Much goings on in the world this week. However, as most of it happened outside of the United States, there really is no need to talk about it.
On to what really matters.
Obama wins again. Hillary does too.
Hillary still believes she has a chance. She also believes the Monica episode was just a one time deal.
Crude hits yet another high.
Once again crude oil sets another price record. For those of you not positioned in oil futures, this is a bad thing. It's also why you have to shop at Wal*Mart and cut coupons.
Scarlett Johanssen engaged to Ryan Reynolds.
I had the pleasure of meeting this fine young lady at a charity dinner a few years ago. Despite being an actor, I found her to be very likable and intelligent. Congratulations to the happy couple. May you enjoy it while it lasts.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Things that I can afford that the middle class cannot
A $500,000 custom designed home theater.
I think that sentence pretty much sums it up. To boast that I am able to screen Hollywood's latest offerings in my custom designed, state of the art, 30 seat home theater one week before they are released would be uncouth.
I always say that one must be sensitive to those less fortunate. After all, to make such comments in the presence of those who are forced to watch from the discomfort of their local cineplex would be rude.
I think that sentence pretty much sums it up. To boast that I am able to screen Hollywood's latest offerings in my custom designed, state of the art, 30 seat home theater one week before they are released would be uncouth.
I always say that one must be sensitive to those less fortunate. After all, to make such comments in the presence of those who are forced to watch from the discomfort of their local cineplex would be rude.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Ross' Rules
Last week I received the following question which I have paraphrased below.
Mr. Ross,
How have you attained your enormous wealth?
Sincerely,
Mr. Charles B. W. III
I get this question all the time from eager young upstarts and IRS auditors. And while I've told the story thousands of times, the creation tale of G. Glen Ross, as I like to call it, is one I never tire of telling.
Like most children, my youth was one of hard work and intense education. Strict disciplinarians, my mother and father sent me away to an exclusive preparatory school at age four. Alone for the first time in my life, I threw myself into my studies and by age seven had mastered Latin. My gift for languages set me apart from the other students and the faculty took keen interest in my education. Over the course of the next few years I would add Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian and Old English to my repertoire. And while I enjoyed language, it was a simple book report that would change my life forever. For it was in fifth grade when I read the Wealth of Nations for the first time.
A love affair blossomed and I was consumed by economic theory and all her mysterious secrets. While the other boys we're playing lacrosse, I was studying the invisible hand and game theory. I looked at the world in terms of supply and demand and market forces. I started my first business at age eight and by eight and a half performed my first hostile takeover, forcibly usurping a candy distribution operation run by a small wiry boy by the name of Preston. Little did I know that the success of this action would form the backbone of my corporate ethos.
My college years took me to Yale and Harvard, where I studied my craft under some of the most influential minds of the 20th century. After serving as a Lieutenant in Korea, I joined a major accounting firm where I quickly ascended, becoming one of the youngest partner in the firm's history. Building on my successes, I then assumed a directorship at Phillip Morris, which I held through the company's heyday.
And while I made my mark in those positions, it wasn't until the 1970s and 80s that I found true success. Serving in various executive management positions within the defense, oil and banking industries, I was able to parlay my intelligence, personality, determination and impeccable timing into a fortune.
For some, that would have been enough. But, like a mother's love or a father's acceptance, enough didn't equal happiness. So I kept moving forward and upward and my portfolio and number of ex-wives grew larger and larger. I made millions upon millions in telcom, energy and a then little known phenomenon called the World Wide Web.
So, why am I still doing it? Because I don't have to. In fact I never had to. Work, as my friend above said, is for the middle class. They do it because they have to, not because they want to. I, on the other hand, come from wealth and privilege. I've never had to work a day in my life. But I do because I love to.
Why?
Because work is competition in its purest form and for those who thrive in its arena come the spoils of war. It is only then that man is able to know success. And that, my friends, is the key.
Mr. Ross,
How have you attained your enormous wealth?
Sincerely,
Mr. Charles B. W. III
I get this question all the time from eager young upstarts and IRS auditors. And while I've told the story thousands of times, the creation tale of G. Glen Ross, as I like to call it, is one I never tire of telling.
Like most children, my youth was one of hard work and intense education. Strict disciplinarians, my mother and father sent me away to an exclusive preparatory school at age four. Alone for the first time in my life, I threw myself into my studies and by age seven had mastered Latin. My gift for languages set me apart from the other students and the faculty took keen interest in my education. Over the course of the next few years I would add Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian and Old English to my repertoire. And while I enjoyed language, it was a simple book report that would change my life forever. For it was in fifth grade when I read the Wealth of Nations for the first time.
A love affair blossomed and I was consumed by economic theory and all her mysterious secrets. While the other boys we're playing lacrosse, I was studying the invisible hand and game theory. I looked at the world in terms of supply and demand and market forces. I started my first business at age eight and by eight and a half performed my first hostile takeover, forcibly usurping a candy distribution operation run by a small wiry boy by the name of Preston. Little did I know that the success of this action would form the backbone of my corporate ethos.
My college years took me to Yale and Harvard, where I studied my craft under some of the most influential minds of the 20th century. After serving as a Lieutenant in Korea, I joined a major accounting firm where I quickly ascended, becoming one of the youngest partner in the firm's history. Building on my successes, I then assumed a directorship at Phillip Morris, which I held through the company's heyday.
And while I made my mark in those positions, it wasn't until the 1970s and 80s that I found true success. Serving in various executive management positions within the defense, oil and banking industries, I was able to parlay my intelligence, personality, determination and impeccable timing into a fortune.
For some, that would have been enough. But, like a mother's love or a father's acceptance, enough didn't equal happiness. So I kept moving forward and upward and my portfolio and number of ex-wives grew larger and larger. I made millions upon millions in telcom, energy and a then little known phenomenon called the World Wide Web.
So, why am I still doing it? Because I don't have to. In fact I never had to. Work, as my friend above said, is for the middle class. They do it because they have to, not because they want to. I, on the other hand, come from wealth and privilege. I've never had to work a day in my life. But I do because I love to.
Why?
Because work is competition in its purest form and for those who thrive in its arena come the spoils of war. It is only then that man is able to know success. And that, my friends, is the key.
Friday, May 2, 2008
The Week in Review: 4/27-5/2
McCain and Clinton support gas-tax holiday
Mark this day as the only time in my life I have supported a democrat. Obama actually said something that made sense: a gas-tax holiday would do more harm than good. Now, as my offshore bank accounts attest, I'm normally all for lower taxes. But this gas-tax holiday borders on dangerous. Do you people not know that our gas taxes help maintain our highways? Do you have any idea what the ground clearance of a McClaren F1 is? Of course you don't.
The D.C Madam hangs herself
Death is never funny, and as immoral as suicide is, I feel much sorrow for this woman and her family. That she was providing a valuable service to some of our nation's most important and powerful figures was obviously forgotten and overlooked. Her prosecution was nothing more than a witch hunt propagated by those who know nothing of stress and the relief such services provide.
Recession?
Proof that journalists have no business reporting on the financial world came when the DOW topped 13,000 and the unemployment rate dropped. Perhaps they can now stop reporting on an event that is as likely as democracy in the Mid-East. Quote me on this: there will be no recession. Go back to reporting on things that matter, like celebrity and Africa.
Mark this day as the only time in my life I have supported a democrat. Obama actually said something that made sense: a gas-tax holiday would do more harm than good. Now, as my offshore bank accounts attest, I'm normally all for lower taxes. But this gas-tax holiday borders on dangerous. Do you people not know that our gas taxes help maintain our highways? Do you have any idea what the ground clearance of a McClaren F1 is? Of course you don't.
The D.C Madam hangs herself
Death is never funny, and as immoral as suicide is, I feel much sorrow for this woman and her family. That she was providing a valuable service to some of our nation's most important and powerful figures was obviously forgotten and overlooked. Her prosecution was nothing more than a witch hunt propagated by those who know nothing of stress and the relief such services provide.
Recession?
Proof that journalists have no business reporting on the financial world came when the DOW topped 13,000 and the unemployment rate dropped. Perhaps they can now stop reporting on an event that is as likely as democracy in the Mid-East. Quote me on this: there will be no recession. Go back to reporting on things that matter, like celebrity and Africa.
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