Blog

We are at the end of the month and I have only 2 blogs to show for it. Well I must remedy that, so here I go.

There have been quite a few news stories that are of great interest to me this week; the confirmation of John Roberts Jr. as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (not my first choice, but I guess he will do), Icer Air 2005 (the urban ski jump on Fillmore Street in San Francisco amidst 80 degree temperatures, it was so awesome), the live broadcasting of Will & Grace last night (it was by far, the funniest thing I have seen all week), the Arizona Cardinals playing a home game against the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City this weekend (I mean really, what is that about?), the San Francisco Giants not making the playoffs (was that really a surprise?), and Google’s move to share space with NASA Ames Research Center (Google, a for-profit entity, using public space but is not forced to pay any property taxes, but whatever).

There are many stories that I have strong opinions about and subjects that I could talk about for days, seriously. So I leave it at that for now. It’s been an interesting and busy week for me and I wish I had more time to write about each of these stories. So my advice to you is to read about the stories and contact me and then we will talk.

How’s that for blogging? :)

Apple

On September 7th, Apple introduced a compact iPod called the nano. The iPod nano, which stores either 500 or 1,000 songs and is priced at $199 and $249, is intended to replace an existing model, the iPod Mini. Steve Jobs focused on the shift away from the small disk-drive storage device used in the iPod Mini to the solid-state flash memory at the heart of the nano. The nano comes with a color screen and the company's distinctive click-wheel navigation feature. It measures 1.6 by 3.5 inches and is a quarter-inch thick; the Mini, by comparison, is 2 by 3.6 inches and a half-inch thick.

For all you trend-followers out there, this must be the worst news you’ve heard all year. I mean, all the money you spent on the latest trend just last year, is now obsolete. Because wasn’t it just last Christmas that people were in a craze for the iPod? And then a little later there was the iPod Mini…and then the iPod Shuffle…and now the iPod nano. This must be the greatest marketing ploy ever! I mean, could you have really gotten so many people to spend so much money on something that they really didn’t need? I think not. And look at all the money that people will spend to keep up the latest trends. What is especially sad is the people who already have an iPod but will buy the iPod nano because it is the latest trend. And I know that some of you will toss your heads in the air and say that you have an iPod because you wanted an mp3 player anyway or you received your iPod as a gift…whatever. It just means that you can no longer flash your outdated iPod with pride. That is such a shame.

Politics

Politics for dummies...

DEMOCRATIC

You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICANISM

You have two cows.

Your neighbor has none.
So?

SOCIALIST

You have two cows.

The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST

You have two cows.

The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM

You have two cows.

You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY

You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows.

You are surprised when one cow drops dead.

You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.