An Image Makeover

For those of you noting the commotion at the local Wal-Mart, it's all part of the plan: the image makeover plan, that is. Almost all stores nationwide will be receiving a cleaner looking, brighter space. More info about the new image can be found here in an article from the Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/293181

LMF T-Shirt Design Contest

The Linton Music Festival is holding a design contest for this year’s official LMF t-shirt at http://www.shirtriot.com/ShirtRiot/User/ContestDetails.aspx?cst=37 Enter to win the $150 prize being offered, plus money from every shirt sold through the shirtriot.com website using your winning design!

The Blade

I found it amusing that the cover art of the June 8th, 2009 edition of National Review features a caricature of Governor Daniels as ‘The Blade,’ a name reportedly given to him by former President Bush. Said cover can be found here: http://nrd.nationalreview.com/

The Staggering Debt in the USA

Here’s the thirty-minute version of a thought-provoking documentary, entitled I.O.U.S.A., which is about the staggering debt in the USA today: http://www.iousathemovie.com/

Bear Run Mine in 'Mileposts' Newsletter

Here’s a link to the Spring 2009 edition of the ‘Mileposts” publication, the official newsletter of the Indiana Rail Road Company, which highlights the new Bear Run mine in Sullivan County, Indiana: http://www.inrd.com/images/pdf/Mileposts_Spring_2009_Extra.pdf

Making a Buck on the Dollar Menu

There’s an interesting article on the profit margins for some of the fast food 'dollar menu' promos of late, which can be found here:

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/107106/Can-They-Really-Make-Money-Off-the-Dollar-Menu?mod=career-selfemployment

Have a Great Extended Weekend!

I'm taking an extra-extended holiday weekend. Hope everyone has a safe & very happy Memorial Day with plenty of cookouts and IndyCar racing. Tune in next Tuesday!

Q&A with Charlie Munger

Interesting Q&A interview with Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway fame:
http://www.law.stanford.edu/publications/stanford_lawyer/issues/80/pdfs/sl80_munger.pdf

No More 'Gotcha' Tactics Soon?

An AP story out today says new legislation will soon make credit card companies’ surprise fees and other ‘gotcha' tactics unlawful: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Senate-votes-to-limit-credit-apf-15292841.html?sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode

Oh Boy, Where's This Going?

The Evansville Courier & Press ran this story about cost-cutting measures for I-69: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/may/18/18web-Daniels/

Teachers, Have You Heard About This?

On the RTV6 blogs, the Indiana State Teachers Association is the 'talk of the town': http://rtv6blogs.com/rtv6_capitol/2009/05/14/ista-lobbyist-we-are-going-to-put-all-our-cards-on-the-table/comment-page-1/ I’m curious to know what any local educators have been told about this situation, if anything…

Bankers Should Be Boring

At lunch the other day, I read in the New York Times an interesting quote from a banker in nearby Jasper, Indiana, which I thought I’d share here…

“Banking should not be exciting. If banking gets exciting, there is something wrong with it.”
-Clay W. Ewing, President of Retail Financial Services
German American Bancorp, Jasper, Indiana

The full article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/business/12small.html

The Carnegie Heritage & Arts Center

The Carnegie Heritage & Arts Center of Greene County, which is located in the old Margaret Cooper Library in Linton, will be having a Grand Opening this Saturday, May 16th from 11 AM to 7 PM.

There will be musicians playing throughout the day, refreshments available, a pottery demonstration, and plenty of art to peruse while you’re there.

Several local people have put a lot of time & energy into the building. So, check it out!

Lions & Tigers & Storms, Oh My!

The thunderstorms the other night made me think about computer files & paper records, for some reason. Perhaps, it’s because I work in risk management.

Natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, could teach us all something though. And I wonder if we really all got the message sometimes. Although we may never have a hurricane in southwestern Indiana, there are plenty of other perils that could have similar results.

So, here’s a thought for the weekend:

Do you have a routine in place at home & business that all of the computer info is backed up at certain intervals? How about records and documents on paper and not in ‘electron form’?

If so, are these back-ups kept off-premises? Disasters like tornados and fires may not be too kind even if you do have back-ups, but they’re on premises.

Thought of the Day: Auto Dealerships

Here's a thought for today:

With all the announcements of cutting the number of dealerships in the national news, particularly with GM & Chrysler, what will southwestern Indiana be left with in the end?

As for Chrysler, here's a website dedicated to their restructuring: http://www.chryslerrestructuring.com/

From The Partnership for Fair & Affordable Energy

I received this e-mail earlier today, which you may want to read. It's cut-and-pasted below:

"Wabash Valley Power Association, Hoosier Energy, IMPA and Indiana Statewide is working to inform and educate consumers, the media and our elected officials about the impact that proposed carbon reduction legislation would have on Hoosier citizens. As a brief overview of the topic, it’s certainly difficult to pinpoint when and what the final legislation will look like – but the moving target appears to have enough support that it could cost as much as an additional $50 per MONTH per Hoosier household. This surcharge would be bundled with electric bills, as the consequence, in essence, for our state’s dependence on coal. So our joint group has created a :30 TV commercial that began airing today. In addition, we’ve developed a web site that explains the issue and encourages people to join us in showing their support to legislators for keeping the cost for electricity fair and affordable. We expect this effort will be an ongoing process, although the initial TV buy is just for two weeks now, and two more weeks in June. After that, we’ll re-evaluate in terms of public support and Congressional direction. By the way, the group is operating under the name, The Partnership for Fair and Affordable Energy. And while we have several members in other states, at this point the project is limited to Indiana. We’re continuing to work with our other Statewide associations to find ways to support the issue in their states. You’ll find the site at http://www.blogger.com/www.fairpowernow.org. On the Video Gallery section, you can view the TV commercial. We encourage you, if you agree with the message, to sign the petition and to share it with your friends and family. This is truly a grass roots effort, and is not at all limited to co-op members. '

Postage: Two More Cents Today

It’ll cost you two more cents today – now 44 cents -- to mail a first-class letter at the Post Office. This is unless you stocked up on ‘Forever’ stamps beforehand.

In a previous post from 2007, I discussed hoarding stamps as an oddball investment vehicle. I surmised it was a very low rate of return, but if they keep moving up every year around Mother’s Day, I may need to re-evaluate my rate of return calculations.

The previous post can be found here: http://magiccoalcity.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-twist-on-forever.html

More Jobless In USA

New jobless rates are coming out. Read more here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/08/AR2009050800394.html?hpid=topnews

While reading, though, keep this post in mind: http://magiccoalcity.blogspot.com/2009/02/unemployment-101.html

FYI - Linton City Council Monthly Meeting

The Linton City Council's monthly meeting is scheduled for the first of next week - Monday, May 11th, 2009 @ 7PM. The Board of Works meeting is prior to the Council meeting.

Linton First Annual City-Wide Yard Sale

I thought I'd pass along an announcement I received last night:

'Drag those unused items out of the attic and the garage, gather your nickels and dimes, and rev your engines because the City of Linton will hold its first annual City-Wide Yard Sale on Saturday, May 30th over Phil Harris Weekend (Greene County Foundation Festival). The sale will begin at 8 am and continue through the day ending at 5 pm, so be sure to tell your friends, relatives, and co-workers to spread the word around. Participants will be posting their own signs so be on the lookout at all street corners and the major intersections along SR 54 and SR 59. Be sure to look out for downtown businesses, churches, and community groups that may also be participating throughout the community along sidewalks, parking lots, and community rooms. Planning is already underway for the next City-Wide Yard Sale event, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, please contact Deidra Brumfield via email at deidra1972@yahoo.com. Look for members of the Planning Committee visiting the day of the sale to get contact information for a mailing list for the next City-Wide Yard Sale event.'

Worse Than Swine Flu

To put things in perspective, over at Foreign Policy, they outline some of the top disease outbreaks, which are much worse than the recent Swine Flu: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4910

Got Music?

I've been a little distracted lately from the normal economic & business grind, so I thought I'd share a more light-hearted link today. If you haven’t visited this site before, it’s a very cool little website: http://www.pandora.com/

Simply type in your favorite artist and the website takes care of the rest -- finding your likely other musical favs – with remarkable accuracy I might add. If it’s not quite so accurate for you, you can simply add some variety by entering additional songs or bands to help the site along with its musical search for you.

Finally, your very own radio station! Boy, local stations may be in real trouble in the very near future if more people start going to listening online like this.

Vigo Co. Commissioner Resigns

What a wild story that began surfacing last week in nearby Vigo County! Read more here in the TribStar about a Vigo County Commissioner busted for meth dealing: http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_121221256.html?keyword=topstory

Thanks Magic Coal Readers!

Thanks everyone for bearing with me this past week while I attended to some matters. I’m back in full-force now, so stay tuned for news & commentary!