Love The World You Find – Patrick Riley’s Blog

Social Media + Politics + Faith + Finance + Business

SOCIAL MEDIA: The White House has officially decided to join the social media world. Although the Obama campaign was extremely gifted at spreading its message via social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube, it has been quite a challenge for the leader of the free world to have his own Facebook and Twitter accounts since entering office. Last week, the White House announced that President Obama would now have his own Facebook page, Twitter account and MySpace site. If you are like me, I can’t wait to see how President Obama talks about his budget in 140 characters or less.  Biz Journal- Obama’s White House and Social Media 

POLITICS: Oklahoma is almost a sovereign state! Since the beginning of its statehood 101 years ago, Oklahoma has taken too many orders from the federal government and is tired of the federal government’s increasing size. To fix the problem, the Oklahoma state government has made a proposal to be sovereign. Neither Oklahoma’s Democratic governor nor sole Democratic congressman (Dan Boren) supports this measure, but it may be endorsed by the state’s Republican majority and sent to the U.S. congress and President for final vote and approval. The big question (actually not so big) is whether this will pass in the House and Senate.   News OK- Oklahoma Becoming Sovereign

FINANCE: Women are better investors. A recent study showed that women who invest have returns a percentage point higher than their male counterparts. When you are investing a million dollars a year that is a difference of $10,000 a year! The reason for this is that when women are faced with a tough situation, they usually feel the emotion of fear instead of anger (which is typically felt by males). This causes women to stray from making rash, emotional decisions based on the market’s swings. Main point: Have your wife, girlfriend or mom at the table when you lay out your investment strategy.  WSJ- Women Are Better Investors

BUSINESS: Starbucks and McDonalds are in an all out war. This past week, both companies launched expensive and highly visible campaigns to tout their drinks as being the most superior and cost-effective coffee choice for caffeine addicts. McDonalds, with its $2.29 12-ounce cup of espresso-based coffee, has made ads showing consumers how its drinks can brighten — or “McCafé” — their day. On the other hand, Starbucks promises in its ads that “If your coffee isn’t perfect, we’ll make it over,” and “If it’s still not perfect make sure you’re in a Starbucks.”  But what are you supposed to do if you can’t afford to “McCafé” your day and think that Starbucks coffee tastes horrible?  Chicago Tribune- Coffee Wars

PERSONAL: My sister graduated from James Madison University this past weekend and leaves the school with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology. In the next few weeks, she’ll be heading to Los Angeles for a job at one of the large movie production companies. Congrats to Chrissy Riley!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We are what we are. We’re Republicans, and we have certain things we believe in,” Dick Cheney said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”