Seems that Tony Soprano is alive and kicking, at least in spirit.

I always though that Tony Soprano died on the last episode of "The Sopranos"... that last tune that we don't hear and it all goes dark. According to my interpretation, the man is gone... but seems to me that the spirit of the mafia boss is alive and kicking more than ever in this great country of America!

Michael Franzese was a Captain in the Colombo Crime Family, and today is a speaker. I though this was a very interesting reading.

Former Mafia Kingpin: Congress Just Like Us

by Michael Franzese

The House of Representatives passed a bill last week taxing the bonuses that were paid out to a number of AIG executives at 90 percent. I heard a congresswoman from New York say that congress was "acting in record time" to protect the major shareholders of the company, the American people, against the unbridled greed of the AIG executives.

After all, the government should be calling the shots now. It’s what I would have done when I was on the streets.

Twenty years ago, I would have applauded the government’s move to control the AIG bigwigs. When I was doing business for the Colombo Crime Family, I would often "bail out" a failing company. When the boss had nowhere to go, when no legit lender would lend him a dime, or when his suppliers were threatening to throw him into bankruptcy, he came to me. Mob guys looked for business opportunities like this every day. Great way for us to own a business.

Once the owner took my money, or used my name, I owned him. He wasn’t about to get a pay hike when he owed me money. He wasn’t buying a new car or taking any paid vacations either. I didn’t care how hard he worked. And if he didn’t toe the line, I would throw him out and take the company over.

From what I’m hearing, the government knew about the bonuses some time ago. Some of them even approved of the payouts. Some of them even got campaign contributions from the AIG exec’s. So the tax thing was a good cover up. Good work, guys! It’s a move right out of Machiavelli’s play book.

You know Machiavelli? He’s the Mafia’s champion. As a former capo regime of La Cosa Nostra’s Colombo Crime family, I am very familiar with Machiavelli. For almost 20 years, I lived and conducted business under his philosophy.

“A Prince must have a mind disposed to turn itself about as the winds, able to do good when he can and evil when he must,” Machiavelli wrote. “Still, even though on the inside he is able to scheme, he should appear to him who sees and hears him altogether merciful, faithful, humane, upright and religious.”

Sound familiar?

In his sixteenth century treatise entitled, "The Prince," Niccolo Machiavelli wrote those words advising his prince of the "virtues" he must exercise in ruling his kingdom. Seems like convicted money manager Bernard Madoff and some of the CEOs of AIG, Lehman Brothers, Countrywide Mortgage, Enron and a few dozen more of America’s corporate honchos … and now, the government itself has taken Machiavelli's advice to heart in the operation of their respective enterprises.

I would not be surprised to find a copy of "The Prince" on the desks of more than a few of Washington's elite. Would you? Their misguided and in some cases illicit leadership contributed significantly to the financial meltdown of the United States economy, the magnitude of which has not been seen for decades. If you think they will get off scot free, FUGGEDABOUTIT!

At the height of my operation, I was bringing $8 - $10 million a week into the Colombo Family coffers from business interests I had in the gasoline, entertainment, auto and gambling industries. Although I enjoyed success for a time, Machiavelli’s business philosophy eventually brought me three racketeering indictments, $15 million in fines and restitutions, untold legal fees and a 10-year federal prison sentence.

Mob guys ought to be worried. First the government took a tip from them and realized there was big money in gambling. Now the government is taking control of businesses the same way. And they don’t even have to worry about the racketeering indictments they slammed me and my former associates with for doing the same thing. They called it extortion when the mob did it. Seems like I left the life just in time. Too much competition!

Michael Franzese was once one of the biggest mob money earners since Al Capone - and the youngest individual on Fortune Magazine's “50 Biggest Mafia Bosses.” Michael’s new book, “I’ll Make You an Offer You Can’t Refuse – Insider Business Tips from a Former Mob Boss” will be released on March 31. Go Here to pre-order.

Source.

I can also dedicate a song to Hugo Chavez in regards of this topic...

Ah ja!

A Feline problem: Paralelism in the speech of Obama and Chavez

Please wach this video first.

And, bear with me on this one. I have been very vocal for the reasons I don't like Obama. Since the beginning when Obama came to public light I saw a type of Manchurian candidate sponsored by the left that reminded me pretty much, despite the differences, to madman numero uno of Venezuela, the one and only Hugo Chavez. I might be wrong comparing Obama to Chavez, and I hope I am. OK, enough with the conspiracy theory.

And, this is the reality.

Even though I don't like Obama, I personally saw it was a good thing that he won since it was gonna be a transition from 8 years of not the best Republican government (and not a conservative government at all), and this Obama new government representes in the eyes of many, a new, fresh and reformed way to do politics so that's good. Also, it was gonna be good news for Venezuela since Venezuelans like Obama and since it's much harder for a leftist to go against another leftist, Chavez would have to let go the stupid anti Yankee speech that maintains him in office and he wouldn't have other choice than to get to work and assume the responsibility of the mess that he is doing in Venezuela.

Obviously, such great news that Obama won also had to be reflected somehow in the financial markets. As you know, the financial markets need good news. That amount of Obama voters who were happy that his leader won, would be putting money in the market, investing, buying, lending and borrowing money, etc... and helping out a little bit to get out of this recession. BUT the good news haven't been reflected in the markets or the economy yet. It's pretty obvious to me ONE of the MANY VARIOUS reasons why. The Obama administration speech haven't been the best in terms of adding that much needed CONFIDENCE to the market.

I have listened some things from this Obama administration that really are not that great,

1) The president telling his fellows Americans that they shouldn't listen to some radio talk show host (Rush Limbaught). Nothing new in Venezuela since Chavez took over that he loves to repress the media. Question is, since when it's the duty of a president elected democratically to tell their countrymen who they should or shouldn't listen to?

2) Again the administration attacking the media, this time Jim Cramer, the tv host show whose video I posted in the beginning, who is a democrat btw. The attack was generated because he has been very critical about this administration policies not helping the financial markets. He also has been very vocal about his dislike for the new treasury secretary Tim Geithner for his invisibility since he was appointed and for letting Lehman go when he was the Fed NY president. If they would have helped Lehman, last September maybe wouldn't have been as tragic as it was . Since I like conspiracy theories I think maybe the man wanted the crisis to be the worst so it could help Obama with the electoral ballots. And, it worked. Hey, he even became the Treasury Secretary .

Here's what Robert Gibbs said that made me really mad:

"(...) no offense to my good friends or friend at CNBC," Gibbs said, "but the President has to look out for the broader economy and for the broader population."

Why it made me really mad? Because I have heard that so many times coming from the mouth of the Chavistas... like what does he mean with "broader" population? Doesn't he know that the majority of American and the country itself rely heavily on the stock market? How are they gonna create jobs if banks and business dissapear?

That's why the market show no confidence at this moment, because that speech coming from the White House DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.

Tim Geithner also said something similar that got my attention -since it had the "Chavista" touch in it- when he was interviewed by the Congress with Ben Bernanke this Monday. He said something like that it's not in their interest (the Gov) to help the banks but the people. Hello? You make the bank that lends me money and offers me financial services go away and you are not helping me too much.

To me, it seem that they really are taking cues of Hugo Chavez. That's not the way you add confidence and attract Capital, comrade Obama.

3) How long until this might happen? The perfect recipe to scare investment and destroy any confidence left, to expropiate. (thanks to Daniel and Juan Cristobal for their posts).

Even though those two might be very different, and Mr. Chavez wants President Obama to be his new arch enemy -Bush is resting comfortably in his home in Dallas- one cannot but compare them in the way their governments are talking to the people. The difference is, that Americans are not Venezuelans, and a much bigger majority of Americans rely on the financial markets as a source of income, investment and nesting egg, including the majority of seniors of this country.

I don't know where they want to go with this populistic anti-business speech, but it's not good news. Do they want to follow the road of Venezuela's impoverishment?

Thank you Bruce Willis and Ben Aflect for saving the planet!

Who cares if Fidel is dead or not, or if Jim Cramer says that Obama is a Leninist guilty of the greatest wealth destruction he has ever seen by any president, we almost cook today. Well, I am exaggerating a little bit, it was gonna be something like a small nuclear explosion so it would have been bad for the people around the explosion. I am glad we got to know after it was over. Imagine if they tell us before. Bad news is that it can happen anytime, and depending on the size of it it can mean a total mess... Like I don't have anything else to worry about. I don't need this type of information lurking in my brain right now.

Thank you, God =D

This YouTube video shows the asteroid's path.

By Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondent

Although Harvard University astronomer Timothy Spahr spends his life tracking asteroids and minor planets, it's rare when he gets the chance to see one up close.

On Friday night, Spahr received word that an asteroid was headed our way. Though it received little publicity, the asteroid passed by Earth early Monday. At its closest, the asteroid, named 2009 DD45, came within 45,000 miles of Earth, which is around twice as high as some satellite orbits and about one-fifth of the distance between the moon and Earth.

The cosmic object, which was estimated to be 20 yards to 30 yards across, came closest to Earth near the equator somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.

It was about the same size as the one that burned up over Siberia in 1908, leveling nearly 800 square miles of forest in the infamous "Tunguska Event" event.

"It's pretty unusual to see one this close," said Spahr, director of the minor-planet center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. "If an object of this size were to impact the Earth, it would be equivalent to a small nuclear explosion."

Brian Marden, a senior astronomer at the center, said that many such objects pass this close but go unobserved.

"No one is watching the whole sky all the time," Marden said.

He said that light and celestial objects like the moon can affect astronomers' visibility. "If the moon is full, no one is watching," Marden said.

In October 2008, astronomers for the first time tracked an asteroid from space to its impact, when it burned up over Sudan, a mere six hours after it had been discovered.

Spahr said that while asteroids the size of DD45 would pose a catastrophic risk for the planet, they are not the ones that concern him the most.

"Now if an asteroid that was, say, a kilometer across were to strike the earth, that could result in mass extinction," Spahr said. Fortunately for humanity, such asteroids are usually visible several years in advance.

Of the known asteroids, the next time one of such size will come in such close proximity to Earth is in 2029, when the asteroid known as 99942 Apophis, an 885-square-foot space rock, is expected to come within 20,000 miles of the planet.

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.

Source.