Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Republicans everywhere are cringing as they find out Al Gore now has a Nobel Peace Prize. That's pretty much the ultimate "I told you so". It's pretty hard to continue saying that Global Warming isn't real when Gore slaps you in the face with a Nobel Peace Prize.

How's that for an inconvenient truth?

What? Too easy of a pun? I just wanted to say it before everyone else.

Being green and environmentally friendly has already been a big trend in industry this year. You can bet that it will only get bigger from here. Those who have already started are way in the lead, those who aren't or don't choose to be will probably start seeing a good deal of legislation being passed to make them do it.

Invest in green companies, especially those that make green products for other companies, it's time for them to cash in.

Let's take a look at airports again.

I sat in a JetBlue airplane for 5 hours. We were in line for take off, but the pilot didn't know it what position and when we would go. After 3 hours of that, he got it confirmed that he should head back to the terminal. The taxi people didn't get to our plane for another hour, and for some reason, we couldn't connect back to the terminal we came from, so they had to send buses to drive us back. The buses apparently couldn't get to us.

And all this was nobody's fault because it was thunderstorming outside. Five hours of my life wasted because somebody somewhere decided that if people are on the plane, at least at some point they'll be able to take off. I guess that's how you make money in the rain. Shove and pray.

I had this conversation recently with someone about how airlines are privately owned but the airport itself is controlled by the government. It seems hard to be competitive when you can only do so much before some regulation prevents you from going further. Add on the fact that airlines are just price cutting each other until they all operate with no profit, and what do you get? Today's airlines.

JetBlue does a fantastic job of being competitive in this world anyway. No first class, because everyone is made to feel like they are first class. Why not? JetBlue's airfare is about twice as much as their competitors. Sure, they seat a few less people because they actually want their passengers to be comfortable, and sure, they can't gouge money from first class and business class travelers, but when every ticket costs the price of business class, you're bound to make out pretty decently.

Now if only we could get JetBlue a private airport. How many people would pay some JetBlue membership fee if they could skip security checks and waiting on the runway for 5 hours? I would.

Kiva: Prosper for people who want to go to Heaven.

When I posted my entry on Prosper and wrote that I felt like I was helping others get their lives back on track because I was willing to loan money to people with poor credit, my friends called me a gouger. I didn't think that loaning money to people at 25% interest was a malicious act. I mean, these people were consolidating their 7 credit payments that were at 35%-200% interest into a more stable payment plan.
I dismissed my friends accusations because I felt like I was helping others and helping myself at the same time.

Well, I don't feel that way anymore. Along comes Kiva.org, which has the same set up as Prosper, except they loan money to entrepreneurs in developing worlds at 0% interest. You don't make any money, but you don't lose it either. And you help people in a worse position than you make their lives better.

Maybe I'll lend out all the interest I make on Prosper on Kiva to make myself feel less guilty.