Date posted: February 1, 2008 - Friday
Title: TW3 02/01/08
Current mood: accomplished
The Ultimate Outsourcing
American business has been sending work overseas for years. Car parts are made in Mexico. Electronics are made in China, Taiwan and Korea. Athletic shoes are made in sweatshops in a myriad of places. Computer help desks and programming have been outsourced to India.
Anywhere they can find cheap labor and materials, business have been sending jobs away from the United States in pursuit of the 'almighty' dollar in profits.
So with this long history of seeking cheap labor, why not extend it to other areas? And what has come about because of this? Exportation of the "womb for rent" 'business'.
Yep, India has entered the surrogate mother business in a big way. It has become a viable industry in that country. So now not only do you call Gupta for computer help, but you hire his sister to have your baby.
And why is this flourishing in India. For the same reason other outsourcing is being done; a wide labor pool working for relatively low rates.
There is a clinic in Anand, India where some 50 women are pregnant with babies for infertile couples in the United States, Taiwan, Britain and other countries. The women acting as surrogates will earn more than they could make in 15 years working in other jobs, but they are still cheaper to 'hire' than women in other countries.
In one instance a woman in the United States was going to pay $80,000 to have a surrogate bear a child here. Her cost in India? $20,000. And this was more expensive than most cases. Most couples at the Anand clinic pay less than $10,000 for in vitro fertilization, medical expenses for the pregnancy and fees to the surrogate.
I guess I can understand the deep desire some of some women to have a child (as much as any man can understand the motivation of women when it comes to motherhood). But the idea of exporting surrogacy strikes me as morally questionable and mainly distasteful.
How low have we sunk when we go this far to satisfy our own urges at the expense (or bargain) of young women in a foreign country?
Can I Have Barbeque Sauce With Mine?
America's "other white meat" is alive and well in Congress.
For all the talk of change in this year's election campaigning the politicians in Washington D.C. are still feeding at the public trough with a vengeance. And their favorite meal is … PORK!
Congress passed an omnibus spending bill in December after less than 24-hours of review. 3,500 pages mostly renewing funding for existing programs. But, as usual, there were some 9,000 "earmarks" buried in the text of the bill.
"Earmarks" are those little 'gifts' Congress gives to itself and its' constituents for pet projects. Earmarks bypass the normal debate process of Congress and are never subject to the give and take review of most legislation. The cost of the earmarks this time?
$7.4 billion.
Some of the highlights …
Olive fruit fly research in France: $213,000.
Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, N.Y. $1.9 million
Fish-waste research in Alaska: $2.3 million
Awning renovations in Roanoke, VA: $250,000
Cormorant control in Vermont, Michigan, Mississippi and New York: $1.2 million
I suspect for all the talk of "change" in politics this election season, the taste for pork will continue in Washington D.C. until the public finally spanks some of these greedy children in Congress.
Haven't I Heard This Song Before?
Another story comes out of the Pentagon that a weapons system for the military isn't living up to its' hype or design specifications. This time it is the V-22 Osprey aircraft and its' associated equipment being made for the Marines.
The plane itself costs $119 million per unit and has been subject of cost overruns, a string of crashes and a watering down of its' specifications. It has been in development for decades and finally the Pentagon has declared most of its' problems have been fixed.
But in 1999 the Marines decided the plane should carry an assault vehicle inside to support ground troops in combat. The vehicle, called the Growler, is a kind of modified dune buggy with a design like Vietnam-era jeeps. It is produced by a company in Robbins, N.C. called Carolina Growler at a cost of $127,000 each.
The contract was awarded to this company over the objections of a selection committee who wanted to work to go to a company in Michigan who could produce a vehicle which was cheaper and technically superior. There are also suspicions about the award because the founder of Carolina Growler is an ex-Marine who has strong ties to Marine headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.
Now comes the word that a Growler, designed to pull a trailer of mortars and ammunition, can't do the job. The trailer has a tendency to bounce and tip over. And there was a report that a Growler not even pulling a trailer tipped over last summer while traveling at 22 miles per hour and trying to avoid a turtle in the road. The president of the company, Bill Crisp, wouldn't discuss the turtle report.
In September the Marines were prepared to award a contract for 66 mortars and trailers and 600 Growlers, but that was stopped by the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Do the math. That's over $76 million not counting the cost of the trailers.)
You would think with things like the debacle of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle in its' history, the Pentagon would have adopted a better system of developing and purchasing weapons systems for the military. But, I guess, these idiots never learn. Too much Good-Old-Boy networking and political shenanigans going on.
So I have a modest proposal. Take the final decisions away from the Pentagon. Let them decide what they want and then let some people who actually know how to run a business be the ones to award contracts and oversee expenditures for weapons development programs. Hopefully we taxpayers can get a better deal for our money and the troops can get the equipment they need.
One More Shot At The NFL
Yeah, yeah, I know. And, no, I am not obsessed with these guys.
But greed and chojones (bad Spanish for balls) just get to me.
A report early this week said tickets for the Super Bowl were going for as much as much as $19,446. Or at least that was the asking price on Stub-Hub the ticket reselling arm of eBay. Average price of ticket re-sales on Stub-Hub was $4,300 on tickets that were face valued by the NFL at $700 or $900. One Patriots fan paid $29,385 for a package of three tickets to the game which includes hotel accommodations, breakfast and transportation to and from the game.
And what was the reaction from the NFL?
"It appears our face value is under priced based on demand and what people are willing to pay," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.
Coming from employment in the concert industry I have an extreme distaste for scalpers. And let's face it, ticket reselling (even if done through a 'legitimate' company) is scalping. But there is money to be made and some states which formerly banned the practice have repealed their laws in the name of commerce. Guess they were tired of not getting their cut from the scalpers.
TicketMaster, which already has a near monopoly on concert and entertainment ticket sales, is also getting into the reselling game. The company recently paid $265 million for TicketsNow, a competitor of Stub-Hub in the 'legitimate' scalping trade.
The Department of Injustice
The purpose of the Department of Justice is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; to administer and enforce the nation's immigration laws fairly and effectively; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.
Well, we can scratch that. Maybe we need a new definition.
This week the Office of Special Council sent a letter to the Attorney General , Michael Mukasey, saying the justice department's inspector general and legal counsel were blocking the investigation into the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. The people at justice think the special counsel should step aside until they complete their "comprehensive internal investigation."
The special counsel responded such an internal investigation could take months and push his investigation to "the very last month's of the administration when there is little hope of any corrective measures or discipline possible."
So, essentially, the Bush Administration Department of Justice is stalling until there is little chance of anyone having to answer for what quite possibly were politically-motivated firings.
Add that to the letter Attorney General Mukasey sent to Congress refusing to say the waterboarding interrogation technique was illegal and you have a Department of Justice that seems little interested in its' stated purpose of providing federal leadership in controlling crime.
Mukasey's reasoning was since the technique isn't being used now, he didn't have to say whether or not it was illegal. I can't figure out if this is another delaying tactic to avoid possible prosecution of people who used the interrogation tactic, or just a refusal to do the job he was appointed to do for fear of angering the President who appointed him.
Whatever the case, it seems the Department of Justice has become more a political animal than a place where the law of the land is upheld and defended.
Time To Get Off The Couch
A study done in England was released this week which says physically active people have cells that look younger on a molecular level than those people called couch potatoes.
Previous studies have shown exercise reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases. This study hoped to show how physical activity brought about those results.
Without getting into a lot of technical details about cell structure, essentially the study said those who performed about 100 minutes of activity per week had cell structures which were equivalent five or six younger than those who performed little exercise.
Guess I'm going to have to back away from the keyboard and start doing something more active. I'm not sure I'm up to the tennis, swimming or running the study talked about, but at least moving more than I do should help.
Economic Stimulus?
The fight is on in Congress over how to stimulate the economy and avoid the Big "R".
While the House overwhelmingly passed a package of tax rebates and economic incentives for business, the Senate was preparing to bog the whole thing down with additions that could scuttle the entire plan. The sticking point seems to be things like extending unemployment benefits and additional food stamp funds the Senate wants to add but which the House avoided.
I'm afraid I have to agree with the critics that say a $600 tax refund to millions of Americans is probably not going to do the job in avoiding a recession. (OK, I said the dreaded word.) That pittance is not going to spark an orgy of spending by consumers.
And, unfortunately, I think it is unlikely Congress will address solutions which would work. Things like permanent job creation and increasing the earning power of the average consumer. It makes too much sense and doesn't meet the political end of looking good while not rocking the boat.
But the way they are proceeding, I doubt Congress will actually get even the pittance done any time soon. There will be debate and wrangling and attempts to make political hay by appearing to be concerned, but they don't seem to be able to do anything in an expeditious manner in Washington D.C.
Why I Hate Elections
Putting the national choices aside, there enough other issues in an election that make the whole thing a pain in the ass.
It would be a lot easier for everyone if you could just get straight information to make a decision. But the chance of getting straight forward information is about as likely as encountering a mastodon walking through your neighborhood. And the worst are the propositions.
I can only speak for California because that is where I have lived all my voting life, but I would imagine the process is the same everywhere. Things get entirely too convoluted when it comes to voting for propositions in this state. And it starts with the ballot language. There is this tendency to write these things so they are impossible to read and understand. Sometimes it is so baroque you actually have to vote "no" in order to say yes to something.
The 'hot' issue in our election this coming Tuesday is Indian Gaming.
Four of the largest tribes in California have signed agreements with the state which allow some expansion of slot machines and make some provisions for the amount of revenue which is paid to the state. Now those agreements are up to the voters to approve or not. Exactly how much of each of these things (machines and money) are involved depends on whose propaganda who believe. And thereby hangs the tale.
Those in favor of the four agreements point out revenues to the state would be $9 billion over the next 20 years. They also point out revenues from the casinos would be shared with other tribes who do not have gambling on their reservations.
The people against the propositions say there is no guarantee the state would get all the money and the number of slot machines involved would be a major increase. They also complain money wouldn't be given to education and there isn't a provision that gives casino workers benefits.
Who's telling the truth? I have no idea. And that causes me a problem.
I am pretty much in favor of Indian Gaming. Hell, we stole Manhattan from them and then marched westward stealing every piece of land worth a damn and sticking them in reservations. If they have a way to make some money now and take care of themselves I say hell yes, let them have it.
But when there is a lot of money involved, everyone has their hand out. The state wants a big cut because there is a budget crisis. The funding against the propositions seems to be coming from one Vegas casino and two California race tracks. It seems to be their ox that is being gored when the Indians make a buck or two. And groups like teachers, firemen and others have their hand out because the casino agreements don't necessarily give them any money.
So now the voters are forced to make the decision of Solomon regarding gaming. It is a hard call without some definitive information and a whole lot of money is being wasted in television ads and printed mailings that could be put to much better use.
See why I hate this process?
Death of An 'Institution'
Esquire magazine announced in the February issue it is discontinuing its' yearly Dubious Achievement Awards after 46 years.
I used to look forward to these each year. Just like I used to look forward to the Bum Steer awards from Texas Monthly magazine There were always some biting, sarcastic comments about people and events and the top award 'winner' was fun to see.
In typical fashion for Esquire, the announcement itself was done tongue in cheek. There was a "special edition of Clue" where readers could pick the one who killed the awards. There were fake headlines announcing the death of the awards. There was even a single-elimination playoff to pick the 'winner' between dubious achievements and the Bush Administration.
But the highlight was the final Dubious Achievement Award winner of all time. It was …
"You"
Or so Esquire says. To quote the magazine, "Yes, you and your You Tubes and wikis and Twitters and vacation blogs, you with your taste for the lurid and the insane, you and your pathetic voting record (Nixon? Bush? Jordin Sparks?). You are our inspiration and champion-- our final Dubious Person of the Year."
Guess Esquire doesn't care much for the Internet.
