A bomb exploded Tuesday outside the Athens office of JPMorgan Chase, but no injuries were reported. The bombing comes as Greece has been under severe pressure due to the financial crisis. The country has been teetering under a mountain of debt and has been looking to wealthier nations for a bailout, lest all of the Europe fears a collapse. However, Germany is opposed such a bailout. According to Xinhua: "The blast occurred 30 minutes after an unidentified man made a warning call to a Greek daily newspaper, so police had time to evacuate the building. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Foreign economic targets are the main targets of attacks of terrorist groups operating in Greece for years. Terrorist attacks have been stepped up since December 2008, when a teenager was shot dead by police fire". For the Xinhua article go to http://bit.ly/aLzZRY . (Picture courtesy of Xinhua)
In the uptown action adventure, Shock Exchange Comes to Harlem, Mr. Baker has recently learned that Harlem is about to be attacked by some of the most devastating travel basketball teams in the US and maybe even Canada. They are plotting to wrest the title of "basketball mecca" from the NYC. They plan to bring weapons such as the "slam dunk" , the "sky hook", the "fade away", and the "killer crossover" . . . killer crossover?. They may even employ strategies such as the "full court press", the "give-and-go" and the "1-3-1 zone". America's Favorite Investment Ballers, brave as they are, have been summoned to defend Harlem against these interlopers.
Last year they came with charming names like Falcons, Rockets, Metrohawks, Gauchos, Skyliners, Almighty Force, The City, Leading Through Sports, Lightning, Cyclones, GOSH, Elite, and Mavericks. The battle will take place not coincidentally at Columbia University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York. For more information contact Ralph Baker at or 917-697-8168.
On Monday February 8th 2010 the ladies of LoNoLi (www.lonoli.com), Jenn Clunis, Dana Whitfield, and Dayna Gilliard had a screening of the "What about Pep" episode that included Mr. Baker. Along with A Belle in Brooklyn, they hosted their Second Annual Pre-Valentine’s Day Lock and Key event. The events took place at Japonais Restaurant at 111 E. 18th Street in Union Square and was designed to provide a unique networking opportunity for professional singles. Men were given a key and women were given a lock. Singles had to mix and mingle to find a match. The place was packed with a festive atmosphere. For some reason, about 15 women ran over to Coach Baker with a lock but he only had one key ... go figure. Overall I think the ladies outdid themselves with this one.
When we started the Shock Exchange to teach competitive basketball skills and financial literacy to local kids we had no idea that financial literacy would become all the rage. To continue his quest to educate not only kids but the public at large, Mr. Baker has decided to write a book about investing. At press time Mr. Baker had this to say: "People tend to make high finance a mystical science so I wanted to explain it in laymen's terms to the masses. And who better to do it than someone with a passion for risk-taking, an understanding of how to quantify risk, and a practical experience in investing. I see the endeavor as a combination of Southern style story-telling and investing fundamentals. I have a sketch of what I want to write but the science comes in doing the nuts and bolts research to support my arguments." Always modest, Ralph went on to say that "While I may have taught you everything you know about investing, if you want to learn everything I know then you will you will have to buy the book".
Recently Ralph was one of several men in the NYC who had the pleasure of meeting Pepa via Love No Limit Matchmaking Service (http://www.lonoli.com/). The encounter will appear on VH1's hit show "Let's Talk About Pep" and will run Monday February 8th at 10:30pm. "Let's Talk About Pep" has been the surprise hit of the season, winning rave reviews from women on the interplay between Pepa and her girlfriends. The sneak peak to the episode is below. Does Coach Baker spit game off the court as well as he does on it? Heck, one dude actually presented Pep with a magic scepter ... check out the episode Monday to see if Pep drops the scepter ... putting all of mankind at risk!
New Heights, Kimani Young get splashy . . . real wavy up in Harlem
The Waves Uptown are Huge . . . Who Knew?
Shock Exchange Comes to Harlem '09 was a banger as usual with teams from as far south as the DC/Metro area getting after it to win the Shock Exchange Cup - the most coveted award in all of sports. The tournament included the usual suspects such as Rockland Falcons, Abbo, Gauchos, and Rockland Rockets, etc. and some new faces like Metrohawks, SI Lightning, BCNY, CASW, New Heights, On Point, MSU, etc. Saturday was filled with pleasantries and introductions but on Sunday, the final day of the tournament, play intensified with several overtime games and "down to the wire" finishes. The full results are as follows:
17U: New Heights 1st Place, Gauchos 2nd Place; 16U: Metrohawks-Blue 1st Place, CASW 2nd Place; 15U: Metrohawks 1st Place, Rockland Falcons 2nd Place; 14U: Abysinnian 1st Place, Variety Boys & Girls Club 2nd Place; 13U: MSU Skyliners 1st Place, Maryland Mavericks 2nd Place; 12U: The City 1st Place, On Point Cyclones 2nd Place.
While discussing the direction of the Australian stock market, a Macquerie Bank employees is caught viewing salacious photos of Miranda Kerr on live T.V. Boy this really gives me confidence on where the "Market" is headed. Keep reading for the video.
The Internet, bloggers, sports columnists and overall basketball community have been abuzz about the gun play between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittendon chronicled by the Shock Exchange earlier (http://clicky.me/7lz). Since Arenas has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA, there has been a tremendous amount of speculation about when Crittendon was going to get his beating. In response to Arenas bringing unloaded guns into the locker room, apparently Crittendon took out his own gun, chambered a round starting singing. If that is the case, it would make Crittendon's reaction even more dangerous. The mainstream media loves to see high-profile African-Americans get their "proverbial beating" and has been egging on NBA commissioner David Stern on for weeks.
The Internet, bloggers, sports columnists and overall basketball community have been abuzz about the gun play between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittendon chronicled by the Shock Exchange earlier (
