SunPlower Wind / Solar Energy Device HYPE (from Web Summit 2019)

SunPlower Wind / Solar Energy Device

ABUNDANT CLAIMS of Supposed Energy-Harvest Market Disruption Tech

For any of my readers that have a decent background in mathematics, engineering, physics, and a general inclination towards science and the reality of how things work, as soon as you read the claims made on the SunPlower.de website (yes, that is how they spell it; apparently trying to gain some name-recognition advantage for nearly copying the name of the large American solar company SunPower).  Just one quick look at the "SunPlower" device, which I first saw demonstrated at the Lisbon, Portugal Web Summit 2019, and you will instantly see why the company claims regarding "breakthrough" power-generation (implied efficiency) are completely absurd and utterly misleading for many reasons.

Here are some quotes from their website:

"SunPlower's (patent pending) world’s first Inclined Axis Wind Turbine (IAWT) propeller uses both lift and drag efficiently and reduces expensive & heavy masts costs. In addition to that propeller's blades are flat, which can be used for installing solar panels."

"Breakthrough in Fluid propulsion of both air and water more efficiently and effectively with SunPlower propeller."

"As the pitch of the propellers is synchronously varying while rotating, dust on blades with solar panels is self-cleaned. Its world’s first true Hybrid Solar + Wind technology, along with self-cleaning & self-cooling solar cells reducing maintenance costs."

Those are some rather wide-ranging and bold claims, implied and direct, and, given what was shown at Web Summit 2019 (a device which was a motor turning a windmill-like device whereby a set of gears simultaneously altered the blade angles), these claims are are highly unlikely, if not utterly impossible, to prove out in any controlled test environment (e.g., a wind tunnel).

Why these types of Claims are Problematic

There are many science blogs on the web that have tackled devices like this in the past and exposed obvious problems every time a new "disruptive" or "patent-pending" (not that a patent means anything with regard to efficiency, even if it were granted) or similar new wind-power technology — though, this one wants to call itself wind and solar power in one, or, as their home-page even goes further to state "Harvesting renewable energy using wind, solar hydro and tidal energy leveraging breakthrough technology", which sounds rather amazing.

Without diving too far into details, let's start by the simple fact that this and any other such device must respect:

• Betz's law, which indicates the maximum power that can be extracted from the wind, independent of the design of a wind turbine in open flow.  Every time anyone claims they have created some "breakthrough" in a wind-power device that defies this law, by directly stating so or by implication, it is certainly an instantly dubious device! 
• Bernoulli's principle, which, in fluid dynamics, states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure or a decrease in the fluid's potential energy — i.e., used to relate the velocity of the flow of air to the pressure difference across the turbine.
• Mechanical efficiency, in general, especially with regards to loss throughout a mechanical device due to friction and gears and so forth.

Next, just looking at how modern wind-turbines work and some of the basic principles, you will notice quickly that the power-generation capability of this SunPlower device is certainly not going going to be in any way revolutionary or disruptive as compared to existing wind-power technology. Start by reading this Quora thread about Why 3-Blade Wind Turbines produce the best compromise between high energy yield and turbine stability and durability, and then keep in mind how this SunPlower device uses a 4-blade approach.

The device demonstrated at Lisbon Web Summit 2019 was fraught with problems and design issues that will certainly prevent it from being any "breakthrough" with regards to power-generation efficiency (whether wind and/or it's combined solar-on-blades idea, with dubious self-cleaning claims) or being produced with any sort of price/generated-watt advantage over many other existing technologies.  First of all, simply put, it is overly complex mechanically and complexity = likely for failure, just as a simple rule of mechanics. There is considerable mechanical efficiency-loss due to internal gearing that alters blade angle as the overall prop-mechanism rotates.

Keeping the Betz Limit in mind, consider the following equation that represents the theoretically available kinetic energy (in Watts) in the wind flowing through an area:

½pSv³

(where p = ~1.23kg/m³ density of air, S = swept area which is πr² with r being the turbine blade-length in meters , v=air velocity in meters/second; also keep in mind that you cannot extract all that power or the wind would stop, and thus your wind-turbine would stop, and because of this, the maximum available power is ~59% of the number arrived at with above formula — modern turbines may reach only 35-45% in reality, and that is before loss in gears, bearings, power-transmission, etc)

Thus, the max power attainable by a turbine is known.
So, this little SunPlower device shown at the Web Summit did not even have blades of half a meter, and the swept diameter was perhaps not even half a meter.  This means very, very low power potential.  I'll keep this rough-out easy though and assume the firm may eventually build a one-meter-diameter-sweep device. So, max-theoretical-power that thing could produce at 10m/sec wind (which is a brisk and rather unlikely 22.4mph average sustained wind speed) would be:

~ .35 (efficiency extracted) x ½ x .25 (πr^2, square-meters swept area) x 1.23 (air density) x 10³ 
... or, .35 x .125 x 1.23 x 1000 ... or, 53.81 Watts! 

THIS IS NOTHING!  We can get so much more out of a simple solar panel!  A SunPower brand ( NOT to be confused with this SunPlower thing) 405W solar panel outputs 200W per square meter!  And, unlike this overly-complex SunPlower device, the solar-panel is warranted for 25 years and has no moving parts; pair it with a simple Enphase IQ Microinverter, and the panel can be easily mounted near a cell-tower and you're all set.  Furthermore, the solar panel alternative is not going to be creating potential cell-tower signal interference like a spinning wind-rotor (especially if those blades were truly coated with solar-cells!).

Of course, my "red flag hype alert system" went off as soon as the developer began talking about how this device could be placed on some 4 billion (or whatever) cell-phone towers to power.  Sure. As could many existing, proven, and simpler technologies like a simple single solar-panel which is an already proven, affordable, mainstream solution. And, make no mistake: the tiny solar-panels on the rotating blades of this SunPlower (proposed) device are not going to produce any appreciable amount of electricity in the same overall footprint as a simple static solar panel, nor will it make much diff when combined with the wind-power (also, bear in mind, it's not like any solar-cells on the blades are all aiming the sun at once and capturing the power, especially given how the WIND is what will dictate which direction the supposed device is pointing).

I admire any attempt to come up with new green-tech, but please, remain aware of the limits imposed by science and the fact that hype cannot overcome such laws.  If this supposed breakthrough/disruptive-tech can prove they have overcome existing laws (like Betz), then bring it on!  Get it proven in lab conditions and you'll have achieved the formerly impossible; but, good luck at that!

Continue to read this Software Development and Technology Blog for computer programming articles (including useful free / OSS source-code and algorithms), software development insights, and technology Techniques, How-To's, Fixes, Reviews, and News — focused on Dart Language, SQL Server, Delphi, Nvidia CUDA, VMware, TypeScript, SVG, other technology tips and how-to's, plus my varied political and economic opinions.

Software Bloat: Acrobat Reader Executable Size Growth over the years

Does this image say it all? Since I develop various software applications that, among other things, create reports in Adobe's Acrobat / PDF format, I tend to keep quite a few versions of Acrobat reader around for testing my program output with. And, I just could not help laughing when I looked at my file-server's Acrobat Reader executable programs directory, where, since 1997, I have accumulated versions of Acrobat Reader 3.2, 4.0, 5.0, 6.01, 7.05, 8.12, 9.0, and now the newest addition of Acrobat Reader 9.1

Check out the Software Bloat factor in Acrobat Reader over the years:


What started as a simple utility to display PDF files (Portable Document Format files from Adobe), has grown from an under 4Megabyte (MB) installation program to a whopping 42MB installation for Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.1 - which now includes things like Adobe Air and Acrobat.com and all sorts of other ridiculous crap.

I find this all crazy... how a PDF-Reader application can grown 10-TIMES in size (for the installer executable download) in a period of 12 years. Sure, it is no worse than Microsoft Windows or most other major applications that also seem to grow by orders of magnitude over the years, but why?

Is there really that much more functionality in the applications these days to justify this explosive file-size increase, or is it lazy software develoment, a lack of tuning, a lack of focus on clean and efficient code and re-use, or a combination of all the above? It is just hard to accept (for me) why a program designed to allow me to view PDF files on any computer must require a 40MB Download (I will not even get into how insanely large the post-installation size-requirements for this application are!).

I remember the days when I had an entire operating system (on a TRS-80) running in a mere 32K of RAM with simple word-processing programs, games, and the like. Sure, those programs were much simpler, and did not have modern GUI desktops and flash, but the entire OS AND PROGRAMS ran in 1/1000th the memory that this latest Acrobat Reader intallation program download is. Unreal.

This begs the question: what will Acrobat Reader 10 be like, or Acrobat Reader 11, or Acrobat Reader 12, or Acrobat Reader 13, or Acrobat Reader 14, etc... will we hit a ONE GIGABYTE download for their future PDF reader eventually? Given the history, file sizes have gone up to nearly 11-times their size in about the same number of years, and the version numbers at about 1 for every 2 years... so, in a decade, expect a 1/2-GB install of Acrobat Reader 14! It is coming! And, you will be using it (note: I use Acrobat Reader nearly daily; many people do)

Cleveland Ohio Economy and Small Business Status

Here are some recent observations about the state of the economy, from the viewpoint of a small business owner (I have a few diverse small businesses) that has also been discussing business and sales trends with other small and medium business owners throughout the greater Cleveland, Ohio and Northeast Ohio region. The observations surely do not leave much room for optimism about the economy at present.

Example #1: Home Theater Business
A relative of mine owns a small business providing Cleveland area Home Theater, Audio, and Video installation, sales, and design services - and even though he has been in business for over 10 years, he has never seen business as slow as it is now. His is a business that serves a demographic that would clearly be described as "upper middle class" and/or "upper class".

The clientele that keep my relative's company busy have included coaches from professional sports teams, players from those same teams, doctors, executives, and other rather well compensated individuals. Much of his company business comes by word of mouth and personal referrals. He has never had to advertise in order to obtain more work than his company can handle. But, suddenly, WHAM, this current economic mess has even these rather "upper end" clients hesitating at committing dollars to upgrading or otherwise investing in their home theater, multimedia, and audio-visual needs.

And, if these people are not engaging my relative's business for things like product purchases, wiring and other installation services, design and implementation services, and the like, the "trickle down" effect is immediate: my relative can not afford to keep as many employees active and employed. Sure, his company still sells some home theater and HDTV / digital-television equipment (especially as people hurry to be ready for the February 2009 digital TV cut-over and transition away from analog TV), but when the volume drops to the lowest level he has ever seen, it really puts the pressure on the viability of his company.

Sure, he will make it through the slowdown, but it is not even clear if the business will turn much, if any, profit while trying to maintain employees to handle those jobs that do come through yet. This is what a typical small business in Northeast Ohio is feeling right now - and the rest of the country too I expect.

The market-wide panic, and lack of buying, ripples through causing others to cut back employment and buying, which ripples through... etc. etc. It all becomes a self-fulfilling downturn: people expect a downturn, they alter their expenditure and investment habits, and gee... a slowdown occurs as they expected.

Example #2: Cookbooks
My wife and I authored a Gluten-Free / Wheat-Free Recipes (Desserts) Cook Book that we sell almost exclusively via our online website. Over the past couple years of selling, I noticed this VERY strong inverse correlation between gas prices and my book sales: meaning, when gas prices went up, my sales would slow, and vice-versa.

But, after this last round of super high gas prices, and the precipitous fall to the lowest prices in years, that same pattern of book sales increases that normally accompany the fall in gas prices did not emerge. This was the first time ever that book sales did not increase when gas prices fell!

Fact is, this demonstrates a LOT about how much market panic there is, and how close to the edge everyone has been, and/or is, living - with regards to their finances. Credit cards are maxed out. People have little to zero cash. Credit limits are being cut, making "extra" credit or "excess / available" credit shrink quickly. The results on my book sales are immediate.

Further proof: even discounting our book heavily has made little difference in sales! In the past, if I ran a temporary discount or promotional sale, book sales increased dramatically and in direct response to that short-lived promotion. Now, even deep discounts have made little change to book sales volumes. People do not have, or are not willing to spend, any money - PERIOD. Even though my book can save them money by teaching them how to bake gluten-free items at home (which saves a fortune over pre-made GF diet foods), they STILL hesitate to spend even $20.00 on a book.

The ONLY exception to sales volume has been that our "scratch and dent books" (those with MINOR scratches or bends from banding of boxes on pallets during shipment, etc) have been selling as quickly as we find any in our inventory. Why? Simple: I sell them for under $10! THAT is the price threshold where people feel "OK" about spending I guess. Unreal.

Keep in mind that I performed an online survey a while back about the ideal target price for my book, and overwhelmingly people said it would be a "no brainer" purchase decision if I sold it around $20. Well, that sure changed quickly! More indication of what the economy, and fundamental mentality, is right now - and why this could lead to a full blown Depression if people do not start snapping out of this mood (it cascades everyone -- if purchases are not made for products and services, companies lay off people, and it spirals downward).

How we got here...
That is a long story, but not an overly complex one.

The idiotic move the government made last year by handing our "rebate checks" to people, while gas prices were already insanely high, allowed people to essentially bid gas prices even higher... and all those checks went to cover inflation due to bidding with more dollars for the SAME fixed supply of petroleum (which then rippled through to food, etc.) This worsened the downturn that was starting, but which remained somewhat hidden by massive debt-spending (credit-cards). Credit cards sealed our fate by allowing people to spend more than they really had, all bidding on the same commodities, causing massive commodity inflation, and the gov put the nail in the coffin with rebate checks. Home equity lines and the like, based on inflated home prices from cheap money adjustable-rate or teaser rate loans also contributed to this ability to bid things higher when they otherwise could not have been.

So, here we are post-gas-price-maximum-time after people essentially had their wallets, and bank accounts, sucked dry by the gas pumps under Bush's grand plan to bankrupt the country via insanely poor foreign policy and ludicrous energy policy (one which had us buying petroleum for the Strategic Oil Reserve at the highest prices ever, when supply was constrained like never before) - idiot! So, all of the American money handed out via rebate checks was transferred to President Bush's REAL employer (Saudi Arabia - not the US citizens).

Add on top of this the housing bubble that was created to get us out of our last stock market bubble. Pile on a burgeoning debt - all debt - public, private... it is out of control. But, we are a consumer ecomony, and our only solution to overspending (per politicians) is spend more.

Where things are headed...
Fact is, we have a HUGE problem.
I predict MASSIVE LAYOFFS in January 2009 and February 2009.

MASSIVE - especially if people do not take a chance and spend some money on products and services provided by small businesses. Small businesses employ over 1/2 the workforce. All we here about is businesses that are "too big to fail", but the fact is, widespread failure of small businesses will be catastrophic.

Large businesses will weather the storm just fine and do their usual mass layoffs regardless of their sales volumes. But, small businesses do not have the resources (in general) to keep all their employees on staff for any length of time if revenue streams suddenly dry up or are reduced to a trickle. The government (i.e., US!) is not going to bail US small businesses out... only our customers can by purchasing our products and services.

The observations from my vantage point in Cleveland Ohio are certain to be similar to observations elsewhere in the country. So, if you want to see your own local economy do well, try not to fall too far down the well of fear -- engage your local small businesses when possible, and help them maintain their employees/staffing through this economic mess. These are your friends and neighbors' jobs I am talking about.

As for large companies: I am sick of reading this stuff about companies laying off hundreds or thousands of workers were it costs them $50K, $100K, or MORE on a "per head" basis to lay people off. These unemployed workers will hesitate to spend, and further flood the market of workers seeking work.

I have a better idea for companies, like Adobe for example, to consider. When I hear how they will spend $80K/head (roughly 1yr average salary) to get rid of someone, I find it insane. Instead, tell your workers that, should things NOT improve in a year, they will be out of a job with only a month of severance pay starting ONE YEAR from now, but not immediate. During that year, while still employed, they can look for a job, but they can also focus on adding value to the company and improving efficiency, and if the end result is the company does better than expected, they will KEEP their job(s). And, since they are not part of the unemployment mess, overall market sediment will likely be more optimistic, thus creating a positive impact on the economy, including the company they work for.

I just do not get the whole thing about paying tons of money to get rid of someone - it is rather short-sighted, and furthers the downward economic pressures and overall negative sediment that looms large right now (especially employment fears).  Insane.

United States Unemployment Rate

Reuters just reported the August 2008 Unemployment Rate, and I couldn't help thinking that ECONOMISTS ARE IDIOTS as a whole! If you want more background on why I think so, see my prior blog posting on the Inflation rate, and how "I told you so".

Per Reuters today:

The US unemployment rate unexpectedly shot up to 6.1 percent in August, its highest in more than 4-1/2 years, as employers cut payrolls for an eighth straight month and labor markets showed signs of accelerating decline.

WHY is this "unexpected"?? morons! The only ones that seem to keep saying how great our economy is are the elected officials running the show currently (and perhaps the Republican follow-up show that is running for office right now too). Everyone else in America (aside from the very upper end of the income scale) can see first hand that inflation is rampant, housing prices are slumping, credit is tight, and people living rather near the "edge" of their means, which is all forcing spending to slow to include primarily the "essentials" (though, my view of essentials differs from most other peoples', as I exclude things like cell-phones, cable TV, and the like - those are choices people).

I see this first hand. My wife and I sell our Gluten-Free Recipes Book directly via the web, and I have seen a direct (inverse) correlation between gas prices and my book sales. It has only gotten worse as gas passed through $4.00 mark. The recent easing of gasoline prices helped stimulate sales a bit, but they are still lagging the pre-$3.00/gallon days considerably.

The fact is, people are TAPPED OUT! And when people stop spending and/or are forced to spend just on the basics (well, at least the American version of basics), that means that various product and service providers are losing their ability to sell things (like my book), which can lead to staff being reduced and unemployment increasing. Heck, just the massive housing decline alone should be enough for most idiot economists to see that there are going to be long-term and far-reaching implications for unemployment as the trickle-effect of products/services sales revolving around real-estate slow down.

I can't help thinking that perhaps the timing is perfect for all this. America needs to wake up to the fact that there is a fundamental problem with this economy. We are shipping insane amounts of our assets to energy-producing countries and foreign suppliers of cheap consumer goods. Where do you think that money ultimately goes? Sure, it may come back here in part, but not as reciprocal purchases of United States sourced goods and services for the most part -- instead it comes back by way of financing of our debt and as purchasing of our business assets and the like. We're selling everything that isn't nailed down in order to finance this insane need to fuel our vehicles at any cost, even as it is forcing us out of work by pushing all our much-needed capital out of American business and individuals' hands and into the pockets of foreigners that we will owe forever.

Wake up America! This is JUST THE BEGINNING, unless we make some substantial changes. Oh, and by the way, in addition to any personal debt you may have, do you want to know what your government, under this spend-crazy leadership, has obligated you and your family to?

The following is a quote right from the Treasury's own 2007 report:

Federal debt managed by the bureau totaled about $9 trillion at the end of fiscal year 2007. However, that number excludes many items, including the gap between scheduled and funded Social Security and Medicare benefits, veterans' health care, and a range of other commitments and contingencies that the federal government has pledged to support. If these items are factored in, the total burden in present value dollars is estimated to be about $53 trillion.3 Stated differently, the estimated current total burden for every American is nearly $175,000; and every day that burden becomes larger. Given the size of the projected imbalance, the U.S. government will not be able to grow its way out of this problem; tough choices will be required.

Notice, this is JUST the FEDERAL OBLIGATIONS... add on State, County, Local, etc. How much more obvious can it be - we CAN NOT and WILL NOT EVER be able to get out from under this national debt. There is absolutely no way that every man, woman, and child in this country can fork over $175K each - OBVIOUSLY. The relative "strength" of the USA, especially over the past couple decades, is nothing short of a mirage. It is smoke and mirrors folks. It was a series of "bubbles" (tech bubble, then real estate, and TONS of government spending throughout).

Our coffers are drained, and the signs are showing more and more. This doesn't mean immediate doom though, as our government has shown an incredible ability to keep the house-of-cards standing via ever-more debt... including the latest "stimulus checks" (which I posit were to BLAME for much of the inflation spike and gas-price spike - see that link for my predictions and outcome.) And, of course, more government officials are calling for further stimulus packages (which of course mean, just put it on the giant credit-card of the US government to hide the fact we are seriously hosed!).

I am perhaps a bit alarmist, but the fact is, something has to change. Unemployment increases should not be seen as a "surprise" or "unexpected" event in the least bit given the fact that our financial underpinnings are built on a foundation of quicksand. Get ready for more such "news" going forward, as the ripple-effect spreads. Don't confuse ripple with trickle (like the supposed "trickle down economics" that are supposed to save us through tax-cuts, and extended tax-cuts, to the upper income levels -- though, there is some relation between two, as this tax policy has helped lead us to this current state).

Ohio Payday Loans

It is no surprise that even national television shows like Bill Moyer's journal and others have featured segments on the State of Ohio's Payday Loan businesses recently. These overnight lending or short-term lending facilities have been charging rather absurd interest rates to anyone willing to subject themselves to what may best be termed "credit for the desperate", but is sold as a short-term "advance against future earnings".

These Ohio payday loan companies had been allowed to charge nearly unlimited interest rates, up until quite recently, where their annualized interest rates would reach nearly 400% (391% I believe). But after quite a drawn out fiasco, the Ohio legislature finally reached agreement earlier this year to pass a law limiting those exorbitant interest rates to a meager 28% (meager is sarcastic here folks!) It only took the discovery and public news of (the usual) rotten political lobbyist connections (to State officials) to embarrass the Ohio government into pushing through a law that was previously going nowhere fast.

Here's what I think about these "payday loans" in general: fact is, if someone that wants to borrow money is such a credit risk that a 28% interest rate won't cover the potential losses and give you a bit of profit in addition, you shouldn't lend money to them anyhow. But, of course, the real objective with these Ohio payday loan companies has not been to make sure they make good loans, smart loans, affordable loans, or reasonably priced loans that can be repaid with relative certainty... the objective instead has always been to get the must vulnerable people hooked into a short-term revolving loan system that is incredibly lucrative and never ends.

This is essentially just another chapter in the Ohio predatory lending pursuits, though of a different nature than the other well known and nationally publicized mess known as subprime lending that really showed itself early here in Ohio when compared to the rest of the Nation. Oh, and in case you didn't know, the Republican legislature in the early 2000's made sure they overturned a Cleveland, Ohio law against such predatory lending practices on the grounds of arguments like: who are we to say we can do a better job managing the loan business than the free market and private sector? Of course, we know where this lobbyist and special-interest driven legislative push at the State level ended up taking Ohio over the coming years! (by the way folks, there are video tapes of the various Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate earlier this decade making these speeches to protect their backers' interests - again, Bill Moyer's show broadcast these videos for all to see and remember recently, since it is unlikely the politicians will be showing you proof of what they said in the past).

Well, you'd think perhaps this time we learned. The warning bell was sounded in Ohio in the subprime mortgage meltdown mess WAY AHEAD of the National alarm. And, the State of Ohio government simply made sure they did their part to not allow something as troublesome as a City law (Cleveland's anti-predatory-lending one) get in the way of "progress" or "free markets" or "capitalism" or what have you. So, this time around, having looked really bad (or, perhaps simply corrupt) in the recent past (oh heck, and again now with the lobbying connections!), Ohio pushed through this new Ohio Payday Loan interest rate limits law.

But, trust me, that Law is nothing short of a well choreographed measure to make it LOOK like they are trying to do what is right. I say this because now, here in Ohio, we are bombarded with the TV Commercials from special interest groups that call themselves things like "Financial Freedom Ohio" or "Ohioans for Financial Freedom" or some other such sickly misleading label for nothing short of what should be called REINSTATE ULTRA-HIGH PAYDAY-LOAN INTEREST RATES AND CALL IT "FREEDOM" GROUPS. Here we go again...

Do not fall for this hype (aka, CRAP) people. Be very concerned whenever you see labels for such political action groups and lobbying groups use nebulous terms like "FREEDOM". The only freedom desired by the Payday Loan Businesses in Ohio is the freedom to charge whatever they want, and the freedom to do so with little to no fear of being reigned in until this turns into yet another massive national issue where the Federal Government has to get involved to "fix" (or bail out) someone or some business (well, a massive number of someones or businesses by then of course).

Please, everyone, remember the last bill of junk we were sold here in Ohio when the "free market economy" was allowed to play out via predatory sub-prime lending. Fact is, if you own a house in Ohio, you are probably paying the price for that in the way of reduced home values. Heck, it spread like a plague throughout the entire nation, so again: wake up and say NO to this push to create yet another wave of mass sub-prime lending that takes advantage of those who can least afford insanely high interest rates. Fact is, when the people that take out 400% loans get into dire straights, all bets are off and anything is a reasonable action for paying back the loan, including stripping the copper pipes out of a house, the aluminum siding off houses, removing catalytic converters from cars, or any other act of desperacy to "stay afloat".

Sure, some people can get themselves out from under these types of loans without resorting to anything illegal or immoral, and without begging, borrowing, or stealing, but the fact is that this business of short-term high-interest loans will provide zero-to-little benefit to anyone over the long-term. The payday loan firms in Ohio and everywhere else do not want customers that can borrow once, pay back a loan, and never return... they want life-long indentured customers that ensure them a steady cash stream forever via the bindings and chains of ultra-high interest rates.

If you really feel strongly about "financial freedom" and allowing loan businesses to charge rates otherwise illegal (you realize your credit-card firm can't charge nearly the rates desired by these payday loan organizations, right?), I have a few simple thoughts I want you to consider.

First, I sure hope YOU never require a loan so desparately that you would take on outlandish interest-rate terms that will cause you to forever be in their grasp.

Second, if you say "I will never need to", great! Now, how about considering the fact that someone else may, whether for reasons acceptable to you or not, find themselves in a position where they see a payday loan as their only option, after you have decided to lend your support to the current Ohio lobbying movement to reinstate and allow essentially unlimited interest rates to be charged of that borrower.

Sure, it is not YOU, so what do you care? Search yourself here, and ask: is it even slightly acceptable to allow someone to pay an interest rate for a small loan, that if continually renewed, levies a nearly 400% annual rate? Borrow $100, and owe $500 if you take a year to pay it back. Better yet, if you know someone in this situation, maybe you should consider the possibility that by risking $100 (and personally lending that person the money), you could perhaps save a person from a situation they can never dig themselvs out of. And, for what? The cost of a couple tankfuls of gasoline?

I can't help thinking how credit in America has changed over the decades - both in the ease of credit, and the attitude towards credit. When I was a child, I remember my parents and grandparents thinking that ANY credit was a last-resort measure, and that any credit to be obtained was only done so under the utmost of need and kept to the absolute minimum required. Additionally, credit was first looked upon as something that with luck, some inter-family borrowing could help with. And, because of the absolute conviction by which all credit repayment was to take precedence over other expense-priorities, everyone involved just knew that people were good for their word and would ultimately pay back any loan given. Wow, have things changed! If only people still treated their finances, loans, and the repayment of loans with such responsiblity, I doubt the concept of a Payday Loan would ever have come to exist in anywhere near its current magnitude. Certainly it would never have become an industry with the power to essentially buy the legal outcome they want.

So, let's not make things any worse than they already are. Fact is, Payday Loans and other cash advance loans are probably here to stay, as is the day of rather lax credit and an overwhelming "need" people have in general to spend beyond their means (exacerbated by inflation and wages not keeping up with inflation of course, but also as part of this modern "must have everything NOW" culture that is mixed in).

So, when someone has to obtain that cash-advance loan for whatever the reason, let's at least consider Ohio's latest law (the one being challenged by the special interest groups) reasonable when they cap such loans' interest rates at 28%. Next, if you have the chance to help someone avoid this payday-loan mess to begin with, do so. And, even if you can not offer someone direct financial assistance, offer them advice and help them understand finances and options for improving their situation... even that can be a help.

Mergers Concentrate Failure Potential

Something I have not heard talked about much during this latest round of negative news in the investment banking, banking, and mortgage related financial businesses is how mergers have concentrated points of failure throughout our financial system. Mergers have been all the rage in the past couple decades, with the big companies getting bigger and bigger through rampant acquisition activity. The end result is a financial system where the top few banks, brokerages houses, investment banks, and mortgage GSEs control an immense amount of assets and liabilities. As such, a failure of any one of these large institutions can lead to a domino effect.

Mergers were sold to everyone as the panacea of financial growth opportunity. Things like "economy of scale" and "improved efficiencies" and even some statements as lame as "it will allow us to compete better" and so on are always cited as the reasons for these mergers that have progressed to mega-mergers (which have led to near monopolies in many industries too). But, people never point out the obvious problem: you concentrate all your risk into one firm too by extending too much power and credit to one firm. It's the old adage "don't put all your eggs in one basket" that comes to mind.

Fact is, our government is supposed to prevent mergers that lead to monopolies or monopolistic-like business practices, but I have utterly lost any hope in our government's ability (or willingness) to reign in the widespread super-consolidation that takes place daily. In fact, every time a new merger announcement comes up that is "subject to regulatory approval", I quickly tell everyone that thinks that an obvious end-result monopoly won't be approved is wrong (i.e., I always bet the government will do purely what business wants and allow the consolidation to occur, even if there exists not a single competitor in the market - just like the XM/Sirius merger of recent). I've watched for years now how the government allowed the former ATT companies all merge back together (why did we waste time breaking them up!?) as well as all sorts of oil companies. And, of course, we've seen financial firms merge and consolidate further and further.

To get back to the point here: allowing this to happen is anti-competitive, and moreso, it puts us all in a position where one large company's failure (or potential failure) can jeopardize the entire economy. Of course, these same firms are now so big that our government decides "they are too big to allow to fail", so we the taxpayers get to back them through a precedence that is forming yet another club of special powers: those firms that have achieved such market dominance that they now have a way to directly access taxpayer-backed funding.

Decentralization is a great method for minimizing the likelihood of catastrophic failure in networks, power-generation, food production, and yes... even in things like banks! So, instead, what do we do? We do anything to prevent widespread "off-grid" decentralized power generation... we allow mega-farms to be formed and corporate controlled... and we allow corporations of all types to merge into behemoths that are "too big to allow to fail".

So much for the day of "ma and pa" stores and businesses. Small businesses typically generate the most jobs, and generally don't take more than they give (as do many LARGE corporations through their endless special-interest tax-credits and other handouts and incentives). Small businesses are not getting a direct line to the taxpayer for their funding, but instead, they have to risk their own personal assets in many cases just to stay afloat. That is what we should reward!

America was founded on principles that shown bright and gave us the "land of opportunity" mantra. It will become increasingly difficult for REAL competition to flourish via small, independent startups, especially when the larger players that already have "economy of scale" on their side also have the government on their side in nearly every conceivable aspect of their business - including direct financing sources now (via you, the taxpayer). Who is going to come in and bail out the little business that is having a rough go of it in this economy, and who doesn't even get a single dime in tax abatements, job-creation-credits, and other incentives only available to larger firms (that quite often take much more than they give if you ever look at the balance of credits and incentives given them vs. what they create in employment taxes, income taxes, etc).

OK, I'm done ranting for now. But, keep in mind, concentrating such power into a few firms is also concentrating further likelihood of catastrophic failure in the future.

IBM RoadRunner SuperComputer

IBM is always at the cutting-edge of SuperComputer development, and things are no different today with the release of news about their new Roadrunner super-computer that is to be delivered to the US Nuclear Security Administration. This thing has absolutely insane levels of computing power, turning in over a Petaflop of computing ability (that is one quadrillion, or 1000 Trillion, operations per second!) As a comparison, figure that it would take between 50,000 and 100,000 of the fastest modern personal computers to equal that.

I find this type of quote (from Technology News Daily's site) really great for describing how far computing technology has come in such a short amount of time:

In the past 10 years, supercomputer power has increased about 1,000 times. Today, just three of Roadrunner’s 3,456 Tri-blade units have the same power as the 1998 fastest computer. A complex physics calculation that will take Roadrunner one week to complete, would have taken the 1998 machine 20 years to finish – it would be half done today! If it were possible for cars to improve their gas mileage over the past decade at the same rate that supercomputers have improved their cost and efficiency, we'd be getting 200,000 miles to the gallon today.

Isn't that just unbelievable? We have engineered computers whose processing power has outpaced prior generation's ability to complete a given task. So, it begs the question: why not just wait another 10 years for a faster computer before considering running more simulations or problems to solve? :) Well, the answer is obvious (I think), in that it is the current demand for computing power that drives the need for faster computers as we find more uses for the power. And, were it not for purchases of these computers, the R&D wouldn't be there to keep the pace of computing-power advancement where it is now. So, like all computers, their own success is what makes them obsolete.

Now, when the price of this power comes down from the current $100Million to something like $5,000, I'll just have to buy one for some really serious virtual-reality simulations!

Beware of Cannibals!

Ted Turner (of CNN-founding fame, and mega-millionaire status), recently made some rather interesting comments on PBS about how extreme the global situation could become if global warming continues unchecked. One of the dire warnings he put forth for consideration was the prospect of how people, when pushed to the limits with lack of available food, may resort to cannibalism. Here's some of the what was discussed with regards to the global climate change issue:

If steps aren't taken to stem global warming, "We'll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow," Turner said during a wide-ranging, hour-long interview with PBS's Charlie Rose that aired Tuesday.

"Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals," said Turner, 69. "Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable."

One way to combat global warming, Turner said, is to stabilize the population.

"We're too many people; that's why we have global warming," he said. "Too many people are using too much stuff."

OK, so this all sounds a bit extreme, or does it?
Fact is, Ted Turner may well be right!

I for one, at least while in my right mind (during this pre-catastrophic-earth period), tell myself I would rather just die of starvation than eat another human being, but who knows... if pushed to the brink, maybe I'd essentially become a zombie where only my deep animal instincts drove me to seek out any and all available "food", be it human or not.

Perhaps Ted Turner had just watched the movie Sweeney Todd (the Demon Barber of Fleet Street), and noticed how Johnny Depp's character (and his fellow house / business tenant) took to killing many a human and turning them into meat pies (which, they served to unsuspecting London consumers during what they characterized as "desperate times" or "hard times"). If 19th Century London is bad enough meat is so scarce, then I guess Ted Turner's 21st post-global-warming-catastrophic-earth conditions would make that look like nothing, and (human) meat-pies may be the menu-item of choice.

Now, instead of becoming a cannibal this year, I have just begun work on my new garden. A nice chunk of the yard (formerly just grass) is becoming what I hope will be a productive vegetable garden. I am doing this for a few reasons: 1) food prices have skyrocketed! and 2) I don't want to rely completely on others for my food. I want variation in my diet, and with this insane push for Ethanol, it seems the only 100% sure way to get the vegetables / crops I want (without paying a fortune) will be to grow my own. So, here's hoping this experiment pays off. And, with luck, I'll raise enough home-grown food I won't have to resort to cannibalism! :)

Less Pain, More Gain? Weightlifting rules changed.

I just couldn't help posting about this study that goes completely against the old "no pain, no gain" rule of weightlifting and muscle building.

Check this out:

Taking daily recommended dosages of ibuprofen and acetaminophen caused a substantially greater increase over placebo in the amount of quadriceps muscle mass and muscle strength gained during three months of regular weight lifting, in a study by physiologists at the Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State University

Isn't that just interesting? So, should we change the saying in the weight room to "less pain, more gain?" An interesting question may also be: will taking a daily Tylenol when lifting, or an Ibuprofin, produce gains equal to that of Anabolic Steroids or Human Growth Hormone (HGH) or protein powders, whey protein, amino acid supplements, etc? :)

Regardless, it was an interesting study.

New Economy : Skilled Labor Wage Inversion Imminent

I have been giving a lot of thought to where Wages are headed in this "New Economy" of global competition and such. My conclusion: wages for those generally considered "skilled labor" are going to fall, and wages for what has been historically considered "unskilled labor" are going to rise (certainly substantially relative to that skilled labor).

I call this my geographically-bound-wages-theory in a global economy, and the subsequent education-vs-wages "inversion" I see coming. Fact is, if your job CAN be outsourced to a cheaper, lower wage country, it WILL be, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The only jobs that can not be outsourced to cheap-labor markets are those that require a physical presence right here in the United States.

What does that leave here in the United States not subject to outsourcing? Not much! If you do any work that does not require at least half of your time being spent physically "on location" here, forget it. So, if you happen to fall into nearly any job considered "White Collar", get ready for a rude awakening as you job is shipped overseas. Thanks to high-speed communications (aka, the Internet and telecommunications), any "desk job" type work is instantly subject to relocation abroad. This includes:

• Information Technology jobs
• Accounting jobs, including tax preparation
• Lawyers - unless you are one of the RARE lawyers actually chairing a case in a courtroom
• Most management positions - trust me, hiring and firing decisions can be made from abroad based purely on underling performance statistics
• Psychologists
• Architects
• Engineers
• Artists
• Advertising and marketing
• Fundraisers
• Call-Centers and Customer Service

I'm not just making this list up... I have seen news about nearly every type of white-collar position moving overseas, little by little, and the pressure for that movement will only continue as Congress bends to the will of Corporate America.

Very few "skilled worker" or "white collar" jobs will remain physically here in the United States. Sure, some health workers will remain, like surgeons that require immediate on-site access to the patient, but even that is under threat as remote surgery is enabled (this tech already exists!) Nursing: yeah, it seems that would stay here, but don't count on it. I guarantee some enterprising persons or companies will find a way to outsource most longer-term care situations to cheaper geographies eventually, even if if means moving the patient, invalid, elderly, whatever, to foreign shores or South of the border. You wait. It'll happen.

So, what will remain (and remain a decent paying profession)? Essentially, the "blue collar" jobs that require a worker to physically be here (and I do NOT mean manufacturing - since, as we all know, that is going, going, gone!).

Don't believe me? I read recently that in 2005, the average College grad made $51,206/yr (i.e., just under $25/hr.). Now, have you checked the bill from your mechanic lately and compared the hourly rate to what you make? I have seen hourly mechanic rates of $75/hour charged at automotive dealers for service, and I know plenty of people with College degrees that make no where near this amount. And, even if you were to take out over 50% for "shop charges" and "overhead" and so forth, I still know many College-degreed individuals that don't make even close to the remaining figure. The list of people I am comparing to includes quite a few PhD's that just constantly seem to find themselves "overqualified" for positions. I know people that mow lawns for a living or plow snow for a living that make a better hourly rate than people with Masters and PhD level educations. Is this wrong? Not necessarily,... it's just a sign of the times, as jobs that require the work be done HERE have some current demand imbalance that allows them to charge great rates.

How did this happen? We were always told to graduate...go on to College... get advanced degrees... etc. Well, the whole time our government is constantly in the media talking about how we need a better educational system, more people with advanced degrees, and so on... they are (helping Corporate America with) shipping all the jobs that require such degrees to overseas locations.

What is the incentive for ANYONE to get an advanced degree, unless they have some "in" with someone in government or will be one of the few remaining at the top (of the management hierarchy) exploiting those below by stripping the value of their College educations from them daily when they force their US labor force to compete with much cheaper foreign labor? In fact, why even get a College degree? Wages for College-grads are stagnating, to no surprise, for the reasons I'm discussing.

We even offer "retraining" programs for workers... why? Fact is, if retraining of displaced manufacturing workers was successful, we'd have more than enough skilled labor to fill all those Technology jobs our leaders are now pushing for foreigners to fill (there is a current push to yet again raise the 2008 cap on foreign IT workers via H-1B Visas).

Again, trust me, regardless of the talk coming out of the government with regards to advanced education and retraining workers, the only real government push that is going on is to help large multinational companies expedite the transition from a domestic (and "expensive") workforce to a foreign-sourced labor pool (mainly not residing here, as such local people are "expensive" relative to nearly the entire rest of the world's labor pool. Even H1's will become too expensive, unless they quickly erode the average pay-rate here considerably, but, more likely, they are just a transitional step towards overseas outsourcing quite frequently, which is why they are so desired now).

So, if this wage pressure on the middle-class wasn't enough, and you (the College grad or potential College grad) start thinking you should perhaps take up a profession in plumbing, construction and remodeling, housekeeping, lawn care, automotive repair, or any of a multitude of decent jobs that seem like they'll be "safe" from this globalization push, guess what? Next, you'll face the fact that even those good local jobs that require local talent are under attack by our government, as they push for open borders and allow a flood of (mostly illegal) immigration further put pressure on the labor market in an effort to suppress wage-growth and fill the Corporate coffers.

I can't help thinking how dismal the future for the American worker looks if we don't, as a Country, start doing something to stem the flow of decent paying middle-class jobs out of here. I'm not advocating outright protectionism, but we really need to start making companies that outsource their workers and/or their pollution/environmental-damage, pay some type of tax to level the playing field for the US workers and the companies here that truly care about the long-term health of this country.

One massive problem with the whole overseas outsourcing thing is how the average small business can not achieve the economies of scale to outsource like their larger competitors. This all but ensures that few startups will ever be able to compete long-term against those firms that can - in fact, they'll be lucky to gain a foothold at all, since most any product or service (unique, patented, or not) can be copied (illegally in many cases) and brought in to the US within months of going on the market.

This isn't competition. Either is "dumping", and it's rampant -- I often see products from China at stores where the retail price is less than the cost of the raw materials (not even counting labor). This is all part of the systematic destruction of the American Dream and middle class. Something has to change. And, I am looking forward to anyone (with any power) to stand up and slow this bleeding of American jobs, though I have little hope anyone will be able to take on the entrenched establishment in Washington and actually "win". So, you best start figuring out how YOU are going to ensure some sort of unique value proposition in your own job situation, lest you be next on the "sorry, your job has been outsourced" list.

Prescription Drug Advertising Waste

I have an incredible disdain for the rampant waste in America's medical and health-care system, with one of the largest money-flushes being that of over-priced prescription drugs. We pay more for drugs than nearly any other country, even though many of these brand-name drugs are actually manufactured here in the USA.

Aside from the fact that big-pharma lobbyists essentially "own" our government and prevent our own government from negotiating the best possible price on widely used medicines / medications / prescriptions, there is one other insane reason for the high costs: advertising!

Other nations enjoy substantially lower prices, and in many cases the lowest prices for the same drugs can be as remarkable as 1/3 of the USA price for the same drug. Could the fact that companies here (in the USA) are dumping Billions and Billions in TV and print media advertising, thanks to the pharmaceuticals industry's lobbying efforts to legalize advertising of prescription drugs (took effect under Clinton as I recall), have something to do with the prices we all have to pay?! Gee, I wonder! (mega-sarcasm!).

Turn on the TV any time of day, and you are nearly guaranteed to see a slew of prescription drug ads - most of the time with a series of nearly unrelated background scenes that are meant to appease you and appeal to your senses, showing the great outdoors, or people being active, etc, and rarely even saying what the hell the drug being advertised does - just something like "ask your doctor if XYZ is right for you". This is ridiculous, and just plain wrong! And, you wonder why something as simple as a cholesterol medicine and gastric-reflux medicine can cost hundreds or more dollars per month - at the same time companies spend mega-millions on advertising to you.

The same goes for prescription-drug print advertising insanity! I just went through an issue of a cooking magazine that was laying around here, and ripped out all the full-page ads (oh yes, no expense spared - full page, two side ads!) to make you want to rush to the doctor or pharmacy and get some medications! Obviously people who cook must need tons of drugs! In just one issue of a magazine, here's a sampling of the ads I see (and what the drug chemical is, who makes it, and what they are targeting sales for):

• Detrol ® LA (i.e., tolterodine tartrate - Pfizer - bladder / urinary related)
• Zetia ® (i.e., ezetimibe - Merck - cholesterol related)
• Vyvanse ® (i.e., lisdexamfetamine dimesylate - Shire - ADHD drug - which, I won't even get into how messed up I find ADHD "drugging" of children!)
• Spiriva ® (i.e., tiotropium bromide inhaler - Pfizer - COPD treatment)
• Ambien ® CR (i.e., zolpidem tartrate - Sanofi-Aventis - sleep improvements)
• ZOCOR ® (simvastatin - Merck - cholesterol).
• Nexium ® (esomeprazole magnesium - AstraZeneca - GERD / gastric-reflux), which it amazingly appears there is an epidemic of from the (sales) numbers! Instead of this "treatment", go for a cure instead: don't eat so much!
  
• ...and there were more... stuff for "restless leg syndrome (RLS)", irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and IBS with constipation, etc., etc...

This is insane!
First of all, if people have an real medical condition that requires a pill, tablet, injection, or whatever, they should be in contact with their doctor already about any symptoms they are having, and the doctor should be able to assist them with understanding what options exist - all without these damn costly Billion$$ advertised drug campaigns!

Yes, awareness of treatments is a good thing, so you know what exists and perhaps more importantly, what the treatment efficacy rate is versus placebo, and what the side-effects are vs. placebo! But, you aren't getting that data from the TV regardless (your lucky in many cases just to figure out what the drug is treating). The magazine ads *sometimes* have enough detail to be useful, but still, this can be acquired online or via your doctor should there really be the need.

I'm sick of paying the highest prices in the world (in many, if not nearly all cases) for the same medicines / prescription drugs that people in other countries get at a super discount compared to us. Even if I don't use these drugs, I am forced to pay for them in my higher medical insurance costs (to cover every one else's use of them). I truly believe that aside from just plainly ripping us off and overcharging for drugs here, the manufacturers are also covering the advertising costs, which are extreme. This is so ridiculous of course, because those ads do nothing for our health, but they do wonders for creating entire generations of "patients" (or should I say victims) that "need" the drug of the moment - be it for ADHD or cholesterol or whatever.

How did humanity survive until now without sleeping pills and restless leg syndrome treatment (perhaps Vitamin-B6 for the latter one!?)? This is just so wrong! Demand change! Quit paying for this waste! Time to get Congress to repeal the changes that allow big-pharma to advertise all over the place (oh, I almost forgot: that will not happen, since they own Congress and your vote doesn't count). I am sick of paying super-high medical insurance rates, and I want to enjoy the lowest possible price for medicines and insurance possible - and, that is not going to happen until (for starters) this drug-advertising waste is stopped!

National Do-Not-Call Registry and permanent registration

For any of you who have signed up for the National Do-Not-Call Registry, especially those of you who signed up a few years ago already, you will be pleased to know that the FTC has pledged to not drop any numbers from the Do Not Call database pending final congressional lawmaker decisions about whether to simply make the don't call list "permanent" once you sign up.

This all sounds great, but my paranoid side has to wonder if this will ultimately turn out to be an orchestrated effort (pushed behind the scenes by telemarketing interests) to subvert the intentions of the do not call list through a tightly choreographed appearance of an attempt to make the list permanent, while the real objective is to have all of the names on that list that are reaching maturity (i.e., the existing 5-year limit) hold off on renewing their desire to remain unbothered by telemarketers as Congress "works on the issue", ultimately to have Congress not extend the 5-year period to permanence, and worse yet, do so with little notice and little press, effectively having all of us that are currently on the list "fall off" temporarily and subject ourselves to the harassment and calls we so want to avoid.

The real solution, and the obvious solution, to this do not call list is to make ALL phone numbers be automatically on the do-not-call list, and have it be an OPT-IN option to inform marketers that you actually want to receive calls from them (versus the current, and unbelievably lame, opt-out process that is nothing short of an obvious appeasement of telemarketing lobbying interests -- certainly not a consumer interest)! Of course, since the logical answer is to have all phone numbers be on a do not call list by default, that is one thing Congress will never require. So what if 76% of Americans have signed up to keep their numbers off the marketers' lists? (and, I presume most of the remaining 24% would do the same, but just don't take time or are not aware of how simple it is to do).

Let me start with a real-world example of how messed up the current do-not-call registration process-flow is, and what backs my presumption that Congress will, "after careful consideration" and so forth, not make the Do Not Call list a "permanent" thing. Recently my mother-in-law started receiving harassing calls in the middle of the night from some whacko that just happened to choose her number to call. Her existing number was on the do-no-call list, and she rarely received calls aside from the "exempted" stuff like "surveys" and political-campaign messages (gee, who would have guessed lawmakers would exclude themselves from being censored). After these harassing calls persisted for a few days, my mother in law decided to just have the phone company change her number.

Gee, guess what happens after changing your phone number? You are no longer on the do not call list, since it is an OPT-OUT (of being harassed by telemarketers) program vs. opt-in, and instantly you start getting bombarded with marketing calls, even if you go online and instantly register your new phone number with the FTC as not to be called, while the marketers have a sort of grace period to abuse you for a month or so. In my mother-in-law's situation, she went from rarely getting any calls, to literally turning off her ringer after a day because so many marketers were calling her. The phone companies obviously have financially-rewarding agreements with telemarketing firms to sell any information about new phone numbers ASAP so you can be abused and harassed "legally" for as long as possible. This is pure bull@#$! Especially if you were already on the do not call list, and are forced into changing your phone number for any of a variety of reasons.

It would be really nice if Congress would wake up and do our (the people's) bidding and implement some logical consumer-protection laws, but it isn't going to happen as long as lobbyists can hand them more cash and incentives than we, the public, do. It's not good enough to get our votes, they need constant monetary incentive up there on Capitol Hill in order to hear us it seems. So, don't be surprised when the "permanent registration" being considered in Congress somehow doesn't come to be (though, I sure hope it does!), and you suddenly start getting marketing calls during a period where marketers will exploit a giant hole created by Congress where your registrations lapses as an "unfortunate and unexpected side effect" of lawmakers efforts - since they'll postpone making a final decision until after many of us early signup persons pass our initial 5-years of peace we signed up for. I hope I'm wrong, but you can almost predict this sort of thing from lawmakers.

Hewlett Packard Rebate Fraud (alleged here!)

In the past year, I have been the victim of what I would best describe as organized and intentional rebate fraud by Hewlett Packard. I purchased two computer systems from them - first, a desktop system late in 2006 that came with (supposedly) nearly $300 in rebates PLUS a free Windows Vista upgrade. Next, I purchased an HP notebook computer a couple months ago that included a $50 rebate.

I should have known better than to purchase another HP product after the experience with the first one, but I thought that perhaps the rebate issues were isolated. In the first case, I did get a partial rebate, for about $100, for one of the system components that was to have a rebate with it. But, the remainder went unpaid even after I re-sent proof of purchase and sales-receipts to HP as instructed in a form-letter that arrived a couple months after purchase claiming that I had not included a detailed receipt (which, I clearly did, since Staples prints separate Rebate-Receipts to include with each product purchased that has a qualifying rebate program - and, I keep photocopies of exactly what I send - and yes, it was all there!).

In addition, this system came with a (supposed) free Microsoft Vista Upgrade when Vista was released, which it was soon after purchase. I immediately went to a website that HP provided for obtaining the "free upgrade", only to have the site repeatedly crash and never complete the process. Of course, HP had outsourced the fulfillment to a third party (I believe it was Unisys), who I contacted by email multiple times, and explained the problem -- they kept saying they "reset" the transaction, and that it should work now. Well, needless to say, it never did. After about 4 emails, they simply quit responding to me. Why should they? What do they care if you get your free upgrade?? They get paid by HP to implement this program, whether they do it right or not, and whether you get your free Software or not. And, Hewlett Packard (and other firms), in my best guess, intentionally push off fulfillment of such things so that you have absolutely no recourse. You contact HP - they say contact the third-party, the one that has no incentive to deliver. It's a win-win for HP, and a lose-lose for the customer. Lovely. I finally just gave up, since nobody would even answer my emails!

Most recently, just a couple months ago, I purchased an HP notebook that was to include a $50 rebate. I purchased it knowing that there was at least some chance I'd never see the rebate after my prior (though hopefully isolated) experience. Well, yesterday, I get the dreaded rebate-denial form in the mail, stating:

"We appreciate your purchase, but your submission for the Stand Up Stand Out $50 Pavilion Notebook Offer was declined for the following reason(s): Submission did not include a copy of an itemized dated sales receipt or packing slip. Please enclose a copy."

Yeah, right! I fully expected this type of crap! I made sure to check and double-check my mailing, and once again, I had dedicated "rebate-receipts" printed by the store at which I bought it. I sent everything asked for and highlighted all the pertinent info (the same info I'm once again being told I didn't send!) I called the included question-line at 1-888-385-5410, which of course went to some Indian call-center. Of course, it's not an HP employee you're talking to, and it's all about having some third-party handle the "customer experience". How do these companies stay in business (and, I'm not talking about the overseas call centers)?

So, I proceed to express my discontent at what I see as organized rebate fraud. I ask various questions to the call-center contact about whether they think HP is committing any sort of fraud. They can't say. They only tell me: "send the info in again, and I'm sure HP will pay", to which I said "yeah, I've been through that before, and they did not pay, so why should I?". The call center person checks the records and says "all you need to send is a copy of the sales receipt -- we have everything else". Once again, I've heard this before and done what I was instructed to do, only to not get paid - not to mention, I sent it once for god sakes, and it seems that only HP can't get me my rebates as promised and continually and conveniently loses the sales receipt I send!

What convinces me HP is perpetrating a rebate-scam!
So, I continue asking the offer-center contact questions, trying to figure out if there is a rebate scam going on here. I finally think I got the answer I expected when I asked, "OK, so can you tell me, are there a lot of other customers who are calling in to complain that although they sent all the required information, they are now being told HP didn't receive it" -- the Indian guy finally replies quite clearly, "yes, others are experiencing the same thing -- a lot of other people".

I can't help wondering if this is how Hewlett Packard's stock (ticker NYSE:HPQ) and financials are outperforming other personal computer and technology manufacturers. With margins as thin as they are in this field, a company could surely pump up their bottom line through an organized program of rebate-fulfillment dodging. Basically, make it as hard as possible for the consumer to get their rebate money... make it not even worth their time to pursue their rebate money... ship the "customer support" (call center) to India or wherever so that it is still much cheaper to field calls all day than to pay the rebates, and voila!, you have just pumped up your bottom line! The temptation must be huge, and corporate bonuses for upper management (performance based) must make it even more likely. Perhaps I've just had a round of bad luck with inept rebate fulfillment personnel, but I suspect the prior considerations dominate the rebate-processing food-chain in HP (and other firms - though, I've ONLY had problems with HP!)

Even if HP is hit with a class-action suit over this type of thing, I bet they have already calculated that it'll still be cheaper than to just pay the rebates. In the end, some lawyers will make a lot of cash, and the consumers will get some lame $50 coupon off future HP product purchases. Isn't this how these things typically pan out?

Did I mention the fact that I used to work for Hewlett Packard? I used to think they were the most upstanding and wonderful company around, with great corporate culture and customer rapport. A lot has changed in the nearly 20 years since I worked there, and now I am thoroughly convinced they have gone down the path of so many other consumer mass-market product companies. Sad. They really did have something nice going back then. And, here I am now, thinking I'll never buy another one of their products again -- especially not in hopes of obtaining the rebate or upgrade I am (supposedly) entitled to as the purchaser. Essentially, if I am to compare HP product prices to other vendors, there is no way I can compare with the rebate included - since it is essentially a vaporous promise.

Rampant Anabolic Steroid Abuse

When the details of pro wrestler Chris Benoit's anabolic steroid "prescriptions" came out recently, it only confirmed what I have assumed to be true of most of these pro wrestlers (and perhaps some other athletes) that have bodies that appear to defy the laws of nature. I just read this CNN Article about Benoit's excessive steroid purchases, and some of the excess (like there is a "normal" level of anabolic steroid use?) mentioned include:

• "Dr. Phil Astin prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids to Chris Benoit every three to four weeks between May 2006 and May 2007, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent said in an affidavit filed Friday and made public Monday."
• "The [Benoit] boy had old needle marks in his arms, Ballard has said. He said he had been told the parents considered him undersized and had given him growth hormones."
• "[Benoit's doctor] Astin had written prescriptions for about 1 million doses of controlled substances over the past two years, including "significant quantities" of injectable testosterone cypionate, an anabolic steroid, according to the criminal complaint."

Gee, do you really think Benoit is the only professional wrestler or athlete that has a friend that happens to be a doctor willing to write "prescriptions" for anabolic steroids? I think not. It'll be interesting to see who else shares Benoit's doctor as a friend who is willing to help them get huge! I can guarantee that the bulk of these super-size (nearly freakish-size) ultra-muscular people have at one time or another abused steroids.

I have always been into weight-lifting, especially during my college years and the following 10 years or more. In all that time, I constantly pushed more and more weight, and gained substantial strength, but, the one thing I never gained much of was size. Sure, I can get toned and muscular, but nothing like these guys whose muscles look like balloons. No matter how much I lifted, I just could not put on much more than 10 or 20 pounds of muscle over my body's normal non-workout size. And, all of the weight-lifting I ever did was done "clean" - meaning, without any chemical / steroidal enhancement.

I am sure some people have a physical predisposition to being able to amass extra muscle better than others, but not to the extent of these pro wrestlers and such. During my college years, quite a few of the guys in the weight room who were physically substantially larger than me were abusing steroids. I have known friends and acquaintances that made incredible physical-mass gains using anabolic steroids, and who most likely never would have put on such size without them. Some of these people even tried to encourage me to join them in their steroid use - but, fortunately, my common sense prevailed and I avoided the temptation for fast gains completely.

Because of my exposure to people that were using anabolic steroids, as well as my exposure to others who lifted and body-built "clean", I find it quite easy to look at people and within moments determine with reasonable certainty whether or not they are, or have been, using steroids. There is a norm for humans that can quickly be exceeded when one is using chemicals to gain a physical advantage, and that norm (or the non conformance to such a norm) can usually be detected with even minimal observation. Given that, I tell you, nearly everyone in the WWE appears to be using Anabolic Steroids on a regular basis! And, somehow the news of Benoit's abuse is "surprising" or unexpected?

I really think it is time someone took this abuse seriously. The DEA should easily be able to obtain records of every doctor that is prescribing anabolic steroids. I am a firm believer in doctor-patient confidentiality, and the DEA need not know who the end-recipients of such drugs are in order to detect patterns of abuse. There must be some sort of "baseline" level of truly justifiable and medically-required anabolic steroid prescriptions (I guess), and if a doctor exceed that level, there is probably a good reason to dig deeper.

Screening and testing of wrestlers and athletes is a joke too - whether "independent labs" are involved or not. Fact is, I'll bet the "independent" labs still have a vested interest in maintaining clients, and as such, make sure that results are as they need to be (by casually looking the other way as a certain person substitutes their urine-sample, or whatever else needs to be done). If the labs aren't in on allowing abuse to continue, then they are just plain clueless to all the tricks that are used to pass tests. One way or the other, something needs to change, and testing and enforcement needs to be consistent, accurate, and meaningful.

Whether these people (like Benoit) have a "prescription" for the anabolic steroids or not should also not matter. It seems rather apparent that the sole reason for such a prescription in this case is to become huge and/or strong, which certainly is not justification. If it is, then anyone that wants anabolics / testosterone should be able to walk into their doctor's office and say "I want steroids, as I want to get huge!" and have a prescription with few additional questions or obstacles.

Bottom line: either enforce existing laws against anabolic steroid use (by all persons - including "pros" and famous people), or get rid of the laws altogether since they appear to not apply to a certain group of people. Either way, I think we can at least all stop acting surprised when we hear about someone that has abused steroids, as I can almost guarantee the Benoit case is nothing too uncommon.

Huge Home Inventory does not stop New Building

I just read this article about how the Inventory of US homes for sale hit a 15-year high, with nearly 4.5 million homes on the market for sale. If this isn't disturbing enough, especially when put in the context of how this represents a nearly 9-month inventory of homes, consider how this biggest inventory overhang since 1992 seems to be occurring when the economy is supposedly rather good overall. And, the median home price has slid another couple percent - for 10th straight month of declines.

What I just don't get is why, if there is such a glut of homes on the market, is so much new building going on? Everywhere I turn here in Northeast Ohio, I see yet another new development to be filled with $250K+ homes (which, by the way put them above the current median nationwide price of $223K). The people filling these homes are moving from homes that they can not sell, thus further increasing an already ballooning inventory situation.

I guess people just are not happy with their "old" homes, and being typical US consumers, they feel the need to constantly move into larger and more luxurious accommodations. If that isn't it, someone please let me know what this trend (of massive continued development during massive existing-home inventories) is all about. Personally, I think it signals an impending crisis. Time will tell.