Celebrating Lammas

A Florida friend posted earlier today about Lammas, a Celtic holiday celebrated on August 1st. I don't know anything about Lammas, so I followed my friend's links to learn a bit more about it.

The day commemorates the harvest and asks celebrants to "honor the passing of the light and the reaping of the harvest," according to Waverly Fitzgerald, a Seattle-area resident who blog includes matters such as "slow time, sacred time and seasonal time." The ancient ideas Fitzgerald considers are refreshing antidotes to today's disturbingly unquestioning embrace of technology.

I think my Florida friend has the right idea. Why not take time to honor Lammas and all that this gloriously pagan holiday symbolizes?

Film Maker Chris Marker -- RIP

Chris Marker
(photo from sensesofcinema.org)

The enigmatic French film maker Chris Marker died recently in Paris at age 91. His passing was noted in France in a rather brief obit in Le Monde, and a somewhat longer one in the Los Angeles Times. Neither obit was particularly satisfying. That's quite possibly in keeping with Marker's life, which was shrouded in mystery. His stance toward publicity was as polar opposite to, say, Oliver Stone, as is humanly possible.

For more insight into Marker, take time to read Agnes Varda's brief adieu to her enigmatic friend. The piece is in French, so reader beware.

Marco Rubio's "Emergency Landing" and The Second Malfunctioning Aircraft

Marco Rubio at a campaign event in Las Vegas, NV,
prior to "emergency landing"

It's been an interesting weekend for Florida GOP senator and VP consideration Marco Rubio. As was reported largely by TV networks, Rubio's private plane, on a flight from Las Vegas to Des Moines, had to make an emergency landing in New Mexico. The CBS/Miami story offers the most succinct, factually based account of the incident.

The publicly stated cause for the unscheduled stop was an indication of an electrical failure on the aircraft. What's curious about the story was that Rubio had changed aircraft earlier that day. The plane Rubio, his wife, and others originally intended to fly was also grounded due to mechanical issues.

Rubio did display some gallows humor in his Tweet about the incident, stating "Now I know how to take a hint!"

What are the odds that two private aircraft will develop mechanical issues on the same day?

This event occurred while presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was out of the country.

Google Fiber in KC Comes With $70 Per Month Pricetag

Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, MO

Google announced today that its intriguing fiber-based Internet service will cost users seventy dollars per month. In exchange, subscribers get service that's "about 100 times faster than a basic cable modem," according to an article in today's siliconvalley.com.

Those willing to pony up an additional fifty dollars per month would also receive "cable-TV-like service over the fiber, and a tablet computer that works as a remote."

The last option got my attention. Using a tablet to interface with a lightning-fast fiber connection opens up wonderful possibilities for home and institutional uses. While the service is expensive for most mom-and-pop consumers, someone who works or socializes online may find this opportunity an online bonanza. The key concept in Google's initiative is video, which can take advantage of the Internet speeds Google's fiber gambit offers.

Hopefully, Google's Internet service takes root in KC, and we will be able to witness how truly fast Internet speeds impact work and leisure.

PS. The July 27th online edition of The Washington Post includes an article outlining Google Fiber's service options to residential customers. Curiously, Google chose not to include business-oriented services at this time.

US Not Alone with Drought Woes

Drought in India

I was traveling through Illinois corn and soybean country recently, and it was plain to see the drought's impact on the crops. Many plants had brown stems, and some local businesspeople told me that any ears of corn that do emerge will have fewer kernels or none at all. The consequences of this agricultural disaster are quickly being spelled out. The major impact will be felt by livestock and poultry producers, as corn and soybeans are essential to the animals' diets. In an article in today's Financial Times, the chief executive of Smithfield Foods asserted that the once unquestioned availability of inexpensive meat for most Americans was now in doubt.

Have you considered going on a diet? Sound as if now might be the time to start. It's not as if you would be giving up meat. After all, you can't eat what you can't buy.

Whatever Americans face, though, is manageable compared to Asia. A post in the financial blog zerohedge.com noted that the monsoon season in India has delivered over 20% less precipitation than normal. This situation would mean reduced food and animal feed supply for the world's second most populous nation. That does not sound like a good scenario at all.

Huckabee Urges "Appreciation" of Homophobic Chick-fill-A

Mike Huckabee
(photo from huckpac.com)

Mike Huckabee, whose moment in the sun of possible presidential candidacy faded in Barack Obama's shadow, continues to pursue his social agenda. Some time ago, he started a publishing company whose principal purpose was the production of ideologically sound school textbooks. Today, Huckabee continues to agitate for fanatical Christian right-wing political perspectives. His most recent move, according to today's Washington Post, was to ask people to patronize Chick-fill-A fast food restaurants on August 1st in a show of solidarity with the firm's vocal, homophobic perspectives. Chick-fill-A's president, Dan Cathy, has linked his own opinion to what Cathy asserts are the Bible's insistence on "traditional" marriage and, presumably, traditional sexual relations. Huckabee shares those notions.

What Cathy's and Huckabee's stance is on Mitt Romney's Mormon missionary position remains unknown.

Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson Lands New Job

Scott Thompson

The first of Yahoo's three CEOs for 2012 has found a new job. Scott Thompson, who was forced to leave Yahoo after allegedly misrepresenting his prior employment experience, is now the big banana at ShopRunner. Thompson's new firm provides "shipping perks from a variety of websites," according to a story in today's Mercury News.

Of course, most people who get caught lying about their resume generally don't get rehired a few weeks after the fact. I would think that would be especially true for a highly publicized case, such as Thompson's. However, the former Yahoo boss has many friends in the tech world. He also might be a value pick that ShopRunner's sharp-eyed owner may have plucked from the scrap heap.

Stranger things have happened on the road to reputational rehabilitation.

Will Offshore Tax Havens Be the Bane of Mitt Romney's Candidacy?

Cayman National Bank

For the first time in American political history, the issue of a presidential candidate's offshore bank accounts has emerged into mainstream consideration. Mitt Romney's campaign is already tarred with innuendo that the presumptive GOP presidential candidate's fortune has benefitted from considerable asset allocation into Swiss and Cayman Island banks. His stance on the issue is essentially to dismiss it, ignore it, and discuss how his business acumen may help the nation.

Unfortunately for Romney, capital flight into offshore havens is a growing, and very dirty, issue. It's no secret that Bain Capital's founder and most significant senior management figure made zillions during his tenure at the firm. He probably approved what most extremely wealthy people throughout the world do: they park the money in offshore accounts. The most significant plays in this case are tax avoidance and secrecy.

Romney knows he is in elite company. According to a report in today's online editions of The Observer, the offshore economy can now be measured in the trillions of dollars.  (It wasn't so long ago that a billion dollars was a profound amount of money. How times have changed!) The wealth transfer is simply staggering. The Observer article asserts the amount of offshore money equals the combined GDP of the United States and Japan.

The impact of this flight of wealth is a bi-level global society in which the super-rich, oligarchs, kleptocracy bosses, gangsters, and powerful politicians dodge tax payments while everyone else is left holding the bill for their nations' well-being. With countries in various forms of financial extremis, those keen to rule democratic societies will have to explain how moving personal wealth to offshore accounts positively impacts the country they desire to serve.

Clearly, this angle will be a tough sell for Romney. No wonder Bain Capital's former boss might very well view offshore tax havens as the bane of his political ambitions.

Wallenda Dunned for Niagara Falls Police, Fire Overtime

Wallenda over Niagara.
Any resemblance to Mitt Romney's tax accountant
is purely coincidental.
(photo from the Washington Post)

Nik Wallenda might find walking over Niagara Falls easier than dealing with the eponymous city's political administration. Niagara Falls, NY's mayor is attempting to compel the performer to pay $25,000 for police and fire department overtime services rendered during Wallenda's recent tightrope act over the world's most famous waterfall. According to a story in today's online edition of The New York Times, the dispute has become increasingly contentious, with the city wanting cash and Wallenda offering the benefits of free publicity.

Niagara Falls could use plenty of both. Instead, it's cash poor and generating the wrong kind of publicity. Why the city administration can't simply bask in the glory of Wallenda's stunt is puzzling. That would be too simple and too sensible. Instead, the mayor is hounding Wallenda for a sum equal to the price of a cheap new car. There must be better things to do.