You have seen the articles here about the problems with renewable energy subsidies and the destruction of American solar energy companies due to Chinese dumping. Remember that dumping happens when foreign companies sell product below cost to decimate the competition or when said foreign government illegally subsidizes the industry to artificially change the market in their favor.
Finally some good news today that the United States government is moving on the topic of the solar panel dumping. The Commerce Department has announced a 31% tariff on all Chinese solar cells which make up solar panels. This new tariff is on top of the measly 2.9-4.7% tariff imposed in March of 2012.
The problem is that the new import tax will not take effect until fall. It is hard to say how many of the remaining few U.S. companies will remain by then. The good news for the deficit is that there was approximately $3.1 billion in Chinese panels imported in 2011 which would make for nearly $1 billion in taxes.
And for those who complain this will increase the cost to implement a solar system on your home or business: greater than 50% of the cost of a solar system is labor, losing tens of thousands of jobs to China costs in many ways in our country and communities, and a fair marketplace ensures greater stability and thus investment for businesses.
This week on Ethan Bearman's Smoke-Filled World: Is it time to end stop the physical and financial bloodletting of the war on drugs? Many people say it is, including our guest this week, Mason Tvert, with the "Campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol".
We'll also look at the week in review, as the Federal government admits it has a plan to attack Iran, Newsweek Calls Obama the first 'gay' president and a 9 year old setting the Westboro Baptist Church straight.
Listen to Ethan Bearman's Smoke-filled World 6-8 p.m. every Sunday on AM 1080, KSCO Streaming online athttp://www.ksco.com/
Our country has made zero progress since President Nixon coined the term “war on drugs” in 1971. Yet, somehow, we have spent more than $1 trillion total.
Pres. Obama’s administration has stopped using the term “war on drugs,” but, obviously, it is still going on. And, said war is still happily bleeding our federal budget.
Clearly, throwing money at the problem isn’t helping.
It is time to figure out how to effectively legalize, tax, and regulate some of the illicit drugs, namely marijuana, just like we do with alcohol and tobacco.
Almost without exception, the drugs that are illegal are unhealthy and highly addictive. So why would I advocate ending the war?
Look at the huge, international criminal cartels the so-called “war on drugs” has created. Tens of thousands of people each year are dying brutal, horrible, violent deaths just across the border in Mexico and down into Central and South America.
Just this week, 49 mutilated bodies were found by the side of a highway near Monterrey, Mexico. The killings are thought to be drug-related.
And, they aren’t just killing rival cartel members. Innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire.
Do you think that might contribute to a surge in illegal immigration? People crossing our borders, desperate to get away from the atrocities happening in their homeland?
Our government also sends Drug Enforcement Agency agents to fight these cartels in foreign countries. As you may recall, a drug cartel member killed one of our immigration and customs-enforcement agents in Mexico last year.
The New York Times has an exposé that uncovers the fact that we are sending DEA commandos into Honduras where they are engaging in firefights with smugglers. Let’s not lose more American lives while killing locals in foreign countries.
In California, drug and arms cartels are destroying huge sections of state and national forests to cultivate the marijuana crop domestically instead of smuggling it across border. Oh yes, and if you happen to be hiking and you stumble across one of the fields, you are likely to be shot and killed by an armed guard.
And it isn’t just foreign criminals.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. In 2009 alone, of the 1.6 million criminal arrests, around one-sixth was for drug violations. Half of those arrests were marijuana-related – a drug many argue is far less harmful than alcohol.
What about drug use-rates in the past 20 years? Has the war made a difference?
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, eighth-graders and high school sophomores and seniors in the United States are using as much marijuana today as in the early 1980s.
The National Criminal Justice Reference Service claims an estimated 12.8 million Americans, about six percent of the household population aged 12 and older, use illegal drugs on a current basis (within the past 30 days).
As the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Why are we acting insane and expecting different results after spending over $1 trillion?
Didn’t we learn anything from prohibition? Why do we continue to make the same mistakes?
As with alcohol, legalizing some drugs is the only thing that makes sense. Let’s start with marijuana and study the consequences. Then, we can decide a rational course of action and take it from there.
Airline Industry behemoth American Airlines is in serious trouble. American's parent company, AMR Corporation, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last fall, could be facing a hostile takeover.
The bankruptcy was preceded by the majority of the competition, namely Delta and United, merging smaller competitors into bigger, stronger airlines with lower cost structures.
American claims its cost structure is too high and they need the reorganization opportunity to change contracts, thus lowering their costs.
The Transport Workers Union, which represents 26,000 ground workers, said on Tuesday that bargaining units made up of mechanics and stores clerks rejected AMR's last and final contract offer.
Reducing those cost structures turns out to be not so easy, although the judge could impose a new, lower cost contract on the union.
With high fares, even American's hyper-frequent fliers are taking it on the chin. Reports are circulating that American is rescinding the $250,000 - $3 million lifetime AAirpass. What's more, purchasers are being singled out for potential violations.
Adding to the woes of high-paying, first-class customers are the stories from a now-former flight attendant who exposed an American practice of bumping first-class customers back to coach to make room for company executives. That can't be good for attracting new business customers who provide the greatest margin.
As one who flies frequently on many airlines, my own anecdotal evidence shows that American Airlines employees are an unhappy group who reflect their own problems with management onto the paying customer. From grumpy agents, to lifeless flight attendants, to the unavailable service people at the baggage claim, they are an unhappy face to the world.
Worse yet, there are many strong competitors who fly to the same destinations as American. The always popular bus-in-the-sky Southwest Airlines, the upstart and stylish Virgin America, and the sublimely strong Delta Airlines, to name a few, are eager to pick up American's slack.
I don't know how American Airlines can pull out of this tailspin, but alienating the workforce, flying old planes, offering up poor service and making seemingly boneheaded management moves sure paints a bleak picture for future.
First, they nearly caused another Great Depression with the credit crisis of 2008. Now, they are showing us they haven’t learned their lesson. And, they could be in for another spanking from the government.
JPMorgan Chase just announced they placed a $100 billion (that’s ‘billion’ with a ‘B’) hedge bet and as a result, lost at least $2 billion and maybe as much as $5 billion.
A hedge bet is like a bet against an investment. For example, investment banks have been known to bundle and sell a bunch of mortgages in a portfolio, claiming the mortgages are excellent investments. Secretly, the same investment bank hedged and bet that the mortgages would fail. This is one of the most egregious examples of how hedge bets helped fuel the credit crisis.
During the aftermath of the credit crisis, there was an outcry for better regulation to save banks from themselves and, thus, save us from the banks. Lying to investors while betting against them seems unfair by design.
A couple years ago, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank bill, adding new mandates on Wall Street. The bill failed to address hedge bets and a number of other issues that led to the credit crisis in the first place.
What is wrong with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and the board? How can they allow this to happen on their watch?
We found out just now that the head person Ina Drew along with two of her lieutenants, the aptly named Achilles Macris and Javier Martin-Artajo, will resign. The traders who actually committed these sins still have their jobs.
Doesn’t resigning mean they get to keep whatever compensation and severance packages they have in their employment contracts?
Shamefully, it does.
Shareholders should be screaming from the rooftops for all parties involved to be summarily dismissed. It is time for shareholder activists to rise up and demand change, to demand reform from within, and to demand the banks behave responsibly to ensure long-term financial stability and success.
It is time for Dimon and the board to think hard about how to prevent this from ever happening again. Or, they and the rest of the industry better brace for more government regulation, such as the Volcker Rule (legislation that separates investment banking, private equity and hedge fund sections of financial institutions from their consumer-lending arms).
According to the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, and the Washington Times, among others, Ron Paul is ending his participation in further primaries. That means his campaign is over. This move does not mean he will not actively participate and influence the Republican National Convention with his delegates. He simply was save the remaining dollars from the $36 million he raised for future campaining, remaining costs, or other moves.
Look for his participation at the national convention. It shall be interesting to watch and see what unfolds...
In case you missed either of the last two shows on KSCO AM 1080 or would like to hear them again: they are now uploaded and available for your listening pleasure!
The May 6th show with Dr. Kevin Gutzman, author of James Madison and the Making of America is available here.
The May 13th show with Robert Spencer, author of Did Muhammad Exist? is available here.
This week on Ethan Bearman's Smoke-Filled World, we'll be talking to New York Times best-selling author and Director of Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer, about his latest book, Did Muhammad Exist: An Inquiry Into Islam's Obscure Origins
Join Ethan for the latest in news, politics, science, and more KSCO 1080 AM - streaming http://ksco.smrn.com:9000 Sundays 6 to 8 p.m. Pacific time
Who wants to open a business in California? Apparently, nobody.
According to the latest issue of Chief Executive Magazine, California ranks dead last on its list of best states for business in 2012.
The article states: “California continues to head in the wrong direction as its tax policies will drive more businesses and people to relocate in other states. State politicians feel business and commerce are ‘necessary evils’ that provide the funds to enable pursuit of their misguided agendas.
“California government is difficult to work with and very bureaucratic. Taxes and regulation are high and unruly.”
Outside of Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and the Central Valley/Napa agriculture, there is no reason to be optimistic.
Worse yet, tech companies such as Apple are opening big, new offices in places like Austin. The article ranks Texas best for private business for 2012.
Hollywood is doing more and more filming in places such as Vancouver, B.C., where there are incentive programs in place to attract television and movie studios.
Agriculture in California is suffering as well due to the never-ending water challenges. One year there is plenty of water for the farm fields and the next year there is very little. That type of uncertainty makes it difficult to plan a farm operation.
In smaller towns such as Salinas, Capital One just announced the closing of an 850-person credit card call center with the jobs moving to low-tax, business-friendly Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Why should you care?
Because businesses pay a lot of taxes, that’s why. And, the people who work for those businesses pay a lot of taxes.
You should care because the California Legislative Analyst’s Office just released a report stating that tax revenues are more than $3 billion below projections. California already faced a budget shortfall of more than $9 billion. Now, the other $3 billion missing will more than likely result in budget cuts.
California already houses over one-third of all welfare recipients in the United States and has the largest percentage of people working for the government.
So, between a fleeing business community which provides the tax revenue, and the huge amount of expenses the state faces, what should be done?
California needs to lower business taxes, reduce the red tape to operate, and begin to rein in spending.
Too bad politicians are more interested in re-election than tackling the real issues.
Facebook has added 100-million users in the past year and ad revenue has grown. But, according to the Wall Street Journal and the Atlantic Wire, advertisers are not happy.
If you place value on a company at 33 times its annual ad revenue, but the advertisers aren’t happy, what are you going to end up with? A stock that goes down and not up, that’s what.
Advertisers claim that Facebook does not provide them with detailed analytics. Another set of advertising agencies claim that there is nobody to answer their calls when they want to spend $10 million on an ad campaign.
Facebook really doesn’t differentiate or care whether an advertiser wants to spend $1,000 or $1 million? What a poor business practice! They could face a problem next week and in the future with the stock market reacting badly when their advertising revenue fails to impress.
I think the premise of Facebook is excellent but their execution has always left me wanting more. They constantly release new tools and interfaces in an effort to make the site more enticing to trap the user inside their walls. The problem is that those constant changes are totally confusing to the user.
Worse yet, with the new news feed, I no longer see all my friends’ posts and have found no easy way to see everything again. I am a reasonably savvy user and I have trouble navigating this site. What about the unsavvy masses?
Facebook will not be the next Google. Facebook is not innovative or broad enough to continually expand their offerings in a way that generates money. Facebook has more in common with MySpace and that site’s gyrations.
And, like MySpace, Facebook seems destined to jump the same shark.
This week on Ethan Bearman's Smoke-Filled World, we'll be talking to New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Kevin R.C.Gutzman, about his latest book, James Madison and the Making of America.
And, my producer, radio veteran Karisa Rowland, will join me to hash out the latest in news, politics, science, and more . . .
The repulsive stench of it wafts intrusively past my nose as I stand on a noisy, windy corner of a dirty street. And, all I can do is hold my breath and wait for the light to change so I can get away from it.
Ughhh.
And where is it coming from? Yet another driver, sharing with the world that nasty cigarette, dangling from his hand out of the car window. This begs the question: If the driver enjoys smoking so much why not just close the windows and keep the foulness to himself?
Obviously, I abhor cigarette smoke. But, I am against Proposition 29.
Surprised? Here’s why:
Right now, state and local government garners revenue from cigarette taxes. If the state raises taxes even more, smokers will find other places to buy cigarettes – such as Native American reservations or the black market. In either instance, the state gets zero tax revenue. Not to mention the fact that Prop 29 will create yet another unaccountable government agency.
When it comes to the law, so many of us let our emotions rule. And, we shouldn’t. It is one thing to despise a filthy, unhealthy, polluting habit. It’s quite another to encourage misguided government actions to regulate it.
In the April 20th column, “As We See It: Vote yes on 29: tobacco tax measure would save lives, fund research,” the Santa Cruz Sentinel editorial staff makes a classic mistake in logic, that being: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Ask yourself: If the tobacco industry is this scared of Proposition 29, isn't that the best argument for approving the measure? We'd say it is. Vote yes on 29.
Apply the editorial’s logic to, say, gangs. “I don’t like the Norteños. The Norteños don’t like the Sureños. Therefore I must like the Sureños.”
Doesn’t make sense, does it?
Set your emotions aside and look at the facts. Far too often, do-gooder government policies have unintended, negative consequences.
I grew up in Minnesota. When the state government there decided to hike cigarette prices in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the smokers decided to head to the Native American reservations to buy cigarettes. As a result, the state and federal government lost out on tax revenue, since the reservations have sovereign nation status, making them exempt from those taxes.
Then, there’s the issue of the black markets, which is far worse than losing revenue. This past February, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced it had broken up a ring that smuggled millions of cigarette packs from Virginia to New Jersey, where state officials estimate that bootleg cigarettes make up between one-third and one half of the market.
Great. Now we are inadvertently supporting organized crime while losing tax money at the same time.
It would be easy for me to vote for Prop 29. I don’t smoke and I don’t like it when others smoke. But that selfish attitude toward a government policy leads us to unproductive taxes.
For example, look at Proposition 63 from 2004. On my talk show, Ethan Bearman’s Smoke-Filled World, this last week we discussed mental illness and involuntary commitment in California. Proposition 63 raised taxes on millionaires, generating $7.4 billion of revenue. But the people the money was intended to benefit are no better off now than they were before Prop 63 became law.
Another problem with Proposition 29 is how the money is to be spent. Please read the proposition for yourself in its entirety, not just the talking points that supporters spoon feed the public.
When you do, you will see there in some really shocking problems. For example, even though California has anti-smoking initiatives in place, Prop 29 would create another bureaucracy which is unaccountable to the public with six unelected political appointees who have a $15 million annual budget.
The CEO of said agency would be exempt from civil-service requirements regarding hiring process and pay scale. Worse yet, the CEO would have the power to “. . . establish and appoint such committees and advisory bodies as it deems necessary and appropriate to carry out its duties.”
That’s right, folks. No oversight, no auditing, no boundaries.
This is how we end up with lavish parties in Las Vegas wasting taxpayers’ money. Furthermore, the proposition doesn’t limit spending money to within California. It allows the money to be spent anywhere. It also allows 15 percent of the money to be spent on buildings and zero money to be spent on helping actual cancer patients.
You may have heard that Google has announced a new product called Google Drive. It is a "cloud" based storage service that allows access to your documents from nearly any internet connected PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android device. It is a direct threat and competitor to existing services like DropBox, SugarSync, etc. The hook they give the user is 5GB of free storage for files along with native viewing support of 30+ file types thus alleviating the need to install software like Adobe Photoshop to view a native file.
With all of this neat stuff being offered from a company that claims a tagline of "Don't Be Evil", why worry? From the Google Terms of Service dated March 1, 2012 (emphasis mine): When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing you have added to Google Maps). Some Services may offer you ways to access and remove content that has been provided to that Service. Also, in some of our Services, there are terms or settings that narrow the scope of our use of the content submitted in those Services. Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services.
There you have it. Even though you own the content Google has inserted many loopholes allowing them use of your content. Do you really want to hand over your documents to Google who may "communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content?" I sure don't.
There is one way around this that is nearly unuseable for even a savvy computer user. Encrypt your documents inside of a multi-factor encrypted container using software like TrueCrypt.
My recommendation is to not use Google Drive for anything you wouldn't broadcast publicly anywhere else while those Terms of Service are in effect. Try one of the other services or just use a USB thumb drive (encrypted of course for sensitive data) for carrying around a backup.
This week on Ethan Bearman's Smoke-Filled World we'll talk to renowned agribusiness author and professor Keith Woodford of Lincoln University in New Zealand. He says that glass of milk you're drinking could be harming you.
Fact filled, informative, emotional show last night discussing mental illness, involuntary commitment laws, and treatment of military veterans. Download now or listen online! http://goo.gl/3eoSU
Should race be a factor when a jury decides a case? Of course not! Equality under the eyes of the law, the concept of blind justice, is critical to our nation's judicial system. And Marcus Reymond Robinson, who was convicted in 1994 of murdering a white 17-year-old during a robbery, will now face a life in prison without parole instead of death. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cumberland County Judge Gregory A. Weeks ruled that the jury in Mr. Robinson's case acted with racial bias. North Carolina enacted The Racial Justice Act in 2009 after the convictions of several black men, all of whom ended up on death row, were overturned after errors in their cases were brought to light.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to "a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." Some of the most significant decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court controlling jury composition, moreover, have been based not on the Sixth Amendment but on the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection of the laws."
This is where the concept of a jury of one's peers comes into play. If a poor, black man committed murder but the jury was a bunch of white suburbanites, how is that an impartial jury if they see him as a murderous black man upon entering the courtroom?
It is curious how the judge came to the conclusion in this case, however. Did he interview the jurors? Did he do background checks to see if they ever belonged to racist or supremacist organizations?
I have served jury duty on a murder trial and was somewhat a peer. Should I ever be falsely accused of a crime I too would want and impartial jury made up of people that are impartial...
Are we looking at another case of do-gooders slowly taking away our civil rights? Or, does California's mental health commitment law lack the teeth some believe it needs to make the law truly effective? A task force is recommending California make the laws easier to have people involuntarily committed. This Sunday, April 22nd, we'll tackle the issue head-on with guests Randall Hagar, California Psychiatric Association's director of government affairs and Disability Rights California Attorney Dan Brzovic. Stay in the loop!
Catch Ethan Bearman's Smoke-Filled World 6-8 p.m. Pacific Sundays on KSCO AM 1080, streaming online at http://ksco.smrn.com:9000
Call and participate 831.479.1080 or email eb at ksco.com
