NFIB Launches Johnny Money

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has released a game called Johnny Money that is designed to teach kids about the basics of business management.

I tried it out myself, and unlike most educational video games, this one is actually fun!

I only wish is were this easy to make $50,000 per month. But the basic concepts the game brings out are really very similar to the things I face every day in my business.

Keep your debt low, don't hire too many employees, don't skip on the advertising. Sounds like my list of things I keep reminding myself to do!

Oh, and it's free. So, there is really no financial risk to trying the game out.

Visit the NFIB and review the game here: http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_38451.html

OPEC Finally Has a Challenger

One problem we have as consumers is the fact that individually we have very little influence on the market. Big oil companies and OPEC have been able to basically dictate what gas prices are going to be.

Now that BioFuels are coming of age, OPEC finally has competition, and it looks like they are starting to squirm.

President Khelil of OPEC recently said that, “the intrusion of bioethanol on (sic) the market [is responsible for 40% of the rise in world oil prices].”

This assertion defies logic, and the President of OPEC has provided no proof or any substantiating evidence of this. His assertion, he feels is enough.

Well, it is enough. Perhaps now EVERYONE will be able to see the lies that are propagated by OPEC.

Enter the World BioFuels Industry.

In an open letter to OPEC published last week in the Financial Times, the BioFuels industry called OPEC out on the many years of market manipulation and lies that have kept the cartel in business. I suggest you read the article at www.goodfuels.org/opec.

Ethanol Isn’t Bad – It’s Booze

All this talk about Ethanol, and I didn’t even realize it was booze. Well, there you go.

Reading this article by Dark Palmer, “The Case For Ethanol” I realized that a lot of the information I’m getting on the subject from watching the news is bullshit.

Yeah, big surprise there.

Anyway, there is a campaign he is promoting to Declare Energy Independence, and since it’s the 4th of July it’s your patriotic duty to sign it.

Here’s the link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/declare-july-4th-energy-independence-day

Party on!

How ‘Bout Them $300 Million Batteries

Last week John McCain offered $300 Million for an electric car. See the article in the Washington Post here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062300002.html

Now, I’m all for the electric car, and the good news is that the Lithium-ion batteries are already here.

Maybe if John McCain did his homework he would already know about the uber-cool Tesla (http://www.teslamotors.com/) which goes 0-60 in 3.6 seconds and gets the equivelant of 220 miles to the gallon.

If you want a high-performance sedan, then the Tesla Model S or Fisker Karma: http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/2008_detroit/2010_fisker_premium_hybrid_sedan/index.html set to be released in 2009 might be more to your liking.

There’s also the Chevy Volt: http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/ which is scheduled to go into production in 2010.

What’s better is that this phenomenon is not limited to the United States. Indian manufacturer Reva has developed an electric vehicle for the Indian market (http://www.revaindia.com/)

The higher gas prices are pushing these products to market much faster, and I think in the end this is a good thing.

Of course, if your taste is more for the gas engines, there are still the high efficiency Prius, and Smart Cars getting up to 50 mpg.

Don’t Let Development Time Stop You

If you’ve been thinking about building a Social Networking site, but have been afraid of the development cost and time, I have a really great solution for you.

The good folks over at Ning have created a system that builds it for you in a few minutes. And best of all – it’s free!

Ok, ok, there’s a catch; but it’s a small catch. The free system puts their ads on, and you have to use their ning.com domain – much like the way Blogspot is.

The good news is that it only costs a few bucks per month to use your own domain and get rid of their ads. Since they host the site for you anyway, this is not an issue.

So, if you’ve been thinking of putting up a Social Networking site, then there’s nothing stopping you. Visit http://www.ning.com/ for more info.

Now YOU Can Also Be Terribly Misinformed

Ever wonder where all these people get their stupid ideas and notions about the world? I think I found the site. And it’s hilarious!
The Onion (http://www.theonion.com/) provides a daily dose of political satire, and some of the dumbest news stories since the evening news.
It’s just one more reason not to watch TV