Monday, January 22, 2007

Let's talk about important stuff

Down year for venture capital in Oregon
Investment in Oregon startups dropped almost 40 percent last year as the state continues to have trouble attracting venture capital since the dot-com bust.

Per capita, Oregon draws venture capital at roughly one-third the national average. "There's just a lot more money in other areas of the country than there is here," said Linda Weston, executive director of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, which supports startup activity in the state.

Can we please get back to our conversation about taxing and regulating ourselves to prosperity? I know, let's regulate how restraunts cook their food! That will bring in the bussiness.

Other things on the agenda today: the self-esteem of the homeless, surcharges, mass transit, fees, increasing multiculturalism, increasing taxes...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

a man without a job is not a man.
a job without pay is slavery
if i work for less you will get paid less.Regulation is the only way to even the playing field

DanTheMan said...

Too much regulation will strangle the business community. As a small business owner I can attest to the fact the Oregon has way too much regulation. We have passed "leveling the playing field" and gone on to "killing competition" which, in this case, is local small business. Unfortunately, in the last election, the people of Multnomah county spoke for the rest of the state and elected the people and party who support more regulation. We are loosing the free market fast.

Anonymous said...

I noticed what was NOT on the agenda: education and public safety (police and fire). Maybe if the state would stick with the basics, Oregon would be "wealthy." But, noooo....

Anonymous said...

All we need is a wagon big enough so can all ride and we will figure out who is going to pull it at another time.

Anonymous said...

Talk about Business Start-ups!

I'm all set to start my New Biz that will offer Moon-Suit tours of the New Oregon Wilderness.

Really busy now GPS marking where everything is or was.

Things are really moving fast with Teddy K at the helm.

Anonymous said...

Daniel wants to talk about "important stuff."

Important stuff:

Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey

Authors: Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy, Les Roberts

The Lancet, October 11, 2006

Summary:

Background: An excess mortality of nearly 100,000 deaths was reported in Iraq for the period March, 2003–September, 2004, attributed to the invasion of Iraq. Our aim was to update this estimate.

Methods: Between May and July, 2006, we did a national cross-sectional cluster sample survey of mortality in Iraq. 50 clusters were randomly selected from 16 Governorates, with every cluster consisting of 40 households. Information on deaths from these households was gathered.

Findings: Three misattributed clusters were excluded from the final analysis; data from 1,849 households that contained 12,801 individuals in 47 clusters was gathered. 1,474 births and 629 deaths were reported during the observation period. Pre-invasion mortality rates were 5·5 per 1000 people per year, compared with 13·3 per 1,000 people per year in the 40 months post-invasion. We estimate that as of July, 2006, there have been 654,965 excess Iraqi deaths as a consequence of the war, which corresponds to 2·5 percent of the population in the study area. Of post-invasion deaths, 601,027 were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire.

More important stuff:

BLOOMBERG - President George W. Bush's approval ratings are now the lowest for any president the day before a State of the Union speech since Richard Nixon in 1974, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said they disapprove of how Bush is handling his job as president while 33 percent approve.

More important stuff, from the Associated Press:

Human-caused global warming is here — visible in the air, water and melting ice — and is destined to get much worse in the future, an authoritative global scientific report will warn next week.

"The smoking gun is definitely lying on the table as we speak," said top U.S. climate scientist Jerry Mahlman, who reviewed all 1,600 pages of the first segment of a giant four-part report. "The evidence ... is compelling."

Anonymous said...

This is not a money state, it's a socialist wannabe state. No surprise on this one.

Anonymous said...

I have some important stuff!!!

Surprise!: Dearbornistan Muslim Caught with $1/4 Mill in Fake Nikes...

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/001915print.html

By Debbie Schlussel

When I first heard news reports in the Detroit media that an area man was caught with $240,000 worth of counterfeit Nikes, I figured the man must be a Muslim and wondered whether the media would mention his name.

It's well known that counterfeit items--especially counterfeit cigarettes, rolling papers, and apparel--fund terrorism. In the Detroit area, the counterfeit items--including designer perfumes, viagra, and batteries--have been traced to Hezbollah funding schemes. But they also are linked to funds for HAMAS and Al-Qaeda.

Well, once again, my instincts proved correct--on both counts. The man, Ibrahim Abdul Aoun, was not only Muslim, but his Muslim name was never mentioned in the print edition of The Detroit Newsistan (gee, whatta surprise!)--listed only as "a Dearborn man."
nikeswoosh2.jpghezbollah4.jpg

And beside the quarter mill in fake Nikes, what authorities also found on Aoun was interesting:

* Stolen IDs

* Illegal Firearms

Gee, I'm sure he was just your average run-of-the-mill counterfeiter, right? Just wondering how much of the money went "back home" to our friends in Hezbollah.

Given that one of the top Assistant Wayne County Prosecutors, Abed Hammoud, is an open supporter of Hezbollah, it's amazing this case got far in Wayne County.

More:

DETROIT -- A 33-year-old Dearborn resident was charged with six felonies today after police found him with between 3,000 and 4,000 bogus athletic shoes earlier this week.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy charged Ibrahim Abdul Aoun with counterfeiting property, four counts of identity theft and felony firearm in connection with the shoes, which Nike fraud investigators valued at $240,000. The cache of shoes was found on Wednesday in a raid in the 19000 block of West Seven Mile Road.

"Numerous tips about the counterfeit Nike shoes came from everyday citizens," Worthy said. "They should be commended for reporting the illegal activity that ultimately led police to make an arrest in this case."

The charge of counterfeiting property carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Identity theft is punishable by five years and or a $25,000 fine. Conviction on felony firearm carries a mandatory two-year sentence.

BTW, even though Muslims frequently counterfeit Nike products for terrorism financing, that hasn't stopped Nike from providing free Nike T-shirts to CAIR. It's a practice that began long ago when the group whined that a Nike design on a shoe looked like the Arabic for "Allah." It's been free Ts to CAIR from the Beaverton, Oregon shoe and apparel giant, ever since.