So assuming we trust the numbers (although they weren't audited) and ignore the problems created by the ban itself--and keep in mind that these are as of Jan 7th, before the ban was announced, they actually look reasonably solvent. They owe about L$11M to depositors, of which about half are demand deposits, and the remainder term/CD deposits that mature in 30 days or more. They can pay the short term deposits off with about $L5M in cash deposits and equivalents and other securities. In the long term, things are a little rougher, because the software platform is not something they can sell (as long as they remain a going concern), and they have not taken an allowance for credit risks. But overall, this doesn't seem terribly shaky to me. Of course, keep in mind that these are not audited financial statements, so we only have BCXs word that they have these assets.

Sure, there are debt settlement law firms out there, and some of them are very good at what they do. However, some of these firms charge 25% or more of the enrolled debt. Many, if not most, consumers simply can’t afford to pay fees of this magnitude. Also, being an attorney in one state does not offer any special protection to a consumer in another state where that attorney is not licensed. It’s simply not necessary to hire an attorney to settle your debts. Most consumers can handle it on their own with a little training and coaching. Given Ben's continued rantings about exhorbitant interest rates, I shall post an article I found in my local real life newspaper, to show that the rates charged on these very short term, high risk loans are reasonable.

Concord (AP) - New Hampshire's House has approved a 36% cap on payday loans which will force payday loan companies out of the state if the Senate and Governor agree. New hampshire and Rhode island are the only new England states whos laws make payday loans profitable. New Hampshire has no limit on payday interest rates. Rhode Island caps the finance charge at $15 per $100 two-week loan. That works out to a 391 percent annual interest rate. Ken Compton, CEO of Advance America, said the company would continue to work with lawmakers to craft reasonable regulations, but if a 36% interest cap is enacted, the company will close in New Hampshire.

Generally banks determined debt financing as a function of bonds, which invokes "bond math", which is not in evidence in these scheme anywhere. The above "in order" financial statements are not in the form of a bank's financials. They look like what I'd expect to see from a local video rental store or lumber yard. Banks have a whole different set of accounting issues. I can't tell the sources of credit risk, productive assets, or leverage. There's also no cash flow statement (which I know is derived, but still forces a categorization on the part of the reporter which would be very telling in this case).

The sub prime meltdown has led hundreds of companies to change their investment strategies, while multiple lawsuits are threatening the industry causing what are sure to be sweeping changes to the regulatory landscape. Are very informational and provide business professionals with the solutions to arising problems as a result of the Sub prime crisis. Was wondering if any of you are part of any free dating sites? Ive been researching and looking around for all the best free dating sites to join. A lot of free dating sites are free, but you need to verify your age with your credit card which a lot of people aren't comfortable with. Ive found a site that lists all the free dating sites where you don’t need credit card at all. Just simply your name.

For all my frustrations with the riding-on-the-rails aspects of Bioshock's gameplay, I'll give it this much: I was emotionally engaged by the conflict with the first "boss" of the game, Andrew Ryan, but also had a strong emotional reaction to the revelation that both my character and myself had been manipulated by "Atlas", the seemingly sympathetic ally who helped the protagonist get to Ryan and kill him. Of course, the ride-the-rails aspect of the game structure means that you never had a choice but to neither follow Atlas’ promptings, nor do you have any choice but to seek revenge against him, if you want progression through the gameworld. Nevertheless, at certain points in the first half of the game, I genuinely wanted to kill Ryan, a structure of feeling I experienced as within rather than outside of the fiction of the game.

The nature of a given boss battle and the visual look of a boss can give virtual world players some sense of emotional narrative. Exceptionally pesky or challenging bosses are a special pleasure to defeat. There are some curious undercurrents to a few repeated conflicts because of the look or feel of a boss. I'm always a bit struck when my current WoW guild, with a fairly large number of academics as members, celebrates downing the Maiden of Virtue in Karazhan by saying things like "The bitch is down" and so on. (Not criticizing: I trash-talked that bitch myself before we put her on farm status, and I still think she's a bitch for withholding the drop that the guild is still coveting.)

By now, most virtual world players are familiar with the typology of the typical quest lines, just as we know what bosses great and minor are likely to be and to do. The kill quest. The Fed Ex quest. (My young daughter asked me while playing Toontown a few weeks back: 'Why don't these shopkeepers ever leave and do some of this stuff for themselves'?) The drop quest. The escort quest. Our familiarity is part of what precludes most of us from emotional connection even when the text of a quest is especially well written. Just throw players a slight wrinkle in an ordinary level-up quest and watch the general chat blossom with "Where is Mankrik's wife?" or on the Hellfire Peninsula, "Where is the assassin?"

When smart bloggers with smart readers ask smart questions, interesting conversations frequently ensue. Such is the case with Timothy Burke's essay Foozles I Have Known, Quests I Have Done which appears on virtual world’s blog Terra Nova. I admit that I've gotten some satisfaction after killing a Son of Arugal or the Fel Reaver, but making something truly hated or loved is hard to do. Xanathos Gambits a'la Final Fantasy VII (or WotLK) go a long way, but it's not enough.

This holds true, of course, for bad fiction, as well. If the only difference in behavior between the Black Hats and the White Hats is that White defends White territory, kills Black characters, etc., and then Black does the same unto White... that's no real, dramatic narrative; it's just death sport w/ teams. In many MMOs, there's no real reward contrast for even minor behavioral differences. In most good fiction, however, the rewards that "good guys" hold up as important are often hugely different than that which the "bad guys" seek; saving innocent lives vs. willingness to spend them indiscriminately; personal honor even in the face of set-backs; self-sacrifice vs. egotism. All that neat stuff that makes you cheers the hero and hisses the villain. Seems to me, you could have quests that depend on a player's alignment (to use a D&D term).