The MasterCard Bailout

TARP: $700 billion
Stimulus package: $787 billion
Guarantees to AIG and Citibank: $420 billion
Reserved funding for health care. $634 billion
Money set aside for more bailouts: $750 billion

Feeling that we're actually fixing something, and getting something for our money: Priceless.

Actually fixing something, and getting something for our money: Clueless.

If AIG executives don't return their bonuses and the law doesn't allow our government to force them to do so, Obama should personally announce the names of all the executives on TV and disgrace them for their cowardice, insensitivity and lack of dignity in front of the whole nation and the world.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Profit margin on display

Do you think it would be fair game to require companies to label along with the price of a product the profit margin they make out of it? I wonder how such practice would alter shopping behavior and in turn pricing of products. For example, would you consider not buying a favorite product because you thought the profit margin the company makes is too high compared to what others make even though you have no problem with the price? By the same token, would you consider buying the most expensive product in the shelf if it had the lowest profit margin thinking the company is honest in reporting the true cost of making it?

http://www.thinkaloo.com

How weird shocking and absurd can art be?

Artists make all sorts of shocking things they call art in which no one can see the purpose of it or the fun of it. I don't know what purpose this crazy thought would serve but I found it amusing when it flashed in my mind so I am sharing it here.

I imagined an artist who creates paintings that display properly only if you are looking at them upside-down. The gallery that will house them will use hanging ropes in which visitors will be tied and hang upside down. Visualize bungee jumping and you get the idea. Visitors move from one painting to the next via pulling trolleys using a remote control which they hold in their hands. Totally absurd, right?

Then I thought, not many people would be able to hang like that for long and look into paintings. So not many would do it. But the idea that something like that exists and some crazy enough people do it will shock people who will visit the art gallery refusing to be hung upside down. If the purpose of the artist would be to shock and surprise, it's certainly one way to do it.

Imagine walking in the gallery and seeing people hanging upside down looking at the paintings.

Wouldn't it feel odd, weird and shocking?

http://www.thinkaloo.com

The value of a thought

Hi everyone, I'm a new member. I enjoy reading what gets posted here but I have an observation to make. If your thoughts have values and are worth some money, does that mean that if I steal all the money from your thoughts your thoughts have no value any more? Huh? In my view, if you want to value thoughts with money, starting with this one (!) that's not such a bad idea. To think, however, that a thought has value because it has money, to me, that is absolutely aloo-dicrous idea :-)

http://www.thinkaloo.com

louis vuitton trash bags??

if you look closely at the bag, it's not the real lv logo but it looks a lot like it. it's a knockoff. what will lv sell next to survive the recession...toilet paper?? maybe the people who use it want to make a statement that their garbage is a luxury they can no longer afford so they throw it away. if you buy two packs of the trash bags, do you get lv toilet paper for free? worse, do people who use them put the trash in a normal bag first and then cover it with the lv bag so that lv doesn't get spoiled from the inside?? that seems a more appropriate, pretentious use of an expensive designer trash bag. how tacky! lol

http://www.thinkaloo.com

more efficient use of toilet paper

every time we leave the task of rolling toilet paper to manual, we use more than we need. an automatic toilet paper dispenser that locks in the amount of paper to be rolled and cut would be a good product idea for savings on the paper's use by adults and children alike. each family member inputs in memory the desired length of toilet paper that they think is right/optimal for them. the gadget should be designed and marketed for use by everyone and not be seen as an aid for disabled folks only.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

breast milk shops

this is shocking new business idea. i read breastfeeding bring health benefit to mother and child for many years (increased intelligence, reduced risk of breast cancer and more...) a business with many shops in town for lactating women who sit and offer their breast for milk feeding to adults. the milk will be more expensive than buy at supermarket and women can make money. people who did not breastfeed enough when little can breastfeed now and also drink very healthy fresh milk. it's crazy but good idea. someone must try, only need capital for shop and advertisement to recruit women on voluntary basis. why not? yo think it

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Many ways to wear a condom...

Do you let your girlfriend put it on for you? Or do you prefer to do it yourself? I personally enjoy when my girlfriend puts it on for me. I don't like it so much when she uses her hands or mouth though, I prefer that she uses her feet to do it. It's more exciting. Last night I tried a new approach. Instead of her putting it on for me, I did it. I placed the condom inside her using my finger, laid it out and then I slowly came in till the condom was firmly attached around my penis. We both enjoyed it this way. What other ways can there be? What's your experience?

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Restrain order for calling too much!

I just read an article about a mother in Austria who got a restrain order from her son for calling him on the phone too much. The son claims his mother would call him up to 49 times per day to check on him so he decided to take the case to court to get a break. And he did, the court found the mother guilty for harassment and gave her a 360 euros fine. I think it's funny. Is this reasonable? And how many times does a mother have to call to be considered a harassment? Besides it's a mother's most basic right to care for her kids, right?

http://www.thinkaloo.com

allow sex in public toilets?

like sex, a visit to the toilet requires that you unzip, undress, pull down, anyway expose private parts. like a visit to the toilet, sex is about discharge of body fluids so we call sex-in-toilet 'assisted discharge of body fluids'. that means new design for sex-allowed toilets. men and women sections are directly opposite and separate by door. in every toilet restroom there will be two doors, one to go in n out and one behind toilet seat to connect to opposite-sex section of the toilet building. if you want sex knock up the door behind toilet seat and ask 'may I assist with the discharge?' :lol)

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Good Relationship Banking

I have been doing some re-reading of a favorite book of mine "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman. In one of the chapters it talks about John Gottman, a University of Washington psychologist who has charted the emotional ecology of marriage with such precision that, in one study, he was able to predict which couples seen in his lab would divorce within 3 years with 94% accuracy!!! This is how he does it:

While the couples talk, sensors record the slightest flux in their physiology; a second-by-second analysis of their facial expressions (using the system for reading emotions developed by Paul Ekman) detects the most fleeting and subtle nuance of feeling. The result is akin to an emotional X-ray of the marriage.

What does this have to do with banking you might be thinking. Well, this is my thought.

Although it would be good for all couples to go through such emotional analysis of their relationship/marriage, we can't force people to do it. What we could do is to give every couple a financial incentive to try it.

Set up a new type of bank that grants loans to married couples on the condition that they pass John Gottman's test. If your marriage is proven to have a 94% chance to succeed and doesn't lead to a divorce, it's probably a good chance that the couple will work well with each other to solve out financial difficulties that arise in the future.

I don't mean to suggest that all married couples that stay together will fully repay their loans but the premise is that loans to couples who can stay together and solve their problems in ways that are not destructive can be more reliable.

It's just another metric to add to the decision to grant a loan if you are a bank. I admit it is an unusual practice/metric to add. But if good relationships lead to less loan delinquency and this metric is set as a condition before granting a loan, it will also bring social good in addition to more reliable profits for banks.

In the midst of the worst credit crisis and major scams such as the Madoff scandal, a lot of people talk about going back to the basics of banking, building anew relationships of trust. Investment banking used to be described as relationship banking in the not too distant past. Making loans to couples whose relationship is good can be Good Relationship Banking in the most literal sense of the term.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Why women should be with younger men

Statistically speaking, women tend to live, on average, 10 years more than men do. If the whole point of being with a man for the rest of your life is to live your whole lives together, then women should choose to be with someone who is at least 10 years younger than they are but do so no earlier than their mid-30s. That's because men in their 20s and early 30s are still boys. In many cultures the opposite takes place, men marry women much younger their age which explains why there are so many more women widowed in old age than men. I believe it's smarter to have it the other way!

http://www.thinkaloo.com

text chat comedy

i have a friend in another country whose emails always make me laugh. whenever we text chat he always finds funny ways to crack me up just typing text and smileys. currently he is out of job so we spend a lot of time talking to each other. i suggested to him to use his skill in creative writing to entertain people. place an online ad for live online comedy delivered in writing as a new form of entertainment. do you think it's a good idea? people pay to see stand-up comedy and laugh, why not consider a few laughs in writing. what's your view?


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afterlife stories

so many difference religions and so many believes about after life. Buddhists believe in reincarnation, nirvana , Christians believe there is heaven and hell. When you come to the thought that your life will end one day what do you think the after life is going to be?

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Can therapy diminish an author's urge to write?

What prompted me to this question was thinking about authors whose books are fiction and auto-psychoanalytical. The themes are always personal obsessions they have which urge them to write about them. The work is never auto-biographical. They write esoteric fiction that reads as very real. They write compulsively, locked in their private space for hours. I wonder if these authors went through therapy and talked about their obsessions whether they might lose the urge to write about them. I'm thinking that if therapy won't diminish an author's urge to write, how it might affect his choice of themes and literary style going forward.

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Braille porn restrictions

I was talking to a guy who works for the adult industry and I asked him if there are restrictions on having braille print in porn magazines positioned anywhere on the page. He didn't know but he said such restrictions are not 'visionary'. As a professional he wanted to be free to print anywhere on the page including where genitals connect or fully expose. The restrictions would take away a blind man's pleasure from finger-rubbing on body parts that arouse desire. On the other hand, who's to stop a blind man from imagining he's rubbing on top of anything he wants to anyway? But what if he's reading and finger-rubbing in public? That might be too offensive for some people. Honestly do you buy the argument that restrictions lessen 'vision' and pleasure in braille porn?

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Movie scenario

2011. The US economy is going through its Greatest Depression. People everywhere are gloomy, depressed, unhappy. The government is too embarrassed and stops reporting suicide rates. Government-provided universal health coverage in the US has been implemented and all medical records are digital. All patient-doctor communication is electronic, therapy is delivered online and patients rarely visit the doctor at his office. The government wants to do something drastic to end the Depression and decides to write a software that will inform every citizen that they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. You get informed that you have 1-2 years of healthy life in front of you before the illness takes over.

Will the government's action, however drastic, energize people to ostracize misery and gloom from their lives and turn a whole nation away from depression?

Do you think it is an interesting scenario for a movie? I imagine that the end will be that the whole nation will recover fast from the economic slump and misery but when the people realize that their diagnosis was fake they will be shocked not knowing whether to forgive or not forgive their government for lying to them.

How would you develop the story?

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The GIA Bill of Regulations

How about we name the new laws that will be drafted to regulate the financial system in the US as the GIA Bill of Regulations? GIA will be the reverse of AIG's initials. The innovation in the acronym will be its dual use and multiple i-substitutes. How you read out GIA will depend on how effective the new laws will be in containing future greed and irresponsibility. If the GIA Bill of Regulations fails to restrain gambling and irresponsible risk, people can refer to it as Grow Irresponsibly America. The adverb 'Irresponsibly' can be substituted by any such words as illegitimately, illegally, insanely, inscrutably, incomprehensibly, idiotically, inattentively, ill-advisedly etc.

On the other hand, if the bill produces a stable, well-regulated financial system, people can refer to it as Grow Intelligently America with such i-substitutes as intelligently, insightfully, ideally, indefatigably, impressively etc. The name of the agency that will supervise the laws will be called, what else, Greed Intelligence Agency.

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Philosophy vs Psychology

Philosophy tries to answer what the meaning Of life is. Psychology guides people to find meaning In life, the life they live in. I am not concerned with the fact that none of the two fields give entirely satisfactory and complete answers. I am pointing out that they look for answers in different directions. In the search FOR meaning, which of the two directions do you think is better to take? Please vote my poll below or leave your comments here.

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best paid jobs?

business owner, real estate, insurance, medical doctors, lawyers..
what else?

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Fireworks advertising

Why don't fireworks companies self-advertise by having the last or first firework form the name/logo of the company in a beautiful firework-like pattern? On the same train of thought, what do you think about politicians summarizing major policy plans using fireworks in text formations to deliver their key points in the sky? If fireworks text advertising was possible, companies would rush to sponsor fireworks celebrations in major events which means almost all events that draw good crowds will have fireworks and our nights would be more glitter-colorful. I love fireworks!

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Alien currency name brainstorm

If we could trade products and services with aliens, in what currency should the transactions be made? Can you suggest a cool name for the new currency?

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Obama's policies. The Way to Hell.

Mirek Topolanek, the prime minister of the Czech Republic and head of the EU presidency described Obama's bailouts and fiscal policies as the "Way to Hell". This is unusually harsh language that European politicians never used even when Bush was president despite the fact that negative/angry feelings were running very high back then and despite the fact that European politicians, on the whole, were completely opposed to Bush's policies in Iraq and his handling of foreign affairs. Why such language now for Obama?

Are Europeans feeling less fear to speak out their minds than before? Is it because they feel the US has declined and weakened in their eyes that emboldens them to speak up more freely?

Or is it a sign of fear and panic as the credit tsunami is expected to hit Europe's shores harder this year?

I think it's probably more a sign of European panic and fear than a feeling of relative European strength or self-confidence from perceived weakness of US power. Most of the foreign debt of the US is held by the Chinese and the Japanese, so in my mind if anyone should be excused for using such tone it should be them. Yet the language in the statements by Asian officials is measured and less emotional.

In addition, Obama's critics here in the US accuse him of trying to turn the country into some kind of European-style social democracy with his policies, those on the extreme accuse him of wanting to implant outright socialism. In view of that, it seems odd to me that Obama receives the kind of criticism he receives from Europe.

What is it exactly that the Europeans fear? Do they feel helpless to handle the crisis?

www.thinkaloo.com

How to raise money for the Olympic Games

Olympic Games cost a lot of money and often leave cities and countries in large debt. Here's an idea to raise money for them. It's based on user hanagasa's thought about fireworks advertising.

For a very small charge (few cents) send a short personal text message from the mobile phone that will appear along with your name in the fireworks of the opening/closing ceremony. Only 1 lucky message gets displayed. The lucky sender gets refunded and his message read by everyone around the world watching the games. The hundreds of millions of people whose sent messages won't appear will raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the organizers.

www.thinkaloo.com

earthquake prediction

I guess you know that there was a major earthquake here in Italy. Lot of people died. There is also this scientist saying that he had predicted the earthquake.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/06/italy.quake.prediction/index.html
I know that predicting an earthquake is almost impossible. If you knew this prediction would you evacuate your home? Do you think the goverment should have warned people based on this prediction?

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Long-range bluetooth for free talk

Many cities offer free wireless internet. What about offering long-range bluetooth coverage in the cities so people can talk for FREE on the mobile phone with their friends who are in the area?

www.thinkaloo.com

Office sex ethics...

To have a sexual affair with your boss at work is unprofessional conduct. It creates favoritism and bias. How about we make it a rule that if the boss has sex with one employee, out of fairness to everyone, he or she must have sex with all employees? All employees will have to consent to this practice in writing before joining the firm. The more sexually incompatible people are in the office, and they will be the larger and more diverse the environment is, the hardest it will be for the boss to engage in a 1-1 affair that discriminates everyone else.. :)

www.thinkaloo.com

instant date replacement

If your date doesn't show up why not meet someone whose date hasn't shown up either? An online service where people post the time and place of their planned dates and photo. Look up to see whose date in the area hasn't shown up either and text them to meet up. You can easily break the ice by talking about how annoying it is when your date doesn't show up but also how fun it's to meet someone whose date hasn't shown up either. I'd call the service Date Awol Solutions! To encourage use of the site by everyone install internet terminals in major meeting spots around the city :)

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Sextimates

When I log into Skype to talk to my girlfriend with whom we are in a long-distance relationship I see that another 12 million people are online and probably chatting or talking to each other. I read in an article yesterday that online communication has helped people maintain long-distance relationships more than in the past. So I always wonder, what percentage of the 12 million people talking for free on Skype are having phone sex? If the percentage is too high, I suggest we introduce a new verb in the English language to describe the activity: ' Phonycate'

On another note, do you think all 12 million Skype users (and probably millions more that use other software or normal phone) experience phonycation once at some point in their lives? What's your guess?

Being hypothetical in my thinking here. What if Skype added to your status the following options:

"Phonycating - Feel Free to Join", or
"Phonycating - Do Not Disturb".

How many people do you think would take advantage of the 'Feel Free to Join' option?

PS: If you vote for my poll below, be honest. I am hoping that if everyone votes honestly, I can get a pretty good sextimate about how many out of the 12 million people or so I see online on Skype phonycate. I tried to ask Skype but they gave some phony reason not to release the data, it was privacy I think...:D:D:D

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Credit stylists turn to black

Gold has turned black. VISA came out with what it calls the world's most prestigious and exclusive card and named it the 'Black Card' (https://www.blackcard.com). Maybe it's just me thinking like that, but isn't black the color of mourning? When people everywhere experience the most severe credit crunch ever, black associates with bleak. It might be 'appropriate' to name the card black but will it make people spend? Why not name it the Carbon Card after the material it's made of?

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Barry Manilow Youth Deterrent

Some areas of Sydney have had trouble with teenage gangs loitering in shopping malls after hours. To combat the problem the mall owners have been playing Barry Manilow music over their loudspeakers. This seems to have solved the problem and are keeping these loutish teenagers away in droves.

The latest trick that's come into force is installing pink lighting in these areas. It too is proving very effective at keeping these teenagers away. You know why? It highlights the zits on their faces!

Check out Barry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOFX2M1B6f4

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Fridge and juicer built-in

What you think of fridge design with juicer built-in? Very convenient idea for small kitchen, good for Japan house that is usually very small. Must also design garbage disposal system or garbage bag inside fridge to collect fruit debris.

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Love without compatibility. Is it enough?

A lot of people go through relationships where they feel genuine love for their partner but at some point they realize that they are not compatible in terms of personality. I often wonder, is love enough to keep a relationship or is being compatible more important? I think to be able to live a non-dysfunctional and happy life together, compatibility is required. On the other hand, if one is compatible with someone but doesn't feel deep love for him or her, is it enough to guarantee a happy and functional relationship? This thought always intrigues me because I'm not sure what the answer is.

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Compatibility without love. Does it work?

This is the second poll from my previous posting about 'Love without compatibility' (http://www.thinkaloo.com/ideas/view/view_idea.php?id=1442) I would like to ask here the reverse. Is compatibility without love enough to make a relationship work? If you voted in the other poll please vote in this one too. Thank you.

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Toxic Asset ruminations...

Hmmm, what shall we do with the financial so-called Toxic Assets?

a) bury them?
b) send them to space?
c) re-cycle them?
d) derive them?
e) re-rederive them?

Well!

Ok, a few hints before you make your pick

Choices d and e are sarcastic (as if the phrase Toxic Asset isn't). They were added to bring the number of multiple choices to 5, so it really comes down to a, b and c...

What do we usually do with things toxic when we also happen to view them as assets?

Obviously and despite the trillion dollar bailouts, it seems we can't afford to send them to outer space, otherwise Obama would have put NASA in charge, not Geithner.

Option b gets eliminated. So b as it may, we are left with options a and c. Now we have a real di-lemma!

If something is toxic, is it an asset or waste?

That's a tough one and goes beyond mere semantics. It depends really. If the waste is human or animal, it still is toxic but can safely and productively be recycled. Shit happens all the time, but it's good for you. Human shit goes into the ground and cow farts up the sky where they eventually get aircycled or if they can escape earth's gravity they might economically dissolve their way into outer space (can cow or any farts really escape earth's gravity??)

But seriously now, if the waste Is nuclear we don't recycle it, we insulate it and bury it as deep as we can.

So, where does that leave us in terms of our beautifully aromatic current predicament?

If it's shit, it Is an Asset because it can be Recycled. But if it's Nuclear it definitely Is Non-Recyclable Waste. So, which Is it we are dealing with here?

Before you say they are both shit anyway, ask yourself:

Even if it's shit, how much shit can we really take before it becomes detrimental to our health?

Perhaps until the coroner determines toxicity levels as cause of death, we might be better off calling them shitty assets and stick with the recycling for now.

Or, perhaps the coroners might be the first to go from too much shit in our media, so we might never find out what it was that caused Our going next!

a or c?

Pick your favorite answer but even if it's a, don't stop recycling your toxic assets.

So long as you call them assets, there will always be people willing to take your shit and pass it around!

Our media is so brilliant, isn't it??

Toxic Asset My Ass!

Perhaps, if Bush and Obama had named it TAMA instead of TARP, we might have smelled the humor and seen better results...

Perhaps!

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