What’s the Mission?
Cash for Clunkers is about to end (again). This fall, the U.S. is scheduled for a program of cash rebates for purchase of energy-efficient appliances, which of course is now being dubbed “Cash for Appliances,” even though it barely resembles Cash for Clunkers and has been done before. It’s simple, really. People who buy new [...]
What do you think about this sugar shortage business? Here’s what AOL’s Walletpop blog is reporting: On Aug. 5, General Mills, Hershey Co, Mars Inc., and Kraft Foods alerted Thomas J. Vilsak, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, of their combined forecast of low sugar supplies. These food companies warned that if the [...]
The current U.S. health care system isn’t working. The health care reform bill under consideration now might help, or it might be too little too late. Many countries use a single-payer system, which sounds good. The government collects taxes. The government pays for health care. The people pay nothing (aside from the taxes) or minimal [...]
With the new national jobless rate at 9.5%, critics are saying that President Obama’s economic stimulus package isn’t working. That’s highly debatable. It could be that it’s really not working. It could be that the federal stimulus is keeping things from being much, much worse. I’m not sure how you’d measure that. Regardless of this [...]
If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably not surprised to find that I don’t shop at Wal-Mart. It’s not just some knee-jerk reaction for me, though. I know Wal-Mart has changed or improved some of their environmental and human resources practices. I know people who work there and have no problems. I know people who [...]
I just read this amazing post by Portland’s Rick Turoczy, the Silicon Florist. In the post, he explains why he spent $4000 attending free tech events last year (Silicon Florist sponsored several events put on by the Legion of Tech and others). Some people have asked me “What’s the ROI of that investment?”, “How many [...]
I’m getting really tired of reading articles about how to save money, tighten your belt, etc., because of the recession. Every article pretends to have new, useful information for you, and every one has the same tired old shit that I’ve been doing for years (or at least they’re ideas that I considered and discarded [...]
I’m at home with a sick little girl for the second day in a row. It’s nothing serious; she’s got a fever, cough, and runny nose, just enough to keep her home and away from other children at day care. Fortunately, I do have plenty of sick leave from my job that I can use [...]
