Jade Queen's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/302802/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/175949-how-to-fix-the-fed-a-lesson-from-aig?source=feed#comment-787106 787106
As to the damage to be done by allowing the transparency promised, what about the damage from not delivering?

If there is transparency, even the blogosphere gets to be part of the sunlight falling on things. As it is, the executive branch and congressional leadership know more than ordinary congresspeople, not to mention ordinary people. How is that a constructive influence from congress?

Secrecy undermines credibility. This isn't somebody's bedroom. This is the people's business. The first step back to credibility would be disclosure. Even as they scurry to prevent timely disclosure, it is likely to happen anyway with all the attention the unemployment situation is directing toward the federal government.

They should agree to disclosure and come clean, sooner rather than later. I can't believe the stuff that should be private that is public, and vice versa. ]]> Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:41:25 -0500
As to the damage to be done by allowing the transparency promised, what about the damage from not delivering?

If there is transparency, even the blogosphere gets to be part of the sunlight falling on things. As it is, the executive branch and congressional leadership know more than ordinary congresspeople, not to mention ordinary people. How is that a constructive influence from congress?

Secrecy undermines credibility. This isn't somebody's bedroom. This is the people's business. The first step back to credibility would be disclosure. Even as they scurry to prevent timely disclosure, it is likely to happen anyway with all the attention the unemployment situation is directing toward the federal government.

They should agree to disclosure and come clean, sooner rather than later. I can't believe the stuff that should be private that is public, and vice versa. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/175612-the-rich-are-getting-richer-and-the-poor-are-getting-richer-too?source=feed#comment-783701 783701
In 1972, I arrived in San Francisco with about $150. I crashed with friends for a while, found a job and rented a room with roaches but a great view from the roof, which roomers were not supposed to go on, but we did, with beer and wine. I bought a 1947 Dodge off the street for about $150, but I seldom used it. It would have been a hazard to park it most places in the city.

As for possessions, there were clothes and the old car. When I think of how much better off I am now, I am stunned. The wealth I have will be shared when I check out, with my boys and with causes I believe in.

The frugality of growing up with a mom with a shopping problem and a dad who did his best to deal with it made me frugal. The worry about debtors' prison (sort of kidding) lurked.

Now I am in a place of having too much stuff and needing to find consignment shops to help me unload it. It seems everybody who comes to my house leaves something. It piles up.

The E-Bay and Amazon phenomena let me know I am not alone with this challenge. George Carlin did a fabulous monologue about it, still the best though there is now kind of a stuff-literature.

The challenges I see for young people starting out now are those of paying taxes and utilities. Rents and mortgages are bad, but pile the taxes on, and it is very difficult. When I look at young people around me, they are doubling up and keeping thermostats very low. Many are saving rainwater and using wood stoves. They grow their own food, and they glean, which I also did. Many ride bikes and walk and use Zipcars if they have to move stuff.

I live in a place that is a bubble, and I appreciate that, but I have a certain salmon-like feeling about the frugality I see where I now live, although a scary side note is the increase in nothing-left-to-lose violence I see in the media.

It isn't just income disparities that are issues.

It's that we have disparities in how to use resources well, how to create new things for new needs, and how to maintain what we have.

There was a Samuelson on the Huff Post today, putting down a Gold Standard. I don't like a gold standard either because it won't keep me warm if the gas line breaks, but can't we come up with something earthy as a standard: beans, rice, greens, solar cells, firewood, and fleece or something?

I lament that few of us seem to be creative and practical, the kind of person that my dad was, who invented a wired-remote for the TV so he could zap commercials, back before the wireless ones became ubiquitous. When my mother was on what he called the warpath, he would dream up how to make himself a pod from a grocery cart. He had drawings. When his arthritis got bad, he came up with a design for a crotch-rocket sailboat that you could sit on, and he made a bath tub prototype that is a riot.

I don't own Amazon or E-Bay. I own some solar and some Brazil. I eschew water stocks. I think water monopolists are reprehensible. Permaculturists are espousing HDPE for water storage, if anybody thinks they are advanced adopters, as I do.]]> Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:25:32 -0500
In 1972, I arrived in San Francisco with about $150. I crashed with friends for a while, found a job and rented a room with roaches but a great view from the roof, which roomers were not supposed to go on, but we did, with beer and wine. I bought a 1947 Dodge off the street for about $150, but I seldom used it. It would have been a hazard to park it most places in the city.

As for possessions, there were clothes and the old car. When I think of how much better off I am now, I am stunned. The wealth I have will be shared when I check out, with my boys and with causes I believe in.

The frugality of growing up with a mom with a shopping problem and a dad who did his best to deal with it made me frugal. The worry about debtors' prison (sort of kidding) lurked.

Now I am in a place of having too much stuff and needing to find consignment shops to help me unload it. It seems everybody who comes to my house leaves something. It piles up.

The E-Bay and Amazon phenomena let me know I am not alone with this challenge. George Carlin did a fabulous monologue about it, still the best though there is now kind of a stuff-literature.

The challenges I see for young people starting out now are those of paying taxes and utilities. Rents and mortgages are bad, but pile the taxes on, and it is very difficult. When I look at young people around me, they are doubling up and keeping thermostats very low. Many are saving rainwater and using wood stoves. They grow their own food, and they glean, which I also did. Many ride bikes and walk and use Zipcars if they have to move stuff.

I live in a place that is a bubble, and I appreciate that, but I have a certain salmon-like feeling about the frugality I see where I now live, although a scary side note is the increase in nothing-left-to-lose violence I see in the media.

It isn't just income disparities that are issues.

It's that we have disparities in how to use resources well, how to create new things for new needs, and how to maintain what we have.

There was a Samuelson on the Huff Post today, putting down a Gold Standard. I don't like a gold standard either because it won't keep me warm if the gas line breaks, but can't we come up with something earthy as a standard: beans, rice, greens, solar cells, firewood, and fleece or something?

I lament that few of us seem to be creative and practical, the kind of person that my dad was, who invented a wired-remote for the TV so he could zap commercials, back before the wireless ones became ubiquitous. When my mother was on what he called the warpath, he would dream up how to make himself a pod from a grocery cart. He had drawings. When his arthritis got bad, he came up with a design for a crotch-rocket sailboat that you could sit on, and he made a bath tub prototype that is a riot.

I don't own Amazon or E-Bay. I own some solar and some Brazil. I eschew water stocks. I think water monopolists are reprehensible. Permaculturists are espousing HDPE for water storage, if anybody thinks they are advanced adopters, as I do.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/174986-is-suntech-s-optimism-justified?source=feed#comment-776051 776051
It seems to me as if they are not pushing U.S. sales much. If they were, they would have more U.S. pictures and testimonials. Where is the bulk of their production now going, I wonder?

I own a token amount of the stock, enough to keep me watching it. I have also contemplated putting some on my roof. I like the see-through and light-through in particular, though I have been researching hybrid PV-thermal lately. I don't see that Suntech has anything on their website about this new development, though I think they are in a good position to develop it.

I own a token amount of SPWRA also. I have been surprised that they seem uninterested in hybrids. They have every incentive to stay on top of P-V efficiency and to add value with under-panel thermal.]]> Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:27:23 -0500
It seems to me as if they are not pushing U.S. sales much. If they were, they would have more U.S. pictures and testimonials. Where is the bulk of their production now going, I wonder?

I own a token amount of the stock, enough to keep me watching it. I have also contemplated putting some on my roof. I like the see-through and light-through in particular, though I have been researching hybrid PV-thermal lately. I don't see that Suntech has anything on their website about this new development, though I think they are in a good position to develop it.

I own a token amount of SPWRA also. I have been surprised that they seem uninterested in hybrids. They have every incentive to stay on top of P-V efficiency and to add value with under-panel thermal.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/173913-chance-of-a-depression-now-5-percent?source=feed#comment-765881 765881
Development of the machinery was a science experiment between the wastewater treatment plant and a Canadian company that makes the equipment. The Oregon facility is buying the equipment, but it allows the Canadian company to market the resulting fertilizer pellets, which are in high demand by golf courses. The company is still private, or I would try to say how to invest in it.

Innovation like this does not stop when the mess on the Atlantic coast becomes worse. Somehow those who want to make improvements in functioning will figure out how to cooperate across assorted boundaries of country, religion, etc.

What is impossible to predict for a lay person is exactly which companies are too affected by corruption to be resilient in an environment that will change rapidly when a tipping point hits.

There is a Slow Money movement afoot in which people are trying to figure out how to invest in local companies so they can be involved more closely and have eyes on the street, so to speak.
This depends on having a somewhat clean state government apparatus. Good luck on that one.

I think the present Chinese government has watched successive empires exhaust resources in Afghanistan. The present world environment has many players who have watched this and who now have savvy U.S. joint venturers who have helped to disable some of the debt/extraction mechanisms that have had such a run.

Obama strong-armed money for the IMF and appointed big-ag executives to food-safety posts These were clues that substantive change wasn't happening, no matter the cute organic garden on White House grounds.

I like Brazil and a few solar companies, one U.S. and one Chinese. I don't understand India or Russia well enough to choose anything there. ]]> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:49:34 -0500
Development of the machinery was a science experiment between the wastewater treatment plant and a Canadian company that makes the equipment. The Oregon facility is buying the equipment, but it allows the Canadian company to market the resulting fertilizer pellets, which are in high demand by golf courses. The company is still private, or I would try to say how to invest in it.

Innovation like this does not stop when the mess on the Atlantic coast becomes worse. Somehow those who want to make improvements in functioning will figure out how to cooperate across assorted boundaries of country, religion, etc.

What is impossible to predict for a lay person is exactly which companies are too affected by corruption to be resilient in an environment that will change rapidly when a tipping point hits.

There is a Slow Money movement afoot in which people are trying to figure out how to invest in local companies so they can be involved more closely and have eyes on the street, so to speak.
This depends on having a somewhat clean state government apparatus. Good luck on that one.

I think the present Chinese government has watched successive empires exhaust resources in Afghanistan. The present world environment has many players who have watched this and who now have savvy U.S. joint venturers who have helped to disable some of the debt/extraction mechanisms that have had such a run.

Obama strong-armed money for the IMF and appointed big-ag executives to food-safety posts These were clues that substantive change wasn't happening, no matter the cute organic garden on White House grounds.

I like Brazil and a few solar companies, one U.S. and one Chinese. I don't understand India or Russia well enough to choose anything there. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/173607-why-the-stock-market-should-crash?source=feed#comment-763843 763843 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:43:38 -0500 http://seekingalpha.com/article/172499-too-big-to-fail-banks-a-simple-solution?source=feed#comment-756451 756451
Expecting big banks to share with depositors isn't logical, so there will not be competitive pressure, and both depositors and borrowers will get stung, more punishment of the less advantaged to pay bonuses to people CEO's like to call talent (if you think of it in relationship to Hollywood and fantasyland, that is kind of how it works).

Liquidating Freddie and Fannie could send some paper back to local solvent banks and credit unions in return for the payments to cover the failures. Maybe this would help to keep solvent ones from going out because they can't predict budgets, what with being held up for unpredictable amounts by the Feds or even by local robbers.

As for the big banks, as long as the CEO's maintain enough slush to support the protection racket (Congress and the Executive Branch), then it seems to be pretty much a closed loop, except that some of the big banks have investments in cities and companies that could bust if the little guys can't or won't buy stuff the companies and cities are counting on them to buy.

The timing of the shake-outs is what is hard to predict.

In the meantime, the foot soldiers of Empire are checking out, one way or another, so that loop is in some doubt as well. This is the saddest loop of all. Surely this would give the bonus brothers pause if they had eyes to see and hearts to feel with.

And then there are the drones, and I hear the latest weapons are called killer bees, to fuel war forever, unless the protection loop breaks and some perps do some walking.]]> Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:56:34 -0500
Expecting big banks to share with depositors isn't logical, so there will not be competitive pressure, and both depositors and borrowers will get stung, more punishment of the less advantaged to pay bonuses to people CEO's like to call talent (if you think of it in relationship to Hollywood and fantasyland, that is kind of how it works).

Liquidating Freddie and Fannie could send some paper back to local solvent banks and credit unions in return for the payments to cover the failures. Maybe this would help to keep solvent ones from going out because they can't predict budgets, what with being held up for unpredictable amounts by the Feds or even by local robbers.

As for the big banks, as long as the CEO's maintain enough slush to support the protection racket (Congress and the Executive Branch), then it seems to be pretty much a closed loop, except that some of the big banks have investments in cities and companies that could bust if the little guys can't or won't buy stuff the companies and cities are counting on them to buy.

The timing of the shake-outs is what is hard to predict.

In the meantime, the foot soldiers of Empire are checking out, one way or another, so that loop is in some doubt as well. This is the saddest loop of all. Surely this would give the bonus brothers pause if they had eyes to see and hearts to feel with.

And then there are the drones, and I hear the latest weapons are called killer bees, to fuel war forever, unless the protection loop breaks and some perps do some walking.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/172664-7-steps-towards-real-free-market-capitalism?source=feed#comment-756392 756392
Dean Baker, on truthout, just had a piece about the folly of empire by force.

Ron Paul was the Paul Revere about this every time he could sound the alarm. It was a major reason for so much of his spontaneous support. It resonated across assorted social boundaries.

His offshore military supporters had expressly mentioned this when they sent in donations, as they explained what was going on with the corruption they were observing.

Is it OK when Dean Baker says it, but not when Ron Paul said it?

I am as unimpressed by Ron Paul's arguments about a Gold Standard as it is possible to be.

I have argued for bean or solar-cell standards personally.

Nonetheless, Ron Paul is an honest and straightforward human in Washington, D.C.

Even if he has odd leanings, he is an exceptional bit of non-fiction among Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and the Sopranos.

It remains to be seen whether Ron Paul's efforts to let us know where the booty went will be eviscerated.

Even if they won't make Fed dealings transparent, we could be in for some interesting municipal bond failures that may unearth some of the spoils garnered by international conglomerates favored by the usual suspects and precipitated by unfunded mandates.

I am nervous about municipal bonds. I just noticed all the second liens floating about with an unemployed populace expected to cough up the money that didn't make it to Main Street. I do hope Birmingham, Alabama, is not the start of a waterfall, or should I say a sewer fall, of bond failures.

What a mess that would be. They might have to clear some of the poor folks out of jails to make room for some cultural diversity. We seem to get token limousine perp-walks when there are deluges of fires and bubble-busts.]]> Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:14:18 -0500
Dean Baker, on truthout, just had a piece about the folly of empire by force.

Ron Paul was the Paul Revere about this every time he could sound the alarm. It was a major reason for so much of his spontaneous support. It resonated across assorted social boundaries.

His offshore military supporters had expressly mentioned this when they sent in donations, as they explained what was going on with the corruption they were observing.

Is it OK when Dean Baker says it, but not when Ron Paul said it?

I am as unimpressed by Ron Paul's arguments about a Gold Standard as it is possible to be.

I have argued for bean or solar-cell standards personally.

Nonetheless, Ron Paul is an honest and straightforward human in Washington, D.C.

Even if he has odd leanings, he is an exceptional bit of non-fiction among Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and the Sopranos.

It remains to be seen whether Ron Paul's efforts to let us know where the booty went will be eviscerated.

Even if they won't make Fed dealings transparent, we could be in for some interesting municipal bond failures that may unearth some of the spoils garnered by international conglomerates favored by the usual suspects and precipitated by unfunded mandates.

I am nervous about municipal bonds. I just noticed all the second liens floating about with an unemployed populace expected to cough up the money that didn't make it to Main Street. I do hope Birmingham, Alabama, is not the start of a waterfall, or should I say a sewer fall, of bond failures.

What a mess that would be. They might have to clear some of the poor folks out of jails to make room for some cultural diversity. We seem to get token limousine perp-walks when there are deluges of fires and bubble-busts.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/170363-global-markets-in-review-reversal-in-financial-markets?source=feed#comment-739352 739352
From what I have read, Its state bank does not compete with its private banks, but cooperates on vetting and funding projects within the state, which would keep focus and interest in how the collateral is doing fairly close.

I also think that some U.S. states are better at respecting the property of modest-income people than others. Jane Jacobs documented some sad stories of government-enforced takings in The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

We have takings going on now with unfunded federal mandates that end up enriching the usual suspects.

People get elected to local office promising to represent local people. Once elected, they cave when the feds threaten to incarcerate them.

When too-big-to-fails offer to indebt citizens to keep the politicians out of jail, guess who wins. The high-paying local jobs themselves give the politicians too much to lose. They cannot resist this temptation, and they rationalize however they need to get these deals done. If they have to fire whistle-blowers on citizen committees, they just do it.

I think there are some jurisdictions where people are sophisticated enough to figure out how to not get taken by this pattern.

Perhaps that is the secret of North Dakota.

If your people are not paying exhorbitant debt loads (to out-of-state entities) on water, sewer, and other utility bills, it would certainly help to get mortgages paid.

On the other hand, high bills for necessary expenses can clear land of less-advantaged people for the plans of more-advantaged. Raising taxes is another gadget in this tool box.]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:03:42 -0500
From what I have read, Its state bank does not compete with its private banks, but cooperates on vetting and funding projects within the state, which would keep focus and interest in how the collateral is doing fairly close.

I also think that some U.S. states are better at respecting the property of modest-income people than others. Jane Jacobs documented some sad stories of government-enforced takings in The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

We have takings going on now with unfunded federal mandates that end up enriching the usual suspects.

People get elected to local office promising to represent local people. Once elected, they cave when the feds threaten to incarcerate them.

When too-big-to-fails offer to indebt citizens to keep the politicians out of jail, guess who wins. The high-paying local jobs themselves give the politicians too much to lose. They cannot resist this temptation, and they rationalize however they need to get these deals done. If they have to fire whistle-blowers on citizen committees, they just do it.

I think there are some jurisdictions where people are sophisticated enough to figure out how to not get taken by this pattern.

Perhaps that is the secret of North Dakota.

If your people are not paying exhorbitant debt loads (to out-of-state entities) on water, sewer, and other utility bills, it would certainly help to get mortgages paid.

On the other hand, high bills for necessary expenses can clear land of less-advantaged people for the plans of more-advantaged. Raising taxes is another gadget in this tool box.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/170164-healthcare-profits-assessing-company-sensitivity-to-obamacare?source=feed#comment-738422 738422
While Dr. Weil likely won't want them to point their guns at him and take his business, the news of this will pump the herb, which I take myself, prescribed by a Chinese herbalist.

Underground and offshore, ordinary people are using plant analogs for substances now made generally with leftovers from industrial processes.

Attempts to bully particular practitioners with much to lose will work to restrain the businesses of celebrities, but it won't stop word of mouth about what works.

In addition to this phenomenon, Equador has just broken patents, with the acquiescence of some pharmaceutical companies, to manufacture and provide medications it wants for its people at costs they can afford. This is another area where old ways of doing things are breaking down.

Substantial change is evolving rapidly in this area. I didn't even mention side-effect lawsuits, which tend to have gags attached, but putting a gag on a long-term user of psych meds seems maybe as if it might not work perfectly.

Caution seems indeed in order. Thanks for bringing this up.]]> Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:18:08 -0400
While Dr. Weil likely won't want them to point their guns at him and take his business, the news of this will pump the herb, which I take myself, prescribed by a Chinese herbalist.

Underground and offshore, ordinary people are using plant analogs for substances now made generally with leftovers from industrial processes.

Attempts to bully particular practitioners with much to lose will work to restrain the businesses of celebrities, but it won't stop word of mouth about what works.

In addition to this phenomenon, Equador has just broken patents, with the acquiescence of some pharmaceutical companies, to manufacture and provide medications it wants for its people at costs they can afford. This is another area where old ways of doing things are breaking down.

Substantial change is evolving rapidly in this area. I didn't even mention side-effect lawsuits, which tend to have gags attached, but putting a gag on a long-term user of psych meds seems maybe as if it might not work perfectly.

Caution seems indeed in order. Thanks for bringing this up.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/168558-the-problem-with-being-wealthy?source=feed#comment-738399 738399
So iShares Emerging Markets could handle the volume you might need for a wealthy client. Since professionals might be deciding to use it for that reason, I am assuming then you would turn your analytical skills on to what's in the ETF and who the manager is, yes?

So might that mean that as as a small investor, I could hope to sort of cruise in the wake of the big guys?

I am tempted to visit Brazil to look at some of the allegedly transparent new companies down there, but it probably isn't going to happen, so I am considering ways I might benefit from the abilities of those who can make the trips involved.

Thanks again.]]> Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:38:46 -0400
So iShares Emerging Markets could handle the volume you might need for a wealthy client. Since professionals might be deciding to use it for that reason, I am assuming then you would turn your analytical skills on to what's in the ETF and who the manager is, yes?

So might that mean that as as a small investor, I could hope to sort of cruise in the wake of the big guys?

I am tempted to visit Brazil to look at some of the allegedly transparent new companies down there, but it probably isn't going to happen, so I am considering ways I might benefit from the abilities of those who can make the trips involved.

Thanks again.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/170176-solar-stocks-break-down-yet-again?source=feed#comment-738381 738381
I appreciate the analysis. ]]> Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:14:36 -0400
I appreciate the analysis. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/168911-here-s-why-asia-must-eventually-ditch-the-dollar?source=feed#comment-732492 732492
Some of the components in Apple products are made here and assembled elsewhere.

The question is whether the U.S. can invent enough new stuff in a crunch that our people can do fairly well in spite of the fancy government the people tolerate.

U.S. people have bailed out government before. This time the people will probably need to restrain the government as well, but it can be argued that has happened before as well.

When the book Natural Capitalism came out, the author and others he works with got a call from an ideologist from China who completely understood what they were talking about and invited them to speak there.

Attempts to pigeon-hole China seem off the mark to me. It seems possible there are micro-cultures in China, as there are here, where things are being done well.

There is an appetite for sharing information now on how to do things better in specific climates. The Germans won the recent contest on the mall in D.C. on renewable-energy efficient homes, but most world people probably would not choose to live in the black box they designed, even though it produced far more energy than it consumed.

Obama went to MIT to tell them he wants the U.S. to get its edge back. It remains to be seen whether the drain from hinterlands to federal government is bad enough to stifle the innovation that comes from the restless energy and mixing of cultures at MIT and in garages, basements, and workplaces of the U.S.

It would be easier to count the U.S. out if we were counting only government activity. An enormous amount of work and invention goes on outside of government still, however, and counting that out seems a bit inaccurate to me.

The U.S. is not a hegemony.

Fantastic value-improvement activities go on unsung because only small segments of interest groups care about the details of the work they are doing. It can't be made into a 30-second sound bite. That doesn't mean that people from all over the world don't come to visit projects that hold promise for solving major world-wide problems like cleaning pollution and dealing with sewage, for example.

In small U.S. jurisdictions, cooperative cultures and exploration can still produce major breakthroughs that will fuel new ways of doing things around the world. The key is creating value.]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:28:41 -0400
Some of the components in Apple products are made here and assembled elsewhere.

The question is whether the U.S. can invent enough new stuff in a crunch that our people can do fairly well in spite of the fancy government the people tolerate.

U.S. people have bailed out government before. This time the people will probably need to restrain the government as well, but it can be argued that has happened before as well.

When the book Natural Capitalism came out, the author and others he works with got a call from an ideologist from China who completely understood what they were talking about and invited them to speak there.

Attempts to pigeon-hole China seem off the mark to me. It seems possible there are micro-cultures in China, as there are here, where things are being done well.

There is an appetite for sharing information now on how to do things better in specific climates. The Germans won the recent contest on the mall in D.C. on renewable-energy efficient homes, but most world people probably would not choose to live in the black box they designed, even though it produced far more energy than it consumed.

Obama went to MIT to tell them he wants the U.S. to get its edge back. It remains to be seen whether the drain from hinterlands to federal government is bad enough to stifle the innovation that comes from the restless energy and mixing of cultures at MIT and in garages, basements, and workplaces of the U.S.

It would be easier to count the U.S. out if we were counting only government activity. An enormous amount of work and invention goes on outside of government still, however, and counting that out seems a bit inaccurate to me.

The U.S. is not a hegemony.

Fantastic value-improvement activities go on unsung because only small segments of interest groups care about the details of the work they are doing. It can't be made into a 30-second sound bite. That doesn't mean that people from all over the world don't come to visit projects that hold promise for solving major world-wide problems like cleaning pollution and dealing with sewage, for example.

In small U.S. jurisdictions, cooperative cultures and exploration can still produce major breakthroughs that will fuel new ways of doing things around the world. The key is creating value.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/168558-the-problem-with-being-wealthy?source=feed#comment-728457 728457
Is this the history of ETF's, that wealthy people needed diversity, liquidity, and the ability to put buy-points and stop-points in? Or was it more about knowing what's there?

I'm curious about the origins of ETF's. How fast do you think they will grow in market share relative to mutual funds?

]]> Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:27:37 -0400
Is this the history of ETF's, that wealthy people needed diversity, liquidity, and the ability to put buy-points and stop-points in? Or was it more about knowing what's there?

I'm curious about the origins of ETF's. How fast do you think they will grow in market share relative to mutual funds?

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/167060-the-greatest-depression-is-coming?source=feed#comment-726132 726132
MIT will have a branch in Abu Dhabi. They want it, and they will be rewarded for it, with incredible piles of money used to build "infrastructure," as we now seem to call fancy buildings with fancy stuff in them and fancy roads to get to them.

If Homeland Security won't let MIT import the best brains in the world in through a time-consuming and expensive filter beyond their own filters, then they will just make a branch offshore, closer to some of the brains that they want anyway. Thinking local may mean less transportation subsidies for transporting the young brains.

The old brains tend to like to travel.

I hear they have been finding some really good brains from Africa and Russia, not to mention China and India. You can read and watch YouTubes about these kids who invent pumps and other amazing things out of old bike parts. They figure out how to do it by spending time in libraries.

MIT likes initiative and could apparently care less about who your parents are. I know because I'm nobody, and I have a kid there.

Who came up with the blowing-skirts-up machines at U.S. airports, by the way? To me, this is sort of emblematic of how the U.S. government spends money.

Level heads roll eyes at the skirt machine, but at least the people who get jobs observing the blown skirts have some money with which to buy houses in some parts of the country.

The sophisticated street knows which country's ordinary people dominated the on-line shoe-throwing contest. They understand perfectly well that ordinary U.S. people are paying protection money that often doesn't work as promised for ordinary people.

I have noticed the Pakistani spokespeople with those lovely lilts throwing it gently back at our elite newspeople when asked about corruption.

They also know that U.S. people sulk in their garages and basements inventing utterly off-the-wall playthings when unemployed, whether they have told their employer to take the job and shove it, or whether the employer has gently told them that the retention-bonus has expired and the severance-payment and counseling lines are over there.

They also know some of our own people blow our own stuff up. Possibly they remember Oklahoma City, Waco, and Ruby Ridge. They know about our current Prohibition and about our incarceration rates. Some of our offshore prison guards worked onshore before going off.

Regarding U.S. unions, there are likely some clean ones. The ones who use coercion and corruption are doing the equivalent of wired-in attempts at subsidies that multi-nationals do. It works in a short-term, but backfires in a longer term.

If a pork-retention specialist loses an election or goes to jail, the bonus-over-value can evaporate for corporations or unions who play this way.

I'm all for workers owning businesses in a transparent way. Without transparency, thuggery engenders blowback.

Over time, transparent operations will win because they are entertaining and enlightening in addition to producing things that people want.

It's hard to see this in the middle of a transition time, but the re-cap of the 70's above helped me to get this in more perspective.

Carefully watching patterns and anticipating them seems to be something that gets lost in top-down, yes-person environments.

As for what to do, I have some investments in renewable energy and some in a Brazilian ETF. Brazil has some transparent companies. Also, some cities there have done well with class mobility and making inclusive social structures.

Brazil has done a relatively good job of getting advantage with the best of the "left" and the best of the "right," whatever specifically those antiquated terms mean.

I haven't done it for a while, but you can search Curitiba for an example of an interesting city down there. Curitiba has been much admired by researchers like Bill McKibben.

For taxable savings, so far I have been ok with local double tax-free municipals in a mutual fund.

I bank with a local credit union where I am on a first-name basis with my favorite teller and where I have found them to be responsive to my sometimes impertinent questions. I check them out periodically on BankRate.com.

Employee turnover has been a sign of impending doom at some banks I have used in the past, so I like that the same people stick around. They also do constant customer-service research which I find to be a sign of conscientiousness.

I am aware that rating agencies can make mistakes. I do not know if BankRate.com has a competitor that I could check as well, but for now that is the best I know to do.]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:58:30 -0400
MIT will have a branch in Abu Dhabi. They want it, and they will be rewarded for it, with incredible piles of money used to build "infrastructure," as we now seem to call fancy buildings with fancy stuff in them and fancy roads to get to them.

If Homeland Security won't let MIT import the best brains in the world in through a time-consuming and expensive filter beyond their own filters, then they will just make a branch offshore, closer to some of the brains that they want anyway. Thinking local may mean less transportation subsidies for transporting the young brains.

The old brains tend to like to travel.

I hear they have been finding some really good brains from Africa and Russia, not to mention China and India. You can read and watch YouTubes about these kids who invent pumps and other amazing things out of old bike parts. They figure out how to do it by spending time in libraries.

MIT likes initiative and could apparently care less about who your parents are. I know because I'm nobody, and I have a kid there.

Who came up with the blowing-skirts-up machines at U.S. airports, by the way? To me, this is sort of emblematic of how the U.S. government spends money.

Level heads roll eyes at the skirt machine, but at least the people who get jobs observing the blown skirts have some money with which to buy houses in some parts of the country.

The sophisticated street knows which country's ordinary people dominated the on-line shoe-throwing contest. They understand perfectly well that ordinary U.S. people are paying protection money that often doesn't work as promised for ordinary people.

I have noticed the Pakistani spokespeople with those lovely lilts throwing it gently back at our elite newspeople when asked about corruption.

They also know that U.S. people sulk in their garages and basements inventing utterly off-the-wall playthings when unemployed, whether they have told their employer to take the job and shove it, or whether the employer has gently told them that the retention-bonus has expired and the severance-payment and counseling lines are over there.

They also know some of our own people blow our own stuff up. Possibly they remember Oklahoma City, Waco, and Ruby Ridge. They know about our current Prohibition and about our incarceration rates. Some of our offshore prison guards worked onshore before going off.

Regarding U.S. unions, there are likely some clean ones. The ones who use coercion and corruption are doing the equivalent of wired-in attempts at subsidies that multi-nationals do. It works in a short-term, but backfires in a longer term.

If a pork-retention specialist loses an election or goes to jail, the bonus-over-value can evaporate for corporations or unions who play this way.

I'm all for workers owning businesses in a transparent way. Without transparency, thuggery engenders blowback.

Over time, transparent operations will win because they are entertaining and enlightening in addition to producing things that people want.

It's hard to see this in the middle of a transition time, but the re-cap of the 70's above helped me to get this in more perspective.

Carefully watching patterns and anticipating them seems to be something that gets lost in top-down, yes-person environments.

As for what to do, I have some investments in renewable energy and some in a Brazilian ETF. Brazil has some transparent companies. Also, some cities there have done well with class mobility and making inclusive social structures.

Brazil has done a relatively good job of getting advantage with the best of the "left" and the best of the "right," whatever specifically those antiquated terms mean.

I haven't done it for a while, but you can search Curitiba for an example of an interesting city down there. Curitiba has been much admired by researchers like Bill McKibben.

For taxable savings, so far I have been ok with local double tax-free municipals in a mutual fund.

I bank with a local credit union where I am on a first-name basis with my favorite teller and where I have found them to be responsive to my sometimes impertinent questions. I check them out periodically on BankRate.com.

Employee turnover has been a sign of impending doom at some banks I have used in the past, so I like that the same people stick around. They also do constant customer-service research which I find to be a sign of conscientiousness.

I am aware that rating agencies can make mistakes. I do not know if BankRate.com has a competitor that I could check as well, but for now that is the best I know to do.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/167808-fannie-and-freddie-not-worthless-yet?source=feed#comment-725459 725459
They are too big to be properly managed, and the paper they carry is far away from the ground that secures it.

It isn't that anyone forced them to take bad paper at face value, I would guess, because they wanted to show that excess value. What they tell themselves they can spend is based on it. If they are in D.C., what do they know or care about a house in Alaska? Isn't its value what the local guys say?

Showing excess value to pump up turf appearance is not just a federal government problem. In large cities, it's hard to catch these shenanigans and get a large voting public to understand it well enough to bust it.

In some small towns, they catch a graft-recipient's fancy car purchase straight off. They don't need the IRS to tell them about it.

It takes a sophisticated public and a competitive and conscientious press to take on the nitty-gritty bean-counting of getting honesty in leadership.

Many jurisdictions are profoundly challenged in this regard. It is the reason I don't want stocks relating to water. The water issue affects housing, affordability, and health. Large projects are heavily vulnerable to political corruption.

The liabilities associated with doing water badly are sobering, more rife with pitfalls than energy.

The local stuff affects Freddie and Fannie value. If loads of people from the Southwest move because there is no more water, it will increase the value of property in the places where they go and decrease it where they came from.

I don't know how small pooled resources should be, but one or two corruption leverage points in D.C. is clearly a disaster. If it got busted out in groups of three neighboring states, maybe there could be a degree of bickering/cooperation to keep it more honest. ]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:08:44 -0400
They are too big to be properly managed, and the paper they carry is far away from the ground that secures it.

It isn't that anyone forced them to take bad paper at face value, I would guess, because they wanted to show that excess value. What they tell themselves they can spend is based on it. If they are in D.C., what do they know or care about a house in Alaska? Isn't its value what the local guys say?

Showing excess value to pump up turf appearance is not just a federal government problem. In large cities, it's hard to catch these shenanigans and get a large voting public to understand it well enough to bust it.

In some small towns, they catch a graft-recipient's fancy car purchase straight off. They don't need the IRS to tell them about it.

It takes a sophisticated public and a competitive and conscientious press to take on the nitty-gritty bean-counting of getting honesty in leadership.

Many jurisdictions are profoundly challenged in this regard. It is the reason I don't want stocks relating to water. The water issue affects housing, affordability, and health. Large projects are heavily vulnerable to political corruption.

The liabilities associated with doing water badly are sobering, more rife with pitfalls than energy.

The local stuff affects Freddie and Fannie value. If loads of people from the Southwest move because there is no more water, it will increase the value of property in the places where they go and decrease it where they came from.

I don't know how small pooled resources should be, but one or two corruption leverage points in D.C. is clearly a disaster. If it got busted out in groups of three neighboring states, maybe there could be a degree of bickering/cooperation to keep it more honest. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/167157-dow-breaks-10-000-for-26th-time-while-gold-shines?source=feed#comment-720799 720799
I know this is a long shot, but it would be a dramatic manipulation, and it appears there is a big appetite for knowing drama ahead of the effects. ]]> Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:21:55 -0400
I know this is a long shot, but it would be a dramatic manipulation, and it appears there is a big appetite for knowing drama ahead of the effects. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/166517-central-banks-shift-reserves-away-from-u-s-dollar?source=feed#comment-716368 716368
Upscale supermarkets are now testing independently the products they buy to protect themselves from poisoning issues.

The government agencies paid to do this don't do it, either because it's impractical or because they are corrupt, hard to tell.

When I went recently to a deliberately up-and-downscale eatery, I asked the waiter where the oysters came from. When he asked in the kitchen and found they came from a bay I know to be tainted, I passed on a dish containing them.

My friend, whose gumbo addiction was not to be deterred, ordered gumbo anyway.

Oysters disappear when they are poisoned, though it takes a while. The poisoning hurts the young more than the mature.

Some mini-ecosystem will figure this pattern out and will prevail until or unless the poisoned place gets it and cleans up.

The things we buy with dollars have not disappeared all the way.

When aristocracy cannot buy oysters with dollars because dollars are so obviously blood money, we will get change.

Optimist that I am, I still believe there is a possibility change could be incremental.

It is happening in some countries and mini-environments where there is adoption of deliberate and careful transparency.

If the major media decides to discover this, it will be as if it is something new, amazing, and dramatic.

Some of the oligarchs will get busted under a new culture, and some will morph to go along with new conditions. ]]> Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:24:20 -0400
Upscale supermarkets are now testing independently the products they buy to protect themselves from poisoning issues.

The government agencies paid to do this don't do it, either because it's impractical or because they are corrupt, hard to tell.

When I went recently to a deliberately up-and-downscale eatery, I asked the waiter where the oysters came from. When he asked in the kitchen and found they came from a bay I know to be tainted, I passed on a dish containing them.

My friend, whose gumbo addiction was not to be deterred, ordered gumbo anyway.

Oysters disappear when they are poisoned, though it takes a while. The poisoning hurts the young more than the mature.

Some mini-ecosystem will figure this pattern out and will prevail until or unless the poisoned place gets it and cleans up.

The things we buy with dollars have not disappeared all the way.

When aristocracy cannot buy oysters with dollars because dollars are so obviously blood money, we will get change.

Optimist that I am, I still believe there is a possibility change could be incremental.

It is happening in some countries and mini-environments where there is adoption of deliberate and careful transparency.

If the major media decides to discover this, it will be as if it is something new, amazing, and dramatic.

Some of the oligarchs will get busted under a new culture, and some will morph to go along with new conditions. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/166187-california-s-new-budget-already-1b-in-the-hole?source=feed#comment-713992 713992
The wired-in rich are the ones who may come to understand the error of their ways in some locales.

An example may be Portland, where M. Paulson, son of an infamous Paulson, wants to own a soccer team, using "his" money.

An tricky issue is that he also wants to own a baseball team.

The baseball team needed to be unhoused to revamp the former baseball stadium to the specifications of world-class soccer.

He and some city-council members tried to take a veterans memorial for baseball, but an interesting alliance of veterans and architects shut them down.

They tried to take a Little League venue in a working class neighborhood, thinking they would be received as liberators.

Boy, did that not work, and I wish there were video--maybe there is.

There are locales where top-down wants are met by ferocious bottom-up expressions of Little People needs.

Paulson and the 20% will get soccer.

I am not sure where baseball will go, possibly across the river to Washington, where an interesting percentage of former Oregon 20%'ers have gone to escape punitive income taxes.

The former 20%'er Oregonians escape Washington sales taxes by shopping in Portland or growing their own whatever.

Crunchers on the right and left leave out the furious ability of U.S. people to go around elite inadvertent (perhaps) manipulations, in locales that can put together voluntary issue-communities in a heartbeat.

Some locations gain population when the New York Times talks them up (e.g., Portland, where there is good free beer on street-fair days).

The 20% can go wherever they want, on a whim, and they finagle the tax angle with internet- and boots-on-the-ground research.

This is why property values continue to go up in certain places.

Looking only at the macro for a state does not explain an entire picture.

A watched pot does not boil in the short-term, but as heat builds up under the surface, the surface will change.

It is sad to me that the major media does not make trend information widely available, especially in health research, for example.

Nonetheless, places highly infiltrated with small voluntary groups tend to get statistics that would lead you to believe they look far different from how they actually look if you go to eyeball them. ]]> Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:34:00 -0400
The wired-in rich are the ones who may come to understand the error of their ways in some locales.

An example may be Portland, where M. Paulson, son of an infamous Paulson, wants to own a soccer team, using "his" money.

An tricky issue is that he also wants to own a baseball team.

The baseball team needed to be unhoused to revamp the former baseball stadium to the specifications of world-class soccer.

He and some city-council members tried to take a veterans memorial for baseball, but an interesting alliance of veterans and architects shut them down.

They tried to take a Little League venue in a working class neighborhood, thinking they would be received as liberators.

Boy, did that not work, and I wish there were video--maybe there is.

There are locales where top-down wants are met by ferocious bottom-up expressions of Little People needs.

Paulson and the 20% will get soccer.

I am not sure where baseball will go, possibly across the river to Washington, where an interesting percentage of former Oregon 20%'ers have gone to escape punitive income taxes.

The former 20%'er Oregonians escape Washington sales taxes by shopping in Portland or growing their own whatever.

Crunchers on the right and left leave out the furious ability of U.S. people to go around elite inadvertent (perhaps) manipulations, in locales that can put together voluntary issue-communities in a heartbeat.

Some locations gain population when the New York Times talks them up (e.g., Portland, where there is good free beer on street-fair days).

The 20% can go wherever they want, on a whim, and they finagle the tax angle with internet- and boots-on-the-ground research.

This is why property values continue to go up in certain places.

Looking only at the macro for a state does not explain an entire picture.

A watched pot does not boil in the short-term, but as heat builds up under the surface, the surface will change.

It is sad to me that the major media does not make trend information widely available, especially in health research, for example.

Nonetheless, places highly infiltrated with small voluntary groups tend to get statistics that would lead you to believe they look far different from how they actually look if you go to eyeball them. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/165411-corporate-america-s-identity-crisis?source=feed#comment-708695 708695
On healthcare, a huge issue is iatrogenic death and disability, which is acknowledged to be underestimated even by the academics who study it and often even by the legislators who protect current recipients of massive tax dollars through subsidies.

Pouring more money into side effects that then obtain more prescriptions to deal with the side effects and side effects of side effects is perceived by some to be less expensive than asking for lifestyle changes and connecting clients/patients to opportunities to change lifestyle.

To their credit, some insurance companies do have agreements with gyms, and many hospitals have gyms. No one really disputes that appropriate exercise is what the human body is generally designed to do.

Research is trickling in to lifestyle research as so many clients/patients (conventional western medicine) have been paying outside the system for other forms of medicine, many with thousands of years of research, as opposed to conventional.

Everyone agrees that if you need sewing, accomplished sewers are advised. Many M.D.'s now have N.D.'s and other certifications. Arthritis tends not to spare M.D.'s., and they look for what works like everybody else.

The latest research, according to my son's MIT magazine, is N=1, which is to say to look at and listen to an individual as an individual when devising a treatment plan. One of the reasons listed in the articles was that it saves money. Imagine that (lives and suffering too, but money seems to get more attention).

Discussion like this seems uninteresting to much of the media. Even if I get off-topic dissed for this, I am glad for the place to vent. ]]> Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:10:41 -0400
On healthcare, a huge issue is iatrogenic death and disability, which is acknowledged to be underestimated even by the academics who study it and often even by the legislators who protect current recipients of massive tax dollars through subsidies.

Pouring more money into side effects that then obtain more prescriptions to deal with the side effects and side effects of side effects is perceived by some to be less expensive than asking for lifestyle changes and connecting clients/patients to opportunities to change lifestyle.

To their credit, some insurance companies do have agreements with gyms, and many hospitals have gyms. No one really disputes that appropriate exercise is what the human body is generally designed to do.

Research is trickling in to lifestyle research as so many clients/patients (conventional western medicine) have been paying outside the system for other forms of medicine, many with thousands of years of research, as opposed to conventional.

Everyone agrees that if you need sewing, accomplished sewers are advised. Many M.D.'s now have N.D.'s and other certifications. Arthritis tends not to spare M.D.'s., and they look for what works like everybody else.

The latest research, according to my son's MIT magazine, is N=1, which is to say to look at and listen to an individual as an individual when devising a treatment plan. One of the reasons listed in the articles was that it saves money. Imagine that (lives and suffering too, but money seems to get more attention).

Discussion like this seems uninteresting to much of the media. Even if I get off-topic dissed for this, I am glad for the place to vent. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/163696-green-stocks-a-better-way-to-play?source=feed#comment-695829 695829 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:16:13 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/162080-solar-energy-s-new-growth-sector?source=feed#comment-682716 682716
Suntech and SunPower have pretty good websites. If you are interested in this sector, you might take a look.

Suntech's site used to be easier to navigate. I personally would make the homeowner navigation easier and showcase the see-throughs and light-throughs better, but I'm only a smallholder and possible purchaser, so what do I know. Suntech's array of products is pretty dazzling.

SunPower should probably take advantage of the issues coming up in commercial real estate and find a site in a high-unemployment U.S. location, splashingly, pr-wise.

Otherwise, if SolarWorld gears up its marketing, SunPower could be challenged by SolarWorld. I have visited the SolarWorld production facility in Oregon, and it is impressive.

The market for solar is sophisticated. Some will do the research to find out where the products are made. What's more, there's the Henry-Ford phenomenon of making things affordable for workers and their friends and families. SolarWorld also has plans to take its cells into schools for kids to assemble into panels. This could be an entree into a DIY market. If kids can do it...oh nevermind, kids can operate anything gadgety these days. It doesn't mean adults think they can, unless some marketer really good at sucking up makes them believe it.

The value of non-explosive, non-polluting, quiet, distributed energy could shake loose some investment money among those boomers who have investments left. There is potential for reducing monthly cost of energy and for possibly having a source of income, should energy costs increase and the monopolies' ways of operating change.

There is also a possibiliy, in Oregon, of financing the improvement so a subsequent owner could assume it. This could arrive elsewhere as well, shaking loose some equity from elders, in areas where there still is equity. In addition, it would encourage new home purchasers to consider cost of operation in their decisions concerning housing.

Places like Gainesville, FL, are going ahead. Their ratepayer-owned utility has good feed-in arrangements for property owners.

At some point, distributed renewable energy is going to break out. The logic for good neighbors who cooperate well is just too convincing in these times.

It will be a while before drilling gets good enough for geothermal to play in the residential market. Some temperate locations don't pencil that well for geo anyway.

I'm baiting the metal bugs here, but I would love to see a solar-cell standard as opposed to a gold standard.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ron Paul. I just see his gold thing as a blip I don't get. The real standard is energy. Marybe I'm more practical than the average ordinary person. I don't get the jewelry thing. I know that's unusual, but in some mini-cultures, I am not that far out there.

Is there such a thing as a geo-cultural economist? If there is, I'm asking again for input from such a person.

I'm all for making the Fed come clean, and as I understand it, Ron Paul is getting closer to getting that, after what, thirty years?

If they open the can of worms that is the Fed, the U.S. will become the destination for soap-opera and tabloid journalists, the world over.

Harlem churchgoers won't be able to get in their churches unless they get up at 5 a.m. to beat the journalist/tourists. Maybe the opportunistic music tourism will even bleed over to Baltimore. Having grown up in Maryland, I hope so. I love some of the parts of the D.C. area outside the core. Oh ok, I love some parts of the core also.

In sales mode, think about a Solar Standard: energy you can cart around, made of sand, with the value embedded from labor input. What's not to like?

I own STP and SunPower. ]]> Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:38:23 -0400
Suntech and SunPower have pretty good websites. If you are interested in this sector, you might take a look.

Suntech's site used to be easier to navigate. I personally would make the homeowner navigation easier and showcase the see-throughs and light-throughs better, but I'm only a smallholder and possible purchaser, so what do I know. Suntech's array of products is pretty dazzling.

SunPower should probably take advantage of the issues coming up in commercial real estate and find a site in a high-unemployment U.S. location, splashingly, pr-wise.

Otherwise, if SolarWorld gears up its marketing, SunPower could be challenged by SolarWorld. I have visited the SolarWorld production facility in Oregon, and it is impressive.

The market for solar is sophisticated. Some will do the research to find out where the products are made. What's more, there's the Henry-Ford phenomenon of making things affordable for workers and their friends and families. SolarWorld also has plans to take its cells into schools for kids to assemble into panels. This could be an entree into a DIY market. If kids can do it...oh nevermind, kids can operate anything gadgety these days. It doesn't mean adults think they can, unless some marketer really good at sucking up makes them believe it.

The value of non-explosive, non-polluting, quiet, distributed energy could shake loose some investment money among those boomers who have investments left. There is potential for reducing monthly cost of energy and for possibly having a source of income, should energy costs increase and the monopolies' ways of operating change.

There is also a possibiliy, in Oregon, of financing the improvement so a subsequent owner could assume it. This could arrive elsewhere as well, shaking loose some equity from elders, in areas where there still is equity. In addition, it would encourage new home purchasers to consider cost of operation in their decisions concerning housing.

Places like Gainesville, FL, are going ahead. Their ratepayer-owned utility has good feed-in arrangements for property owners.

At some point, distributed renewable energy is going to break out. The logic for good neighbors who cooperate well is just too convincing in these times.

It will be a while before drilling gets good enough for geothermal to play in the residential market. Some temperate locations don't pencil that well for geo anyway.

I'm baiting the metal bugs here, but I would love to see a solar-cell standard as opposed to a gold standard.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ron Paul. I just see his gold thing as a blip I don't get. The real standard is energy. Marybe I'm more practical than the average ordinary person. I don't get the jewelry thing. I know that's unusual, but in some mini-cultures, I am not that far out there.

Is there such a thing as a geo-cultural economist? If there is, I'm asking again for input from such a person.

I'm all for making the Fed come clean, and as I understand it, Ron Paul is getting closer to getting that, after what, thirty years?

If they open the can of worms that is the Fed, the U.S. will become the destination for soap-opera and tabloid journalists, the world over.

Harlem churchgoers won't be able to get in their churches unless they get up at 5 a.m. to beat the journalist/tourists. Maybe the opportunistic music tourism will even bleed over to Baltimore. Having grown up in Maryland, I hope so. I love some of the parts of the D.C. area outside the core. Oh ok, I love some parts of the core also.

In sales mode, think about a Solar Standard: energy you can cart around, made of sand, with the value embedded from labor input. What's not to like?

I own STP and SunPower. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/161408-sunpower-s-rose-how-important-is-high-efficiency-in-pv?source=feed#comment-682555 682555 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:47:29 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/161673-trina-sunpower-clairvoyant-the-u-s-pv-hits-just-keep-on-coming?source=feed#comment-678824 678824 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:39:57 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/160509-china-becoming-a-middle-class-nation?source=feed#comment-671497 671497
If China decides to change agriculture to less resource-hungry ways, they could probably produce much more. I saw few plantings of trees or use of windbreaks. Consequently evaporation is great, and substantial water is required. I did see clover used as opposed to grass, a practice that just appears to be starting in the U.S. Careful attention to the work of Vandana Shiva and Masanobu Fukuoka could improve productivity. One of Fukuoka's rice strains is already used there, from what I understand. It requires less water and less fertilizer than conventional strains.

What food-production I saw was monocropping. So much canola that I was dazzled, but dismayed. Restaurant food was largely meat, except at a restaurant connected to the Chinese opera and another in a hotel that served many Japanese visitors, in Beijing. There, the vegetables were very good and not an after-thought.

China is so huge, and parts seem rather desolate and sparsely populated, in contrast to the huge cities. I think it's difficult to know what potentials are not even counted in the reports that get relied on.

Disclosure: I own STP, a Chinese solar play.]]> Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:39:03 -0400
If China decides to change agriculture to less resource-hungry ways, they could probably produce much more. I saw few plantings of trees or use of windbreaks. Consequently evaporation is great, and substantial water is required. I did see clover used as opposed to grass, a practice that just appears to be starting in the U.S. Careful attention to the work of Vandana Shiva and Masanobu Fukuoka could improve productivity. One of Fukuoka's rice strains is already used there, from what I understand. It requires less water and less fertilizer than conventional strains.

What food-production I saw was monocropping. So much canola that I was dazzled, but dismayed. Restaurant food was largely meat, except at a restaurant connected to the Chinese opera and another in a hotel that served many Japanese visitors, in Beijing. There, the vegetables were very good and not an after-thought.

China is so huge, and parts seem rather desolate and sparsely populated, in contrast to the huge cities. I think it's difficult to know what potentials are not even counted in the reports that get relied on.

Disclosure: I own STP, a Chinese solar play.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/160071-one-in-two-solar-firms-will-fail-say-analysts?source=feed#comment-663634 663634
What's more Abu Dhabi still has a few bucks to burn and rather good solar exposure.

I'm long STP and SunPower. I have looked with very covetous eyes on those STP clear panels. So far, the thrifty part of me is winning over the style wanna-be, but my inner stylin' freak keeps jumping up and down and being distracting, so nothing's happened yet. ]]> Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:23:57 -0400
What's more Abu Dhabi still has a few bucks to burn and rather good solar exposure.

I'm long STP and SunPower. I have looked with very covetous eyes on those STP clear panels. So far, the thrifty part of me is winning over the style wanna-be, but my inner stylin' freak keeps jumping up and down and being distracting, so nothing's happened yet. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/160081-regulatory-reform-the-new-geithner-plan?source=feed#comment-663628 663628 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:01:15 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/159355-the-non-stimulating-stimulus-bill?source=feed#comment-658483 658483
What stands in the way is the corrupt entities entwined with government. They essentially pay for protection. They are the opposites of Robin Hood. They leverage bribes to turn the spigot of subsidies on for themselves. Then government officials follow government rules in not exposing who they are or how much they have taken.

Let's take a large agricultural lobby as an example. It owns the agriculture bureau and the FDA at the federal level and in many state governments as well.

Subsidies ensure that food animals will be fed in inappropriate ways. For example, cattle fed with corn that is known to harbor dangerous forms of bacteria in the cattle guts.

This produces fuel for our medical-industrial complex.

People who go on TV to warn the public may be lawyer-bullied.

Say you plant a bean from a company. The bean company wants the government to say it can send interns on your property to see if its bully pollen has been present on your land. If so, it wants to use the fine print in a federal law to supersede trespass law.

Say a college bookstore wants to sell software from a famous software company. It has to agree to audits of clerk records of checking ID's for purchasers, to make sure they were paying student fees to get a discount on the software.

Then, when an individual uses the software required by the instructor, he has to consent to wild fine print that essentially makes him a serf of a product.

In the meantime, the Obamas will be eating organic food from their cute garden. They are smart. They likely understand the perils lurking in the food supply.

Obama likely had to appoint protection-racket people as pay-off for the lifestyle he now has. At least it keeps these characters in the limelight where they can be watched and tracked. This is the most charitable way to characterize this, the old keep-your-enemies-close argument.

I agree it is not right/left D/R or assorted labels of that kind any more.

It is inform-yourself before you put things in your body. It's gotten to that point. My neighbor, a dentist, says people are now declining anti-biotics and pain meds. They are using herbs and alternatives from people they know and trust.

My financial consultant and his fiancee run marathons, and they avoid conventional medicine as much as possible also.

Of course, this is anecdotal info, so dismiss it if you want to scoff.

Disaffected people from all parts of a constructed political spectrum are increasingly looking for honest products and services. They are not seeking more expensive things and services, they are seeking authenticity, value, and sometimes even the notorious do-gooding.

Granted, this is now a micro-market. Fads start this way, though, so there are possibilities here.

People in the organics industry say it takes 8 years for changes in the field to show up anywhere official. I find this a bit optimistic, given the bribes given to universities, for example.

Nonetheless, hubris can go before falls. Paul Hawken has said the conversion from horses to cars caught some buggy-makers off-guard. Large corporations dependent on corruption could conceivably end up with perp walks and destitution if they persist in using the federal government in such hurtful and exploitive ways. The implications for the -industrial complex machines are interesting to me. ]]> Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:37:00 -0400
What stands in the way is the corrupt entities entwined with government. They essentially pay for protection. They are the opposites of Robin Hood. They leverage bribes to turn the spigot of subsidies on for themselves. Then government officials follow government rules in not exposing who they are or how much they have taken.

Let's take a large agricultural lobby as an example. It owns the agriculture bureau and the FDA at the federal level and in many state governments as well.

Subsidies ensure that food animals will be fed in inappropriate ways. For example, cattle fed with corn that is known to harbor dangerous forms of bacteria in the cattle guts.

This produces fuel for our medical-industrial complex.

People who go on TV to warn the public may be lawyer-bullied.

Say you plant a bean from a company. The bean company wants the government to say it can send interns on your property to see if its bully pollen has been present on your land. If so, it wants to use the fine print in a federal law to supersede trespass law.

Say a college bookstore wants to sell software from a famous software company. It has to agree to audits of clerk records of checking ID's for purchasers, to make sure they were paying student fees to get a discount on the software.

Then, when an individual uses the software required by the instructor, he has to consent to wild fine print that essentially makes him a serf of a product.

In the meantime, the Obamas will be eating organic food from their cute garden. They are smart. They likely understand the perils lurking in the food supply.

Obama likely had to appoint protection-racket people as pay-off for the lifestyle he now has. At least it keeps these characters in the limelight where they can be watched and tracked. This is the most charitable way to characterize this, the old keep-your-enemies-close argument.

I agree it is not right/left D/R or assorted labels of that kind any more.

It is inform-yourself before you put things in your body. It's gotten to that point. My neighbor, a dentist, says people are now declining anti-biotics and pain meds. They are using herbs and alternatives from people they know and trust.

My financial consultant and his fiancee run marathons, and they avoid conventional medicine as much as possible also.

Of course, this is anecdotal info, so dismiss it if you want to scoff.

Disaffected people from all parts of a constructed political spectrum are increasingly looking for honest products and services. They are not seeking more expensive things and services, they are seeking authenticity, value, and sometimes even the notorious do-gooding.

Granted, this is now a micro-market. Fads start this way, though, so there are possibilities here.

People in the organics industry say it takes 8 years for changes in the field to show up anywhere official. I find this a bit optimistic, given the bribes given to universities, for example.

Nonetheless, hubris can go before falls. Paul Hawken has said the conversion from horses to cars caught some buggy-makers off-guard. Large corporations dependent on corruption could conceivably end up with perp walks and destitution if they persist in using the federal government in such hurtful and exploitive ways. The implications for the -industrial complex machines are interesting to me. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/157625-spike-in-mass-layoff-events?source=feed#comment-644451 644451 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:53:25 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/156836-silver-is-the-future-of-jewelry?source=feed#comment-636659 636659
The value to me in silver jewelry is its versatility and beauty when finely worked. There are some incredible creations of First Peoples in the new Smithsonian exhibit.

Then there were the silver smiths of Europe and colonial periods.

Silver has been used in vessels because of its anti-microbial properties. Silver chalices are used in many Christian denominations. Bowls and tea-service

Also, many of the things made from silver are practical, such as watches and silverware, though silverware is a target of thieves. Many old houses have secret compartments in built-in cabinets, where the silver was hidden.

Silver foil is also consumed in India in celebratory rice dishes.

It is a beautiful metal to work with. I built myself a ring in a shop class, and it was very pleasurable to work with it.

It is also used up in craft soldering, in addition to the industrial uses.

It is also now made into consumable sprays and other products for people who wish to avoid conventional antibiotics.

You can find silver foil, silver sheet, earring blanks, wire, and other materials for making your own things in most large cities, but surely on the internet if not in a store you can find in the phone book.

The versatility of silver makes it far more attractive to hold than gold in my book. I find gold's high price to have more cons than pros, if you'll pardon my feeble attempt at a pun, especially for modest-income people. ]]> Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:29:12 -0400
The value to me in silver jewelry is its versatility and beauty when finely worked. There are some incredible creations of First Peoples in the new Smithsonian exhibit.

Then there were the silver smiths of Europe and colonial periods.

Silver has been used in vessels because of its anti-microbial properties. Silver chalices are used in many Christian denominations. Bowls and tea-service

Also, many of the things made from silver are practical, such as watches and silverware, though silverware is a target of thieves. Many old houses have secret compartments in built-in cabinets, where the silver was hidden.

Silver foil is also consumed in India in celebratory rice dishes.

It is a beautiful metal to work with. I built myself a ring in a shop class, and it was very pleasurable to work with it.

It is also used up in craft soldering, in addition to the industrial uses.

It is also now made into consumable sprays and other products for people who wish to avoid conventional antibiotics.

You can find silver foil, silver sheet, earring blanks, wire, and other materials for making your own things in most large cities, but surely on the internet if not in a store you can find in the phone book.

The versatility of silver makes it far more attractive to hold than gold in my book. I find gold's high price to have more cons than pros, if you'll pardon my feeble attempt at a pun, especially for modest-income people. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/156381-google-how-one-wedding-video-shows-youtube-s-potential?source=feed#comment-633050 633050
I also like that Sony understood the buzz value and did not demand that it be pulled, but rather understood the potential.

My hope is that this will allow local artists and indy labels to get their stuff out there too.

One of my friends noted that wedding paraphernalia is somewhat recession-resistant. People still get married and die.

Could we have a Bollywood one next? Frankly, I considering instructing my kids that I want a memorial service like that than the usual long-face affair. ]]> Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:21:47 -0400
I also like that Sony understood the buzz value and did not demand that it be pulled, but rather understood the potential.

My hope is that this will allow local artists and indy labels to get their stuff out there too.

One of my friends noted that wedding paraphernalia is somewhat recession-resistant. People still get married and die.

Could we have a Bollywood one next? Frankly, I considering instructing my kids that I want a memorial service like that than the usual long-face affair. ]]>