Gongol.com Archives: September 2011
Brian Gongol


September 2, 2011

The United States of America New EPA regulations on smog are put on hold
Public demand for better air quality is apparently lesser than public demand for economic expansion fueled by "good manufacturing jobs", so the White House is putting the brakes on regulations that manufacturers say would be costly to them and prevent their expansion. It's just further evidence (confirmation, really) that all "environmental" choices are really economic choices. It's interesting to see what happens when the availability of resources changes and thus so does public opinion. Everyone wants a pristine environment, until they see the bill.

Business and Finance What should Apple do with its enormous cash pile?
One environmental pundit says they should invest in manufacturing in environmentally-friendly ways, and do so within the United States. It's decidedly unlikely to happen, considering that Apple has already made it clear that it's willing to accept the cost of much more piracy as a result of doing business in China. Those piracy costs do far more damage to Apple's bottom line than the costs of environmental consequences. In other words, there are far more directly compelling reasons to quit manufacturing in China than environmental protection, and Apple hasn't done so, so why would they change course now?

Aviation News Report says waiting to clean up space junk is only going to make the problem much worse
As pieces of debris collide with one another, they're going to create even more pieces of debris, and the smaller they get, the harder they're going to be to collect. But they'll still be capable of enormous damage.

Business and Finance Will Baby Boomers cash out and continue to deflate the stock market?
Possibly -- so suggests a research paper from the San Francisco Federal Reserve. They think it could last two decades. If so, great times could be ahead for people looking to buy shares in American companies on the cheap. The telling question for America's future is: Who will those buyers be?

News We should have stopped calling it a "War on Terrorism" a long time ago
Terrorism is a method, not an ideology. No sane person wants terrorism, but ending it is an impossible task, and thus sets up a war upon it as something that's doomed to failure. There are better ways to bring about a safer, better world than declaring "war" on a method of action.

Business and Finance Some reassurance from Warren Buffett
Past quotes that are certainly applicable in today's anxious economic climate

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