The 80s vs. the 90s!
By Max | April 5, 2008
So I was wondering, will people ever throw 90s parties? There’s no doubt been plenty of parties thrown themed on the 70s and the 80s. Well it’s now 2008, and the 90s have been out of style for a while now. Where are all the 90s parties?
I think it was 1994 when I started to realize how campy the 80s were. As far as decades go, the 80s were probably the second most ridiculous following the 70s. I doubt we’ll ever top disco in terms of ridiculousness. That realization came to me after only four years past the decade end. As far as style goes, I am certainly not one to realize that sort of thing early. I was probably still rocking out to Bon Jovi after Kurt Cobain had died. Surely others began to think the 80s were silly much earlier.
Yet here we are in 2008 and I haven’t heard anyone talk about the silly 90s. Maybe the 90s were just too normal. Thats good and bad I suppose. It’s good because the younger generation won’t make nearly as much fun of my 90s photos as I did for people in the 80s generation. The downside is that all my clothes and CDs will go to waste since there likely won’t be too many 90s parties anytime soon.
Clothes, music and movies define a decade. When you go to an 80s party, everyone is dressed like 1986 and Micheal Jackson is on the stereo while the Breakfast Club is being shown on TV. 70s parties wouldn’t be complete without bell bottoms and the BeeGees. What would a 90s party look like?
Flannel shirts, ripped jeans and Nirvana playing? Cargo pants, tight black pants and the Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls? I guess the 90s have some fun stuff going on. There definitely seems to be a difference between the early 90s and the late 90s.
Share ThisTopics: Ideas | 1 Comment »
Max’s Healthcare Solution
By Max | February 10, 2008
For some reason the whole world is clueless about how to fix healthcare. Almost any Joe off the street can tell you what the problem is. Its expensive and not everyone has access to health care. Well I have figured out how to fix it. The answer is market forces!
See all the problems started half a century ago as WW2 was ending. The US government in its infinite wisdom decided that it would be great for all the troops to have healthcare when they returned from war. So what did they do? They started giving corporations tax breaks for paying for health insurance. Naturally the companies decided to take advantage of this, and thats why the vast majority of people today are insured through their jobs. Why they didn’t give Americans tax breaks for their own insurance, we’ll never know?
So this has created the problem. I think its important to note that our government put us into this situation. They placed incentives in the market that allow workers with good jobs to get health coverage while everyone else is left out.
Employer paid health insurance creates another problem besides creating a number of uninsured people. It completely removes market forces from health care decisions. If you have insurance through work, you essentially have “free” health care. I have it with my job, and I never think about how much I am actually paying for services. I don’t select doctors who are capable but cheaper. I just go with my friends’ recommendations. I don’t ever choose to forgo that last round of pain meds because insurance covers most of the cost. Removing these cost decisions from the health care industry has allowed health care costs to run amok. The drug companies charge whatever they want. Doctors can charge whatever insurance allows them to. They have an incentive to recommend the more expensive procedures regardless of the actual needs of the patient.
To fix health care we need to introduce these price choices back into the market. Socialized health care would create a much bigger problem than currently exists. Why do you think the communist governments of the world are all giving way to more free market economies. Its simple, socialism doesn’t work. With a single payer system, people will overuse. Innovations in health care will be stifled because the government won’t want to pay a premium for people to use them.
My solution is to remove the tax breaks corporations receive to provide health care. I imagine most people will want a higher salary anyway. There are two groups of people who would be really hurt by this plan. The government should provide health care for children. We shouldn’t punish children for the mistakes of their parents. The second group are those people who find themselves in a health care disaster scenario. I propose that the government pay for these catastrophic type problems as well. How would this be implemented? Well, individuals would be responsible for their own health care costs up to 30% of their own salary per year. Anything above this amount would be covered by the government. Basically everyone in the US would have a 30% of their salary deductible with regards to health care expenses. A person could still buy private insurance if the idea of big health care bill coming one scares them. But at least individuals are making these decisions and not the government for them. Under this plan, people will have an incentive to shop around for the best deals. They also won’t want to over use health care that isn’t necessary for their condition.
It’s too bad something like this would never be implemented. The insurance companies in American have a huge lobby in Congress. Congress is watching out for their interest, not yours.
Share ThisTopics: Ideas | 1 Comment »
Ebay Should Buy Zillow
By Max | December 9, 2007
I have been doing some thinking, and have come to the conclusion that ebay has a fantastic opportunity to grow into the real estate market. Its so ridiculously obvious, that I am surprised they haven’t already tried to make an aggressive move into real estate. Over 5 million existing homes are sold each year. The national average price is about $200,000. That works out to $60 billion in realtor commissions (6%). If ebay charged $1000 for a house listing it would represent a savings of $11000 to the average home seller instead of using an agent. If ebay managed to capture just 20% of the market, it would represent an additional $1 billion to revenues. I believe if they managed to snag 20%, the remaining sales would follow shortly. Further expansion into the escrow and mortgage origination business through paypal would certainly be possible. I believe if ebay developed a decent marketplace, homesellers would love the opportunity to sell their home in just 30 days on the auction block.
There are two problems to overcome with an entry into the home sales market. Ebay needs to get a lot of listings and a lot of buyers’ attention. Currently a few homes are sold on ebay. One problem is that few people know to go look there for houses. This in turn creates a problem for getting listings. Who wants to sell a house to a limited number of people? This creates a chicken and egg problem. More listings generate more buyers interest which generates more listings.
There are several things ebay could do to jump start their real estate marketplace.
#1. Getting the Buyers:
Buy Zillow.com. Either that or just partner with zillow, so that every person who is selling their home through zillow has the ability to link their home to an ebay auction. Zillow is a well put together site. I am sure they must get a ton of traffic from potential home buyers. Ebay could step in and snatch all that up really cheaply right now. They paid $2 billion for skype which earns them nothing and offers little synergy with their existing business. Why wouldn’t they want to pay less for a company which would almost certainly build ebay’s business.
#2. Getting the Sellers:
Acquire or partner with foreclosure auction houses. These guys are already auctioning off a ton of foreclosures. Ebay should get in on the action. Right now the foreclosure market is booming, and they are already selling through auctions. I can’t think of a better way to jump start a bunch of listing to generate buyer interest. Traditional sellers will be sure to follow the auction lead once they see how quickly ebay can sell the foreclosure inventory.
#3. Temporarily, ebay might have to cross list their auctions on MLS. This would only have to be done long enough to break down the MLS monopoly.
#4. An advertising blitz in the current real estate market will almost certainly generate interest. There are many sellers who have been sitting on their homes for months trying to sell. If they knew they could sell in a 30 day auction for the market price, I believe many would jump at the chance. Likewise, I can’t think of a better way for buyers to search for a place to live than ebay. I imagine many buyers have grown frustrated with MLS’s overpriced listings that are slow to come to terms with the reality of the current real estate market.
The MLS real estate market place has held a monopoly far too long. I sold my house quickly and easily through craigslist saving myself thousands of dollars. The internet IS the disruptive technology which will crack the MLS monopoly. There is too much money involved and the current system is too inefficient. Ebay has a brilliant position to lead this new market if they chose to embrace it. If you think I am wrong, ask yourself when is the last time you booked travel through an agent.
Share ThisTopics: Business | 11 Comments »
The Fast Food Diet - Part 1
By Max | November 9, 2007
Many people across the US are trying to lose weight. Unfortunately, there is no magic secret which can solve their problems with weight. The solution is simple, but so difficult to actually put into practice. To lose weight, you simply have to eat fewer calories than you burn. Without exercise the average person burns around 2000 calories. It can be higher or lower depending on your metabolism and weight. What this means is that to lose weight, women should probably consume around 1500 calories a day and men should consume about 2000.
The main problem that most people encounter with losing weight is making the appropriate lifestyle change to accommodate a reduced calorie intake. If you got out to dinner at pretty much any restaurant in the US, you are screwed. Who has time to make their own healthy meals at home any more?
I am not a nutritionist. In fact I am probably the opposite. All I know is what has been working for me and a little dose of common sense. I eat a lot of fast food. There are some benefits. For one thing its fast! I certainly don’t have time to go to the store to buy groceries and then spend time preparing a meal when I get home. Also, fast food is cheap. Most people I know who go on diets end up spending a lot more than they typically would just to eat healthy stuff. The major drawback of fast food has historically been that it is incredibly bad for you. Just watch a copy of “Supersize Me” and you’ll quickly see just how bad it can get. With the right choices, it doesn’t have to be like that.
I typically skip breakfast. I eat an early lunch, and a late dinner. I don’t know if thats the healthiest routine, but its what I do. Now for the meals! I’ll post two today, and more in subsequent posts.
Meal #1! Taco Bell!
2 Spicy Chicken Soft Tacos
1 Diet Soda
Total calories = 340
Total fat grams = 12
Cost = $3.50
I like the Spicy Chicken Tacos. Most food tastes good because it either has a lot of sugar or a lot of fat or both. Spices have no calories or fat, and can really make otherwise bland chicken taste good. Add some Fire Sauce to really spice it up. Theres no cheese on these tacos, and that makes all the difference in terms of health. If you can’t drink diet soda, you better get a water.
Meal #2, Kentucky Fried Chicken - finger lickin’ good.
2 Honey BBQ Snackers
1 Diet Soda
Total Calories = 420
Total Fat grams = 6
Total Cost = $3.50
I bet you would have never thought any diet could include KFC or Taco Bell. It all depends on the choices you make. According to the kfc.com nutrion info, Honey BBQ snackers are where its at. The big difference between these and the other snackers is that the others all use a fried chicken strip.
Try out these two meals tomorrow. Adding both together results in only 760 calories, so feel free to add another snacker or taco if you get hungry. Or replace that with a bowl of cereal for breakfast. You really can’t beat this for the grand total of $7.
Share ThisTopics: Fast Food | 3 Comments »
Ron Paul Donation Day
By Max | November 5, 2007
Today is a big day for Ron Paul’s campaign. A grassroots campaign to set up big donations on November 5th is underway. Check it out here. I checked the stats and it appears that Ron Paul has already scored about $600k today. At midnight the donation total on Ron Paul’s website was around $2.7 million.
Now (3:05am EST) we are already up to $3.4 million.
If you are interested in participating in the largest one day fundraiser event for a Presidential candidate, visit www.ronpaul2008.com.
For all you foreigners who want to help out, please donate here to sponsor a television ad campaign.
Share ThisTopics: Politics | 1 Comment »
The Great November Experiment
By Max | November 2, 2007
This month I am setting a goal for myself. I might be a little crazy, but I like a challenge from time to time. Over the last few months I have just been hemorrhaging cash. November is the first month that I won’t be traveling since March. I am just tired of seeing $2500 credit card bills. This month my goal is to spend less than $1200!! I will of course be spending more than that because I have some business expenses each month that have to be taken care of, but those don’t count because I make money from that.
Thats not all though. I also want to earn at least $1200 from playing poker this month. I just think it will be fun if I could be considered a professional poker player for a month. 
Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to sustain it. $1200 just isn’t enough when you love to party as much as I do.
Yesterday I spent $500 on rent, and $12.50 on food and drinks. I am going to have to cut back a little today. On a positive note I made over $100 playing cards!!
Total Expenses: $512.50
Poker Income: $108
Topics: Max | 1 Comment »
Protected: Fantasy Fest - Day 1
By Max | October 25, 2007
Topics: Max | Enter your password to view comments
Protected: Airport Travel Tips!
By Max | October 24, 2007
Topics: Partying | Enter your password to view comments
Ron Paul Is The Undisputed Unscientific Poll Champion
By Max | October 23, 2007
Check out this video I saw today:
After watching this, I almost threw up in my mouth. Everyone at Fox News is a retard. Actually they are brilliant, controlling the opinions of many Americans. Stop watching this channel. It is beyond retarded.
Share ThisTopics: Politics | 1 Comment »
One More Reason To Vote Ron Paul
By Max | October 12, 2007
The real reason I want you to vote for Ron Paul in the primaries, is because this girl has said she’ll get naked when he wins. Check it out!
Share ThisTopics: Politics | 2 Comments »
