Promiscuous Wealth: Emasculate The Rich | Ed Strong

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If corporations and individuals with $1 million or more in income each year paid taxes at 1961 rates, there would be an additional $716 billion a year.

Once upon a time in America, back a century ago, our nation?s rich paid virtually nothing in taxes to the federal government. And that same federal government did virtually nothing to better the lives of average Americans.

But those average Americans would do battle, over the next half century, to rein in the rich and the corporations that made them ever richer. And that struggle would prove remarkably successful.

By the 1950s, America?s rich and the corporations they ran were paying significant chunks of their annual incomes in taxes ? and the federal projects and programs these taxes helped finance were actually improving average American lives.

America?s wealthy, predictably, counterattacked ? and, by the 1980s, they were scoring successes of their own.

Today, the rich and their corporations no longer bear anything close to their rightful share of the nation?s tax burden. The federal government, given this revenue shortfall, is having a harder and harder time funding initiatives that help average working families. The result: a ?debt crisis.?

This ?debt crisis? in no way had to happen. No natural disaster, no tsunami, has suddenly pounded the United States out of fiscal balance.

We have simply suffered a colossal political failure. Our powers that be, by feeding the rich and their corporations one massive tax break after another, have thrown a monkey wrench into our national finances.

Some numbers ? from an Institute for Policy Studies report released this past spring ? can help us better visualize how monumental this political failure has been.

In other words, if the federal government started taxing the wealthy and their corporations at the same rates in effect a half-century ago, the federal debt to investors would almost totally disappear over the next decade.

Similarly stunning numbers have just come, earlier this month, from MIT economist Peter Diamond and the University of California?s Emmanuel Saez, the world?s top authority on the incomes of the ultra-rich.

These two scholars have calculated some fascinating ?what ifs? that dramatize just how spectacularly the incomes of our wealthiest have soared over recent decades.

In 2007, Diamond and Saez point out, taxpayers in the nation?s top 1 percent actually paid, on average, 22.4 percent of their incomes in federal taxes.

If that actual tax burden were to about double to 43.5 percent, the top 1 percenter share of our national after-tax income would still be twice as high as the top 1 percent?s after-tax income share in 1970.

So why aren?t we taxing the rich? Why are we now suffering such fearsome ?debt crisis? angst? Why are our politicos so intent on shoving the ?fiscal discipline? of layoffs and cutbacks ? austerity ? down the throats of average Americans?

No mystery here. Our political system is failing to tax the rich because the rich have fortunes large enough to buy off the political system.

After taxes, and after adjusting for inflation, 2008?s top 400 had a staggering $38.5 billion more left in their pockets than 1955?s most awesomely affluent.

Multiply that near $40 billion by the annual tax savings the rest of America?s richest 1 percent have enjoyed over recent years and you have an enormous war chest for waging class war, billions upon billions of dollars available for bankrolling think tanks and candidates and right-wing media.

In the face of these billions, should the rest of us, America?s vast non-rich majority, just throw in the towel and give up? Our counterparts a century ago certainly didn?t. They challenged their rich, on every front imaginable. They eventually sheared their rich down to democratic size.

Source: http://ed-strong.com/?p=3459

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Girl Who Tragically Lost Half Her Brain Has Gained a New Artistic Ability [Amazing]

Taisia Sidorova, a 21-year-old girl from St Petersburg, Russia, smashed her skull and damaged her brain during a horrific car crash. It was so bad that doctors didn't expect Taisia to ever recover. Amazingly, three years later, she's better and has developed a new artistic ability that didn't even exist before. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8lGl-hH6mJQ/

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The New Austerity and the EROI Squeeze ? USSEE

by Eric Zencey
[Cross-posted from the Daly News, blog of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy]

The government of Minnesota has shut down thanks to a $5 billion budget gap. Wisconsin public employees have been de-unionized so their salaries and benefits can be cut to close a budget gap. New Jersey just missed shutting down as a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor agreed that austerity cuts are needed (though there?s still going to be some wrangling over how the pain will be distributed). Last week the Italian cabinet signed off on $68 billion in austerity cuts. Demonstrations in Britain and riots in Athens, prompted by government cuts in pensions and social security, suggest what may lie in Italy?s future. In the U.S., we?ve got gridlock-and-extortion in Congress over raising the federal debt limit, even as both sides are generally agreed that the era of ever-rising deficits is over.

Though not a single politician or mainstream economic analyst has ever made the connection, the new worldwide austerity in public spending traces to a physical cause, as measured by change in EROI ? energy return on energy invested. This is the ratio between the energy that comes into the global economy and the energy it takes to produce that energy. Worldwide, the average EROI of oil is down to 20:1 from its original value of 100:1 eighty years ago. This means that our oil-fueled economy simply has less capacity to generate wealth than it did back then, because an increasing share of the energy that used to be dedicated to producing goods and services is being plowed back into securing energy.

Even more troubling than oil?s 20:1 global average is the figure for new oil, just 5 to 1. It takes a lot of energy to drill five miles under the ocean and pump crude back to a refinery, or to cook tar sands to extract a usable fuel. The energy wellspring at the heart of our economy no longer gushes a torrent of wealth; it?s a smaller, much-diminished stream.

Wind and other renewable energy sources offer returns in the seventeen-to-one range ? still a nice income flow, but nothing like the flood we once got from oil. Everything our economy accomplishes, including health care, government, schools, roads, defense, repairing our aging infrastructure and re-engineering our built environment to handle the changed weather that oil use has given us, is going to have to be financed from a much-diminished EROI. And private largess, such as the oil-fueled philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie that built libraries and established foundations and grants for worthy public causes, will fare no better. (The conservative notion that private philanthropy will increase if government takes a smaller bite of the total economy is mostly wishful thinking; the rising overhead costs of energy ? the increasing energy cost of energy ? will shrink the economic pie as a whole, no matter where we make our slice between the public and private sectors).

Conservatives in Washington and elsewhere insist that we can no longer afford the level of governmental services we?ve become accustomed to. Their call for austerity in public spending is partially right, but for reasons that are wholly wrong: they think that by busting public unions, by reneging on pension agreements for teachers and public employees, by privatizing the production of public goods (streets, schools, even national defense), by cutting regulations and in general shrinking the government, they?ll release the pent-up entrepreneurial energies of business, which will put things back the way they were a few decades ago, when oil was returning a respectable 40:1. That?s simply not going to happen.

Beyond the wrangling between the deficit reducers and the Keynesians, like Paul Krugman, who warn (correctly) that deficit reduction during a recession will only make the recession worse, there lies another deficit, one that no one is talking about: the deficit we?re currently running in our country?s environmental account. We?re drawing down natural capital to cash it out as wealth, which means we?re spending a capital stock ? healthy ecosystems ? as if it were income. Worse, we borrow money against the prospect of being able to do this forever. That, too, simply isn?t going to happen.

We?ve begun to recognize that we can?t borrow infinitely against our financial future. At some point we have to recognize that we can?t borrow infinitely against our environmental future, either. We?ve got to learn to budget ourselves to the level of economic activity that can be supported and maintained by current solar income instead of running that account in the red. We?ve got to stop counting on continued drawdown of finite stocks of fossil fuel and stop counting on paying our current expenses by borrowing against the continual expansion of our economy?s ecological footprint.

The partisans of Infinite Planet Theory who are managing our (supposedly) infinite growth economy don?t recognize this. They don?t see the shape of the emergent reality: the energy overhead of our economy is increasing at precisely the moment we need even greater investment to build a sustainable, renewable energy society and re-engineer our civil infrastructures to handle the world as we have made it. It?s a very difficult squeeze: needed expenses are rising as income flow declines.

There is some room for hope. It is possible to have a decent civilization founded on the rates of return that renewable energy offers ? and unlike the EROI of oil, those rates can be expected to increase with time and technological development. Solving the EROI squeeze means committing ourselves to building the infrastructure we need to capture current solar income and run our economy on renewable, non-carbon-based energy. Every unit of fossil energy we use to do anything else commits the United States and the planet as a whole to a lower, more straitened standard of living in the future. If we want to see an America of crumbling concrete and weed-filled vacant lots, an America too poor to repair its buildings and bridges, too poor to educate its young to the highest standards, an America that has become a fallen, impoverished power, we need only continue as we are: burning fossil fuel, ignoring climate change, and refusing to invest in the renewable energy infrastructure we need for a sane, rational, steady state economy.

Source: http://ussee.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/the-new-austerity-and-the-eroi-squeeze/

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Apple shares surge on results; earnings targets raised (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Apple Inc shares surged 6 percent in pre-market trading on Wednesday, a day after the company posted stellar results even by its own lofty standards, prompting several analysts to raise their earnings targets for the iPhone maker.

Apple's second-quarter results were driven by blockbuster sales of the iPhone and strong Asian business, while concerns over iPad 2 supply constraints and the launch of iPhone5 eased.

"We believe that buyside sentiment has been improving as the uncertainty over the iPhone5 launch abates and that Apple's fundamentals remain compelling, given its leadership positions in the fast growing smartphone and tablet markets," Bernstein Research said in a note.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo raised their earnings estimates on Apple by 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Data from Thomson Reuters Starmine suggests more earnings upgrades could be on the way. For 2011, Starmine's predicted surprise -- the difference between the consensus and Starmine's estimates that gives a higher weight to the most accurate forecasters -- was a positive 2 percent. For 2012, it's 4 percent.

Most analysts said Apple's forecasts for the September quarter were conservative, given the large number of product launches that were due.

Apple, notorious for its conservative forecasts, estimated earnings for the September quarter of $5.50 a share on revenue of $25 billion, below analysts' average estimate of $6.45 a share on revenue of $27.7 billion.

"We would be buyers as we view the guidance as too conservative and believe the new products will drive the stock higher," Jefferies said.

Susquehanna raised its price target on the company's stock to $535 from $465, citing Apple's move to cloud services with its iCloud offering. Gleacher & Co raised its price target to as much as $500.

The mean price target on the stock is $453.30, according to Starmine data, which indicates analysts expect the shares to more rise by more than 13 percent in the next 12 months.

(Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110720/bs_nm/us_apple

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Nearbuy Nabs A Cool Million From Motorola Ventures, Eric Schmidt?s Innovation Endeavors, And More

Nearbuy Systems, the maker of indoor positioning solutions, announced today that it has raised $1 million in seed funding. The seed round was led by Motorola Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and Metamorphic Ventures. The funding will be used to bring Nearbuy's technology to retail stores across the U.S.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/OHQADlcPMYA/

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Basics of Building a Deck for Your Home | Furniture Home Improvement

One of the basic structures in any home construction, building a deck does not always involve specialized knowledge of expertise. With a little application of mind and working with dedication, determination, and discipline they can be built using the do-it-yourself process.

Knowing the Basics

Before embarking on building deck all on their own the prospective builders should do well to learn a few basics relating to the job. Key components in such building works are ?

?????? Plan for construction of the deck.

?????? Actual building work. A builder will need only a hand drawn sketch and the materials for construction to accomplish the task.

?????? Getting a permit may be necessary and with it will come the guiding instructions.

First Time Builders

Despite the fact that building a deck does not involve specialization or expertise and can be accomplished using DIY process, the first time builders may come across certain problems. In such cases the effective solution would be obtaining planning and guidance from some professional expert. Once this is achieved and the first work is performed satisfactorily, things will become easier for the builder thereafter.

Key Factors in Deck Building

Some of the key factors in building deck are as follows.

?????? Determining perfectly the layout matching the house for which the deck is constructed. Space; entrance and exit, grade of yard to provide impact to the sight from the deck are all important issues to be addressed.

?????? Manner of attachment of the constructed part with the main building, footings, and posts are other relevant factors that need to be taken care of by builder. Especially, the house frame should be solid enough to support the additional structure and number of footings and posts required to give proper support to the deck.

?????? Proper assessment of the sizes of the beams, joists and deck boards to be used for the construction.

Builders may use formulas available in books, magazines, and above all; on the internet, for calculation of all the relevant factors including the accessories, structure, and its strength and resilience that would help them select the right materials and accessories to build up the right structure.

Many other factors are involved in building a deck but these are the basics.

Source: http://www.furniturehomeimprovement.com/home-improvement/basics-of-building-a-deck-for-your-home/

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The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development ...

And for those who have been following? my Sales Apprentice for a few years you know that there?s always a week during the show when I am travelling in the evening and cannot get this done on time. Last year, my good friend Andy Smith guest stepped into the breach and wrote a superb piece but this year he has just moved to France so?

If you watch the Apprentice and you have thoughts, comments or advice from last night?s show then please have your say and I will use them here in a ?mash up? of your comments. I?ll add mine when I?ve watched it. You can either email me, use the contact form or comment as usual below. Here?s the first one?

Damn! I was looking forward to your views + stayed up late!

I think SirAlan (prefer that) was unfair in his treatment of Tom tonight, as Tom created his biscuit in ignorance of the decision (what decision???) to create an upmarket product.?? Once again, Melody was argumentative ? she?s clever, but sly, manipulative and self centered!

There?s definitely a lesson in the necessity to marry up the product appropriately with the packaging + promotion etc.? The concept of snap + share was a cracker + perhaps should have carried the day!

Mark, Blue Sky Resorts

?

Hi Gavin

Last night?s Apprentice

A great example of how a lack of leadership often results in diminished productivity.
A great leader listens intently to his colleagues and advisors takes on their opinions considers, then makes a decision and sees it through.

The leader should not be led but lead, always with the belief that the decision is the right one. Last night was a great example of a leader being led the results were zero sales. Had she been a good leader, considered her own thoughts and the thoughts of those around her she may have had different results.

Confidence in your experience and wisdom gained from those around you will often get the right results when applied by a good leader.

Michael Rhodes, Danbro

Related posts:

1. The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 5
2. The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 8
3. The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 7

Please read full article at:
http://www.gaviningham.com/2011/06/29/the-sales-apprentice-2011-sales-training-business-development-tips-from-the-hit-tv-show-week-9/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-sales-apprentice-2011-sales-training-business-development-tips-from-the-hit-tv-show-week-9

Source: http://www.red-group.net/blog/the-sales-apprentice-2011-sales-training-business-development-tips-from-the-hit-tv-show-week-9/

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