept her breathing and rigor mortis had set in, doctors said.
"Her skin had already started to harden and her fingers curled. Death had set in," said son Jim Thomas.
They rushed her to a West Virginia hospital. Doctors put Thomas on a special machine which induces hypothermia. The treatment involves lowering the body temperature for up to 24 hours before warming a patient up.
After that procedure, her heart stopped again.
"She had no neurological function," said Dr. Kevin Eggleston.
Her family said goodbye and doctors removed all the tubes.
However, Thomas was kept on a ventilator a little while longer as an organ donor issue was discussed.
Ten minutes later the woman woke up and started talking.
"She (nurse) said, 'I'm so sorry Mrs. Thomas.' And mom said, 'That's OK honey. That's OK," Jim Thomas said.
Val Thomas and her family strongly believe that the Lord granted them their miracle and they want everyone to know.
"I know God has something in store for me, another purpose. I don't know what it is but I'm sure he'll tell me," she said.
She was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for specialist to check her out. Doctors said amazingly she has no blockage and will be fine.]-CNN

Sly OIL Doggies: "We have no control over the Billions our company makes"

[NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Amid increasing public outcry over record-shattering oil and gas prices, senators on Wednesday hauled industry executives in to testify about the recent runup.

The Senate Judiciary Committee called the hearing to explore the skyrocketing price of oil, which jumped over $3 a barrel Wednesday to a new record of over $132. The committee grilled executives from Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), ConocoPhillips Co. (COP, Fortune 500), Shell Oil Co. (RDSA), Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and BP (BP) as to how their companies can in good conscience make so much money, while American drivers pay so much at the pump.

"You have to sense what you're doing to us - we're on the precipice here, about to fall into recession," said Sen Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) "Does it trouble any one of you - the costs you're imposing on families, on small businesses, on truckers?"

The executives said it did, and that they are doing all they can to bring new oil supplies to market, but that the fundamental reasons for the surge in oil prices are largely out of their control.

"We cannot change the world market," said Robert Malone, chairman and president of BP America Inc. "Today's high prices are linked to the failure both here and abroad to increase supplies, renewables and conservation."

The testimony was colored by a few outbursts of protest from members of the public. Before the hearing even began, a heckler in the crowd shouted: "Stop ripping off the American public - bring these oil prices down."

"The people we represent are hurting, while your companies are profiting," he said. "We need to get some balance."

Although lawmakers don't vote on energy issues strictly along party lines, Democrats generally want to increase taxes on Big Oil and use the money to fund renewable energy research.

Republicans generally favor opening up the Alaska Wildlife Refuge, large parts of the Rocky Mountains, and areas off the east and west coast that have been closed to drilling since the 1970s following a public backlash after several big oil spills.]

Translated the Oil execs are saying: Boo Hoo cry me a river and build a bridge over it.

Death Toll reaches over 41,000 for china earthquake

[BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A woman who survived nine days trapped in debris Wednesday became the latest in a series of aganist-the-odds rescues in China, where the official death toll from last week's massive earthquake has risen to 41,353.

State media reported that medical teams had now reached all affected villages in remote regions of China's southwestern Sichuan province and were now battling infections in a bid to prevent infection epidemics.

Doctors have so far found 58 cases of gas gangrene, a bacterial infection that produces gas within infected flesh, according to the Xinhua news agency. It said the cases did not represent an epidemic.

At least 32,666 people remain missing following the 7.9-magnitude quake, which also left 274,683 injured.]-CNN

$15 to check bags on American Airlines

[American Airlines, the nation’s largest air carrier, said Wednesday that it would begin charging $15 for many passengers to check their first bag, eliminating a free service that passengers in the United States have come to expect during the modern jet era.

At the same time, American said it would take up to 85 aircraft out of its fleet, including jets and commuter planes, by the end of the year, one of the biggest cutbacks since the airlines culled their fleets after the September 2001 attacks. American has about 960 aircraft at the mainline airline and its American Eagle subsidiary.

Airlines around the world have been hit hard by skyrocketing jet fuel prices, which have climbed 80 percent in the last year. The higher prices have prompted them to institute a raft of fare increases, surcharges and fees for services that previously had been free. Other airlines, including Delta and United, also have announced plans to reduce their fleets.

“Our company and industry simply cannot afford to sit by hoping for industry and market conditions to improve,” American’s chief executive, Gerard Arpey, told company shareholders.]-NYT

MOODYS incorrectly rating BILLIONS of dollars worth of Complex debt. . .

[Moody’s awarded incorrect triple-A ratings to billions of dollars worth of a type of complex debt product due to a bug in its computer models, a Financial Times investigation has discovered.

Internal Moody’s documents seen by the FT show that some senior staff within the credit agency knew early in 2007 that products rated the previous year had received top-notch triple A ratings and that, after a computer coding error was corrected, their ratings should have been up to four notches lower.

The products were designed for institutional investors. In the recent credit market turmoil, those who still hold the products will have suffered some paper losses while others who have bailed out have lost up to 60 per cent of their investment.

Credit ratings are hugely important within the financial system because many investors – such as pension funds, insurance companies and banks – use them as a yardstick either to restrict the kinds of products they buy, or to decide how much capital they need to hold against them.]-FT

NAPA valley loses a Robert Mondavi

[Mondavi's Napa was the Wild West of winemaking. For the dozen wineries in operation in 1966, costs were low, there was room to grow and mistakes weren't fatal. The challenge was to persuade Americans to drink wine at all. Today, high costs have created a region dominated by small producers. Four hundred wine brands with limited landholdings compete for a share of the top 10% of the U.S. wine market.

When Mondavi planted his initial 12 acres in Oakville, an acre cost less than $10,000, according to Vic Motto, chairman of Global Wine Partners, an investment bank dedicated to the wine industry. He gradually expanded to 1,400 acres.

Now an acre of "good" Oakville vineyard land costs an average of $250,000. Prime land can cost $500,000. Most of Napa's 450,998 acres of planted vineyards are owned by individuals, Motto says. Big holdings are the exception. "Napa is really hundreds and hundreds of small growers." Most are economically viable, but no one is getting rich quick, Motto says.

Will one of the boutique producers rise to fill Mondavi's shoes? Without him, there is no individual or institution who personifies Napa, says Jacques Lurton, scion of one of Bordeaux's most prominent winemaking families. "Mondavi not only created Mondavi wines, he created Napa."

Whoever takes his place, Lurton says, will be someone who can transform Napa Valley yet again. "That person will be the new hero," he says.]-LAT

AIG: Shady Greenberg

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering civil enforcement against Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc. who a judge found initiated an insurance scam, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the SEC has issued Greenberg a "Wells notice," which indicates a possibility of an enforcement action.

Greenberg's lawyer, Robert Morvillo, and his spokesman at his company, C.V. Starr International, did not immediately reply to calls for comment.

The report of the Wells notice comes less than a week after a jury convicted four former General Reinsurance Corp. executives and a former AIG executive of conspiracy and securities fraud.

The executives were indicted for an insurance scheme that purported to transfer risk from Gen Re to AIG, but in fact inflated by $500 million the reserves AIG reported available to pay claims.

This helped AIG portray the company's finances as stronger than they really were, deceiving investors worried about whether the company had enough cash handy to pay claims. AIG paid Gen Re $15 million for undertaking this deal.

AIG has struggled to gain its footing under Greenberg's successor, Martin Sullivan. The insurer has lost more than $13 billion in the past six months and the company's stock on Wednesday touched as low as $37.28, its cheapest trade in more than a decade.

What the richest man in the world is up to. . .

[May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Warren Buffett, speaking in Madrid during his four-day European tour, said he made a mistake by not visiting the continent 10 years ago to seek acquisitions for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

``There are going to be more large acquisitions, possibly, in Europe than in any part of the globe,'' said Buffett at a news conference today. After visiting Frankfurt and Lausanne, he wraps up his trip tomorrow in Milan as he looks to buy family-owned companies to boost earnings at Berkshire.

An economic boom lasting more than a decade helped swell the ranks of Spanish companies large enough to meet Buffett's minimum requirement of $75 million in pretax earnings. About 50 family- owned businesses including retailers El Corte Ingles and Mercadona and builder Grupo Ferrovial SA earn annual revenue of more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.89 billion), said Josep Tapies, professor of strategic management at IESE Business School.

The Berkshire chairman is known for buying privately owned companies with iconic brands and barriers to would-be rivals. Buffett, unlike private equity firms, says he buys ``for life'' and doesn't meddle in management. He's been looking for places to put Berkshire's $35 billion in cash, investing in China, Israel and the U.K. because he says there's a dearth of U.S. opportunities.

Buffett, 77, owns about a third of Berkshire, which he built over four decades from a failing maker of men's suit linings into a holding company with businesses that range from candy-making to insurance. He is ranked by Forbes magazine as the world's richest man.

Berkshire earned $13.2 billion last year and has a $72.6 billion stock portfolio. Berkshire is the largest shareholder in companies including Coca-Cola Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Kraft Foods Inc., American Express Co. and Moody's Corp. as of March 31, according to Bloomberg data.]

OBAMA: Portland 75,000 strong

The Energy Bus: 10 rules to fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy.

The Energy Bus: 10 rules to fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy.

This is such a dope book one of my mentors mentioned to me. I haven’t had a chance to read the whole thing but just hearing him talk about it and share the 10 rules was glory. It’s a gem for sure and im sure it doesn’t take longer than an hour or so to read.

Thee 10 rules are as follows and mandatory for implementation immediately:

1. You’re the Driver of the Bus.
2. Desire, Vision and Focus move your bus in the
right direction.
3. Fuel your Ride with Positive Energy.
4. Invite People on Your Bus and Share your Vision
for the Road Ahead.
5. Don’t Waste Your Energy on those who don’t get
on your Bus.
6. Post a Sign that says “No Energy Vampires
Allowed” on your Bus.
7. Enthusiasm attracts more Passengers and
Energizes them during the Ride.
8. Love your Passengers.
9. Drive with Purpose.
10.Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride.

About the book: “It’s Monday morning and George walks out the front door to his car and a flat tire. But this is the least of his problems. His home life is in shambles and his team at work is in disarray. With a big new product launch coming up in 2 weeks for the NRG-2000 he has to find a way to get it together or risk losing his marriage and job. Forced to take the bus to work, George meets a unique kind of bus driver and an interesting set of characters (passengers) that over the course of 2 weeks share the 10 rules for the ride of his life… and attempt to help him turn around his work and team and save his job and marriage from an almost inevitable destruction.”

Website: TheEnergyBus.com

StepBrothers

This looks hilarious!! I LOVE WILL!!!

IronMan = GLORY

Ok so believe or not I took a break from Isolation . . . well actually my love kidnapped me. . . and took me to see IronMan. First and Foremost Tony Stark is a Billionaire. Super dope. Classic tale of "Has everything and Nothing". . . gets betrayed and must save the world. I thought this movie was PURE GLORY. I LOVED every second. Clealry im a techie so I was a huge fan of all the action packed scenes, especially Stark's house and his "grinder space". His home office and office at his company were both super dope. Bottomline his lifestyle is every techie's dream. . . Sick cars. . sick technology in every form. . . ladies lol . . . etc. This movie is a must see and its something that your not going to be able to wait to buy on dvd. Im a movie head and I haven't been this pleased since I saw The Great Debaters.


"From Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures comes Iron Man, an action-packed take on the tale of wealthy philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who develops an invulnerable robotic suit to fight the throes of evil. In addition to being filthy rich, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark is also a genius inventor. When Stark is kidnapped and forced to build a diabolical weapon, he instead uses his intelligence and ingenuity to construct an indestructible suit of armor and escape his captors. Once free, Stark discovers a deadly conspiracy that could destabilize the entire globe, and dons his powerful new suit on a mission to stop the villains and save the world. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as his secretary, Virginia "Pepper" Potts, while Terrence Howard fills the role of Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes, one of Stark's colleagues, whose military background leads him to help in the formation of the suit. Jon Favreau directs, with Marvel movie veterans Avi Arad and Kevin Feige producing. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide"-Moviefo

Blackberry BOLD

Its a CRACC what more do I need to say. . . . . .

Ok maybe this:


[The Bold, or 9000, has twice the screen resolution of the current Curve model, making for a very sharp display. It matches the resolution, but not the size, of the screen on Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which has emerged as a potent competitor in the "smart phone" category.

It also has much more internal memory, a glossy metallic look, and adds corporate-strength Wi-Fi capabilities to third-generation cellular and Bluetooth radios.]-LAT

Yankee Fan Kills Red Sox Fan

[The boozed-up Yankee fan from hell who ran over and killed a Red Sox supporter last week had a crush on Derek Jeter and a living room dominated by Pinstripe regalia.
A neighbor of Ivonne Hernandez, 43, who was charged with murder for allegedly running down Matthew Beaudoin in her Dodge Intrepid in Nashua, said the Bronx-bred fan loved the handsome shortstop.


Hernandez, taunted by Red Sox fans outside a bar, bounced the 29-year-old off her windshield at up to 60 mph, witnesses said.
"We want a life sentence because it was deliberate," said Norman Beaudoin, the dead man's dad. "Matthew didn't deserve that at all. We will all miss him very much."

Officials said Friday's events turned deadly not long after Hernandez slapped a female bartender outside a bar. The bartender's friends chased Hernandez to her car and, seeing the Yankee logo on her rear windshield, began chanting, "Yankees suck!"
Hernandez hurriedly drove away, then stopped.
"She turned her car around and gunned the engine toward Matthew," a witness told The Post yesterday. "She hit him and he was on the windshield. He flew 40 feet in the air."]-NY Post

TOO MUCH PASSION. Wow. Never good.

Recession aka Thee OffSeason

Everyone knows that for example in sports, during the off season is when you GO HARD!!! You hone in on your craft, you re-build your weak links within your self and you get stronger, you get better, you become a beast for what's to come in the future. There are for sure a few gems in here. Its not about looking at thee literal workout. Its about applying it to your own craft and seeing how they can align. "Thee season" can clearly be when the economy is flourishing. . . .

"You put in work in the off season and it will pay dividends in the season"

This recession is indeed like an off-season for any athlete. All “extra activities” outside of work/career/school/Dreams that you are currently pursuing, have to be intensely reduced to cut costs. I know that now more than ever is the best time to invest in yourself and to get better, when you are not focused on the mandatory income producers. The most important parts of one’s self are: Health, Mind and Body.

Top things I will be doing while in hibernation outside of studying for finals and getting Billions:

1. Researching things that I have always wanted to pursue.
2. Home Spartan workouts
3. Enjoying the outdoors more. (Its free to go outside and enjoy what the earth has to offer).
4. Catching up on biography’s
5. Finishing books that I’ve wanted to finish for a while now.

These are some of my favorite things. I hope that everyone will look at the positive side of things even though their pockets may be hurting and progress and get better.

Gene Kelly : Singin in the Rain

One of my favorite movies

Classic: Gene Kelly & Fred Astaire

The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar may exceed 100,000

[YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar may exceed 100,000, the senior U.S. diplomat in the military-ruled country said Wednesday.

"The information we are receiving indicates over 100,000 deaths," the U.S. Charge D'Affaires in Yangon, Shari Villarosa, said on a conference call.

The U.S. figure is almost five times more than the 22,000 the Myanmar government has estimated.

The U.S. estimate is based on data from an international non-governmental organization, Villarosa said without naming the group. She called the situation in myanmar "more and more horrendous."

Villarosa also said about 95 percent of the buildings in the delta region were destroyed when Cyclone Nargis battered the area late Friday into Saturday.

Based on a satellite map made available by the U.N., the storm's damage was concentrated over about a 30,000-square-kilometer area along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Martaban coastlines, home to nearly a quarter of Myanmar's 57 million people. ]-cnn

William Ferrell at his best

My all time favorite oh man.

Gas peak at $3.73 in June or Gas at $7 a gallon??

[Oil jumped to another record on Tuesday, and the government said it expected gasoline prices to peak at a national average of $3.73 a gallon in June, just as the summer driving season kicks off.

Oil prices have nearly doubled in a year. Gasoline is selling for a national average of about $3.61 a gallon, according to AAA, the automobile club, a penny less than the record set on May 1 but 58 cents higher than a year ago.

Domestic gasoline consumption is likely to fall more steeply than expected this year, the Energy Department said, an indication that higher prices are cutting into the driving habits of many Americans. But gasoline prices are expected to rise nonetheless and should average $3.52 a gallon for the full year, or 71 cents above their average price in 2007, according to the government’s latest estimates.

“In the past, high prices could be offset by borrowing or making more money,” said Adam Robinson, an analyst at Lehman Brothers. “It’s really when you have the triple bite — a weaker economy, less access to credit, and higher prices — that you see the consumer recoil.”

In its monthly report, the Energy Department projected that domestic petroleum consumption would decline by about 190,000 barrels a day this year, a result of the economic slowdown and high prices. That is a sharper drop than the 90,000-barrel-a-day decline projected by the department last month.

As demand continues to outpace the growth in oil supplies, analysts expect little relief in prices. A shortfall in supplies over the next two years will probably send oil to $150 to $200 a barrel, Goldman Sachs said in a new report.

Analysts’ forecasts for the price of gasoline over the next few years run as high as $7 a gallon.]-NYT

Kaizen

I remember reading about this in one of my management books. Its glory and for several months now I have incoporated it into my own daily process.


[Kaizen is Japanese for improvement. It is a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement throughout all aspects of life. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen activities continually improve all functions of a business from manufacturing to management and from the CEO to the assembly line workers. By improving the standardized activities and processes, Kaizen aims to eliminate waste. Kaizen was first implemented in several Japanese businesses during the country's recovery after World War II, including Toyota, and has since spread to businesses throughout the world.

Kaizen is a daily activity whose purpose goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work (both mental and physical) "muri", and teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the scientific method and how to learn to spot and eliminate waste in business processes.

To be most effective kaizen must operate with three principles in place:
consider the process and the results (not results-only) so that actions to achieve effects are surfaced;
systemic thinking of the whole process and not just that immediately in view (i.e. big picture, not solely the narrow view) in order to avoid creating problems elsewhere in the process; and
a learning, non-judgmental, non-blaming (because blaming is wasteful) approach and intent will allow the re-examination of the assumptions that resulted in the current process.

People at all levels of an organization can participate in kaizen, from the CEO down, as well as external stakeholders when applicable. The format for kaizen can be individual, suggestion system, small group, or large group. At Toyota, it is usually a local improvement within a workstation or local area and involves a small group in improving their own work environment and productivity. This group is often guided through the kaizen process by a line supervisor; sometimes this is the line supervisor's key role.

While kaizen (at Toyota) usually delivers small improvements, the culture of continual aligned small improvements and standardization yields large results in the form of compound productivity improvement. Hence the English usage of "kaizen" can be: "continuous improvement" or "continual improvement."

This philosophy differs from the "command-and-control" improvement programs of the mid-twentieth century. Kaizen methodology includes making changes and monitoring results, then adjusting. Large-scale pre-planning and extensive project scheduling are replaced by smaller experiments, which can be rapidly adapted as new improvements are suggested.
The Kaizen approach encourages company to innovate and look for improvements all the time in the process. It is often a culture that is inbred in the employees of such companies that employ the techniques. The whole purpose is to produce the perfect process, for instance in factory production lines if the operators detect an abnormality on the process they may stop the production to investigate why it has gone wrong.]-Wikipedia

Habits

Such a good article. The full version is in the New York Times but I had to take a few gems out of it to post on here.

[HABITS are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative connotation.

So it seems antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.

Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.

“The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider.’ ” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”

At puberty, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.

Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova have found what they call three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs.

She recommends practicing a Japanese technique called kaizen, which calls for tiny, continuous improvements.

You cannot have innovation,” she adds, “unless you are willing and able to move through the unknown and go from curiosity to wonder.”]-NYT

KOBE MVP Glory!

NY: 75% increase in bicyclists

[NEW YORK -- The undulating asphalt gave way to a sea of potholes and the bicycle shuddered with each curve and dip. Ahead, the Brooklyn Bridge rose in a long incline toward the camera-ready skyline of Manhattan.

But the cinematic quality of the city was lost on an approaching bicyclist, who saw only a tight grid of streets with thin slices of available roadway -- spaces that momentarily widen, then narrow, in the anarchy of Manhattan traffic.

But with rising oil prices and heightened concern about carbon emissions, riding a bicycle no longer seems quite so silly. The number of bicyclists has grown by 75% during the last seven years, according to the city's count.

Soon an ambitious city plan will make it possible for riders to traverse Manhattan via dedicated bike lanes and circumnavigate the island along the waterfront. Sheltered bicycle parking and thousands of new public bike racks are already in place.

"The bike is not a hobby," said Sadik-Khan, 47, who cycles to work. "It's an important part of the transportation network."]-LAT

"Spot Runner makes TV advertising available to small businesses through the Web."

[Los Angeles advertising firm Spot Runner Inc. said Tuesday that it had received $51 million in financing from Grupo Televisa and a slew of other international media companies, evidence that even global advertisers are interested in local ads.

In addition to the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world, the new investors include luxury goods maker Groupe Arnault/LVMH, Legg Mason Capital Management and Daily Mail & General Trust, the British newspaper and radio company.

"It's now the time for us to think seriously about how to apply the Spot Runner model to markets such as Europe and Latin America," said Nick Grouf, chairman and chief executive of the 4-year-old company.

Spot Runner makes TV advertising available to small businesses through the Web.

The company can create a commercial for as little as $500 using pre-produced footage and personalizing it with the client's name, photo and contact information. Spot Runner's website enables companies to specify whom they want to reach and how much they want to spend, then Spot Runner buys airtime for them on the national broadcast feeds of local cable or broadcast channels. It generally costs less than $100 to buy spots on local cable.

Spot Runner CEO Grouf said the partnership with Grupo Televisa, which draws 70% of the TV audience in Mexico, would bring a new category of advertisers into the market. Spot Runner's relationship with luxury products maker Group Arnault/LVMH will help the company target its advertising and "put the right brands in front of the right customers with the right message," he said.]-LAT

Times are a changin

TRILLIONS

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - Thanks to record crude oil prices, OPEC members will likely earn over $1 trillion this year from oil exports, according to the U.S. government's top energy forecasting agency.

Net oil export earnings from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are forecast to skyrocket 57 percent from last year's $674 billion to $1.06 trillion this year and then decline to $990 billion in 2009 after an expected contraction in oil prices, the Energy Information Administration said in its new forecast.

Even though U.S. oil demand is expected to decline by 190,000 barrels a day this year because of high energy prices and a weak American economy, the EIA forecasts that global oil consumption will rise by 1.2 million barrels per day in 2008. (Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Drug bust at San Diego State

[WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Authorities have arrested nearly 100 people and seized guns and drugs in a sting operation at San Diego State University in California, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday.

Among those arrested were 75 students, some of them working toward criminal justice or homeland security degrees. One criminal justice major was charged with possession of guns and cocaine, authorities said.

"DEA agents infiltrated several student drug distribution cells and more than 130 drug purchases and seizures were made" during the investigation known as Operation Sudden Fall, the news release said.

Officials arrested 75 students and 21 non-students on a variety of drug charges, including selling cocaine.

Authorities say they infiltrated seven campus fraternities and found that in some, most of the students were aware of drug dealing by fraternity brothers.

The news release alleges a member of the Theta Chi fraternity sent a mass text message to his "faithful customers" saying he and some others temporarily would be unable to complete orders for drug sales due to a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada.

The text message went on to discuss a "sale" on cocaine and gave details on reduced prices, the news release said.

One student allegedly dealing cocaine was a month short of obtaining a master's degree in Homeland Security and worked with campus police as a student community service officer.

Officials say the evidence seized as part of Operation Sudden Fall includes four pounds of cocaine, 50 pounds of marijuana and 350 ecstasy pills. Authorities also confiscated a shotgun, three semiautomatic pistols and $60,000.]- CNN

Who's shocked??!! Ummm. . . didnt think anyone. . .

C. Rose: Alicia Keys, Kanye West, and Jay Z

Dope video. Im clearly obsessed with interviews, bio's and background info on Money makers/artists/ Influentials.

Myanmar Cyclone: 4000 dead more expected

GodBless them.

Pennies to millions

Ever wonder who came up with the idea of 99 cent stores. . . This article was written in 2002. Still super relevant and glorious. Im sure alot has changed for better of for worse since this article was first completed. But nonetheless there are some gems in here.

[Kitschy promotions, memorable bargains and low overhead (it's based in a no-frills warehouse in run-down City of Commerce, Calif.) have made 99 Cents Only one of the most successful retailers around and put Gold, 70, on The Forbes 400 (2002) this year, with a $650 million fortune. He joins 18 other retailers on our list. It is perhaps surprising to discover that the combined retail fortunes on these pages come to $113 billion, just shy of the total for technology. And while Bill Gates is easily the world's wealthiest person, $43 billion by our reckoning, if Sam Walton were alive today and had not dispersed shares to descendants, his stake in Wal-Mart shares would be worth $99 billion.

Over the past five years, combined sales at 99 Cents and three similar chains have grown 20% annually, far more than in any other retailing segment, says Merrill Lynch analyst Daniel Barry. For the moment, no one runs a dollar store better than Gold. His cast-off merchandise is so attractively displayed that a photo of one store interior by the famed Andreas Gursky has hung in Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art. Even officials in Lancaster, Calif., who tried last year to invoke an urban-blight law to force 99 Cents out (to make way for a Costco expansion) admitted to the court that they "loved" the store. Gold won the suit.

Gold's 142 stores, all in California, Nevada and Arizona, pull in on average $4.7 million a year from 15,000 square feet of space. Gold's gross margin is 40%, meaning that a 99-cent item costs him only 60 cents. That's double the gross margin at Wal-Mart, and Gold's net margin of 8% is better than double Wal-Mart's, too.

Every 99 Cents location opens 15 minutes earlier and closes 15 minutes later than the posted hours. No small shopkeeper would ruin a sale simply because closing time has come, Gold explains. And he has never allowed any kind of negative signs like "No shoes, no service" or "We don't make change," only positive signs saying "Come as you are" or "We gladly make change."
The son of Russian immigrants, Gold started helping out at their Cleveland fruit stand as soon as he started grade school. Retailing was in his blood; academics wasn't (he dropped out of L.A. Community College). In the early 1960s Gold and his wife, Sherry, owned a liquor store in central L.A. In an attempt to goose sales of slower-moving wines, they stocked a shelf with a banner offering: "Wines of the World. Your Choice: 99 Cents." Gold dreamed, and talked, about running a whole store full of such bargains, but he was 50 by the time he reached his decisive moment. As Gold and his wife were driving back from the airport, a since-deceased friend, James Wayner, lost patience with Gold when he yet again mentioned the 99-cent idea. "Damn it!," Wayner shouted, "I'm sick and tired of hearing you talk about the 99-cent store! Look, there's a store for rent right now. Why don't you grab that one?" He made Gold pull over and inquire about the space. Gold struck a deal that day.

"Rich people love bargains. That's how they got rich," he says. That's how he got rich, too. ]-Forbes

The Road Not Taken- R. Frost

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Roc Nation: Thee Grind never stops.

[Live Nation closed the Jay-Z 360-degree deal Wednesday night (April 30), sources say.

The company yesterday (May 1) filed a Form-8K with the SEC which states that the artist is getting 775,434 Live Nation shares, plus an option on an additional 500,000 with the exercise price of $13.73. The shares go to Marcy Media, the company affiliated with Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter), in connection with the formation of Roc Nation LLC, a joint entertainment venture between Live Nation and Jay-Z.

Talk that Live Nation and Jay-Z were on the verge of closing a major deal began last December and broke April 2 in The New York Times. The roughly $150 million pact includes Roc Nation, as well as the rapper's own recordings and tours for the next 10 years.

Live Nation will reportedly contribute $5 million each year in overhead for five years and offer $25 million to finance Jay-Z's external acquisitions and investments, plus $10 million per album for a minimum of three albums within the deal's term. Jay-Z will also receive another $20 million for other rights including publishing and licensing. Live Nation is already producing the current Jay-Z/Mary J. Blige tour, which is putting up sellout numbers.]-BillBoard

And this ladies and gentlemen is an example of maximizing your brand. Mr. Carter has come a long way from pushing cd’s out of the trunk. . . well done. So many glorious business lessons in this deal. Wow.

NEEVVVVV Complacent!!!

If you have a moment Google "Charlie Rose - Jay Z" under the video option. Pretty glorious interview with Jay for an hour! Its not directly related to this article. But im sure your in the mood for some Carter insight. So peep it.

The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch: Diddy

The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch is one of my favorite shows. I hardly ever get a chance to watch it because THEE Grind keeps me occupied. . . I didn’t even realize Diddy was a guest but hey if hes making millions of dollars a year. . . Why not hear about how he did it/ does it right? Always some gems to apply to any aspect of life in every thing you come across.

Background on the actual show : "Donny Deutsch is the host of The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch... Your Daily Roadmap to The American Dream. The American Dream is doing what you love, and making millions... every weeknight at 10p/1a ET, Donny interviews everyone from budding entrepreneurs to Billionaires, discovering their secrets to success and showing YOU how to turn your idea into a BIG IDEA.

As Chairman of Deutsch Inc., he implemented his "leaner, meaner, faster, smarter" philosophy to transform a small advertising shop into one of the nation’s top 10 agencies. The $2.8 billion full-service agency has provided clients with strategic marketing programs that are intrusive, effective and talked about. Prestigious clients include GM, Johnson & Johnson, DirecTV, Novartis Worldwide, and IKEA."-CNBC

Hollywood to Harlem

[Sean Combs is getting a star Friday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an event most honorees mark by turning up at the assigned time, smiling for cameras, and going about their business.

"It inspires them," Combs said. "It inspires, you know, millions of young people all over the world that are in a place that I grew up in right now, and they want to make it to that point. I don't know if we know where Brad Pitt came from, or George Clooney.

"People are familiar with my journey, so it may inspire them more," Combs said. "So whether it's Eminem or Britney Spears or myself, you know of that journey. Whether it's coming from a small town, coming from a trailer park in Detroit, or coming from Harlem, New York. So when certain things happen to us, it's bigger than us. It inspires people."

"I'm a definition of how to build a brand and a 360 model. I feel like I'm the definition of that," Combs said. "This new concept that people have, I've been doing it for years. Creating a way out of no way, making lemonade out of lemons, that's what I do.

"So if the music industry's getting cannibalized by the Internet, I figure out how to work with it, I figure out how to survive. You throw me in the jungle butt-naked, I come out with a lion's head, some bearskins and a bunch of food. I may be driving a Maybach."]-AP


Indeed it is inspiration my friend. . . Mind you im always coming for thee financial aspect of it. And this dude stock is rising with this move for sure. Well done. Cool little montage . . . DANCIN ALL THEE WAY TO THEE BANK!! lol

"Yes just this 360 Billion Dollar check. . . . yes 100's will do. . ."-IDIOT

[A man in the US state of Texas has been arrested for allegedly trying to cash a cheque for $360bn

Charles Ray Fuller had said he wanted to start a record business, authorities in the state said.

The 21-year-old's attempt to cash the money in a bank in Fort Worth failed when staff spotted the 10 zeros on the personal cheque.

Mr Fuller was arrested on a charge of forgery and was released on bail of $3,750 (£1,900).]-BBC

Pretty ridiculous.

Perez Hilton

So this morning im listening to Big Boy’s neighborhood as I normally do for a few minutes before I switch to ESPN radio and then to some “Purple Rain Soundtrack-Prince” and they have Perez Hilton on. . . (I know your like WTF?! where are you going with this), ofcourse there was lots of B.S. about “celebs” and all that crap that does not matter at all but thee one gem that I did enjoy is that he said he still works on his site all by himself and spends 16-18 hours a day on his work. I think that’s respectable. Do I care about the content? No. Do I care that his site is pink? No. Is he maximizing profits from B.S. that millions of people enjoying reading about everyday. Yes.

So I have respect for his Grind. Grind’s come in all shapes and forms. And I respect any (With in moral means) that takes considerable time and effort. I strongly believe as Earl Nightengale said that “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal” and that ideal is created by thee individual. Grind on.

He also had me cracking uppppp when he said he wants to be thee Queen Latina OPRAH lmfao. or some Randomness like that. . .

“we are closer to the end of this problem than we are to the beginning.”-Paulson Jr.

[Main Street may be struggling, but Wall Street is on a bit of a roll.

Despite a drumbeat of bad economic news, the stock market is up — almost 11 percent in the last few weeks. Junk bonds, those risky corporate I.O.U.’s, are rallying. The value of financial shares, bank loans, tricky credit derivatives — up, up, up.

Many on Wall Street, the epicenter of the credit mess, seem to think that the worst is over. For the first time in months, analysts and executives sound upbeat again. Many of them see a broad, sustained recovery in both the economy and the financial markets coming in the second half of this year, a prediction some market strategists call hopeful at best.

For now, policy makers are echoing the mood on Wall Street. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday that “we are closer to the end of this problem than we are to the beginning.”]-NYT

"Failure"

Super dope commercial. I love Jordan commercials where he reveals things that you wouldn’t have otherwise known unless you studied him religiously like I did. So id like to share. . . this one may be a bit dated . . .But indeed its timeless. . .It relates to any scope of life you can think of . . . Sales. . . closing deals. . . landing auditions you want. . . getting the perfect class schedule you want. . . making the perfect trade. . . getting your wife pregnant on the first shot. . . waking up without hitting the snooze button. . . getting to the coffee before the whole office has already annihilated it. . . . . dropping your kids off at school on time. . . winning the science fair. . .

Umm I think its obvious I could go on for days and hit every aspect of life . . . This 30 second gem will do.