Beware The Barbie!
Forget George W. Bush. Forget Dick Cheney. The real threat to Iran? Barbie!
A top Iranian judiciary official has warned against the “destructive” cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys.
Prosecutor General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi said in an official letter to Vice President Parviz Davoudi that the Western toys was a “danger” that needed to be stopped.
Iranian markets have been inundated with smuggled Western toys in recent years partly due to a dramatic rise in purchasing power as a result of huge increase in oil revenues.
In Monday’s letter, Najafabadi called for a crackdown on the smuggling of these toys which threatened Iranian culture.
Haha! I think we should all begin a campaign and start randomly sending barbie dolls to Iran. Together we can change the world!
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A Sweet Deal
Have you ever opened a bag of M&M’s and then set a n open pack of spearmint gum next to it? If you leave it there for a few hours, your chocolate will begin to taste minty. Don’t believe me? Try it.
M&M’s candy maker Mars Inc has teamed up with billionaire Warren Buffett to buy No. 1 chewing gum manufacturer Wm Wrigley Jr Co (WWY.N) for $23 billion, creating the world’s largest confectionery company.
The deal, announced on Monday, will give Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) a stake of more than 10 percent in Wrigley, which will become a separate Mars subsidiary. Buffett’s other food holdings include a stake in Kraft Foods Inc (KFT.N).
I find it fascinating that Wrigley is worth $23 billion.
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Banks Laundering Money For Drug Cartels?
When I first read this article, I thought, “Wow, and people thought the banks wouldn’t come up with another way to recover from the sub-prime mortgage fiasco”. Then I thought about it. Why would Wachovia do something like this? How long has this type of stuff been going on?
Wachovia Corp (WB.N) is being investigated by federal prosecutors as part of a probe into alleged laundering of drug proceeds by Mexican and Colombian money-transfer companies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
An official of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia, the country’s fourth largest banking firm, said the company is cooperating with the investigation, the newspaper said.
The Journal did not identify the Wachovia official and it attributed its information about the investigation to “people familiar with the matter.”
It appears, however, that they are not the only ones…
Wachovia is one of several large banks being investigated for relationships with the money-transfer companies, the Journal said.
Several large banks? I want to know which ones.
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Jail Can Make You Healthy Again
I wonder if the ACLU is going to jump on this one like white on rice? Seriously, I bet they file a lawsuit saying this man is being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Wanna bet?
An inmate awaiting trial on a murder charge is suing the county, complaining he has lost more than 100 pounds because of the jailhouse menu.
Broderick Laswell says he isn’t happy that he’s down to 308 pounds after eight months in the Benton County jail. He has filed a federal lawsuit complaining the jail doesn’t provide inmates with enough food.
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The meals, provided through Aramark Correctional Institution Services, average 3,000 calories a day, jail Capt. Hunter Petray told the Morning News of northwest Arkansas for a story Saturday.
A typical diet consists of 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day.
3,000 calories a day!?! Hell, if I ate 3,000 calories a day I would weigh 308 pounds by now myself. Bitch, bitch, bitch. He’s just mad he’s in jail and not on The Biggest Loser. Shut up, loser.
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Sphere: Related Content“Best Trained” Bear Attacks Trainer
In a scene right out of Hollywood, the grizzly bear from the movie “Semi-Pro” starring Will Ferrell killed his handler on Tuesday.
The 700-pound bear, which stands 7 1/2 feet tall, bit Stephan Miller, 39, in the neck on Tuesday at a facility where wild animals are trained for film and TV productions near the mountain resort of Big Bear Lake, east of Los Angeles.
In true Hollywood fashion, they were videotaping at the time of the attack. Miller was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Sphere: Related ContentPC Sales Drop 24 Percent
I’ve confused. If this is a Windows world we live in, how could PC sales drop 24 percent? Do people hate Vista that much? Is that why they stopped buying new PC’s? Heck, I bought a new PC and I stuck with Windows XP. Is it my fault their profits dropped?
Microsoft Corp. declined 5 percent in extended trading after it reported an 11 percent drop in third-quarter profit and forecast earnings that may miss analysts’ estimates as Windows software sales fell.
Net income dropped to $4.39 billion, or 47 cents a share, from $4.93 billion, or 50 cents, a year ago. Revenue was little changed at $14.5 billion, matching analysts’ estimates and disappointing investors looking for more after industry reports showed better-than-expected demand for personal computers.
The world’s biggest software maker said sales of Windows for PCs sank 24 percent and revenue from its online advertising unit came in at the low end of its projections. Microsoft’s report contrasted with positive comments from chipmaker Intel Corp. and computer company International Business Machines Corp.
When Microsoft makes less money, you know somethings up with the economy.
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Sphere: Related ContentRationing Comes To The Jail
Labor leaders are recommending that Montgomery County ration toilet paper for inmates to help save costs. The request comes as council members try to resolve a $297 million budget deficit.
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The recommendations include limiting inmates to two or three rolls of toilet paper a week. Union officials say inmates often deliberately clog toilets to cause problems at detention centers, wasting taxpayer money on both the toilet paper and the cost of fixing toilets.
It seems to me that the inmates aren’t the only ones full of shit these days. They could follow Sheryl Crows example and give them one sheet everytime they shit. She once said that should be plenty.
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Ford Buyouts Fall Short
Color me shocked. I am totally amazed. While Ford made money last quarter, their plan didn’t really work. Their plan to cull the assembly line workers with buyouts and such fell short, but they still made money.
Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street on Thursday with a $100 million profit in the first quarter as strong results from Europe and South America helped offset the impact of a slumping U.S. economy that cut car and truck sales in its main market.
The company also said Thursday its latest round of early retirement and buyout offers netted 4,200 hourly workers, fewer than Ford had targeted.
Ford says it earned 5 cents per share in the January-March period. The No. 2 U.S.-based automaker lost $282 million, or 15 cents a share, in the same period last year.
That is quite a turnaround. While the rest of the year will be quite a challenge, they must be commended for turning things around.
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Sphere: Related ContentMore Bad News On The Home Front
Oh, here we go again… Realtors are screaming about the drop in sales of existing homes. I hope they’re screaming at the banks.
The pace of existing home sales in the United States fell two percent in March to a 4.93 million-unit annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday in a report that showed the U.S. housing market continues to struggle.
Why the banks you ask? If the banks weren’t dragging their feet to do what is needed, existing home sales wouldn’t be dropping so low.
Of the homes for sale, 18 percent have negative equity and so are either in foreclosure proceedings or headed for a ’short sale’ that will see the lender write off some of the original loan amount.
“This has been a frustration of our members,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Lenders have been dragging their feet (in approving short sales).”
I don’t know what got into those people that run the banks, but if I was running a bank and I had the choice of losing 100% of a $300,000 loan with no certainty of how much I would recover, or losing a set amount (like 25%, etc), I think I would go with the sure thing. Especially now, with the market the way it is. Maybe that’s why I don’t run a bank.
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Sphere: Related ContentAll Eyes On Yahoo?
Is tomorrow a do-or-die day for Yahoo?
After two years of crumbling profits, Yahoo Inc. can’t afford another letdown Tuesday when the Internet icon reports its first-quarter earnings.
Although they only cover a three-month period, the results could determine the Sunnyvale-based company’s fate as it grapples with an unsolicited takeover offer from Microsoft Corp.
If Yahoo bounces back to exceed analysts’ modest expectations, it could be a springboard to a higher bid from Microsoft or provide more credence to management’s argument that the company will be better off remaining independent.
There may be some reason for hope since asian stocks did remarkably well today, but then again, Citigroup is selling $6 billion in shares and National City raised $7 billion in capital but still posted a loss.
Tomorrow might just be an interesting day afterall!
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