SATURN collapses while Wall Street Stalwarts come up with IPO's for internet ventures, what's wrong with this picture?

An economy that only invests in internet IPO's while letting actual american manufacturing jobs die is more of the same crap. Wall Street is offering IPO's on some internet ventures that will produce virtually NO manufacturing jobs.

Barack Obama, you are a fraud.

Have you heard of the Virtual Internet Universe Called Entropia, that actually requires you to use REAL DOLLARS to purchase Virtual Entropia Property?

My mouth dropped when I saw this. Apparently people actually use real US dollars to purchase virtual property in an internet virtual universe called Entropia. There is even an exchange rate in which one US dollar equals 10 "Virtual Peds". My initial reaction is this is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

I just have to wonder if this entire scheme was developed on Wall Street by a derivatives hedge fund conglomerate that was already investing in things unseen and things never made. Certainly Bernie Madoff must be impressed by Entropia.

Since I know very little about Entropia, I will refrain from absolutely condemning the premise of exchanging one real dollar for 10 virtual "PED" dollars while I mull over the concept some more.

I suppose if one is a "shut in" for a myriad of reasons, including some form of mobility handicap, but they have real money to spend, Entropia apparently is a way of communicating and living a virtual alternative lifestyle without leaving home.

Someone might be financially supporting Entropia so that it can continue to be available for their own personal enjoyment.

I think I saw a story where Entropia devotees literally spend their entire days and nights in the virtual land of Entropia. So buying an estate in Entropia, if it helps ensure that Entropia makes real money, is probably not quite as dumb as it seems to those of us who do not visit Entropia and are having trouble with the concept of buying virtual estates with real money.

However, if people start buying of properties in a virtual world with real money, then they probably have made as good an investment as can be expected nowadays. (that was a joke, or was it?). Nowadays, we are finding that more and money is not real anyways, so maybe Entropia is just ahead of the curve. Certainly Bernie Madoff could be the honorary cheftian who oversees the land of Entropia, or the villan who could cause Entropia's demise.

Maybe Entropia is the natural evolution to "Star Naming" rights. Star naming rights was really big in the late 70's and 80's. People could actually purchase the naming rights to a "star" up in space, and actually receive a document stating that they were the owner of the name of that star. So it would seem that the next logical step after naming your own star would be to actually...drum roll please, inhabit that star and develop your own colony and create a way of life.

Is the day fast approaching when buying an "estate" on Entropia could actually be a cost effective alternative to actually traveling in our world???

Imagine the lives that could be saved if we could retrain texters who text while they drive, texters who operate heavy equipment even as they text, to instead live in the land of Entropia in front of a "real computer" in a room, instead of being out in public texting and possibly causing some tragic accident.

Mulling this over has made me feel like I need a vacation, but in which world?

There may be a way to intelligently explain the exchange of dollars for Peds. One is not actually buying an estate in a virtual universe. One is actually buying time-share on an interactive computer program.

Perhaps the only number that really matters is what is the cost per hour to maintain an estate in Entropia. If it turns out that one can afford to spend 5,000 hours in Entropia, and their estate costs 5,000 dollars, then in actuality, their virtual entertainment is costing them one dollar an hour, and perhaps that can be considered a bargain after all.

At the end of the day, maybe the cost per hour to live in the land of Entropia is what matters most. Just don't forget to add in the real rent, electricity, food, heating, and clothing that is also needed to sustain that virtual environment.

A dollar an hour to live in the land of Entropia becomes pointless if one has no way to make money because they spend all of their time in Entropia.

Dylan Ratigan: Americans Have Been Taken Hostage

Dylan Ratigan: Americans Have Been Taken Hostage Posted usingShareThis

---------------My commentary below-----------

I think it is important to note that the Ratigan column appears on Huffington Post. Huffington Post has already called Barack Obama the "Bank Centric Kid". Huffington Post is also the internet "news source" that blasted Hillary Clinton on a daily basis during the 2008 democratic primaries and PRAISED Barack Obama on a daily basis. Without Huffington Post's interference, Hillary Clinton most likely would have been the democratic nominee in 2008.

Yet Huffington Post has an article that basically blasts Barack Obama and his administration.

It is a shame that we can find three powerful women such as Arianna Huffington, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin, and know that if we put them in a room, they would have virtually nothing in common and unable to build any kind of a consensus of any kind.

Yet if we put three powerful men in a room, the odds are that at least two of them would form some kind of alliance or allegiance on some level. (think back to George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton and their tour around the world to raise money for Hurricane and Typhoon victims a few years ago. George Bush Sr. was OFFENDED and most likely DISGUSTED that he lost to Bill Clinton after only one term in office.)

Make it a game if you will, find three men in politics that completely annoy each other the way Palin, Clinton and Huffington do. I don't think it can be done.

Put Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Bill Richardson in a room, nope, some kind of alliance would happen between two of those fellows.

What about Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy (assuming he still were alive) and Jimmy Carter, Bill and Ted might work something out, maybe even Ted and Jimmy. Jimmy and Bill, definitely not.

What about Rush Limbaugh, Bill Clinton, and....Bill Mahrer in a room, would the three scorn each other the way Huffington, Palin, and Hillary Clinton most likely would?, Nope, Bill and Bill would get along. Heck, didn't Rush even have Bill on his show once?

It is just kind of galling to me how women seem to neutralize each other and in the process let under qualified men such as Barack Obama slip through to positions not earned.