Teaching Kids About Business

I think probably one of the most important things I learned when I was a child was the experience of my first lemonade stand.

Of course, we didn't have the Internet then. So, I'm very happy that the NFIB has released the Johnny Money Online Game.

It provides a great overview of the basics of running a business.

The game starts off by giving the user the opportunity to choose the type of business he or she will operate, the type of products to sell, and how much money to borrow. Once started, the user makes decisions by month, manages inventory and deals with the inevitable hassles of business interuptions and labor problems.

All in all, I thought it actually brings up more of the issues of running a real business than my lemonade stand. As I recall my stand was a "cash only" business, and I don't think I reported all that income to the IRS :-)

Basic Economics 101 for OPEC

OPEC wants you to believe that when you INCREASE competition, that prices will go UP. Ummmmm….

I have to admit I probably slept through a few of my early morning Economics classes, but even so, I know that when you INCREASE COMPETITION, you almost always LOWER PRICES.

So, in the absence of any reasonable argument to the contrary, I would assume that the reason OPEC is opposed to Ethanol and other BioFuels is because they recognize that BioFuels could one day put them out of business.

Check out the story here at www.goodfuels.org/opec.

The Real Cause of the Rise in Grain Prices

The popular story these days is that Ethanol is causing the price of grain to go up. Fellow blogger DarkPalmer has an alternative explanation in his wall-of-words article, “The Case for Ethanol”.

He points out that the cost of fuel is the biggest contributor, and that part of the solution is Ethanol.

Since it’s the 4th of July, the good folks at DrivingEthanol.org have put together a petition you can sign to help us declare our Energy Independence. You can access the petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/declare-july-4th-energy-independence-day

Kos Going Off The Deep End - Again

In today’s “Daily Kos” (www.dailykos.com), the article discusses the fact that the government is breaking the law by passing legislation that enables the president to authorize surveillance.

Now, maybe I’m missing the point, but isn’t the “law” something that is created by Congress? So if the congress passes a law allowing something, it would seem to me to be, by definition, legal.

But the interesting thing on this is the fact that the piece on the Daily Kos is entitled “Cleaning up After the Worst President in History”. Yet, it is the Democrat-controlled Congress that is considering this legislation.

Who’s cleaning up here?

The Worst Place to Get Your News

This is hands down the worst place to get your news, but probably one of the funniest destinations on the Net.

The Onion (http://www.theonion.com/) is a satirical website that takes a fresh look at the world, our politics, our media, our sports, and our entertainment. It looks at it and says, “Whatever!”

Then it just starts making shit up.

Trust me when I say it is hilarious, and you shouldn’t miss their special coverage of the U.S. Presidential Elections! http://www.theonion.com/content/whitehousewar