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Margin Call: Power up the electronic age
April 25, 2009 in: Margin Call
The bronze age required bronze; the iron utilized iron. Living in the electronic age takes a lot of electricity. Yet there seems to be an urge to live in denial of this. Across Missouri, an attitude persists that opposes the construction of new power plants.
continue readingWhy the school bond failed
April 9, 2009 in: Margin Call
Follow the lively online discussion here Bravely, I will bear the burden of being proven right. One week ago this column predicted the St. Joseph School District proposals would be defeated. I thought the levy renewal, which required only a simple majority, stood a decent shot at passage. But alas, 170 people spoke very loudly. [...]
continue readingMargin Call: Time for tea and taxes
April 2, 2009 in: Margin Call
With April 15, as well as the April 7 election, breathing down our necks, taxes have been in my thoughts a lot lately. Law-abiding citizens have fear struck in their hearts at the thought of dodging taxes and having G-men knock on their door in the dead of night, demanding payment. That makes it hard [...]
continue readingMargin Call: Where are the children of the corn?
March 26, 2009 in: Margin Call
He always liked to hire farm kids, a retired businessman told me, because they had a sense of what needed to be done and jumped in and did it. Another farm kid, Zach Kinne, said he decided to work in agriculture when he went to Washington, D.C., and someone told him he functioned pretty well [...]
continue readingThe last word in the economy is "me"
March 19, 2009 in: Margin Call
No more victim mentality. No more blaming the economy for all troubles. Sure, the economy is in the tank. Jobs are evaporating, the stock market is scraping bottom and bank executives are spending taxpayer money like it’s their divine right of kings. But I’ve got a fresh financial philosophy to turn this thing around, put [...]
continue readingI'd like to spit on the economy and jab its eyes out
March 12, 2009 in: Margin Call
It’s blamed for every evil in the world. It’s the ogre that has devoured cheerfulness and turned us into dour curmudgeons. Name any ill and somehow it can be traced back to one insidious source: The Economy. Kansas City Power & Light wants to raise electric rates. Because the economy is so tight, the utility [...]
continue readingMargin Call: If the schools were a business
March 6, 2009 in: Margin Call
I’m trying to weigh which would be a worse scenario: If the school district were operated like a business; or if employees had to get voter approval for better working conditions. What would happen if workers, instead of taking their complaints to union negotiating committees, printed yard signs and coordinated letter-writing campaigns? They could come [...]
continue readingMargin Call: Ag Expo Center on a stick
February 25, 2009 in: Margin Call
If you can put it on a stick, it sells. Corn dogs on a stick. Fried Twinkie on a stick. Fried candy bar on a stick. Fried peach on a stick. Better yet, deep-fry it, then stick it on a stick. It’s a strategy the Buchanan County Commission may want to consider: Ag Expo Center [...]
continue readingMargin Call: A failure to stimulus
February 16, 2009 in: Margin Call
Listen close and I can hear the needle scratch across the phonograph as the old song starts to play. Look up and I can see that skies above are clear and happy days are here again. The Senate passed that super-sized stimulus package, so that means the economy is on the road to recovery, yessir. [...]
continue readingMargin Call: Wake up and smell the recession
February 5, 2009 in: Margin Call
This recession wouldn’t be so bad if it were not constantly beat over our heads. Hoping to take a little escape from the impending doom of global financial crisis, I sidled up to the kitchen counter to browse through the latest edition of Better Homes & Gardens. It’s terribly out of date, I know, to [...]
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