The Possible new Mining of Asbestos

You thought this was an issue that had been put to bed. So did I. AOL News brought this item to my attention.

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ASBESTOS, Quebec — A plan to increase production from Canada’s last asbestos mine near this town named for the deadly mineral has enraged physicians and public health workers around the globe.

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The following information was taken from a law firm that helps those suffering from Mesothelioma. That is a form of cancer believed to be caused by exposure to asbestos particles.

Throughout time, asbestos has been used in a variety of contexts. The fiber was originally used by the Greeks who loved it as a fire-proof table cloth that could be tossed in the fire for cleaning whenever it got dirty. Since then, the use of asbestos has expanded into a variety of areas. At the peak of its use and through the late 1980s, asbestos was used in more than 3,000 products in homes.

A large number of products using asbestos are used in construction and industrial products. Asbestos is used in various construction components because it is both fireproof and provides insulation. It is excellent for insulating against sound from other room as well as insulating against heat.

Some products in buildings and industrial applications that contain asbestos include:

– Floor tiles and sheet flooring
– Decorative plaster or artex
– Acoustic plaster
– Textured paints
– Spray coatings
– Roofs, gutters, downpipes
– Wall panels
– Door linings
– Floors and walls
– Loft insulation- Lift shaft linings
– Soffits/fascia boards
– Brake linings
– Fire safes/filing cabinets
– Packing materials
– Ventilation system linings/laggings
– School blackboards

The prevalence of asbestos in such a wide variety of products that are used in such a wide variety of areas means that almost anyone can be at risk of exposure. Some of the most commonly affected individuals include contractors, car mechanics, shipworkers, firefighters, clean-up crews, and numerous other groups.

Due to the risk of asbestos, individuals should be careful to take any and all precautions possible for avoiding the inhalation of the deadly fiber. While the fiber has numerous uses in the construction and industrial world, it is deadly for human beings. So far, asbestos is the only known cause of Mesothelioma, a deadly cancer, and asbestosis, a lung disease.

Asbestos fibers do not immediately trigger disease and cancer. It usually takes more than one exposure to the fiber to trigger or result in asbestosis or mesothelioma.

Hard Choices

This is an example of how business does what it must do to survive and grow.

From Bloomberg Businessweek, January 31 – February 6, 2011

Michael El-Hillow
“I wrote to the governor of Massachusetts, and we went to everyone we could think of-Congress, our banks. Nobody could help us”

Evergreen Solar‘s CEO on firing 800 workers, closing his U.S. factory, and the lure of lower costs and greater government subsidies in China

We make silicon wafers that go into solar panels. In 2008 we decided to build a plant in Massachusetts to be near our research and development facility. There was a groundswell of optimism that the U.S. was going to take the lead in the drive for alternative energy.

There were challenges from the start. Lehman Brothers was our banker and had almost a third of our outstanding shares as part of a financing transaction. That disappeared in Lehman’s bankruptcy and cost us about $300 million. Then we went to the federal government to get help from the TARP funds, but they said no because we weren’t a financial institution.

In December 2008 we were approached by a Chinese company, Jiawei, which was impressed with our wafer technology. The Chinese government agreed to support a loan that would cove two-thirds of our expansion in China. The subsidies we received from the government here covered less than 5 percent of the cost of our U.S. plant. We received $20 million and some future tax credits, but you can’t pay taxes if you don’t make money.

One mistake was making the U.S. facility too large. We should have made it a quarter the size. I wrote to the governor of Massachusetts, and we went to everyone we could think of-Congress, 0ur banks. Nobody could help us. Then, late last year, prices went down 10 percent in one month for the modules we sell-on top of steadily falling prices for the last three years. That left us no choice but to stop making panels in the U.S. and shift our focus to making wafers in China. The access to capital startups there is staggering.

About 800 people in our U.S. factory will lose their jobs, but the company wouldn’t have survived if we didn’t make this choice. Now we’ll focus on what we do best. If we had stayed here, we would have been insolvent by September. We needed to do this to survive, although my hope that some day more jobs will come back here, -As told to Diane Brady

The Closing of Borders and other Book Stores

It was bound to happen. The iPad, Kindle e-book reader, Nook, and others have been a signal that the end of the printed books may be coming.

After all look at all the magazines that have recently died or are currently dying. U.S. New and World Report, Newsweek, Gourmet Magazine, and many others . Major newspapers have been struggling too.

It’s all due to the fact that too many of you are on the internet. WordPress, Blogspot, and the Huffington Post have all been part of the new wave of digital communications.

The Los Angeles Times lists the following Borders book store closings in Southern California.

Cerritos: Cerritos Towne Center, 12741 Towne Center Drive

Chino: Chino Spectrum Town Center, 3833 Grand Ave.

El Cajon: Parkway Plaza East, 159 Fletcher Parkway

Glendale: Glendale Marketplace, 100 S. Brand Blvd.

La Habra: La Habra Westridge Plaza, 1310 S. Beach Blvd.

Long Beach: Los Altos Market Center, 2110 Bellflower Blvd.

Long Beach: The Pike at Rainbow Harbor, 101 South Pine Ave.

Los Angeles: Westfield Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles: Howard Hughes Center, 6081 Center Drive, Suite 118

Mira Loma: Eastvale Gateway, 12423 Limonite Ave.

Montclair: Perimeter Plaza, 5055 S. Plaza Lane

Orange: The Block at Orange, 20 W. City Blvd.

Oxnard: Esplanade Shopping Center, 241 W. Esplanade Drive

Pasadena: South Lake Avenue, 475 S. Lake Ave.

Pico Rivera: Pico Rivera Town Center, 8852 Washington Blvd.

Rolling Hills Estates: The Promenade on the Peninsula, 550 Deep Valley Drive, Suite 261

San Diego: Gaslamp District, 668 6th Ave.

Sherman Oaks: Ventura Boulevard, 14651 Ventura Blvd.

Tustin: The District at Tustin Legacy, 2493 Park Ave.

Valencia: Valencia Town Center, 24445 Town Center Drive

Yorba Linda: 22401 Old Canal Road

Sports Illustrated 2011, Irina Shayk

No commentary is necessary!

Wael Ghonim and the World’s New Age Revolution

The 60 Minutes interview with Wael Ghonim can be summarized with these few words:

Ghonim: Without Facebook, without Twitter, without Google, without YouTube, this would have never happened

Harry Smith: So if you’re an autocrat, or if you’re a dictator, and you watch what happened in Egypt over the last several weeks, what lesson do you think…?

Ghonim: He should freak out. He seriously should freak out.

This could be the beginning of a world wide wave of people power! Then again you can imagine that Facebook, Twitter, Google, and You Tube will be turned off by every dictator.

Tahrir Square Cleanup

Women clear the ground at Tahrir Square in Cairo February 12, 2011. Egyptians woke to a new era on Saturday after Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years in power came to an end, determined to ensure the army delivers civilian rule and prepared to use people power again if necessary.

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By Sandro Contenta Sat Feb 12 2011, Toronto Star

Revolutionaries armed with brooms descended on downtown Tahrir Square Saturday, launching a massive clean up of the site that was ground zero for 18 days of protests that overthrew a tyrant.

Egypt is Free?

Those words “Egypt is Free” less the question mark appeared as the headline banner on today’s Los Angeles Daily News. A very nice thought but it just isn’t true.

Egypt has been transformed but to what? Hosni Mubarak was a dictator who was from the ranks of the Egyptian military. Now that Mr. Mubarak is gone, probably by a bloodless coup, the military is in charge. It is the same military that supported Gamel Abdel Nasser and Anwar El Sadat. As of yesterday , Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is the president.

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi

The first President of Egypt was Muhammad Naguib, one of the leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, who took office on 18 June 1953, the day on which Egypt was declared a republic. He was a military officer who led the revolt against King Farouk.

Does anyone really believe there will be a democracy in Egypt? The military is in control as it has been since the 1952 revolution and there is no evidence that their leadership will surrender authority. The most Egyptians can hope for is a less authoritarian leadership.

Apparently I am not alone in my opinion. Egypt’s Military Leaders Face Power Sharing Test is a column in the February 11, 2011 New York Times.

$35 Billion of Waste and More

Jon Carl of ABC World News asked Speaker of the House, John Boehner, about three projects that are total waste.

Republicans say they want to slice $1.7 billion out of the government’s budget for buildings. However, not mentioned in the Speaker’s press conference is the more than $5 billion spent every year on ethanol subsidies that neither help the environment nor save energy; $6.2 billion in tax credits for oil and gas companies flush in record profits; and $3.5 billion for an extra engine for the F-35 fighter jet that the Pentagon doesn’t want.

Mr. Carl could have also mentioned the C-17 cargo plane. The Air Force hasn’t asked for more money to buy C-17s since 2007. That year the Air Force wanted 12, and Congress bought it 22. In 2008, the Air Force wanted none, but Congress bought 15. In 2009, the request was also zero, and Congress bought eight. In 2010, the Air Force once again asked for no C-17s, and lawmakers bought 10. Since 2007, Congress has spent more than $10 billion buying C-17s.

Could the cuts have anything to do with eliminating those programs that are not in Republican districts?

Manifest Destiny is Alive and Well

Right now we lack the FDR, a Teddy Roosevelt or an Abraham Lincoln to lead the way. Perhaps Former Sen. Rick Santorum will be that new leader. The Associated Press reports that that Santorum said, “America belongs to God” and liberals and progressives are trying to change its divine footing.

Santorum, who is weighing a White House run, told a conservative conference Thursday that U.S. citizens are mere stewards of God’s gift. Santorum says he disagrees with critics of the United States who say the country is imperfect.

Will this be the new rallying call of the Tea Party?

Economic Recovery is On the Way

At long last the drop in new Weekly Initial Job Claims is significant. It was 384,000 in the week of July12, 2008. Since that week, claims have not been below 404,000 and been as high as 670,000. Finally last week’s claims fell to 383,000. This is VERY GOOD NEWS!

The U.S. labor market is gradually improving as the recovery gains momentum. Last year at this time I could roll a bowling ball through the local shopping mall (Westfield Topanga) and not hit anyone because most people were in fear of losing their jobs. Today the mall is moderately busy and seems busier every week.

Is the recession over? No! Unemployment in California was at 12.5% during December. We still have long way to go.