Monthly Archives October 2007

We’ll tell you what all the fuss is about. There aren’t very many truly iconic brands and related characters. One of these, indisputably, is the Maytag Repairman. Almost Mickey Mouse, and since he is a business trademark, he doesn’t even need special copyright extensions from the US Congress to live forever like Mickey does.

So, when Maytag closes their flagship factory in Iowa, the US media cries “Maytag’s Gone!”. The truth is somewhat less dramatic. Just as their automobile making brethren, Maytag is a victim of buyout [Whirlpool owns them] and looming foreign competition [very, very late to the party, LG from Korea is just one example].

Truly tragic, but if you really do care, then exclusively buy more expensive American Made products. ‘Nuff said!

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A Brief History of Maytag Corp.
O...

Here they go again. Cut off your nose to spite your face. You cannot “cure” homosexuality any more than homophobia, or racism, or bigotry. You also cannot “pray” these away. The best you can hope for is to harness the impulses of your DNA pattern so they are not destructive.

Which means that fighting, pouting, marching and in general raising a fuss over it is largely an exercise in self-gratification.

Now if they channel all that energy into something useful, perhaps we’ll have room temperature fusion by next year.

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Gay Rights Group Criticizes Obama
New York Times
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
October 25, 2007

The nation’s largest gay rights organization criticized Senator Barack Obama of Illinois yesterday for scheduling a gospel concert on Sunday with a singer who has made controversial st...

Here we go again. The Japanese have a lunar orbiter in place. The newly launched Chinese will have theirs in place November 5th. India will launch theirs next April. The US? A year from now.

As the US war in Iraq wastes billions in Earth-bound futility, it is ironic that the Sputnik anniversary is ushering in a new era of spaceflight from everyone except the US. Maybe we shouldn’t be too harsh? The Mars Rovers are still functional years past their due date, and the US leads the “Mars Race” because, well, there is nobody else out there.

Pull in the focus, and the Mars glow isn’t so rosy. The Shuttle is still battling functional issues, and the US budget for a manned Mars expedition is fighting mind share issues. When’s the last time we heard about THAT Dubya idea?

At this rate, maybe the US...

We have sympathy for anyone whose house burns down. The same applies to flood, hurricane and tornado victims. Earthquakes too. Any “natural disaster”.

That said, this sympathy runs short when the risk of such disasters is ignored by the residents of the areas affected. When you build or live in a risky area, accept responsibility for the eventual outcome.

This holds no sway with the US media. Wailing and gnashing of teeth is standard. Tearful interviews abound. We wouldn’t go quite as far as satirical commentator Glenn Beck, who implies that the rich residents of Malibu do not deserve any sympathy at all. A mansion is a home, after all...

The contrasts are striking on many levels. Secular Muslims and devout practicing Muslims. Abu Dhabi and Baghdad. Cooperation and Division. Opulence and Squalor.

This would merely be an interesting observation, an exercise in Arab anthropology, if not for the amount of waste. Both in lives and treasure, on all sides.

It really doesn’t matter which Arab country you consider. Take it as a given that any governing system in the Middle East will be, at best, mildly oppressive and unequal. Then ponder that the key desired outcomes are water, food and opportunity. Opportunity takes many forms, but in this region of the globe, we’ll assume it to mean the ability to live in relative peace. Oppressed, but alive.

Does it really matter if the oppression is religious or secular? Hardly...

Two days ago, we called it right with Option #2 on the list. She landed in Karachi, which we got wrong. Mushy, however, warned his old rival that her health was in danger [duh!]. Option #3 is now well on its way, and Option #4 is probably not gonna happen with only 200,000 coming out to see her.

The media in some areas are exonerating Mushy and blaming terrorists. Bhutto says terrorists aren’t good enough to pull of this good of an attack, and it must be rogue elements of Pakistan’s intelligence services. Well, if anyone should know Pakistan’s political landscape, it’s her.

On a side note, check out the vehicle she was riding in, the armored rolling billboard! Does she have the marketing spin machine in high gear, or what? We are impressed! In fact, what better way to get your billboard sh...

US White House Press Conference, 10-17-07, 10:45 EDT

“Question: But you definitively believe Iran wants to build a nuclear weapon?”

“GEORGE W. BUSH: I think so long — until they suspend and/or make it clear that they — that their statements aren’t real, yeah, I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon. And I know it’s in the world’s interest to prevent them from doing so. I believe that the Iranian — if Iran had a nuclear weapon, it would be a dangerous threat to world peace.

But this — we got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel...

So Benazir Bhutto will get off the plane in Islamabad, and:

1) be hustled back onto the plane by government goons [deja vu?]
2) be allowed to get into a vehicle which will blow up a few miles away
3) rejoin her Pakistan Peoples Party, become Prime Minister, and effectively rule Pakistan jointly with Musharraf
4) be trampled by millions of adoring fans and be given an elaborate state funeral

The best part of contemporary Asian politics, is the utterly unpredictable nature of the outcomes. Not to mention the colorful characters on the world stage!

Where else but Pakistan, can former political party leaders be accused of massive corruption, yet lounge around in exile in Dubai wearing a regulation Muslim Mini Skirt?

It makes us wonder if Osama himself will meet her at the airport with his stun...

It seems the Canadian Dollar parity has ruffled a few spooks for Halloween! The US Treasury is going to broker a scam, er, deal which forms a shell company, er, fund to absorb bad debt [e.g., mortgages] using contributions from the three biggest banks. They’ll just issue Junk Bonds, er, promissory notes or CD’s [“Commercial Paper”] to finance the “absorbing”.

Well, we wish them luck stalling the inevitable!

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WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Tuesday reiterated that he believed a strong dollar was in America’s interests, in remarks aimed at his colleagues in the Group of Seven who will meet here on Friday.

“In terms of the upcoming G7 … the strong dollar is in our nation’s interest...

Well, maybe it isn’t that bad. Only 31 years since the last time it happened, in the middle of the US energy crunch, just before inflation took off and interest rates took a huge climb…

On second thought, doesn’t history have a long memory? Watch the foreign ownership of US bonds and debt. Recession will either be the trigger, or be triggered by a change in this market, and the result could be worse than the 1980’s.

Feeling lucky, punk? Do ya?

We’re sure much hay will be made in the conservative media about Al Gore and his new Nobel Peace Prize. Suffice it to say that you would have to look hard to find a conservative politician, living or dead, who gave up politics for idealism in a class way.Widely panned during his presidency, Carter has ignored critics and followed his convictions across the globe since 1980. Whatever you think about his convictions, going toe-to-toe with a third world Sudanese security lackey in Darfur, shows more spine than any currently alive politician or CEO. He recently turned 83! Nobel Peace Prize, 2002.

Widely panned during his vice-presidency and beyond, Gore has done the same, albeit in a different vein...

The landscape is littered with indie pop bands, and most have the same pedigree wherever they were hatched. The UK band Radiohead is no exception. After working the depressed teenager schtick as far as it would go, they woke up one day, realized themselves as “old”, and began to mix it up. I’ll give them credit for actually having a very, very deep thought, one which may have escaped most bands [with anything to lose, anyway]: What Is Music Really Worth?

Don’t get us wrong, this concept can be carried over to psuedo variations on the same [remember Priceline.com in the glory days?] “name your price” hogwash, but just stop for a minute and really ponder the ramifications. On one level, this is just music “shareware”, and we have all seen the future of that...

First GM, and now Chrysler. The UAW is flexing its muscles again. A billion hungry Asians get by on less than a dollar a day. They are all poised to eat the lunch of US workers, as they have been doing steadily for the last 40 years. Don’t rats desert a sinking ship? Not these, they prefer to chew holes in the hull!

What are they trying to prove? The downtrodden worker is not inside of a US auto plant! They inhabit retail stores and call centers, if they are employed at all. Unions are a faded reminder of the former industrial power of the USA. If they don’t reinvent their purpose to help, it will only get worse.

Here is a good example of their logic and reasoning, which has it all backwards:

Center For Labor Renewal: Reinventing the Wheel:The Future of the UAW

By: Elly Leary

The latest ne...

Not just for the military anymore, now hired security forces can kill anyone who may be a perceived threat first, and ask questions later. The military has done this in Iraq since day one, with hardly a mention. You can shoot them dead at any time, just don’t make them wear undergarments on their heads or crawl naked like a dog. Blackwater? Big deal!

To understand this in proper context, you must think like the planners of war: “If you didn’t have such a screwed up country in the first place, we wouldn’t have had to come half way around the planet to clean up your mess, kick your butt, and try and teach you how to be civilized.” Damn savages! Think Britain in India and the French in the Middle East. History repeats. Look it up.

Crazy Opinions suggestion to 24 Hour News: Change the Channel

Not just for college campuses anymore, now irate off duty law enforcement goes on a rampage at a party and kills many. Jealousy, envy, greed. Add a gun. Presto! Problems solved. Gotta love that NRA! Let’s give a nation full of IQ 80 monkeys on antidepressants firearms to defend themselves, and we’re sure all our crime problems will be over.

There may be a minor bloodbath as all the emotionally retarded act out their frustrations, but we’ll get over it.

Crazy Opinions Suggestion: Get A Flak Jacket!

One of the reasons developed countries never believe that third world countries want nuclear power [that reactor must be for weapons!], is simple: no advanced civilized society should want to mortgage their future for a quick energy fix in the present. At least, none advanced enough to build a nuclear reactor. Now, if you buy one instead of build it, then you just might be a squalid backwater of tin shacks with a grudge.

Which brings us to the Russians, who will soon be sealing up the Chernobyl reactor site [again; the first concrete cap is coming apart] that melted down 21 years ago. They will add a steel enclosure which should last 100 years, enough time for them to dismantle the contaminated reactor core inside. Right. Any volunteers? Who’s first?

Think advanced coutries are any better?...

If the kids stop eating the house [paint], and stop eating the toys [paint], perhaps they’ll be safe? Not a chance. The lead hysteria has moved to the grass roots level; now you can take your kids and toys for free lead screenings and lead blood tests. Hysterical parents are then tearing up their houses and belongings when their kids test positive for lead, suspecting everything from Mexican candy wrappers to coffee mugs and salsa bowls.

Crazy Opinions Official Reality Check: Ever hear of “background radiation”, the level of rads in the environment around us? Guess what? There is also “background lead” contamination. Lead is everywhere, in the air, in the soil, in the water...

The concept is ridiculous, really. Let’s say that a captive market with a voracious appetite for your product exists. The demand always exceeds supply. Your main worry is the exhaustion of the supply.

In this scenario, competition is an illusion. There are more customers than existing supplies of the product sold by all the sellers. As one would expect, the price has been on an unchecked upward trend for many decades. Let us not be fooled by lengthy inflation plateaus, or economists who talk in terms of inflation over time. The simple fact is, more of us are using it faster than ever before, paying more for it than ever before, and there is less of it available than ever before.

Is it oil? Sort of. What it really is: man-made energy from finite and limited availability fuels...