Appearance Rules

Warm and windy today in the Ozarks.

By the way, the Branson traffic was a breeze yesterday, no problems, no delays. I didn’t get many comments on my questions about gas usage but, I did get several e-mails from people who didn’t want to leave public comments and I have talked to a lot of folks. Most people say they are driving less; some are defiantly driving as much as always. As for people that take vacations, none say they will stay home but some say they are traveling closer to home than planned.

My theory was that I think that we are driving less and that the law of supply and demand is not working or to quote my friend OutEasy “we are getting hosed”. After my little informal survey I am not convinced that we are driving that much less. At least not enough for the supply/demand law to work in our favor. It will be interesting to see how it is around these parts this weekend because; Memorial Day is always a madhouse here. For some interesting reading/viewing look at OutEasy’s well done piece “Two Bucks”.

Last week I wrote a piece about the wreck of the Merchant Royal and the company that found it, Odyssey Marine Research. One thing I talked about was that Odyssey is a publicly traded company and I think that is interesting because the treasure hunting business is pretty high risk. Anyway, the treasure so far from the Merchant Royal is estimated at 500 million dollars and the stock is soaring. So, a lot of people are wondering; Who are the investors? This is from a column by Brett Arends.

The ship, laden with gold and silver, was found at the bottom of the Atlantic by a little-known exploration company, Florida-based Odyssey Marine Research

Biggest shareholder: New York-based Fortress Investments, a private equity and hedge fund manager. Senior adviser and major investor: John Edwards.

Edwards’ personal financial disclosures show he’s an investor in the exclusive Drawbridge Global Macro Fund, which owns the 9.9% stake in OMR.

Ten percent of $500 million. After costs, of course.

John Edwards, huh, who would have thought. He’s been in the news a lot lately. This one is from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Democrat John Edwards has eloquently established his credentials as an advocate for the poor with a presidential campaign focused on the devastating effects of poverty in America. But the former North Carolina senator’s populist drive has hit a series of troubling land mines: a pair of $400 haircuts, a $500,000 paycheck from a hedge fund, and now a $55,000 payday for a speech on poverty to students at UC Davis.

It seems like they are throwing Edwards to the wolves on the basis that he is too rich to talk about poor people. At least that is the vibe. That notion, of course is rubbish, he has as much right to talk about the issue as the next guy. His bank account does not undermine his authority.

As a matter of fact, I admire Edwards for investing in Odyssey. I think that was a ballsy move and it has paid off. A $400 haircut? I have absolutely no problem with that. But, $55,000 for a speech on poverty? In principle that’s O.K. too but; it isn’t smart. Politics is a land where “appearance” rules. If something looks funny they will tear you apart. Taking the money for the speech on poor people shows incredibly bad judgment. How could Edwards have such fantastic judgment when it comes to investment and drop the ball on the speech? My guess would be that he might not have good people around him. You know people that handle things or “handlers”. I would be willing to say that it’s possible that Edwards didn’t know how much or even if he was getting paid for the speech. At the very least, I’m pretty sure that Edwards didn’t negotiate the deal himself. But you have to have the right people around you in that game.

If $55,00 for a speech on poor people gets your goat, this next one is really going to irk you. This is from the New York Post and it’s about celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan getting “appearance fees” for showing up at nightclubs.

â€œVegas has changed the way we work with celebrities in general,â€ says a club insider. â€œThe clubs there have such big budgets, they can afford to spend $250,000 on a celebrity, and they will easily make it back.

250 Grand and they will easily make it back. They’re charging too much for those drinks.

It’s a funny old world isn’t it? A rich guy gets paid to talk about poor people and debutantes (trying to be kind here but I don’t really know a tag for that batch) getting a quarter mil to show up and drink. I guess we are out of touch here in fly over country.