Author: coastcontact

I am a somewhat cranky but mostly optimistic 65 plus who refuses to give up on this maddening world. The purpose of this BLOG is to express my feelings, thoughts.

Alan Krueger – Just Another Yes Man

President Barack Obama has chosen Princeton University’s Alan Krueger to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

“As one of this country’s leading economists, Alan has been a key voice on a vast array of economic issues for more than two decades,” Mr. Obama said Monday in a statement. He continued, “Alan understands the difficult challenges our country faces, and I have confidence that he will help us meet those challenges as one of the leaders on my economic team.”

Mr. Krueger served as assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy during the first two years of the Obama administration—which means he has recently cleared the sometimes treacherous Senate confirmation process.

What we have here is a re-cycling of the same people between government and the elitist economists that dominate the Ivy League universities. Larry Summers rotates between Washington D.C. and Harvard University. Christina Romer and Robert Reich are now at UC Berkeley. Austan Goolsbee returns to the University of Chicago.

Alan Krueger brings the same thoughts and ideas that are just a re-tread of the previous advisers. It’s the “yes men” who provide nothing new and simply provide support to the president’s views. This situation is nothing new. Every president that I can remember has done exactly the same thing. Those who are not “yes men” do not last long.

Remember Paul O’Neill under George W. Bush. He held the position of Secretary of the Treasury from January 20, 2001 to December 31, 2002. O’Neill was chairman and CEO of the Pittsburgh industrial giant Alcoa from 1987 to 1999, and retired as chairman at the end of 2000. He was fired for opposing the invasion of Iraq. It was his reward for not being a “yes” man.

A Reliable Source for Oil

The proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast would not have “significant impacts” on the environment, the State Department has concluded, removing a major barrier to construction of the $7-billion project.

The problem is that environmentalists and others oppose the idea on the grounds that tar sand extraction (usually called fracking) because water tables will be impacted in the mining area.  There have been reports on American television of enough gas in water pipes to ignite them at their outlets.  This is obviously a serious issue.

The question of a new pipeline from Alberta to Texas should be what will the Canadians do if the United States says no to the project?  It appears Canadian are determined to extract oil from their soil in Alberta despite the opposition.  The answer is they will sell the crude oil to another country.  That would most likely be South Korea, China, or Japan.  There are already plans to build the Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta through to British Columbia’s northern coast.  Some say this is a fake play by the Canadian government.  No matter, a greater reliance on oil from Canada will benefit the United States with more jobs and a dependable source of supply.

President Obama may be caught in this controversy because if his decision is a “no,” Republicans will say the decision is anti-business and is a job killer.  They would be correct.

Source for this article is the Los Angeles Times and Scientific American.

Forecasting the Worst and Hoping for the Best

A New York City taxi is stranded in deep water on Manhattan’s West Side as Tropical Storm Irene passes through the city, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011 in New York. Although downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, Irene’s torrential rain coupled with high winds and tides worked in concert to flood parts of the city. From North Carolina to New Jersey, the storm appeared to have fallen well short of the doomsday predictions.

George Will on “This Week” questioned the hysteria that was promoted by the news media although admitting there have been some very high tides.

I have noticed that weather forecasters seem to emphasize the worst possibilities.  After all they do not want to be accused of not warning of the worst case situation.  Here in the San Fernando Valley the forecast for today is 108º F.  Yesterday the temperature reached 106º F.

It’s better to know the worst situation and be prepared.

Praying for an Extremist

Although results of a presidential election cannot be deduced by today’s poll results, trends can be an indicator.  Just last week a Gallup poll showed approval of President Barack Obama’s handling of the U.S. economy had fallen to a new low of 26 percent.  Another Gallup poll shows that Mitt Romney could win an election today against Obama 48% to 46%.  Rick Perry would be in a tie and both Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann are closely trailing Obama.

Trends are telling and there is little to indicate that Obama has too much strength with “independents.”  That is the group that will most likely determine who will be elected next November (2012).

Barack Obama is an outstanding speaker.   He just has not shown the leadership skills that a president needs.  If a Tea Party candidate wins the GOP nomination the Republican Party will have given the Democrats what they are hoping for.  That would be an extremist.

Earthquake – Northridge 1994 Magnitude 6.7

Northridge Earthquake Apartment Building

Aerial photo of Santa Monica Freeway

Aerial photo of Santa Monica Freeway

Freeway Collapse Northridge Earthquake 1994

It was 4:30 a.m. on January 17, 1994 when the house rumbled and swayed.  “Everybody into the hall”, I yelled.  With the doors closed to the bedrooms we sat there on the floor until the swaying had stopped.  Our neighbor was pounding on the front door.  He yelled, “Is everybody OK?”  That is when we left the hall and I opened the front door.

We were all OK and the damage was minor.  I missed two days of work because the freeways had collapsed.

New York City, Washington – what you experienced was a minor shake.  Here in Los Angeles we just go back to work.  Around the Pacific Ocean we are not alone.  Earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault are here.

World’s Wealthiest Man

Carlos Slim Helú & family have $74 billion.

The world’s richest person for a second year in a row, the Mexican telecom mogul is also the year’s biggest gainer, having added $20.5 billion to his fortune and widened the gap between him and No. 2, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, to $18 billion. A 19% rise in the Mexican stock market, a stronger peso, and successful mining and real estate spinoffs from conglomerate Grupo Carso all contributed to the astonishing increase. He also merged his fixed-line telecom company into America Movil, Latin America’s largest wireless carrier; the Slim family stake in that holding accounts for 62% of his net worth. He has other holdings in retailer Saks and the New York Times. Recently unveiled a new building for his Soumaya Museum, which houses his vast art collection. It is open to the public for free.

Poor Bill Gates is number 2 on the list with a wealth of $56 billon.

This data according to Forbes magazine.  Forbes provides a list of the 20 wealthiest at http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/09/billionaires-20-richest_slide.html

Hewlett-Packard is Losing its Roots

Can you imagine McDonald’s deciding to change their menu so drastically that they would no longer sell hamburgers?  That is the kind of change Hewlett-Packard is contemplating.

It was 1983 and I was working for Dataproducts Corporation.  That was one of the largest manufacturers in the world of line printers that used dot matrix technology and printed a complete line of data at one time.  There was manufacturing of both the printers and the ribbons that fit them.  The company also manufactured ribbons for many other printer manufacturers.

There I was standing on the shipping dock when a quality control person informed me and another employee that Hewlett-Packard was testing a new technology called ink jet printing.  No printer ribbon was required.  I whistled and said Dataproducts would be dead if it did not develop new technology.  I was correct.  There is no Dataproducts  today. 

Very shortly after that discussion I owned an HP DeskJet 500 printer.  I still own an HP inkjet printer and an HP computer.  HP went on to buy Compaq Computer.  Now HP has decided to abandon its biggest unit that builds both computers and printers.  Those two product groups have been the heart of the company.

Léo Apotheker became HP’s new chief executive and president this past year.  His experience is at SAP.  SAP is a software company so it is no surprise that he would direct the company to a software orientation.  This is a mistake because the company has a history of hardware development and marketing.  The dramatic drop in the company’s stock price tells me that I am not alone in this view.