Save the planet … eat Fluffy !

One View: “Everyone should work out their own environmental impact. I should be allowed to say that I walk instead of using my car and that I don’t eat meat, so why shouldn’t I be allowed to have a little cat to alleviate my loneliness?”

And, another …

* * * * *
Excerpted from AFP: Polluting pets: the devastating impact of man’s best friend,  Dec 20, 2009

According to the book “Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living”, man’s best friend could be one of the environment’s worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.

A medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.

Combine the land required to generate its food and a “medium” sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) — around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4×4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car.

“Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat.”

Other animals aren’t much better for the environment.

Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year.

“If pussy is scoffing ‘Fancy Feast’ — or some other food made from choice cuts of meat — then the relative impact is likely to be high.” 

“If, on the other hand, the cat is fed on fish heads and other leftovers from the fishmonger, the impact will be lower.”

Two hamsters equate to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones.

And pets’ environmental impact is not limited to their carbon footprint, as cats and dogs devastate wildlife, spread disease and pollute waterways, the Vales say.

With a total 7.7 million cats in Britain, more than 188 million wild animals are hunted, killed and eaten by feline predators per year, or an average 25 birds, mammals and frogs per cat.

Likewise, dogs decrease biodiversity in areas they are walked, while their feces cause high bacterial levels in rivers and streams, making the water unsafe to drink, starving waterways of oxygen and killing aquatic life.

And cat poop can be even more toxic than doggy doo — owners who flush their litter down the toilet ultimately infect sea otters and other animals with toxoplasma gondii, which causes a killer brain disease.

As with buying a car, humans are also encouraged to take the environmental impact of their future possession/companion into account.

But the best way of compensating for that paw or clawprint is to make sure your animal is dual purpose, the Vales urge. Get a hen, which offsets its impact by laying edible eggs, or a rabbit, prepared to make the ultimate environmental sacrifice by ending up on the dinner table.

“Rabbits are good, provided you eat them.”

Full article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091220/lf_afp/lifestyleclimatewarminganimalsfood

* * * * *

Thanks to Coop for stringing the lead

Going for the capillaries (and not the jugular): Nailing the tanning salons

There was an interview on one of the biz shows yesterday — a poor stiff who owned a couple of tanning salons.

They guys was pale .  (Pardon the pun) 

He said: “life savings in the salons … eeking out a living … getting slammed by the recession since tanning is as discretionary as spending gets … was stunned to hear about the 10% tax … will probably have to shut down”

When asked “Were your lobbyists asleep at the switch?”, he answered “Are you kidding, what lobbyists?”

Maybe it’s a good idea to shut down tanning salons — frankly, I don’t have a point of view on that one.

But, raises a couple of questions:

1) How much tax revenue will be raised via the tanning salon tax if all the tanning salons close?

2) Is it right for the full force of the government to come down on a piddly business like tanning salons?

3) Why not tatoo parlors?  Or, funnel cake stands?  Or, (fill in the blank)

Hands off Wall Street, big insurance, big pharma, etc., but nail the tanners … Geez.

Scratch your head before clicking thru to any of these sites …

From a compendium of the worst unintentional website url addresses:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…
www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:
www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always
www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is
www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:
www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
www.gotahoe.com

* * * * *
Source article:
http://independentsources.com/2006/07/12/worst-company-urls/

Thanks to Butchy for stringing the lead.

Why can't Americans make things? Two words: business school

Excerpted from The New Republic, Upper Mismanagement: Why can’t Americans make things? Two words: business school, December 18, 2009

The business schools had their own incentives to channel students into high-paying fields like finance, thanks to the rising importance of school rankings, which heavily weighted starting salaries. The career offices at places like Harvard, Stanford, and Chicago institutionalized the process—for example, by making it easier for Wall Street outfits and consulting firms to recruit on campus.

A recent Harvard Business School case study about General Electric shows that the company had so much trouble competing for MBAs that it decided to woo top graduates from non-elite schools rather than settle for elite-school graduates in the bottom half or bottom quarter of their classes.

No surprise then that, over time, the faculty and curriculum at the Harvards and Stanfords of the world began to evolve. “If you look at the distribution of faculty at leading business schools, they’re mostly in finance. …  Business schools are responsive to changes in the external environment.”

Which meant that, even if a student aspired to become a top operations man (or woman) at a big industrial company, the infrastructure to teach him didn’t really exist.

In fairness, all that financial expertise we’ve been churning out hasn’t been a complete waste (much as it may seem that way today).

Many of the financial restructurings of the ‘80s and ‘90s made the economy more efficient and competitive.

Likewise, it would be ludicrous to suggest that simply changing the culture of business schools would single-handedly revive U.S. manufacturing. 

But, it’s hard to believe that American manufacturing has a chance of recovering unless business schools start producing people who can run industrial companies, not just buy and sell their assets. And we’re pretty far away from that point today.

Full post:
http://www.tnr.com/article/economy/wagoner-henderson?page=0,1

* * * * *

Thanks to Laj for the lead

Wal-mart and Amazon put a bullseye on Target.

TakeAway:  Wal-mart, Amazon, and Target didn’t want to just lose money on books, they decided to lose money on DVDs too. 

The latest price wars to lure consumers during the holidays may cause irreversible long-term damage.

* * * * *

Excerpted from WSJ, “Online Price War Moves to DVDs As Discounters Compete for Sales,” By Miguel Bustillo and Ann Zimmerman, November 6, 2009

Wal-Mart extended its holiday price war into new territory Thursday by slashing online prices on 10 hotly anticipated DVDs … to $10.

Within hours, Amazon and Target matched some of Wal-Mart’s online prices on pre-orders of the DVDs, and Wal-Mart lowered its price by a penny to $9.99, reprising the scuffle that broke out last month when Wal-Mart launched an aggressive $10 book promotion …

Like the book war … the DVD battle resulted in prices that guaranteed the retailers would lose money on the movies. However, promotions to sell new movie releases close to or below cost in order to drive customer traffic are already common in retailing …

Though Wal-Mart, Amazon and Target always compete feverishly with aggressively priced promotions, the latest skirmishes, heading into a holiday season in which recession-scarred consumers are searching for bargains, have been especially cutthroat.

Despite involving just a handful of titles, the book war aroused strong passions in the publishing industry. Some worried that it would set troublesome new customer expectations on bestseller prices and even affect the amount of future advances publishers could afford to pay writers.

The American Booksellers Association last month asked the Department of Justice to determine if it constituted “illegal predatory pricing,” arguing independent book stores wouldn’t be able to compete.

The book prices were so low that the retailers placed limits on the number of copies customers could purchase.

Edit by TJS

* * * * *

Full Article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704013004574518210171023536.html#mod=todays_us_marketplace

* * * * *

Key provisions of the Senate healthcare bill ..

Below is the WSJ’s summary.

Big deals:

• Roughly $50 billion per year each from tax increases and Medicare cuts
• Massive expansion of Medicaid … estimated 1/2 of the newly insured
• Roughly 10 million “young healthies” who self-insure mandated to buy insurance
• .9% increase in Medicare taxes if over $250,000
• Excise tax on Cadillac insurance plans (except for longshoremen)
• $10 billion for community health centers

Ken’s Favorite: 10% tax on tanning salons

Pay-offs for votes:

• Nebraska, Louisiana, Vermont and Massachusetts are getting more federal help with Medicaid than other states. In the case of Nebraska — represented by Sen. Ben Nelson, who’s providing the critical 60th vote for the legislation to pass — the federal government is picking up 100 percent of the tab of a planned expansion of the program, in perpetuity.
• Florida’s beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage plans — the private managed-care plans within Medicare —  will have their benefits grandfathered in thanks to a provision tailored by Sen. Bill Nelson.
• Longshoremen were added to the list of workers in high-risk professions who are shielded from the full impact of a proposed new tax on high-value insurance plans.

 From the WSJ: 

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-enlargePic07.html?project=imageShell07&bigImage=wsj_healthpol091220.gif&h=569&w=959&title=WSJ.COM&thePubDate=20080826

Can't blame Bush for this one …

The politics of healthcare reform are simply amazing. 

Over 3/4s of Americans are reasonably satisfied with their healthcare insurance and the healthcare they receive — and they expect taxes to go up, insurance premiums to go up, and healthcare to get worse with longer waits and more denied services. 

Still, the Senate passed — on a straight party line vote — a law that roughly 2 out of 3 Americans oppose. 

Now they — the Democrats in general and Pres. Obama specifically — “own” the healthcare system.  Rightly or wrongly, every premium increase, every delayed doctor’s appointment, every service denied, etc., will be chalked up to ObamaCare.  Turnabout is fair play !

* * * * *
Excerpted from RCP: Democrats Risk Another Jacksonian Moment, December 21, 2009

Democratic leaders are courting disaster with this health care bill. With it, they’ve moved their questionable wheelings and dealings from the margins to the center of American life. Consider some of the special deals:

– Nebraska, Louisiana, Vermont and Massachusetts are getting more federal help with Medicaid than other states. In the case of Nebraska — represented by Sen. Ben Nelson, who’s providing the critical 60th vote for the legislation to pass — the federal government is picking up 100 percent of the tab of a planned expansion of the program, in perpetuity.

– Florida’s beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage plans — the private managed-care plans within Medicare —  will have their benefits grandfathered in thanks to a provision tailored by Sen. Bill Nelson.

– Longshoremen were added to the list of workers in high-risk professions who are shielded from the full impact of a proposed new tax on high-value insurance plans.

We might be on the verge of another Jacksonian moment: a time when the people awake from their slumber, angrily exercise their sovereign authority, and mercilessly fire the leaders who have for too long catered to the elites rather than average people.

In true Jacksonian fashion, the country fired the Republicans in 2006 and 2008 because they bungled the war in Iraq and allowed the economy to sink into recession.

The people might soon have another Jacksonian moment, and fire these equally useless Democrats for hampering the recovery, exploding the deficit, and playing politics with health care.

The fact that the President can’t find a single Republican vote out of more than 200 potential supporters is a strong indication that this is a bad bill.

Ben Nelson sits in the middle of the Senate. He could be a Democrat or a Republican. If he were a Republican, but everything else about him were the same, would he have voted for this? Of course not. That should tell you everything you need to know about this bill: partisanship and pay-offs. 

Full article:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2009/12/democrats_risk_another_jackson_1.html

What's the best part of this story? … "Drunk 4-Year-Old Steals Christmas Presents"

Here are the choices:

1. Beer in hand
2. Wearing a dress
3. Dad in jail
4. Safety devices on doors
5. Jacked the presents
6. “An honest mistake
7. Add your own …

* * * * *

Source: WTVC-TV, Chattanooga, Tenn.,  December 16, 2009

A 4-year-old boy, beer in hand, is accused of stealing Christmas presents from his neighbors.

April Wright, 21 years old, is currently going through a divorce with her husband who is in jail. 

She says she is not sure how her 4-year-old managed to get out of the house, open a beer, and steal the neighbors presents from under their tree. 

Now she’s just glad he’s okay and says she won’t let it happen again.

The child, Hayden, was found at 1:45 am Tuesday, wandering the streets of his neighborhood.  In a police reports, officers said he was wearing a little girl’s dress and drinking a beer. The police report says the child had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for alcohol consumption.

Wright says she woke up that night at 1:45 am and panicked when she discovered Hayden was gone.  She says she put safety devices on all the doors so her kids couldn’t get out, but Hayden was able to break the safety device off the doorknob and get outside.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office report says Hayden rang the doorbell a few houses down and the neighbor answered, finding the child holding a partially consumed 12-ounce beer.

But it doesn’t stop there. The report said Hayden then snuck into a neighbor’s house through an unlocked front door, and stole five wrapped Christmas gifts.  One was a girl’s brown dress which Hayden was wearing when police found him.

“Kids do things like this and it’s out of your control. You can do the best you can as a mother, but everyone makes mistakes. It was an honest mistake,” Wright said.

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/year-987196-old-christmas.html

Thanks to Lo for stringing the lead

Avatar … a guaranteed hit … well, maybe not "guaranteed".

TakeAway:  Success in the movie industry is a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. 

Movie houses must spend money on marketing in order for consumers to know about the movie; however, movie houses do not want to spend too much money on marketing because it eats into their profits. 

Now, the movie industry has access to ratings based on buzz and word-of-mouth ratings to help inform its ongoing marketing investments and gauge the potential success of a movie.

* * * * *

Excerpted from WSJ, “‘Avatar’ Seeks Out a Mega-Audience,” By Lauren A.E. Schuker and Ethan Smith, December 11, 2009

Market research suggests mixed levels of interest among potential audiences for the extravagant 3-D sci-fi picture “Avatar,” raising the stakes for the backers of one of the most expensive movies ever made.

Twentieth Century Fox says it is counting on strong word-of-mouth and positive reviews from critics to recoup its investment in the movie, which hits theaters next Friday.

The film, which uses pioneering 3-D technology and computer graphics, is one of the most highly anticipated releases to come out of Hollywood in years.

But production costs on “Avatar” … are likely to exceed $300M … Fox is spending around $150 million more on marketing the movie globally …

 

That means that the movie has to be nothing short of a mega-blockbuster in order to make its money back. As a result, there’s hyperfocus on the latest advance research, or “tracking,” of potential audiences.

Nielsen’s tracking data … indicate that “Avatar” is hewing closely to patterns established by successful films …

 

While male audiences are showing increased interest and awareness in “Avatar,” female moviegoers are less enthusiastic, with negative attitudes toward the film growing among women under 25.

One distinct bright spot for “Avatar” is that many key metrics—including “unaided awareness” of the movie—have improved as the movie’s release date approaches …

Studios use tracking research, which polls domestic audiences on their awareness of and interest in seeing movies, in order gauge the effectiveness of marketing efforts. The data can be helpful in forecasting a given movie’s opening weekend performance. But predicting a movie’s ultimate box office total is much more difficult.

If a film generates strong word-of-mouth buzz and positive reviews from critics, it can often outperform early estimates …

In some areas, the Nielsen research … shows “Avatar” coming in below similar sci-fi action movies. For instance, roughly a week before release, the data show audiences are demonstrating slightly less “definite interest” in the film than they did at the same point with “Iron Man,” which grossed nearly $100 million opening weekend and more than $300 million at the domestic box office.

“Avatar” is currently scoring slightly behind 2007’s “Transformers” in the crucial “unaided awareness” category. “Transformers” took in $70 million on its opening weekend.

In comparison, tracking data for the movie “2012,” released last month, showed strong interest among both women and men. That film went on to gross $150 million in the U.S. and more than three times that internationally.

“Tracking is light for a title of this magnitude,” says Jeff Bock, a box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, referring to “Avatar.”

That said, Mr. Bock adds, “If the reviews are good, that will help encourage older audiences that aren’t quite sold on 3-D yet…. Then you can get that older demographic to see the film, that’s what Fox and Jim Cameron need to make this a hit across the board.”

In the first U.S. review of “Avatar,” posted online Thursday evening, the Hollywood Reporter raved, predicting “Fox will see more than enough grosses world-wide to cover its bet on Cameron.”

Edit by TJS

* * * * *

Full Article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704193004574588421216055200.html

* * * * *

About the Cadillac excise tax …

Ken’s Take: I’m a big fan of the so-called Cadillac tax — not because it hacks off the unions (that’s a lucky strike by-product) — but because it it about the only vehicle being discussed that might contain some healthcare costs. 

In fact, I’m an advocate of putting all company paid premiums on W-2s and then allowing taxpayers reasonable deductions for health insurance premiums (say, $5,000 per person).

And, as a political junkie, I love when WH spokepeople contradict each other, e.g. Summers: recession is over”, Romer: “no, it’s not”.  Here’s another example …

* * * * * *

Excerpted from WSJ: White House v. White House,  Dec.18, 2009 

The ad hoc arguments that WH spokesmen use to put out one healthcare political fire invariably contradict those they’re using to put out another.

Among labor’s complaints is a 40% excise tax on high-cost insurance plans, given that union-negotiated benefits are more generous than average.

So Jason Furman, the deputy economic director, declared that this so-called Cadillac tax “will affect only a small portion of the very highest cost health plans — a total of 3% of premiums in 2013.”

But wait: White House budget director Peter Orszag has been emphasizing the excise tax as critically important in the cost-control stone soup that he’s been trying to sell.

As he put it earlier this month, “You’re creating an incentive for plans for employers to design their plans in such a way that they’re under that threshold. . . . You’re creating an incentive to slow the growth rate in private health costs.”

So a tax that applies to 3% of premiums is going to reshape the entire health-care market? These guys can’t even get their blog posts straight.

The White House brain trust seems to have been placed in a blind trust, and is finding it so hard to make a coherent case.

* * * * *

Mr. Furman used to advocate policies that really would make a difference, by “helping consumers become more cost conscious about their health-care choices,” as he put it in a 2007 Brookings paper. He estimated that increasing cost-sharing could lower total health spending from 13% to 30%.

Full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704238104574602191760050978.html?mod=djemEditorialPage