Monday, November 22, 2010

New Years with Elvis!

Mona Lake Productions

The 'Build America' Debt Bomb

Steven Malanga: The 'Build America' Debt Bomb - WSJ.com
"One sure signal has been the sharp rise in the cost for investors to insure against default.
In June, the price of a contract protecting an investor from a default by Illinois on its bonds rose to a record high of $309,100 on $10 million of debt over five years, according to CMA Datavision.
The national average for states is $190,000 per $10 million in debt.
At that point, Illinois surpassed California as the worst credit risk among U.S. states"

Grab a drink and read it all.
This is scary!

Dying with debt: A dirty little retirement secret

Dying with debt: A dirty little retirement secret - USATODAY.com
"Retired Americans are racking up credit-card debt like never before, be it for vacations or medical expenses, and a surprising number have no intention of paying it off before they die."

Climbing to the top of a transmission tower.

Grab your balls and watch this video!

Michigan Forbids City of Hamtramck to Seek Bankruptcy; My Advice to Hamtramck: "Default"

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Michigan Forbids City of Hamtramck to Seek Bankruptcy; My Advice to Hamtramck: "Default":
"No Michigan local government has ever filed for municipal bankruptcy, Stanton said, a rarely used tool that allows cities and other local governments to deal with creditors and extract concessions from its unions."

More pension bad news. This time for locals

More pension bad news. This time for locals - Orange Punch : The Orange County Register
"There really are only a few options: cut benefits, increase contributions or go belly up when the bills come due.

Since going belly up is the one option that is easiest because no one has to do anything for that to happen, that’s pretty much the path most government policymakers have opted for, with a few modest exceptions as outlined in the Pew study, which is the subject of our editorial today."

Retirement shortfalls measured in trillions

Retirement shortfalls measured in trillions pew, state, california - Opinion - The Orange County Register
"Despite recent attempts to mitigate the crisis, the unfunded debt for public retirement benefits poses a massive and growing problem in California and throughout the nation.
A study by the Pew Center on the States captures the gravity of the issue in its title: 'The Trillion Dollar Gap.'

Rising costs of promised public-sector employee pension and retiree health benefits in 50 states now are more than $1 trillion in the red, Pew calculated.

Other studies estimate even greater deficits, including a Free Enterprise Nation study this year that put the combined state and local government unfunded liability at $3.5 trillion."

We the people will defend our liberty!

#t=19
Great video!

Rating the Spartans on a scale of 1-10

Rating the Spartans on a scale of 1-10 greenandwhite.com Lansing State Journal
"How to judge this team's place in MSU history, considering it's the third to reach 10 wins?

Obviously, more games are played now, and at least a couple are gimmes every year.

The other two to hit 10 were the 1965 national champs and the 1999 team that finished 10-2.
This group is comparable to the latter.

Perhaps it's best to look at losses to see where this team could be remembered.

Since those great squads of 1965 and '66, the number of MSU teams to finish with just one loss is: 0"