I had to work last night, but I did see pieces of the New Hampshire debate rebroadcast last night on Fox. It was an interesting debate and as an undecided voter, I would be leaning towards Romney after that debate.
However, I would like to address the issue of the candidate that was missing. According to Fox, leading up to the debate, there wasn't enough room for a sixth person around the table. Upon watching the debate, it was clear that was an outright lie. With Giuliani sitting at one end of the table, and no one at the other end of the table, it was clear Paul could have been seated there.
Chris Wallace said that the debate included only the 5 leading candidates. Well another lie. Paul beat Giulani in Iowa and is polling better then Giuliani and Thompson in New Hampshire. Also Giulani has not won a single delegate in the race to get the minimum of 1,191 delegates (see sidebar). In contrast Congressman Paul has 2 delegates. No if it was the 5 leading candidates Paul would have been included and Giuliani would have been sitting it out. Fox, how can us undecided voters get a clear picture of who to vote for, if we can't hear the candidates? Please get your act straight.
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And that's my view, what's yours?
Discussing faith, business, personal finance, news (business and financial related), politics, and pretty much everything else.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Person-to-person lending risky, but is it the future?
Guest post by Michael Hooper. Mr. Hooper is a columnist for the Topeka Capital Journal, in Topeka, KS. The opinions of Mr. Hooper are his own and not necessarily those of the owner of this blog who may or may not agree with them.
Lending money has become easier with the emerging popularity of Internet Web sites that help administer person-to-person loans.
Among the sites gaining popularity are prosper.com, launched in February 2006 in San Francisco, and zopa.com, a London-based company that recently entered the U.S. and Italy markets.
How it works
At prosper.com, those wanting to borrow money create a profile, where they may post pictures of their family or business and explain why they need the money.
prosper does a credit check on the borrower.
The borrower sets the maximum interest rate he or she is willing to pay. The site limits the amount a person can borrow to $25,000.
Lenders bid on your loan in an online auction. Once the auction ends, prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan to the borrower.
prosper handles all ongoing loan administration tasks, including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and lenders.
The term on every Prosper loan is three years, with no pre-payment penalty. Funding for each loan usually comes from multiple lenders.
People who register as Prosper lenders set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select, said Tiffany Fox, communications director for prosper.com.
A lender, for example, may reduce risk by lending $1,000 to 20 different borrowers who have strong credit scores.
"We see this as next generation of online lending sites," Fox said.
Risky business?
Some traditional bankers are skeptical of the person-to-person lending sites.
John Hall, spokesman for the American Bankers Association, said there always has been a need for "this risky type of lending."
"But," he said, "we feel it's most appropriate to go to a federally examined or audited lender when it comes to making a loan or making a deposit. Banks have the strength and credit of federal government that deposits are protected up to $100,000 by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp."
Fox said so far, the overall default rate for loans at Prosper is 3 percent, but she said that figure will tick higher. There is no guarantee borrowers will pay back the loans, she said.
Lenders may minimize risk by spreading out their loans to only prime borrowers, Fox said.
Blogs about prosper.com show favorable reviews by borrowers, but some lenders have complained about the timeliness of collections.
"Their collections process is a mess, and most lenders with established loan portfolios are either losing money or barely making more than they would in a savings account," one reviewer wrote at techcrunch.com.
Online lending is regulated by state and federal agencies. In Kansas, the interest rate cap is 21 percent, but in some states, interest rates may go as high as 36 percent.
Guest post by Michael Hooper. Mr. Hooper is a columnist for the Topeka Capital Journal, in Topeka, KS. The opinions of Mr. Hooper are his own and not necessarily those of the owner of this blog who may or may not agree with them.
Lending money has become easier with the emerging popularity of Internet Web sites that help administer person-to-person loans.
Among the sites gaining popularity are prosper.com, launched in February 2006 in San Francisco, and zopa.com, a London-based company that recently entered the U.S. and Italy markets.
How it works
At prosper.com, those wanting to borrow money create a profile, where they may post pictures of their family or business and explain why they need the money.
prosper does a credit check on the borrower.
The borrower sets the maximum interest rate he or she is willing to pay. The site limits the amount a person can borrow to $25,000.
Lenders bid on your loan in an online auction. Once the auction ends, prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan to the borrower.
prosper handles all ongoing loan administration tasks, including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and lenders.
The term on every Prosper loan is three years, with no pre-payment penalty. Funding for each loan usually comes from multiple lenders.
People who register as Prosper lenders set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select, said Tiffany Fox, communications director for prosper.com.
A lender, for example, may reduce risk by lending $1,000 to 20 different borrowers who have strong credit scores.
"We see this as next generation of online lending sites," Fox said.
Risky business?
Some traditional bankers are skeptical of the person-to-person lending sites.
John Hall, spokesman for the American Bankers Association, said there always has been a need for "this risky type of lending."
"But," he said, "we feel it's most appropriate to go to a federally examined or audited lender when it comes to making a loan or making a deposit. Banks have the strength and credit of federal government that deposits are protected up to $100,000 by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp."
Fox said so far, the overall default rate for loans at Prosper is 3 percent, but she said that figure will tick higher. There is no guarantee borrowers will pay back the loans, she said.
Lenders may minimize risk by spreading out their loans to only prime borrowers, Fox said.
Blogs about prosper.com show favorable reviews by borrowers, but some lenders have complained about the timeliness of collections.
"Their collections process is a mess, and most lenders with established loan portfolios are either losing money or barely making more than they would in a savings account," one reviewer wrote at techcrunch.com.
Online lending is regulated by state and federal agencies. In Kansas, the interest rate cap is 21 percent, but in some states, interest rates may go as high as 36 percent.
Guest post by Michael Hooper. Mr. Hooper is a columnist for the Topeka Capital Journal, in Topeka, KS. The opinions of Mr. Hooper are his own and not necessarily those of the owner of this blog who may or may not agree with them.
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Subliminal messages CD's can be the perfect option, and is worth considering. For me I tend to procrastinate when it comes to cleaning. Perhaps the motivational CD would trigger that little encouragement in me to clean up my house and car and then keep them clean.
Perhaps, I could purchase and give the stop smoking CD to a friend who says they want to quit, but can't. The possibilities are endless.
In addition, when you purchase a CD, you get a free MP3 version and free shipping. All you pay for is the $19.95 list price for each CD.
http://www.subliminal-audio.com
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Ooooh The Temptation To Jump At This Offer
I just read about a home for sale, just 3 blocks from my current house. It sounds like a dream home compared to the starter that I currently live in.
Could I, possibly sell my little bungalow and move into something with a little more room?
To think a large bedroom with a sunroom for myself. Sounds so nice. When I could afford it, installing a sauna in that sunroom would be wonderful. I just hope the master bed is upstairs.
The downside, is that neighborhood is a little rougher then where I am currently.
Could I, possibly sell my little bungalow and move into something with a little more room?
- $33,000
- 1,623 square feet
- Three Bedrooms
- Master Bedroom with large sunroom attached
- Two baths
- Detached two car garage
- Fenced back yard
- Interior Updated in 2007
- Hardwood floors
- Two story with full basement
- Fall 2006 Turn Around Topeka Special Recognition
To think a large bedroom with a sunroom for myself. Sounds so nice. When I could afford it, installing a sauna in that sunroom would be wonderful. I just hope the master bed is upstairs.
The downside, is that neighborhood is a little rougher then where I am currently.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Huckabee 1, Romney 1, Paul 0, Thompson 0, Gulliani 0
Well Saturday is coming to a close and it was a day of politics again. Even though the major media pretty much overlooked it, there was another caucus today. This time in Wyoming, which is the first state to actually elect a the delegates for the national convention. The delegate count are as follows according to the Wyoming GOP website:
Mitt Romney 8
Fred Thompson 3
Duncan Hunter 1
Then there are 12 alternate delegates elected in case 1 or all the other delegates can't make it. Those delegates went as followed:
Romney 5
Uncommitted 4
Thompson 1
Hunter 1
McCain 1
As we count down the 50 sates it is Huckabee 1, Romney 1, Paul 0, Thompson 0, Gulliani 0. Who will when the coveted New Hampshire delegates? We will find out come Tuesday.
Interestingly no President has been elected President without when the New Hampshire primary. That is until 1992, when Bill Clinton broke that streak. He was followed in 2000 by George W. Bush, who also lost the New Hampshire primary but still won the office.
Mitt Romney 8
Fred Thompson 3
Duncan Hunter 1
Then there are 12 alternate delegates elected in case 1 or all the other delegates can't make it. Those delegates went as followed:
Romney 5
Uncommitted 4
Thompson 1
Hunter 1
McCain 1
As we count down the 50 sates it is Huckabee 1, Romney 1, Paul 0, Thompson 0, Gulliani 0. Who will when the coveted New Hampshire delegates? We will find out come Tuesday.
Interestingly no President has been elected President without when the New Hampshire primary. That is until 1992, when Bill Clinton broke that streak. He was followed in 2000 by George W. Bush, who also lost the New Hampshire primary but still won the office.
Can people tell your financial fitness by the appearance of your home?
I have been reading recently about how clutter is a sign of what your personal finances are like. Larry Winget says that when he see people on those "clean up my place," TV shows, that can't get through a room, except for a small trail. He can bet that their finances are horrible as well.
Still others talk about feng shui (pronounced in English as "fung shway"). Something that when I hear or read it, the little voice inside me says, "New age crap." I mean I am a Christian and don't get into all this stuff. My religious book (the Bible) says to stay away from astrology charts, seers, fortunetellers and the such. So when people start talking about sleeping and working facing a certain direction. Not accumulating so much stuff and adding the numbers of your birth year, to figure out according to your stars what is the best positioning for all this stuff to set up your house and rooms, then yeah it sounds pretty new age. If it was just the clutter, then feng shui might be OK. The problem I have with it is when it starts delving into Chinese Astrology. Still though I am fascinated with it. Is there anything I can learn from it? Perhaps. Maybe, I could learn to have less clutter. Keep my house tidier. My home isn't the most cluttered home, but still there isn't much question that a bachelor lives in my house. In fact, I know a lot of bachelors with much cleaner pads then mine. So if cleaned my home up, would I also be more organized in other areas of my life? That is the question. And how far do I carry this feng shui stuff? I mean, I currently sleep on a futon in a very small bedroom, facing the east. The problem is, according to feng shui (more feng shui info here)for me facing east is one of my inauspicious directions. A direction that supposedly brings mishaps. When I was working nights, I slept facing west, so that I wasn't facing the windows, however, when I returned to days, I switched so I would face the windows and the rising sun. Do I turn back around so that I am facing west and bringing supposed health to myself?
Really, I don't know how that affects my finances nor do I see how that focuses on the real need to clear my life of some of the clutter. I think, I should be more concerned with becoming more organized and in turn less cluttered, in both my home and my finances. I can see how those two are intertwined. I can see, how Larry would see the cluttered home as an indicator of a persons finances. Simply because if someone isn't organized in house cleaning, then they are probably disorganized in all the other areas of their life as well.
Besides as they say, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."
One of the first steps in clearing the clutter, was to get a filling system for tax papers and receipts through my local freecycle. In this way, I could file my bills, receipts etc all in one orderly place. Then I began with my bedroom/office to get the clutter off the floor. Once I am done with this room, I will move into the living room, then the dinning room finishing with the kitchen and bathrooms that are in the rear of the house. Once I have the whole house done, I will need to maintain it. After that, I will need to move to the shed and get that organized. I can do it, but in order for my finances to get a total makeover, so does the rest of my life.
Wouldn't it be nice for one of those make over shows come here to my home and help me? That is probably not going to happen so I need to get started on this today. Starting as I said with this very room, my bedroom/office.
Still others talk about feng shui (pronounced in English as "fung shway"). Something that when I hear or read it, the little voice inside me says, "New age crap." I mean I am a Christian and don't get into all this stuff. My religious book (the Bible) says to stay away from astrology charts, seers, fortunetellers and the such. So when people start talking about sleeping and working facing a certain direction. Not accumulating so much stuff and adding the numbers of your birth year, to figure out according to your stars what is the best positioning for all this stuff to set up your house and rooms, then yeah it sounds pretty new age. If it was just the clutter, then feng shui might be OK. The problem I have with it is when it starts delving into Chinese Astrology. Still though I am fascinated with it. Is there anything I can learn from it? Perhaps. Maybe, I could learn to have less clutter. Keep my house tidier. My home isn't the most cluttered home, but still there isn't much question that a bachelor lives in my house. In fact, I know a lot of bachelors with much cleaner pads then mine. So if cleaned my home up, would I also be more organized in other areas of my life? That is the question. And how far do I carry this feng shui stuff? I mean, I currently sleep on a futon in a very small bedroom, facing the east. The problem is, according to feng shui (more feng shui info here)for me facing east is one of my inauspicious directions. A direction that supposedly brings mishaps. When I was working nights, I slept facing west, so that I wasn't facing the windows, however, when I returned to days, I switched so I would face the windows and the rising sun. Do I turn back around so that I am facing west and bringing supposed health to myself?
Really, I don't know how that affects my finances nor do I see how that focuses on the real need to clear my life of some of the clutter. I think, I should be more concerned with becoming more organized and in turn less cluttered, in both my home and my finances. I can see how those two are intertwined. I can see, how Larry would see the cluttered home as an indicator of a persons finances. Simply because if someone isn't organized in house cleaning, then they are probably disorganized in all the other areas of their life as well.
Besides as they say, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."
One of the first steps in clearing the clutter, was to get a filling system for tax papers and receipts through my local freecycle. In this way, I could file my bills, receipts etc all in one orderly place. Then I began with my bedroom/office to get the clutter off the floor. Once I am done with this room, I will move into the living room, then the dinning room finishing with the kitchen and bathrooms that are in the rear of the house. Once I have the whole house done, I will need to maintain it. After that, I will need to move to the shed and get that organized. I can do it, but in order for my finances to get a total makeover, so does the rest of my life.
Wouldn't it be nice for one of those make over shows come here to my home and help me? That is probably not going to happen so I need to get started on this today. Starting as I said with this very room, my bedroom/office.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Dreaming of Vacationing in Thailand
Then there is the Ao Phang-Nga National Marine Park, a place with beautiful turquoise waters. Tours usually include a stop at a Muslim fishing village and James Bond Island (the island rock in The Man with the Golden Gun ) within Ao Phang-Nga National Marine Park. The tours take from two to three hours and can be arranged through tour agencies at the Phang-Nga bus station.
Another must see on my list is Jim Thompson's house, which once belonged to the American silk entrepreneur Jim Thompson, who successfully promoted Thai silk to Western markets. It is believed that he alone saved a Thai craft that was in danger of dying out.
Wouldn't it be nice to catch one of the flights to Thailand today? I am certainly dreaming of it. If you would like to book a flight call DialAFlight, while you are thinking about it.
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go ahead share your thoughts with me now.
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