Thought I'd do an update on the two case studies I'm running -- one for Bankruptcy and the other for Bankruptcy Lawyer.

Here are the rankings for both case studies: 

As of today (5/28/08) here are the results for bankruptcy lawyer:

• Google: #54 of 1.5 million pages
• Yahoo: #897 of 45.4 million pages
• MSN: #136 of 14.4 million pages

Here are the results for bankruptcy attorney:

• Google: #39 of 1.5 million pages
• Yahoo: unranked of 39.6 million pages
• MSN: #32 of 18.5 million pages

Good progress on Google, not so much on Yahoo and MSN.

 Good progress on Google, not so much on Yahoo and MSN.

As of today (5/7/08) here are the results for bankruptcy:

• Google: #6 of 64 million pages
• Yahoo: #23 of 215 million pages
• MSN: #3 of 35.2 million pages

Here are the results for filing bankruptcy:

• Google: #4 of 2 million pages
• Yahoo: #5/#7 of 68.3 million pages
• MSN: #84 of 1 million pages

Here are the results for how to file bankruptcy:

• Google: #5 of 2.1 million pages
• Yahoo: #84 of 65.1 million pages
• MSN: #1/#2 of 14 million pages

Here are the results for file bankruptcy:

• Google: #10 of 2 million pages
• Yahoo: #3 of 52.6 million pages
• MSN: #1/#2 of 14.3 million pages

 

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines socialism as "the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community." Socialism has been a cornerstone of many countries over the years, including North Korea, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union. It is also featured in its more "moderate" form in other countries like Sweden. The main points of socialism, as I understand them, are that of re-distribution of wealth and a "mothering" of citizens (for lack of a better term) where services are provided not by free markets but by the government.

In a socialist environment, wealth is believed to be a zero sum game. If I have wealth, that can only be because I have deprived someone else of it. Taxation is a great socialist method to achieve re-distribution of wealth in this case, because it takes money away from "wealthy" citizens and gives it to the government to accomplish whatever "mothering" activities it sees fit.

Barack Obama advocates tax policies that increase taxes on "wealthy" Americans (although his definition of wealthy is less broad than the targets of the tax increases). Barack Obama advocates a government sponsored health care system (clearly "mothering" there).

In fact, Obama's official campaign posters bear an uncanny resemblance to the old Che Guevara posters. (Che was a noted Latin American Marxist revolutionary back in the 50's who was instrumental in helping to bring Fidel Castro to power in Cuba.) It's no wonder, then, that Obama wants to talk with leaders from Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea -- idealogically, they would seem to have much in common. 

Is this the America you want to live in?

Brought to you by the Best Political Blog on the web

In the aftermath of the latest round of primaries, the talking heads of CNN/MSN/Fox etc are a-twitter with their assessment of the Democratic candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Similarly, the candidates themselves are doing their own spin-jobs as they enter the home stretch of this primary season.

Obama trumpeted the fact that he has secured the majority of the pledged delegates, while Hilary points to her popular vote lead along with her wins in the swing states the Democrats need to win in the fall.

Many talking heads are saying that the majority of pledged delegates is a clear indicator that Obama should be the nominee, that the superdelegates should not contradict the "will of the people" in this. Huh? If the "will of the people" was the sole guiding factor, then the delegate formula wouldn't have ANY superdelegates -- it would be ALL pledged delegates. Why are the superdelegates in there, if not to (potentially) correct for a popular but misguided wave sweeping up the "will of the people".

In fact, look no farther than West Virginia for a case in point. Senator Robert Byrd, the most senior Senator from West Virginia, endorsed Obama this week, just after West Virginia finished totally trouncing Obama in favor of Hillary. Basically, Byrd told his constituents that he knows better. I won't debate his choice here, but if the most powerful Democratic member of the Senate decides its ok to contradict his constituents' vote then I don't see why the other superdelegates need to march in lockstep with their constituents.

The Florida and Michigan mess remains a thorn in the Democrats side, both now and in the future. Whether those delegates are included or not changes the finish line, but the finish line remains just that -- the point at which the race ends. Not before, unless all but one of the runners drops out.

Brought to you by the Best Political Blog on the web

Between wrapping up the spring semester and starting my summer "vacation" plans, I changed my profile page to include links to some of the most popular articles I've written over the years.

In case you hadn't seen them all, here they are:

• Best Ways to Cheat in College
• Seven Keys to Getting Better Grades
• How to Write a Killer Essay
• How to Take Good Notes
• How to Work with Word Problems
- - - - - - - - - - - -
• Seven Keys to Writing a Better Resume
• Seven Keys to Ace Your Next Job Interview
• Secret Behind Textbook Costs
• Finding a Holiday Job
• Giving an Oral Presentation
• How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Enjoy these, there are plenty more where they came from.
 

Last year the Republican and Democratic national committees laid down the rules for when states could schedule their primaries. Florida and Michigan both decided unilaterally that they were not going to wait until after Super Tuesday and scheduled their primaries early. Both states were tired of the races being over before they got their say, and felt states like theirs with important voting blocks should have a say in the primary outcomes.

Both committees threatened sanctions against the states, and neither side backed down. So now we stand mired in a quandary: if the committees stand firm they risk alienating large voting blocks; if they give in, pandemonium will ensue next primary season as every state ignores the committee guidelines. Face it, coverage of the last several Democratic primaries have all had similar themes -- "this is the first time West Virginia has had a say in the primary..." States dig this opportunity, and at the local level this gets more people interested in registering and voting.

I don't know how this will play out for this year. (Personally I think every registered voter who wants to vote should be able to do so, and that vote should count.) For next time, though, I propose a solution before the problems start.

• Let Iowa and New Hampshire go first, they'll have a fit otherwise. As every parent knows, sometimes you just have to let the little ones have their way if you want any peace.
• For the rest of the states, schedule primary dates for Super Tuesday, not so super Monday, etc. so that you have the right number of total primaries.
• Hold a lottery draw to fill in the slots for those primaries. This way, Montana and South Dakota and New Mexico won't always be the last ones -- they could luck into a Super Tuesday slot!

Food for thought... Anticipate the problem and come up with a solution BEFORE it rears its ugly head.
 

Brought to you by the Best Political Blog on the web

Dear Professor Cram, 

I need your advise. Business sells items. 25% customers pay next month. For Oct. cash collected was $21000 and $6500(accounts receivable) from Sept. Total-27500. What is revenue in this case?

Thank you,

Luiza

___________________

If you are on cash basis accounting, this is simply the $27,500 received in the month.

However, I expect you are on accrual basis, in which case the sales made in the month are what you want to count instead of the cash received. Under accrual, you sold $21,000 that you already collected on, and another 25% that will be collected the following month. Therefore, the $21,000 is 75% of revenue for the month. Now it becomes an algebra problem:

$21,000/.75 = $28,000 

The $6,500 of accounts receivable is the 25% of the prior month's revenue, so it doesn't count for this month.

Good studying! 

The latest issue of Time carries the story "Is it time to invade Burma?" They describe the devastation of Cyclone Nargis as it slammed into the Irrawaddy Delta last week, and the inability/unwillingness of the military junta to embrace international aid to their stricken populace.

Is the answer here to "force" assistance? Is the answer to render aid in spite of the wishes of the Burmese government? This is a hard one to swallow. On one hand, the humanitarian perspective says "it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." On the other hand, the "rightness" of forcing our values and sense of justice on a sovereign nation is at the core of the current opposition to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

It isn't easy being the good guy... 

Brought to you by the Best Political Blog on the web

The market for the US is; d=100-20p     s=20+20p

 The market for the rest of the world;  d=180-20p    s=60+20p

Suppose the us government imposes a quota of 22 units on its imports. Calculate the magnitude of the deadweight loss resulting from the quota.

 

PLEASE help me solve this I would really like to know how befor I have to do an exam.

Thank you so much! 

I'm doing this assignment and I'm totally lost,

U.S. :

d= 200 -40p

s= 40 +40p

Rest of the world:

d= 160 -40p

s= 80 +40p

The U.S. govenment imposes a quota of 32 units on its imports. Calculate the magnitude of deadweight loss resulting from the quota under the assumption that the U.S. is a small open economy?

If anyone knows about this it would great if you could help me out!

I'm doing this assignment and I'm totally lost,

U.S. :

d= 200 -40p

s= 40 +40p

Rest of the world:

d= 160 -40p

s= 80 +40p

The U.S. govenment imposes a quota of 32 units on its imports. Calculate the magnitude of deadweight loss resulting from the quota under the assumption that the U.S. is a small open economy?

If anyone knows about this it would great if you could help me out!