What a year 2008 was.  All hell broke loose, almost a year of reckoning, at least for millions of people who indulged in greed and wrecked not only the real estate markets, but also the financial markets, commodity markets and whole economies on a global scale.

The stripped down and decapitated regulatory agencies looked the other way hoping the markets would take care of themselves or directed to believe so.  Markets in principle do take care of themselves, but money attracts greed and greed skews big principles.

American regulators lost credibility and anybody who had invested in a home, in the market pretty much has lost half their net worth, millions have lost their jobs and those who still have one are not sure if they still will have one next year.

In the midst of all that turmoil, there is little we can do except being hopeful.  We cannot change the past, the future is what it is, uncertain.  We can only live in the present, make it the best we can, live it instead of surviving it.  What we do today, what we think today will influence the future.

So, on this eve of 2009, let’s smile, hope for the best and do our best.  I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2009 and beyond.  Be safe tonight, party responsibly and don’t drink and drive, see you all next year.

Identity theft became the fastest-growing crime in the United States in 2008, affecting more than 10 million Americans, according to the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that enforces ID theft laws.

Hundreds of data breaches exposed sensitive information, and victims spent countless hours on the phone talking to banks, fraud investigators and credit bureaus. Businesses suffered millions of dollars in losses.

So, what's the outlook for 2009?

Identity theft experts predict more sophisticated schemes targeting unemployed people, consumers with poor credit and homeowners facing foreclosure, according to a report issued this month by the Identity Theft Resource Center, an advocacy group based in San Diego, Calif.

"Identity thieves learn all the tricks of the trade," said Linda Foley, one of the founders of the Identity Theft Resource Center. "This is a job for them."

Many real estate-based schemes have been reported nationwide this year. This trend, the report says, will carry into 2009 with more sophisticated schemes, such as those involving bogus mortgage-rescue outfits that target homeowners facing foreclosure.

Adam Levin, chairman of Identity Theft 911, a company that educates and helps consumers keep their information safe, predicts more economic crimes as the economy continues to falter, giving ID thieves more opportunities.

"We are in the midst of a perfect storm," said Levin, citing the combined effects of a down economy, unemployed people struggling financially, and homeowners facing foreclosure. "So people need to be more careful than before and try to minimize exposure of personal information."

The Identity Theft Resource Center report also predicts an increase in schemes that attempt to trick unemployed people into giving out sensitive information with the promise of a job.

Also, as companies reduce staff to cut expenses, some disgruntled employees — including those who work in information-technology fields — may turn against former employers and hack information for profit.

"There's more data on the move that is not being guarded, and human errors happen," Foley said. As of December, 638 confirmed data breaches had been reported this year, compared with 446 in 2007, according to the ITRC.

"You'vegot companies that can't afford to spend on a security system, and also businesses that don't care, so they will use this as an excuse," said Levin, adding that he expects to see more data breaches next year.

Other predictions include:

Credit cards: Consumers with poor or no credit may become a target of fraudulent deals that offer a credit card regardless of credit history, and schemes promising to consolidate credit card debt or to renegotiate interest rates. Also, a fraudulent technique known as "skimming" — a duplicate scanning of credit cards or debit cards that are later used by thieves — will become increasingly common.

Check fraud: As credit becomes less available to consumers, identity thieves may carry out more check fraud schemes by using stolen checks or using checks thrown into the trash by unsuspecting consumers.

Cyber crime: Experts said the Internet would continue to be ID thieves' favorite playground. Cyberspace is now used to transport and sell large amounts of stolen personal information, including stolen credit card numbers. This trend will continue next year, Foley said.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-flhlpidpredictions1230sbdec30,0,928121.story

 

Analysts, experts of all sorts have been driving energy, real estate and financial markets for a long time.  The funny thing is, they don't have more of a clue than we do, what they have is a job they want to preserve, or sometimes a vested interest in the results of their predictions, this years many of them blew it in a major way, here are some of their worst predictions about 2008, some of them were truly spectacular, savor them, a crop like this doesn't come along every year.

1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" —Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008

At the time of the prediction, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 12,300. By late December it was at 8,500.

2. AIG (AIG) "could have huge gains in the second quarter." —Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008

AIG wound up losing $5 billion in that quarter and $25 billion in the next. It was taken over in September by the U.S. government, which will spend or lend $150 billion to keep it afloat.

3. "I think this is a case where Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) are fundamentally sound. They're not in danger of going under…I think they are in good shape going forward." —Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008

Two months later, the government forced the mortgage giants into conservatorships and pledged to invest up to $100 billion in each.

4. "The market is in the process of correcting itself." —President George W. Bush, in a Mar. 14, 2008 speech

For the rest of the year, the market kept correcting…and correcting…and correcting.

5. "No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble." —Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Mar. 11, 2008

Five days later, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) took over Bear Stearns with government help, nearly wiping out shareholders.

6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" —Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007

On Dec. 23, 2008, the group said November sales were running at an annual rate of 4.5 million—down 11% from a year earlier—in the worst housing slump since the Depression.

7. "I think you'll see [oil prices at] $150 a barrel by the end of the year" —T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008

Oil was then around $135 a barrel. By late December it was below $40.

8. "I expect there will be some failures. … I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system." —Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, Feb. 28, 2008

In September, Washington Mutual became the largest financial institution in U.S. history to fail. Citigroup (C) needed an even bigger rescue in November.

9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." —Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007

About a year later, Madoff—who once headed the Nasdaq Stock Market—told investigators he had cost his investors $50 billion in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

10. A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win, the title of a book by conservative commentator Shelby Steele, published on Dec. 4, 2007.

Mr. Steele, meet President-elect Barack Obama.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2008/db20081224_028134_page_2.htm

 

 

Sign our letter and tell the Commission to keep up the good work and do the right thing for red snapper! Earlier this month the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission took a huge leap forward for sustainable fisheries in the state. The Commission approved new rules for state waters that will help end overfishing of important Gulf of Mexico reef fish like gag grouper, greater amberjack, and grey triggerfish. The Commission also voted to revisit management measures for red snapper caught in state waters. They will debate that this February - and that’s where you come in. Please join us in applauding the Commission and encourage them to do the right thing for red snapper. During the past two years, federal fishery managers have developed plans to end overfishing of red snapper, gag grouper, greater amberjack, and grey triggerfish and restore the health of these reef fish. Federal rules, however, do not automatically apply to state waters, so the Commission must approve consistent rules for the plans to be successful. While the Commission’s votes mark an important step toward ending overfishing in the Gulf, consistent rules are still needed for red snapper. The poor condition of red snapper populations threaten the ecological and economic health of Florida’s Gulf coast. Charter captain Billy Archer recently wrote in an op-ed published in the Panama City News Herald that, “Next year, the impacts of incompatible regulations (for red snapper) paint a dire forecast.” Help us end overfishing in the Gulf by telling the Commission to keep up the good work and do the right thing for red snapper. Thank you for your support - Help us start a sea change and forward this message to friends and family! Sincerely, Bill Blome Gulf Region Constituency & Outreach Manager Ocean Conservancy

It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Here are the Stella's for the past year:

7TH PLACE : Kathleen Robertson of Austin , Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.

6TH PLACE: Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.

5TH PLACE: Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT, days on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish. Keep scratching. There are more...

4TH PLACE : Jerry Williams, of Little Rock , Arkansas , garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun. Grrrrr. Scratch, scratch.

3RD PLACE: Amber Carson of Lancaster , Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend30 seconds earlier during an argument. Whatever happened to people being responsible for their own actions? Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more Stellas to go...

2ND PLACE: Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure.

1ST PLACE : (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please) This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home. Are we, as a society, getting more stupid...? Ya think??!! More than a few of our judge's elevators don't go to the top floor either!

 

The Bush administration isn't about to let democracy or the will of the people stop them from further ruining this country before they leave office. Knowing he can't get his long list of favors to his Republican cronies through Congress, Bush is doing a last minute end-run, jamming as many rules through the executive branch as he can during his waning days in power. These so-called "midnight regulations" will allow factories to pollute more, further restrict women's access to abortion services, cut off aid to needy families in the middle of a recession, and much more -- all without Congress' oversight or approval. It's wrong, it's antidemocratic, but, sadly, it's legal.

When given the opportunity to be "naughty or nice" this holiday season, Bush has clearly opted to go down as one of the naughtiest, most sinister presidents in our nation's history. We've created a satirical spin on the famous poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, in order to show President Bush crafting his last-minute agenda for health care, the environment, civil liberties, and labor practices -- rules that will affect everyone and will be difficult for the next administration to overturn. We are using humor here in the hopes that it both commands people's attention and enables us to shine a light on these all-too-serious midnight regulations.

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B4y5sZKdI4

After you've enjoyed this video, send it to friends and family and don't forget to digg it. Let them know the harm President Bush's midnight regulations will bring. And stress the fact that there are far too many Congressional representatives who have remained silent while Bush pushes midnight regulations that will wreak havoc on the lives of their constituents and local communities. We must call the tacit approval of these representatives into question.

Keep in mind that it's not just voters in blue states who will be affected -- these midnight regulations will hurt people in the states and districts of Bush's enablers in Congress. And remember that these last-minute policies are the outcome of Congressional Republicans' loyal support for the Bush agenda over the past eight years. We should hold them accountable for the huge lump of coal Bush is handing over to the nation this Christmas.

 

This is a neat simulation software, it's an online simulation designed to work with the Vendee Globe, single handed, non stop race around the world on 60ft racing machines.  The game is designed so that the players have exactly the same weather conditions as the competitors, you get to race a boat around the world while staying dry. 
http://www.virtualregatta.com/