Monday thoughts (some in italic)

I can understand being too lazy to read a necessarily large and thorough health care reform bill, or to dim-witted to understand summaries of it. But for opponents of the effort to carry signs reading “NO to health care” — I hope their own personal physicians don’t take them literally.

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The sign at the Arby’s drive-thru reads “We gladly accept bills up to $20.” I believe they’ll also accept larger bills, but won’t be able to use quite as positive an adverb about it. My research reveals that they’ll reluctantly accept fifties, wistfully accept hundreds, skeptically accept two-hundred-dollar bills (good thing, since that denomination doesn’t exist), hypothetically accept $500 bills, impishly accept thousands and ironically accept the rare $5,000 bill. That’s what I like: a multinational corporation with attitude.

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“KSM” is both the federal government’s shorthand name for terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the name of a power pop all-girl teen rock group from Los Angeles. See if you can tell the difference between the Man …

and the Band…

Lead singer is Shelby Cobra (The Man or The Band?)

Principal architect of the 9/11 attacks (The Man or The Band?)

Waterboarded over 70 times (The Man or The Band?) Remember: answer what actually happened, not what should’ve happened.

Mentored by the Go-Gos (The Man or The Band?)

Opening act for American Idol winner David Archuletta (The Man or The Band?)

Involved in the Bali nightclub bombings (The Man or The Band?) Careful — could be a trick question.

Pleaded guilty to mass murder (The Man or The Band?)

Described by critics as “spunky” and leading examples of “girl-ska-punk”. (The Man or The Band?)

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I always feel that if I’d been just a little gentler flipping the on-switch that the light bulb on the lamp would not have burned out. Is it possible to feel too responsible for your actions in life?

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Fun phrases and their possible definitions from the world of corporate news releases:

“Expansion of our footprint” — We’re starting to put on a little weight.

“We leverage multi-shore outsourcing expertise” — We own see-saws and other playground equipment at beaches around the world.

“We employ a suite of internet-based capabilities” — We have a whole room-full of workers shopping on eBay.

“As an integrated provider of solutions, we drive innovation” — We use both African-American and Caucasian employees to blend dangerous chemicals. Many of them own hybrid cars.

“Customer-facing applications” — We’ve learned to look at our clients.

“A 24-7 360-degree resource” — The football game had to be called in the third quarter when it got too hot.

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I drove up to the ATM at my bank the other day and confronted two separate lines of cars — one row had three vehicles, the other had a single auto from which a man my age (late fifties) had stepped out. He was hunched over, peering into the machine, with a card in his hand and a quizzical look on his face.

My instincts told me to choose the longer line, since those people had remained in their cars and appeared ready to make smooth and quick transactions at their machine. But I thought, no, that’s being prejudicial toward my own kind, and I shouldn’t assume a lack of hair corresponds to a lack of ability to interact with modern technology.

I pulled into the line only to regret it immediately; a woman had now emerged from the passenger seat of the older man’s car and was also looking at the ATM. The older couple was apparently trying to figure out how to apply for a modified home equity loan using a secondary residence as collateral, and couldn’t tell which slot they were to yell their questions into. Meanwhile, the other line proceeded nicely.

The man soon returned to the driver’s seat while the woman began rifling through her purse. When the car’s brake lights came on, I had hope that he was going to drive off without her, allowing me to nudge forward — not actually striking her with my vehicle, but offering a helpful bit of direction on how she should get the hell out of the line. The man pulled about a foot forward, then again climbed out of the car. Apparently, they needed a little more elbow room to transact their business. The man removed his jacket.

He looked pretty handy and I half-expected him to pull out a tool kit to try and force access to his passbook account. Neither of them looked in my direction, which was a good thing, as this was about the time I started shaking my fist. I pulled into reverse, moved across to the now-vacant other lane, and quickly finished my withdrawal.

Stupid people like me!

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The Methodist church near my home advertised the topic of Sunday’s sermon on the sign out front: “Jesus and the Smiley Face.”

At first, I figured the message would be predictable: Jesus recognized that life was difficult, that it wasn’t always easy to do the right thing, that doing things which make you happy may not be in the interest of God’s greater glory. There was no place on Calvary’s Cross for a round yellow head grinning ear to ear.

But then, I realized how the Lord’s message is frequently a nuanced one, and there are many layers of meaning in various commandments. (For example, “love thy neighbor” means not only to care for their souls and their well-being, but also to loan them your leaf blower and occasionally engage in secret sex with their wife). Maybe this is in line with that gospel of prosperity and joy I’ve been hearing about. Maybe Jesus does want us to be happy, and display that glee through a big, sloppy smirk.

Not that I’m going to spend a Sunday in church to find out.

[Via http://davisw.wordpress.com]

Jamby's Greatest Fear

After the newly formed multisectoral group  Sagip Korte Suprema has called on all presidential candidates to sign a covenant blocking the appointment of a new Chief Justice by President Arroyo immediately  senator Ma. Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal called on her fellow presidential candidates to unite in condemning president’s Arroyo’s alleged intent for “silent grab for power.” Probably, if not for a political gimmickry, she’s so afraid of Gloria’s extension to power after her term. And who is not anyway.

But whatever be her (Madrigal’s) intention in echoing the sentiments of the Sagip Korte Suprema group to fellow presidential candidates it’s an eye opener for everyone to be vigilant that while we are all focused on the May 10 elections “GMA (president Arroyo) and her cohorts have set the stage for her to stay in power beyond her term.”

Madrigal also warned that the automated poll system might be used to ensure the victory of Gloria Arroyo’s presidential candidate. She feared that with the appointment of Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit (defying military tradition of seniority in the system) as the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the incoming appointment of a new Chief of Justice of the Supreme Court Gloria will have no difficulty to execute her sinister plan to prolong her stay in power.

“The appointment of the new Chief Justice despite the constitutional prohibition is not only illegal but immoral and unethical as well,” she said.

Madrigal also said that any presidential candidate who would not oppose Ms Arroyo’s appointment of a new Chief of Justice “does not deserve the people’s mandate.”

But Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar  does not feel any of  Jamby ’s (Madrigal)  fear. He said all legal remedies should be exhausted first before presidential candidates sign a covenant that would  reject Ms Arroyo’s appointment of a Chief Justice because as this would be tantamount to not recognizing the Constitution thus putting the new elected president in a difficult situation.

Former president  Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino fears nothing and sees no problem at all. If ever he will win in the election, he can take his oath before a new Chief of Justice even if appointed by Gloria. “If it’s according to the Constitution, what can we do?” Estrada, said.

Sen. Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party on the other hand said that the next Congress could impeach Ms Arroyo’s appointed Chief Justice “if his or her appointment was found to have been made on unsound legal principles.”  The nine justices who voted to authorize Ms Arroyo to make the appointment would be liable for impeachment according to senator Aquino.

“The legislature has the power of impeachment if it feels there are grounds to impeach an impeachable constitutional body… We need the new Congress, after having organized itself, to determine whether or not there is a need for the impeachment process.” Aquino said.

On his part, Gilbert Teodoro the administration candidate  said that  the President should  exercise prudence ” in considering whether or not an appointment should be made” and let her successor name the new Chief Justice to avoid undermining the high court’s credibility. “If I were in her position, I would not make the appointment given the controversy surrounding the issue.”

“I think that despite the ruling, prudence is the order of the day. We’re talking about the credibility of the institution that is the Supreme Court. I will not even bother to give ‘advice,’ but prudence is the necessary thing,” he said.

But Jamby’s fear should not be ignored in the light  of  the possibility of a military uprising as a result of the Palace’s “concluding maneuver to control the judiciary in its effort to avoid prosecution for its high crimes against the people” as stated by detained ex Brig. General Danny Lim who is now running as a senatorial candidate under the banner of the Nationalista Party . He said the threat of “a soldier’s revolt” was “always there” as a result of the purported undermining of democratic institutions.

And this is the greatest fear of all; a military Junta whether on the side of the opposition or in the present administration. If there is a failure of election, who will rule on who will be in power? If the Senate President is not available, is it not the Speaker of the House? Jun Lozada has already expounded in this scenario, aren’t we that alarmed that a chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and a Chief of Justice will be in placed to backed up militarily and legally who ever be elected as the Speaker of the House to be appointed as the interim president? And will you not be as paranoid as Jamby when that elected Speaker of the House and appointed as the interim president is no other than but Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?

I am just praying greed and lust for power shall be set aside for the greater interest of the Filipino people.

[Via http://kidlatanvillage.wordpress.com]

Failed Banks May Get Pension-Fund Backing as FDIC Seeks Cash

Dakin Campbell Bloomberg March 9, 2010

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is trying to encourage public retirement funds that control more than $2 trillion to buy all or part of failed lenders, taking a more direct role in propping up the banking system, said people briefed on the matter.

Direct investments may allow funds such as those in Oregon, New Jersey and California to cut fees for private-equity managers, and the agency to get better prices for distressed assets, the people said. They declined to be identified because talks with regulators are confidential.

Oregon’s retirement fund may contribute $100 million as regulators seek “the support of state pension funds to solve the crisis surrounding ongoing bank failures,” Jay Fewel, a senior investment officer at the Oregon State Treasury, said in a presentation at the fund’s Feb. 24 meeting. New Jersey’s fund may also participate, said Orin Kramer, chairman of New Jersey’s State Investment Council.

Read entire article

[Via http://truth11.com]

Three Stages of Obamacare

The three stages of Obama care are Abortion, Regular Care, and End of Life.  Here is the way I see it.

STAGE 1

Why is abortion so important to the government? Each child born into a welfare family receives aid. In my home state of Illinois, the average payment to a family is $401.00 per month. If the aid ends when a kid turns eighteen, he will have been paid $86,616.00 over his lifetime.  There are 1.3 million abortions in the USA each year. Let us assume that ten percent of them are welfare recipients. The total cost to the government using the average cost of $86,616 per child is 11.2 billion dollars.  It is beginning to sound like some serious money.

STAGE 2

Money spent on health care is one sixth of the total economy. My math calculates that to be 2.3 trillion dollars. If I spread that number over our total population, it translates to $8461.00 per every insured person in the country.  Now, let us add the thirty million uninsured into the same calculation, the number drops to $7778.00 per insured person.   That is a reduction of ten percent. Ten percent less paid to medical suppliers. What that means to me is that my doctor will have to recommend lower cost treatments to diagnose my situation. For instance, it may mean an x-ray instead of an MRI. The two are as different as comparing a black and white TV to a High Definition Digital TV. Which test do you think will be able to help your doctor find a problem?

STAGE 3

End of life situations can be ugly. None of us wants to die, but we do. The cost of keeping a very sick person alive can be devastating. My own experience with Barbara is that it cost well over five hundred thousand dollars to keep her alive for two years.  I call it dying ugly. Each year 2.4 million people die in the USA.  Let us assume that ten percent die ugly like my Barb. The cost comes to 121 billion dollars. The bottom line is that death panels make sense to Uncle.

Final argument

Medicare became a law in 1965. The law made a lot of sense, and was a bi-partisan effort. The plan is forty-five years old this year. It is bankrupt. Why is that?  Our leaders have piggy backed more recipients into the system over the years. The baby boomers who are coming online have overloaded the system.  The administration has had forty-five years to improve and fix Medicare. Even worse, they have had over seventy years to fix the postal service, over thirty years to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and the list keeps going. Obama wants us to believe that he can perform a miracle and fix health care in a single year.  The bill will require a building the size of ten Pentagons to staff with people who will finally read, interpret, and write the final rules.

In the infinite wisdom of our President, he will remove $500 billion dollars from Medicare to fund the new Obama care.   Medicare will go broke within a year or two.  All of us who are retired will certainly be looking into the eye of a death panel. Many of us will recall watching the final moments of Edward G. Robinson as the panel euthanized him in the movie Soylent Green. 

Yes, there is a great need for health care reform. Obama care is not it, yet he pressures us to love it now, or the country faces certain disaster. I happen to believe that we will profit by defeating Obama care now, and by revising the system in a rational way.

Put me on the job. I will hire a bunch of engineers who know how to solve problems and we will design a system that will work, and the country will love.

[Via http://grumpajoesplace.com]

Part One: Complete equal rights in Islam for man and woman

Part One: Complete equal rights in Islam for man and woman; (Mar. 18, 2010)

            Women visited the spouses of the Prophet Muhammad and said: “Allah in the Koran talked about you (the spouses) but said nothing about us women.  Are there nothing in us that merit to be mentioned?”  Thus, one of the spouses Umm Salma, a most beautiful matured spouse and an aristocrat from the tribe of Quraich, relayed to Muhammad this question: “Why men are mentioned in the Koran but not women?”  Muhammad had to answer.

            A few days later, the Prophet recited a verse in the adjacent mosque to the spouses residences which stated: “A man and a woman who have submitted to Allah (the one and only God), who are believers, who are pious, who are sincere, who are patients, who fear Allah, who give charity, who fast, who protect their sexual parts, who invoke Allah frequently, the Allah has prepared forgiveness and limitless recompense” Consequently, Allah sees no differences in gender who have submitted to Allah and are believers in the community.

            Muhammad then endeavored to pronounce an entire Sourat called “Women” (Al Nissa2) and then demanded equitable shares in heritage to both gender and to children and orphans.  In pre-Islamic Arabia, women were considered chattel as in then Jewish communities. One verse said “remit to men a part of what parents and relatives left in heritage; and remit equitably to women a part of the heritage whether the heritage is little or a lot”

            Men in Medina tried their best to resume the pre-Islamic traditions.  Umm Kajja (with 5 daughters) complained to Muhammad saying: “My husband is dead and his brother is demanding to stick to tradition and to ignore the new laws.  He is claiming that women do not participate in fights for loots and thus we have claim to heritage” There was a succession of such complaints which required a Sourat on the questions of heritage and legal matters of remarrying.  The verse 19 in Sourat “Women” states: “O you believers! You are not permitted to take away women in heritage against their will; or to forbid them remarrying so that you may capture part of what they received unless they manifestly committed a proven infamy.”  Verse 2 said: “Give to orphans what is their due… Do not eat what belong of their shares: This behavior constitutes a great sin.” The Sourat on “Women” goes into great length on details of proportional shares in heritage.

Note 1: This article is extracted from “The Political Harem: The Prophet and the women” by Fatema Mernissi.

Note 2: There are bunches of mindless and rapacious seemingly matured men who plunder other people’s shares by fraudulent interpretations of the Koran; they were labeled “Sufaha2” in the Koran.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Surf's Up, Condensed: Top Creativity Links for March 17, 2010

Illustration courtesy of SXC.

Special Report: Innovating in a Recession

Chuck Frey of InnovationTools blog/website releases his 2010 Innovation Climate Survey.

iF Design Awards Highlight Brilliant Solutions to Everyday Problems | FastCompany.com

Next to the Red Dot awards, the iF award is the most prestigious design award out of Europe, attracting all sorts of designs that you’d otherwise never see. The 2010 awards were doled out at a ceremony last week.

Innovate: Encouraging Light Bulb Moments in Your Workplace

A nice short e-guide from the documentation and training firm of Michaels & Associates.

Creative Exercises for Artists

Benoit Philippe of My French Easel has created a lovely free e-book for artists and other creatives. Most of these exercises are visual ones, but many of them do not require specific artistic skills and are suitable for anyone regardless of their age or level of artistic ability. (Hat-tip to Making a Mark blog for the link.)

Is There A New Art Economy?

Sue Smith, writing on her blog Ancient Artist, discusses the very shaky current market for art and advises scenario planning for artists trying to figure out their next business move.

Learning innovation skills and best practices

Jeffrey Phillips, writing on his Innovate on Purpose blog, explains what can go wrong with a facilitated brainstorming or innovation session by describing a badly led one he participated in recently.

[Via http://creativeliberty.wordpress.com]

State of the Economy and You

“Economic conditions are much improved for both companies and countries, executives say—but hopes for continued recovery are a little less bright than they were in December” screams the synopsis of a McKinsey Global Survey Results announcing the Economic Conditions Snapshot in February ’10. Now, when companies and executives are talking about the economic mend, the context is the virtual collapse in 2008 and the present condition. It is not a comparison to an ideal state. In a related McKinsey research conducted in January ‘10, 60% respondents polled “building capability among the top three priorities where capability is defined as anything an organization does well that drives meaningful business results”.

It is with reference to the above two research pieces that the claims of the media that “Jobs are back” and “Economic Recovery is Visible” are appalling.   Even given the Ellen Goodman quote, “In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right”, this rant is way off the mark! Against this backdrop, we are now adding social media and the depth of discussion and the quality of content even gets worse.

As I was heading back to the change room this morning at the gym after my workout, an acquaintance at the gym came following back. He had wanted time from me for the past two weeks to discuss something and seek advice but things didn’t work out. However, he was determined to get a few minutes of my time and my perspective this morning as he was struggling with a decision he had to make and the question was “whether to stay in his job or opt for an invite from his ex-boss in an entrepreneurial venture”. And that established the context of this blog posting for me.

First the advice I gave this young man when I found out that his ex-boss was offering employment and not an entrepreneurial opportunity. I advised him that stock options are really not such a great investment instrument in the current economic market with the time and effort involved. On the other hand, I was very clear that if he had a radically differentiated idea with the ability to garner funds that budgeted for three years of Sales & Marketing, Payroll and Product / Service Development, he should become an entrepreneur right now without question. The matter was settled when the answer emerged clearly in that sweaty state we were both in, that keeping his current job with a multinational company was the safest option. He was going to go straight to work from the gym and inform his current boss that he was ready to take that flight tomorrow to Amsterdam to pursue his current professional life with renewed focus.

Most of what is being written here is from an IT & IS Products and Services industry perspective, but holds good for a large number of industry sectors similar in nature including Banking, Financial Service & Insurance, Retail & Manufacturing and other Professional Business Services. The sectors such as Healthcare, Telecom, Media and Utilities have a more fundamental challenge with respect to technology and a change at the core of their business to address. Travel, Transportation and Lifestyle are an offshoot of the trends adopted by the above industries anyway.

Evidence of Growth is in the “pipeline” with a probability factor greater than 85% for all opportunities listed and 40% of that 85% materializing into business in the next two quarters. If you dig deep into the CXO community of the enterprises who are sheepishly following the media rant about the story of economic recovery, you will notice that the evidence is missing; there is no pipeline. Right now, it is a strange mix of coincidences and desperation that is keeping business going. They know it and therefore they are not investing yet in new workforce. They are definitely beginning to hire and backfill positions that have been required in the last couple of years. But they are yet to make the investments to build capabilities. Some CFO’s who have yet to get busted by the earlier bubble syndrome of 2002 are keeping money available for acquisitions as their growth endeavor. But real capability building is still a lot of words and posturing, rather than a genuine attempt at recovery and growth.

As the advice given to my acquaintance, this stage of the economy demands money in the bank to spend on growth measures. But if it is going to be spent on more sustenance, this economic recovery is a further haul away. Finding Talent within and outside the organization that can create a fundamental differentiation to the business and ringing in an Industry Transformation is the way forward for business leaders. Mere movement should not be mistaken for signs of growth or recovery and it is wise not to fall into a trap of the media who are starved for content.

[Via http://subbuiyer.wordpress.com]

Asphalt Manufacturing in the U.S.-Aarkstore Enterprise

Worldwide annual consumption of asphalt is at more than 100 million tons. In the United States, generally 90% of liquid asphalt cement consumed is used for road paving and approximately 10% is used for roofing products, with other specialty applications accounting for only a very small fraction of consumption.

Though asphalt occurs naturally, the majority of today’s asphalt is produced as a residual product of the crude oil refining process. Most refiners focus on refining more expensive, lighter, “sweeter” crudes to produce the higher-value products such gasoline and diesel fuel. In all, about two to three percent of all refined crude oil in the United States becomes asphalt.

Most crude oil asphalt comes from less expensive, heavier, “sour” crude oils rather than the more expensive lighter, sweet crude oils. For crude oil refiners asphalt accounts for a much larger portion of the product refined.

Demand for asphalt is driven to a small degree by the private sector, but most demand comes from federal, state, and local governments. Funding for highway and road infrastructure construction and maintenance plays the largest role, but other public sector projects such as airport runway and taxiway construction can also affect demand. Since funding for highway and road construction and maintenance projects are often set for several years, demand tends to remain rather constant growing more or less at the rate of inflation. However, the recent prospect of massive infrastructure spending to stimulate growth in the U.S. economy under the new Obama administration suggest demand will likely increase significantly in the coming years.

Specialists in Business Information (SBI) estimates the U.S. market for liquid asphalt cement totaled $11.7 billion in 2008, up 34% from $8.7 billion in 2007. This report explains why, and forecasts what lies ahead for the asphalt industry from 2009 – 2013.

For more information please visit:

http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/Asphalt-Manufacturing-in-the-U-S–13041.html

PH.NO. 919272852585

[Via http://aarkstoreenterprise.wordpress.com]

Financial hardship assistance in Victoria

In Victoria, a person suffering financial hardship due to illness, unemployment or other reasonable cause is entitled to apply for assistance to help control their finances and pay their debts in a manageable way.

The person must show they “reasonably expect to be able to discharge the debtor’s obligations if the terms of the contract were changed”.

In practical terms, this usually means a break in repayments, or reduced repayments, and then the resumption of normal repayments after a period of time (usually 2 – 6 months).

For larger debts such as mortgages or other loans, hardship assistance could mean a break on repayments or reduced repayments which are then ‘caught up’ through higher repayments upon resumption, or the ‘capitalising’ of these missed payments onto the end of the loan, with no change in the monthly repayment due.

While hardship assistance has been well used during and directly after the global financial crisis, Anglicare Victoria financial counsellors are now reporting a ‘tightening up’ of many companies hardship policies.

The practice of applying for a moratorium on repayments is being hampered by greater demands for assurances that the customer’s situation is going to improve in the near future.

Financial institutions want to know what actions are being taken to rectify the current hardship, and are proving unsympathetic to customers’ individual circumstances. Some institutions will only grant one month at a time, demanding a monthly review of the situation and proof that the customer is taking action to improve their position.

Furthermore, where a temporary arrangement of ‘no repayments’ was once accepted, many banks are now demanding reduced repayments and others are accruing the missed payments and requiring that they be settled in full at the end of the hardship assistance period. Some institutions require financial counsellors to fax the written agreements of all other creditors to hardship arrangements before they will consider granting one.

The utilisation of hardship assistance often provides a much needed opportunity for clients to improve their situation by increasing their income, clearing expenses or debts, or applying for grants, assistance or income entitlements without fear of legal action or defaulting on their financial commitments.

In the main, customers use this time wisely and are then able to resume repayments from a stronger financial position and with a great deal less stress.

While it is true that customers may not always be able to resume full repayments immediately at the end of the hardship assistance period, their position is usually improved and more serious outcomes like bankruptcy or debt agreements less likely to occur.

It is concerning that financial institutions appear to be winding back this assistance.

If you are experiencing difficulties in meeting your financial commitments, or managing your financial affairs, a Financial Counsellor can advise you of your options, rights and responsibilities, assist you to negotiate with creditors, and help you set budgets to provide greater control over your finances.

Meeting with a Financial Counsellor earlier rather than later is recommended, as more options will be available at this stage. For a list of Financial Counselling services in your area, go to the Financial and Consumer Rights Council website: www.fcrc.org.au and use the Counsellor Directory. Financial Counselling phone services are also available for those who have been impacted by the global financial crisis at Money Help ph: 1800 149 689.

Have you been denied hardship assistance? Share your experience below.

[Via http://anglicarevic.wordpress.com]

Wall Street Java

“He conquers who endures”

Persius

Wall Street Java

March 10, 2010

Gold Update

Gold is slowly gaining momentum as the Dollar slips slightly on the Euro. The Dollar index remains higher this morning, but has failed to gain traction thus far. The greenback may have peaked as concerns regarding the Greek fiscal crisis begin to soften and as the currency market levels out, gold should benefit. We some retracement likely during the day, we should see a move closer to the $1130 mark toward the latter part of the day.

Hot Stocks

When stocks are steady but non-directional, it is always good to consider dividend yields as well. As long as the global economy can at least maintain some modest growth, we believe that the technology sector is poised for strong innovation and growth over the next few years. Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC) finances start-up and growth companies in the technology sector and, as such, could benefit from general growth in this area. In addition, Hercules carries a dividend yield approaching 8% on share prices just above the $10 mark.

Public Finance Update

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will file its long-anticipated rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. The changes will increase transparency for auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand obligations. The SHORT system, as it is known for short-term obligation rate transparency, will allow the MSRB to collect additional ARS bidding information as well as ARS and VRDO program documents.

In Washington, the Joint Tax Committee has released revenue estimates for the Obama administration’s budget proposals, which would extend most of the stimulus law’s municipal bond provisions — including the higher qualified small-issuer limit for bank-qualified bonds — through the end of calendar year 2011. The White House also proposed expanding the Build America Bond program so that state and local governments could issue them for refundings and working capital purposes, and 501(c)(3) charitable organizations could sell them.

In Connecticut, Governor M. Jodi Rell has proposed a combination of cuts, fund transfers and deferred payments to close a $503.9 Million budget deficit.

Market Outlook

There simply isn’t much movement in stocks lately. The Dow rode a wave higher and lower to finish the day just above the flat-line yesterday. Futures this morning suggest equities will give back that small gain at the opening bell today. Globally, the major indexes have all struggled along with minor ups and downs; lacking any real momentum. In the US markets yesterday, the leading sector was energy with a negligible upside of .06%, while consumer stocks were among the losers with an equally modest downside. Economic data just continues to be a mixed bag of information and the fiscal health of several European nations remains a concern.

Former European Commission President Romano Prodi says that he believes the financial crisis in Greece is over and that no other European nation will follow its path. “For Greece, the problem is completely over,” Prodi said in an interview in Shanghai. “I don’t see any other case now in Europe. I don’t think there is any reason to think the euro system will collapse or will suffer greatly because of Greece.” Last week, Greece announced spending cuts and tax increases totaling 4.8 Billion Euros ($6.5 Billion)

After a slow start in Europe this morning, stocks are beginning to move higher, but have just turned positive after the first hour of trading. With a few exceptions, bank stocks are pulling up the broader average with an upside of 2-3% in some cases. U.K. factory production unexpectedly fell in January for the first time in five months, suggesting that the economy is still notably sluggish.

Banks did not perform as well in Asia last night, with modest losses for most of the financial sector. As a whole, the major indexes finished flat as several technology stocks and a few industrials weighed on the greater averages. China’s exports rose more than forecast in February, the third straight gain, which will add pressure on policy makers to withdraw stimulus measures adopted during the global recession.

Exports gained 46% in February from a year before after a 21% advance in January. The strengthening in exports will likely reduce excess capacity in manufacturing and fan inflation; which the latest government figures tomorrow may show reached a 16- month high last month.

Even commodities are relatively flat this morning, although some momentum appears to be building. Oil had lost some ground in the early hours but has since returned to even on the day at a little over the $81 mark. Gold is also moving slowly higher; showing a gain of more than $3 this morning to $1126. Gold’s modest upward movement is despite the fact that the Dollar has moved higher against its peers today.

The latest economic data scheduled for release includes Mortgage Applications, some Wholesale Trade information, and the EIA Petroleum Status Report. Earnings reports are due from Brown-Forman, Datalink, RAM Energy, ReneSolar, US Concrete, and a few others.

Looked at as a whole, the economic data over the past two weeks suggests that the U.S. economy will endure a slow, U-shaped recovery, at best The macro news, including data on consumer confidence, home sales, construction and employment, actually suggests a significant downside risk even to the already modest growth seen thus far.  A double-dip recession is still a significant possibility.

[Via http://rainmaykr.wordpress.com]

Blooming with hydrogen

I have actually talked about two technologies that I just realized could get us off the grid entirely, if they actually pan out. One is the Bloom Box and the other is Dan Nocera’s photolysis procedure.

The latter can take sunlight and create hydrogen and oxygen, which can then be stored. Later, when the sun has gone down, the hydrogen and oxygen can be fed through the Bloom Box to make electricity. And recreate the water that was originally split into the gases.

This is also carbon neutral, with no carbon dioxide being produced.

We are a ways from real commercialization of these two technologies, particularly in the home. But they both use relatively cheap and abundant materials, so costs may get much lower quite soon. And with increasing electricity costs, the entire affair, including solar panels, might pay for itself fairly quickly. Especially if you generate enough electricity to send some back to the grid.

[Listening to: Young Man Blues from the album "Thirty Years Of Maximum R&B (Disc 2)" by The Who]

[Via http://amanwithaphd.wordpress.com]

Low-tax Texas beats big-government California

By Micheal Barone EXAMINER

“Stop messing with Texas!” That was the message Gov. Rick Perry bellowed on election night as he celebrated his victory over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican primary for governor. In his reference to Texas’ anti-littering slogan, Perry was making a point applicable to national as well as Texas politics and addressed to Democratic politicians as well as Republicans.

His point was that the big-government policies of the Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders are resented and fiercely opposed not just because of their dire fiscal effects but also as an intrusion on voters’ independence and ability to make decisions for themselves.

No one would include Perry on a list of serious presidential candidates, including himself, even in the flush of victory. But in his 10 years as governor, the longest in the state’s history, Texas has been teaching some lessons to which the rest of the nation should pay heed.

They are lessons that are particularly vivid when you contrast Texas, the nation’s second most populous state, with the most populous, California. Both were once Mexican territory, secured for the United States in the 1840s. Both have grown prodigiously over the past half-century. Both have populations that today are about one-third Hispanic.

But they differ vividly in public policy and in their economic progress — or lack of it — over the last decade. California has gone in for big government in a big way. Democrats hold big margins in the legislature largely because affluent voters in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area favor their liberal positions on cultural issues.

Those Democratic majorities have obediently done the bidding of public employee unions to the point that state government faces huge budget deficits. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s attempt to reduce the power of the Democratic-union combine with referenda was defeated in 2005 when public employee unions poured $100 million — all originally extracted from taxpayers — into effective TV ads.

Californians have responded by leaving the state. From 2000 to 2009, the Census Bureau estimates, there has been a domestic outflow of 1,509,000 people from California – almost as many as the number of immigrants coming in. Population growth has not been above the national average and, for the first time in history, it appears that California will gain no House seats or electoral votes from the reapportionment following the 2010 census.

Texas is a different story. Texas has low taxes — and no state income taxes — and a much smaller government. Its legislature meets for only 90 days every two years, compared with California’s year-round legislature. Its fiscal condition is sound. Public employee unions are weak or nonexistent.

Read more .washingtonexaminer.com/

[Via http://jkshaws.wordpress.com]

Is it interesting to transform China into a democratic country?

They already promoted the Olympic Games at their soil, which could be seen as a movement to open the country to the world, but they have already given signs that they don´t have any intentions to become a democracy.

We are talking about China, the biggest economy of the world, bigger than USA since 2009 crisis, continues to run the country with human rights restrictions. As an example that development and  democracy can work normally together.

In Brazil, we had our experience with a dictatorship that lasted more than 20 years (1964-1985).

Some citizens and politicians insist on denying that wasn´t a real dictatorship. They say that it was a Revolution, a way to protect the country from the communist threat, and we had a Constitution, so, it wasn´t a real dictatorship. China has a constitution, and, as the Brazilian Dictatorship, they have all the government controlled by the army.

Let´s be direct! Dictatorship is the most interesting thing for any economy, it allows the country to grow at high rates and attracts foreign investments, because of cheap workforce, no unions and flexible laws.

Off course, there´s a price: it won´t be allowed to criticize the economy or simply say anything against the policy that the country is trying to apply. This would be anti-patriotic, would say those who want to justify the price charged for an economy that grows fast and at high rates.

Let´s be honest, most of the benefits from the dictatorship in China, or any other country in the world with no respect to the law, are being enjoyed by the richest economy of the world and some developing countries, as Brazil.

You can´t believe in what you are reading? Ok! Open your cell-phone, look  at where the battery is made. Look behind your computer screen, and verify where it is made. Look at your tennis shoes and observe where it is manufactured. I´m pretty sure that the country where they are  made has a small probability not to be China, but a giant probability to be made in a country that is poor and  doesn´t care about civil or human rights.  In better words: a country that doesn´t care about the state of right. Or doesn´t care about law!

The best thing in a dictatorship is this flexibility with laws or simply the inexistence of them. This is the most attractive characteristic for big companies to achieve the goal of decreasing their costs and increasing profits. Therefore, they become more competitive.

By this logic, a few politicians and wealthy people from the country where a dictatorship is set up earns a lot of money, while the country is used by big companies all over the world. At least, this was the logic of the dictatorship in Latin America. But, it cannot be simply applied for China today.

China lives a new kind of dictatorship that really allows economic growth, technology transference, participation of public and private capital mixed in the economy… So, they have been very successful to achieve development, where other countries haven´t been successful with this kind of model.

The key of Chinese development is its ability to attract foreign investment and absolve all that they think it´s necessary to promote their own development, from technology to organization of companies. On the other hand, to attract investment, they have become more flexible with laws.

Beyond the Chinese economy, a lot of companies are very comfortable with the Chinese law flexibility, because of the amount of money they are making. Unfortunately, a big mass of people have been smashed by this development Chinese dragon, so that China could become a strong economy.

For sure, in Chinese Dictatorship model, as in Brazil, It’s not interesting to transform the country into a big democracy for the next years. Because the country is a big island capable of attracting a lot of investment and giving support to the economic growth, thanks for the inexistence of legal restrictions.

During the dictatorship in Brazil, the economy had the highest rates of economic growth in the world. This information is easily confirmed by any history book or Google. Also, it´s true that Brazilian economy was innovative, when it was successful combining the highest inequality rates with highest growth rate.

Sooner, despite all the human rights restrictions going harder, the Chinese nation will be opened for the world. When this moment arrives, the law will be no more flexible, and the Chinese economy will be no longer so interesting for the big companies. By this time, the Chinese Government will have to face the problems created by this lack of laws, as Brazilian Economy has to face until today the inequality problems created by its dictatorship growth model.

Hence, when this moment comes, Google will be allowed to show for Chinese people how their future is compromised by the dictatorship development model from the past. Probably, some citizens and politicians will say that it wasn´t a real dictatorship, because they had a constitution and they accepted free market rules, so, it wasn´t as bad as the history shows.

Mario Henrique R. Suzigan is a lawyer and economist, and has a law office set up in Campinas – SP, Brazil.

[Via http://mariosuzigan.wordpress.com]

PROUT Policy Statement on Guaranteed Basic Necessities to All

This text is from the ‘Global Prout Policy Parliament Statement on Guaranteed Basic Necessities and Common Amenities’

Introduction

Earth’s resources are the common inheritance of all humanity. So all people should enjoy the fundamental right to the goods and services required to maintain their existence and to support their development and their expression.

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights asserts that, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of [themself] and of [their] family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services,” and that, “Everyone has the right to education, [which] shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.”

The Global Prout Policy Parliament declares that:

(1) the right to the minimum requirements of life — food, clothing, housing, medical care and education — must be constitutionally guaranteed;

(2) other basic necessities and common amenities of life must also be guaranteed; and

(3) effective policies are required for establishing this right in practice.

Minimum Requirements, Basic Necessities and Common Amenities

The minimum requirements of life include food (and drinking water), shelter, clothing, education, and medical care. People also need access to certain other requirements, including energy/fuel, transportation, communications, water supply, and waste disposal. Together, these constitute the basic necessities. In addition, all people desire common amenities — those things which make their life easy and satisfy their physical and psychic longings.

Society’s standard of the necessities and amenities that are due to all should be established according to the age and place in which people live. This standard should be progressively adjusted with changing conditions.

Purchasing Capacity

Acquisition of basic necessities and amenities should, in the main, come through individuals and families having access to adequate purchasing capacity.

Assuring a sufficient level of purchasing power should not just be the burden of individuals and families but, where appropriate, the society should assist as well.

For those able to work, purchasing capacity would be acquired through dignified labor, compensated by adequate pay. Those not able to work, because of disabilities or demands of family care, should receive their income through family support or from financial assistance arranged by the society.

With respect to education and medical care, the responsibility of the society is comparatively greater to provide these services directly. Basic education is the investment of the society in its future. And medical care cannot be provided efficiently and universally without being managed, in some manner or other, by the society.

Common Amenities

In addition to guaranteed basic necessities, the society must also see that its members have sufficient purchasing capacity to acquire common amenities — the commodities, services and experiences that are enjoyed in the age and place in which they live.

Not only should the common amenities be available to all, but they should become available in increasing measure.

Amenities that are at one point considered to be special goods, only available to a few, should increasingly come to be within the standard of living enjoyed by all.

Also, the productive capacity of the society should be devoted to maximizing the availability of common amenities, with comparatively less of its productive capacity going toward producing luxury goods. That is to say, the production of luxury goods should not take place at the expense of adequate production of everyday consumer goods.

The purpose of the progressive increase in common amenities (whether in quality or quantity) is not to promote consumption or clutter people’s lives with material possessions. It is to meet people’s natural physical and psychic longings and give them an expanded material base for their all-round development and expression.

While people should enjoy the right of ample access to common amenities, this must occur within the context of sustainable production and protecting the health of the environment.

Arranging Purchasing Capacity

The guarantee of people’s purchasing capacity requires two main factors:

First, the society must arrange for full employment for all who are able to work. This, in turn, requires policies and approaches that ensure a vital, stable, and sustainable economy. It also means that as efficiencies of productivity increase due to mechanization and improved utilization of human potentials, the length of the work-day should be reduced.

Second, economic planning and policy must insure the availability of commodities, stable prices, periodic increases in wages, and a steady increase in collective assets (such as roads, electrical grids, and communication systems).

Constitutional Guarantee

The right to guaranteed basic necessities and common amenities should be established in principle in the global declaration of human rights. It should then be constitutionally and legally established at the national level.  And it should be implemented in practice through national, regional and local economic planning policy.

If a regional or local economy, due to underdevelopment, lacks sufficient capacity to adequately assure basic necessities and amenities, then neighboring regions within the concerned nation or multi-national federation should contribute resources and other assistance for the accelerated development of the less developed region or locale.

Where citizens enjoy a guaranteed right to purchasing power, should they then face economic hardship due to unemployment or lack of state assistance, they would be statutorily empowered to take legal action against the concerned state for failure to manage the economy in a manner that assures them adequate income to meet their needs.

Relativity of Standards

The standard of basic necessities and common amenities that people should enjoy cannot be fixed but require adjustment according to three relative factors.

First, standards will change over time: education in the age of print required use of books, while education in the electronic age also requires access to the Internet.

Second, standards depend on location: the clothing worn by Siberians will differ from that of Nigerians.

Third, people may have individual needs: an autistic child, for example, may need special educational assistance.

Wealth Limitations

Neither basic necessities nor common amenities can be properly provided if the society fails to place reasonable limitations on over-accumulation of individual wealth. The limits on excessive accumulation should be periodically adjusted so as to maintain balance between social equity on the one hand and the efficacy of income incentives on the other. Social policy should strive to continually adjust the gap between the highest wage compensation and the lowest in a manner that encourages equitable growth in everyone’s standard of living.

Should the society feel an individual is able to make socially constructive use of a greater level of wealth, it should give that individual express permission for an exception to the cap on accumulation.

Incentives

The guarantee of basic necessities and common amenities and the provision of material incentives are intimately linked. Where the standard of income rewards for hard work and socially valued talents fails to create sufficient incentives, the economic vitality of the whole society will suffer — and those with the least will suffer most.

Increasing Standard of Living

To serve both individual and collective interests, there should be a steady rise in the standard of living of the society. Indeed, the increase in standard of living is a principal measure of the vitality of a society.

An increase in the standard of living cannot properly be measured by growth in per capita income. Money may lose its value, taxation may rise disproportionately with growth of income, or people may become burdened with new kinds of expenditures required by the society.

The proper measure should instead be that of growth in purchasing power. When there is growth of purchasing power, there will implicitly be an increase in the material standard of living.

Maintaining Balance

Increase in the standard of living does not necessarily mean an increase in the quantity of material consumption. In underdeveloped and in developing societies this may be the case, as many in these societies lack even the basic necessities. But in developed countries, an increasing standard of living may mean access to a higher quality of goods, housing, and services. Or it may entail the acquisition of creative skills or of personal development experiences, rather than the acquisition of material stuff.

Balance between the society and the environment cannot be maintained where there is mindless consumption. Much of the present excess in material consumption is due to enticements to buy that are goaded by profit-driven advertising. And it occurs because spiritual development is not well-supported, so that people seek fulfillment by indulging in material cravings, rather than through personal development and spiritual upliftment.

A New Paradigm of Development

No society can guarantee basic necessities and amenities if its economy depletes and fouls water tables, soil vitality, forests, arable land, marine life and other resources necessary for human, and non-human, life to thrive. Giving primacy to the profit motive in economic development goads resource depletion and environmental destruction.

Therefore, the guarantee of basic necessities and amenities cannot occur under capitalism, but requires a new economic system that promotes balanced and sustainable development.

Capitalism has had success in increasing the scope of necessities and amenities enjoyed by many on the planet. And, with the adoption of regulatory and welfare policies, a near universal social safety net has been established in a few developed capitalist countries. Yet, capitalism is inherently unable to assure adequate purchasing power to all, to manage a path of development that is truly sustainable, or to sufficiently support the inner development of human beings.

So an expanded economic paradigm is now required, one that has a life-centered value base. Only then can the whole of the human family be well cared for and be given opportunities to fully develop and fully express their potentialities. And only then will the impact of human economic life lighten on the planet, so that all other living beings can also thrive.

Policies for Enhancing Purchasing Capacity

Full implementation of the principle of guaranteed basic necessities and common amenities may prove difficult in profit driven economies and may have to await the acceptance of a new socioeconomic paradigm able to give more attention to human needs.

However, in this time of growing economic hardship and high unemployment, there is great need to develop practical policies and approaches that can increase people’s purchasing capacity. Immediate practical steps are required. If this is not done, those who are without the means to acquire their basic goods and services will either suffer from want, or over-burden the state with welfare expenditures, or resort to anti-social or desperate means for their livelihood. And, having meager disposable income, they can do little to help revive stagnant economies.

There are several strategies available to local communities, and to regions and nations, to create and enhance purchasing capacity. The Global Prout Policy Parliament recommends making use of the following approaches, as may be appropriate given local conditions and opportunities:

(1) make affordable goods and services more available, thus extending the purchasing capacity of money;

(2) arrange to make jobs more available (eg, through policies that promote job creation) or to prevent job losses (eg, reducing work hours to prevent job loss), giving more people access to earned income;

(3) establish means of exchange that are outside of the money economy for acquiring income, goods and capital;

(4) create opportunities for citizen-based access to small enterprise credit;

(5) keep capital within the local community where it can circulate and enhance opportunities for more people to earn sufficient livelihoods;

(6) protect the productive capacity of the earth from environmental degradation, and restore the productivity of lands that have been degraded;

(7) enact policies that prevent money from lying stagnant and keep it circulating;

(8) create policies that serve to reduce concentration of wealth and which progressively redistribute it;

(9) protect local jobs from being outsourced;

(10) relocalize economic development, and in particular build the capacity of the local economy to produce goods locally;

(11) help people to acquire new job-related skills;

(12) provide capital and infrastructure development that assist in establishing new enterprises that have promise to create new employment;

(13) tightly regulate and limit all speculative markets;

(14) find new and productive uses for resources that are presently wasted or underutilized,

(15) regulate profit margins on basic necessities to prevent price gouging,

(16) give preferential support for small labor intensive industries that make efficient use of technology and do not require large capital investment,

(17) provide government funding for jobs that build the society’s productive potentialities by enhancing its human capital, infrastructure capital, natural capital, and social capital, and

(18) encourage the formation of producer cooperatives as a means of retaining wealth within local economies.

[Via http://pranavbihari.wordpress.com]

Altruism, Adversarialism and Women: 08

In my previous post on this topic, I had talked about why escorts are often a better deal than relationships with women (LTR, STR, fuckbuddy, hookups). This post will introduce another concept-

Any ‘non-paid’ sexual relationship with a woman is a three card monte game.

You are the “mark”, she is the “con” and society is the “shill”.

Let me explain the analogy:

You see, it does not matter how tall you are, how educated you are, how white you are, how family minded you are.. it is never enough, even if the woman looks like a decrepit POS. She will just let you win a few times, fuck her often enough while pretending to be in love with you (validating you etc). She might even fool herself for some time. But that period will be soon over, and then you will see her true colors.

It will start with lesser sex, more arguments, more tantrums, more BS.. and end with either her making your existence miserable or leaving you for another “mark”.

You might think that game will help you.. WRONG! Game can get you sex, and it may even buy you more time in a LTR. But it will never cancel the inevitable.

The inevitable is either a miserable existence or abandonment. All her proclamations of love, fidelity, the size of your penis, height, smell, manners are worthless.. she won’t remember them in a few years or months. The validation from seducing a woman is equally worthless- do you raise your own chickens and pigs for eggs and bacon? Does a nice omelet with fried bacon taste any better because your raised your won food? Think about it.. is the urge to eat conceptually any different from the urge to have sex? Does an earthworm or insect enjoy sex less than you? If anything, their brains feel it more intensely than yours.

You can believe the “shills” and play Three Card Monte, but you will not come out ahead. Even if you think you can win it, you are playing by the rules of the “con”. Google the term ‘calvinball’, the rules change according to needs of the “con”. You are just the latest “mark”. Most “marks” get conned because they think they are smarter than the “con”. Whether it is gambling, contracts or relationships with women, a delusion of invincibility will screw you over.

I have heard many men say “Oh.. I can get ‘free’ sex, maybe there is something ‘wrong’ about you”. Here is a newsflash: I don’t care about your opinion about me. I live for MYSELF, and am not interested in gaining acclaim from “shills” or “cons”. Such acclaim is very easy to gain if you throw some money around, or are willing to hurt people. It is however useless, and cannot buy you anything when you need it badly.

If you are interested in hearing some validation, use a well reviewed semi-pro. It is so much cheaper.

More in another post on this topic.

[Via http://dissention.wordpress.com]

Do You Feel the Credit Card Crunch ?

With new federal credit-card regulations on the horizon, banks and card providers are boosting interest rates, fees and minimum payments, according to news reports.

Before the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act takes full effect in February 2010, credit-card issuers are “raising annual percentage rates, slashing credit limits and hiking minimum payments,” writes Dallas Morning News columnist Pamela Yip.

She also cites a loophole on a regulation set to kick in Aug. 20, requiring companies to issue a notice 45 days in advance of any rate increase.

Yet the law only applies for cards with fixed rates; variable rate cards, which account for two-thirds of all cards issued, are excluded.

Now, a growing number of banks and credit-card providers are swapping fixed rate cards for ones with variable rates to sidestep the guidelines, reports the Hartford Courant.

In Minnesota, State Attorney General Lori Swanson is targeting mandatory arbitration, which American Banker describes as a means by which card providers “divert consumer lawsuits into the privately run arbitration system.”

Swanson has already take one company, the National Arbitration Forum, out of the business, after suing it for “deceitful practices,” such as failing to disclose their ties to the collection industry, and for using “fine print contracts” that target “the little guy.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has accused Swanson of getting too political.

Minimum payments are also on the rise. Chase, which recently acquired Washington Mutual, is boosting minimum payments on balances from two to five percent effective in August.

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[Via http://theweblender.wordpress.com]

Post Olympic Job Losses - "The show's host had to ask her several times how many people were hired who will now be out of work. After much dodging she finally came up with a ballpark figure."Over 50,000"

bestplaceonmeth at vancouvercondo.info 2 Mar 2010 at 5:31 pm – “I was listening to a spokesperson from Adecco Employment Services on CBC this morning, they’re the ones who hired people for the Olympics. The show’s host had to ask her several times how many people were hired who will now be out of work. After much dodging she finally came up with a ballpark figure.”Over 50,000″ was her answer.”

“The show’s host had to ask her several times how many people were hired who will now be out of work. After much dodging she finally came up with a ballpark figure.”Over 50,000″

[Via http://vreaa.wordpress.com]

Al Gore Thaws to Spin new Fictional Global Warming Yarns

Al Gore Heats up the Global Warming Debate with his own facts.

Good news, he’s back to spin another yarn on Global Warming, I mean, climate change. Was he frozen completely solid so far this 2010? Where was Al the Climate Man? Perhaps he has been hibernating to reduce green house gasses.

Here are the crib notes to his lengthy New York Times fictional Op-Ed on Global Climate Change Warming.

He starts right off on page one admitting that his data was flawed and overestimated.

Excerpt from Al’s latest Climate Crisis Alert:

“It is true that the climate panel published a flawed overestimate of the melting rate of debris-covered glaciers in the Himalayas, and used information about the Netherlands provided to it by the government, which was later found to be partly inaccurate.”

Hey that’s great Al! You admit your data is flawed, but let’s not let facts get in the way.

His yarn continues with a fictional story about life without the fear of Global Warming. He says, “But what a burden would be lifted! We would no longer have to worry that our grandchildren would one day look back on us as a criminal generation that had selfishly and blithely ignored clear warnings that their fate was in our hands.”

Criminal Generation? Who is the criminal here Al?

Al Gore's Energy Wasting Compound made him realize that Algore is the enemy of the state.

“Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).”

What happened, did Al wake up one morning look in the mirror and realize that he was looking at the enemy?

Facts Not Needed, Just take my word for it!

Al’s yarn continues, ” January was seen as unusually cold in much of the United States. Yet from a global perspective, it was the second-hottest January since surface temperatures were first measured 130 years ago.” Yet he fails to cite any source, research or other evidence that what he says is true. Al you have a credibility problem here, no one believes you so you can’t just make things up anymore.

A Great Algore Lie

Here is some ALGORE SPIN, this is a great lie, “The heavy snowfalls this month have been used as fodder for ridicule by those who argue that global warming is a myth, yet scientists have long pointed out that warmer global temperatures have been increasing the rate of evaporation from the oceans, putting significantly more moisture into the atmosphere — thus causing heavier downfalls of both rain and snow in particular regions, including the Northeastern United States.” Wow, now the global warming is putting moisture in the air in the winter. Again, there are not sources, just Al’s imagination working overtime.

Now Al gets off topic a bit, “The political paralysis that is now so painfully evident in Washington has thus far prevented action by the Senate — not only on climate and energy legislation, but also on health care reform, financial regulatory reform and a host of other pressing issues.” Ok Al, one crisis at a time. Otherwise you’re gonna lose some of us old folks in your plot.

Blame the US, Just Don’t Blame Canada

So why isn’t the Global Warming story getting any traction? Al blame US. “Because the world still relies on leadership from the United States, the failure by the Senate to pass legislation intended to cap American emissions before the Copenhagen meeting guaranteed that the outcome would fall far short of even the minimum needed to build momentum toward a meaningful solution.”

Well who did you expect Al to blame? Canada? No, it’s the United States’ fault but also the economy stupid, “The globalization of the economy, coupled with the outsourcing of jobs from industrial countries, has simultaneously heightened fears of further job losses in the industrial world and encouraged rising expectations in emerging economies. The result? Heightened opposition, in both the industrial and developing worlds, to any constraints on the use of carbon-based fuels, which remain our principal source of energy.”

Blame Capitalism Too

He also blames ‘capitalism’ for his failures,, “The decisive victory of democratic capitalism over communism in the 1990s led to a period of philosophical dominance for market economics worldwide and the illusion of a unipolar world. It also led, in the United States, to a hubristic “bubble” of market fundamentalism that encouraged opponents of regulatory constraints to mount an aggressive effort to shift the internal boundary between the democracy sphere and the market sphere.”

Oh my gosh, Al uses some big words and phrases here, let’s start with ‘hubristic’.Hubristic refers to pride or arrogance. Which is it Al is it the pride or the arrogance of the people that is causing global warming? I don’t even want to tackle his run-on market fundamentalism..regulatory constraints and aggressive effort to the market sphere. It’s just Al being Al. Thanks Al, you’re so smart.

In Conclusion, Replace Those who do not Obey Me

Finally, after nearly 5000 highly crafted words, Al concludes his fictional yarn with a demand that we replace those who do not conform to his theories. “Public officials must rise to this challenge by doing what is required; and the public must demand that they do so — or must replace them.”

A day without Al, is like a day without sunshine. Glad to have you back with your wild spinning tales.

Here is Al’s latest diatribe if you want to read the whole thing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28gore.html

[Via http://criticalpolitics.wordpress.com]

Mise en scène

It is apparent that the Scottish Government is quite capable of maintaining the intensity of the controversy concerning an independence referendum throughout the whole period between now and the election in May 2011. In that period there will be at least one obviously relevant major political development, the UK general election this year, and one obviously major economic development.

Blighty is going to perform an economic miracle with Falklands oil? In that time frame? Ever? For that time frame what is being predicted by those who saw the present recession coming a long way off is extremely serious trouble for the UK, not least because its ridiculously hefty deficit will be greater than Greece’s ridiculously hefty deficit this year.

The CDS (Credit Default Swap) speculators who have been targeting Greece are very much expected to target dear old Blighty in a big way after feasting on Portugal and Spain and one or two other states. If the UK triple-A credit rating is lost as a result of this, the cost of servicing Blighty’s ginormous public debt goes up, and in consequence of this public spending will have to come down possibly even more than one might imagine.

If the Scottish budget provided by Westminster looks like being slashed, will the independence option be likely to seem more or less attractive, considering the size of the public sector in UK Scotland? As First Minister Salmond noted in an interview in a major financial journal during a recent official visit to France, those who forecast that there would never be a Scottish parliament and that he would never lead an SNP government are the people who are claiming that a majority of the Scottish electorate cannot be induced to vote for independence. They are also for ever telling us that everything in the Blighty garden is lovely.

In reality the W double dip that respected economists such as Drs Roubini and *Jorion, among others, have been warning about may just conceivably provide the economic and fiscal environment in which the Scottish constitutional issue will be coming to a head. Far be it from me to make such a prediction or indeed any prediction, but there does seem to be a swarm of locusts on the horizon, and it seems to be heading for Blighty.

 

*”Paul Jorion est un de ceux que l’on devrait écouter. Economiste et anthropologue, il a une vaste expérience du monde financier. Il a publié des travaux importants anticipant la crise et ce qui s’est passé, et a suggéré plusieurs propositions qui méritent l’attention de tous. Au cœur de la crise, il voit l’état de sauvagerie dans laquelle on a laissé la finance évoluer dans les dernières décennies, sous couvert d’une myriade de règlements, qui, contrairement à ce qui était prévu, ont au contraire favorisé toutes les formes d’abus et les dérives les plus hallucinantes.” (Manuel Maria Carrilho, ancien ministre portugais, La bulle du conformisme, Diario de Noticias, February 24th 2010)

[Via http://franklyfrancophone.wordpress.com]

Greensboro Economic Development Alliance Announces 2009 Results

Greensboro Economic Development Alliance (GEDA) announced today that the organization had leveraged the creation of 856 new jobs and $70.9 million in new capital investment in 2009 despite a turbulent global economy. Ameritox, Ltd., LabCorp, and Flight Safety International, Inc. all chose Greensboro and Guilford County for new facilities this year, while Machine Specialties, ConvaTec, and the HF Group, with existing local facilities, all elected to expand operations here.

Greensboro and Guilford County also enjoyed the fruit of earlier economic development announcements in 2009. Precor and O’Reilly are both operating in the eastern part of Guilford County. Mack Trucks had a grand opening for their corporate headquarters. FedEx Express opened in 2009 sorting more packages initially than when the Indianapolis hub originally opened and FedEx Ground, in the western part of the county, is under construction, still scheduled to be completed in 2011.

“2009 was certainly a challenging year for the global economy, but we continued to aggressively market Greensboro, which helped us attract investments by major companies like Ameritox, Ltd. and ConvaTec” remarked Greensboro Economic Development Alliance President, Dan Lynch. “Our momentum over the past few years was very strong and we expect 2010 to be a more robust year for Greensboro.”

GEDA focuses its work using an industry cluster strategy, centered on advanced manufacturing, aviation, financial and business services, life sciences, and transportation and logistics.

A member of the Greensboro Partnership, Greensboro Economic Development Alliance’s mission is to facilitate the creation of high quality jobs, attract new capital investment, retain and expand existing businesses, improve per capita income and generally improve the quality of life in Greensboro and Guilford County.

[Via http://thunktank.wordpress.com]

Time to bring back the 0% starting rate of corporation tax

From 2002 to 2006 the starting rate of Corporation Tax was 0%, meaning that companies making a small amount of profit had what amounted to a tax-free allowance on their profits before they started to pay Corporation Tax.

When the Labour government introduced the 0% rate in 2002 there was a marked increase in the number of company formations as self-employed people and partnerships became limited companies as a means to paying less tax. It also, critically, made setting up as a company an attractive alternative to formal employment, allowing experts to free themselves on employment contracts and work for a multitude of clients.

The 0% rate was abolished in 2006 the rate on the basis of it being too popular and damaging government revenue – it was now seen as a tax avoidance measure and not a policy to stimulate business. The result of scrapping the 0% rate was an immediate increase (running into thousands of Pounds) in tax liabilities for small companies, something the economic boom of the time could absorb without a dramatic increase in company debt.

Jump ahead to 2010 and the UK is suffering from high unemployment and small businesses are fighting for their very existence each day. The government has introduced a Business Payment Support Service to allow small companies to spread tax payments and the return of VAT to 17.5% is providing some relief to the many small businesses on the VAT Flat Rate Scheme, but neither of these measures encourage people to set up businesses, they just make it a little easier once tax payments are due – months after the initial start-up.

So wouldn’t it be smart for the next budget to bring back the 0% starting rate of Corporation Tax, ideally linked to the personal allowance for Income Tax? This would lead to a spike in businesses being formed and would give people tied into employment contracts that extra bit of confidence to go out on their own. Putting aside the obvious moral benefits of such a move, allowing people to take a chance at their own ambitions and sending a message that the government wants people to take a shot at their dreams, it would also make the economy instantly more flexible and would actually increase the likelihood of people making money for themselves and thus, the government may actually increase tax revenue as a result.

Setting up your own business should be easy and you should not be punished for doing so by tax rules dreamt up by people who have never run a small business. Indeed, government tax policy should actively encouraging people to start small businesses, making it more attractive than standard employment.

If the UK is to move away from the play-it-safe mentality of the last few years, where employees understandably forego their own ambitions in favour of security and the government creates vast bureaucracies to stifle enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit, the new government must use its first budget to actively start shifting things the other way.

The trickle-down effect would be back, and our economic recovery would be based on something more than yet further government spending.

[Via http://politicalbusiness.wordpress.com]

Climate Change Deniers - The New Truthers?

Nothing staggers and irritates me more than the ignorance of people who want to ignore climate change.  The folks who say “Hey, it’s snowing in Texas, global warming must be a big lie” stagger me because they’re just so stupid.  Never mind the fact that climate and weather aren’t the same thing, or the fact that bizarre weather patterns stem from unusual temperatures in parts of the oceans, it’s just ridiculous that these people have decided that massive heaps of peer-reviewed science are somehow “junk” because the contrived nonsense pumped out by deniers says so.

It’s funny, because one of the standard nonsense arguments that theists like to bring up when I get entangled with them is something called “Pascal’s Wager”.  The argument basically considered the possible outcomes of choosing to believe of not believe in god, against the possibility of god ecisting or not existing.  Pascal basically made the argument that if you believed in god and he didn’t exist, the consequence was basically nothing, but if you didn’t believe, and god did exist then the consequences were disastrous.

In a theological debate, the premise is a little ridiculous, it doesn’t hold any logical basis, though I’m sure for many people it’s reason enough to keep faith.

I saw a video a while ago which basically translated Pascal’s Wager to the climate change debate.  There’s four possible outcomes.  It’s either real or not real, and we either act or we don’t.  If it’s not real and we don’t act, that’s great.  If it’s not real and we act, well, we could still potentially benefit a great deal from developing new technologies and ideas that still conserve resources, make for cleaner air, etc.  If it’s real and we act, we could greatly improve our lives and possibly save ourselves as a species.  If it’s real and we don’t act – well, the results will be determined by just how severe the reality is.

The reality is that most of the changes we would need to make to address climate change would benefit us in the long run by conserving non-renewable resources like oil, natural gas, and coal.  The fact is that burning these fuels has a variety of negative environmental consquences besides CO2 production that we know to be altering the climate, as well as things likes the pH of seawater.  I say we know this because it is fact, supported with piles of research.  Burning oil releases sulphur and nitrogen oxides which create smog and acid rain.  Coal burning produces those, but also emits things like mercury into the air.

So what happens if we act to reduce those emissions?  Well, we have to come up with a way to do so – and cap & trade is one method suggested.  This sort of thing isn’t really new – I remember back in Costa Rica when I was there in 1998 that carbon offsetting and trading was being discussed then - primarily as a means to support ecologically-minded charities’ efforts to buy up rainforest tracts to preserve them.  There’s of course the argument that India & China won’t play along – but this to me is sort of a variation of the “tu quoque” fallacy.  They won’t play along, why then should we?

Ultimately, I don’t believe that not playing along gives a great competitive advantage.  Just because some other nations won’t play along right away doesn’t mean that there’s no point in trying to do so.  The fact is, as well, that the kind of advancements we can make to improve out ecological impact will likely lead to new job, new industries, to progress.  It is an inescapable fact that the “old” economy of much of North America, the manufacturing economy as we knew, is mostly done.  No longer can we expect to lead in manufacturing of simple goods – cheaper labour abroad in places like China have made that clear.  We can’t base an economy on selling hamburgers and haircuts to each other, either – so it’s clear at least to me that if we want to continue to enjoy prosperity we need to seek opportunities to strike out into new fields.

I’m looking forward to building a new home in the next few months, and putting much effort into using new technologies to make it more efficient.  As planned for now, we’ll be building an R2000+/LEED home, roughed for solar power/water heating (though I won’t be able to put it in right away), using a heat pump rather than conventional HVAC, etc.  My criteria is that the investments I make have to be ones that will actually provide a cost benefit – so no wind turbine as my research suggests that it’s not currently a benefit, but I think we’ll be able to do a lot of good.

I want this technology to be available – and I want to see my neighbours developing it and profiting from it.  That’s why we need to get to work on the problem, instead of trying to obfuscate and decate what is becoming more and more obviously fact.

Incidentally, if you’re a climate change skeptic, Canadian Senator Grant Mitchell, who’s an avid Twitter user, sent out this link from the Pembina Institute that inspired this whole post.  It’s well worth a read: http://climate.pembina.org/blog/71

[Via http://warriorbanker.wordpress.com]

Lufthansa pilots begin strike

The pilot’s union of German airline Lufthansa have begun a four-day strike over pay and job security. Operations at subsidiary airlines Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings are also affected by the strike.

The strike began at midnight on Monday (18:00 Sunday EST) after negotiations between the airline and union, Vereinigung Cockpit, over the weekend failed to resolve the threat. According to the union, the strike was over reduced flying time for the pilots, triggered by Lufthansa’s recent acquisition of several smaller airlines, which the union says is causing traffic to be diverted from union-operated routes. Additionally, the union was seeking a pay increase of 6.4% and guarantees that German labor conditions would apply to Lufthansa crews from abroad, which would reduce the incentive for outsourcing to foreign crews. In a statement issued by Lufthansa, however, the airline said that the union also demanded a greater say in the operation of the airline, which Lufthansa was unwilling to agree to.

The strike is expected to impact travelers on other airlines, as Lufthansa is a major player in the Star Alliance, and code-share operations with other airlines operated by Lufthansa would be affected by the strike. The strike involves more than 4,000 pilots, most of whom have been working without a contract for nearly a year. According to a union spokesman, upwards of 90% of the union’s members voted to strike. The strike is expected to cost Lufthansa around US$33-34 million (about €24-25 million) a day, not counting the impact at other airlines.

[Via http://novostite.wordpress.com]

Writing a book no one wants to read

I have written a few books.  No one wants to read them or pay for them.

I suppose if they had been published, it would help.

I got disgusted to the point I don’t even know where two manuscripts are, somewhere in Mexico I suspect, and the third I have on a hard drive somewhere.

I’m not the only one who wrote a book no one is interested in.  There are plenty of us.  We turned to blogging out of frustration.

I was thinking about starting a club, the Book Writers Who No One is Interested in and offer courses in non creative writing to insure our non success.

That should get some attention.

I have read a few manuscripts or portions thereof in the past year by people who I have come to know on the web and to my way of thinking some of it is better than the books on the best sellers lists.

Is there a market saturation in authors?

WordPress has about ten million blogs and half of us are wannabe authors.  I don’t think there are enough readers in the world to keep all of us busy and there are not enough publishers to handle it.

Maybe my stuff is dull.

I think I’ll go back to my  job as a fresh air inspector. 

[Via http://plainview.wordpress.com]

▶ CLARÍN (ARGENTINA) | Buscan en la ONU una vía de negociación por Malvinas

«[...] Taiana espera arribar el próximo miércoles a la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York con un contundente documento de apoyo a la posición argentina bajo el brazo. Allí, le solicitará al secretario general, Ban Ki-moon, que convoque a una mesa de negociación con Gran Bretaña sobre la exploración petrolera en las islas. “Estamos tratando de provocar las condiciones propicias para el diálogo y la negociación”, explicó el embajador argentino ante la ONU, Jorge Argüello, a la agencia oficial Télam, al tiempo que acusó a sectores británicos de “agitar el fantasma bélico”. Por eso, subrayó que el objetivo último es “discutir la cuestión de fondo: la soberanía de las islas” [...]». Leonardo Mindez

Read the article in Clarín.

[Via http://babello.info]

Why Universal Medicare Isn't an Option

At one time, those advocating a “public option” were trying to claim it was not a socialized health care proposal like Medicaid/Medicare.

Now they’re actually proposing that this massive socialized bureaucracy be extended to cover all Americans.

The obvious question is, with a system that requires the whole of the nation to suffer a massive tax burden in order to cover 14% of the population, where are we going to get the huge amount of money necessary to cover 100%? Especially when that system is already underfunded, in danger of going broke in only a few years.

Right now, most Americans pay more to FICA than they pay in income taxes.

What happens when you increase it to cover SEVEN TIMES as many people?

Are YOU ready to pay 700% as much in taxes, to cover universal Medicare?

This socialized system only works because it involves the productive part of America paying out the nose to support a tiny fraction of the population. Making it universal would be, quite literally, saying “I know how to make a pyramid scheme work: Put EVERYONE at the top of the pyramid, at  the same time!”

And this is aside from how bad, how harmful, Medicare already is to America, even when it only covers one seventh of Americans:

• Fraud and Theft: Medicare is already fraught with fraud…it is thought that between sixty and seventy two billion dollars are stolen from the taxpayers via Medicare fraud, each year. That’s $72,000,000,000 every year. Imagine how much the fraud would balloon if the government had to police seven times as many people. The lost money would be comparable to the recent Stimulus/Bailout spending, but it would never end.
• Too Expensive and Inefficient: Medicare is ALREADY expected to run out of money by 2017. It is horribly under-funded. How are we going to expand it 700%?
• Abysmal quality: Consumer and doctor dissatisfaction with Medicare is only surpassed by the similarly government-mandated HMO system.
• Driving Costs: The ballooning cost of health care is consistently charted as having begun in the late sixties, right after the creation of Medicare. This system strips away consumer controls of prices…if the government took over the buying of your meals, the price of food would similarly go through the roof.
• Tax the Poor: The wealthiest segment of Americans is the oldest. Americans tend to gain more wealth as they age. Yet the poorest segment of Americans are forced to pay in full for FICA, already. In effect, the poorest are being taxed for the richest.

Next time someone suggests that we should simply extend Medicare to cover everyone, because it’s working so well, ask him where we’ll get the two billion people necessary to fund extending that this fraud-ridden, insolvent, price-ballooning system to the 86% of Americans who now fund it for the rest.

[Via http://butnowyouknow.wordpress.com]

Can we Create Jobs in an Economy Controlled by a Few?

by Libby Conn and John Dankosky – Today, we talk about jobs.  But, really, everybody’s talking about jobs right now.  It’s the anniversary of the Obama administration’s stimulus bill, which packed neither the job creation, nor the political punch the President was looking for. Gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont kicked off his run officially yesterday…and job creation was the main focus of his speech (Listen for Jeff Cohen’s report here).

In fact, during yesterday’s show, we talked a bit about jobs.  How monopolistic American companies actually drive jobs away from small business, and then destroy them through mergers and off-shoring.

This is just a part of the scary outlook presented in Barry Lynn’s book, Cornered.   Keep an eye out for an upcoming piece he’s got in Washington Monthly about monopolies and job loss.  He argues that lawmakers can debate jobs legislation until they’re blue in the face, but that they won’t be taking a serious stab at the problem of unemployment unless they take a hard look at the “new monopolies” that control our economy.

We noted an interesting exchange between a Lynn, and a caller who suggested that big government regulation of corporations wasn’t going to help anything – in fact it would make it harder for small businessmen like himself.  He charged Lynn with being an “academic.”  Here’s his response:

Barry Lynn

“I don’t want big government.  One thing I think that people should understand is that I’m not an academic.  I actually don’t have a graduate degree.  I worked, managed a business for many years– an independent magazine that’s made its money in the market.  So I know about keeping the cash flowing to keep people in their jobs.  I know how tough it is.  One of the reasons I wrote this book is because I want to help the entrepreneurs in this country figure out who their friends are and who their enemies are.  Their friends tend to be each other.  They cannot count on government as an entity to save them.  They cannot count on big business to save them.  What they can do is use government to fight big business and  make a space for themselves and their brethren in other sectors…..One of the reasons that we have regulations that make it very hard for small business to start up is because government is controlled by large business….  If small businesses want to compete, the first targets they have to take on are the large businesses that use the government against them.”

(In case you feel like you’ve heard this before, it might have come from this guy.)

But listener Todd Vachon  wondered if any real such competition is possible:

“I just wanted to suggest that the natural tendency of capitalism is monopolize. The end goal of “competition” is always to defeat all competitors. While the government can regulate they can also deregulate. This is a never-ending cycle of corporate profit versus public interest. Can there ever really be an end to monopolization without actually changing the whole economic system to one that is based on different values, other than maximizing profit.”

All interesting stuff.  But, we left wondering whether anything in our political system would ever change to break this “never-ending cycle.”

[Via http://whereweblog.wordpress.com]

CNN Poll: 52% Don't want Obama Re-Elected

CNN poll: 52% say Obama doesn’t deserve reelection in 2012 By Michael O’Brien – 02/16/10 01:35 PM ET

52 percent of Americans said President Barack Obama doesn’t deserve reelection in 2012, according to a new poll.

44 percent of all Americans said they would vote to reelect the president in two and a half years, less than the slight majority who said they would prefer to elect someone else.

Obama faces a 44-52 deficit among both all Americans and registered voters, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Tuesday. Four percent had no opinion.

For full article: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/81213-52-say-obama-doesnt-deserve-reelection-

[Via http://james4america.wordpress.com]

Palin’s Cunning Sleight of Hand - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist – Palin’s Cunning Sleight of Hand – NYTimes.com.

Frank Rich writes this scathing attack on the GOP incumbents who feast on pork as much as their Democrat counterparts in his normal genre.  Yet, it turns into weak propaganda as he tries to paint Palin as part of that incumbent machine – a positioning that all but the loyal leftist who are addicted to this kind of wordsmithing and need it to feed their ideological addiction.

Rich admits that Palin outsmarted the media and the liberal left with the so called “hand-gate” nonsense in another “gotcha” moment.  That infuriates him so much that he invested quite a bit of rhetorical energy into concocting this spin.

But, Americans already get it in increasing numbers, well past a majority.  We are in the mood to throw out ALL of the bums in Washington.  We already know that the GOP folks that have been in place the last two years are, for the most part, as corrupt as any politicians and stealing our taxpayer money.

Since Rich is merely stating the obvious about that, his words will be ignored by conservatives and independents.  Who cares about the rest?

[Via http://classicallib.wordpress.com]