Ever since it was alleged that Obama was born in Kenya, the African country appears to be in the news more and more. Recently, there was a terrorist attack at a shopping mall and even more recently allegations that the Kenya Defense Force (KDF) that was fighting the terrorists took the opportunity to loot the Mall while […]
Trends: Kenya Oil Read More »
In today’s global economic climate, it can be difficult for people to buy a house while struggling with annual bills. But the U.K. government has a number of schemes available to first time buyers and existing homeowners such as Help To Buy, NewBuy and Right to Buy. Offering Government loans and easy ways to get 95% mortgages, these schemes have all been designed to help people own their own homes quickly and easily.
Home Buying in the U.K. Read More »
Is Energy Deregulation Just a Fad? In the late 1990’s, individual states began trying to introduce more competition into the energy marketplace. As we know, competition tends to drive down prices and improves choice and service. Without competition businesses get lazy and they add layers of bureaucracy and then simply tack the additional costs on to
Energy Trends- Deregulation (or Not) Read More »
The world is becoming increasingly well connected, believe it or not, there are remote islands in South East Asia that use small gasoline generators to supply their electricity but still have excellent cell phone and Wi-Fi coverage. After all, it is relatively easy to put up a tower but running power lines is much more difficult. And these days it
Communication Trends Read More »
History is littered with financial failures. Every century has had its successes and financial blunders. As new ideas and technologies take hold, they push out the old. This is known as “creative destruction” and has been the engine of progress for thousands of years. Companies that once revolutionized and dominated new industries – for example,
Great Financial Failures in U.S. History Read More »
Imagine getting out of your 20 hp. car and cranking it to start it, getting whacked by the handle and breaking your wrist, while your neighbor trots by shouting “get a horse” and your other neighbor happily puffs by in his Stanley Steamer. This was life in 1900…  people died of the flu and intestinal infections and
Trends: Population, Health and Technology Read More »
For centuries now, Africa has been a wild and unknown place full of impenetrable jungles and steeped in mystery earning it the name the “Dark Continent”. Several countries in Africa including Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, and Rwanda  are embarking on ambitious projects to provide centers of upscale housing and high tech jobs in an effort to join the 21st century. Are these just “pipe dreams” or are they the wave of the future?
Will Africa Finally Shed its “Dark Continent” Image? Read More »
On his way back from the Yalta conference in February 1945 where US President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Great Britain’s Winston Churchill and the Soviet Union’s Stalin, the American president made an unscheduled stop in Egypt where he met with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdel Aziz ibn Saud aboard the USS Quincy, in the Suez Canal’s Great Bitter Lake. The basis of the meeting was to ensure that Americans would have an uninterrupted supply of oil.
Mideast Oil Loses Some of its Power Read More »
Gold has been outperforming both stocks and long-dated Treasuries in recent weeks. Below are four possible scenarios for the yellow metal looking out several weeks: A short-lived rally induced by Syria An inflation-fueled and sustainable push higher A rally shot down by increasing fears of deflation A sharp no place else to hide rally War
Is Gold’s Bullish Turn Sustainable? Read More »
he rise of humans from fearful creatures huddled around cave fires to the dominant species on the planet largely parallels the evolution of weaponry. Different subgroups rose and fell, spreading their culture or declining in influence as they either came up with the new best thing with which to slaughter their neighbors or fell behind in the innovation game. Club, axe, spear, atlatl, sword, longbow, crossbow, catapult, gun, bomb, artillery, really big bomb—all have had their day.
We even delineate historical epochs by naming them after the dominant weapon technology of the time: Stone, Bronze, Iron, and the modern era, which might accurately be termed the Gunpowder Age. Over time, the one constant has been to invent a technology that conferred an advantage on the user in battle—or else served as protection against what the other guy had. And the reason for wielding any given weapon has always been to maim or, preferably, kill one’s adversary. Before one got one’s own self killed, of course.
No More “Blood in the Streets” Read More »
