Rooting Against Crabtree

I am cheering for the 49′ers like I’ve never cheered them before. 

As a Cowboys fan, I almost never cheer them at all (only when they play another NFC East opponent).  But I’m cheerin’ for ‘em now!  I cheer for them every week because I want them to succeed without Michael Crabtree.   They’re 2 and 1 and they lost in the final seconds of the game against Minnesota.

Nobody ever had any sympathy for him, none of us have sympathy for rookie holdouts.  But now that we’re in October, I am full-on rooting for failure.  I hope they don’t sign him.  I HOPE he goes back into the draft next year.  I hope he sits out a year and gets drafted in the 3rd round in 2010.   I would be tuned in to the 2010 draft cheering each time he gets skipped. 

Rodney Harrison (NBC) says of Crabtree “”the biggest idiot I’ve ever seen in the National Football League”.  Scoop Jackson (ESPN) opens his article on Crabtree by saying “Ever wonder what it feels like to be jackass?” 

I hope the 49′ers say “Let us know when you’re ready to sign, because $20 million is our final offer.”  Here’s part of Jackson’s thoughts, read the whole article at ESPN:

The 49ers were supposed to need Crabtree. They were supposed to draft him, pay him stacks, discover how supremely talented and gifted he was, succeed with him instantly — and then make him the cornerstone of the franchise.

But it’s hard to hold a team hostage when it is already doing what you claim your client will single-handedly help it do: win. And that is one thing no one in Crabtree’s camp expected. Especially not right out of the gate. Not like this. And along with those two unexpected wins is one stat that can’t escape notice: Of the 256 players selected in the 2009 NFL draft, 255 are signed.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/090922&sportCat=nfl 
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2009/09/rodney-harrison-michael-crabtree-is-the-biggest-idiot-in-the-nfl/1

September Economy News

U.S. consumer spending soars to eight-year high; ‘cash for clunkers’ credited
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/spending-soars-at-8-year-high-on-clunkers-program-2009-10-01-83100?siteid=bnbh

Federal Reserve: Recession is over
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090915-711925.html?mod=rss_Global_Stocks

The Public Option

“We need this option because the insurance companies have failed to meet their obligation” to the public, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., accusing firms of putting profits over their customers. He said that without his proposal, consumers would face substantial premium increases once health care legislation takes effect.

Republicans countered that private companies would eventually be forced out of business, and argued that millions would be forced to get their insurance from the government.

Let me let this sink in.  Private health insurance giants would be forced out of business by the goverment plan because presumably, the private companies would not be able to run as efficiently as a goverment option, or provide the same level of service as a government option.  WHAT??  You Republicans spend 1/2 the time telling me that government run, socialized programs, are terribly innefficient and far inferior to private offerings – then the other 1/2 telling me how a government option would be so superior to the private option that these poor, deprived, only-doing-what’s-best-for-Americans, private companies would have to shut their ruby-encrusted doors. 

Which is it?? 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlMpJGn28kqCcgU-aGcYE_ZHW-ywD9B1529G0

More American

I was recently told that without a doubt, a Chevy built by Mexicans or Canadians is “more American” than a Toyota built buy Americans.  And that got me thinking…

What is ”more American” to purchase:  (1) A product manufactured by foreigners working for a company that is headquartered in America; or (2) a product manufactured by American workers (in American factories) by someone headquartered in another country? 

In other words: How important is the geographic location of the CEO’s desk?

I have to think about not just the worker and his/her family, but the whole kit ’n caboodle…everything that goes along with both the factory and the work.  I think that Toyota and Honda might be just as “American” (if not more-so) than buying GM or Dodge*.  Especially considering that these foreign manufacturer’s sacrificed some of their bottom line in exchange for R&D, increased efficiency, and other long-term sound business practices which results in their American employees still being able to cash their check and support their families. 

Factories equal land and buildings….and those require endless maintenance from all sorts of third parties.   There is lanscaping and irrigation and roofing and HVAC and fire systems and repairs from gutters to toilets. There are cafeterias and insurance premiums.   There are electricity charges and water bills.  There are computers and network cabling and phone lines and data links.  There is machinery and machinery maintenance and raw materials and waste.  Factories are generating revenue for lots of other companies. 

Next is the paycheck and this doesn’t just go to the worker’s family and then disappear – it is given to other local businesses in the worker’s country (be that America or a foreign country).  The worker spends it at grocery stores, clothing stores, sporting events, little league dues, vacations, mortgages, and so on and so on (most of which also generates sales taxes).  Some of the paycheck goes towards income taxes.   Like the factory itself, the paycheck is generating other revenue.   

The taxes (property, sales, income) are also spent again in the country where the factory is located.  Tax revenue is used to pay teachers and soldiers.  To pay people to build roads and to build satellites.  To conserve our parks and to build our tanks.  

Seems to me that buying a Toyota Tundra that was built in Texas is more American than buying a Silverado built in Mexico or Canada.

Some well known Americana companies that have moved most, if not all, of their manufacturing outside the U.S.:

Fender – Nearly all of its instruments are built in Mexico, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India.  Only a few high-end models are built in America. 
Levi’s - Check your label: A very few still say “Made in the U.S.A.”
Rawlings – “Baseball is as American as apple pie. But baseballs themselves — the actual leather-covered spheres hurled in the major leagues — are only as American as gallo pinto, the national dish of Costa Rica, where Rawlings balls have been made since 1986.”
The Chrysler Building - An American Icon.   In July of 2001, the Abu Dhabi government bought a 90% stake in Manhattan’s Chrysler Building for $800 million. 
7-11 - ”While the chain’s down-home origins may lie deep in the heart of Texas, its parent company is nestled amid the flashing neon of Tokyo.”
GM, Ford, Dodge: Many cars and trucks are built in Mexico and Canada.  On the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit there are cars from Chevy, Ford, Dodge, and Toyota.  The only car that’s American is the Toyota. 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/made-in-america-no-longer.aspx?GT1=33002&slide-number=1

* Ford is excused for while they made poor decisions to overpay executives and to ignore fuel efficiency in their US cars, they (1) Have shown they can do it by being the number 1 auto importer into Brazil (a energy-independent country who uses flex-fuel / bio-fuel in all its new cars) and by building a 60+ mpg Ford Focus in England.  So it can build efficient cars for South America and Europe, it simply chose not to in the USA; and (2) they did not accept / require bailout money as did GM.

TYT on Racism and the GOP

Some good stuff from TYT:

Fox News Host on Hip Hop murders:

Another Terrorist-Fist-Jabber

Fox News better put the alert and let Americans know about another dangerous leader who doe the “terrorist fist jab”: The Dalai Lama

Open Letter to Burgess

Open Letter to Michael Burgess (R-TX)

Seemingly every year my health care costs continue eating into my income.  Every couple of years the premiums go up, and with that the co-pays and deductibles also go up.  I am getting less AND paying more for it.  

 

Last year my deductibles increased 500%, my office co-pay by 50%, prescription co-pay by 100%, annual checkups for my children are no longer covered past the age of TWO, my dental insurance was completely removed and replaced by a “discount” program.  In exchange for all these cuts…my premiums increased more than 17%, Michael.  That blows away the CPI.  How can you say that we do not need reform? 

 

And when I need it most, the insurance companies are allowed to simply reject me.  They can even reject me just because I took a cancer screening test under my previous insurer. (Doctor said it’s possible it’s cancer and if so, early detection is the key. I take the test, it’s negative, covered by insurance, no problem.  Until years later the next insurance company considers me a risk and rejects coverage and I spend my retirement savings in just a couple of years). 

 

How you can stand up as a representative of the people of Texas and say that you hope everything stays the same is shocking. 

 

How is it that there is no reform offered by the Republicans?  Your inability to propose any other solutions is a message that you believe this system does not need change.  It appears to me that the only reason for this viewpiont is because you’re simply being contrarian to everything a Democrat proposes. 

 

For example, tax credits to purchase private insurance: When a Republican says it, it’s a great idea. 

 

Another exmampe: You also say you have many questions about the details of the proposal.  The same proposal that you and other lawmakers have complained is TOO long and TOO detailed. 

 

It’s a decent health care system…IF you’re between 25 and 50 and employed by a medium-to-large company. 

If you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. 

Rob Miller vs Joe Wilson

Let me introduce Rob Miller - he is the guy running against the loud-mouth Joe Wilson (R-SC).

According to the AP, backlash against Republican Joe Wilson (attempting to shout down the President’s address to Congress) has led to $750,000 in donations to his Democratic opponent Rob Miller. 

 Hypothetical: Had a Democratic Congressman done this last year (I know, but just pretend)…had a Democrat done this to a Republican President, the conservatives would have him painted as an American-hating traitor, yes?  

Consider donating $5 to Rob Miller: 
http://www.robmiller2010.com

I hope Joe Wilson loses his seat in Congress! 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gqPgZr9fnMP1-0DTplQLY4zofswAD9AL7O3O0

Mobs, Death Wishes, Terrorism

It’s pathetic to see how just a few years ago dissenting against the Republican President was “un-American” but now that a Democrat is President, Republican Senators apparently feel comfortable interrupting a televised address to a joint session of Congress, screaming at the President in the middle of a speech.  What’s so great about your leadership skills, Joe Wilson?  A member of the United States House of Representatives and you can’t maintain a manner of decorum during a presidential address. 

“There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” Obama said.

Wilson (Republican, SC) answered the comment with his outburst, loud enough to be picked up on television and in such an unusually disruptive fashion as to merit reprimands from across the political spectrum.

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, a fellow South Carolinian, said Wilson’s heckling was more damaging to South Carolina’s reputation than the exploits of Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, who admitted to having an extramarital affair with an Argentinian woman.

“I thought he [the governor] had embarrassed us as much as we could be embarrassed. But to have a congressman use the floor of the House of Representatives in a joint session to insult the president the way Joe Wilson did is as embarrassing as anything anyone could think of,” Clyburn said. “Our state can do without this.”

This is more of the Republican Mob that we’ve seen lately.  “Shout down anyone who disagrees”.  “Anyone who dissents is wrong and their voices do not need to be heard”.  What’s next from Republicans – will we hear “Anyone who dissents is wrong and their voices should be silenced”? 

Unfortunately, we are already hearing that.  And not from lunatics preaching from a cardboard box – but from from the leaders of Christian churches.

Hybrids are Doomed

Here’s why battery-powered hybrids are not the answer.  These things are trading one non-renewable resource for another.  It’s trading dependence on one country to dependence on another. 

Battery power requires mining (a very ‘un-green’ process), then shipping of heavy materials, then chemical processing, then shipping of heavy batteries, then safe disposal of highly toxic materials.  And while oil reserves are centered in a few varied regions – rare metals used in hybrids are found almost exclusively in China.  And guess what China’s doing… slowing down exports to drive up prices, thereby increasing our dependence on not just a foreign country, but a superpower. 

The Prius may be a gas sipper, but it guzzles Earth’s rare materials (it is the largest user of rare materials on the planet, according to Fast Company).   The Prius just went from being one of the most efficient/Earth-friendly cars, to being an inefficient predator of rare materials.

What we need are renewable solutions.  Non-renewable ideas create the same dependence, financial and ecological problems.  We need things like the strains of prarie grass that pack the same energy as corn, without requiring crop rotation, without irrigation, without pesticides. 

September 2, 2009, Associated Press
China, which produces 95 percent of the world’s rare earth metals used in superconductors, hybrid cars and other high-tech devices, plans to limit its exports to prop up prices and conserve its reserves, an official said Wednesday.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/China-to-limit-rare-earth-apf-1874464063.html?x=0&.v=1

 

Septbember 1, 2009, Reuters
Jack Lifton, an independent commodities consultant and strategic metals expert, calls the Prius “the biggest user of rare earths of any object in the world.”

Each electric Prius motor requires around two pounds of neodymium, and each battery uses 22-33 pounds of lanthanum. That number will nearly double under Toyota’s plans to boost the car’s fuel economy, he said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32632068/ns/us_news-environment/ 

 

August 31, 2009, Fast Company
By most measures, hybrid cars are great–they save everyone’s favorite non-renewable resource (gasoline) and they’re quiet, too. But while these cars are oil-sippers, they guzzle rare earth metals–a class of 15 elements on the periodic table–during production. And just like gasoline, these elements are non-renewable.

Rare earth metals like neodymium, lanthium, and terbium are used in magnets for electric motors, hybrid car batteries, and even wind turbines. The Prius is the biggest user of rare earth metals in the world, with each motor using 2.2 pounds of neodymium and every battery housing 22 to 33 pounds of lanthium.
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/latest-planetary-quandry-hybrid-cars-minimize-gas-usage-guzzle-ra?partner=rss 

 

August 31, 2009, Epoch Times
In 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the former general secretary of the Communist Party in China, announced that China would be, for rare earth metals, what the Middle East was for oil. At the time, it seemed too distant a reality to draw much concern.

A draft report form China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released late last month, however, could set off the alarm bells in boardrooms around the world.

The report is weighing a total ban on exporting rare earth metals needed to produce circuitry in consumer electronics, such as smartphones, MP3 music players, liquid crystal displays, and advanced battery technologies. The problem? China currently produces more than 90 percent of the global supply for production of such electronics.

Perhaps more importantly, in respect to green technology initiatives, the ban will also give China control of the development of green technology with products like electronic or hybrid cars, wind turbines, and energy efficient light bulbs all reliant on rare earth metals.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/21812/