Thanks for moving your primary up to January. That means we in NH have to move up to December of this year. The presidential election season is too damn long right now. Instead of governing the country, presidents (and Congresspersons) spend all their time running in the permanent election. And you have taken a big step toward making it longer.
The newsies love presidential elections cause they are easily understood and easily reported upon, all you have to do is talk about who is in front. That doesn't require much brainpower, or education. So the newsies talk up presidential elections all the time 'cause even the dimmest of them know that much.
The other trouble with starting the primary race so early is we pick candidates on issues that are often moot by November. Last time we picked Hillary Clinton as out Democratic presidential candidate. How did that work out for us?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Frugal Forever
Title of a Wall St Journal piece. The gist of the story is that financially pressed Americans are buying more store brands and less national brands. Catchy and all, but as a regular buyer of store brands, I gotta say, they ain't THAT cheap. True, you save a few percent over a national brand, but somehow I don't think that small difference is going to swing the country into or out of Great Depression 2.0. Must have been a slow day at the Journal.
More to the point, consumer spending used to be 70% of the US GNP. Of that huge amount of spending, much of it is deferrable. Consumers worried about losing their jobs or layoffs, will defer buying new cars, appliances, clothing, lawn care, housewares, even Christmas gifts. About the only things people have to are groceries. And that's all most of us are buying. I can see this when I visit Home Depot or Lowes. The aisles are empty of customers.
More to the point, consumer spending used to be 70% of the US GNP. Of that huge amount of spending, much of it is deferrable. Consumers worried about losing their jobs or layoffs, will defer buying new cars, appliances, clothing, lawn care, housewares, even Christmas gifts. About the only things people have to are groceries. And that's all most of us are buying. I can see this when I visit Home Depot or Lowes. The aisles are empty of customers.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Rahm Emmanual is one slick talker
Meet the Press (David Gregory) had Rahm Emmanual on this morning. Rahm said Obama saved Detroit and now every thing is better in the auto industry.
I don't buy that. Obama didn't "save" anything except the UAW. Ford, the only Detroit company with decent management, didn't accept government bailout money. All Obama did was interfere in the bankruptcy proceeding of GM and Chrysler, giving the companies away to the UAW and Fiat for zilch, and stiffing the bond holders, the banks and the stockholders. And preserving plush union contracts. GM and Chrysler would be in better shape today if they had gone thru regular bankruptcy, which would have junked their ultra plush union contracts and gotten their labor costs down to the Toyota-Honda level.
In short, Obama bailed out two losers. And made the UAW happy.
But, Rahm Emmanual sounded so positive on TV.
I don't buy that. Obama didn't "save" anything except the UAW. Ford, the only Detroit company with decent management, didn't accept government bailout money. All Obama did was interfere in the bankruptcy proceeding of GM and Chrysler, giving the companies away to the UAW and Fiat for zilch, and stiffing the bond holders, the banks and the stockholders. And preserving plush union contracts. GM and Chrysler would be in better shape today if they had gone thru regular bankruptcy, which would have junked their ultra plush union contracts and gotten their labor costs down to the Toyota-Honda level.
In short, Obama bailed out two losers. And made the UAW happy.
But, Rahm Emmanual sounded so positive on TV.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Computer Virus infects USAF drone controllers
I saw this on Slashdot last night. Apparently the computers used to fly Predators over Afghanistan have picked up a virus. The article says it's "just a keylogger" and has done no harm, yet. The most amusing part of the story, Air Force IT has been unable to scrub the virus off. That will teach 'em not to use Windows for anything important. "They" believe the virus came in on an infected flash drive used to update imagery and target information. These ought to be classified computers, and there are regulations against connecting classified computers to the public internet.
I was gonna post a link, but blogger isn't doing links this morning.
I was gonna post a link, but blogger isn't doing links this morning.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Safer table saws? by regulation?
According to the Wall St Journal, the Obama administration is moving toward tougher safety standards for table saws. The table saw makers Stanley, Black & Decker, Bosch, and Ryobi have objected.
As well they might. Table saws are dangerous. A tool that can sever a 2 by 4, will sever any body part that comes in contact with the blade. It's a simple tool that hasn't changed much in the last century. I learned table saw use on my grandfather's 8 inch table saw manufactured back in the 1920's. The brand new saws on sale at Home Depot are the same. There is nothing that new regulations can do to make a safer table saw. New regulations will soak up time and money from the makers, which will be reflected in higher prices at Home Depot.
With one exception. There is a radical new technology that electronically senses flesh contacting the blade and stops blade rotation instantaneously, fast enough to save a finger pushed into the whirling blade. This technology is called Saw Stop, and is commercially available right now. It works, but it is costly, Saw Stop table saws cost hundreds of dollars more than ordinary tools. The price of safety is too high for most customers.
It could be that the Feds are planning to make Saw Stop mandatory on all table saws sold. The Wall St Journal article didn't say. This will push the price of a table saw from $150 up to $400, out of reach for many do-it-yourselfers.
As well they might. Table saws are dangerous. A tool that can sever a 2 by 4, will sever any body part that comes in contact with the blade. It's a simple tool that hasn't changed much in the last century. I learned table saw use on my grandfather's 8 inch table saw manufactured back in the 1920's. The brand new saws on sale at Home Depot are the same. There is nothing that new regulations can do to make a safer table saw. New regulations will soak up time and money from the makers, which will be reflected in higher prices at Home Depot.
With one exception. There is a radical new technology that electronically senses flesh contacting the blade and stops blade rotation instantaneously, fast enough to save a finger pushed into the whirling blade. This technology is called Saw Stop, and is commercially available right now. It works, but it is costly, Saw Stop table saws cost hundreds of dollars more than ordinary tools. The price of safety is too high for most customers.
It could be that the Feds are planning to make Saw Stop mandatory on all table saws sold. The Wall St Journal article didn't say. This will push the price of a table saw from $150 up to $400, out of reach for many do-it-yourselfers.
Auto Makers Now Import Jobs
Wall St Journal headline. The new Ford-UAW contract allows Ford to hire new workers on at about $15 an hour. Ford is going to beef up production in Michigan and start assembly the new Fusion in Michigan. Up until now Fusions were only produced in Mexico. Another Ford plant in Kentucky will assemble vans which are currently assembled overseas. Ford also announced plans to manufacture a transmission currently purchased in Japan, and oil pumps currently made in China.
Could it be that the UAW managed to price itself out of business and is just coming back to its senses?
Could it be that the UAW managed to price itself out of business and is just coming back to its senses?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)