Recommended Reading: May 8, 2007

Links to must-read articles for thepanelist.net readers. Enjoy! Going green doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sounds: 50 ways to help the planet. The Rockefellers want ExxonMobil to think again on green issues but increasingly oil giants look to government for leadership. Polluted, poisonous and immune to popular efforts to enforce a clean-up:…

Could a Gas Tax Holiday Help Big Oil Profits?

In an effort to pander to voters outraged by the rising cost of gasoline, John McCain and Hillary Clinton are both behind a gas tax holiday. They claim that by getting rid of the gas tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans could save money, thereby easing the pressures on household finances.

Should You Buy America’s Message in a Bottle?

"Coca-Cola is little more than sugar, flavoring and lots of (carbonated) water," said Geroge Ritzer in The Globalization of Nothing. "It is largely indistinguishable from innumerable other brands of cola, yet people around the world seem to think that Coca-Cola is something and they are eager to ask for it by name and even to…

Sleeping Pills That Don’t Let You Sleep

The Health Journal column in Monday’s Wall Street Journal discusses the dangers of taking sleeping pills and the rise in somnambulism that is more likely to occur taking nonbenzodiazepines (NBZs). Ambien is the leading brand-name NBZ; others are Lunesta and Sonata.

Recommended Reading: May 6, 2008

The bad news is that as markets stabilize, chances for fundamental financial reform may be slipping away. As a result, the next crisis will probably be worse than this one, says Paul Krugman at The New York Times. Graphic: An Average Consumer’s Spending. We are not as powerful as we used to be because over…

Who’s Responsible for Making Our Economy Green? We All Are

Green Blogger Joel Makower wrote an entry awhile back that is a reality check for us "greenies." In order to turn the economy green, corporations that are still waiting for their "marketplace" to go green must step up and lead. And individuals must play a more proactive role in holding corporations accountable.

Go Green, Get Lean

There is nothing light about cellulite. Recent government reports suggest that one in three American children born in 2000 will suffer from obesity, leading some observers to suggest that this might be the first generation where kids are dying at a younger age than their parents. Most of us assume that obesity is the end…

Recommended Reading: May 5, 2008

This is one of the best pieces of financial journalism you’re ever going to read. The next bubble: Priming the markets for tomorrow’s big crash, published by Harpers Magazine. According to George Will: "The future has a way of arriving unannounced". That was before equity analysts, says Satyajit Das. Tiger economies are snapping at U.S.…

The Environmental Libertarian

I try not to make a habit of citing the New American, but there is quite a bit of data to support the theory that the current warming trend is just a continuation of a climate cycle the Earth has been in for thousands, if not millions, of years.

Barack Obama: A Communist Ideologue in the White House?

Photo:23 de Abril, Día Nacional de Castilla’s, Creative Commons, Flickr The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. -Winston Churchill You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. -William J. H. Boetcker

Recommended Reading: May 1, 2008

It’s a myth that the world’s oil is running out, says Irwin Stelzer at The London Times. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy, says Thomas Friedman…

Why You Should Buy Disney When Miley Cyrus Shows Some Skin

Photo:Mike Schmid, Creative Commons, Flickr It really cracks me up to hear talking heads on TV proclaiming that Miley Cyrus threatens Disney’s "wholesome image." On the surface Disney (DIS – Last trade $32.43) might seem wholesome, but don’t be fooled. Everyone knows that ol’ Uncle Walt was a probably a right-wing bigot, and don’t forget…

Recommended Reading: April 30, 2008

What excessive pay package? CEO compensation gone wild… The notion that two consecutive quarters of negative growth spell the descent into economic recession is a big myth, says Gerard Barker at The London Times. Only 18% of the world’s population have access to a free press according to Freedom House, an American think-tank. Climate change…

10 Cheap Stocks Under $10

I collaborated with David Neubert to come up with a list of the best stocks under $10, but the first thing he said was, “Most stocks under $10 are ones that have problems.” All of the stocks on his list are speculative. “Just buying stocks with low prices is not a very smart strategy. There…