Great blog post on gold by Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis (mouthful, right?):

You can’t fool gold

A senior writer for Wired went undercover as an entry level employee at Wal-Mart and wrote about his experience in the NY Post.

I especially liked this part:

On average, anyone walking into Wal-Mart is likely to spend more than $200,000 at the store during the rest of his life. Therefore, any clueless employee who alienates that customer will cost the store around a quarter-million dollars. “If we don’t remember that our customers are in charge,” our trainer warned us, “we turn into Kmart.” She made that sound like devolving into some lesser being – a toad, maybe, or an ameba.

Here is the link: Undercover at Wal-Mart

Check out this graph (it doesn’t need much commentary):

Be sure to read the following column from the New Yorker on financial fraud, its very well written here is an excerpt:

But the main reason that Madoff didn’t destroy investor confidence is that it was already gone, thanks to a year when just about every institution that the market depends on—rating agencies, accounting firms, regulators, Wall Street C.E.O.s.—had messed up. The whole web of intermediaries and knowledge brokers that modern asset markets have come to rely on has become frayed. That helps explain the current credit crunch—bank lending has dropped fifty-five per cent this year—and the dismal state of the stock market. Discovering what the crooks have been up to is disillusioning, but not as disillusioning as coming to terms with what the so-called honest people did.

Here is the link: New Yorker on confidence and fraud

I took this picture at an elementary school in Santa Barbara, CA. I was waiting for Anthony, the kid I’m a mentor to.

The kid who made this star is in first grade. Maybe we should be optimistic for our future…

Here is his famous “I have a dream” speech. How proud and happy would he be for Tuesday’s inauguration. And how much does our nation owe him and every person who struggled and fought for civil rights in this country.

On the night of November 23rd, the Philadelphia Eagles had just been thoroughly embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens, losing 36-7. The first half performance by Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb was so bad, that he was benched. He had thrown two interceptions and fumbled the ball in one half. This was after he had thrown three interceptions and lost a fumble in a humiliatingly bad overtime tie with the awful Cincinnati Bengals. After this blowout loss and benching of the quarterback, the Eagles could have self-destructed, could have blamed each other, could have written off the season, but they didn’t. McNabb could have raised hell and gone on TV and radio telling everyone how he was humiliated and that it wasn’t fair for such a successful quarterback to be benched, but he didn’t.

What was McNabb’s reaction after the first time he was ever benched during a game in his career?

“My first (reaction) was, ‘Wow.’ But you go along with it,” McNabb said. “I am upset about us losing the game, and I’m upset that I wasn’t able to contribute. But I am going to focus on trying to help this team get better by eliminating mistakes and turnovers.”

(That quote was pulled from a yahoo sports story after the game: (McNabb quote )

Instead of bitching and moaning, the Eagles re-committed themselves to each other, to winning, to getting better and to the team and not to the individual. The result was that they turned around and blew out Arizona four days later (because of the Thanksgiving Day game). McNabb broke out of his funk and threw four touchdowns. The Eagles won four out of five to end the season, including a destruction of what should have been a super Bowl bound team, the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys are the exact opposite of the Eagles in every way. With spoiled players who only think of me, me and me. You constantly hear them chattering away to anyone who will listen in the media about how they aren’t being used right. Led by a egotistic owner Jerry Jones, who is constantly interfering with player personnel and coaches, this team has consistently self-destructed. (Just look as a comparison to how Eagles’ owner Jeffrey Lurie has been in the shadows and yet grew a beard with the rest of his players to show solidarity in their improbable playoff run.)

Now the team Eagles are one game away from the Super Bowl and playing the best and loosest football of the playoffs. Personally, even though I’m not an Eagles fan, I will be rooting them on. McNabb despite a stellar career has constantly and consistently been criticized and harassed despite a great career. He has always been an example of how to conduct yourself, despite playing in a city that once booed Santa Claus (Philly fans are a rough lot).

The Eagles despite tremendous criticism this season including calls for coach Andy Reid to be fired, stuck together and never criticized each other. But more importantly, they never gave up. They never quit. You could see the fight and toughness in them on Sunday against the Giants, especially on two fourth down defensive stands. Their lesson of perseverance, despite long odds and tough times is an excellent lesson for life and especially these tough times.

Burger King has launched a Facebook app that if you remove ten friends on Facebook you win a free whopper. Check it the below link for more info on the offer and on how to back into a Facebook valuation:

Burger King Facebook App

A great way to follow the Torah portion of the week is by following the blog: G-dcast.com. They have a guest narrator, narrate a summary and some thoughts on the Torah portion of the week set to flash animation. What is great is that the whole thing takes only 3-4 minutes a week.

This week’s portion is narrated by someone I know Marcus Freed and I really enjoyed it, especially his thoughts at the end. I recommend this site wholeheartedly. (Marcus is an actor who specializes in bringing Biblical stories alive through theater. He’s a good guy)

Here is the link: G-dcast link

Nicholas Kristof has an excellent NY Times editorial about sex trafficking, where young women are kidnapped and brought into brothels and forced to work as prostitutes. They are regularly tortured and beaten into submission. This is very clearly slavery and this is a blight upon humanity. Read the editorial though some of it is very disturbing:

Sex Slavery column

So what does this have to do with William Wilberforce?

The Obama administration will have a new tool to fight traffickers: the Wilberforce Act, just passed by Congress, which strengthens sanctions on countries that wink at sex slavery.

The Wilberforce Act, named after William Wilberforce, is based upon his lifelong quest against slavery of any kind and to use laws and moral suasion to change the world for the better. About two hundred years after he battled against slavery, his name is invoked for a new fight in a country not even his own. This is the impact one person can make on the world, long after he dies.

If you didn’t see my post on William Wilberforce here it is: Wilberforce post