Curt Views

Super Bowl: Super Message

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:29:49 PST

I was thinking of more than just football while watching the game last Sunday. I was thinking: America is good at free enterprise. Any country that can play a football game and have 97 million people watch it on TV is doing something right. The advertisements are so entertaining that people watch for the commercials as well as the game. Talk about capitalism.

Recently, Paul Krugman wrote an editorial for the New York Times titled, “America is Not Yet LostSee Editorial.” I felt the tone reflected a certain hopelessness about America’s future that is becoming all too prevalent.

The Super Bowl was a non-literary counterpoint to this idea. Maybe that is why it was the second most watched TV program in history. To me, it wasn’t a football game. It was America in action.

How to Have a No Maintenance Lawn - and Benefit the Environment

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:18:41 PST

I am having a lot of fun converting my lawn from traditional grass to a natural lawn. Here is a picture of my front lawn today. It is still in the early stages of conversion - which involves removing the grass. It turns out that grass is not only difficult to grow, it is even more difficult to remove.

The process of removing grass involves covering sections with an old piece of carpet. After being shielded from the sunlight and water for about three weeks, the grass is dead. ~~Then, I dig up the old grass and till the soil.~~ [A knowledgeable reader has emailed me that it is better to not dig up the old grass, as this can foster weed growth. She says to simply plant within the old grass.] Finally, I plant small pods of a native plant called Sunshine Mimosa, which will eventually spread and function as a natural groundcover.

Sunshine MimosaDetail on Sunshine Mimosa is native to where I live in Central Florida. Thus, it is naturally adapted to this area's climate, soil, and wildlife. Sunshine Mimosa is one of many native options, which include other groundcovers as well as bushes, trees, ivies, and more. To give you an idea of what it looks like "after" the new groundcover grows in, here is a picture of my backyard, which I started last year.

Benefits of Florida Natives

The "new lawn" is extremely drought resistant and requres no watering. It also needs no fertilizer or insecticides. It will grow to a height of between 3" to 9" inches. It grows slowly and mowing is not required, but to keep it shorter it may be mowed about every six weeks during the Spring and Summer months. In contrast, grass needs to be mowed about once a week during that period here in Florida.

Did you know approximately 5% of all air pollution in the U.S. comes from lawnmowersBackground on Pollution? So there is an environmental benefit to mowing less. It is also good for the environment to not have to water. Florida has been having drought conditions lately. It is estimated that up to 80% of an average household's water use is for lawn and garden irrigationSupporting Data on Water Usage. The amount of watering needed for Sunshine Mimosa is zero. And the need for sprinkler systems, which are expensive and prone to breaking down, is also eliminated.

From an aesthetic standpoint, last year at the height of the drought in the Florida summer when everything was brown, my Sunshine Mimosa was bright green. I was getting compliments from some of the same people who were skeptical when I put it in.

Here is another reason why you may want to consider a native lawn versus grass:

Wildlife cannot live in grass. In fact, only two species do well in grass here in Florida: cinchworms and ticks. By contrast, Sunshine Mimosa attracts butterflies, bees, birds and rabbits. I have noticed a big increase in the wildlife in my backyard since the change. And there is more than meets the eye to this on a microenvironmental level. One native plant, Saw Palmetto, will support up to two hundred different species of native Florida wildlife.

What About the Negatives of Using Natives?

The one objection I frequently hear is that a native lawn will reduce property values. I am not sure this is true - did grass save property values here in Florida in 2008? At any rate, I'll take a home that is livable and environmentally friendly.

Sunshine Mimosa Even Flowers

Oh, I almost forgot - during the Spring and Summer, Sunshine MimosaClose Up of Bloom flowers everyday, which you can see in my picture below.

I hope you, and everyone in America, will consider giving gardening with natives a try. Using natives is good for the environment and a lot less complicated than Carbon Credits.

Lost in the (Hospital) Supermarket

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:20:39 PST

Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Florida

Photo: MikereicholdView Source: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0

With all the talk in the news about health care, I thought I would weigh in with my two cents from a personal perspective. My family's recent experience at Morton Plant Mease in Clearwater, Florida was just great. The hospital is the recipient of the “Magnet” designation, an award for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). I can see why. The nurses and doctors there that delivered our baby were terrific. We saw the great side of health care in America last week.

On a lighter note, the hospital is a labyrinthine maze to navigate through. The hospital is old and has had numerous wings, floors and additions added to it over the years; it now has something like three entrances, 5 different elevators, and mezzanine, ground and first floor levels. After innocently leaving to get a cup of coffee from the hospital cafeteria, I felt like Jason and the Argonaut's when trying to return to my wife's room.

I would love to ask the designers of the hospital floor plan a few questions: what is the difference between the ground level and the first floor? And why is the "Basement Level" above ground? And why was my wife's room numbered #7319 when it was on the 3rd floor?

When I finally found the one elevator out of five that actually went to the seventh floor (which could only be reached through the basement), and pressed the buzzer to talk to the nurse's station, the nurse said they had no Chambers on that floor. "She has to be," I exclaimed! Her room number, dutifully memorized by me before my Hero's quest to get a cup of coffee from the hospital's cafeteria had begun, was #7319. Someone on the nursing staff patiently explained that it was on the third floor, and when I protested, that this was somehow logical. My guess is that DaedalusGreek Mythology: Designed a Maze himself could not have done better. I almost wondered if the layout of the hospital had been designed by the same people who designed Windows Vista.

I was determined to return to my wife - but should it have required a struggle of epic proportions at 5 o'clock in the morning - worthy of a chapter in the OdysseyGreek Epic Poem - when my wife was in labor? I am sure she figured I had hightailed it to California with a case of last minute nerves, never to be seen again until tracked down by the Department of Health and Human Services. Sure, I could have prevented all this by asking someone on the hospital staff for directions, but of course that was out of the question for obvious reasons. By the time I actually managed to get back to my wife's hospital room I half expected to encounter Penelope's suitorsPenelope: Wife of Odysseus, or at least a new addition to my family.

The whole episode game me a sense of Deja Vu. I feel I am sensing a trend here. Life today is getting more and more complicated. Computers, which were suppose to make our lives simpler, are a major culprit. It takes five remotes to operate our TV. It is not uncommon to have TVs with over 800 channels. (I remember when we had three). I have to program my telephone - to no avail...

Sometimes I feel like the MinotaurGreek Mytholical Monster Who Was Trapped in a Maze when trying to navigate through this modern world we live in today. And even the local hospital seems to feel a need to get in on the action.

But, to borrow a few words from Shakespeare, which incidentally are not copyrighted, "all's well that ends well." And that was the case as both my wife and new baby boy, Tanner John Chambers, came home healthy and happy from the hospital.

(Disclosure: The title of this blog post is derived from the song title "Lost in the Supermarket," by the Clash, one of my favorite songs.)

"Top Hat" - When America was Tops - Film Review

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:26:58 PST

This image is in the public domain in the United States.Source

There are two theories about human evolution. One is that we are moving forward - mankind has gone from using stone tools to computers and air conditioning. The other theory is that we are going backwards - the fall of the Roman Empire idea. If you subscribe to the latter, point of view, then you may not want to watch the movie, "Top Hat." It may only confirm your worst suspicions.

Filmed in 1935, the movie is not far off from being 100 years old.

That makes it as much of a time capsule as a movie! And although it is certainly tough to skip over your "Transformers II" DVD from NetFlix, you may find yourself rewarded for having another look at this old, old movie.

Let's consider it from a cultural standpoint.

Today, where I live in Florida, the "uniform" for men is cargo shorts, flip-flops, a t-shirt (hopefully with a pocket to make it more dressy) and a baseball cap. Back then, it wasn't even a suit and tie, it was a tuxedo, and not just a tuxedo, but a tuxedo with tails. And a fancy collar for the shirt. And a vest. With a pocket watch. And pocket squares. And cuff links. And shoes that were not just polished, but were patent leather, with these cool white things that fit over the top of them that I don't even know the name for, and I have a pretty decent vocabulary, if I do say so myself. And black buttons for the shirts. With hair not just groomed but sculpted and slicked back. You get the idea.

And as for the women, well, they wore hats, and I mean hats that were designed by artists and made by craftsman. Hats that could easily be in the museum today... not as historical artifacts, mind you, but as works of art. Someone sat there and thought these hats up, then made them, then women took the time to pick them out, and wear them. Not to mention the women's hairstyles, which were quite elaborate. I can only think the effects were achieved with curlers, which of course got a bad name when housewives started wearing them to the grocery stores in the 1950s. One more loss. Oh well.

And what did men argue about after having a martini and dancing (ballroom dancing, that is) till one in the morning? Things like whether it was permissible for a bow tie to have tapered rather than squared edges! Today most of us men could not even tie a bow tie.

Men don't wear hats today, we wear "caps."

Not only did men wear real hats back then, like fedoras, they sometimes even wore top hats. And they didn't just wear top hats then, they named movies after them. Think about that for a second. How would that go over today? Now showing, "Die Hard 4," "Transformers 2," and "Top Hat." The studio marketing guys would cringe at the thought... script writers would lose their jobs at the mere suggestion of that for a title.

And of course, less we think this is all just make believe, that it was never really like that, that it was just a movie, there is Fred Astaire, plain to see through the magic of celluloid, who could dance like no one can today. As though to say, all this is no illusion: We really were at a level of culture then that cannot be even imagined today. Any more than we can imagine naming a movie, "Top Hat."

But don't despair. Today we have all kind of wonderful new things they didn't have back then - like McDonald's, the Internet, and ... blogging. Curtis

Do you like Fred Astaire movies? Here is my review of "Swingtime."Blog Post

What is "Rank or Yank" management?

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:28:58 PST

"Rank or yank" refers to a style of management that you won't find in Tom Peters, "In Search of Excellence"Wikipedia entry. That's okay, "In Search of Excellence," the international bestseller on the art of management practiced by the world's leading corporations, seems a bit dated, and I don't think we saw much excellence in corporate America last year, did you?

"Rank or yank" management refers to a style of business management where the top 20% of a firm's employees are promoted and treated to great rewards, while the bottom 10% are fired. Often, "rank or yank" management is accompanied by top management's talk of high business ethics. The result though, is the employees get the message loud and clear to produce at any cost and are spurred by the twin motivators of greed and fear. Produce at any cost can be dangerous, as we saw in the recent financial meltdown of 2008.

I first came across this descriptive term in this outstanding Barron's interview with William BlackBarron's interview, Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. "You don't directly tell your employees you want them to lie and cheat. You set up an atmosphere of results at any cost. Rank or yank. Sooner or later someone comes up with the idea of fudging the numbers," said Black. The problem, according to him, is that the system discourages whistle blowing and calls upon the cooperation of everyone. Thanks to Mr. Black for his candor in his interview with Barron's, and for coining a phrase which shall forever stick in my mind as emblematic of one of the less appealing facets of corporate America.

Personally, I have seen "rank or yank" in action. It combines the social pressure of keeping up with the Jones's, with the threat of the Grim Reaper of job failure. One can see where it can be effective as it combines the twin motivators of fear and greed.

But by having a name for this system of management, perhaps we have taken the first step towards dealing with it. Now we can better recognize it and its less appealing characteristics, and in the future, better deal with the repercussions. Rank or yank management is a term which needs to enter our national lexicon.

What is "Web 2.0?"

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:30:27 PST

You may have heard a new term lately: "Web 2.0." The term refers to the world wide web and like the web it is difficult to define... I will try to put it into layman's terms:

"Web 2.0" refers to new developments that are currently transforming the Internet. The concept is that the first generation of the Internet was "Web 1.0." In its first iteration, using the Internet involved primarily two things: 1) email, and 2) browsing through websites designed by someone else (third parties). An example would be Amazon.com. Web users would visit Amazon, look around, and perhaps buy a book, then leave.

Then, several years ago, this began to change as web sites became increasingly interactive.

Websites like Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter allowed users to design their own page, which they could personalize with their biographical information and photos. Next, users could link their pages up with that of other users, forming networks. Now communication could occur not just through email, but through these networks. No longer were Internet users passive participants just "surfing" the Internet. Now they were creating their own content and sharing it in ways never before possible. Thus, many believe a quantum leap in communication technologies has recently occurred.

And now if users like something, they can bookmark it, not just to their personal computer, but to a shared site on the Internet, and now their entire network can also see and access these sites (think about everyone talking around a virtual water cooler). Individuals began to "blog," (blog is short for "web log"). This and more is Web 2.0, the second generation of the Internet. Read more about Web 2.0 hereWikipedia Article on Web 2.0.

Why does Web 2.0 matter?

First, Web 2.0 democratizes information in a way never before possible. Rather than, for example, just passively reading a newspaper written by a third party - now everyday people, not just journalists and celebrities - are creating and sharing content themselves. During the recent turmoil in Iran, these Internet networks played a role in disseminating information both inside and outside the country and perhaps in some ways contributed to the events that occurred. Is this significant? The controlling parties in Iran and China seem to think so, as they are attempting to use technologies to attempt to censor the internetWall Street Journal Article - Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology.

The second reason is that no one person, no central authority, created Web 2.0. Rather, it emerged naturally from the actions of millions of individuals. How is that for democracy and capitalism in action? So Web 2.0 argues for the power of the individual as opposed to that of bureaucracies or centralized authority. I find it quite exhilarating.

Finally, there are those who say Web 2.0 doesn't even really exist, that it is just a catchy phrase and that the Internet has not fundamentally changed. My response to these naysayers is: that's no fun! After all, without the occasional new word or idiom, what is a logophileA logophile is a lover of words to do? And what is a blogger to blog about?

If you'd like to learn more about Web 2.0, you may want to check out Neil Patel's excellent blog hereNeil Patel's, "Quick Sprout" Blog. He's kind of a big deal in the world of Web 2.0.

NPR Interview with Jockey Calvin Borel

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:40:42 PDT

Photo by: Joe Schneid, Louisville, Kentucky.(Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)Source: Wikimedia Commons

Jockeys in general, and Calvin Borel in particular, are inspirational. While small in stature (Calvin is 5'4", 118 lbs), I think jockeys are among the most courageous competitors in all of sports. According to NPR, Borel, who started riding horses when he was two years old, has raced in over 25,000 races and won more than 4,300. He is over forty years old, and during his career he has broken both legs, both shoulders, both collarbones, a wrist, most his toes and six ribs. His teeth are gone, knocked out in falls. His $3,000 set of replacement teeth are also gone, knocked out in more falls. Some of the fellow jockeys he has come up with have been paralyzed or even killed. I figured being a jockey was dangerous, but I had no idea how dangerous.

Borel has only recently become famous for winning the Kentucky Derby in 2007 and 2009 and then for winning the Kentucky Oaks on May 1, 2009. On May 16, 2009, Borel won the Preakness.

Here is the brief but exceptional audio 2007 NPR interview with Borel NPR interviewNPR Interview which brings out his personality. Also, notice the exceptional photograph of Borel shown above by Andy Lyons, in which a picture is worth a thousand words.

Wall Street Journal Editorial, "Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich"

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:19:55 PDT

Here is my take on this editorial which appeared in the WSJ on May 18, 2009:

The editorial, "Soak the Rich, Lose the RichWall Street Journal," makes an excellent point that when one State raises its Income Tax rates, business and wealth will flow out of that State to those with relatively lower rates.

However, it seems more difficult for us to envision this same dynamic on a national basis when it comes to domestic versus international markets.

The US Federal Income Tax essentially functions as a hidden tax on domestic businesses, as it raises their cost of labor. As US labor costs increase, jobs likewise flow overseas. Keeping Federal Income Tax rates low helps keep productivity up, but results in chronic budget deficits.

Long term, the US needs a tax system that taxes domestic businesses on an equal basis to their foreign competitors. The most likely candidate would be a National Sales or VAT tax, coupled with the repeal of the Income Tax. If we still wish to tax the rich further (an argument I'll abstain from), then an asset based tax, such as a intangible property tax, may be an alternative to consider.

Battlestar Galatica (2004): Review

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:43:36 PDT

Republished within a fair use context. This image is © by the publisher and labeled available for reuse.Source

Televison/SciFi Channel:

In difficult times, movies (and television shows) have often provided us with a helpful uplift. What's more, I think it is fair to say Hollywood makes movies and television better than anyone else, and in fact, movies are one of America's most successful exports. Hollywood has a huge share of the world's entertainment market, with over half of the audiences for Hollywood's movies coming from outside the USA.

And so it is always a delight to discover a really good movie or TV show, not just because the show is enjoyable, but because it is nice to see what America can produce. I think Hollywood succeeds so well because making good movies requires a mixture of good business sense, imagination, technical skill, and audacity - typically American virtues.

These elements certainly come together in the SciFi Channel's "Battlestar Galatica." This series, which ran four years and won both Emmy and Peabody Awards, features great writing, acting, and superior special effects (the special effects are better than that of most big budget Science Fiction movies).

The plot is a science fiction standard, and yet it is complex and multi-hued. Mankind created a race of increasingly sophisticated machines, which of course have become superior to their creator and rebelled. Now the two are at war. The story arc has a bit of a dark edge. Humanity is struggling for survival, and at times the machines can almost seem like the good guys, as they take on increasingly human qualities, while the real humans can at times behave quite cruelly. What is left of mankind is only about 50,000 people who are on the run, traveling through space in a sort of wagon train to the stars.

I tend to avoid the SciFi Channel, but after reading the critical acclaim the show has received, I am glad I made an exception. I am just finishing Season 1, and I am looking forward to watching the next four seasons on DVD.

"Exurb" defined

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:48:56 PDT

This image is in the public domain.Source: Wikimedia Commons

Do you remember the good old days when things were simpler and people either lived in the city or in the suburbs?

Then came the real estate boom and suddenly people were moving so far out it was past any reasonable definition of "suburbs." The idea was to buy a bigger and/or cheaper house because it was located in the boonies. Thus, a new term was invented to describe these distant locales: the "exurbs." I remember my shock the first time a friend told me he was voluntarily moving almost an hour a way from his job. Shortly after, my father in law moved an hour and a half away.

When I lived in St Louis, I loved the city. Not the outskirts, not the suburbs, but the city. However, the migration to the suburbs was a constant, and soon, I felt a bit alone as a city dweller. Above is a picture of downtown St Louis, which I think it is kind of neat.

Film Review: Patton

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:56:17 PDT

Why don't they let Generals design their own uniforms anymore?

HereMy Review on Amazon is my review of Patton, starring George C Scott. The film may seem a bit dated in parts, but Patton's strong willed and brazen approach to confronting adversity is quite inspirational.

Image republished within a fair use context. This image is © by their publisher and labeled for reuse.See Source

"Toxic Waste" Defined

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:00:03 PDT

The above image is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government. Source: Wikimedia Commons

I got you! You probably thought toxic waste referred to spent plutonium rods from nuclear power plants that still need to be buried in somebody's backyard in Arizona? No, that was the 1970's and Three Mile Island.

Today, the term Toxic Waste refers to troubled assets held by banks, such as bad mortgages, mortgage related instruments, and other debt-related products.

"Zombie banks" defined:

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:00:44 PDT

With everything else we have to be afraid of in these trying times, do we really need something called "Zombie banks?" Zombie banks are not something from a horror movie, but are banks which have a net worth of zero but are being propped up by government support and still functioning like a living, breathing bank. Remember the 1968 movie "Night of the Living Dead?" by George A. Romero? Back then Zombies were just fiction.

"Liquidity Injection" defined:

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:01:10 PDT

Image by Armin Kübelbeck under GNU Free Documentation LicenseSee License and Source

A "liquidity injectionSee Definition at OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms" is when the Federal Government gives money to a private entity such as a bank or automobile manufacturer in order to support them in difficult times and hopefully keep them in business. It is not called a tax payer funded gift, or a purchase of preferred shares, but a liquidity injection.

(Can you imagine how happy Shakespeare would be were he alive today? All these great words spurred into being by the economic crisis. Certainly every cloud has a silver lining. )

I wish I had known about the term liquidity injection when I was a teenager or a young adult in college. Instead of saying, "Dad, I need some cash again," I could have said "Dad, I need a liquidity injection please." Sounds so much better, doesn't it?

George Will's Editorial on Global Warming (Feb 15, 2009) Generates Lots of Controversy

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:24:36 PDT

George Will stirred up a hornet's nest with this editorial which took a skeptical view of global warming. Will backed up this views with references to research findings from the University of Illinois’ Arctic Climate Research Center and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Now these sources are disputing his information. You may read more here.

I was impressed with Will's editorial at first. But of course, this assumes accurate information is being conveyed. Too bad the ruckus distracts from Will's core message of the editorial, which was expressed in its title, "Remember when global cooling was the biggest fear?" The point being, sometimes there are so many things too worry about it is hard to know where to begin.

And who can predict the weather anyway?

Fun Word: mompreneur

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:14:09 PDT

Entrepreneur magazine defines a mompreneur as: A female business owner who is actively balancing the role of mom and the role of entrepreneur. This fun word is starting to pop up here and there and I think it is great. One reason is that my wife is a stay at home mom... Momprenueur anyone?

Another fun word... "Pay Collar"

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:23:12 PDT

As a work of the U.S. federal government, this image is in the public domainSee Source.

What is it called when the Government attaches limitations and controls on how much executives of a certain company may receive in compensation? It is called a "Pay Collar." I'm not making this up, this really is the official term. One cannot argue with its descriptiveness.

The Economic Crisis Adds Some Great New Words to Our Lexicon

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:40:57 PST

One of the good things to come out of the economic crisis is some great new words for our lexicon. I am always amazed at the beauty of the English language. In the next few posts, we'll have fun with new terms.

The first is actually an expression: "Once in a hundred year Tsunami." I have been seeing this phrase used more and more over the last six months by journalists. What makes it interesting, I believe, is the phrase is actually replacing another expression, "the perfect storm." After the movie, "The Perfect Storm," came out some years ago, the phrase caught on big as a term for multiple elements coming together just right to create a terrible result. The problem is, the phrase was used so much that a form of word inflation resulted. Pretty soon, if your car got a flat tire it was a perfect storm, because now you would be late for work, and if you're late for work than you lose your job, if you lose your job your wife divorces you, etc. So once tripping over a cat became a "perfect storm," the phase had lost much of its punch.

The media had to find an upgraded expression to get the point across that this current economic crisis really, really, was a rare, momentous event. Thus, "Once in a hundred year Tsunami," was born (in my opinion). The term actually protects itself from inflation, just as the gold standard protects a currency. A once in a hundred year Tsunami by definition can only happen once every hundred years. So how can you use the word for every problem? "Honey, I just burned the toast. That is a once in a hundred year Tsunami." Nope.

One final point for my fellow logiphiles. When you pronounce the word "Tsunami," you are supposed to pronounce the initial T. No, really. If you can manage to do that, then please drop me a line, I could use some help.

Why Stimulus Will Mean Inflation - WSJ

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:35:36 PDT

Here is my pick for editorial of the week, from the Wall Street Journal by George Melloan. Mr. Melloan asks where will the money to fund the current stimulus package come from? The answer is largely from foreign countries, especially China and Japan. In a reciprocal relationship where we buy their exports and they use the money to purchase our debt, they have been financing much of our debt for years.

Mr. Melloan postulates that these foreign countries may quit financing our debt not because they want to, but because as their own economies continue to worsen they are no longer able. That would leave the US with one choice, printing money. This could lead to inflation or even hyperinflation.

This seems to me to be the best explanation for where we are headed. The trend toward growing Federal debt is only increasing. Eventually, a price must be paid. Even if it is in inflated dollars.

Curtis

What Really Caused the Current Economic Crisis?

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:20:26 PDT

Dr. Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, speaks at the Per Jacobsson Foundation Lecture, October 21, 2007 in Washington, DC.

This photograph is in the public domainSee Source.

Was it greed? A real estate bubble? Too much consumer debt? How did a problem in the $200 billion dollar sub prime real estate market lead to the collapse of the global economy?

These are difficult questions, and the single best explanation I have found is that of Dr. Peter Chojnowski in his article, "The Fall of the Phantom Assets: Economic Autumn 2008."See Article.

This article lays the blame most notably on a philosophy of "win-win" capitalism: the notion that after the fall of the Soviet empire the world was in a new economic age, where the old rules didn't apply and risk had been abolished. Whenever the economy would slow down or begin to correct, the Fed would lower interest rates and inject liquidity into the system. This process inflated the asset bubble repeatedly over Alan Greenspan's tenure as Chairman and led to its ultimate collapse. Curtis

Depression Era Movie Review: The Grapes of Wrath

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:11:12 PDT

TITLE: Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California

Lange, Dorothea, photographerLink to Her Work.

RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publicationSource.

Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection

I recently re-watched the well known movie classic, "Grapes of WrathIMBD Review." Made in 1940 and starring a young Henry Fonda, it is perhaps the most famous movie about the Great DepressionWikipediain America. When I saw the film as a kid, the movie seemed sort of a quaint joke or curiosity. How could something like that ever happen in this country? Today it doesn't seem so funny...

This movie is definitely not a pick me upper. The plot concerns a family of Oklahoma sharecroppers who are evicted from their farm. Jobless, with no prospects and little money, the large family piles into a dilapidated truck and heads off to California in search of work. Along the way Grandma and Grandfather die, and one of the brothers deserts his pregnant wife. The family is close to starving. They take what jobs they can picking fruit. Finally, they land on a Government run New Deal farm and life improves a bit. Henry Fonda, the oldest son, becomes and a political activist and leaves the family.

There is also a theme in the movie of anyone associated with capitalism being quite brutal. Cops in uniform work for the land owners and will not hesitate to kill the farm workers if they get out of line. The land owners try to take advantage of the very poor farmers plight by paying poverty level wages. The only one sympathetic to their plight is the government run New Deal farm. So the movie is in theme almost like George Orwell's, "Animal Farm"Wikipedia in reverse. This time the Capitalists, rather than the Socialists, are the bad guys.

So why watch this movie now? Well, the themes are apropos. Families being evicted from homes, joblessness, and lives in turmoil has again become common. Henry Fonda is a marvelous actor and this is one of his finest performances. And the specter of watching children that are hungry and growing up in such difficult circumstances in America is heartbreaking.

When I first saw this film, I assumed the Depression could never happen again. Never say never. Curtis

Suicides of Soldiers Reach High of Nearly 3 Decades

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:39:50 PST

Here is an excerpt from the New York Times article:

"Suicides among soldiers in 2008 rose for the fourth year in a row, reaching the highest level in nearly three decades, Army officials said Thursday.

The suicide count, which includes soldiers in the Army Reserve and the National Guard, is expected to grow; 15 deaths are still being investigated, and the vast majority of them are expected to be ruled suicides, Army officials said.

The Army did not identify a specific reason for the increase, but officials said 15-month deployments to war zones played a role. These deployments, which have allowed for little time away from the battlefield, have contributed to post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcohol abuse and family problems. Seven suicides took place in Afghanistan and 31 in Iraq."

When we are struggling with such a difficult economic situation at home, it is easy to forget about the sacrifices our troops are making in Afghanistan and Iraq. After Vietnam, I thought it was clear we would never again fight a war with less than one hundred percent backing from the government. Perhaps the Bush administration should have paid more attention to the Powell Doctrine, which was derived from the experiences of Viet Nam, rather than for political reasons attempting to minimize the burden of the war on the civilian population. If the military didn't have enough troops or equipment, it didn't matter, as a draft was out of the question. And so our troops have been placed under extra hardship.

Here is a PBS FRONTLINE Documentary which you can watch on the Internet. It is called Bad Voodoo, and is a first hand account of a National Guard unit deployed in Iraq. Curtis

Funny Money - Milwaukee Towns Consider Printing Own Money

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:41:45 PST

Thanks to Mr. Gary Burge for forwarding me this news. Check out Gary's outstanding blog here.

Is the greenback no longer good enough? In my opinion, if we keep increasing the US Government debt we may find out the hard way.

A couple of Milwaukee neighborhoods are considering printing their own money which would be good at local stores. The practice is perfectly legal as long as the new money does not resemble US currency too closely.

Here is an excerpt from the Chicago Tribune article:

The idea is that the local cash could be used at neighborhood stores and businesses, thus encouraging local spending. The result, supporters hope, would be a bustling local economy, even as the rest of the nation deals with a recession.
"You have all these people who have local currency, and they're going to spend it at local stores," said Sura Faraj, a community organizer who is helping spearhead the plan. "They can't spend it at the Wal-Mart or the Home Depot, but they can spend it at their local hardware store or their local grocery store."

President Obama's Speech - Part 2

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:54:23 PST

"Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that
our system cannot tolerate too many big plans."
- from Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, January 21, 2009

When President Obama says "big plans," he is referring to spending plans. The proposed stimulus package is estimated at about a trillion dollars for 2009, in addition to the $500 billion or so of TARP money already spent in 2008. To put this in perspective, the 2009 stimulus plan will be the biggest Federal spending program since WWII, and in real terms will probably exceed the cost the Eisenhower administration spent to build the nation's interstate system. And when the President says "our system cannot tolerate too many big plans," I believe he means our government's beleaguered pocket book cannot tolerate too many big spending plans.

Before the current crisis started, the total US budget deficit was sitting at around $5 trillion. Remember how much we heard about the big deficit for the last 40 years? Now we are adding an additional $1.5 trillion, not counting additional deficits that will likely result from the recessionary economy producing reduced tax revenues.

So here is the question of the day: America got into this fix by spending money it didn't have and running up concomitant debts. Now, the plan is to fix the economy by spending huge additional sums of money we don't have. How does that work again? (There is substantial evidence it doesn't, which I will address in future posts.)

Please let me know your comments।

Editorial of the Week: WSJ - "Bush was a Big-Government Disaster"

curtis@curtviews.com (Curtis Chambers) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:34:02 PDT

This is my pick for best editorial of the week. It ran in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, January 24, 2009. I have summarized it below and included the author's final paragraph:

Bush increased the size and scope of Federal Government to unprecedented levels. He expanded the state (click here to read Obama's remarks on the size of Government in his Inaugural Address), and the sense that the state is incompetent. Examples include:

Thousands of new airport security checking confiscating nail clippers and contact lens solution but producing little actual benefit
No Child Left Behind Act Federalized K-12 education with nothing to show but more Federal spending
Medicare Prescription benefit enacted - the largest new entitlement program since LBJ
Federal Government now guarantees 8 trillion of inscrutable financial sector loans
Overall budget increased by $345 billion during first 4 years, and additional $287 trillion during second term, beating even LBJ's spending
Increase in regulations, adding 64,438 pages
The Iraq war, which has lasted longer than any conflict except Vietnam

"George W Bush has taught us the government really can't be trusted to be effective, or open, or smart. He has also taught us that government can always get bigger on every level and every way. It's a sad lesson we'll be learning for years to come." - Nick Gillispie

My take: It is apparent from history that it is easy to grow the size of government, but very difficult to slow it down and almost impossible to shrink it. In that this massive growth occurred under Bush, I cannot consider his Administration to have been a positive.
Click here for the full article in the Wall Street Journal.