MOSEY ALONG THE SEM

Massachusetts gubernatorial race-Tim Cahill

2010-10-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

After last week’s mishap, I am pretty sure Tim Cahill just kissed his Massachusetts gubernatorial race good bye- better yet his political career… I my opinion, Public Service should be about Serving the
people rather than enriching ones pockets /ego

Don’t Text and Drive in Massachusetts

2010-09-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

On Thursday a new Massachusetts law will take effect barring drivers from using cell phones or PDAs (personal digital assistants) to send or receive text, e-mail or browse the Web. And those younger than 18 are also forbidden from using cell phones to make or receive calls…

Party Movements

2010-03-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

First there was the Tea party movement then came the Coffee party.Just wondering, why are these movements dubbed after beverages? What is next? Espresso party ? Hope the Yuppies are taking note this time...

VOTE: Massachusetts' Open Senate Seat

2010-01-17T21:53:00.000-08:00

Urging all Massachusetts residents to vote on Tuesday, January19th, 2010. At the moment, Massachusetts' open US Senate seat race is unimaginably close and extremely significant. The victor in this senate race will have the potential to reshape our policies. Please come out and vote

To Our Brothers and Sisters Deploying

2010-01-08T23:21:00.000-08:00

Sending the best of wishes to all those deploying….you are in our thoughts and please remember no one is left behind!!

The Road to Financial Freedom in the New Year

2009-12-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

With the holiday season underway and the New Year around the corner, this is the time when many of us reminisce and reevaluate some of our life’s goals. However, due to the uncertainty of the current global economic situation many of us are sure about one thing, this recession has permanently altered the way we look at the world of finance and investments. When the recession begun, a lot of people were certain that it would be a bumpy ride but little did they know that they would see their lifesavings, 401ks, net worth and the hard work from all those years vanish in a blink of a second. Despite these shortcomings and the unpredictable economic condition, financial security should be a priority for everyone in the coming year.

Today, a lot of people are terrified to look at their finances because they don’t want to see the ugly situation and state of their finances .And there are others that are probably just plain scared because they think they do not know much about finance and investing. Every successful investor starts with the basics because no one is born knowing how to save or invest. And, it does not help that time and again we have been relentlessly told that money does not grow on trees. Although that is true, the gist of the saying that they fail to tell us is that money can grow when you save and invest wisely.Knowing how to secure your financial wellbeing is one of the most important things you’ll ever need in life. You don’t have to be a genius to do it. You just need to know a few basics, make a plan, and be ready to stick to it. No matter how much or little money you have, the important thing is to educate yourself about your opportunities.

However you should also remember that no one can guarantee that you’ll make money from the investment you make since investments fluctuate. No one can even guarantee that you will make a profit from these investments. The reason I bring this up is because I spoke with a couple of friends who told me that they do not care much about investing because their company guarantees a retirement plan for them. The key word is “GUARANTEE”. I do not mean to scare anyone but if you hear the word “Guaranteed investment” you ought to do more due diligence to avoid being scammed. Nevertheless, when you get the facts about saving, investing, and then follow through with an intelligent plan, you should be able to gain financial security over the years and enjoy the benefits of managing your money. Essentially, regardless of where you are right now or where you are going, each and everyone of us can benefit from a healthy financial plan. Here are a couple of things to remember in the coming new year as we embark on this journey to financial freedom.

Keys to financial success

1) Make money.
2) Keep a personal budget.
3) Don’t spend it all.
4) Reduce your debt/improve your credit rating.
5) Start an emergency fund (3-6 months. However, given the current political/economic situation at least 12month is ideal).
6) Plan to buy a home versus rent.
7) Save and invest (For retirement, education and other life changing events).
8) Diversifying and dollar cost averaging are key to your plan.
9) Spend time to review and reassign your plan.
10) Education (Keep learning and educating yourself).

PS. At least the above strategy is going to be my game plan for the next year or so. If you also follow foot and make it to the first million mark, please remember to send me a check. You know the contacts-right!!

A Visit to the Doctor's

2009-10-01T21:45:00.001-07:00

Guess what? The next time I go to any medical person with the title “Doctor” before their name I will let them guess what brings me to their office on that particular day. I do know why, but I always get a feeling that they tell me the same thing I told them but except in a totally new alien language.

FYI: This is left for interpretation and I do not mean to portray the “Doctors” in any unfavorable way.

Thank you for the freedom

2009-09-09T22:49:00.001-07:00

Just thought would extend my gratitude to the men and women that serve for our freedom!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!!

2009-10 Gators’ football season opening Boston

2009-09-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

I must say thumps up to the Gator club and McFadden's lounge located at 148 State Street in Boston. Trust me; they had to shut down the venue so that the Gators would get first priority. Believe it or not, they actually could not hold anymore patrons since the establishment was full to capacity of Gators. It is amazing that they had to get surrounding pubs to air the game. Go Gators!!! And, thank you for coming out!!!

National Championship

2009-09-04T21:56:00.001-07:00

The college football season is about to start. Being miles away from my alma mater I can just image how this year’s season is going to turn out. Hopefully it will be a success since we are highly favored to take it all. We can just anticipate that there will not be any of that BCS mess as our previous national championships.

All in all I am looking forward to another National Championship. And just to let you know, there is no bond stronger than the one formed when you become a member of The Gator Nation. In every corner of the globe, Gators accomplish remarkable feats…GO GATORS!!!!!!

Is Ethanol a viable Alternative to gasoline?

2009-09-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

If at all you have been following the news lately there are a number of topics that have been getting a lot of attention. For starters, unless you live on another planet or may be you just chose to hide under a rock on planet solitude like I do sometimes; you have definitely heard about the “Economic recession”. Similarly, I can bet my money that you have heard of either Michael Jackson or Ted Kennedy’s death because even the poorest of the poor in a remote rural area somewhere in “BFE” (in the middle of nowhere) or at the end of the world have heard of Michael Jackson’s passing by now. You have possibly heard of the heated town hall debates about health care in the United States and may be the new cash for Clunkers program. Well, if you have not heard about the cash for clunkers, then I can somewhat understand or sympathize with you because the program has not gotten as much publicity as one would image. In a nutshell, the cash for clunkers is a bill that was passed by the Obama administration where car shoppers can take advantage of big government incentives to receive rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 for trading in older vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models. But, what does cash for clunkers have to do with our topic today “Is Ethanol a viable alternative to gasoline”? Of all these topics that I mention earlier, the one worthy of your time to read and educate yourself about is possibly the cash for clunkers program and it has a direct correlation with our topic today “Is Ethanol as an alternative for gasoline”

In my opinion, the cash for clunkers program was introduced to bump up the US economy and may be revamp the US auto industry. I think it would be fair to say that the program is just a quick fix that does not solve the problem in the big picture. Not long ago, a friend of mine and I went car shopping so that he could trade in his “gas guzzler” for a safe, more fuel efficient, environmentally friendly car. He had done some research and was leaning towards getting a Toyota Prius so that he could take advantage of the Cash for clunkers program. Although my friend was very excited about the gas mileage the Prius gets, he just could not stop wondering if there was a better and more energy efficient alternative. He kept wondering, pondering, and asking me questions on whether a time will come when cars would be energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The car salesman so happened to have eavesdropped into our conversation. He had this look of a person having a burning urge to offer his opinion. He then came up to us and confesses that the discussion we were having was rather interesting. It turns out that he was born and raised in Brazil but currently lives in the US. He seemed to agree with our position on the issue of ethanol fuel. He said that not long from now he foresees Brazil completely depending on the use of ethanol as opposed to gasoline. As for me, that left me questioning whether a time will come when “Ethanol would be a viable alternative to gasoline”

Today there is a general consensus that in order to mitigate climate and move towards a safer environment, we must reduce global greenhouse emission by 50% of 2005 levels by 2050 starting with industrialized countries cutting their emissions by 80%. We need a larger increase in new innovative technology both energy efficiency and renewable energy. For one, the cost of oil is shooting out of the roof. Do you remember the time when gas cost only .99cents, then slowly went up to $2. At that point in time, people were in disbelief that gas would cost that much since they never expected gas to go passed $1.50 a gallon. Little did they know that gas would get to almost $4.But when gas got to $4, people got outraged but they still paid the inflated prices at the pump as a trade off to enjoy driving the gas guzzler around town. Regardless, the increase in oil prices coupled with the growing concern about global warming has left us seeking for better and more innovative ways to solve today’s energy crisis. This growing concern has led to a continued search for alternative energy sources that are environmentally friendly and limit dependence on foreign oil. As a result, for some-ethanol is believed to become a key potential energy alternative that will provide both energy and environmental benefits. According to the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), the United State’s (US) largest nonprofit organization which over sees the use and production of ethanol, “ethanol drives economic development, adds value to agriculture, and moves the US towards energy independence while cleaning the air and offering consumers a cost effective choice at the pump”. Despite the mentioned benefits, I strongly disagree with the notion that ethanol will become a viable alternative to gasoline. May be if one said that ethanol can become a compliment to gasoline then I can understand.

The American Coalition for Ethanol defines Ethanol as a cleaning –burning, high-octane motor fuel that is produced from renewable sources. I also noticed that Whipnet an ethanol affiliated company defines ethanol as a flammable and colorless chemical compound that can be used as a biodegradable fuel additive. Ethanol is sometimes known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol since it is made from plants such as corn, wheat, barley, or sugarcane. At the moment there are two main types of ethanol, E85 and E 10. According to The American Coalition for Ethanol, E85 is an alternative fuel blend that is made up of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline hence “E85” while E10 is made from 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline. Although I believe that there is a need to find alternatives to gasoline, I also don’t think that ethanol is the right solution to the use of gasoline for a number of reasons.

One of the major drawbacks of ethanol is that it is very complicated and inefficient to transport. For instance, ethanol cannot travel in pipelines because it absorbs water and other impurities. As a result, ethanol has to be transported by trucks, trains, or barges which make it tremendously expensive and inefficient. Ironically, there is a short supply of ethanol storage tanks. And most importantly of all is that the trucks and other methods used to transport ethanol use gasoline. Do you see a problem here?? This reminds me of a quote a friend of mine posted that went like this “We kill people, who kill people to teach them that killing people is bad” what an oxymoron. In this case, this is the same as saying “we transport ethanol using gasoline so that we can use ethanol to eliminate the use of gasoline” Huh!!! For this main reason, I believe that ethanol does not have a chance to become a viable alternative to gasoline.

To most people, the main reason why they would opt to use ethanol instead of other energy alternatives is the belief that ethanol is environmentally friendly. I personally believe that this is a misconception because ethanol is made from a concoction of biodegradable plants mixed with gasoline. Secondly, I think that it is difficult to argue that ethanol is environmentally friendly and a viable alternative to gasoline because gasoline and other fossil fuels play a big role in producing plants such as corn that are used to make ethanol. For instance, gasoline and other fossil fuels are used from seeding to plowing, fertilizing, harvesting, and transporting of the plants used in ethanol production. Furthermore corn ethanol creates almost as much carbon dioxide emission as gasoline. In addition, ethanol contains less energy density than gasoline which makes it less economical because you have to use more ethanol in order to produce the same amount of power as gasoline. According to the US department of energy, you need about 1.40 gallons of E85 to equal the energy content of 1.00 gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. This means that ethanol has less energy per gallon therefore one has to pay about 6 gallons of ethanol in order to save 1 gallon of gas. Think about it, how cost effective is this? Customers end up using and paying for more ethanol than gasoline yet ethanol is even more expensive. What do you think; does this really make economic sense?

Ethanol might be a viable alternative to gasoline in some people’s minds like our Brazilian car salesman’s fantasy world. But, we haven’t even talked about the benefits of petroleum based by products such as plastics. There are talks to improve and pass a mandate that requires the use of ethanol. Rather than spending time and resources on such a mandate, I would rather see another energy source like solar energy or hydroelectric cars developed instead of focusing on ethanol. I personally don’t think that ethanol alone should become a viable alternative to gasoline because ultimately it does not solve major concerns as stated above. May be the Obama administration ought to inject more money in alternative energy and renewable energy research. Better yet, just like they came up with the cash for clunkers program may be the administration should come up with a similar program focusing on innovative energy solutions.

A world in Crisis

2009-08-17T18:28:00.001-07:00

Many of us refrain from talking about certain topics in public or on social networks. That is probably because we have been told over and over again that there are some conversations that are worth not talking about. Luckily enough, facebook keeps asking “What is on your mind” therefore I thought may be I should use this as an opportunity to fill you in with what is currently bothering my mind. Do you ever find your self questioning whether certain things are just plain unacceptable and just can’t stop wondering what in the world are the people thinking? There comes a time when it is necessary to voice your opinion and the issues at large. I think this is the time to do so. Oh well, let me take my chances and fill you in on some of the issues at hand

For starters, the situation in Zimbabwe is totally unacceptable. It leaves me wondering what goes on in some leaders’ pumpkins (for luck of a better word I should call them pumpkins rather than empty tins). Seriously, when one pays in the neighborhood of a trillion to buy a loaf of bread then there is definitely something wrong with the country’s economic system. Do you remember the time when the Germans burned their currency to stay warm? Crazy!! For those of you that don’t know. Zimbabwe is a sub-Saharan African country that at on point had one of the strongest and most diversified industrial infrastructures in that part of the world. However, today the country is in ruins and at the brink of bankruptcy. Inflation is officially estimated at about 7,000% and Unemployment is estimated to be above 80 percent. Human rights abuse, election rigging and possibly political anarchy is the order of the day. For the people’s sake, can you image that the country has been under the same dictator for a president since 1980.In my opinion I think it is about time something is done to this nature of power hogging. It is time for the United Nation(UN) and the international community to be more proactive about these issues. For one, all this talk about sanctions and embargoes does not mount to anything because at the end of it all it is the common person that suffers while the dictator and the cabinet stay in mansions, cruise in Land Rovers and order caviar and bottles of Château Lafite at the expense of the people.

How about the Uganda- Kenya conflict that is currently going on? Seriously, can you believe these two countries might end up at war with each other over a mere piece of rock? Tensions are boiling up between Uganda and Kenya because of a tiny (about 1 acre) fish-rich Migingo Island in Lake Victoria which has prompted Uganda to move at least 100 marines to the disputed island. With this conflict unfolding, all the fruitful efforts of rekindling the East African Community might possibly become sabotaged. Who is to blame in this scenario? And, who has the most to lose? In my opinion I think Uganda has the most to lose yet it seems like they are the major trouble makers. It is about time the Ugandan government plays nice or face the music.

As for the United States, the big debate is over healthcare. It is quite amazing to see the different opinions that people have over this issue. What amazes me the most is the number of people that just hear a certain talk show host’s opinion and then take the heat to the street without even giving the message some thought or trying to interpret the intentions. By the way, this applies to both sides of the fence. Actually, this reminds me of one of my favorite college professor’s key phrases “I corrupt students” in this case, the media is corrupting the general mass populace.

Beside the obvious, there is a lot going on around us today- the pirates are almost every where lately. That kind of makes me wonder if you still consider pirates sexy as portrayed in movies such as Pirate of the Caribbean. Then there is the Nigeria president who does not want to leave power. The conflict in Sri Lank, political concerns in Iran, China, Korea, and the list goes on and on. However underneath all this turmoil, the credit crunch mess seems to be the main issue that hits home and is affecting almost everyone. Lost jobs, depleted retirement plans and 401ks (I believe the term is 401 now since there are no more K or $1000s) to mentions a few. Never the less,the political debates are getting heated and it seems like most all politicians and their political parties are trying to milk the situation for selfish and self promoting agendas. May be it is about time you speak your mind about the current political condition- because that time is now. And please remember “Caveat emptor” or in other words “buyer beware”. Beware of where you get your information and definitely be aware of your leaders’ intensions