American Iconic Landmarks On the Auction Block

As the U.S. dollar weakens, American commodities are cheaper to buy. This is good for American exporters but not so good for the American importers. In view of the shrinking dollar, many U.S. critical assets are being purchased by other countries. For example, yesterday we posted about the potential sale of Anheuser-Busch Inc. to Belgian brewer InBev for $52 billion.

It was also recently in the news, that an Arab investment group is bidding for the the iconic landmark, the Chrysler Building, which could become the latest New York icon snapped up by oil-rich foreigners. The cash-happy Abu Dhabi Investment Council is in talks to buy a 75 per cent stake in the Art Deco treasure for some $800 million.

Just last month, the GM Building and three other properties were sold for nearly $4 billion to a group of investors, including the wealth funds of Kuwait and Qater and Boston Properties.

Below are some other American icons and their current owners:

• Citgo – Venezuela
• Good Humor – British/Dutch (Unilever)
• Ben and Jerry’s – British/Dutch (Unilever)
• French’s Mustard – British
• Frigidaire – Sweden
• Caribou Coffee – Bahrain
• Church’s Chicken – Bahrain
• Trader Joes – German
• 7-Eleven – Japan
• Holiday Inn – British
• Dial Soap – Germany
• T-Mobile – Germany
• Firestone – Japan
• Sunglass Hut – Italy
• Tollhouse Cookies – Switzerland
• Indiana Toll Road – Spain/Australia
• Chicago Skyway – Spain/Australia

Now the trend is selling American real-estate (major buildings in large cities) which are being purchased by foreign capitalists with deep pockets.

Something similar is happening in Panama, We have also sold much of our largest assets to foreign investors (e.g., toll roads, banks, cement factories, breweries, dams, electric companies, telephone companies, hotels, etc.). Soon we will only have the Panama Canal to sell to the highest bidder.

Source: America For Sale ???

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Tags: Inventment, American Icons, Panama, Real Estate, Weak Dollar

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Joke: The Beautiful Sound of the Monastery

A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, “My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?”

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound; a sound so beautiful like no other that he has ever heard. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.”

The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his way. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery.

The monks again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car.

That night, he hears the same strange mesmerizing sound that he had heard years earlier.

The next morning, he asks what the sound was, but the monks reply, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.”

The man says, “All right, all right. I’m dying to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was, is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?”

The monks reply, “You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk.”

The man sets about his counting task. Some forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, “I have traveled the earth and devoted my life to the task demanded and have found what you had asked for. There are 371,145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth.”

The monks reply, “Congratulations, you are correct and now you are a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound.”

The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, “The sound is behind that door.”

The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He asks, “May I have the key?”

The monks give him the key, and he opens the door.

Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man requests the key to the stone door.

The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. And so it went until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst.

Finally, the monks say, “This is the key to the last door!”

The man is relieved to no end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is astonished to find the source of that strange sound. It is truly an amazing and unbelievable sight!

But I can’t tell you what it is because you’re not a monk.  So start counting your blades of grass and your sand pebbles.   Adieu!

Source:  Bits & Pieces

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Tags: Joke, Humor, Monastery, Beautiful Sound, Mystery

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