bmagnus

Fly Like an Eagle, to the Sea

You think it costs big money to fuel up a full-sized SUV? Imagine what it costs to fill the tanks on an airplane!

If you have the occasion to look at the back cover of Forbes’s Investment Guide Special issue, you will notice a full-page ad for Dassault Falcon, a manufacturer of small jet aircraft. The ad features rusting antique gas pumps and the all-capitals tagline “GET 20-60% MORE MPG AND LEAVE THE COMPETITION BEHIND.”

Yeah, that’s right. Luxury jets being promoted on the basis of fuel efficiency. Things are tough all over, eh?

It will be interesting to see how this same issue plays out between the world’s two largest makers of commercial jet aircraft, Boeing and Airbus.

Inflated Expectations

The Dow fell today — strictly speaking, it continued a slide from last week’s multi-year highs — along with the other indices and Treasuries on news that the Consumer Price Index rose more than expected, an annual rate of 5.1%. Even taking out food and energy, the core rate is 3%. These figures are both up substantially over last year. Of course, ShortWoman readers may remember this paragraph:

Finally, while you may be aware that Gas and Oil prices are at or near all-time highs you may not be aware that other commodities are also at high prices. Commodities being the building blocks of pretty much anything you can buy, this makes inflation almost a sure thing. Gold is also at multi-decade highs. Remember, investors usually buy gold when they are worried that all heck is going to break loose in the economy.

Seriously, how can anyone have not expected some inflation? The stuff companies use to make other stuff is at record high prices. The fuel used to power the machines that make stuff is at high prices. The fuel used to get the stuff to the store where you can buy it is at high prices. Are we surprised that there is inflation, or are we surprised that the Department of Labor can no longer hide inflation by rigging the numbers?

We might be forced to admit that the Emperor is nude. To think how recently financial news shows were talking about the Dow hitting a new record.

Fair warning, the CPI numbers pretty much mean the FOMC will have little choice but to raise interest rates at their June meeting. For pity sake, if you haven’t refinanced anything with a floating interest rate, will you please fix that?

In closing: Peruvian Princess Warrior! As “organic” food becomes more popular and more readily available, are standards for organics being maintained? Yet another article about the NSA phone record database. My favorite tidbits: yes the FISA court was told this would happen, but they didn’t actually approve it; Verizon swears they aren’t involved; and this choice quote from a Republican Senator, “For as long that I know of, the government has always had an opportunity to look at business records without a court order,” he said. “Business records are not personal property.” Alright, then the Senator won’t mind if we begin by looking at his business records? Apparently it’s ok to live in sin if you have only one kid. But have more than one, and this town thinks it can evict you. And a final bit of absurdity, “New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves — and to be treated by the health care system — as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.” Boy, next thing you know it will be illegal to sell booze to any woman of childbearing age.

The Blair Shorties Project

They keep saying they are only actually listening to calls to and from known terrorists — in which case how come they haven’t been arrested yet — but nevertheless “NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls,” part of a government plan “to create a database of every call ever made.” Because you never know when it might be important to know exactly who you talk to and when. Firestorm already beginnning, with the President denying that the NSA is “trolling through” people’s lives (and so what does he call a list of every phone call you’ve made in the last year?) and certain congressmen saying “Umm, what?”

In completely unrelated news, speaking of the NSA, “The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.” Well! That takes care of that!

Of course the Senate has taken some time out of their busy schedules to extend a tax break on stock dividends. Yeah, because that’s really on the top fo the list of American’s concerns right now. After all, the National Debt isn’t growing fast enough.

The Seattle Times asks Why does a good economy not feel that way? Now if we can get people asking that in places like Topeka and Oklahoma City and Memphis, we are in business.

Yet another serious vulnerability of Diebold voting machines has been found.

Maybe you are aware that the President has been in the practice of signing laws with a statement saying he doesn’t have to follow them. I suppose it’s easier than vetoing. The Boston Globe has compiled a few such statements for you. There are several serious issues involved, particularly since some of the laws were basically intended to stop a certain practice of the Administration. You may dimly recall from High School Civics that the Executive Branch — of which the President is the head — is supposed to enforce the law. The President has said essentially that he can ignore laws he doesn’t like. Oh, that’s only “when they conflict with his legal interpretation of the Constitution.” I don’t want to take his words out of context. How can we trust them to enforce the law when they won’t even agree to follow the law? How can the President be made to follow the law? Can we trust him to surrender the Presidency at the end of his term, or will he decide there was a problem with the Constitutional Amendment limiting him to two terms? And a more scary thought, if we can’t trust the President to follow American laws written by Congress, how and why should Iran trust him to follow international law during and following talks on nuclear weapons?

Finally, while you may be aware that Gas and Oil prices are at or near all-time highs you may not be aware that other commodities are also at high prices. Commodities being the building blocks of pretty much anything you can buy, this makes inflation almost a sure thing. Gold is also at multi-decade highs. Remember, investors usually buy gold when they are worried that all heck is going to break loose in the economy.

Sorry to be all doom and gloom today. You weren’t expecting comics, were you?

I Appreciate Teachers…

But I Hate Teacher Appreciation Week.

Depending where you are, either this week or next is Teacher Appreciation Week. The fact that it is a week at all is evidence that the whole thing is out of hand, inasmuch as the National Education Association only recognizes a National Teacher Day.

If you have a child in a school that celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week, you have most likely been approached — or at the very least received a note — reminding you of the event and asking you to help out at a teacher luncheon or maybe contributing for a group gift. Perhaps your local parent/teacher group is really out of hand and has organized events and suggested gifts for each day of the week. By way of contrast, look at the suggestions from the actual national PTA and the California PTA. Notice the emphasis on small tokens of esteem and community building expressions of gratitude. Oh, and better yet, notice that the folks in California encourage periodic (and inexpensive) appreciation of teachers throughout the year.

Someone needs to take the handful of busybody parents who are turning this into a big magilla aside and explain a few things to them. Teacher Appreciation is about saying thanks, nothing more. Parents do not have the time and money to pick a thoughtful gift or five for each of their kids’ homeroom teachers. And let’s not forget that in a modern school there are specialists to consider! Even if you only spend $5 on each of them, it adds up in a hurry. It is hardly fair to leave out each child’s Spanish, Drama, Music, PE, Art, Science and Math teacher. While you are at it, don’t forget the staffers who make it possible for everyone to get work done: the Principal, teaching assistants, reading specialists, school librarian, and probably a half dozen other people. Do we appreciate them any less because they don’t have a homeroom? Should we?

Nor, frankly, do teachers want to be buried under a mountain of gifts no matter how thoughtful from each of the hundred kids who they teach in any given week. They can only use so many “World’s Best Teacher” mugs, there’s only room for so many bouquets on their desks, they don’t a mountain of muffins for breakfast, they can really only keep track of a dozen or so Border’s Gift Cards without splitting their wallets.

And worst of all, kids get caught in the middle, ferrying notes and gifts. There is inevitably somebody who has brought something cooler and somebody who has brought nothing. And who exactly is teaching the kids during that teacher appreciation luncheon on Friday? Nobody.

This is a holiday not even Hallmark could love. Yeah, they’re skipping this one in favor of Mother’s Day.

In closing: You won’t be needing those Fourth and Fifth Amendments, will you? Good, good. Thoughts from Blumenthal on the Administration. What has Al Gore been up to lately? Some funny pictures. An article about why there never seem to be any pens in the supply closet. And last but certainly not least, Willie Nelson on the growing farm crisis: why good farms, healthy food, healthy environment, and healthy local economies go together.

Unhealthy.

Spring is in the air, and apparently it is causing the internet to funnel a variety of stories on health insurance directly to me. By way of disclaimer, I have within the last few months been responsible for the purchasing of health insurance for our company. If you want to read more about healthcare and insurance considerations thereof, I strongly recommend bookmarking HealthyConcerns.

It began with this Associated Press article. A few minutes later I read this Reuters version of the same story. The bottom line is that more than one of every four moderate income Americans went without health insurance for at least part of last year. Not poor people, people with decent, living wage jobs. This morning, the nice folks at MoveOn.org sent me a note about how their ads on healthcare were working. You can watch the ads here. By the time an hour had passed, I’d seen this article from MSNBC about gambling on whether we really need health insurance, a couple of press releases stating that businesses are having a hard time getting affordable health insurance even though an overwhelming majority of voters want affordable health insurance, MarketWatch’s take on the over 40% of middle income Americans went without insurance story, and why the Massachusetts plan won’t work everywhere — assuming you beleive it will work in Massachusetts. And just for balance, we have doctors who have decided health insurance is not worth taking.

The system under which we pay for healthcare is seriously and utterly broken. And because that payment system is broken, real people are having a hard time getting healthcare, and a hard time paying the bills for their healthcare. Furthermore, this broken payment system costs so much money that it is adversely effecting job creation, automobile prices, bankruptcy rates, and almost certainly a half dozen other things which will ripple through our neighborhoods and our economy. It critically impacts our ability to respond to emergency situations such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or epidemics, let alone any theoretical future pandemic.

If FEMA is too broken to fix, what exactly is our excuse for letting the health insurance system remain as it is?

Lest I be accused of being yet another Democrat with no ideas, you can see my short list of proposals in the extended entry.

In Closing: Follow-up on Wolfowitz at the World Bank; the L. A. Times on Why Gas Prices Won’t Go Down; Wired on the impact of blogging on the English language; “Hey officer, nice shot!” My how times have changed! When I was in school I think I knew one kid with a legitimate reason to have a pager, let alone a cell phone! Of course we weren’t doing an hour long commute on the subway either. NYC parents upset that schools are enforcing the rules on cell phones. And finally, a war within Feminism rages: be sure to read the article she is ripping on, linked in the first paragraph. If I may summarize: Point A, “Oh come on, Feminism aside, use some common sense and stay out of dangerous situations! Just because you’re liberated doesn’t mean you’re invincible!” Point B, “Isn’t that a gussied up version of ‘she was askin fer it’? A crime was still committed, and not by the victim.” Common sense aside, don’t all of us have the right to go someplace without being assaulted? Don’t get me wrong, everyone needs to exercise care when out and about, but being someplace shouldn’t be an excuse to commit a crime against anybody.
Continue reading Unhealthy.

I Know What You Did Last Shorties

Follow up: those painters got their jobs back.

Healthcare Filter: someone else’s thoughts on the Massachusetts “Health Plan”; and Wal-Mart wants to help fix the American health system?? Tell me you aren’t in your mind paraphrasing Reagan: “I’m from Wal-Mart, and I’m here to help.”

Problem: jobs are being outsourced wherever possible. Solution: “Services Science. “The hybrid field seeks to use technology, management, mathematics and engineering expertise to improve the performance of service businesses like transportation, retailing and health care – as well as service functions like marketing, design or customer service that are also crucial in manufacturing industries.” It sure sounds like finding better ways to ask if you’d like fries with that. In truth, it encompasses much more: there are ways to get more money out of customers in a variety of fields.

Disasters near and far: why did San Fransisco survive the great earthquake, while New Orleans looks doomed?

And Finally: your culture impacts your sex life.

General Discontent

Maybe you’ve heard about the 5 Generals who have publicly called for Rumsfeld to resign. And if you haven’t, here’s 7 quotes from Generals and the helpful backstory on why exactly they didn’t speak earlier. Oh, if you count Colin Powell, an 8th General who says mistakes were made. Generals don’t say bad things about superiors in public; they don’t contradict the boss. It just isn’t done. And since General Shinseki was, um, replaced, they are very cautious about saying things in private too. In fact, BuzzFlash goes so far as to call this a mutiny.

How far are they willing to go? And are current commanders thinking the same things their retired counterparts are saying? Are these public comments intended to be heard by the citizens, or are they a message to the current commanders?

On the economic front I bring you comments from the Secretary of the Treasury (who to me rather looks like a cartoon buzzard, but there you are). If you try to find the word “fiscal” you will jump to this mind-boggling quote:

Well, if you do the math, growing the public sector–that is, making government bigger–and achieving fiscal discipline, can only lead to one thing: higher taxes. And higher taxes always mean a larger role for government and a smaller role for the private sector. Is that the way we want to go? I don’t think so.

Yes, that’s right, the official government stance is that fiscal discipline is bad. Therefore increased deficit spending must be good. I wonder if he ran CSX this way… no, if he said this at a shareholder meeting or on CNBC the board of directors would have voted him out on the spot. True Conservatives, wake up! This administration does not stand for your values any more than they stand for those of the Progressives.

Two Unrelated Items

Massive Juice Sets

Yesterday, the Governor of Massachusetts signed that big health care bill. Contrary to the Grey Lady’s coverage, this will not make them “the first [state] to provide health coverage to virtually all of its citizens.” Nope, anybody who calls this “universal health care” is unclear on what the phrase means.

There are two components to this legislation. Part one is that any employer with more than 10 employees who does not provide health benefits to employees will have to pay a fine of $295 per employee per year. Inasmuch as a typical business can easily spend $295 per employee per month on health insurance, I consider this laughable. Raise this fine twelvefold and just maybe it will have the desired effect.

The other major thing this legislation does is impose a tax penalty for Massachusetts citizens who fail to obtain health insurance. You may point out that states already require motorists to have automobile liability insurance; you can get out of that requirement by not owning a car, and last I heard Boston had a decent mass transit system. Nor does this compare to requiring homeowners to have insurance on their homes; that requirement is from the mortgage holder, not the government. The biggest problem is this: the state is requiring citizens to get insurance, but they are not requiring the insurance companies to write policies, and they are not requiring that insurance companies charge affordable rates.

In the end — unless you live or do business in Massachusetts — all you need to know about this bill is that the insurance companies did not oppose it.

I wonder if this bill will be referenced in 2008 as “proof that universal health care doesn’t work.”

What Woz That?

And now for something completely different, a man who loves practical jokes.

Yesterday, Steve Wozniak spoke at the University of Washington to a low-tech crowd. He told fun stories and such. One tale he related involved putting a metronome he had made into a classmate’s locker at school. The incessant tick drove school officials nuts.

Today, he would have been expelled, if not charged with faking a bomb threat. How the world changes.

The Rain Falls on the Rich and the Poor Alike

On one hand, we have workers fired for leaving early to attend an immigrants’ rights rally. Now make no mistake: most of us would lose our jobs if we walked in one fine morning and told the boss we were leaving 2 hours early unless there was a really outstanding reason. Particularly if a quarter of the employees likewise wanted to leave 2 hours early. In some ways it is just as simple as “they left the job and were fired.” But would they have been fired if instead of attending a political event, they were going to a Holy Week service at church? If they were at a big ball game? If they went to the wedding/funeral/hospital bed of a co-worker? All the same, there is the net effect of chilling dissent. There is some question about the immigration status of some of the individuals involved, but that brings us to another issue. Illegal workers have limited legal recourse against ill treatment by an employer. This situation is a bit stickier than most, but it is a no-brainer that the ability of working people to participate in political protests is limited by their ability to get time off. Doubly so if they will have a hard time obtaining a new job due to issues of immigration status, limited skills, or just plain old fashioned discrimination.

Way off on the other hand, we have CEO paychecks. Did you know that the CEO of Capitol One made almost a Quarter of a Billion with a B Dollars in 2005? What’s in your wallet indeed. And he was awarded this princely sum for shareholder returns of less than 3%. Harry Silverman of Cendant (you remember Cendant?) earned well over a hundred million dollars while shareholders lost over a fifth of their investment! It must be nice to get paid so handsomely to lose other people’s money. Be sure to click through to the main story to flesh out those numbers with more general statistics on CEO paychecks.

In the words of the Gershwins, “Nice work, if you can get it.” Oh, and if you happen to need 17 painters in the Seattle area, I bet I know where you can find some.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument?

You know I don’t usually do little stories like this, but this one was so interesting I double checked to make sure it wasn’t released last Saturday.

Scientists have found fossils of a new dinosaur in Utah. It resembled a 7 foot tall turkey. It had brightly colored feathers, but did not fly. It had a strong, toothless beak, and hand-like claws.

Upon reading this description, all I could think was “Oh my! They’ve found fossilized Big Bird!“