Book Review: Harry Markopolos' "No One Would Listen" is a thriller about the Madoff scam

In his book, Markopolos revealed that if he had been threatened by Madoff, he would have killed him. Wow. This ought to be a great read. The perennial failures of the SEC to take any actions on complaints is documented here. We all know and are disgusted by our dismal government. As one Senator recently said, we need to kick out all the incumbents and start fresh. Thank God guys like Markopolos are brave enough to speak up.

Exactly What is a Hedge Fund? Paddy Hirsch Explains What it is and How it works (or doesn;'t work)

What Started the Global Economic Meltdown? Part 2

What Started the Global Economic Meltdown? "Put" Options on Bear Stearns Were Highly Unusual Trades That Drove the Market Down

What is an "Economic Hit Man"? John Perkins, who was such a man, explains it

Be Sure to Watch the Film "Slumdog Millionaire", starring Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto

It is a story of hardship, childhood struggles and pain, learning and loving, and of the power of chance in life. A young boy in Mumbai, India, born to poverty, survives the turmoil of his surroundings and becomes a contestant on a television game show. Each of the answers he gives to the questions he gave correctly came from an experience in his past, and by chance he wins by recollecting that past. The film and the story of destiny is superbly portrayed. The cinematography is inspirational, the music divine, and the young actors gave their best in the portrayals. Here, for your enjoyment, is the trailer seen on YouTube:

Unique Skating Performance with Music from Slumdog Millionaire: "Jai Ho" by Charlie White and Meryl Davis

K.R. Sindhar has invented an exciting new energy production method. He melts beach sand into squares, which he then coats with black ink on one side and green ink on the other. He takes two of these and sandwiches in the middle a cheap sheet of metal alloy. Then he pumps in oxygen and a fuel such as hydrogen or natural or bio gas. The ink coated silicon plates provide a surface on which the fuel and the oxygen can unite and produce a clean electricity, with no waste by products. One sandwiched plate can power a light bulb. When he stacks a number of plates together, they can power a machine or a home. Many more will power a village or a university. He has raised millions of dollars to develop his energy business and on Wednesday it will launch in a big way. He sees the day when each home will have a Bloom box, which he believes will cost no more than $3000. Bloom boxes take up far less space than solar panel grids and yet produce much more electricity. Companies like Ebay and FedEx already have Bloom boxes installed and are enjoying electricity at hundreds of thousands less cost.

The Lost City of Z, by David Grann

This is a story of a true adventurer who felt that there really was an El Dorado out there.. in the deepest part of the Amazon jungle. He followed his belief into the jungle, deeper and deeper and encountering tribes who used arrows, spears, and clubs to convince outsiders to see things their way. As he blazed his trail, smoke from his campfires was seen rising in the sky each evening as he bedded down for the night. Then one night there was no smoke at all. He was never seen again. Now, David Grann has written the story. Brad Pitt has purchased the film rights and will be starring in the film himself. I am going to buy the book tomorrow and read it. I can hardly wait to find out all about what happened to the great adventurer, Percy Harrison Fawcett.

Should Schools Be Allowed to Remotely Webcam Students Even at the Student's Home?

A school district in Pennsylvania placed a theft detection feature on the laptop computers that they issued to students. Then a laptop appeared to be missing, and the district activated the feature, which consists of a webcam which would take a photo of the student in his home, if in fact he had the laptop there without having been issued the laptop in the prescribed manner. Naturally, the student and his family protested that photographing the student in his home was fundamentally an invasion of privacy and are taking action against the school district. What do you think? Should the school district prevail in its argument that the webcam was used for only the limited purpose of finding the laptop and then recovering it? Go to Philadelphia School Webcam to read more about what happened and the points of view of the opposing parties.

News and Reviews

This blogger / author will scour the daily newspapers and online sources as well to find news reports and book reviews to present to you in summary or expanded form with original commentaries and interpretations. Some posts may be on leading headlines; some may be items that have not hit the mainstream. Regardless, the blog author's perspective will be added to the features. Here goes.. first day/