February 2012
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Dec
	1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29

Archive for the ‘The Economy’ Category

New 2010 Chevy Camaro – Is Detroit Back?

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Is Detroit finally “getting” it? While I don’t necessarily agree with the bailout of the auto industry, and I firmly believe the United Auto Workers (UAW) has crippled the Big 3 of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, I actually see a few American cars driving down the freeway I would be proud to drive.

Growing up in the 1980’s, muscle cars from the late 1960’s and 1970’s were what the cool guys in high school drove. It was the Trans Am, Cutlass, Camaro or the 442 that made guys say ‘WOW” and girls purr “OOOH.” They were real cars that sounded fast and tough, not the whining blender noise of the tricked-out 4-cylinder imports that populate our roads today.

1969 Olds 442 Muscle Car

We are all grown up now and well entrenched in our 30’s and 40’s and mid-life crisis is either hitting or is right around the corner and we want a car that looks cool, sounds cool and that when we drive it, other people think we are cool for driving such a cool car.

New 2010 Chevy Camaro Looks HOT!

Enter the new 2010 Chevy Camaro. It looks like a classic and sounds every bit the part. I actually saw the collective heads of kids turn while leaning on their racing-stickered Honda Civics and Acura Integras as a new Camaro drove in. If the kids think it’s cool…then it’s pretty damn cool.

I’ve yet to drive one yet so I know nothing of the feel, workmanship or the ergonomic design (or lack thereof), but if I can judge a book by its cover, let’s chalk one up for Detroit – the new Camaro looks hot!

2010 Red Camaro

Bookmark and Share

Tags: 2010, 442, Big 3, camaro, car industry, chevy, Chrysler, cutlass, detroit, Ford, General Motors, muscle car, olds, trans am, UAW
Posted in Business, The Economy | 1 Comment »

Michigan Economic Development Corporation Wasting Money?

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

I was thumbing through last month’s copy of Fast Company magazine and came across the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s ad and it jogged my memory.

Michigan Economic Development Corporation

I saw the MEDC advertisement several months ago in the magazine touting “aggressive financial and economic incentives available right now,” for companies that would consider a move to their humble state.

Michigan Economic Development Corporation Never Responded

I visited their website, MichiaganAdvantage.org, read through the propaganda and dropped a note to their email address posted: MEDCservices@michigan.org

I asked about the incentives that may be available to a willing-to-move start-up technology company that is currently in San Jose, California, how my company may benefit and any other offerings.

You’ll never guess the response…ahh….the suspense!

Yes, I am still waiting for their response. No email response, no phone call, no postal mail with a Media Kit, no smoke signals. Zip, zilch, nada.

I would be interested in moving our Internet-based company to a location outside California if there were incentives that made fiscal sense, such as tax breaks and investment.

Your tax dollars are paying for these full-page ads, Michigan residents, and the people who are recruiting companies are dropping the ball.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: fast company, medc, michigan, michigan economic development corporation, michiganadvantage.org, relocation, san jose
Posted in Business, Community, The Economy | No Comments »

Eliminate Government Pensions

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Here is a thought: Moving forward, eliminate all pensions for government jobs where you do not risk life and limb.

The secretary who works at the DMV? She can have a 401k like the rest of us.

The Assistant DA for the county? He gets access to a non-matching 401k just like his peers in the private sector.

Bridge Toll Taker

The Golden Gate Bridge District is once again facing a deficit north of $100 million, and they are looking at ways to raise cash such as letting people walk under the bridge and of course, raising tolls. Never mind that there is a Bridge Commission that draws a salary and other perks such as a pension. Or all the bridge workers that will get paid until the day they die that are factored into this deficit that we, the taxpayer, must make up.

The City of Vallejo, which is also broke, wants to tax people for text messaging. The absurdity of it all…taxing texts!

It’s a never ending cycle of bureaus, task forces, committees and administrative assistants all getting benefits that far exceed the private sector and then can collect a check forever if they are able to slack for a couple of decades

Highway Patrol, State Troopers, police, fire, Secret Service and military – all exempt from this new ruling. Anyone who needs to carry a firearm or goes into situation where they can potentially die, you get a check. Teachers, you get a check, too. You should also get a raise, but the union gardeners are getting that allocation.

If you sit in front of a computer, clean trash receptacles, or take my picture at DMV, welcome to the real world of getting a paycheck twice a month and worrying about retirement like the rest of us.

How can we make this reality? I am not sure, but I am open to your suggestions and would love to hear your thoughts.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: 401k, golden gate bridge, government pensions, taxes, text messages, vallejo
Posted in Community, Politics, The Economy | No Comments »

Gavin Newsom Exits Race – Bad News For Republicans

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom, decided to drop out of the race to become California’s next governor. This is bad news for Republicans, as this leaves Jerry Brown as the early favorite to win the Democratic nomination for the 2010 election.

You remember him, Governor Moonbeam from the 1970’s? He dated Linda Ronstadt because everyone thought he was really gay.

The Republican’s hope is likely ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who has a boatload of money but no political experience and forgot to vote in a number of elections because she was too busy.

Newsom, love him or hate him, would have been better for the state than Brown, if the Democrats won the office back. Newsom is logical and actually cares about doing what is correct whereas Brown gives the aura of needing to be correct to feed his ego and “politically correct” to show he isn’t really just a rich white guy who’s never held a real job. In other words, the lesser of two evils, from a Republican point of view.

Newsom would have brought some elegance to the office. He has movie star looks and an heiress for a wife, along with a newborn baby. He can throw out the first pitch at a ball game and not embarrass himself. Brown looks like an angry old man, and Meg Whitman looks like she can beat Brown or Newsom in an arm wrestling match.

Meg Whitman Air-Kissing John McCain

Whitman does bring common sense and decades of real-world business experience that should, in a perfect world, have an impact on the state. The problem is she will likely run into the same brick wall that Arnold banged his head into when trying to bring sense to the school systems, voting districts and spending. The unions and Democrats ganged up and twisted the truth, not for the betterment of the state, but for the betterment of their padded taxpayer-paid pensions.

Think about this for a second…California leans left, meaning the chances of a Republican winning are slim to begin with. We pay the most taxes in the nation and we lead the world in innovation, but the state is broke. I know why and you know why, and Meg knows why, but she would be powerless to fix the problems, and Jerry Brown will just make things worse with more departments, bureaus and task forces. That is why we should be more than a bit worried. Sorry to see you go, Gavin.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: california, democrats, ebay, gavin newsom, gay, governor's race, jerry brown, meg whitman, republicans, san francisco
Posted in Politics, The Economy | 2 Comments »

Yahoo Kills Off GeoCities an Internet Legend

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Yahoo has closed the once-popular GeoCities website, several months after notifying users of its imminent demise.

Yahoo Kills GeoCities

GeoCities was a pioneer and a goldmine for its founders and investors, fetching $3.6 Billion in 1999 dollars. Hopefully the beneficiaries cashed out quick, as that was once-upon-a-time when Yahoo’s stock was well above the $300 per-share mark.

The point here is, Yahoo once again blows it…shoots themselves in the foot…makes a dumb move…drops the ball…is the butt of a joke. Yes, the site was antiquated in Internet terms, but GeoCities had users which means it had value.

Analogy – I own a fixer-upper in The Bronx. It needs some paint and the pipes aren’t copper, and ok, there is a slight bug problem. So what do I do? Tell the tenants they have 120 days to vacate since I am going to demolish the building – or – sell to a speculator who knows a good contractor who can renovate?

To give you an idea of how much value GeoCities may have held, it was the 199th most visited website in the world at the time of its shuttering, according to Alexa, the de-facto authority on web traffic measurement.

This was a pre-Carol Bartz decision, I am sure, but the deal was sealed on her watch.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: alexa, carol bartz, geocities, website traffic, yahoo
Posted in Business, The Economy | No Comments »

Southwest Airlines: An Eco-Criminal?

Monday, October 26th, 2009

I love Southwest Airlines. They are rarely late for any reason other than bad weather and the morale of the rank-and-file is great, at least when facing the public. I’ve flown Southwest enough in the last year to earn 3 “free” roundtrip tickets.

Vintage Southwest Airlines

Their CEO, Gary Kelly, has kept the company out of the tabloid headlines, and by all accounts done a great job balancing the P&L, the volatile cost of fuel, and keeping a reserve account of $2.4 billion, for a rainy day according to an interview in the October issue of Smart Money. Analysts say that figure is under $1 billion, but still, it’s cash in the bank.

With all my affection for the airline and its ability to get me to Columbus, Indianapolis and Spokane, something dawned on me while flying back to San Jose from Tampa recently – Southwest Airlines is NOT eco-friendly.

My trip from Tampa included a stop in Houston and a plane-change in San Diego, so in all there were three legs of the trip. Each leg, or flight, was nearly full meaning there were in the neighborhood of 180 passengers on every departure. As the beverage cart made its way down the aisle toward me, I realized Southwest, and for that matter, most, if not all, airlines are wreaking havoc on the environment.

Since most of the passengers requested a soft drink or water, the flight attendants cracked open dozens of Coke and Sprite cans and bottles of water to quench our collective thirsts. Three passengers per can…50 cans per flight…maybe 150 cans of soda for the time I was on the plane? And how many flights does Southwest have each day of the year, several hundred?

That is a lot of aluminum. Yes, they recycle so they get three-cents back per can, but that is not the point. It’s plain wasteful, and if my calculations are in the ballpark, Southwest pops open about 30,000 cans of soda each and every day of the year, which comes out to about 1.1 million aluminum cans each year!

One MILLION cans of soda, Mr. Kelly! Unless you are a shareholder in ALCOA, that is obscene. Actually it is obscene even if you are/were.

According to your published financials, the company lost roughly $16 million in Q3.

Mr. Kelly, here is how you can make up a big chunk of that: Lose the cans and bottled water and install a soda dispenser and serve filtered water. People only order a few kinds of soda anyhow, so offer up Coke, Sprite, Mr. Pibb and Ginger Ale, along with carbonated water. Partner with Brita, the water filter folks, and voila, there’s a half-million dollars saved annually.

It would make a great TV commercial on how you crushed the can. Coke still gets paid, but you can make them look like a champ, too.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: airlines, aluminum cans, brita, coke, eco-friendly, gary kelly, soda, southwest, waste
Posted in Business, The Economy | No Comments »

Kinko’s is Gone, FedEx Office is Here – DUMB MOVE!

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

My plan for today was to do some non-scientific market research which I conducted at the grocery store, the local Starbucks, at the golf course during my daughter’s lesson, the playground where the kids play, and a new Indian joint where we just had some chicken tikka masala.

In all, 38 people were asked the same question: “Do you know where the closest FedEx Office is?”

Most thought I meant the closest place where I can drop off a package for delivery, and 20 pointed me to their facility near San Jose International Airport.

Then I asked each a follow up question, “Do you know where the nearest Kinko’s is?”

FedEx dumps the Kinko's name

It wasn’t always close by, but all 38 people knew where a Kinko’s was located. This points out that the FedEx move to strip the brand name Kinko’s from their copy shops is a really dumb move.

Let me also mention that 21 of the people asked where a FedEx Office might be were in THE SAME SHOPPING CENTER as a place formerly called KINKO’s! They had no clue of the name change.

Kinko’s is nearly a verb in the English language. It is synonymous with copies. Kinko’s = copies, for heaven’s sake!

FedEx = Next Day Delivery. You know…when it absolutely, positively has to be there?

Office = a Microsoft product.

Now here is the kicker – The brain trust at FedEx spent $696 MILLION to re-name and re-brand in an effort to get more business customers to The Office, opposed to, heaven forbid, a place called…ewwww….Kinko’s. I live in an area where the average home costs north of a half-million clams, and the people I asked were business people, golfers, baristas, and grocery baggers and NOBODY knew that FedEx Office = Kinko’s! These weren’t in-bred trailer park dwellers or panhandlers on the median.

Bill Cosby and New Coke

New Coke in the mid-1980’s was really dumb, but at least it was still in a red can and called Coke.

To remove Kinko’s from the nameplate altogether is a really, really, really dumb move.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: bill cosby, fedex, fedex office, kinkos, new coke
Posted in Business, The Economy | 6 Comments »

Why Unions Are Ruining America – Part 1

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Unions had a place in America, once upon a time. Workers were used and abused and tossed aside by unscrupulous employers who had more people to choose from than there were jobs, so the ball was in his court.

Labor laws were enacted so overtime wages must be paid if more than 40-hours in a given week were exceeded, and children were no longer eligible to contract black lung disease next to their fathers in a coal mine.

Then the United Auto Workers took hold of the car industry and killed the golden goose, and other unions drove manual labor overseas by demanding ridiculous wages, benefits and threatening companies with the S-WORD – Strike. Essentially saying, “If we don’t get our way, we will go on strike and do our best to strangle you, the company that feeds our family.”

This is why Nike makes their shoes in Vietnam and my Polo shirt was stitched in Guatemala – they don’t have to deal with your union crap.

Bay Area Nurses Will Go On Strike October 30, 2009

But some things cannot be outsourced. I can’t call Bulgaria for a plumber. Nurses are another perfect example. Hospitals cannot operate without a stable of nurses, and people will die if a hospital has no nurses. But that doesn’t matter to the California Nurse’s Association who has called for a one-day strike on October 30^th at two-dozen Bay Area hospitals, including O’Connor in San Jose and Seton Medical Center in Daly City, just outside San Francisco. It appears they are upset their contract negotiations are not going as planned.

According to Catholic Healthcare West, the hospital group that is being held for ransom, the average nurse earns $100-large, plus has health benefits for the nurse AND their family fully paid for. They are striking over a change in their health care package from a PPO to an HMO.

Welcome to the real world, Miss or Mister RN. I have to pay for my family’s coverage. Yes, it’s pre-tax, but it’s still $800 per month, and most people who are not in a hostage-taking union have to deal with this reality. Companies grow and fold; times are good and we have recessions; we have hiring booms and layoffs. Markets change and maybe if nurses didn’t make idle threats, just maybe the hospitals wouldn’t need to find less expensive health care for their nurses. Just a thought.

Oh, and don’t get sick or hurt or have a life-threatening ailment on October 30^th if you are in the Bay Area…you might die because a nurse is pissed she has to settle for an HMO.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: california nurse's association, catholic healthcare west, hmo, nurse, october 30, ppo, strike, UAW, walkout
Posted in Business, Community, The Economy, Things That Irritate Me | No Comments »

Google Profits At Yahoo’s Expense

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

The headline on yesterday’s New York Daily News blared, “Google Profits Soar,” and it’s no secret why.

Yes, part of the reason is Google rules the search game, with over sixty percent market share, but also because the management at Yahoo are blithering idiots, with those at Microsoft (Bing, MSN, Live) not far behind.

When you or I search for something at Google, Bing, Ask or most search engines, it’s free, and the search engines make nothing, provided you don’t click on a “Sponsored Link.” Sponsored links are the ads listed on the far right side of the page in that vertical box, or on top of the page in the slightly off-color area.

A company will pay a handsome fee to be listed in these sponsored areas so you, the consumer, will see them first – and hopefully click to reach their website. All search engines do this – but coming up next is where Google wins and Yahoo is plain pathetic.

Google has a program called AdSense, in which website owners can apply to the program and run Google ads on their own website. If approved, Google provides some unique code that the website owner installs and then almost like magic, advertising appears on their website. Google and the website owner then share this revenue.

Google AdSense Partner TheParty.Net

There are hundreds-of-thousands of these websites within the Google network, so Google doesn’t need direct traffic to generate revenue, they can rely on others – and it is pure profit.

Yahoo’s Publisher Network program is somewhere in hyperspace, between never-never land and who-knows-where. It has been in Beta since 2007, possibly earlier.

I applied for the Yahoo Publisher Network program August 9, 2007 for another website I operate, and this was the response: Thank you for applying for the Yahoo! Publisher Network beta program. It is currently in beta and we are accepting a very limited number of new publishers, but we will let you know when we launch to the general public or if we are able to invite you to join the beta before then.

Out of curiosity, I applied with Yahoo once again this afternoon, and the automated response read: Thank you for your interest in the Yahoo! Publisher Network beta program. This is to confirm that your information will be stored in our database and be considered for the beta program.

For all you Yahoo shareholders out there, that is at least 798 days in Beta.

The issues with Yahoo search are for another day. The fact that Google is earning ridiculous profits is great, the reasons why Yahoo is not is also clear and I wonder if new CEO Carol Bartz has her finger to the pulse of the Internet community enough to right the ship. Jerry Yang was brilliant in launching the company, but he didn’t see this glaring issue when he was CEO, prior to Bartz.

Carol, are the lights on?

Bookmark and Share

Tags: adsense, carol bartz, google, jerry yang, profits, publisher network, yahoo
Posted in Business, The Economy | 1 Comment »

Logical Republican

Archives

Archive for the ‘The Economy’ Category

New 2010 Chevy Camaro – Is Detroit Back?

New 2010 Chevy Camaro Looks HOT!

Michigan Economic Development Corporation Wasting Money?

Michigan Economic Development Corporation Never Responded

Eliminate Government Pensions

Gavin Newsom Exits Race – Bad News For Republicans

Yahoo Kills Off GeoCities an Internet Legend

Southwest Airlines: An Eco-Criminal?

Kinko’s is Gone, FedEx Office is Here – DUMB MOVE!

Why Unions Are Ruining America – Part 1

Bay Area Nurses Will Go On Strike October 30, 2009