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Random Show Notes

EXPORTING WEALTH Are the Chinese siphoning off American wealth? DEBT Why isn't the $9.5 T national debt part of political discourse? From 1980 to 1992, the national debt rose from $1T to $4T. In 12 years, it quadrupled. From 1992 to 2000, its growth slowed and began to decrease, settling at $6T in 2000. From 2000 to May, 2008, the debt once again climbed by another $3T, leaving us $9T in debt. ANTIQUATED COMBUSTION ENGINES Why aren't presidential candidates offering non-combustion alternatives to the discussion on gas & oil prices? NUCLEAR ENERGY With nuclear power, there is the question about spent fuel. Energy companies won't deal with it, so tax payers fund cleanups, transportation and hiding of radioactive waste. US OCCUPATION OF FOREIGN NATIONS It's a gross understatement to suggest that many in the Mideast don't particularly care for US military occupation. CRIMINAL REFUSAL TO RENDER AID Refusing to render medical aid is criminal and morally repulsive...

Realty strategy: monopolize

Interesting observations in this story and a unique setup for hungry brokers. The Sunday paper has always been a realty mainstay, but it can't offer virtual video tours. Radio can develop, host and drive traffic to video tours for audiences on their way to work, where they become online listeners/web visitors. Same story for the return commute: radio listeners become online consumers when they get home. The key here is that a real estate broker could easily own a station if not the entire medium of radio/online. You combine reach & frequency with well-known online services -- and the scarcity of competition in this apace. Wouldn't that be the killer app in marketing? While cohorts are in the Sunday paper, hitting their traditional weekly audience like a slow drumbeat and you've already shown homes to dozens, virtually, through online video -- and maybe even set several appointments. The article gets into the nuts and bolts by asking how many new homes must one clos...

McCain's healthcare plan exposed

The Washington Post covered Sen. John McCain's visit to a cancer research center in Tampa today and report that he rejected calls by his Democratic opponents for universal health coverage, and for his part embraces a market-based solution. But McCain's so-called market-based solution still relies on insurance companies, which has effectively isolated the market from the providers for generations, causing health care costs to explode. As an example of the affects of health care greed, in 1960, a typical birth cost an uninsured middle class family about two weeks salary. Today, the expenses associated with child birth can easily soar past six months salary, whether the family has insurance or not. McCain's web site suggests that the government would make health care insurance innovative, portable and affordable if he's elected President. Let's focus on the insurance element by itself for a moment. When groups of people pay continual premiums into a fund managed by c...

Cotlar & Company: Adam Emmenecker

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Click to Play Drake Basketball point guard Adam Emmenecker joined KXnO's Cotlar & Company in-studio Monday morning, April 28, 2008.

Des Moines' I-235 Speed Sting

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Click to Play A joint task force consisting of Des Moines Police and Iowa State Patrol troopers executed a sting operation in an effort to raise awareness of the speed limit along I-235, the metro freeway.

Perhaps too green

Hard not to notice an emerald tint on the media, but not everyone's happy someone named "Liv Greene" has popped up on their AOL/Gmail buddy list; people think it's all gone too far. This blogger's viewpoint isn't an isolated one. Stephen Foskett says, "AOL seems to have invented a whole new way to annoy us all with advertisements: injected AIM buddy bots! Yes, it’s another way that social networking companies are annoying the very users they (supposedly) covet! Well, today my (gtalk) buddy list was invaded by 'Liv Greene', a shill for the web site, Greenopolis. And check out the astroturf-with-a-hammer campaign on AOL’s bot page! Way to get your bot ranked number one! I’m so sick of this. Note to all social network providers: Never inject a new “friend” into my network without my consent."

Crazy Snow

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Click to Play This is April, right? The promise of rains this month is our assurance of flowers next. So what's the deal with these huge snowflakes?