Milk Outduels Gold as 2011's Most Profitable Commodity

For all the drum beating about gold prices this year, the year's big winner in the commodity world's version of a gold rush was milk futures. Milk! In case you're wondering, milk futures rose forty percent, according to Bloomberg News reporter Courtney Donohoe's well done TV segment. She weaves export trends, global gender demographics, animal feed costs, and other factors into a cogent, crisp market overview. One conclusion from Donohoe's report is that milk prices are very likely to increase in the coming year.

Photo from Northwest Sustainable Dairies,
a partnership program in Oregon and Washington.

Along those lines, an article in today's New York Times noted how domestic demand for organic milk was outstripping supply. There are regional nuances to the story, and does mention that farmers are only seeing a fraction of any price increase. Since supermarkets often operate on narrow unit profit margins (they characteristically make their money on volume), where does the money go? I'm guessing, but distributors and wholesalers would be in position to cash in on milk's unending popularity.

The Times piece focused on milk in its most traditionally associated forms, such as the proverbial glass of milk. However, the Bloomberg News segment provided stronger details, including the use of dried milk in  other beverages, as drivers in the market price for milk futures.

Why would one care about any of this? Well, we still live in a world in which the message of "no inflation" or "low inflation" is disseminated on a daily basis. This insulting fiction, delivered via US government agencies and on-message Wall Street analysts, is consistently belied by simple fact. (Notably, in Donohoe's story, she did not directly quote any analyst or trader.) Meanwhile, everyday purchases, such as a quart of milk, are getting increasingly expensive, while wages are either stagnant or declining in the United States. These trends combine to create disbelief in institutions and anxiety about personal propsperity, a volatile mix that may be reflected in increased domestic social and political turmoil in 2012.

Internet Firm Sues Former Employee Over Migration of His Twitter Followers

Just who or what "owns" a Twitter following? This question is one of social media's stickier wickets. The obvious answer might revolve around interpretations of non-compete contract language and definitions of intellectual property. However, as an article in today's siliconvalley.com implied, it's not always that simple. The story notes some intriguing details that those interested in the business side of social media should carefully consider. (For the record, the story appears to have chased the tail of an article by John Biggs in The New York Times on Christmas Day.)

The case involves Noah Kravitz, a former employee of the Internet news and review firm PhoneDog. He left the company to start his own enterprise. Kravitz's new venture allegedly used Twitter account information gained from his work with PhoneDog. Significantly, the plaintiffs in the case, in their court filings, attributed a monetary value to each Twitter account associated with the defendant. In this instance, each Twitter account was worth $2.50 per month. That's right -- two dollars and fifty cents. An intellectual property lawyer quoted in the siliconvalley.com piece doubted the figure would stand up to legal scrutiny. However, it does beg the larger question of how to sensibly value social media user information.

Two-fifty doesn't sound like much, until it's multiplied by the number of Twitter accounts associated with the firm's efforts. In its litigation, PhoneDog asserted the defendant had 17,000 Twitter followers per month. The term in dispute was eight months. The total figure comes to what a Ferrari might cost.

Auric Goldfinger, from the James Bond movie Goldfinger

The legal activity suggests there's gold to "monetize" in them thar' social media hills. (In fairness, Kravitz's Twitter site includes the slogan "People are not property. Love over gold.") There's also anxiety among bloggers, as vator.tv correspondent Krystal Peak noted, about the fate of their "curated Twitter followings."  These considerations lead one to wonder about the gold being mined by some of the Internet's leading transaction firms and what it's worth. Do you think $2.50 per "follower" sounds like the right value? What is your social media worth?

Old-School Diving Helmets Star At Miami Seaquarium Attraction

A Dive on the Wild Side at the Miami Seaquarium
(photo: Miami Herald)

According to a story in today's Miami Herald, visitors to the local Seaquarium can get as close to marine creatures as one can get. The idea is to don a dive helmet, jump into a tank, and let the watery wildlife come to them. Apparently, the fish and other animals are rather curious about the humans that, in their retro helmets, resemble aliens.

The experience costs about as much per person as a ticket to a barely decent seat at a Broadway show. By that standards, mixing it up with the deep seems like a bargain.

The photograph (above) tells the story, but the Herald article fleshes out the details of the experience, its genesis, and its evolution into a popular destination. It's fun to read, and a pleasant, light story fitting for year-end sentiment.

Tarzan's Chimp "Cheetah" -- RIP

When I read the BBC's obit about Cheetah, Tarzan's famous chimpanzee companion, I thought it was a web hoax, a web version of a practical joke. Really? Cheetah lived to age 80? According to the BBC story, the age expectancy of chimps is normally half of what fate doled out to Cheetah.

Of course, this leads to an obvious question: was this the "real" Cheetah that cavorted with Johnny Weissmuller?

The BBC article, whose original source was a Tampa Tribune piece, is great fun to read. I've also linked a YouTube of a film clip from a Cheetah-Weismuller Tarzan movie in which the chimp hams it up for the camera. And yes, Weismuller for my money was the one and only movie Tarzan. The others were always in his shadow.

And yes, when it came to screen persona, there may have been many chimp actors, but there was only one Cheetah.

Jazz Musician Sam Rivers -- RIP

Sam Rivers

Sam Rivers, who helped establish an avant-garde perspective to the jazz of the 1970s and 1980s, died recently at age 88 in Florida. The New York Times' obit provides a reasonable overview of Rivers' life. However, the website maintained by Rivers' daughter, Monique Rivers Williams, offers a richer window into Rivers' musical outlook and remarkable career.

I have some recordings in which Rivers is a featured musician. I liked his work, but never went out of my way to accumulate more music than I had. He was a key figure in jazz's so-called loft movement of the late 1970s, but I never saw Rivers perform. The one time I did see jazz in a loft was in TriBeCa. At that time, TriBeCa had not yet become a playground for zillionaires. Jane, whom I knew through an Italian friend, invited me to a loft performance by the jazz pianist Don Pullen. I had admired Pullen's work for years, and was happy to attend the event. The performance was interesting, in that the event was an ensemble performance combining Pullen's wonderful music with the accompanying movements of a female dancer. The event also wasn't very crowded, which created a sense of artistic intimacy that I've rarely experienced since that evening.

Later that month, I met Jane at a Mexican coffee shop on Church Street. She would often stay there for hours, because the establishment's food and ambience reminded Jane of her hometown, San Diego. The coffee shop also had heat, which was more than what Jane got in her tiny, dilapidated Little Italy apartment. It also served excellent huevos rancheros, a dish I thoroughly enjoy when it's done well.

Since that time, TriBeCa and the New York arts world have evolved into something I don't think Don Pullen or Sam Rivers might have recognized as related to their aspirations. It's notable that, in Rivers' later years, he moved to the Orlando area, got musicians together, and continued exploring the musical frontiers of jazz. It's a spirit that seems largely diminished in New York today, replaced by a general sense of uptightness about exploration without compensation. Sam Rivers fought the good fight, a kindred spirit to the jazz musicians who played because there was "something inside of them" that just had to come out.

Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) Founder Jacob E. Goldman -- RIP

Jacob Goldman (left) in a 1975 photo
(photo from LA Times, credited to Joyce Dopkeen/NY Times)

Jacob E. Goldman, a Xerox chief scientist who pushed and prodded the firm to open the now-legendary Palo Alto Research Center (PALC), died recently at age 90. His Los Angeles Times obit provides a simple, readable overview of his life and professional stature. A number of tech publications, such as engadget.com, offer fascinating details that extend understanding of Goldman's and PALC's contributions to what might very well turn out to be America's Golden Age for innovation. (I recommend taking time to scan the reader comments in those posts.) The New York Times' obit, written by John Markoff, also provides interesting background on Goldman's achievements and life.

PALC's activities impacted essential elements of Silicon Valley's core creations. Among them were the personal computer, the Ethernet, the laser printer, the WYSIWYG keyboard, and the GUI (graphical user interface). Amazingly, with the exception of the laser printer, Xerox never really grasped the potential of what Goldman's tech incubator had created.  It took Steve Jobs and the original Apple team, which famously got a peek at PALC's GUI wizardry, to bring it into commercial relevance.

Goldman realized that top-flight research and development generates rewards that span generations. The intellectual property PALC (and its inspiration, Bell Labs) created became mother lodes of the late 20th Century's true gold. These innovations have completely reshaped the world's expectations and use of technology.

In the last decade or so, American firms have largely pulled the plug on research and development in misguided corporate efficiency pogroms. While saving a few bucks, this collective act of folly has eviscerated this country's once-incredible advantage in scientific and technological research. Some firms, such as Google, have picked up the torch that Jacob Goldman once insisted be held, and held high. Unfortunately, they are the exceptions in a world of impatient "monetization." We need far more long-view research and development, and much more confident corporate leadership, than we're getting. Short-sighted greed is no substitute for the development of intellectual and very tangible riches.

Jeb Bush, the 2012 Presidential Race, and 2016

Jeb Bush (right) with George H.W. Bush (left) and Barbara Bush. 

For all the fuss and fire about lightweight GOP presidential candidates, party heavyweight Jeb Bush has notably stayed on the sidelines through the fracas. While it appears Bush 41/Yale has given Mitt Romney/Harvard a Don Corleone-esque nod of approval, Jeb has been circumspect with his opinion. The Bush's son's actions matter. As the heir apparent to the Bush political dynasty, Jeb has profound clout among Republican party regulars and funders. Consequently, his silence on the various candidates panting to run against Barack Obama has impact that ripples through the entire GOP relationship network. A Washington Post article on a slow-news Christmas Day explores this situation. Keep in mind that slow-news days are excellent times for insider topics to quietly reach a wider audience.

The story intriguingly hints at Jeb's ambitions for the 2016 presidential race. That scenario makes a great deal of sense, especially as Romney is made to order as the GOP's 2012 presidential sacrificial lamb. Jeb wants no part of a contest against Obama, and Jeb would like to put a leash around the GOP's extreme right-wingers. The 2012 presidential campaign will accomplish both goals, while clearing the way for Jeb to be both the anti-Obama is 2016 and a GOP candidate suburban voters, Hispanic voters, and conservative-leaning women can comfortably vote for. (I feel the heavyweight presidential campaign will be in 2016, and it will be US politics' version of the Thrilla in Manila: Jeb Bush vs Hillary Rodham Clinton.)

The relationship between the Big O and JB is a curious one. I noted in a March 2011 post that Bush and Obama jointly spoke at a Miami event focusing on K-12 education. Jeb's public stance is that Obama is beatable in 2012. However, Bush does not embrace reactionary positions on selected social issues, such as immigration and education. In fact, some Obama Administration policies are closely aligned to Jeb's notions, and Bush has wisely kept quiet on those fronts. In the end, Obama's directions will be easier for a Bush administration to modify than those of the GOP's ideologically motivated factions.

President Obama and Jeb Bush at March 2011 event in Miami.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is in the middle.
(Photo from politico.com)

Three Christmas Eve Stealth Stories: GE Bid-Rigging, ATT Spectrum Bonanza, NFL TV Deals' Financial Impact on Fans

Saturdays have historically been a day for backdoor news. These stories typically involve unflattering stories about institutions, such as legal settlements, forced executive retirements, unpopular government actions, or poor corporate performance. Consequently, I make it a point to carefully read Saturday news stories.

This year, Saturday doubles down with Christmas Eve to create a nearly ideal "hidden news" environment. There are plenty of gifts under the holiday news tree today. Here are some examples:

*  GE settles SEC probe into municipal bond bid rigging. The Bloomberg News story provides the unsavory details. (The official SEC press release provides more details on the matter.) Remember when GE was considered the gold standard for corporate performance and behavior? The former "AAA" firm is now just another TBTF enterprise lusting for Federal corporate welfare. GE's saving grace is that it actually manufactures useful products, such as jet engines.

*  ATT gets final FCC approval for $1.93 billion purchase of Qualcomm spectrum. This is a great deal for ATT, and one hell of a consolation prize for ATT, in light of its highly public, abandoned bid for T-Mobile. The big losers in this deal are rural telephone providers, as Bloomberg News noted in its story on the ATT coup. The FCC originally recommended approving the deal on November 22nd, which just happened to be the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday period.

* According to a Los Angeles Times blog post, the NFL's new and highly lucrative television deals could impact consumers with higher cable TV bills. The deals also threaten smaller cable distributors that don't offer a steady diet of pro sports. I find the fees for sports packages outrageously expensive. I stopped subscribing to them long ago, and as a result annually keep five hundred dollars for other purposes. And no, I don't spend the saved money on tickets to ball games. Do you really feel good spending hundreds of dollars for a nothing special seat at any pro sports event?

The Top 1% Empire Strikes Back

Bloomberg Business Week, whose owner moonlights as New York City's mayor, recently placed a story in its online editions about reactions of certain rich Americans toward criticism of this country's wealth inequity. The piece, written by Max Abelson, appeared on December 20th.

Some of the top dogs in Abelson's story take a "tough darts" stance toward those Americans whose income is below the one-percent threshold -- approximately $350,000 annual income. What's much more striking than coarsely arrogant, dismissive one-liners is the awareness of how certain one-percenters perceive their power. Abelson's story quote from Delphi Financial Group CEO Robert Rosenkranz is revealing: "It's simply a fact that pretty much all the private sector jobs in America are created by the decisions of 'the one percent' to hire and invest...Since their confidence in the future more than any other factor will drive those decisions, it makes little sense to undermine their confidence by vilifying them."

Rosenkranz refers to power, the kind of capitalist power left-wing organizations a half-century ago caricatured. He does not consider social influences at all. The notion that strong criticism would somehow turn these lions of commerce into paper tigers just doesn't ring true. It's generally accepted that the so-called one-percenters have unique access to politicians, media "influencers," and like-minded major asset owners. Consequently, the idea that a handful of demonstrators could make powerful corporate players quiver like a roomful of chihuahuas lacks any sort of substance.

Ironically, a story in December 23rd online editions of the Financial Times noted a Michigan pension fund was suing to block the acquisition of Delphi Financial by Japanese insurance company Tokio (sic) Marine. According to the FT story, the suit alleges Mr. Rosenkranz "violated his fiduciary duty by unfairly enriching himself to the detriment of the company's shareholders." Oops.

Meanwhile, for a reasoned perspective on wealth inequality in the United States, the United Kingdom, and (in passing) Western Europe, Martin Wolf's recent column in the Financial Times is a breath of fresh air. Here's the link to it.

Google, Mozilla Renew Firefox Vows For Three More Years

Google and Mozilla, who operate dueling browsers, agreed to continue their partnership earlier this week. The new deal, according to the San Jose Mercury News, gives Google the right to remain Firefox's default search engine for three more years. The Mozilla Foundation, which owns Firefox, possessed uncertain financial resources beyond what Google ponied up for the valuable search engine rights. Mozilla's price for its love was $900 million, which buys a lot of solace.

Wired's Tim Carmody offers a useful perspective that's worth exploring regarding the agreement's significance. Click here to read it.

Los Angeles Times Photo Essay Show Beauty of LA's Bridges

One doesn't immediately associate Los Angeles with bridges, as one would with New York or Paris. Yet, the City of Angels has its share of bridges, and some of them have a certain beauty. They've become familiar, if not precisely identifiable, over the years, thanks to their use in motion pictures and television commercials. A case in point is LA's 1st Street Bridge, a portal between wealthy downtown Los Angeles and the city's poor, predominantly Mexican east side.

For the past three years, this bridge to somewhere has undergone significant and needed repair, including addition of light rail tracks. This week, the 1st Street Bridge was reopened. Today's online editions of the Los Angeles Times noted the bridge's background, its role in LA's social development, and the structure's graceful attributes.

6th Street Viaduct
(Photo from bridgehunter.com)

What's equally interesting is the photo gallery associated with the 1st Street Bridge article. Times photographers contributed some useful shots of various bridges over the Los Angeles River and railroad tracks that parallel the stream's bleak flood walls. Some of the depicted ornamental work shows a desire for attractive detail that puts our time to shame. One structure -- the iconic 6th Street Viaduct -- demonstrates a delightful visual command of arched space and linear elegance. Another photo shows a scale model of a future bridge which uses the currently popular vernacular of cables and central anchoring.

All in all, the ensemble explored in the Times' photo essay demonstrates how functional structures in unattractive environments can be exploited to deliver beauty and even pleasure.

Academic Study Claims Link Between College Football and Male Grades

Academic researchers, who never admit to wasting time or money, will study just about anything. That includes the relationship between college football and academic performance. Recently, according to an Associated Press story picked up by the San Jose Mercury News, a trio of University of Oregon economists conducted a study to explore the impact of a football team's impact on grade point averages. The study indeed found a correlation between a winning football season and a decline in male student grade point averages.

One curious aspect of the report is its authors' interest in the subject. How did three members of the dismal science find this subject germane to their field? Why did they care? Who on earth paid for findings that are reminiscent of a "moderately corrupt" police chief discovering gambling in Rick's Cafe?

In fairness, the "Oregon Three" professors touched some live wires. For starters, the study noted the differential between female student performance and that of their male counterparts. Yes, women are smarter. But you knew that already. Didn't you?

Phil Knight

The study's setting is also a very curious one. The University of Oregon's football team is a big-time operation, including "contributions" from alum Phil Knight and his firm, Nike. If money talks on campus, Knight's cash is shouting.

Meanwhile, the profs' research findings implied lousy football teams tended to keep male students more attentive to course work, presumably including economics. My own experience with collegiate football is contrary to those findings. During my four years at the University of Wisconsin, the Badger football team either stunk or had, at best, occasional flashes of eptitude. The team's fortunes did not in any way improve my attention toward my studies. In fact, the year I attended the greatest number of football games (and the team wasn't anything special that season), I garnered very good grades.

It's true I was among the rowdy at a football game for five autumn Saturdays that year. Those were exciting, formative life experiences I would never, ever trade for the equivalent time in a library. Sometimes, academics just don't get it.

PS. Ironically, the Badgers will play the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl in January. I'll be watching -- on TV.

Saying Good-Bye to Saab

Saab and Unusual Ignition Position

My wife and I read today's Financial Times story regarding Saab's filing for bankruptcy with some sadness. Within the last decade, we had leased three Saab wagons. We enjoyed them, with our favorite being a solidly built, sea green vehicle. I liked -- and now miss -- Saab's logical, yet quirky ignition placement (see photo). The comfortable leather seating was my entry into a higher standard of automotive comfort. My high-mileage Honda never could compete with Saab's amenities.

Unfortunately, my wife and I believed the quality of our Saabs had steadily declined over the years. The cars were transformed from proudly individualistic Scandinavian machines into mushy, diminished GM cars. Toward the end of Saab's financial life, our local dealership was caught in a financial endgame between General Motors and Saab's suitors. As GM held the grip on permission to transfer intellectual property assets to any prospective purchaser, a sale became an increasingly distant option. Finally, when a Chinese buyer (Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Group) made an offer for Saab, GM killed the deal, as its Asian counterparts were competitors in the increasingly lucrative mainland China market.

The moral of the story is that there is no crying in the car business. I doubt there was even a sob for Saab in automotive circles. However, it's a sad day for consumers, as this once-proud brand will simply, and somewhat unfairly, disappear.

Making Money at Miami International Airport: A Case Study

Luggage Wrapping at Miami Intl Airport (Miami Herald photo)

Often, the simple, everyday things is where money -- a great deal of money -- is made. I'm not talking about underworld activities, or recondite algorithmic schemes, but just plain vanilla commercial transactions, objects, and services. These largely anonymous, occasionally lucrative activities -- and the stories about them -- are quite illuminating windows into human motivation.

Today's online edition of the Miami Herald offers insights into just such a situation. The story involves the luggage-wrap business at Miami International Airport (MIA). The business is succinctly characterized by Herald journalist Martha Brannigan: "The luggage-wrap business, on its face, is simple: AT MIA's passenger check-in areas, the bags are machine wrapped in stretchy plastic that protects against pilfering and damage and deters anyone from inserting anything."

It turns out the luggage-wrap deal at MIA is quite valuable for both the service provider and for the counterparty. Of course, in the world of politically connected contracts, such as for various services at local airports, there are "competing interests" in play. The Herald story details these commercial conflicts, the scale of money involved, and the various interests' posturing.

The mix of business acumen, shifting alliances, financial gain, and plenty of human strength and weakness, can seem dry. Just add a little of your own imagination, and you'll find you have an interesting story just in time for the holiday travel season.

Finally, demand for luggage wrap is far more widespread outside the United States. For a further look at this phenomenon, go to Mark Ashley's Upgrade: Travel Better blog and his post on this issue. The reader comments offer some further, and useful, perspectives on the pros and cons of luggage wrapping.

Subi Roberto's Downtown Miami Mural Project Completed

Ms. Roberto's Mural (photo from Miami Downtown News)

I'm a sucker for murals. I enjoy looking at building-scale, urban murals, such as those spawned by Philadelphia's innovative Mural Arts Program. A New Jersey-based artist my wife and I know, Dan Fenelon, creates murals in high-energy, low-income areas as well as for ambitious regional museums. His work is consistently interesting. When he discusses his projects, Fenelon exudes an energy and joy that seem connected to the venues and the audience experience of the murals. (I mentioned Fenelon's work in a recent blog post about an art walk in Montclair, New Jersey.)

Recently, self-trained artist Subi Roberto recently completed a mural on a building in Miami's emerging arts district. The work's style, from what I can determine from photographs, fits the monumental scale murals typically require. The pictures, and an associated story about Roberto's project, appear in today's online editions of the Miami Herald.

One curiosity is Ms. Roberto's background. According to the Herald article, the Miami-based artist "was raised on a Hindu commune in West Virginia until age 17 when she moved with her parents to Hawaii..." Roberto never went to art school. Ironically, her moment of inspiration came from looking at an art magazine which included a story about a gallery that sold something for $750,000.

In that moment an artist was born.

Google Awarded Patent for Self-Driving Car

Google's "driverless car": Photo from Edmunds Inside Line

Just when you thought you've understood Google's drive for innovation, the sly foxes from Mountain View come out with a surprise. Their most recent endeavor involves a self-driving automobile. According to an online BBC report, the US Patent Office has given Google a patent for just such a vehicle. The invention is hardly a bolt from the blue, as Google has been experimenting with this idea for a number of years. "The vehicles," the BBC story notes, "combine artificial intelligence with the firm's Google Street View maps as well as video cameras and a range of sensors."

Google, however, has not yet invented a self-paying vehicle.

Marvin Saul, Owner of Junior's Deli in Los Angeles -- RIP

Marvin Saul (photo from the LA Times)

Marvin Saul, who owned and operated a bona fide Jewish deli on LA's Westside, died this week. His popular establishment, Junior's, had enough flavor and flair to pass as a legit deli. I admit that's something of an educated guess on my part. I'm confident some New Yorkers would argue the point about the deli's "legitimacy." However, they've always struck me as the type of people who would claim no one could ever made brisket like their mothers did.

Saul built his business from nothing. He landed in LA broke and ambitious, as quite a few domestic immigrants to southern California once did. According to his obit in the LA Times, he built up a small financial stake and opened a sandwich shop. Eventually, he expanded into an eight-table deli that he called Junior's, which was Saul's childhood nickname. The business grew substantially over the years, and gained a loyal following which appreciated Junior's food and atmosphere.

Reading about Saul's life and times is a refreshing tonic. He enjoyed a good time, he liked people, he produced a good product. Saul's way of doing things seems out of style now. Today's dreadfully arrogant food empire builders sell branded merchandise and calculate ways to appear on television. By contrast, Marvin Saul was soulful and authentic. He'll be a tough act to follow.

US Housing Establishment Tying Up Loose Ends From 2008 Crash

Remember when the housing bubble burst? Now that we're in the midst of a faintly felt and quite possibly illusory "recovery," apparently the US housing establishment intends to tie up loose ends from the debacle. The "establishment," in this case, refers to the unholy alliance of federal agencies, financial services firms, and propaganda arms (such as the National Association of Realtors) which created and fostered the housing disaster.

Exhibit A comes from the recent settlement of an FDIC lawsuit against three Washington Mutual (WaMu) executives for their impetuous, greedy risk taking in the housing market. In case you don't remember, WaMu was one of the more spectacular bank failures of the past half-dozen years. The three executives in question, however, earned more than $95 million between 2005 and 2008. The settlement, according to online editions of Bloomberg News, will pay $64 million to the FDIC. However, "the cash payments made by the three former officers," the Bloomberg News report states, will total about $400,000. The remainder will come from a WaMu insurance policy. The former execs' had chutzpah and a highly developed sense of entitlement: they had sued for retirement benefits and "golden parachute" payments totaling many millions of dollars. The settlement, meanwhile, is perceived as a face-saving expedient for the FDIC, whose boss at the time involved in the litigation, Sheila Bair, is something of a financial media darling.

Sheila Bair

Intriguingly, a December 11th Bloomberg Business Week story noted that Ms. Bair "is a top candidate among state officials to ensure banks comply with any settlement of a nationwide foreclosure probe."

Exhibit B centers on housing data supplied by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). It turns out the NAR has suddenly discovered it has "accidentally" pumped up housing sale figures for a number of years. The NAR's methodology and stats were publicly questioned in a February, 2011 Wall Street Journal article, according to a post in the financial blog Zero Hedge. Well, by gosh and by golly, it only took the NAR ten months to confirm there was gambling inside its own casino. What are some implications of the NAR's dip into glasnost?

Lawrence Yun

Let's hear it from NAR frontman Lawrence Yun: "For the real estate business, this means the housing market's downturn was deeper than what was initially thought." Meanwhile, left unsaid was that the below-the-surface portion of the housing iceberg -- the shadow foreclosure market -- is likely to emerge and become much more visible in 2012. The disruptive emergence of low-cost housing is a nightmare for American economic and social policy makers. Consequently, it may be time to get the public ready for "continued sluggishness in the housing market." Given that a home in most Americans' primary financial asset, the recast housing figures would imply continued devaluation of residential home prices. If you're among the 99% crowd, that's bad news.

Exhibit C is recondite, but gets to the heart of the corruption's machinery. According to a Bloomberg News report, Morgan Stanley has settled a lawsuit against MBIA over the latter firm's credit default swaps. The deal means Morgan Stanley gets paid over a billion dollars, while MBIA drops a $300 million-plus counterclaim against MS. The significance of MBIA's action was that it had targeted   $233 million of Morgan's residential mortgage-backed securities, and thus keeps them away from unwanted publicity.

As the Bloomberg News story notes, this litigation was just part of the many lawsuits major Wall Street and other financial services launched against MBIA. Basically, the contention was that MBIA created a "fraudulent conveyance" to ship out horseshit mortgage-backed securities, while keeping MBIA's valuable state and municipal bond guarantee business intact. (This episode was a very big deal in 2009, and then forgotten about, except in the war rooms of major money players.)

The question that arises is why issues associated with the housing market's corruption are being tidied up now?

Zombie Movie at Havana Film Festival Spoofs Cuba's Ruling Regime

Online editions of the Miami Herald report that Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead), a new film debuting at the Havana Film Festival, does more than simply rehash zombie themes. The film's more likely theme is Cuba's ruling regime and the island's still-repressed political environment. According to Fabiola Santiago, who noted the episode in a Herald opinion column, the film comes across as "crude and bloody" and essentially artless. However, the writer makes the fair point that political statements, especially veiled references to current rulers, may be more effective when used as blunt instruments rather than surgical tools.

For another perspective on the film, read this Associated Press story that appeared in the December 9th Washington Post. It offers more and different details than the Herald's opinion piece. Meanwhile, a very brief Wikipedia link includes a list of all first-prize Havana Film Festival winners.

Ship From Movie "The African Queen" To Be Restored

According to an online BBC report, the one and only "African Queen," the ship Bogie and Katharine Hepburn made famous, will be restored and used for tours in the Florida Keys.  The vessel, in its unglamorous, non-Hollywood state, has been sitting at a dry dock next to (ironically) a Key Largo hotel for around a decade. Apparently, its owner now has enough funding to get the boat ship-shape and ready for tourists.

It's safe to say the eponymous movie's actors or its director, John Huston, won't be resurrected for this venture.

Thieves Target LA Schools' Tubas

Two F Tubas

Believe it or not, tubas are among the hot objects of choice for thieves in southern California. According to a story in online editions of the LA Times, the ungainly musical instruments are disappearing from the region's schools nearly as fast as they can be purchased. It's hard to pinpoint a reason. The instruments are expensive, often costing many thousands of dollars. Significantly, tubas are key to banda music, the very popular sound closely connected to southern California, the Southwest, and Mexico.

Who would have ever thought there would be a market for a hot tuba? Times have indeed changed.

Academic Claims Wal-Mart Heirs' Wealth Equals Net Worth of America's Bottom 30%

If your net worth places you in the bottom three-tenths of all Americans, you have something in common with the Walton family.

According to a UC-Berkeley labor economist, the combined wealth of the half-dozen Walton relatives of Wal-Mart founders Sam and James Walton equals the entire net worth of the lowest 30% of Americans. The academic's study was reported in today's online editions of the LA Times.

Ironically, it is the lowest income echelons of American society that tends to shop at Wal-Mart.

By the way, the same LA Times blog noted that, according to the Federal Reserve, household net worth fell 4% from July 2011 to this past September.

Given this bleak news, does anyone still assert that this is a December to remember?

Skiing Across California's Sierra High Route

Sierra High Route

The daughter of friends of ours makes a living each winter as a ski instructor in the Sierras. It's an occupation far removed from anything I've experienced, so of course her work fascinates me. As I understand her situation, she has the opportunity to ski along trails or undemarcated areas where nature is at its most wild and pure. How many people in 2011 can say they've encountered Nature in such a personal way?

Well, there are a few, and sometimes they enjoy sharing tales of their experiences. A case in point appeared in today's online editions of the LA Times. A skiier named Brian E. Clark contributed a completely enjoyable first-person story about skiing across the Sierra High Route. His journey took him into some of the Sierra's most beautiful areas. His appreciation of the pristine settings and his ardor for skiing are touching, and helps me grasp why a young woman would embrace a lifestyle that would immerse her in the High Sierras.

Colombia's "Ciclovias" Offer Car-Free Oases

Bicycle Riders Enjoying "Ciclovia" (photo from The Guardian)

South America and "car-free" initiatives are not automatic associations. Yet, one of the world's most popular ways to disengage urban areas from automobiles had its genesis in Colombia.

The idea behind a ciclovia -- or car-free streets -- started in Bogota, Colombia's capital city in 1974, according to a story appearing in today's online editions of The Miami Herald. During a ciclovia, major thoroughfares are closed so that leg-based exercise and exercisers can be accommodated. Amazingly, the urban initiative became an enormous hit. Today, it's not uncommon for over a half-million Bogota residents to hit the streets with their bikes or on foot on a given Sunday.

Bogota's embrace of ciclovia is a tremendous success story for local residents and for other cities that have emulated its approach, such as San Francisco. It's also the rare Colombian product that isn't illegal to export.

Online UK Petition Circulating to Pardon Computer Pioneer Alan Turing

Alan Turing (photo from The Guardian)

Fate was not kind to Alan Turing, the British genius generally considered a pioneer in the development of computers and artificial intelligence. In 1952, he was convicted of committing homosexual acts, at the time a criminal offense in the UK. Rather than accept a prison sentence for his "crime," he took treatments with female hormones which were effectively a form of chemical castration. This bizarre, inhuman punishment drove even the brilliant Turing beyond the point of no emotional return. He died in 1954 from cyanide poisoning; the death remains controversial to this day, with some claiming Turing committed suicide, while others maintain his demise was accidental.

This stupid loss of a gifted man's life (Turing was a key figure in the Blechley Park group which cracked Germany's secret codes during World War II) went unrecognized by the British government until recent years. Some UK citizens are attempting to compel public debate about Turing's death; their goal is to obtain a pardon for the great scientist and clear his record of "criminal" activity.

To that end, according to online BBC reports, an e-petition is being circulated which would make the subject eligible for discussion in the British House of Commons. I hope the petition achieves the 100,000 signatures required for eligibility, and the British people right a terrible wrong done to one of its most eminent citizens.

Rome Removes Giant Papier-Mache Christmas Tree

Controversial Roman Christmas tree (photo from La Repubblica)

Rome, reeling from the Euro crisis and the country's sovereign debt crisis, responded swiftly to a controversy about a Christmas tree. According to an Agence France-Presse story appearing in Yahoo, the Italian capital's city council decided to remove a massive white papier-mache holiday tree after the item had one day in the public eye. The tree, located in the Eternal City's equivalent of Times Square, resembled an inverted ice cream cone. Apparently, its design, characterized by the Roman daily La Repubblica as "postmodern," was considered in poor taste. (La Repubblica has 13 photos of the tree, and they're worth checking out.)

The episode reminds me of arguments over the virtues of "real" versus artificial Christmas trees I've had over the years. For a long time, I was in the traditionalist camp. I grew up in a town where my two brothers once went into the nearby countryside, chopped down a tree, and brought it back on a sled. It was unthinkable, until a few years ago, to have an artificial Christmas tree in my home. However, I finally relented and we purchased a fake tree.

It's standing in our living room now, in the throes of being decorated. I've learned to appreciate and even like the artificial tree. It's not as elegant or as self-consciously avant-garde as the Roman version. Then again, I think the Romans, a notoriously opinionated lot, would rather have something like our tree.

Navy Draws Fire For Naming Ship After Cesar Chavez

Earlier today, the Secretary of the Navy announced that a new dry cargo/ammunition ship would be named after the late labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.

Normally, the naming of obscure military vessels attracts virtually no attention. However, Chavez's history of labor organizing offends conservatives. The right-wing has never reconciled its ideology with the dreadful exploitation of farm workers. Nowhere was this struggle more pronounced, and the fight more protracted, than in the Golden State.

Consequently, naming a ship after Chavez quickly touched a nerve. Conservatives such as southern California congressional representative Duncan Hunter and liberals such as California senator Barbara Boxer have already provided plenty of rhetorical bravado about the issue. (Ironically, no Hispanic members of Congress were quoted in either the Fox News version of the story nor in The Washington Post's article on the issue.)

Meanwhile, if this is how Congress spends its days, is there any wonder why real national problems are seemingly intractable?

Is There A Venture Capital Case To Be Made For "Old Entrepreneurs"?

Vinod Khosla (photo originally appeared in The Washington Post)

Washington Post columnist Vivek Wadhwa recently raised an often whispered question about age and entrepreneurship. Using remarks by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla as a launching point, Wadhwa states the issue plainly: is there an age threshold for individuals who, in Khosla's words, "make change happen"?

This thorny proposition is usefully explored in Wadhwa's column. The piece includes links to an interesting session conducted by Garage Technology Ventures in which Google's Eric Schmidt and Sequoia Capital's Michael Moritz address the topic. The prevailing sentiment, at least from Silicon Valley and other tech bastions, is that age matters in certain circumstances. According to this line of reasoning, the most "disruptive" ideas, inventions, and innovations in technology come from twenty-something wolves. However, in areas where experience adds exponential value to a firm's direction and performance, the age  ceiling moves up into an essentially less defined zone.

In fairness, Moritz hedged his bets by mentioning there were some older folks, such as Yahoo's Terry Semel, who "has the metabolism of somebody in his 20s. You can have some old 20-somethings and some young 60-year-olds, but the passion is the enduring things."

Now, I have some skin in this game, as my age puts me in the older-than-25 group. I'm old enough to be wary of buzzword use, including current vocabulary flavors such as "disruptive" and "passion." Still, the whispered question about age is there, and clearly present in the VC and entrepreneur communities.

You're welcome to comment on this topic. It's one that will not go quietly into the night.

2011's Top Ten Search Terms on Yahoo, Facebook, and Bing; Yahoo to Terminate Its Iconic Bay Area Bridge Billboard

Did you every wonder what people search for online? Well, the owners of search engines do more than wonder. They keep stats on the public's taste for the truth. Around this time of year, results are released. So, for fans of Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, and other celebrities who haven't met a camera they haven't liked, ABC News has a report offering a summary of the 2011 search result data for Yahoo, Facebook, and Bing. Dig in and go crazy!

Yahoo's Iconic Billboard Near Bay Bridge Entrance

PS. The San Jose Mercury News reported in today's online edition that Yahoo's billboard at the eastbound I-80 approach to the Bay Bridge will be dismantled. Yahoo, according to the story, has been tightlipped about the report.

Why would Yahoo drop the billboard? Keep in mind the sense that Yahoo is in play, with buyers circling the firm like so many sharks sensing an available victim for their commercial appetites. Perhaps Yahoo is sending the world a signal that times are changing at the still very valuable search firm.

Siri and Phone Etiquette

Siri

Today's siliconvalley.com includes a story discussing phone etiquette and the use of virtual assistants. It's a good, brief story that touches on an everyday event for many people.

The story notes that many iPhone users use their Siri virtual assistant in public places. This behavior often becomes distracting, rude, and downright silly. I know, because I have shamelessly spoken with Siri in places and ways I would not do with a human being.

My excuse was that I wanted to leverage Siri's capabilities as a useful work tool. To that end, I entered appointments, searched for information, sent messages, more or less with little regard for what people nearby could hear.  After awhile, I got a bit self-conscious about the "conversation's" disruptive aspect. Now, Siri waits until I can escape into a non-public area.

The siliconvalley.com story notes that the "etiquette" for virtual assistant communication, in contrast with cellphone conversations between two real live people, has not yet been established. In the meantime, we'll have to somehow manage to pretend talking to a machine is as natural as talking into a mirror. As an assistant professor of journalism and communication noted in the siliconvalley.com article, "'It's not normal human behavior to have people having a conversation with a phone on the street.'"

Call Center Firm Purchases Oakland's Tribune Tower

Tribune Tower, Oakland (photo from Oakland Public Library)

In a telling sign of the times, CallSocket, a call center outfit, has acquired Oakland, California's historic Tribune Tower building. According to a story in today's San Jose Mercury News, the selling price was eight million dollars. By New York So96 standards, ocho million would barely qualify for the downpayment on a pavement parking lot. However, downtown Oakland is a different market.

The Tribune Tower used to house the Oakland Tribune newspaper. The publication moved some years ago to a building near the local airport.

What's curious about the Tribune Tower purchase is one of its buyers. "To assist with the purchase," the Mercury News story noted, "the buyers used a federal program designed for immigrant investors called EB-5 visa. Under modified versions of the original 1990 law, immigrants can obtain green cards for themselves and family members when they make significant investments and create jobs in areas where the jobless rate is 1.5 times the nationwide unemployment rate."

Home State "Natives" and American Migration

I'm from the East Coast, where curiosity about "native origin" typically involve nations rather than one of the states of the Union. However, in the American South and West, the "native" issue has a domestic focus as much as an international one. When I lived in San Francisco, I quickly grasped that "native" Californians were quite aware of their background. That sensibility, which largely ignores political ideology, was exponentially magnified by the concept of a "native" San Franciscan. It led to a definition of one's world in which exclusion was a necessary component. The perspective was similar to that I experienced in Italy, where one was socially defined in similar ways, and with linguistic dialects adding a layer of uniquely local identity.

This "native" phenomenon, and the unease about the most recent great domestic migration, extends beyond California. The LA Times recently picked up a story that originally appeared in the Las Vegas Sun about "native" Nevadans. According to the report, only 24% of Nevada residents could claim the state as its birthplace. The next two least "native" states, Florida and Arizona, could claim less than two out of every five inhabitants as born and raised within their respective boundaries. The issue seems to be a live one in Colorado as well: when my wife and I last visited there, we saw some license plates informally denoting the presumed owner's "native" status.

When I've talked with "natives" of a Western state, the conversation invariably becomes poignant. The influx of new residents, with the crowds and attendant development, modifies the character of an area. Typically, it changes from an easy rural charm to something visually homogenized. The sense is one of loss, rarely of gain. I know some LA "natives" and I enjoy learning about the drive-ins, remote escapes, and original homes now lost to the very doubtful benefits of "progress." Yet, even with the Angelenos' open conversation, I feel as if I've entered a private club for which I've been given a day pass.

I can't fully share their sentiment, even about where I reside now. In moments of doubt, I identify with New York, as I've lived much of my life in within the orbit of Manhattan. Yet, I'm not a native New Yorker. It's as if I've become fluent in a second language whose subtle nuances and behavioral expectations occasionally elude me. Despite that feeling, the New York area is my adopted home. Even though I don't fit into the "native" column on the Census Bureau findings, it's still mine. And that will more than do for now.

US Settles Another Anthrax Attack Lawsuit

The US Government, after years of legal fighting, finally agreed to settle a lawsuit by the family of the first person killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States.

According to The New York Times, the settlement requires the Feds to pay the family of tabloid photo editor Robert Stevens $2.3 million. (Another and better version of the story appears in online editions of The Washington Post.)

It has never been established why Stevens or the American Media Inc., the tabloid firm in question, were a murderer's targets. There remains considerable doubt that Bruce Ivins was the perpetrator, as the government has alleged. Meanwhile, the shadow of American Media Inc.'s publishing activities as connected to this case's fatal motive remains bafflingly unaddressed. The firm's tabloids were scourge of many high-profile celebrities, politicians, and (if you can take these stories seriously) creatures from outer space. If you've seen the National Enquirer, Star, or Men's Fitness, you've visited American Media's lurid world, one that could easily provoke one or more of its victims to seek revenge for real or imagined slights.

The government mismanaged, by accident or design, its probe into the anthrax attacks. However, the Feds had not counted on a very determined Stevens family. Their willingness to pursue justice kept the government case on its heels. Eventually, the court proceedings revealed dreadful security at the nation's top biological warfare facility. The case became a real thorn in the government's side, especially as it focused on programs national security officials understandably preferred kept in the Information Society's most remote, darkest corners.

The anthrax attacks remain a disturbing, unfinished episode from the fateful year of 2001. It is likely we will never know the story's complete truth. We are aware of a few facts. Will the real culprits ever be identified?

"Big Six" US Banks Netted Billions Via Secret Federal Reserve Loans

Maybe Not.

Have you ever wanted to get a loan at a below-market interest rate? Well, not so long ago, one highly publicized way was to get a VIP mortgage from Countrywide Financial. Dozens of Fannie Mae officials did exactly that. However, that's small potatoes compared to the secret, below-market interest rate loans the Federal Reserve dished out to major US banks.

The Fed fought Bloomberg News in court -- and fought hard -- to keep the information about these loans from public access. Thankfully, Bloomberg won and has published a story about who got what. It's a very unsavory tale, in which banking titans and the Fed lied to the public and stonewalled Congress. The usual Wall Street suspects are at the top of this corporate welfare list. The stakes were enormous, but so were the rewards: $13 billion net profit for the banks that were treated to the Fed's dole.

It's understandable that the Fed wanted to prop up these bankrupt institutions. It is unacceptable that information about the use of tax money -- generations of tax money, given the scale of the bailouts -- be kept from the American people. What are these institutions afraid of? Their high-handed approach only contributes to suspicions that both the federal bureaucracy and major financial players are profoundly corrupt.

Meanwhile, to the reporters who fought the Fed and won -- thank you.

The Movie "J.Edgar" Tackles American Political Taboos

J. Edgar Hoover (Photo from fbi.gov)

Whatever the merits of Clint Eastwood's new film J. Edgar, it does deserve attention for tackling American political taboos. His subject -- FBI director J. Edgar Hoover -- could intimidate the nation's toughest insiders. Nothing could be said about Hoover during his lifetime, except praise (often defined by the head Fed). Criticism was harshly dealt with.

Even after the FBI director passed away, few ventured into the dangerous waters of Hoover studies. The FBI had files on just about anyone who could get the public's attention. Clearly, those files included dossiers on Hollywood power brokers and high-profile actors. How that information could be used to induce silence or "cooperation" was something Hoover mastered. Even the Cold War Russians were impressed.

During the Bush-Cheney years, Americans discovered just how extensive our National Security State's "information gathering" has been. Its corrupt use gravely jeopardized all civil liberties. (To this day, the American political conservative movement, with its supposed "love" of the Constitution, has never looked itself in the mirror about its complicity with the Bush-Cheney administration's odious domestic eavesdropping and surveillance campaign and likely blackmail efforts.)

Eastwood is now old enough where a vengeful national security apparatus can't really hurt him. He's free to publicly depict J. Edgar Hoover's sexual dramas, his family life, his dishonest mythmaking, and his occasionally delusional final years. In essence, Eastwood's movie frees Hollywood from the shackles of the Hoover taboos. Whether producers now rush to make movies without the FBI's intimidating shadow modifying its scripts is not so important. In a way, J. Edgar minimizes the power of the "personal and confidential" files the FBI was fond to maintain. That is a significant achievement.

J. Edgar makes other points that won't make today's audiences so comfortable. Notably, Eastwood doesn't spare a 1930s public (and Hollywood) for embracing gangsters and thug psychology. While the point is an historical one, its echoes of our own contemporary society are pertinent. As we discovered during the Bush-Cheney years, liberty is something to be cherished and protected. That's a sentiment J. Edgar Hoover would have understood.

PS. A considerable number of former and current FBI personnel have objected to the movie's depiction of Hoover. A fair, objective article presenting this perspective appears in The Washington Post.

Thinking About Black Friday On The Saturday After

When Black Friday's horror was limited to the screen.

My wife and I went to visit friends on Thanksgiving Day. We got home sometime after midnight. Our drive back to casa nostra took us past a large shopping mall parking lot. We were startled to see the lot filled with cars. At first, we thought we were mistaken about the time, and we thought it was really six in the morning. Then we realized it was the dreaded Black Friday. It was the first time we had witnessed the infamous shopping event's Midnight Madness.

Now, I can understand why someone would wait hours for a World Series seat, or a tough ticket to a musical act. I just don't grasp why anyone has to camp out to purchase a popular gadget. The hysteria underpinning American holiday shopping has become genuinely troubling. Has one ever witnessed a time when people have gone so far off the deep end to maintain a "normal" environment?

The poster is from the 1940 film Black Friday, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The movie's screenwriter, Curt Siodmak, was a Polish Jew who fled Germany during the Nazi era. Before the rise of National Socialism, Siodmak invested money in the 1930 silent movie Menschen am Sonntag (People on Sunday), a pivotal documentary about four ordinary Berliners that Criterion Collection recently re-released. The movie's co-directors were brother Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer; the scriptwriter was Billy Wilder and the photographer was Fred Zinnemann, who later directed High Noon.