Well the debate continues about whether there is a growing divide between the haves and have nots in the USA.  There are numerous op ed pieces and articles in the news about Dem versus Republican ideas on how to do this.  What do you think?  Now understand I am not trying nor do I desire…

Freedom Writers  is the latest in a long line of significant stories about struggle in the classroom.  This one stars Hillary Swank  whom I have admired from The Next karate Kid to Insomnia to Million Dollar Baby.  You can see the trailer by clicking on the link.  This genre got started with Glenn Ford in…

Tucked away on page B 5 is of the Weekend Journal is the PCAOB announcement that the internal control rules are not going away.  We will be studying a good deal more on this in Systems and Audit the next two semesters.

A new biography on Mae West reveals a lady of considerable more talent than her screen persona might have suggested.  Where are today’s ladies to look for a feminine role ?  Madonna, Brittany, Jennifer, I think not.  Try the real thing, a woman unafraid of herself who spent ten days in jail for what was…

The definition of a  ‘blue chip’ stock is one that endures by consistently making money and or paying dividends for years on end.  Indeed,one of the vivid impressions of my life is how even the most durable institutions can be gone in the blink of an eye.  Gulf Oil was founded in 1901, Dad worked…

Nancy Pasternak of KPMG made a fine presentation at the Texas Educators CPA Conference on  the latest fraud findings.  Her presentation was mainly based on the KPMG Survey   You can download it and read at your leisure and for future reference on the hyperlink.  The Association of Fraud Examiners also has its 2006 annual report…

Milton Friedman died November 16 this year.  Read about his remarkable accomplishments in Bruce Bartlett’s column .  It was Friedman that created the Chicago School’s obsession with money supply.  One of his more memorable accomplishments was a video series on free markets. One person he interviewed was Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Arnold was depressed with the socialist…

Daniel Henninger is always worth a read.   Here he notes that decreasing taxes has become a world wide trend, and those countries that are doing it are in leading in economic growth. The former sad sack of Europe, Ireland, now boasts one of its most robust economies thanks to a low flat tax. Neal Boortz…

If there is any city that mirrors or perhaps paces popular culture in America, it’s Las Vegas.  Indeed, one could argue that the emerging ‘service’ economy is not high tech but gambling.  Ben Seigel figured this out in the late 1940s and opened the first gangland financed casino.  He oversold the ownership and the Mob…

Oliver Stone in his film Wall Street  had Michael Douglas repeat some of the speech that Ivan Boesky once made. Boesky told a group of students that greed is good as it can create wealth.  Boesky in real life and Douglas in the movie rely on inside information to make their money, ever ready to…