Somethings wrong here
Watching the interview, and the body language.
She would be answering in the affirmative, but at the same time, shaking her head from side to side.
I think this means it's a like
Face The Nation Transcript: 1.27.08, Featuring Interviews With Sen. Hillary Clinton, Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani - CBS News:
"(CBS) Appearing on CBS News' Face The Nation, Democratic president candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton sought to dispel criticism of her husband for making comments on the campaign trail that some have called inflammatory.
“I think it's human nature,' she told host Bob Schieffer. 'I think that the spouses of all three of us have, you know, been passionate and vigorous defenders of each of us, and maybe got a little carried away."
Then we had the following, with a noticeable shrug of her shoulders:
"My husband has such a great commitment to me and to my campaign. You know, he loves me," she said. "Husbands and wives get out there and work on each others' behalf. I certainly did that for him for many years. And I'm very grateful for all of the help he's given both supporting me, along with our daughter, and making the case for my candidacy.”
And what's with the Blue Dress???
Et Tu Brute?
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Open mind
I'm still a skeptic... but, as one of my all time best friends is an engineer on the project, I'll keep an open mind.
Note that one of the strong issues is that it is designed to look and feel much like a 'conventional" product.
Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Wins 2008 Green Car Vision Award | Green Car .com:
"The Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell has been honored with Green Car Journal’s Green Car Vision Award™, the first time the magazine has recognized a limited production vehicle for its forward-thinking technologies. Featuring General Motors’ fourth-generation fuel cell propulsion system, the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell won out over fellow nominees including the BMW Hydrogen 7, Honda FCX Clarity, Phoenix Electric SUT, and Toyota Prius Plug-In. Nominees represent a variety of technologies and fuels including hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen internal combustion, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric drive."
Note that one of the strong issues is that it is designed to look and feel much like a 'conventional" product.
Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Wins 2008 Green Car Vision Award | Green Car .com:
"The Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell has been honored with Green Car Journal’s Green Car Vision Award™, the first time the magazine has recognized a limited production vehicle for its forward-thinking technologies. Featuring General Motors’ fourth-generation fuel cell propulsion system, the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell won out over fellow nominees including the BMW Hydrogen 7, Honda FCX Clarity, Phoenix Electric SUT, and Toyota Prius Plug-In. Nominees represent a variety of technologies and fuels including hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen internal combustion, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric drive."
Friday, January 25, 2008
True Colors?
Hey ... wait a min.
Isn't there something called the 22nd Amendment?
Two term limit
Oh that's right, rules apply to the rest of us...
Clinton’s Campaign Sees Value in Keeping Former President in Attack Mode - New York Times:
"The Clintons have come full circle: They are truly two-for-the-price-of-one in this presidential race. Mr. Clinton used that phrase when he first ran in 1992, only to back off after voters raised eyebrows, but now the Clintons are all but openly running together as a power couple ready to take office in 2009. Mrs. Clinton views him as a full partner, her advisers say, relying on him over the last few weeks to salvage and steer her campaign."
Isn't there something called the 22nd Amendment?
Two term limit
Oh that's right, rules apply to the rest of us...
Clinton’s Campaign Sees Value in Keeping Former President in Attack Mode - New York Times:
"The Clintons have come full circle: They are truly two-for-the-price-of-one in this presidential race. Mr. Clinton used that phrase when he first ran in 1992, only to back off after voters raised eyebrows, but now the Clintons are all but openly running together as a power couple ready to take office in 2009. Mrs. Clinton views him as a full partner, her advisers say, relying on him over the last few weeks to salvage and steer her campaign."
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Ouch
Missed intro
Interview on CNBC from Davos
On Tech
Good area to invest in, lacks leveage
Google as good example, inventive
MuSoft = GM
Auto industry was the tech industry of the 20's, but now just recreating the same thing, revamping and redesigning.
MuSoft... just iterations of Windoze
Interview on CNBC from Davos
On Tech
Good area to invest in, lacks leveage
Google as good example, inventive
MuSoft = GM
Auto industry was the tech industry of the 20's, but now just recreating the same thing, revamping and redesigning.
MuSoft... just iterations of Windoze
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Threads and influences
Shirley and I both like Diana Krall (btw, wife of Elvis Costello) ...
Reputed to be influenced by Astrud Gilberto, who was, in turn influenced by...
Chet Baker ... voice and horn supreme of the 60's -70's jazz era.
Such phrasing, voice or horn...
interchangeable
Reputed to be influenced by Astrud Gilberto, who was, in turn influenced by...
Chet Baker ... voice and horn supreme of the 60's -70's jazz era.
Such phrasing, voice or horn...
interchangeable
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Trigger Pulling
Dow down about 400pts
But Fed cut rates
Time to deploy some reserves
Would have preferred a bit more panic, but fundamentals still sound (ex banking/housing)
Liquidity will pour into stocks, won't be too long.
Consumer weak, but consumer follows, does NOT lead.
But Fed cut rates
Time to deploy some reserves
Would have preferred a bit more panic, but fundamentals still sound (ex banking/housing)
Liquidity will pour into stocks, won't be too long.
Consumer weak, but consumer follows, does NOT lead.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Investment thoughts
Investments
Proposition of simple requirements for a modern economy
(trying to boil down to just a few factors)
Fresh Water – how to play, maybe water purification.
Food – moving from a period of falling food prices to one of rising ones, due to
1) competition from energy ( ethanol = burning food )
2) rising living standards, esp. in Asia, and demand for more protein in the diet (meat, which increases demand for grain)
Fuel / Energy – ongoing increases in demand, again from developing markets
Finance – the problem with finance is that, as one wag at Wells Fargo put it: “why invent new ways to loose money when the old ones work so well”
(see below)
Real Estate – can become over built
Location location location
Observations (relating to entities I have an interest in)
Purity Foods, pressured by alternatives, and wheat prices
But pressure will be on conventional pricing as well, therefore a halo or umbrella for pricing
Earthy.com – gourmet, specialty products, pricing
Whole foods actually sees demand go up in economic slow downs as
a) high end customers who would eat out, cook at home more
b) “true believers” stick with products
Cherry Capital Foods – should be able to play on the “local goods” pricing
Exposure is to produce, not grains
Dec 11th CNBC Becky Quick interview with Warren Buffett here
Becky: You know, Larry Bossidy was a guest host of Squawk Box this morning. He said, when he looks out at the market and looks at financials, he can't believe how much they've been beaten down and he says that could be the best-performing sector next year. Is that a view you might share with him?
Buffett: Well, we own a few. What you'll see in the financials, I think you'll see an enormous divergence in the performance. I wouldn't want to be, I wouldn't think in terms of the group there, because some of them have done some very dumb things. John Stumpf (CEO) of Wells Fargo had the best quote. He said it's puzzling to him why bankers have come up with these new ways to lose money when the old ways were working so well. (Laughs.) But they have. And in some places it's really been brutal. Other places, it doesn't make much difference. So I think if the group gets knocked down and you can pick out the better companies, the ones that really haven't gone crazy in recent years, particularly in the real-estate field, it would be a very good place to look.
Proposition of simple requirements for a modern economy
(trying to boil down to just a few factors)
Fresh Water – how to play, maybe water purification.
Food – moving from a period of falling food prices to one of rising ones, due to
1) competition from energy ( ethanol = burning food )
2) rising living standards, esp. in Asia, and demand for more protein in the diet (meat, which increases demand for grain)
Fuel / Energy – ongoing increases in demand, again from developing markets
Finance – the problem with finance is that, as one wag at Wells Fargo put it: “why invent new ways to loose money when the old ones work so well”
(see below)
Real Estate – can become over built
Location location location
Observations (relating to entities I have an interest in)
Purity Foods, pressured by alternatives, and wheat prices
But pressure will be on conventional pricing as well, therefore a halo or umbrella for pricing
Earthy.com – gourmet, specialty products, pricing
Whole foods actually sees demand go up in economic slow downs as
a) high end customers who would eat out, cook at home more
b) “true believers” stick with products
Cherry Capital Foods – should be able to play on the “local goods” pricing
Exposure is to produce, not grains
Dec 11th CNBC Becky Quick interview with Warren Buffett here
Becky: You know, Larry Bossidy was a guest host of Squawk Box this morning. He said, when he looks out at the market and looks at financials, he can't believe how much they've been beaten down and he says that could be the best-performing sector next year. Is that a view you might share with him?
Buffett: Well, we own a few. What you'll see in the financials, I think you'll see an enormous divergence in the performance. I wouldn't want to be, I wouldn't think in terms of the group there, because some of them have done some very dumb things. John Stumpf (CEO) of Wells Fargo had the best quote. He said it's puzzling to him why bankers have come up with these new ways to lose money when the old ways were working so well. (Laughs.) But they have. And in some places it's really been brutal. Other places, it doesn't make much difference. So I think if the group gets knocked down and you can pick out the better companies, the ones that really haven't gone crazy in recent years, particularly in the real-estate field, it would be a very good place to look.
Flashbacks
Going over year end, and other, notes
Reflections
Mostly back when I was trading.
My failure to accept “conventional wisdom” in Economics may have enhanced my ability to trade, maybe now, to invest.
This has led to …the recognition that markets, like the economy, are seldom rational.
I have tended to read the tea leaves (often the press) for sense of the Zeitgeist, and play with or against it.
While I was suppose to be a "whiz" at political science (hey this is many years ago back in college), I got fed up
Pol-Sci – degenerated into poll taking
Note that I attempted to do my independent study on street racing, but was shot down.
My perception was that it was social behavor, political in the sense that it was "extra-legal"
Reflections
Mostly back when I was trading.
My failure to accept “conventional wisdom” in Economics may have enhanced my ability to trade, maybe now, to invest.
This has led to …the recognition that markets, like the economy, are seldom rational.
I have tended to read the tea leaves (often the press) for sense of the Zeitgeist, and play with or against it.
While I was suppose to be a "whiz" at political science (hey this is many years ago back in college), I got fed up
Pol-Sci – degenerated into poll taking
Note that I attempted to do my independent study on street racing, but was shot down.
My perception was that it was social behavor, political in the sense that it was "extra-legal"
whew
Shirley decided to restart her blog
Dormant since August .... of 2006!
Well, we had to figure out how to reclaim it since neither of us recalled the log on
After several false starts and dead ends we managed to do it
Maybe not ready for prime... yet, but we did get her restarted!
Dormant since August .... of 2006!
Well, we had to figure out how to reclaim it since neither of us recalled the log on
After several false starts and dead ends we managed to do it
Maybe not ready for prime... yet, but we did get her restarted!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Contrast
Must read for Marketing
Seth's Blog
Note that one of Seth's books is "All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World"
Soichiro Honda quote : "'The product cannot lie"
How true
Seth's Blog
Note that one of Seth's books is "All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World"
Soichiro Honda quote : "'The product cannot lie"
How true
Bum Steer
Gives the term a new meaning
YouTube - NAIAS Dodge Press Conference - Humping Cattle
Ah the challenges of working with live animals
Esp as into intro for the new Dodge "Ram"
YouTube - NAIAS Dodge Press Conference - Humping Cattle
Ah the challenges of working with live animals
Esp as into intro for the new Dodge "Ram"
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Elephant in the Room
In short ... demographics rule.
The sub-prime mess is a pimple on the elephant's ass.
Developments : Why Baby Boomers May Bust the Housing Market:
"Think the current housing downturn and the subprime mortgage mess is the worst of the housing market’s problems? Not so, according to a report published this month in the Journal of the American Planning Association."
And there is nothing politicians can do about it, other than , maybe, curb building.
The "pig in the python" keeps moving along.
"About to wreak havoc on the housing market are the 78 million American baby boomers who will “retire, relocate, and eventually withdraw from the housing market,” according to report authors Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography in the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California, and SungHo Ryu, an associate planner with the Southern California Association of Governments.
Using demographic data to show that individuals in their mid-60s tend to sell more often than buy, the authors contend that when boomers — a “dominant force in the housing market” — start reaching the age of 65 in the year 2011, a market shift will occur. Some retirees will be looking to downsize, others will relocate to warmer climes, while others will move to nursing homes, says Mr. Myers. As they transition out of the housing market or look to sell their homes, in some states there will be “more homes available for sale than there are buyers for them.” Home prices will soften.
The “sell-off” will create a sizeable hurdle for the housing market, because as Mr. Myers puts it, “It isn’t money that buys property, it’s warm bodies. If you don’t have enough warm bodies to fill up the space, the space stays empty.”
The report points out that the ratio of those aged 65 and older to working age (25 to 64) adults will increase by 67% between 2010 and 2030, and that when these older adults try to sell their “high-priced homes” to a “relatively smaller and less-advantaged generation” — a cohort whose buying power was diminished through the housing boom’s price increases — there will be more homes for sale."
The sub-prime mess is a pimple on the elephant's ass.
Developments : Why Baby Boomers May Bust the Housing Market:
"Think the current housing downturn and the subprime mortgage mess is the worst of the housing market’s problems? Not so, according to a report published this month in the Journal of the American Planning Association."
And there is nothing politicians can do about it, other than , maybe, curb building.
The "pig in the python" keeps moving along.
"About to wreak havoc on the housing market are the 78 million American baby boomers who will “retire, relocate, and eventually withdraw from the housing market,” according to report authors Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography in the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California, and SungHo Ryu, an associate planner with the Southern California Association of Governments.
Using demographic data to show that individuals in their mid-60s tend to sell more often than buy, the authors contend that when boomers — a “dominant force in the housing market” — start reaching the age of 65 in the year 2011, a market shift will occur. Some retirees will be looking to downsize, others will relocate to warmer climes, while others will move to nursing homes, says Mr. Myers. As they transition out of the housing market or look to sell their homes, in some states there will be “more homes available for sale than there are buyers for them.” Home prices will soften.
The “sell-off” will create a sizeable hurdle for the housing market, because as Mr. Myers puts it, “It isn’t money that buys property, it’s warm bodies. If you don’t have enough warm bodies to fill up the space, the space stays empty.”
The report points out that the ratio of those aged 65 and older to working age (25 to 64) adults will increase by 67% between 2010 and 2030, and that when these older adults try to sell their “high-priced homes” to a “relatively smaller and less-advantaged generation” — a cohort whose buying power was diminished through the housing boom’s price increases — there will be more homes for sale."
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Pheeew
Hunkered down for weekend
Stayed away from phone, email etc till today
Did spend a LOT of time loading CD's on household drive...
Every time maybe I was done, found more not previously saved.
I think I got it now, about 17.5 Gig (maybe more downstate)
All run through Apple iTunes/Airport Ext. to the house sound system...
Hopefully no more scattered "jewel boxes" or "discussions" about how to sort/organize same
Next to get cheap used laptop to dedicate as "control panel"
Should have done this a long time ago.
Stayed away from phone, email etc till today
Did spend a LOT of time loading CD's on household drive...
Every time maybe I was done, found more not previously saved.
I think I got it now, about 17.5 Gig (maybe more downstate)
All run through Apple iTunes/Airport Ext. to the house sound system...
Hopefully no more scattered "jewel boxes" or "discussions" about how to sort/organize same
Next to get cheap used laptop to dedicate as "control panel"
Should have done this a long time ago.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Good idea or not?
Bank Agrees to Buy Troubled Loan Giant for $4 Billion - New York Times:
"Bank of America announced Friday that it has agreed to pay about $4 billion in stock to acquire Countrywide Financial, the troubled lender that became a symbol of the excesses that led to the subprime mortgage crisis.
“Countrywide presents a rare opportunity for Bank of America to add what we believe is the best domestic mortgage platform at an attractive price and to affirm our position as the nation’s premier lender to consumers,” Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement."
Brilliant move or ... paraphrasing . John Stumpf (CEO) of Wells Fargo : He said it's puzzling to him why bankers have come up with these new ways to lose money when the old ways were working so well.
"Bank of America announced Friday that it has agreed to pay about $4 billion in stock to acquire Countrywide Financial, the troubled lender that became a symbol of the excesses that led to the subprime mortgage crisis.
“Countrywide presents a rare opportunity for Bank of America to add what we believe is the best domestic mortgage platform at an attractive price and to affirm our position as the nation’s premier lender to consumers,” Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement."
Brilliant move or ... paraphrasing . John Stumpf (CEO) of Wells Fargo : He said it's puzzling to him why bankers have come up with these new ways to lose money when the old ways were working so well.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Skeptic
Tierney says take global warming with a grain of salt
Are There Any Good Weather Omens? - TierneyLab - Science - New York Times Blog
Best to take John with a pinch too, but at least he does have some mention of alternative thinking.
Personally, I like to see all sides.
The comments get into too much of a shouting match ...
But maybe worth chasing some of the links
Are There Any Good Weather Omens? - TierneyLab - Science - New York Times Blog
Best to take John with a pinch too, but at least he does have some mention of alternative thinking.
Personally, I like to see all sides.
The comments get into too much of a shouting match ...
But maybe worth chasing some of the links
6th Basic food Group
Good for more than warding off Vampires
Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic
"The power to boost hydrogen sulfide production may help explain why a garlic-rich diet appears to protect against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer, say the study authors. Higher hydrogen sulfide might also protect the heart, according to other experts. Although garlic has not consistently been shown to lower cholesterol levels, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine earlier this year found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle caused by a heart attack."
Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic
"The power to boost hydrogen sulfide production may help explain why a garlic-rich diet appears to protect against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer, say the study authors. Higher hydrogen sulfide might also protect the heart, according to other experts. Although garlic has not consistently been shown to lower cholesterol levels, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine earlier this year found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle caused by a heart attack."
Friday, January 04, 2008
Cherry Capital Foods
My only real "start up" in '07 makes NPR's Morning Edition
Click here for link to the coverage and audio
Original audio on Interlochen Public Radio here
Cherry Capital Foods will fulfill the distribution function for Taste The Local Difference
Click here for link to the coverage and audio
Original audio on Interlochen Public Radio here
Cherry Capital Foods will fulfill the distribution function for Taste The Local Difference
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Justin Wolfers "gets it"
Skip following the "polls" follow the markets
In "markets" the participants "bet" real money on expected outcomes, what they expect, not what they "want".
One might "want" McCain to win, but expect Hillary to win.
While in polls, people answer what they "want" to happen, even who they will vote for, but not what they expect to happen.
Also, in polls, people sometimes lie.
Best Bet for Next President: Prediction Markets - WSJ.com: "As the 2008 presidential race heats up, voters are overwhelmed by a flood of new data: Who is ahead in the polls? Who is winning the 'money race'? How are the dynamics of the race likely to respond as the candidates tack left and right, advertising strategies change, and we learn whose Web site is drawing more eyeballs?
Political prediction markets provide us -- the consumers of this information -- with a way to cut through this clutter.
A prediction market is a bit like the stock market, except that you are buying shares whose value depends on the success of a political candidate, rather than the profits earned by a corporation. And just as stock prices are a useful barometer of the health of a company, so too the price of a prediction contract is a barometer of the health of a political campaign."
Read the whole thing, and check the sidebars.
In "markets" the participants "bet" real money on expected outcomes, what they expect, not what they "want".
One might "want" McCain to win, but expect Hillary to win.
While in polls, people answer what they "want" to happen, even who they will vote for, but not what they expect to happen.
Also, in polls, people sometimes lie.
Best Bet for Next President: Prediction Markets - WSJ.com: "As the 2008 presidential race heats up, voters are overwhelmed by a flood of new data: Who is ahead in the polls? Who is winning the 'money race'? How are the dynamics of the race likely to respond as the candidates tack left and right, advertising strategies change, and we learn whose Web site is drawing more eyeballs?
Political prediction markets provide us -- the consumers of this information -- with a way to cut through this clutter.
A prediction market is a bit like the stock market, except that you are buying shares whose value depends on the success of a political candidate, rather than the profits earned by a corporation. And just as stock prices are a useful barometer of the health of a company, so too the price of a prediction contract is a barometer of the health of a political campaign."
Read the whole thing, and check the sidebars.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Think Different
One trick is to really learn to think "outside the box" or maybe be just enough removed from day to day (week to week, month to month) dealing with details.
Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike - New York Times
Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike - New York Times
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Theater
and bad theater at that ... call it a farce.
Scathing review of the abuse of the traveling public.
And don't dare complain.
Kudos to Partick Smith
The Airport Security Follies - Jet Lagged - Air Travel - Opinion - New York Times Blog:
"Unfortunately, at concourse checkpoints all across America, the madness of passenger screening continues in plain view. It began with pat-downs and the senseless confiscation of pointy objects. Then came the mandatory shoe removal, followed in the summer of 2006 by the prohibition of liquids and gels. We can only imagine what is next."
Scathing review of the abuse of the traveling public.
And don't dare complain.
Kudos to Partick Smith
The Airport Security Follies - Jet Lagged - Air Travel - Opinion - New York Times Blog:
"Unfortunately, at concourse checkpoints all across America, the madness of passenger screening continues in plain view. It began with pat-downs and the senseless confiscation of pointy objects. Then came the mandatory shoe removal, followed in the summer of 2006 by the prohibition of liquids and gels. We can only imagine what is next."
Friday, December 28, 2007
Swan lake
So far, our lake only has a couple of breeding pairs, as well as some transients.
The Noble, Gentle Swan Is Anything but, to Some:
"Known for gliding along local waterways with statuesque grace, the mute swan is rarely thought of as an environmental hazard.
But wildlife experts say that the swan’s elegant facade conceals an ecological menace that devours shoreline vegetation, scares away other waterfowl and can even attack humans. The bird is now a target of a campaign to reduce its numbers in the state’s delicate coastline habitats.
The leaders of the effort are conservationists, including the Connecticut Audubon Society, which in the coming months will intensify a campaign to urge state officials to control the swans’ population, which stands at about 1,100."
The Noble, Gentle Swan Is Anything but, to Some:
"Known for gliding along local waterways with statuesque grace, the mute swan is rarely thought of as an environmental hazard.
But wildlife experts say that the swan’s elegant facade conceals an ecological menace that devours shoreline vegetation, scares away other waterfowl and can even attack humans. The bird is now a target of a campaign to reduce its numbers in the state’s delicate coastline habitats.
The leaders of the effort are conservationists, including the Connecticut Audubon Society, which in the coming months will intensify a campaign to urge state officials to control the swans’ population, which stands at about 1,100."
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Meta ... Physics
Good piece on anthropocentric universe
Universe - Laws of Nature - Physics
The universe is because it is
Universe - Laws of Nature - Physics
The universe is because it is
Bright Idea...
Or is it?
No Joke, Bulb Change Is Challenge for U.S.
How many legislators does it take to change a lightbulb?
Questions
Dimmers?
Retrofit fixtures, cans
Disposal of CF's ...mercury
Will there be funding for low income folks to buy bulbs?
No Joke, Bulb Change Is Challenge for U.S.
How many legislators does it take to change a lightbulb?
Questions
Dimmers?
Retrofit fixtures, cans
Disposal of CF's ...mercury
Will there be funding for low income folks to buy bulbs?
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas
Shirley got me ...
Two-Lane Blacktop
Maybe the best "road" movie made, at least in that era.
Just re-released on DVD.
Background: 1968 was my first car, a Firebird.
That September was time for a "road trip" to check on the Canadian Rockies. Inspiration was the Gene Autry tune "Blue Canadian Rockies" on the Byrds album "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" released that July.
Later I got into modifications, more modifications, even more modifications and a bit of 'racin'
Restless time, and the movie really hit a chord by the time it came out ('71).
Not much dialog, mostly "road time".
Later, I discovered motorcycles and added even more miles, a lot more, rockies several times, Smokey Mts, Ozarks, Arizona.
Preferred the open spaces of the American and Canadian West.
Shirley and I are talking about need for a "road trip", maybe not this spring, but soon.
Two-Lane Blacktop
Maybe the best "road" movie made, at least in that era.
Just re-released on DVD.
Background: 1968 was my first car, a Firebird.
That September was time for a "road trip" to check on the Canadian Rockies. Inspiration was the Gene Autry tune "Blue Canadian Rockies" on the Byrds album "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" released that July.
Later I got into modifications, more modifications, even more modifications and a bit of 'racin'
Restless time, and the movie really hit a chord by the time it came out ('71).
Not much dialog, mostly "road time".
Later, I discovered motorcycles and added even more miles, a lot more, rockies several times, Smokey Mts, Ozarks, Arizona.
Preferred the open spaces of the American and Canadian West.
Shirley and I are talking about need for a "road trip", maybe not this spring, but soon.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Close to wrapping up the year
Some highlights
Well, a full year
From one of “those” birthdays, and a wonderful gathering with my family, to wrapping up our Conservation Easement.
Ian popped the question, to which I answered “like I’m surprised?”
Wedding due late Oct ’08.
Nicole announced that Robby will be an “older brother”
Travel was rather light, Chicago to see Whitney, California to see Nicole and Robby, NYC for conference and “vacation”, Sanibel mostly on condo stuff.
Purity Foods prevailed against “Evil PFoods” who closed their doors. Late in the year, looks like progress in working with Michigan State University on nutrition and bio-availability issues.
Finished re-organization of Earthy.com by increasing investment and bundling the packaged goods (retail) business with the dot-com.
Helped arrange the launch of Cherry Capital Foods, working with founder Eric Hahn and Earthy Delights.
Wetco financed (Lease) the white flour mill for Purity foods, then later, coolers for Cherry Capital Foods.
Helped put Red Cedar Technology on a more solid financial footing, and this company continues to make progress, with a likely teaming up with the biggest software service company in India.
We got Shirley’s studio finished, and some further tidy up of the cabin.
New lift built for “Chip’s Ahoy” and she was featured in “Wooden boats of Leelanau”
Broke down and bought (used) Honda S2000, my “M22 Car”
Visited Maine, for Andy/Katie’s wedding.
Now, only Alaska is missing from my list of states visited.
Wrapped up our Conservation Easement, now to draw more landowners into the program. Related was getting our Forest Management plan approved.
Community:
Progress with the Glen Lake Association Long Term Planning committee.
Shirley accepted board nomination to GLA.
Establishment of Leelanau Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
Accepted offer of Chair of the Leelanau EDC for ’08. This position leads to board seat on the Traverse Bay EDC.
Moving into the new year :
Discussions about launch of Leelanau Timber LLC/Champion Trees project
Discussions (early) about further support of Taste the Local Difference, mainly via looking at ways to help growers establish greenhouses.
Well, a full year
From one of “those” birthdays, and a wonderful gathering with my family, to wrapping up our Conservation Easement.
Ian popped the question, to which I answered “like I’m surprised?”
Wedding due late Oct ’08.
Nicole announced that Robby will be an “older brother”
Travel was rather light, Chicago to see Whitney, California to see Nicole and Robby, NYC for conference and “vacation”, Sanibel mostly on condo stuff.
Purity Foods prevailed against “Evil PFoods” who closed their doors. Late in the year, looks like progress in working with Michigan State University on nutrition and bio-availability issues.
Finished re-organization of Earthy.com by increasing investment and bundling the packaged goods (retail) business with the dot-com.
Helped arrange the launch of Cherry Capital Foods, working with founder Eric Hahn and Earthy Delights.
Wetco financed (Lease) the white flour mill for Purity foods, then later, coolers for Cherry Capital Foods.
Helped put Red Cedar Technology on a more solid financial footing, and this company continues to make progress, with a likely teaming up with the biggest software service company in India.
We got Shirley’s studio finished, and some further tidy up of the cabin.
New lift built for “Chip’s Ahoy” and she was featured in “Wooden boats of Leelanau”
Broke down and bought (used) Honda S2000, my “M22 Car”
Visited Maine, for Andy/Katie’s wedding.
Now, only Alaska is missing from my list of states visited.
Wrapped up our Conservation Easement, now to draw more landowners into the program. Related was getting our Forest Management plan approved.
Community:
Progress with the Glen Lake Association Long Term Planning committee.
Shirley accepted board nomination to GLA.
Establishment of Leelanau Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
Accepted offer of Chair of the Leelanau EDC for ’08. This position leads to board seat on the Traverse Bay EDC.
Moving into the new year :
Discussions about launch of Leelanau Timber LLC/Champion Trees project
Discussions (early) about further support of Taste the Local Difference, mainly via looking at ways to help growers establish greenhouses.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Interesting stuff
It's more important to work at the bottom than the top
But do the politicians know it?
18 Is Enough — Sightline Institute:
"You save more fuel switching from a 15 to 18 mpg car than switching from a 50 to 100 mpg car."
Math works, and even better for this:
GMC - 2008 Yukon Hybrid | World's First Hybrid SUV
From 14 city to 21, a 50% improvement
Plenty of arguments on both sides, a Yukon is bigger than we need in our household, but if you carry a lot of bodies, or just stuff, it may make sense.
Greatest savings being city
And remember, hauling 4 folks in a SUV (plus gear) is about the same as 2 in a Prius. Maybe even better once EPA data is adjusted (down)
But do the politicians know it?
18 Is Enough — Sightline Institute:
"You save more fuel switching from a 15 to 18 mpg car than switching from a 50 to 100 mpg car."
Math works, and even better for this:
GMC - 2008 Yukon Hybrid | World's First Hybrid SUV
From 14 city to 21, a 50% improvement
Plenty of arguments on both sides, a Yukon is bigger than we need in our household, but if you carry a lot of bodies, or just stuff, it may make sense.
Greatest savings being city
And remember, hauling 4 folks in a SUV (plus gear) is about the same as 2 in a Prius. Maybe even better once EPA data is adjusted (down)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Senior's rule
It will happen ...
"TRBN: terminal rule by boomer narcissists."
Demographics: The Population Hourglass:
"It's hard to overstate the weight of the numbers: Boomers now represent a U.S. market of some 36 million, or about 12% of the population, and as they move up the pyramid, the number of seniors is going to rise dramatically. By 2011, the 65-and-over population will be growing faster than the population as a whole in each of the 50 states. The Boomer Binge will have begun."
"TRBN: terminal rule by boomer narcissists."
Demographics: The Population Hourglass:
"It's hard to overstate the weight of the numbers: Boomers now represent a U.S. market of some 36 million, or about 12% of the population, and as they move up the pyramid, the number of seniors is going to rise dramatically. By 2011, the 65-and-over population will be growing faster than the population as a whole in each of the 50 states. The Boomer Binge will have begun."
Friday, December 21, 2007
Blowin in the wind ...
Not all Green Ideas may be great
or ... maybe just a time and a place for everything
Debating the Merits of Energy From Air - New York Times:
"Supporters see modern wind turbines not as Don Quixote’s ferocious giants but as elegant symbols of a clean-energy future. But as the industry expands amid global pressure to cut carbon emissions and fight climate change, an increasingly mobilized anti-wind farm lobby in Europe, North America and elsewhere is decrying the turbines as ugly, noisy and destructive, especially for picturesque locales that rely on tourism. “These are not just one or two turbines spinning majestically in the blue sky and billowing clouds,” said Lisa Linowes, executive director of Industrial Wind Action Group, an international advocacy group based in New Hampshire that opposes wind farms."
Sweden Turns to a Promising Power Source, With Flaws - New York Times:
"Yet Sweden’s gleaming wind park is entering service at a time when wind energy is coming under sharper scrutiny, not just from hostile neighbors, who complain that the towers are a blot on the landscape, but from energy experts who question its reliability as a source of power.
For starters, the wind does not blow all the time. When it does, it does not necessarily do so during periods of high demand for electricity. That makes wind a shaky replacement for more dependable, if polluting, energy sources like oil, coal and natural gas. Moreover, to capture the best breezes, wind farms are often built far from where the demand for electricity is highest. The power they generate must then be carried over long distances on high-voltage lines, which in Germany and other countries are strained and prone to breakdowns.
In the United States, one of the areas most suited for wind turbines is the central part of the country, stretching from Texas through the northern Great Plains — far from the coastal population centers that need the most electricity."
Then there's Ethanol ...
Food and Fuel Compete for Land - New York Times:
"For years, cheap food and feed were taken for granted in the United States.
But now the price of some foods is rising sharply, and from the corridors of Washington to the aisles of neighborhood supermarkets, a blame alert is under way.
Among the favorite targets is ethanol, especially for food manufacturers and livestock farmers who seethe at government mandates for ethanol production. The ethanol boom, they contend, is raising corn prices, driving up the cost of producing dairy products and meat, and causing farmers to plant so much corn as to crowd out other crops."
or ... maybe just a time and a place for everything
Debating the Merits of Energy From Air - New York Times:
"Supporters see modern wind turbines not as Don Quixote’s ferocious giants but as elegant symbols of a clean-energy future. But as the industry expands amid global pressure to cut carbon emissions and fight climate change, an increasingly mobilized anti-wind farm lobby in Europe, North America and elsewhere is decrying the turbines as ugly, noisy and destructive, especially for picturesque locales that rely on tourism. “These are not just one or two turbines spinning majestically in the blue sky and billowing clouds,” said Lisa Linowes, executive director of Industrial Wind Action Group, an international advocacy group based in New Hampshire that opposes wind farms."
Sweden Turns to a Promising Power Source, With Flaws - New York Times:
"Yet Sweden’s gleaming wind park is entering service at a time when wind energy is coming under sharper scrutiny, not just from hostile neighbors, who complain that the towers are a blot on the landscape, but from energy experts who question its reliability as a source of power.
For starters, the wind does not blow all the time. When it does, it does not necessarily do so during periods of high demand for electricity. That makes wind a shaky replacement for more dependable, if polluting, energy sources like oil, coal and natural gas. Moreover, to capture the best breezes, wind farms are often built far from where the demand for electricity is highest. The power they generate must then be carried over long distances on high-voltage lines, which in Germany and other countries are strained and prone to breakdowns.
In the United States, one of the areas most suited for wind turbines is the central part of the country, stretching from Texas through the northern Great Plains — far from the coastal population centers that need the most electricity."
Then there's Ethanol ...
Food and Fuel Compete for Land - New York Times:
"For years, cheap food and feed were taken for granted in the United States.
But now the price of some foods is rising sharply, and from the corridors of Washington to the aisles of neighborhood supermarkets, a blame alert is under way.
Among the favorite targets is ethanol, especially for food manufacturers and livestock farmers who seethe at government mandates for ethanol production. The ethanol boom, they contend, is raising corn prices, driving up the cost of producing dairy products and meat, and causing farmers to plant so much corn as to crowd out other crops."
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Mother Lode
Release 1.0 Back Issues - O'Reilly Radar
ENTIRE set of back issues!
"Taken as a group, these back issues offer a fascinating record of the evolution of computer technology spanning nearly a quarter century..."
Doc:
"The whole series has enormous historical value. Esther was (and still is) unusually good at both seeing future directions and bringing a critical sensibility to covering those who would take us there."
ENTIRE set of back issues!
"Taken as a group, these back issues offer a fascinating record of the evolution of computer technology spanning nearly a quarter century..."
Doc:
"The whole series has enormous historical value. Esther was (and still is) unusually good at both seeing future directions and bringing a critical sensibility to covering those who would take us there."
Monday, December 17, 2007
Just not sexy ...cont
Caught this show while driving downstate yesterday.
It's so much easier to video traffic and tailpipes.
What TV viewers even know where Java is, and Amazon is where you shop. Congo? ... maybe in Africa?
Living on Earth: December 14, 2007:
Java Trees
"CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. One of the most controversial parts of the climate negotiations here in Bali, Indonesia, involved forests. Cutting forests, especially tropical forests, puts more CO2 into the air each year than all the cars and trucks combined on the whole planet. But so far the developing countries in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia—that have the bulk of the world's tropical forests—have gotten only limited support from the developed part of the world in the fight against deforestation."
It's so much easier to video traffic and tailpipes.
What TV viewers even know where Java is, and Amazon is where you shop. Congo? ... maybe in Africa?
Living on Earth: December 14, 2007:
Java Trees
"CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. One of the most controversial parts of the climate negotiations here in Bali, Indonesia, involved forests. Cutting forests, especially tropical forests, puts more CO2 into the air each year than all the cars and trucks combined on the whole planet. But so far the developing countries in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia—that have the bulk of the world's tropical forests—have gotten only limited support from the developed part of the world in the fight against deforestation."
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Busy
No bloggin lately
Been busy
I accepted the chair of the Leelanau EDC
We meet about 6 times a year, which is workable. But, with the chair comes a board seat on Traverse Bay EDC ... and this led to attending a "leadership retreat on the 6th. Which was fine, but it was the same day and time as the Long Term Planning Committee for the Glen Lake Association (GLA). and for the 6th, I'd helped arrange for a meeting I'd set up for the committee and the Leelanau Conservancy.
Upside: Brian Price, the Executive Director of the Conservancy, was to attend the retreat ... about an hour away.
So we rode together and had a chance to talk over several issues.
In between these was the Leelanau steering committee of the Michigan Land Use Institute MLUI
Meantime, there were the normal bill paying, snow blowing, etc etc
We wrapped up with dinner with past president of the GLA, and were able to cover a lot of topics.
Last week started with County Brownfield Authority, and Thursday was a series of meetings dealing with Cherry Capital Foods/CCF (I'm part owner) then hosting the TBEDC board, followed by the Advisory Board presentations (I kept mine short!)...
Several conversations about local food, and setting up greenhouses (in part to supply CCF)
Friday was back to Leland to execute our Conservation Easement on the woodlot, something we've worked on for a few months.
Now we can launch the "Greater Glen Lake Watershed" project with the Conservancy... a long term goal of ours.
Meanwhile, I've also been in conversations about setting up up "Leelanau Timber LLC"
Set up a wiki for this, more comment as it evolves.
Got a call from David Milarch of the Champion Tree Project (NYTimes story) looks like we'll work to tie Leelanau Timber LLC and Champion Tree Project together.
Managed to get most of the year end donations, paperwork and taxes wrapped up.
Packed up and back to Lansing today
Been busy
I accepted the chair of the Leelanau EDC
We meet about 6 times a year, which is workable. But, with the chair comes a board seat on Traverse Bay EDC ... and this led to attending a "leadership retreat on the 6th. Which was fine, but it was the same day and time as the Long Term Planning Committee for the Glen Lake Association (GLA). and for the 6th, I'd helped arrange for a meeting I'd set up for the committee and the Leelanau Conservancy.
Upside: Brian Price, the Executive Director of the Conservancy, was to attend the retreat ... about an hour away.
So we rode together and had a chance to talk over several issues.
In between these was the Leelanau steering committee of the Michigan Land Use Institute MLUI
Meantime, there were the normal bill paying, snow blowing, etc etc
We wrapped up with dinner with past president of the GLA, and were able to cover a lot of topics.
Last week started with County Brownfield Authority, and Thursday was a series of meetings dealing with Cherry Capital Foods/CCF (I'm part owner) then hosting the TBEDC board, followed by the Advisory Board presentations (I kept mine short!)...
Several conversations about local food, and setting up greenhouses (in part to supply CCF)
Friday was back to Leland to execute our Conservation Easement on the woodlot, something we've worked on for a few months.
Now we can launch the "Greater Glen Lake Watershed" project with the Conservancy... a long term goal of ours.
Meanwhile, I've also been in conversations about setting up up "Leelanau Timber LLC"
Set up a wiki for this, more comment as it evolves.
Got a call from David Milarch of the Champion Tree Project (NYTimes story) looks like we'll work to tie Leelanau Timber LLC and Champion Tree Project together.
Managed to get most of the year end donations, paperwork and taxes wrapped up.
Packed up and back to Lansing today
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
But it just isn't sexy
But but but
It's sooooo much easier to target Detroit, video of slow moving traffic and tailpipes are so much more "photogenic" and everyone "knows" that personal transportation is the root of the problem, consumers know that they pay for gasoline, but don't pay attention to coal being used to generate their electricity.
Power generation is too removed from day to day experience, nothing like pumping gas.
It's so much easier to call for higher fuel standards (for the other guy, I'll keep my SUV thank you) than to call for better building codes.
Very telling is that decisions are made by builders and landlords, not consumers.
So go plug in your Prius, the coal plant is in someone else's backyard...
Study Details How U.S. Could Cut 28% of Greenhouse Gases - New York Times:
"The United States could shave as much as 28 percent off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations, according to a new report.
A large share of the reductions could come from steps that would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers, the report said, adding that people should take those steps out of good sense regardless of how worried they might be about climate change. But that is unlikely to happen under present circumstances, said the authors, who are energy experts at McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm.
The report said the country was brimming with “negative cost opportunities” — potential changes in the lighting, heating and cooling of buildings, for example, that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels even as they save money. “These types of savings have been around for 20 years,” said Jack Stephenson, a director of the study. But he said they still face tremendous barriers.
Among them is that equipment is often paid for by a landlord or a builder and chosen for its low initial cost. The cost of electricity or other fuels to operate the equipment is borne by a tenant or home buyer. That means the landlord or builder has no incentive to spend more upfront for efficient equipment, even though doing so would save a lot of money in the long run."
and...
"In contrast to improved efficiency, measures like capturing carbon dioxide from coal power plants and storing it would be relatively costly, and they account for less than 10 percent of the potential to cut emissions, the study said. The potential contributions from new nuclear plants and renewable energy supplies from wind or solar sources are also relatively modest, the report said."
It's sooooo much easier to target Detroit, video of slow moving traffic and tailpipes are so much more "photogenic" and everyone "knows" that personal transportation is the root of the problem, consumers know that they pay for gasoline, but don't pay attention to coal being used to generate their electricity.
Power generation is too removed from day to day experience, nothing like pumping gas.
It's so much easier to call for higher fuel standards (for the other guy, I'll keep my SUV thank you) than to call for better building codes.
Very telling is that decisions are made by builders and landlords, not consumers.
So go plug in your Prius, the coal plant is in someone else's backyard...
Study Details How U.S. Could Cut 28% of Greenhouse Gases - New York Times:
"The United States could shave as much as 28 percent off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations, according to a new report.
A large share of the reductions could come from steps that would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers, the report said, adding that people should take those steps out of good sense regardless of how worried they might be about climate change. But that is unlikely to happen under present circumstances, said the authors, who are energy experts at McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm.
The report said the country was brimming with “negative cost opportunities” — potential changes in the lighting, heating and cooling of buildings, for example, that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels even as they save money. “These types of savings have been around for 20 years,” said Jack Stephenson, a director of the study. But he said they still face tremendous barriers.
Among them is that equipment is often paid for by a landlord or a builder and chosen for its low initial cost. The cost of electricity or other fuels to operate the equipment is borne by a tenant or home buyer. That means the landlord or builder has no incentive to spend more upfront for efficient equipment, even though doing so would save a lot of money in the long run."
and...
"In contrast to improved efficiency, measures like capturing carbon dioxide from coal power plants and storing it would be relatively costly, and they account for less than 10 percent of the potential to cut emissions, the study said. The potential contributions from new nuclear plants and renewable energy supplies from wind or solar sources are also relatively modest, the report said."
Monday, December 03, 2007
So who's left?
Posted this elsewhere back on Nov 14th
Axis of evil - Wikipedia
Libya (not part of original list, but added, caved years ago. Cuba pretty much waiting for Castro to leave the stage, Iraq … well, they are “busy” right now, N.Korea dismantling their nuke program, due to be re-united with S.Korea in next decade or so, and now … Iran?
What will this portend for the election?
Will the voting public respond to news closer to the election?
Are these developments behind Hillary's somewhat hawkish stance?
Will the Saudi's lower oil prices next year ... which hurts Russia?
Many interesting things to play out.
---
Now we have this:
U.S. Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work - New York Times:
"Washington Dec. 3 — A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb.
The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to reshape the final year of the Bush administration, which has made halting Iran’s nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy. "
So who's left?
Does Bush declare victory?
Was this behind the Annapolis meeting on Israel/Palestine?
What happens to Oil?
Will there be a drop, pinching Putin and Chavez?
Interesting times
Axis of evil - Wikipedia
Libya (not part of original list, but added, caved years ago. Cuba pretty much waiting for Castro to leave the stage, Iraq … well, they are “busy” right now, N.Korea dismantling their nuke program, due to be re-united with S.Korea in next decade or so, and now … Iran?
What will this portend for the election?
Will the voting public respond to news closer to the election?
Are these developments behind Hillary's somewhat hawkish stance?
Will the Saudi's lower oil prices next year ... which hurts Russia?
Many interesting things to play out.
---
Now we have this:
U.S. Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work - New York Times:
"Washington Dec. 3 — A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb.
The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to reshape the final year of the Bush administration, which has made halting Iran’s nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy. "
So who's left?
Does Bush declare victory?
Was this behind the Annapolis meeting on Israel/Palestine?
What happens to Oil?
Will there be a drop, pinching Putin and Chavez?
Interesting times
Sunday, December 02, 2007
What the F ?!?!?
Rivera's one of the suspects in the killing of Sean Taylor, of the Washington Redskins...
Suspect to stay in Lee County jail - News- msnbc.com:
"'It's a tragedy for the Taylor family that's indescribable. It's a tragedy for the family's of these young men. Their lives have gone right down the tube,' said Wilbur Smith, Rivera's lawyer."
The four young men broke into Taylor's Miami home with intent to commit robbery ... with a gun.
Didn't expect to find Taylor home, but did, shot him and he bled to death.
Hey ... who's lives have been ruined?
Suspect to stay in Lee County jail - News- msnbc.com:
"'It's a tragedy for the Taylor family that's indescribable. It's a tragedy for the family's of these young men. Their lives have gone right down the tube,' said Wilbur Smith, Rivera's lawyer."
The four young men broke into Taylor's Miami home with intent to commit robbery ... with a gun.
Didn't expect to find Taylor home, but did, shot him and he bled to death.
Hey ... who's lives have been ruined?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Does "The Donald" know this?
Donald Trump has been out touting Manhattan as "different" and unaffected by the housing slump.
Well, maybe not...
Esp. when Wall Street was behind the feeding of much of the sub-prime, structured "stuff" mess and there will be further losses and layoffs.
Chickens come home to roost.
They'll Take Manhattan -- For Less - WSJ.com:
"No Longer Immune, Sales and Prices Slip; Waiting for Bonus Time
November 30, 2007; Page W1 Even as the national housing market has been hit by slow sales and falling prices, Manhattan has continued to shine. But now its light may be dimming."
...
Well, maybe not...
Esp. when Wall Street was behind the feeding of much of the sub-prime, structured "stuff" mess and there will be further losses and layoffs.
Chickens come home to roost.
They'll Take Manhattan -- For Less - WSJ.com:
"No Longer Immune, Sales and Prices Slip; Waiting for Bonus Time
November 30, 2007; Page W1 Even as the national housing market has been hit by slow sales and falling prices, Manhattan has continued to shine. But now its light may be dimming."
...
"Manhattan makes up a tiny fraction of U.S. home sales. Its housing market is closely watched, however, because of the city's position at the center of the financial and media worlds. In recent months, the continuing strength of its real-estate market has drawn even more attention, and led many local real-estate professionals to contend that Manhattan is immune to the forces that have battered much of the rest of the country.
But few independent experts buy that argument. Christopher Mayer, a Columbia University professor and director of the school's Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, says the idea that Manhattan will continue to boom amid a nationwide housing bust is "wishful thinking."
"To be sure, almost no one is steeling for a crash in Manhattan. Prof. Roubini believes prices will fall 10% over the next two years, substantially less than the 30% or more he predicts will occur in many markets. Nationwide, existing-home prices were down 5.1% in October, and sales were down a seasonally adjusted 20.7%, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bubbles
Asset bubbles
When we have something like the "dot-com" bubble, whe had unreasonable inflation of intangible assets, stock prices.
While many were able to either cash in their gains (selling to the greater fools) or borrow against therse assets, when the bubble burst, it was, in large just "paper" that disappeared. Not even real paper, just electronic accounting.
Poof
Sure, those left standing when the music stopped in this game of musical chairs had to sell their homes, cars, jsts etc. but the absolute number were small.
The Fed lowered rates and "everyman" was able to move to something else ... Real Estate.
The difference is now that this bubble has burst, there are tangible assets that remain.
Land, homes and buildings that don't just disappear.
They may over time, but most likely they will remain on the market, often for a long time.
The market clearing in intangibables can happen (often does) quickly, in tangables it may take a long time.
When we have something like the "dot-com" bubble, whe had unreasonable inflation of intangible assets, stock prices.
While many were able to either cash in their gains (selling to the greater fools) or borrow against therse assets, when the bubble burst, it was, in large just "paper" that disappeared. Not even real paper, just electronic accounting.
Poof
Sure, those left standing when the music stopped in this game of musical chairs had to sell their homes, cars, jsts etc. but the absolute number were small.
The Fed lowered rates and "everyman" was able to move to something else ... Real Estate.
The difference is now that this bubble has burst, there are tangible assets that remain.
Land, homes and buildings that don't just disappear.
They may over time, but most likely they will remain on the market, often for a long time.
The market clearing in intangibables can happen (often does) quickly, in tangables it may take a long time.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Behind the Headlines
Posted some thoughts Monday
Looney Dunes: Middle East
I'd pointed out issue of Arabs vs Persians
Times agrees: Iran Casts Shadow on Mideast Talks - New York Times
Then Tuesday we had:
1) signs of progress in Annapolis
2) Dubai funds to support Citicorp
3) Saudi moves to cut oil prices via increased production
Result : stronger dollar and stock market
Prediction(s)
1) Further progress between Israel and PNA (Abbas/West Bank)
Maybe even Hamas/Gaza if Saudi's want it
2) Dollar turns - Dubai picking a good time to invest, and America is the most liquid market, with some assets marked way down (financials)
The members of OPEC talking aobut shift to euro are Iran and Chavez
Saudi's and Gulf Arabs want long term investments, safe investments and have a lot of capital to put to work.
3) Stock Market turns, there are a lot of shorts, and those with deep pockets can run them.
Bottom line : time to buy
Looney Dunes: Middle East
I'd pointed out issue of Arabs vs Persians
Times agrees: Iran Casts Shadow on Mideast Talks - New York Times
Then Tuesday we had:
1) signs of progress in Annapolis
2) Dubai funds to support Citicorp
3) Saudi moves to cut oil prices via increased production
Result : stronger dollar and stock market
Prediction(s)
1) Further progress between Israel and PNA (Abbas/West Bank)
Maybe even Hamas/Gaza if Saudi's want it
2) Dollar turns - Dubai picking a good time to invest, and America is the most liquid market, with some assets marked way down (financials)
The members of OPEC talking aobut shift to euro are Iran and Chavez
Saudi's and Gulf Arabs want long term investments, safe investments and have a lot of capital to put to work.
3) Stock Market turns, there are a lot of shorts, and those with deep pockets can run them.
Bottom line : time to buy
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Talk about timing
Hosted a meeting yesterday about a potential timber project, most likely involving David Milarch, Champion Trees Project.
"Opened" the Times this AM (Online) and there was David, front page...
Reaching for the Sky: A California Project to Clone Redwoods - New York Times:
"The word “cloning,” in this context, may be misleading, in that it is nothing as arcane or difficult as cloning mammals. It simply means growing a genetically identical plant. With redwoods, this is accomplished by dipping a cutting four to six inches long into a growth-hormone cocktail and then planting it in a temperature- and moisture-controlled fog chamber. Nine hundred cuttings have already been made, 300 of each of three trees sampled. It takes 20 cuttings that have grown into seedling to reforest one acre."
"Opened" the Times this AM (Online) and there was David, front page...
Reaching for the Sky: A California Project to Clone Redwoods - New York Times:
"The word “cloning,” in this context, may be misleading, in that it is nothing as arcane or difficult as cloning mammals. It simply means growing a genetically identical plant. With redwoods, this is accomplished by dipping a cutting four to six inches long into a growth-hormone cocktail and then planting it in a temperature- and moisture-controlled fog chamber. Nine hundred cuttings have already been made, 300 of each of three trees sampled. It takes 20 cuttings that have grown into seedling to reforest one acre."
Monday, November 26, 2007
Middle East
Wild Ass-ed Prediction(s)
Meetings in Annapolis tomorrow
Low expectations – more may happen ?
Rice’s Turnabout on Mideast Peace Talks - New York Times
US winning in Iraq, and may block nuke Persians, would this bring Arabs to the table?
Boston Globe: Good News in Iraq
Bush low enough in polls, lame duck, and can go for broke
Is the key Iraq?
Lower oil in ’08?
Key is recognition of Israel
WSJournal (copyrighted material):
---
On the Jewish Question
By BERNARD LEWIS
November 26, 2007; Page A21
Herewith some thoughts about tomorrow's Annapolis peace conference, and the larger problem of how to approach the Israel-Palestine conflict. The first question (one might think it is obvious but apparently not) is, "What is the conflict about?" There are basically two possibilities: that it is about the size of Israel, or about its existence.
If the issue is about the size of Israel, then we have a straightforward border problem, like Alsace-Lorraine or Texas. That is to say, not easy, but possible to solve in the long run, and to live with in the meantime.
If, on the other hand, the issue is the existence of Israel, then clearly it is insoluble by negotiation. There is no compromise position between existing and not existing, and no conceivable government of Israel is going to negotiate on whether that country should or should not exist.
PLO and other Palestinian spokesmen have, from time to time, given formal indications of recognition of Israel in their diplomatic discourse in foreign languages. But that's not the message delivered at home in Arabic, in everything from primary school textbooks to political speeches and religious sermons. Here the terms used in Arabic denote, not the end of hostilities, but an armistice or truce, until such time that the war against Israel can be resumed with better prospects for success. Without genuine acceptance of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State, as the more than 20 members of the Arab League exist as Arab States, or the much larger number of members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference exist as Islamic states, peace cannot be negotiated.
A good example of how this problem affects negotiation is the much-discussed refugee question. During the fighting in 1947-1948, about three-fourths of a million Arabs fled or were driven (both are true in different places) from Israel and found refuge in the neighboring Arab countries. In the same period and after, a slightly greater number of Jews fled or were driven from Arab countries, first from the Arab-controlled part of mandatory Palestine (where not a single Jew was permitted to remain), then from the Arab countries where they and their ancestors had lived for centuries, or in some places for millennia. Most Jewish refugees found their way to Israel.
What happened was thus, in effect, an exchange of populations not unlike that which took place in the Indian subcontinent in the previous year, when British India was split into India and Pakistan. Millions of refugees fled or were driven both ways -- Hindus and others from Pakistan to India, Muslims from India to Pakistan. Another example was Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, when the Soviets annexed a large piece of eastern Poland and compensated the Poles with a slice of eastern Germany. This too led to a massive refugee movement -- Poles fled or were driven from the Soviet Union into Poland, Germans fled or were driven from Poland into Germany.
The Poles and the Germans, the Hindus and the Muslims, the Jewish refugees from Arab lands, all were resettled in their new homes and accorded the normal rights of citizenship. More remarkably, this was done without international aid. The one exception was the Palestinian Arabs in neighboring Arab countries.
The government of Jordan granted Palestinian Arabs a form of citizenship, but kept them in refugee camps. In the other Arab countries, they were and remained stateless aliens without rights or opportunities, maintained by U.N. funding. Paradoxically, if a Palestinian fled to Britain or America, he was eligible for naturalization after five years, and his locally-born children were citizens by birth. If he went to Syria, Lebanon or Iraq, he and his descendants remained stateless, now entering the fourth or fifth generation.
The reason for this has been stated by various Arab spokesmen. It is the need to preserve the Palestinians as a separate entity until the time when they will return and reclaim the whole of Palestine; that is to say, all of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel. The demand for the "return" of the refugees, in other words, means the destruction of Israel. This is highly unlikely to be approved by any Israeli government.
There are signs of change in some Arab circles, of a willingness to accept Israel and even to see the possibility of a positive Israeli contribution to the public life of the region. But such opinions are only furtively expressed. Sometimes, those who dare to express them are jailed or worse. These opinions have as yet little or no impact on the leadership.
Which brings us back to the Annapolis summit. If the issue is not the size of Israel, but its existence, negotiations are foredoomed. And in light of the past record, it is clear that is and will remain the issue, until the Arab leadership either achieves or renounces its purpose -- to destroy Israel. Both seem equally unlikely for the time being.
Mr. Lewis, professor emeritus at Princeton, is the author, most recently, of "From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East" (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Meetings in Annapolis tomorrow
Low expectations – more may happen ?
Rice’s Turnabout on Mideast Peace Talks - New York Times
US winning in Iraq, and may block nuke Persians, would this bring Arabs to the table?
Boston Globe: Good News in Iraq
Bush low enough in polls, lame duck, and can go for broke
Is the key Iraq?
Lower oil in ’08?
Key is recognition of Israel
WSJournal (copyrighted material):
---
On the Jewish Question
By BERNARD LEWIS
November 26, 2007; Page A21
Herewith some thoughts about tomorrow's Annapolis peace conference, and the larger problem of how to approach the Israel-Palestine conflict. The first question (one might think it is obvious but apparently not) is, "What is the conflict about?" There are basically two possibilities: that it is about the size of Israel, or about its existence.
If the issue is about the size of Israel, then we have a straightforward border problem, like Alsace-Lorraine or Texas. That is to say, not easy, but possible to solve in the long run, and to live with in the meantime.
If, on the other hand, the issue is the existence of Israel, then clearly it is insoluble by negotiation. There is no compromise position between existing and not existing, and no conceivable government of Israel is going to negotiate on whether that country should or should not exist.
PLO and other Palestinian spokesmen have, from time to time, given formal indications of recognition of Israel in their diplomatic discourse in foreign languages. But that's not the message delivered at home in Arabic, in everything from primary school textbooks to political speeches and religious sermons. Here the terms used in Arabic denote, not the end of hostilities, but an armistice or truce, until such time that the war against Israel can be resumed with better prospects for success. Without genuine acceptance of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State, as the more than 20 members of the Arab League exist as Arab States, or the much larger number of members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference exist as Islamic states, peace cannot be negotiated.
A good example of how this problem affects negotiation is the much-discussed refugee question. During the fighting in 1947-1948, about three-fourths of a million Arabs fled or were driven (both are true in different places) from Israel and found refuge in the neighboring Arab countries. In the same period and after, a slightly greater number of Jews fled or were driven from Arab countries, first from the Arab-controlled part of mandatory Palestine (where not a single Jew was permitted to remain), then from the Arab countries where they and their ancestors had lived for centuries, or in some places for millennia. Most Jewish refugees found their way to Israel.
What happened was thus, in effect, an exchange of populations not unlike that which took place in the Indian subcontinent in the previous year, when British India was split into India and Pakistan. Millions of refugees fled or were driven both ways -- Hindus and others from Pakistan to India, Muslims from India to Pakistan. Another example was Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, when the Soviets annexed a large piece of eastern Poland and compensated the Poles with a slice of eastern Germany. This too led to a massive refugee movement -- Poles fled or were driven from the Soviet Union into Poland, Germans fled or were driven from Poland into Germany.
The Poles and the Germans, the Hindus and the Muslims, the Jewish refugees from Arab lands, all were resettled in their new homes and accorded the normal rights of citizenship. More remarkably, this was done without international aid. The one exception was the Palestinian Arabs in neighboring Arab countries.
The government of Jordan granted Palestinian Arabs a form of citizenship, but kept them in refugee camps. In the other Arab countries, they were and remained stateless aliens without rights or opportunities, maintained by U.N. funding. Paradoxically, if a Palestinian fled to Britain or America, he was eligible for naturalization after five years, and his locally-born children were citizens by birth. If he went to Syria, Lebanon or Iraq, he and his descendants remained stateless, now entering the fourth or fifth generation.
The reason for this has been stated by various Arab spokesmen. It is the need to preserve the Palestinians as a separate entity until the time when they will return and reclaim the whole of Palestine; that is to say, all of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel. The demand for the "return" of the refugees, in other words, means the destruction of Israel. This is highly unlikely to be approved by any Israeli government.
There are signs of change in some Arab circles, of a willingness to accept Israel and even to see the possibility of a positive Israeli contribution to the public life of the region. But such opinions are only furtively expressed. Sometimes, those who dare to express them are jailed or worse. These opinions have as yet little or no impact on the leadership.
Which brings us back to the Annapolis summit. If the issue is not the size of Israel, but its existence, negotiations are foredoomed. And in light of the past record, it is clear that is and will remain the issue, until the Arab leadership either achieves or renounces its purpose -- to destroy Israel. Both seem equally unlikely for the time being.
Mr. Lewis, professor emeritus at Princeton, is the author, most recently, of "From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East" (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Science & Faith
Compared to Creationist Geology, the following can make some sense
Taking Science on Faith - New York Times:
"Science, we are repeatedly told, is the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypotheses. Religion, by contrast, is based on faith. The term “doubting Thomas” well illustrates the difference. In science, a healthy skepticism is a professional necessity, whereas in religion, having belief without evidence is regarded as a virtue.
The problem with this neat separation into “non-overlapping magisteria,” as Stephen Jay Gould described science and religion, is that science has its own faith-based belief system. All science proceeds on the assumption that nature is ordered in a rational and intelligible way. "
Taking Science on Faith - New York Times:
"Science, we are repeatedly told, is the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypotheses. Religion, by contrast, is based on faith. The term “doubting Thomas” well illustrates the difference. In science, a healthy skepticism is a professional necessity, whereas in religion, having belief without evidence is regarded as a virtue.
The problem with this neat separation into “non-overlapping magisteria,” as Stephen Jay Gould described science and religion, is that science has its own faith-based belief system. All science proceeds on the assumption that nature is ordered in a rational and intelligible way. "
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Arrrgh
Creationist Geology
sounds like an oxymoron to me...
Creationism / Rocks and Minerals ...New York Times:
"...45 percent of Americans who, for 25 years, have consistently agreed with the statement in a Gallup poll that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.”"
sounds like an oxymoron to me...
Creationism / Rocks and Minerals ...New York Times:
"...45 percent of Americans who, for 25 years, have consistently agreed with the statement in a Gallup poll that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.”"
a streach
Dreams of Mega projects
But where's the money?
Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins to save the planet - Nov. 12, 2007
"They argue that to halt global warming, nothing less will be required than a makeover of the $6 trillion global energy business. Coal plants, gas stations, the internal-combustion engine, petrochemicals, plastic bags, even bottled water will have to give way to clean, green, sustainable technologies. "What we are going to have to put in place is a combination of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo project, and the Marshall Plan, and scale it globally," Gore continues. "It'd be promising too much to say we can do it on our own, but we intend to do our part.""
Is Gore's role to shake the Government Money Tree?
From further to the right:
Global Warming, Inc. - WSJ.com:
"There's no shortage of new capital pouring into alternative energy projects these days. According to the National Venture Capital Association, 'clean tech' start-ups attracted more than $800 million in venture capital last quarter, a new record. What's not clear is whether these are fundamentally energy ventures or political ventures. The Manhattan Institute's Peter Huber, a former engineering professor at MIT, exaggerates only slightly when he says that 'Basically, 'alternative' means stuff that nobody actually uses.' If that turns out to be true, then alternative energy companies could struggle for market share without government assistance."
A few hundred million, or even a billion or two doesn't do all that much against a multi-Trillion dollar industry
But where's the money?
Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins to save the planet - Nov. 12, 2007
"They argue that to halt global warming, nothing less will be required than a makeover of the $6 trillion global energy business. Coal plants, gas stations, the internal-combustion engine, petrochemicals, plastic bags, even bottled water will have to give way to clean, green, sustainable technologies. "What we are going to have to put in place is a combination of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo project, and the Marshall Plan, and scale it globally," Gore continues. "It'd be promising too much to say we can do it on our own, but we intend to do our part.""
Is Gore's role to shake the Government Money Tree?
From further to the right:
Global Warming, Inc. - WSJ.com:
"There's no shortage of new capital pouring into alternative energy projects these days. According to the National Venture Capital Association, 'clean tech' start-ups attracted more than $800 million in venture capital last quarter, a new record. What's not clear is whether these are fundamentally energy ventures or political ventures. The Manhattan Institute's Peter Huber, a former engineering professor at MIT, exaggerates only slightly when he says that 'Basically, 'alternative' means stuff that nobody actually uses.' If that turns out to be true, then alternative energy companies could struggle for market share without government assistance."
A few hundred million, or even a billion or two doesn't do all that much against a multi-Trillion dollar industry
semiotics
Media manipulation to "Da Vinci Code"
Brief interview
Umberto Eco - Authors - Books - Literature - The Name of the Rose - New York Times
Brief interview
Umberto Eco - Authors - Books - Literature - The Name of the Rose - New York Times
Go West(ern)
Piece on the oft written off movie genre
Hollywood - Westerns - Movies - Motion Pictures - New York Times
and
Daniel Day-Lewis’s All-Time Top Westerns
Published: November 10, 2007
I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. ''High Noon'' means a lot to me - I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing. I do not like John Wayne: I find it hard to watch him. I just never took to him. And I don't like Jimmy Stewart as a cowboy. I love him, but just not as a cowboy; ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' is one of my favorite films. I love Capra. I love Preston Sturges. But we're talking about westerns. ... I have always admired Clint Eastwood's westerns. The spaghetti westerns were a great discovery. And ''Pale Rider.'' As a child, the John Ford film ''Cheyenne Autumn'' made a big impression on me. And ''Five Easy Pieces.'' It's not really a western, but it is about the possibilities that can be found in the West. Jack Nicholson is sublime in that film, just sublime. It's the most stultifying portrait of middle-class life. You want to flee from that world and head anywhere less civilized. Which is, of course, the appeal of the West: It's not tamed yet.
More here
New York Times Magazine
Including cover piece on Day-Lewis's new "Western"
Hollywood - Westerns - Movies - Motion Pictures - New York Times
and
Daniel Day-Lewis’s All-Time Top Westerns
Published: November 10, 2007
I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. ''High Noon'' means a lot to me - I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing. I do not like John Wayne: I find it hard to watch him. I just never took to him. And I don't like Jimmy Stewart as a cowboy. I love him, but just not as a cowboy; ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' is one of my favorite films. I love Capra. I love Preston Sturges. But we're talking about westerns. ... I have always admired Clint Eastwood's westerns. The spaghetti westerns were a great discovery. And ''Pale Rider.'' As a child, the John Ford film ''Cheyenne Autumn'' made a big impression on me. And ''Five Easy Pieces.'' It's not really a western, but it is about the possibilities that can be found in the West. Jack Nicholson is sublime in that film, just sublime. It's the most stultifying portrait of middle-class life. You want to flee from that world and head anywhere less civilized. Which is, of course, the appeal of the West: It's not tamed yet.
More here
New York Times Magazine
Including cover piece on Day-Lewis's new "Western"
"Reality TV?"
'Bachelor' meets Jerry Springer?
Former 'Bachelor' Contestant Arrested - New York Times:
"Filed at 7:54 a.m. ET
SEMINOLE, Fla. (AP) -- A former cheerleader for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who was proposed to on the reality TV show ''The Bachelor'' was accused of punching a man she lives with in the mouth, authorities said.
Mary Delgado was taken into custody just after midnight Wednesday on a battery charge and was under the influence of alcohol when she was arrested, according to a police affidavit.
Delgado received a proposal on the show in 2004 from professional bass fisherman Byron Velvick. The two appeared together Tuesday in a special episode of ''The Bachelor'' called ''After the Final Rose.''
The police affidavit does not name Delgado's fiance, but says the pair have lived together ''as a family'' for the last three years. According to sheriff officials, Delgado was released Wednesday afternoon."
Former 'Bachelor' Contestant Arrested - New York Times:
"Filed at 7:54 a.m. ET
SEMINOLE, Fla. (AP) -- A former cheerleader for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who was proposed to on the reality TV show ''The Bachelor'' was accused of punching a man she lives with in the mouth, authorities said.
Mary Delgado was taken into custody just after midnight Wednesday on a battery charge and was under the influence of alcohol when she was arrested, according to a police affidavit.
Delgado received a proposal on the show in 2004 from professional bass fisherman Byron Velvick. The two appeared together Tuesday in a special episode of ''The Bachelor'' called ''After the Final Rose.''
The police affidavit does not name Delgado's fiance, but says the pair have lived together ''as a family'' for the last three years. According to sheriff officials, Delgado was released Wednesday afternoon."
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Where are the best chefs...
Right here in the good ol USA
Fine Dining In Sin City | Newsweek Periscope | Newsweek.com:
"How do the chefs in your American restaurants compare to those overseas?
You might be surprised, but the American line chefs are the best—better than many of them in Japan and France. Once you show them how to do something, they copy it perfectly. They're very serious, dedicated and passionate. Truly professional."
Fine Dining In Sin City | Newsweek Periscope | Newsweek.com:
"How do the chefs in your American restaurants compare to those overseas?
You might be surprised, but the American line chefs are the best—better than many of them in Japan and France. Once you show them how to do something, they copy it perfectly. They're very serious, dedicated and passionate. Truly professional."
looks like home to me
Doc has a photostream of "downstate" Michigan from Saginaw Bay to Lake Michigan
Missed Lansing, he was on north side of the plane, but lots of good stuff
Doc Searls Weblog: Flying from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan
The set is here
2007_11_13 From Lake Huron to Lake Michigan - a photoset on Flickr
Higher point of view (Shuttle) from Keith
Modeshift Blog Archive You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello
Missed Lansing, he was on north side of the plane, but lots of good stuff
Doc Searls Weblog: Flying from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan
The set is here
2007_11_13 From Lake Huron to Lake Michigan - a photoset on Flickr
Higher point of view (Shuttle) from Keith
Modeshift Blog Archive You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Signs of ... what?
OK, so there's a writer's strike, many TV shows will be off the air or into reruns soon, but we have "reality" TV ...
VH1 checks into 'Celebrity Rehab' - Entertainment News, Reality TV, Media - Variety:
"Show, titled 'Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,' will debut on Jan. 10. Net has ordered eight hourlong episodes."
VH1 checks into 'Celebrity Rehab' - Entertainment News, Reality TV, Media - Variety:
"Show, titled 'Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,' will debut on Jan. 10. Net has ordered eight hourlong episodes."
Thumbs up Larry ... sparklers!
Local vintner supreme makes WSJournal
Excerpt :
from "Tastings"
Kosher.L. Mawby 'Talismon' Brut non-vintage (Leelanau Peninsula, Mich.)
Nutty and rich, with some real taste and body. Fruity, with orange blossoms, honey, toast and peaches. Charming. Mawby makes only sparklers.
Excerpt :
from "Tastings"
A Sampling of Small-Production American Sparklers
We collected a large sample of handcrafted, small-production American sparkling wines and tasted them over two weeks. These were our favorites. Although we bought these from retail stores, all are made in very small quantities and are hard to find outside of the winery or the immediate area where they are made. We list them simply to give an idea of the very special small-production wines made across the U.S. If you live near a winery, and chances are that you do, we'd guess it makes a sparkling wine that might be for sale only at the winery. Pick one up. We did not taste these blind because they are so varied. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Kosher.L. Mawby 'Talismon' Brut non-vintage (Leelanau Peninsula, Mich.)
Nutty and rich, with some real taste and body. Fruity, with orange blossoms, honey, toast and peaches. Charming. Mawby makes only sparklers.
Bye Bye Bling-Bling
In short, the party is over.
Free money (Capital One, Countrywide, home equity loans, sub-prime's) from suburbia to the inner city is gone.
Free money feeds bling.
No free money, bye bye bling.
Back to basics, bye bye Gucci, Prada, whatever, hellow Wrangler.
Fine with me, I don't need to impress the neighbors, or myself.
The Consumer Crunch:
"The Consumer Crunch Recession or not, American families will be forced to tighten their belts "
Free money (Capital One, Countrywide, home equity loans, sub-prime's) from suburbia to the inner city is gone.
Free money feeds bling.
No free money, bye bye bling.
Back to basics, bye bye Gucci, Prada, whatever, hellow Wrangler.
Fine with me, I don't need to impress the neighbors, or myself.
The Consumer Crunch:
"The Consumer Crunch Recession or not, American families will be forced to tighten their belts "
Monday, November 19, 2007
Pure Brilliant Talent
Shirley and I were talking about Picasso
Reminded me of this show (I'm sure it was David Douglas Duncan - found on the web)
Single line, the only medium being air and light, pure brilliant talent
No corrections, no references other than in the mind
A signature piece, minotaur of light
Reminded me of this show (I'm sure it was David Douglas Duncan - found on the web)
Single line, the only medium being air and light, pure brilliant talent
No corrections, no references other than in the mind
A signature piece, minotaur of light
Duck Hunting
No photo, but we just had a young Bald Eagle hunting over the cove
Shirley spotted it first
I thought it may be going after fish
Nope
Shirley had the field glasses .. it was a Bufflehead, a diving duck
The duck would dive, but the eagle "knew" it would have to surface.
After about a dozen attempts, it got it's prey
Impressive
Shirley spotted it first
I thought it may be going after fish
Nope
Shirley had the field glasses .. it was a Bufflehead, a diving duck
The duck would dive, but the eagle "knew" it would have to surface.
After about a dozen attempts, it got it's prey
Impressive
Sign of a bottom?
This is the sort of story that may indicate at least a short term buy on the dollar.
Yahoo! Finance: "OPEC Interested in Non-Dollar Currency- AP Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that OPEC's members have expressed interest in converting their cash reserves into a currency other than the depreciating U.S. dollar, which he called a 'worthless piece of paper.'"
Yahoo! Finance: "OPEC Interested in Non-Dollar Currency- AP Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that OPEC's members have expressed interest in converting their cash reserves into a currency other than the depreciating U.S. dollar, which he called a 'worthless piece of paper.'"
Sunday, November 18, 2007
DVR's up and down
Besides the obvious time shift advantage, not really different from VCR's other than ease, and "instant replay" the ablity to zap commercials is great, esp. with football. Esp. with slow games.
I'd recorded, fast forwarded much of the UofM/Ohio State game.
Michigan State/Penn State game was more interesting:
Fake punt fuels Spartans' victory - Michigan State Spartans Sports: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com
Downside: having started the recording, they picking up after dinner (game was still on, but I was catching up) the unit went by the scheduled timing.
Came down to last min. and controversy over time-out's and game clock... looked like Penn State would have one more shot, less than 30 seconds.
And the DVR stopped!
Arrgh
MSU won
I'd recorded, fast forwarded much of the UofM/Ohio State game.
Michigan State/Penn State game was more interesting:
Fake punt fuels Spartans' victory - Michigan State Spartans Sports: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com
Downside: having started the recording, they picking up after dinner (game was still on, but I was catching up) the unit went by the scheduled timing.
Came down to last min. and controversy over time-out's and game clock... looked like Penn State would have one more shot, less than 30 seconds.
And the DVR stopped!
Arrgh
MSU won
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Oh Deer
Metro kids may head to the zoo to see the deer
Here, the kids hunt them
Click for some shots of good shots
Leelanau Enterprise � Success on youth two-day special deer hunt: "Success on youth two-day special deer hunt"
Here, the kids hunt them
Click for some shots of good shots
Leelanau Enterprise � Success on youth two-day special deer hunt: "Success on youth two-day special deer hunt"
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Beach
Not much bloggin
Week in NYC, home for a couple days, then off to Sanibel, mostly business
Did buckle down for some beach walks, 2 miles minimum, 6 max (handy mile markers on the beach)
Tried to do most early or late
Week in NYC, home for a couple days, then off to Sanibel, mostly business
Did buckle down for some beach walks, 2 miles minimum, 6 max (handy mile markers on the beach)
Tried to do most early or late
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
On the lighter side
Should you really trust a Realtor?
Look Who Still Can't Sell His Home! (Hint, He's In The Industry) - Realty Check with Diana Olick - CNBC.com
Maybe not...
Look Who Still Can't Sell His Home! (Hint, He's In The Industry) - Realty Check with Diana Olick - CNBC.com
Maybe not...
Dialog ... ?
Background
We had some high winds, power fluctuations
(Winds ... gusts to 50 MPH, standard November fare here ... see Edmund Fitzgerald)
Anyway, we had a service outage, basic cable worked, but no high end digital or internet
My message to Charter:
suggestion: establish a call to report outage number
This morning, my service went out about 7:30
By 8:30, after several reboots, I called your "help" line
Well, 10-15 min with your robot service, then at least 10 with your call center, we got a service call scheduled.
I was 99% certain that you had a system outage
Sure enough, around 3PM I checked again, and have service.
Now, if you had a line to call to report an outage, it would help both of us.
I'm no dummy, and your call center was not aware of the outage. I could have helped.
This is a question of customer satisfaction.
When I know that you have a problem, I don't like to waste time with robot voice or overseas call centers.
I would believe that it is much cheaper for Charter to receive reports of problems, than to send a truck on a wild goose chase.
Figure where it’s best to spend your corporate funds.
My time is worth money, you took at least ½ hour which I would bill at $100. What does a truck roll cost? What does a “call to report outage” number cost?
More importantly, what does a satisfied customer cost?
Sincerely
JTHoagland
Reply tonight from Charter
Does it look canned?
Note the sales pitch
Hey ... if I had the connection, why would I need the "self help"
We had some high winds, power fluctuations
(Winds ... gusts to 50 MPH, standard November fare here ... see Edmund Fitzgerald)
Anyway, we had a service outage, basic cable worked, but no high end digital or internet
My message to Charter:
suggestion: establish a call to report outage number
This morning, my service went out about 7:30
By 8:30, after several reboots, I called your "help" line
Well, 10-15 min with your robot service, then at least 10 with your call center, we got a service call scheduled.
I was 99% certain that you had a system outage
Sure enough, around 3PM I checked again, and have service.
Now, if you had a line to call to report an outage, it would help both of us.
I'm no dummy, and your call center was not aware of the outage. I could have helped.
This is a question of customer satisfaction.
When I know that you have a problem, I don't like to waste time with robot voice or overseas call centers.
I would believe that it is much cheaper for Charter to receive reports of problems, than to send a truck on a wild goose chase.
Figure where it’s best to spend your corporate funds.
My time is worth money, you took at least ½ hour which I would bill at $100. What does a truck roll cost? What does a “call to report outage” number cost?
More importantly, what does a satisfied customer cost?
Sincerely
JTHoagland
Reply tonight from Charter
Does it look canned?
Note the sales pitch
Hey ... if I had the connection, why would I need the "self help"
Dear JT Hoagland,
Thank you so much for contacting Charter Communications, my name is Ronand. I understand that you are having issues with your service. I am sorry that you had to go through this inconvenience. I understand your frustration; rest assured I will do my best to address this concern. If you have additional questions, please let me know.
I would like to encourage you to please visit our website, www.charter.com for further information and assistance regarding any of your services. There are self-help options available for you there.
Great News! Charter telephone is now available in your area! You can save money with charter's 5-feature pack that gibes you the popular calling feature you want for one low price. Call our toll free number 1-800-545-0994 to learn more and sign up for Charter's Telephone Service!
Thank you for your e-mail submission to our website! Have a wonderful day!
Sincerely,
Ronand
Email Support Team
High Speed Internet Department
Charter Communications
Monday, November 05, 2007
Travel tips
Check this out, but also check the comments for follow up's
Found via Doc (Doc Searls Weblog : Same old blog, brand new place)
Travelhacker :
10 Useful Secrets the Major Airlines Don’t Want You to Know
Monday, October 22, 2007 at 2:25pm
byBy Laura Milligan
"Ironically, traveling by air is getting more and more inconvenient as overbooked flights, lost luggage, and pricey ticket sales become more common. Unfortunately, booking a flight is sometimes just plain necessary, a fact that airlines know all too well, allowing them to continue maximizing profits while we passengers often get stuck on the ground."
Found via Doc (Doc Searls Weblog : Same old blog, brand new place)
Travelhacker :
10 Useful Secrets the Major Airlines Don’t Want You to Know
Monday, October 22, 2007 at 2:25pm
byBy Laura Milligan
"Ironically, traveling by air is getting more and more inconvenient as overbooked flights, lost luggage, and pricey ticket sales become more common. Unfortunately, booking a flight is sometimes just plain necessary, a fact that airlines know all too well, allowing them to continue maximizing profits while we passengers often get stuck on the ground."
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Tick Tock
Daylight "Savings"
Seems we swapped 6AM to 7AM darkness for 7PM to 6PM darkness
Just a bit of a shift in behavior
Easier to get up early enough
Tend to fix dinner earlier ...
Not that the sun, moon and stars really care
Only our associates/friends/partners
Seems we swapped 6AM to 7AM darkness for 7PM to 6PM darkness
Just a bit of a shift in behavior
Easier to get up early enough
Tend to fix dinner earlier ...
Not that the sun, moon and stars really care
Only our associates/friends/partners
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Timber ... and Conservation
Logging Is Part of a Plan to Preserve Adirondacks - New York Times: "Logging Is Part of a Plan to Preserve Adirondacks"
Friday, October 26, 2007
Bent but not broken
Spotted in back corner of our property while doing a bit of "orienteering" with the Conservancy while wrapping up plans for our easement.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Journalist
Steve Forbes, on his mentor
James W. Michaels - Forbes.com
Only met Jim once.
Forbes Cruise
Out of Dover and Steve was on board to do the meet/greet
Jim singled me out for photo-op
Well, I was/still am a bit "shaggy" with longish hair and beard ... perfect offset for Steve
Jim had an eye for what worked
I had intended to us it for Christmas card with "thought bubble" of "don't run"
Steve was bright and engaging in person, too wooden on TV
Stick to print
God speed Jim
James W. Michaels - Forbes.com
Only met Jim once.
Forbes Cruise
Out of Dover and Steve was on board to do the meet/greet
Jim singled me out for photo-op
Well, I was/still am a bit "shaggy" with longish hair and beard ... perfect offset for Steve
Jim had an eye for what worked
I had intended to us it for Christmas card with "thought bubble" of "don't run"
Steve was bright and engaging in person, too wooden on TV
Stick to print
God speed Jim
Monday, October 22, 2007
Photos for the day
Went off to our woodlot this afternoon to cut some cordwood
Stopped to take this shot up one of our trails - these hardwoods haven't been cut.
Leads up to ouir "lookout
Then, while prepping dinner, decided I had to shoot the clouds over the lake.
The few ripples are from a mallard on our beach I spooked
Stopped to take this shot up one of our trails - these hardwoods haven't been cut.
Leads up to ouir "lookout
Then, while prepping dinner, decided I had to shoot the clouds over the lake.
The few ripples are from a mallard on our beach I spooked
Meltdown
Good overview of what led to the sub-prime/housing bubble and likely impacts:
CFA Institute Publications: CFA Magazine - 18(4):39 - Abstract
CFA Institute Publications: CFA Magazine - 18(4):39 - Abstract
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Polar Point of View
With all the talk of Global Warming, potential opening of the Artic Ocean I got to thinking about Buckey Fuller's Dymaxion "AirOcean" Map
Dymaxion map - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"The Dymaxion map of the Earth is a projection of a global map onto the surface of a polyhedron, which can then be unfolded to a net in many different ways and flattened to form a two-dimensional map which retains most of the relative proportional integrity of the globe map. It was created by Buckminster Fuller, and patented by him in 1946, the patent application showing a projection onto a cuboctahedron. The 1954 version published by Fuller under the title The AirOcean World Map used a slightly modified but mostly regular icosahedron as the base for the projection, and this is the version most commonly referred to today. "
The map also makes evident the importance of the Artic Ocean and polar air routes
(and ICBM flight paths)
I have a similar map hanging over my desk
Dymaxion map - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"The Dymaxion map of the Earth is a projection of a global map onto the surface of a polyhedron, which can then be unfolded to a net in many different ways and flattened to form a two-dimensional map which retains most of the relative proportional integrity of the globe map. It was created by Buckminster Fuller, and patented by him in 1946, the patent application showing a projection onto a cuboctahedron. The 1954 version published by Fuller under the title The AirOcean World Map used a slightly modified but mostly regular icosahedron as the base for the projection, and this is the version most commonly referred to today. "
The map also makes evident the importance of the Artic Ocean and polar air routes
(and ICBM flight paths)
I have a similar map hanging over my desk
Friday, October 19, 2007
It was 20 years ago today
Same date on the calendar, Oct 19th, but different day of the week
20 years ago it was a Monday, aka "Black Monday" the day of the '87 Market Meltdown
I remember it well
I was not on the floor, nor even in New York
I was in little old Holt Michigan, but with cable TV, my old Mac and ... a VCR
Maybe the tape is too old now, but I watched it several times, about 6hours of the old FNN (Financial news Network, the precursor of CNBC).
So what happened?
Not well covered is the impact of Mr. David Ruder, Chairman of the SEC.
(note that he was only in office for a matter of months)
The markets were trending down, there were issues with valuation, an ongoing "spat" with Europe etc.
But there was a key element ... actions and words of the SEC Chair
A week or two earlier, to a group of bond managers/traders, either as a comment or response to a question, Mr. Ruter indicated that , in the case of market turmoil, the SEC would consider closing the exchanges.
This caused a sell off in the bond market
This was not widely covered in the press, but was know on the street.
What did it mean?
Analogy: You are waiting in line for a movie and the management announces that "in case of fire, we will lock the doors"
Huh?
Are you going to the movie or go have a beer?
Well on Monday, October 19, 1987, the markets were headed down, but was starting to recover.
Mr. Ruter was interviewed. He made a similar statement.
Word spread and any buyers said ... whoa ... I'm pulling my bid.
Market plunged
Then the market started to recover, and the quote was carried on another newswire
Once again ... bids were pulled
Buyers strike
Many other events were triggered
"program trading" triggered additional selling
Paper transaction couldn't keep pace, trades were reported 10-15-30 min late
Banks shut their lending windows to specialists, rumors spread
Panic
But the key element was the threat to close the markets - to lock the doors
And the rest is history
It was a good time to buy
20 years ago it was a Monday, aka "Black Monday" the day of the '87 Market Meltdown
I remember it well
I was not on the floor, nor even in New York
I was in little old Holt Michigan, but with cable TV, my old Mac and ... a VCR
Maybe the tape is too old now, but I watched it several times, about 6hours of the old FNN (Financial news Network, the precursor of CNBC).
So what happened?
Not well covered is the impact of Mr. David Ruder, Chairman of the SEC.
(note that he was only in office for a matter of months)
The markets were trending down, there were issues with valuation, an ongoing "spat" with Europe etc.
But there was a key element ... actions and words of the SEC Chair
A week or two earlier, to a group of bond managers/traders, either as a comment or response to a question, Mr. Ruter indicated that , in the case of market turmoil, the SEC would consider closing the exchanges.
This caused a sell off in the bond market
This was not widely covered in the press, but was know on the street.
What did it mean?
Analogy: You are waiting in line for a movie and the management announces that "in case of fire, we will lock the doors"
Huh?
Are you going to the movie or go have a beer?
Well on Monday, October 19, 1987, the markets were headed down, but was starting to recover.
Mr. Ruter was interviewed. He made a similar statement.
Word spread and any buyers said ... whoa ... I'm pulling my bid.
Market plunged
Then the market started to recover, and the quote was carried on another newswire
Once again ... bids were pulled
Buyers strike
Many other events were triggered
"program trading" triggered additional selling
Paper transaction couldn't keep pace, trades were reported 10-15-30 min late
Banks shut their lending windows to specialists, rumors spread
Panic
But the key element was the threat to close the markets - to lock the doors
And the rest is history
It was a good time to buy
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Interesting Meeting
Can't really say what core topic was... yet, but most interesting conversation.
Check David's site:
David T. Hanawalt: Architecture - Land Planning - Community Design - Site Plans
Check David's site:
David T. Hanawalt: Architecture - Land Planning - Community Design - Site Plans
Sleeze... cont.
Looney Dunes: Sleeze: "Sleeze Digging into the practices of the country's largest mortgage generator."
Now the SEC is taking a look
Stock Sales by Chief of Lender Questioned - New York Times
"After starting a plan in October 2006, Mr. Mozilo twice raised the number of shares that could be sold: once in December 2006, when Countrywide stock was $40.50, and again in February, when it hit a high of $45.03. He has had gains of $132 million since starting the October 2006 plan and expects to sell his remaining shares by the end of the week, a move that will generate millions more."
Now the SEC is taking a look
Stock Sales by Chief of Lender Questioned - New York Times
"After starting a plan in October 2006, Mr. Mozilo twice raised the number of shares that could be sold: once in December 2006, when Countrywide stock was $40.50, and again in February, when it hit a high of $45.03. He has had gains of $132 million since starting the October 2006 plan and expects to sell his remaining shares by the end of the week, a move that will generate millions more."
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Global Warming Delusions ?
Copyrighted material, but as it will eventually go into the "pay-per-view" archives, I'm preserving for posterity.
A most interesting read
Global
Warming Delusions
Global Warming Delusions
By DANIEL B. BOTKIN
October 17, 2007; Page A19
Global warming doesn't matter except to the extent that it will affect life -- ours and that of all living things on Earth. And contrary to the latest news, the evidence that global warming will have serious effects on life is thin. Most evidence suggests the contrary.
Kilimanjaro's shrinking ice cap is not directly related to global warming.
Case in point: This year's United Nations report on climate change and other documents say that 20%-30% of plant and animal species will be threatened with extinction in this century due to global warming -- a truly terrifying thought. Yet, during the past 2.5 million years, a period that scientists now know experienced climatic changes as rapid and as warm as modern climatological models suggest will happen to us, almost none of the millions of species on Earth went extinct. The exceptions were about 20 species of large mammals (the famous megafauna of the last ice age -- saber-tooth tigers, hairy mammoths and the like), which went extinct about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, and many dominant trees and shrubs of northwestern Europe. But elsewhere, including North America, few plant species went extinct, and few mammals.
We're also warned that tropical diseases are going to spread, and that we can expect malaria and encephalitis epidemics. But scientific papers by Prof. Sarah Randolph of Oxford University show that temperature changes do not correlate well with changes in the distribution or frequency of these diseases; warming has not broadened their distribution and is highly unlikely to do so in the future, global warming or not.
The key point here is that living things respond to many factors in addition to temperature and rainfall. In most cases, however, climate-modeling-based forecasts look primarily at temperature alone, or temperature and precipitation only. You might ask, "Isn't this enough to forecast changes in the distribution of species?" Ask a mockingbird. The New York Times recently published an answer to a query about why mockingbirds were becoming common in Manhattan. The expert answer was: food -- an exotic plant species that mockingbirds like to eat had spread to New York City. It was this, not temperature or rainfall, the expert said, that caused the change in mockingbird geography.
You might think I must be one of those know-nothing naysayers who believes global warming is a liberal plot. On the contrary, I am a biologist and ecologist who has worked on global warming, and been concerned about its effects, since 1968. I've developed the computer model of forest growth that has been used widely to forecast possible effects of global warming on life -- I've used the model for that purpose myself, and to forecast likely effects on specific endangered species.
I'm not a naysayer. I'm a scientist who believes in the scientific method and in what facts tell us. I have worked for 40 years to try to improve our environment and improve human life as well. I believe we can do this only from a basis in reality, and that is not what I see happening now. Instead, like fashions that took hold in the past and are eloquently analyzed in the classic 19th century book "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," the popular imagination today appears to have been captured by beliefs that have little scientific basis.
Some colleagues who share some of my doubts argue that the only way to get our society to change is to frighten people with the possibility of a catastrophe, and that therefore it is all right and even necessary for scientists to exaggerate. They tell me that my belief in open and honest assessment is naïve. "Wolves deceive their prey, don't they?" one said to me recently. Therefore, biologically, he said, we are justified in exaggerating to get society to change.
The climate modelers who developed the computer programs that are being used to forecast climate change used to readily admit that the models were crude and not very realistic, but were the best that could be done with available computers and programming methods. They said our options were to either believe those crude models or believe the opinions of experienced, data-focused scientists. Having done a great deal of computer modeling myself, I appreciated their acknowledgment of the limits of their methods. But I hear no such statements today. Oddly, the forecasts of computer models have become our new reality, while facts such as the few extinctions of the past 2.5 million years are pushed aside, as if they were not our reality.
A recent article in the well-respected journal American Scientist explained why the glacier on Mt. Kilimanjaro could not be melting from global warming. Simply from an intellectual point of view it was fascinating -- especially the author's Sherlock Holmes approach to figuring out what was causing the glacier to melt. That it couldn't be global warming directly (i.e., the result of air around the glacier warming) was made clear by the fact that the air temperature at the altitude of the glacier is below freezing. This means that only direct radiant heat from sunlight could be warming and melting the glacier. The author also studied the shape of the glacier and deduced that its melting pattern was consistent with radiant heat but not air temperature. Although acknowledged by many scientists, the paper is scorned by the true believers in global warming.
We are told that the melting of the arctic ice will be a disaster. But during the famous medieval warming period -- A.D. 750 to 1230 or so -- the Vikings found the warmer northern climate to their advantage. Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie addressed this in his book "Times of Feast, Times of Famine: A History of Climate Since the Year 1000," perhaps the greatest book about climate change before the onset of modern concerns with global warming. He wrote that Erik the Red "took advantage of a sea relatively free of ice to sail due west from Iceland to reach Greenland. . . . Two and a half centuries later, at the height of the climatic and demographic fortunes of the northern settlers, a bishopric of Greenland was founded at Gardar in 1126."
Ladurie pointed out that "it is reasonable to think of the Vikings as unconsciously taking advantage of this [referring to the warming of the Middle Ages] to colonize the most northern and inclement of their conquests, Iceland and Greenland." Good thing that Erik the Red didn't have Al Gore or his climatologists as his advisers.
Should we therefore dismiss global warming? Of course not. But we should make a realistic assessment, as rationally as possible, about its cultural, economic and environmental effects. As Erik the Red might have told you, not everything due to a climatic warming is bad, nor is everything that is bad due to a climatic warming.
We should approach the problem the way we decide whether to buy insurance and take precautions against other catastrophes -- wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes. And as I have written elsewhere, many of the actions we would take to reduce greenhouse-gas production and mitigate global-warming effects are beneficial anyway, most particularly a movement away from fossil fuels to alternative solar and wind energy.
My concern is that we may be moving away from an irrational lack of concern about climate change to an equally irrational panic about it.
Many of my colleagues ask, "What's the problem? Hasn't it been a good thing to raise public concern?" The problem is that in this panic we are going to spend our money unwisely, we will take actions that are counterproductive, and we will fail to do many of those things that will benefit the environment and ourselves.
For example, right now the clearest threat to many species is habitat destruction. Take the orangutans, for instance, one of those charismatic species that people are often fascinated by and concerned about. They are endangered because of deforestation. In our fear of global warming, it would be sad if we fail to find funds to purchase those forests before they are destroyed, and thus let this species go extinct.
At the heart of the matter is how much faith we decide to put in science -- even how much faith scientists put in science. Our times have benefited from clear-thinking, science-based rationality. I hope this prevails as we try to deal with our changing climate.
Mr. Botkin, president of the Center for the Study of the Environment and professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the author of "Discordant Harmonies: A New Ecology for the Twenty-First Century" (Replica Books, 2001).
A most interesting read
Global
Warming Delusions
Global Warming Delusions
By DANIEL B. BOTKIN
October 17, 2007; Page A19
Global warming doesn't matter except to the extent that it will affect life -- ours and that of all living things on Earth. And contrary to the latest news, the evidence that global warming will have serious effects on life is thin. Most evidence suggests the contrary.
Kilimanjaro's shrinking ice cap is not directly related to global warming.
Case in point: This year's United Nations report on climate change and other documents say that 20%-30% of plant and animal species will be threatened with extinction in this century due to global warming -- a truly terrifying thought. Yet, during the past 2.5 million years, a period that scientists now know experienced climatic changes as rapid and as warm as modern climatological models suggest will happen to us, almost none of the millions of species on Earth went extinct. The exceptions were about 20 species of large mammals (the famous megafauna of the last ice age -- saber-tooth tigers, hairy mammoths and the like), which went extinct about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, and many dominant trees and shrubs of northwestern Europe. But elsewhere, including North America, few plant species went extinct, and few mammals.
We're also warned that tropical diseases are going to spread, and that we can expect malaria and encephalitis epidemics. But scientific papers by Prof. Sarah Randolph of Oxford University show that temperature changes do not correlate well with changes in the distribution or frequency of these diseases; warming has not broadened their distribution and is highly unlikely to do so in the future, global warming or not.
The key point here is that living things respond to many factors in addition to temperature and rainfall. In most cases, however, climate-modeling-based forecasts look primarily at temperature alone, or temperature and precipitation only. You might ask, "Isn't this enough to forecast changes in the distribution of species?" Ask a mockingbird. The New York Times recently published an answer to a query about why mockingbirds were becoming common in Manhattan. The expert answer was: food -- an exotic plant species that mockingbirds like to eat had spread to New York City. It was this, not temperature or rainfall, the expert said, that caused the change in mockingbird geography.
You might think I must be one of those know-nothing naysayers who believes global warming is a liberal plot. On the contrary, I am a biologist and ecologist who has worked on global warming, and been concerned about its effects, since 1968. I've developed the computer model of forest growth that has been used widely to forecast possible effects of global warming on life -- I've used the model for that purpose myself, and to forecast likely effects on specific endangered species.
I'm not a naysayer. I'm a scientist who believes in the scientific method and in what facts tell us. I have worked for 40 years to try to improve our environment and improve human life as well. I believe we can do this only from a basis in reality, and that is not what I see happening now. Instead, like fashions that took hold in the past and are eloquently analyzed in the classic 19th century book "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," the popular imagination today appears to have been captured by beliefs that have little scientific basis.
Some colleagues who share some of my doubts argue that the only way to get our society to change is to frighten people with the possibility of a catastrophe, and that therefore it is all right and even necessary for scientists to exaggerate. They tell me that my belief in open and honest assessment is naïve. "Wolves deceive their prey, don't they?" one said to me recently. Therefore, biologically, he said, we are justified in exaggerating to get society to change.
The climate modelers who developed the computer programs that are being used to forecast climate change used to readily admit that the models were crude and not very realistic, but were the best that could be done with available computers and programming methods. They said our options were to either believe those crude models or believe the opinions of experienced, data-focused scientists. Having done a great deal of computer modeling myself, I appreciated their acknowledgment of the limits of their methods. But I hear no such statements today. Oddly, the forecasts of computer models have become our new reality, while facts such as the few extinctions of the past 2.5 million years are pushed aside, as if they were not our reality.
A recent article in the well-respected journal American Scientist explained why the glacier on Mt. Kilimanjaro could not be melting from global warming. Simply from an intellectual point of view it was fascinating -- especially the author's Sherlock Holmes approach to figuring out what was causing the glacier to melt. That it couldn't be global warming directly (i.e., the result of air around the glacier warming) was made clear by the fact that the air temperature at the altitude of the glacier is below freezing. This means that only direct radiant heat from sunlight could be warming and melting the glacier. The author also studied the shape of the glacier and deduced that its melting pattern was consistent with radiant heat but not air temperature. Although acknowledged by many scientists, the paper is scorned by the true believers in global warming.
We are told that the melting of the arctic ice will be a disaster. But during the famous medieval warming period -- A.D. 750 to 1230 or so -- the Vikings found the warmer northern climate to their advantage. Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie addressed this in his book "Times of Feast, Times of Famine: A History of Climate Since the Year 1000," perhaps the greatest book about climate change before the onset of modern concerns with global warming. He wrote that Erik the Red "took advantage of a sea relatively free of ice to sail due west from Iceland to reach Greenland. . . . Two and a half centuries later, at the height of the climatic and demographic fortunes of the northern settlers, a bishopric of Greenland was founded at Gardar in 1126."
Ladurie pointed out that "it is reasonable to think of the Vikings as unconsciously taking advantage of this [referring to the warming of the Middle Ages] to colonize the most northern and inclement of their conquests, Iceland and Greenland." Good thing that Erik the Red didn't have Al Gore or his climatologists as his advisers.
Should we therefore dismiss global warming? Of course not. But we should make a realistic assessment, as rationally as possible, about its cultural, economic and environmental effects. As Erik the Red might have told you, not everything due to a climatic warming is bad, nor is everything that is bad due to a climatic warming.
We should approach the problem the way we decide whether to buy insurance and take precautions against other catastrophes -- wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes. And as I have written elsewhere, many of the actions we would take to reduce greenhouse-gas production and mitigate global-warming effects are beneficial anyway, most particularly a movement away from fossil fuels to alternative solar and wind energy.
My concern is that we may be moving away from an irrational lack of concern about climate change to an equally irrational panic about it.
Many of my colleagues ask, "What's the problem? Hasn't it been a good thing to raise public concern?" The problem is that in this panic we are going to spend our money unwisely, we will take actions that are counterproductive, and we will fail to do many of those things that will benefit the environment and ourselves.
For example, right now the clearest threat to many species is habitat destruction. Take the orangutans, for instance, one of those charismatic species that people are often fascinated by and concerned about. They are endangered because of deforestation. In our fear of global warming, it would be sad if we fail to find funds to purchase those forests before they are destroyed, and thus let this species go extinct.
At the heart of the matter is how much faith we decide to put in science -- even how much faith scientists put in science. Our times have benefited from clear-thinking, science-based rationality. I hope this prevails as we try to deal with our changing climate.
Mr. Botkin, president of the Center for the Study of the Environment and professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the author of "Discordant Harmonies: A New Ecology for the Twenty-First Century" (Replica Books, 2001).
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Morning light
One of the reasons we love it here...
Just before 8AM
Fog on the lake, wispy clouds above
Just before 8AM
Fog on the lake, wispy clouds above
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Security issues
Jeff Jonas: Six Ticks till Midnight: One Plausible Journey from Here to a Total Surveillance Society:
All tracking all the time...
Panopticon ?
And Google-plex
Techdirt: Denied Entrance Into The US Thanks To A Google Search Of Your Permanent Record:
"For a long time, people have talked about how Google has effectively created the infamous "permanent record" teachers always warned us about in school. And, now, it appears that it's not just being used for background checks on dates and job reference checks, but for official government purposes as well. Joe McEnaney writes in to alert us to a story of a Canadian man who was denied entrance to the US after border guards did a Google search on his name and discovered a peer-reviewed academic paper he'd written years earlier that mentioned his own LSD use over 30 years ago. Setting aside any thoughts one way or the other on whether or not that should be a criteria for entering the US, just think of what this means for teens today who are discussing their lives very publicly on sites like MySpace. We've already wondered what will happen once the MySpace generation runs for office, but right now they might just want to be careful leaving and entering the country."
which may have led to Cory's piece:
From The Magazine : Radar Online : Cory Doctorow imagines a world in which Google is evil: "Scroogled Google controls your e-mail, your videos, your calendar, your searches… What if it controlled your life? By Cory Doctorow "
which led to WSJournal piece
Cory Doctorow’s craphound.com >>Scroogled in the Wall Street Journal
"There are lots of ways in which Google knowing more about you makes Google better for you. But without much regard to what’s happening in the world around us, in an era in which the national security apparatus has turned into a kind of lumbering, savage, giant toddler, it behooves us to not leave things within arm’s reach that it might stick in its mouth. And that includes things like my search history. And I’d prefer that Google not be storing a lot of that stuff, especially today, especially after Patriot [Act] and so on. They’re inviting abuse, I think, by doing that. The steps you don’t save can’t be subpoenaed. And by saving them, Google is inviting a subpoena."
and there was this ...
Cory:
"I had a really interesting meeting a couple of years ago with some of the [chief information officers] of Danish ministries. We sat down to talk about data interoperability and document retention. Document retention's a really thorny one, because hard drives are cheap, and governments don't really understand why they shouldn't just save everything. Who knows when it will be useful? I started to talk to them about this, and a gentleman put his hand up and said you know, you may need to talk to people in other countries about this, but you don't need to talk to the Danes about this.
Because after the Nazis occupied Copenhagen, they went down to the police station and got from the files all the addresses of the people they wanted to round up and stick in boxcars, and they took them away. We don't retain anything here. As soon as we're done with it, we throw it away because we understand that you can't always predict how information will be used, and the only way to ensure it's not misused is to get rid of it when you're done with it."
Just be careful what you wish for
All tracking all the time...
Panopticon ?
And Google-plex
Techdirt: Denied Entrance Into The US Thanks To A Google Search Of Your Permanent Record:
"For a long time, people have talked about how Google has effectively created the infamous "permanent record" teachers always warned us about in school. And, now, it appears that it's not just being used for background checks on dates and job reference checks, but for official government purposes as well. Joe McEnaney writes in to alert us to a story of a Canadian man who was denied entrance to the US after border guards did a Google search on his name and discovered a peer-reviewed academic paper he'd written years earlier that mentioned his own LSD use over 30 years ago. Setting aside any thoughts one way or the other on whether or not that should be a criteria for entering the US, just think of what this means for teens today who are discussing their lives very publicly on sites like MySpace. We've already wondered what will happen once the MySpace generation runs for office, but right now they might just want to be careful leaving and entering the country."
which may have led to Cory's piece:
From The Magazine : Radar Online : Cory Doctorow imagines a world in which Google is evil: "Scroogled Google controls your e-mail, your videos, your calendar, your searches… What if it controlled your life? By Cory Doctorow "
which led to WSJournal piece
Cory Doctorow’s craphound.com >>Scroogled in the Wall Street Journal
"There are lots of ways in which Google knowing more about you makes Google better for you. But without much regard to what’s happening in the world around us, in an era in which the national security apparatus has turned into a kind of lumbering, savage, giant toddler, it behooves us to not leave things within arm’s reach that it might stick in its mouth. And that includes things like my search history. And I’d prefer that Google not be storing a lot of that stuff, especially today, especially after Patriot [Act] and so on. They’re inviting abuse, I think, by doing that. The steps you don’t save can’t be subpoenaed. And by saving them, Google is inviting a subpoena."
and there was this ...
Cory:
"I had a really interesting meeting a couple of years ago with some of the [chief information officers] of Danish ministries. We sat down to talk about data interoperability and document retention. Document retention's a really thorny one, because hard drives are cheap, and governments don't really understand why they shouldn't just save everything. Who knows when it will be useful? I started to talk to them about this, and a gentleman put his hand up and said you know, you may need to talk to people in other countries about this, but you don't need to talk to the Danes about this.
Because after the Nazis occupied Copenhagen, they went down to the police station and got from the files all the addresses of the people they wanted to round up and stick in boxcars, and they took them away. We don't retain anything here. As soon as we're done with it, we throw it away because we understand that you can't always predict how information will be used, and the only way to ensure it's not misused is to get rid of it when you're done with it."
Just be careful what you wish for
Good PR, maybe less good science
Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize - New York Times:
"He turned that slide show into ''An Inconvenient Truth.''
The film won praise but also generated controversy. On Wednesday, a British judge ruled in a lawsuit that it was OK to show the movie to students in school. High Court Judge Michael Burton said it was ''substantially founded upon scientific research and fact'' but presented in a ''context of alarmism and exaggeration.'' He said teachers must be given a written document explaining that.
More than 20 top climate scientists told The Associated Press last year that the film was generally accurate in its presentation of the science, although some were bothered by what they thought were a couple of exaggerations. "
From International Herald Tribune:
"Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman for the former U.S. vice president, said the judge's decision backed key elements of the documentary.
"The ruling upheld fundamental pieces of the film and the scientific consensus that global warming is real and caused by human activities," she told The Associated Press. "Of the thousands of facts in the film, the judge only took issue with just a handful. And of that handful, we have the studies to back those pieces up."
Burton outlined nine problems — including Gore's claim that sea level rises of 23 feet (7 meters) might occur in the immediate future — something the judge characterized as "distinctly alarmist."
He also cited claims that Hurricane Katrina, the evaporation of most of Lake Chad and the melting of the snow on Mount Kilimanjaro were all caused by global warming. Burton said there was insufficient evidence to back those claims."
Note esp. that the sea level rise is not a fact, but a prediction and among the most graphic conclusions of the film, therefore not trivial.
And I question the position that all warming is anthropomorphic, I believe that the consensus is that human activity has contributed to warming, not that it is the sole cause.
More here:
Too-Convenient Truths in An Inconvenient Truth, Part One on Wired Science: "Too-Convenient Truths in An Inconvenient Truth"
"He turned that slide show into ''An Inconvenient Truth.''
The film won praise but also generated controversy. On Wednesday, a British judge ruled in a lawsuit that it was OK to show the movie to students in school. High Court Judge Michael Burton said it was ''substantially founded upon scientific research and fact'' but presented in a ''context of alarmism and exaggeration.'' He said teachers must be given a written document explaining that.
More than 20 top climate scientists told The Associated Press last year that the film was generally accurate in its presentation of the science, although some were bothered by what they thought were a couple of exaggerations. "
From International Herald Tribune:
"Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman for the former U.S. vice president, said the judge's decision backed key elements of the documentary.
"The ruling upheld fundamental pieces of the film and the scientific consensus that global warming is real and caused by human activities," she told The Associated Press. "Of the thousands of facts in the film, the judge only took issue with just a handful. And of that handful, we have the studies to back those pieces up."
Burton outlined nine problems — including Gore's claim that sea level rises of 23 feet (7 meters) might occur in the immediate future — something the judge characterized as "distinctly alarmist."
He also cited claims that Hurricane Katrina, the evaporation of most of Lake Chad and the melting of the snow on Mount Kilimanjaro were all caused by global warming. Burton said there was insufficient evidence to back those claims."
Note esp. that the sea level rise is not a fact, but a prediction and among the most graphic conclusions of the film, therefore not trivial.
And I question the position that all warming is anthropomorphic, I believe that the consensus is that human activity has contributed to warming, not that it is the sole cause.
More here:
Too-Convenient Truths in An Inconvenient Truth, Part One on Wired Science: "Too-Convenient Truths in An Inconvenient Truth"
Friday, October 12, 2007
But so did Yasser Arafat
U.S. Home - WSJ.com:
"Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. 5:23 a.m."
"Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. 5:23 a.m."
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Religon in the Oval Office
Just how bad can this get?
What are the risks of an evangelical president?
Journals: 1952-2000 - Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. - Reviewed by Maureen Dowd - Books - Review - New York Times: "...Schlesinger says he “could not bring myself to vote for a man who believes that Adam and Eve once existed and that Eve was literally made out of Adam’s rib ... and believes he has seen flying saucers.”
Schlesinger considers Reagan nutty and passes on an anecdote told to him by Jim McCartney of Knight-Ridder, who sat next to the president at the ’87 Gridiron dinner. Reagan told McCartney that Chernobyl had been predicted in “the eighth chapter of Revelations with the account of the opening of the seventh seal ... a great star falling from heaven causing men to die from the bitter waters. The star, Reagan said, was called Wedgewood, and the Ukrainian word for Wedgewood is Chernobyl. McCartney looked up the passage on his return and discovered that the star was called Wormwood.”"
Oh yeah, the first paragraph referred to ... Jimmy Carter.
What are the risks of an evangelical president?
Journals: 1952-2000 - Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. - Reviewed by Maureen Dowd - Books - Review - New York Times: "...Schlesinger says he “could not bring myself to vote for a man who believes that Adam and Eve once existed and that Eve was literally made out of Adam’s rib ... and believes he has seen flying saucers.”
Schlesinger considers Reagan nutty and passes on an anecdote told to him by Jim McCartney of Knight-Ridder, who sat next to the president at the ’87 Gridiron dinner. Reagan told McCartney that Chernobyl had been predicted in “the eighth chapter of Revelations with the account of the opening of the seventh seal ... a great star falling from heaven causing men to die from the bitter waters. The star, Reagan said, was called Wedgewood, and the Ukrainian word for Wedgewood is Chernobyl. McCartney looked up the passage on his return and discovered that the star was called Wormwood.”"
Oh yeah, the first paragraph referred to ... Jimmy Carter.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Evil does exist
Watching
THE WAR | PBS
Coverage of the Holocaust
Very graphic proof that there have been evil people
Maybe Ahmadinejad should watch?
THE WAR | PBS
Coverage of the Holocaust
Very graphic proof that there have been evil people
Maybe Ahmadinejad should watch?
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Remember Maine
Talk about sea change (prior post)
They have tides in Maine, I mean TIDES
About 10-12 ft while we were there
This is near low tide
Titled "Lobster traps" as there are a few buoy's out past the rocks.
May add more later here: Maine - a photoset on Flickr
Did not get nearly as many good shots as I'd hoped to, just matter of timing
They have tides in Maine, I mean TIDES
About 10-12 ft while we were there
This is near low tide
Titled "Lobster traps" as there are a few buoy's out past the rocks.
May add more later here: Maine - a photoset on Flickr
Did not get nearly as many good shots as I'd hoped to, just matter of timing
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sooner rather than later
While I've been sure it would happen, this is sooner than I thought.
I was guessing a couple years out ...
Bottom line - no interest in Ethanol, at least from corn.
Ethanol’s Boom Stalling as Glut Depresses Price - New York Times:
"“The end of the ethanol boom is possibly in sight and may already be here,” said Neil E. Harl, an economics professor emeritus at Iowa State University who lectures on ethanol and is a consultant for producers. “This is a dangerous time for people who are making investments.”
While generous government support is expected to keep the output of ethanol fuel growing, the poorly planned overexpansion of the industry raises questions about its ability to fulfill the hopes of President Bush and other policy makers to serve as a serious antidote to the nation’s heavy reliance on foreign oil."
I was guessing a couple years out ...
Bottom line - no interest in Ethanol, at least from corn.
Ethanol’s Boom Stalling as Glut Depresses Price - New York Times:
"“The end of the ethanol boom is possibly in sight and may already be here,” said Neil E. Harl, an economics professor emeritus at Iowa State University who lectures on ethanol and is a consultant for producers. “This is a dangerous time for people who are making investments.”
While generous government support is expected to keep the output of ethanol fuel growing, the poorly planned overexpansion of the industry raises questions about its ability to fulfill the hopes of President Bush and other policy makers to serve as a serious antidote to the nation’s heavy reliance on foreign oil."
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sea Change?
Besides likely closer identity of interest between management and the union's (assuming a portion of the VEBA is funded with GM stock).
Will the UAW have some ammunition to use in approaching workers for Japanese ( and other ) plants here in the states?
"We can offer you health coverage, what do you get from your employer?"
This might get interesting.
(some of this from conversation with friend at GM)
G.M. Workers Return After Deal Reached With Union - New York Times:
"G.M.’s key demand was the VEBA, which would include the union’s participation. G.M. would be the first among the Detroit companies to take full responsibility for coverage for active and retired workers and their families. G.M. estimates that liability at $55 billion.
Similar trusts could soon follow at the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler.
The automakers have pushed hard for the union to agree to form such trusts, maintaining that their so-called legacy costs hinder their ability to compete with Japanese auto companies, whose costs are lower.
All told, the three companies have health care liabilities totaling nearly $100 billion."
Will the UAW have some ammunition to use in approaching workers for Japanese ( and other ) plants here in the states?
"We can offer you health coverage, what do you get from your employer?"
This might get interesting.
(some of this from conversation with friend at GM)
G.M. Workers Return After Deal Reached With Union - New York Times:
"G.M.’s key demand was the VEBA, which would include the union’s participation. G.M. would be the first among the Detroit companies to take full responsibility for coverage for active and retired workers and their families. G.M. estimates that liability at $55 billion.
Similar trusts could soon follow at the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler.
The automakers have pushed hard for the union to agree to form such trusts, maintaining that their so-called legacy costs hinder their ability to compete with Japanese auto companies, whose costs are lower.
All told, the three companies have health care liabilities totaling nearly $100 billion."
Google-plex
Scroogled in the Wall Street Journal - Boing Boing:
"The Wall Street Journal just published a short interview with me about my story Scroogled, which appears in Radar this month. It's a commissioned piece where the brief was, 'Write a story about the day Google turned evil,' and it's the first Creative Commons-licensed story to appear in Radar Magazine."
On Google and Government
"There are lots of ways in which Google knowing more about you makes Google better for you. But without much regard to what's happening in the world around us, in an era in which the national security apparatus has turned into a kind of lumbering, savage, giant toddler, it behooves us to not leave things within arm's reach that it might stick in its mouth. And that includes things like my search history."
Source here: A New Short Story Imagines Google as a Bad Big Brother - WSJ.com
"The Wall Street Journal just published a short interview with me about my story Scroogled, which appears in Radar this month. It's a commissioned piece where the brief was, 'Write a story about the day Google turned evil,' and it's the first Creative Commons-licensed story to appear in Radar Magazine."
On Google and Government
"There are lots of ways in which Google knowing more about you makes Google better for you. But without much regard to what's happening in the world around us, in an era in which the national security apparatus has turned into a kind of lumbering, savage, giant toddler, it behooves us to not leave things within arm's reach that it might stick in its mouth. And that includes things like my search history."
Source here: A New Short Story Imagines Google as a Bad Big Brother - WSJ.com
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Silence fiction
Looking for wordplay
Maybe something like "I don't mean to tell you what to do but..."
Maybe something like "I don't mean to tell you what to do but..."
Ah Michigan
First we have State Government"
"Published September 22, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Capitol veterans decry state budget impasse
Ex-lawmakers, pundits find faults with leadership
Kathleen Gray
and Chris Christoff
Veterans of Lansing's political wars said Friday that the state House and Senate and Gov. Jennifer Granholm all need to take a cue from past leaders as diverse as former Govs. William Milliken, John Engler and James Blanchard when they return late Sunday afternoon to try again to roll the big rock of a tax increase up a steep hill.
Drop the finger-pointing. Stop holding news conferences. It's time to do what you were elected to do - make decisions.
That was the assessment Friday - after the state House's failure again Thursday night and Friday morning to reach a deal to solve the state's budget crisis - from longtime observers of the Lansing political scene."
Then we have GM and the UAW
cue up Jethro Tull ..."Living in the Past"
How long can the strike last?:
"The strike many believed never would happen shut down General Motors Corp. plants nationwide Monday, casting uncertainty on whether the U.S. auto industry can get the kind of revolutionary changes it says it needs to compete.
An end to the first nationwide UAW strike in 31 years will depend on resolving the key union issues of wages and benefits, job security and investment in U.S. facilities and vehicles, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger indicated at a news conference Monday. He repeatedly said that the strike was not related to talks over a landmark retiree health care trust on which the two parties are believed to have agreed to a general framework."
"Published September 22, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Capitol veterans decry state budget impasse
Ex-lawmakers, pundits find faults with leadership
Kathleen Gray
and Chris Christoff
Veterans of Lansing's political wars said Friday that the state House and Senate and Gov. Jennifer Granholm all need to take a cue from past leaders as diverse as former Govs. William Milliken, John Engler and James Blanchard when they return late Sunday afternoon to try again to roll the big rock of a tax increase up a steep hill.
Drop the finger-pointing. Stop holding news conferences. It's time to do what you were elected to do - make decisions.
That was the assessment Friday - after the state House's failure again Thursday night and Friday morning to reach a deal to solve the state's budget crisis - from longtime observers of the Lansing political scene."
Then we have GM and the UAW
cue up Jethro Tull ..."Living in the Past"
How long can the strike last?:
"The strike many believed never would happen shut down General Motors Corp. plants nationwide Monday, casting uncertainty on whether the U.S. auto industry can get the kind of revolutionary changes it says it needs to compete.
An end to the first nationwide UAW strike in 31 years will depend on resolving the key union issues of wages and benefits, job security and investment in U.S. facilities and vehicles, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger indicated at a news conference Monday. He repeatedly said that the strike was not related to talks over a landmark retiree health care trust on which the two parties are believed to have agreed to a general framework."
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