Maria Gabriela Perez, the prominent Beverly hills skin artist that boasts a long list of super celebrity clients that reads like the who’s who of the entertainment world was busted for making unauthorized credit card transaction on many of her “A” list celebrity clients.

Apparently she was doing this for some time till her luck ran out. Maria Gabriela Perez is said to have racked up fake credit card charges to the tune of 200,000 dollars. Credit card scams are quite common in this world but coming across someone that was doing this to famous celebrities is rare and considering that she had a great business going on and was doing well it begs the question “What was she thinking?”

Among the many clients that were fraudulently charged were Jennifer Aniston, Liv Tyler and Melanie Griffith.  Jennifer Aniston was quoted to have said that the whole credit card thing was “not cool”.

Maria Gabriela Perez is now cooling her heels in prison and is facing potentially a long term in jail, a maximum of 25 years according to the authorities

Embattled Dr Laura found support albeit a surprising one from former governor Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin tweeted that she would like to see Dr. Laura fight rather than give up. Dr Laura recently quit her talk show on radio after the huge outcry over her comments on the air with a caller and what is know being called the infamous Dr. Laura N-Word Rant.

It is surprising to hear Sarah Palin coming out in support of Dr. Laura Schlessinger especially considering that Dr Laura was especially scathing in her remarks regarding Sarah Palin candidature for the vice presidency during the previous elections. Dr. Laura is said to have expressed deep disappointment with Sarah Palin as a role model and questioned her motives when she came back to the Governor’s office after 5 days of delivery her fifth child and particularly when the child was diagnosed with downs syndrome.

Sarah Palin’s argument is that an individual’s first amendment right and right to free speech takes precedence and is firmly behind Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Dr. Laura Schlessinger earlier this week resigned from her radio talk show after she used the N-word eleven times live on her radio talk show with a caller.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger would have never imagined that the call that she took on her radio show would become such a defining point in her career. Since Aug 10th, the call in which Dr. Laura Schlessinger used the N-word several times to make a point to the women caller has created deep divisions among the American public with accusations of racism flying all over the place.

What is funny is that in a day and age when Americans just voted in the first black president we still are harboring deep divisions based on color. Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s career seemed to be on a free fall since the events of Aug 10th though she is adamant that she is not being forced to quit her radio talk show.

Maybe what is needed at this point is to step back and look at the call with an open mind. From the transcripts of call, it seems like Dr. Laura Schlessinger was trying to drive home the point that the N-word was used openly and freely on popular black comedy shows and when people/actors of the colored community use the N-word it is fine and is actually considered cute but when a white or to be politically correct Caucasian person uses the same word in the very same context then it is considered racist and is frowned upon.

While Dr. Laura Schlessinger could have used a little restraint and composure in trying to get her point across, it opens up an interesting debate about whether we Americans perceive this to be true. It is all fine to point fingers and lay the blame based on third party account of events but deep down if you are involved with a similar altercation or situation you know the context and if you are racist or not. Unfortunately not many people do a deep dive into emotions and therefore we rush to join the outcry when a situation like the one with Dr. Laura Schlessinger becomes a public outcry.

One of my favorite companies in terms of return that it has got me thus far, ORIX Corporation, NYSE: IX is trading up almost 27% today on clear indications of short covering. Orix Corporation, headquartered in Japan, has operations all over the world including the United States is mainly into leasing, corporate finance, real estate finance and development, life insurance and retail banking.

Orix USA, is Orix Corporation’s subsidiary in the United States and heading its operation in the US is Jim Thompson, ORIX CEO. Jim Thompson has been with ORIX USA since 1991 and has been in charge of the US operations since 2004. Some of the main services that ORIX USA offers are direct corporate lending, investment in capital markets, merger, valuation, acquisition and restructuring advice. Orix USA main focus is its corporate finance activites as Jim Thompson Orix CEO mentioned in a press release a while back when ORIX USA was looking to sell its commercial mortgage business in the US.

Orix Corporation is expected to announce its earning announcement later today, 2:30 pm to be exact and I for one would be eagerly waiting to read it.

People losing jobs by the thousands, companies going belly up, working that second job to save, unemployment benefits hitting an all time high, companies using a wide range of tactics to simply survive the current economic climate. These measures are in some cases forced down their throats as in the case of the Auto industry and in other instances are attempts by the management to put into effect measures to ride out the worst financial crisis in the history of our times. The signals are so mixed at the moment that it is very unlikely the turn of events over the past year leading to the current economic crisis change significantly enough to warrant some increased optimism of the future, at least the short term future.

The banking sector, the largest recipient of President Obama’s bailout package is currently showing signs of bottoming out and analysts claim that the worst is over where as the auto industry is slowly flirting with bankruptcy. First it was Chrysler and now there is talk about GM following Chrysler into bankruptcy.

For pure play financial companies it is pretty slim pickings at the moment. While some are doing reasonably well, they are still aggressively looking at ways to reduce costs, get more clients and do all they can to sustain and overcome this lean period. Financial companies that are fundamentally strong have nothing to worry about says Jim Thompson ORIX CEO and President. Nothing could be more closer to the truth than that.

The internet has changed if not revolutionized the approach one has to market products and services to the paying public. Nowhere can you find an ever growing stream of customers that are increasingly becoming more and more comfortable in making purchases online.

The internet brings with it many conveniences, you save time, you save money in most cases and the fact of the matter is it is bloody convenient. While there are many factors that lead to increased buying and spending online, the challenge the sellers face is getting their products out there in the presence of a potential customer so that a sale can be made.

Search engine marketing and search engine optimizations are vocations that simply did not exist 10 years back. Now with the tremendous influence the search engines have over an online user, these vocations have becoming the corner stone of any marketing strategy.

Branding is another equally important aspect that has gained importance in the online world. Branding is no longer country or location specific activity. With internet spreading far and wide and with potential users and customers accessing a company’s services from across continents, Branding is an exercise that must be carefully undertaken and planned to give your company or business a chance. Companies have realized this and are coming out unique branding exercises pushing the envelope all the time. Let me give you an example, Busby Web Solutions is a web design, search engine optimization provider that recently came out with a SEO challenge. This contest has gained wide spread attention and Busby is benefiting from all the chatter on the internet among the various participants of the seo contest. You can read more about the busby seo challenge and the related rules by following the link.

Busby stands to gain tremendous brand visibility among it’s target demographic and can look back at the challenge as a well executed branding strategy.

More and more companies are being innovative because they realize that being recognized as a leader or a player in a particular niche is very important is you are to succeed online. The internet and the many changes it has bought into our lives is mind blowing. It is good to see companies reacting quickly to keep and gain market share.

The latest victims in the gas crisis sweeping across the United States are none other that the Gas Station owners. Yes, you heard right, the gas station owners do not benefit from the rising fuel prices, they like you and me bear the brunt of the economy going sour by the day.

With gas prices at an all time high, people all over are in saving mode. People drive far less than before and many are now turning to public transportation to meet their daily transport needs. For the Gas Station owner this trend is becoming a serious concern. With fewer people purchasing gas, the margins are beginning to dry up. The cost of filling the underground tank is close to $4000 dollars. The return on that investment has now shrunk to about a $100 dollars. No wonder then that many gas station owners are shutting shop or simply refusing to fill up their tanks.

Pretty soon we will see many of the gas stations either shutting down completely or going belly up. If relief does not come soon we are looking at a gloomy future. Till then lets hope and pray we get over this fuel crisis.

Tim Russert, NBC News Host died today of a massive heart attack. Tim Russert, the host and moderator of “Meet the Press” collapsed at work this afternoon at the NBC news bureau at Washington D.C

Tim Russert was 58 years old and his survived by his wife, son and father. Tributes have already started pouring in. The President George Bush has already released a statement calling Tim Russert a hard working and a great journalist. Republican nominee John McCain has just released a statement moments ago and one from Barack Obama is also expected anytime.

Tim Russert a true Buffalo man was an ardent sports fan and a great father. A hard working journalist, Tim would always make sure he was there for his son’s sporting events and always made a point to be a good father above all.

A lesser known fact is that Tim Russert has also written a New York Best Seller novel named “Big Russ and Me”, an autobiography of sorts based on his relationship with his father. He followed it with another best seller.

A great journalist and more importantly a great person cut short in his prime. All our condolences and well wishes go out to his family who are in mourning as we all are.

The latest buzzword amongst all the weathermen and weather channels is “Omega Block“. With the weather causing extreme havoc in the mid west especially Iowa, many are starting to point to the Omega Block effect as the cause of this extreme conditions that we are witnessing at the moment.

What is Omega Block?

When air over the Southwest United States is forced into the north extending into Canada and immediately forced back down south, we have a pattern forming that is very similar in appearance to the Greek symbol “Omega” and you have a wind pattern christened the Omega Effect.

As pictures of devastation streams through various T.V channels we are reminded of the fact that while the United States might be the most technological advanced country in the world, come high weather and water we find ourselves neck deep in trouble. From the looks of it the current havoc is taking on epic proportions and stands only behind hurricane Katrina in terms of loss of lives and property.

Four boys lost their lives late last night when a tornado struck their boy scouts camp in Ohio. The children were aged between 13 and 14 yrs and were part of a larger group of 80 off boy scouts. The tornado hit the boy scout camp in Little Sioux, Ohio with very little warning. As reports started to come in the injured toll has been steadily rising and stand at 40.

The four boys who lost their lives have been identified as Josh Fennen, Sam Thomsen, Aaron Eilerts and Ben Petrzika. My heart goes out to the parents and friends and hope that they are able to make it through this difficult time.

This tragedy is one of the many heart breaking stories from the severe weather that is savaging the entire mid west. Extreme weather in the mid west area has literally bought life to a stand still. The rains and the floods have completely changed the landscape with very little left standing. People have lost lives, houses, crop, business and entire livelihoods.

Hopefully we should be seeing a gradual subsiding of the storms and life can then begin to trickle back to normal.