Cameron T Morris For Governor

Schwarzenegger, Angelides. Come on! What a joke. I went with the write in candidate, Cameron T. Morris. It's a bit hard to see in this pic, but it is what it is, a mockery of our political system.

Re-elect Clinton (Bill) in 2008

These segments are two of the best pieces of television journalism that I have ever seen. In the first clip Clinton absolutely destroys Fox News reporter Chris Wallace

In the second clip Keith Olberman, MSNBC commentator, has a great reaction to the Clinton interview. I almost never watch the news on TV, relying primarily on print media and the Internet, but these two segments have breathed new life into my possible future interest in TV journalism.


Clinton (Bill) 2008!

Microloans for Katrina Victims

A day after learning he had won the Nobel Peace Prize, Muhammed Yunus wrote an op-ed piece for the wall street journal explaining why extending micro credit to victims of hurricane katrina would have been far more effective than the action taken by our friends at FEMA. Here is an excerpt from the article.

Microlending has already helped millions reach a better life through their own initiative. It has also given them valuable skills as well as crucial financial back-up in case they ever face a natural disaster like Katrina. So it might be time to think about another type of support for Katrina's victims: the microloan. As our small, flood-battered country has learned, giving someone a hand up doesn't always require a handout. The most important thing is to help people get back to work while letting them hold on to their self-respect. Microloans can do just that.

Even more interesting than Mr. Yunnus's article is the Iqbal Quadir TED talk about GrameenPhone playing on the notion that connectivity is productivity. It is a really cool first hand account about bringing cellphone access to businesses funded by the Grameen Bank.

Show Me What You Got

A song expected to be on Jay's new album, Kingdom Come, was leaked earlier this week. Check it out.

And the winner is......

Cameron T. Morris for his work on estimating the effects that legalizing the coca leaf in Bolivia have on personal and national savings. Well, not yet. But here's the real news. From the FT

The 2006 Nobel prize for economics has been awarded to Professor Edmund Phelps of Columbia University for his work in the late 1960s overturning the conventional wisdom on the trade-off between inflation and unemployment.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said it had awarded the economics prize in memory of Alfred Nobel to Prof Phelps “for his analysis of the intertemporal trade-offs in macroeconomic policy”.

Stay tuned. Look for me in 2050, if we haven't all killed ourselves by then.

Sympathetic Hippo

The Origins of the Leisure Class

We're all doing it wrong. I'm going to stop blogging and retreat to the woods.

"Far from scrabbling endlessly and desperately for food, hunter-gatherers are among the best-fed people on earth, and they manage this with only two or three hours a day of what you would call work -- which makes them among the most leisured people on earth as well. In his book on stone age economics, Marshall Sahlins described them as 'the original affluent society'."

-Quinn, Daniel, Ishmael, pg 220

Mr. Clinton

Good article on Bill Clinton. here

Million Dollar Mistake?

Here is an excerpt from an article in the current issue of Fortune Magazine. Can anyone guess what the million dollar mistake Sheryl Sandberg made was?

Take the case of Sheryl Sandberg, a 37-year-old vice president whose fiefdom includes the company's automated advertising system. Sandberg recently committed an error that cost Google several million dollars -- "Bad decision, moved too quickly, no controls in place, wasted some money," is all she'll say about it -- and when she realized the magnitude of her mistake, she walked across the street to inform Larry Page, Google's co-founder and unofficial thought leader. "God, I feel really bad about this," Sandberg told Page, who accepted her apology. But as she turned to leave, Page said something that surprised her. "I'm so glad you made this mistake," he said. "Because I want to run a company where we are moving too quickly and doing too much, not being too cautious and doing too little. If we don't have any of these mistakes, we're just not taking enough risk."

If you need a hint please read this previous post: Retired and Back.

Steven Levitt, The Saga Continues, Selling Soap

Even if you are not a student of Economics, you are almost surely familiar with Steven Levitt and his book, Freakonomics. Levitt has assumed a pop star status in the Economics community over the last couple years. While he has mass appeal most of his research is controversial and is heavily criticized.

For those of you that enjoyed his book, check out his latest installment in the NY Times. In this column he discusses hospital hygiene, in particular hand washing. It is an interesting narrative starting with the identification of a problem (low hand washing rates amongst doctors) and ending with the implementation of an ingenious incentive to remedy the problem.

What I found most interesting about this article is the limited scope of the research. The research only covers one hospital, which leaves me thinking that if I go to my local hospital there is a high chance that my doctor will have filthy hands and I probably have a higher chance of contracting more germs in the doctors office than getting cured.

*Here's a video of Levitt explaining his research on crack cocaine and gangs

Happy Friday

I don't know what everyone is doing tonight, but I'm going out with this guy.

Materazzi Commercial

Why aren't we good at math?

Interesting:

The countries that outperform the United States in math and science education have some things in common. They set national priorities for what public school children should learn and when. They also spend a lot of energy ensuring that every school has a high-quality curriculum that is harnessed to clearly articulated national goals. This country, by contrast, has a wildly uneven system of standards and tests that varies from place to place. We are also notoriously susceptible to educational fads.

One of the most infamous fads took root in the late 1980’s, when many schools moved away from traditional mathematics instruction, which required drills and problem solving. The new system, sometimes derided as “fuzzy math,’’ allowed children to wander through problems in a random way without ever learning basic multiplication or division. As a result, mastery of high-level math and science was unlikely. The new math curriculum was a mile wide and an inch deep, as the saying goes, touching on dozens of topics each year.

Many people trace this unfortunate development to a 1989 report by an influential group, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. School districts read its recommendations as a call to reject rote learning. Last week the council reversed itself, laying out new recommendations that will focus on a few basic skills at each grade level.

This explains why I'm having trouble with my multivariate calc, and linear algebra/differential equations classes. I definetly feel like a victim of "fuzzy math" and lack certain basic problem solving skills.

Swedes Might Have to Work

Last night Sweden got a new leader. The Moderate Party defeated the Social Democrats, taking the Social Dems out of power for the first time in 12 years. The Moderats ran on a platform of revising stagnate labor policies which encourage many people to drop out of the workforce. I wanted to hold off on blogging about this issue until doing further research, but the following exerpt from an NY Times article was way too funny.

Magnus Rosander, a 44-year-old computer engineer who said he had a nervous breakdown after losing his job four years ago and had not worked since, said he had voted for the Social Democrats and was worried about what would happen under the Moderates.

“I’m dependent on social welfare,” Mr. Rosander said outside a subway station in central Stockholm. “If Fredrik Reinfeldt wins, we will get less money and he will force me to work even though my doctor says I’m not ready yet.”

God forbid Mr. Rosander might have to work.

IMF reshuffle

Meeting in Singapore this week, the IMF and world finance ministers have approved changes in the fund's voting structure. The stated purpose of the reshuffling is to give developing economies a greater say and more voting power in the fund. The largest benificiaries of this move will be China, South Korea and Turkey.

These changes were met with opposition by a group led by Brazil, Argentina, Egypt and India, who collectively released a statement saying

"The position is clearly unacceptable as it further erodes the credibility and legitimacy of the IMF. The disturbing picture that emerges is that some developing countries will be given increases by reducing shares of some other equally deserving countries."

While creating an equatable voting structure is obviously important for a democratic institution, there remain much greater issues to address. Over the last 5 years the global economy has for the most part been stable, meaning the IMF has been idle. The IMF should seek to renew its mission and develop a plan in which it can play a part in stimulating further growth in developing economies rather than just playing the role of lender of last resort.

Hyphy Movement genius

The hyphy movement has once again proven its genius. Mistah F.A.B (foreva after bread) recently released a single titled "ghostride it" in which he samples the ghostbusters theme song in a descriptive ballad about ghostriding. Mistah F.A.B. is seemingly tapping into our generations nascient memories of the ghostbusters trilogy. Now imagine what Mistah F.A.B would be doing with all this creativity if the Oakland public school system had provided him with a formal education. Listen to the song here.

Keynesian Freedom

5 years after the hole at ground zero was created the federal and New York state governments are taking a keynesian step to help fill it up. From the NY times:

The agreements, which would cover about 1 million of the 2.6 million square feet in the building, are a significant step forward in the development of the tower, which is seen by Gov. George E. Pataki and others as a symbol of the city’s resilience, but regarded by some critics as folly.

My favorite features of the project proposal are a) the name, "Freedom Tower", which sounds like something a ficticious George Bush cartoon character would come up with b) the fact that the tower is being artifically rigged through the installment of an antenna extension to be 1,776 feet tall. This thing is just going to be oozing freedom.

The Invasion of Iran

The Bush administration is showing a bit more prudence in their campaign to thwart Iran's action as an "evil doer". Yesterday U.S. treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, made a statement encouraging top finance officials to limit or completely bar Iranian access to their financial institutions. From the NY Times:

The United States pressed the top finance officials of the worldÂ’s leading industrial nations on Saturday to crack down on what Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said was the exploitation of their banking systems by at least 30 Iranian front companies involved in illicit activities.

Iran is also accused of transferring funds to Hezbollah and other Islamic militant organizations through regular commercial banks.

Last week, in what administration officials call a major escalation in the effort to squeeze Iran economically, the Treasury Department announced that Bank Saderat, a major bank in Iran, would no longer have even indirect access to the United States financial system.

Hopefully this isn't a pre-emption of a pre-emptive attack on Iran.

Drinking, a good career move

A study concludes that drinking will increase your earnings. Brought to my attention by a faithful Le Monde de C-Ron reader.

People who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers, according to a US study that highlighted "social capital" gained from drinking.

The study published in the Journal of Labor Research Thursday concluded that drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more than teetotalers, and that men who drink socially bring home an additional seven percent in pay.

Don't Be Evil?

With Al Gore on their Board, employee incentives to purchase hybrid vehicles, and shuttle service from Davos, Switzerland to San Francisco provided for San Francisco's rockstar mayor, Gavin Newsom, this move looks like Google's first towards supporting the Republican party. Here's an excerpt from an article in today's SF Chronicle.

Under fire on Capitol Hill, Google Inc. has boosted its political muscle by creating its first political action committee while taking steps to reach out to Republicans.

Google's move is somewhat uncharacteristic given its independent streak, down to its corporate motto, "Don't be evil." But as the company has grown into a major presence in U.S. business it has been thrust into political debates on which ride tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

When will Google stop masquerading behind its "don't be evil", hip corporate image and admit that it is naturally progressing towards becoming just another multi-national with it's own adgenda that often has to make "evil" moves in order to look out for it's best interest?

The Ruler's Back

On the same day I announced my triumphant return to the blogosphere, the king of hip-hop, Jay-z, announced his return to the mic. After forays into politics (the UN) and corporate america (president of Def Jam), it's about time. Here's an excerpt from the Entertainment Weekly article that broke the news.

This fall Jay-Z will release a new CD, Kingdom Come? ''It was the worst retirement, maybe, in history,'' he admits. And then he launches into an impromptu a cappella preview of the title track, which was inspired by a 1996 comic in which Superman comes out of retirement to save the world. The lyrics that effortlessly roll off his tongue may help explain his return: ''Take off the blazer/Loosen up the tie/Step inside the booth/Superman is alive!''

Retired and Back

Faithful readers, I apologize for my prolonged absence. After an 8 month stint in the California penal system.... I mean in corporate America, I have retired to pursue other goals. This is good news for you, the reader. I should have more time and motivation to blog. As an aperitif please read the piece below.

Economics of Al Qaeda

In the 9/11 issue of the New Yorker an interesting article titled “The Master Plan” outlines Al Qaeda’s and more generally radical Islamist’s ideological strategy. Towards the end the author maps out a six phase plan, as prescribed by jihad theorist Fouad Hussein. The plan begins with “the awakening” (9/11) and culminates with “total confrontation” in 2020 at which point we better be ready to experience “real terrorism”. While the threat of terrorism from any number of Muslim terrorist cells is very real, many parts of this plan seemed delusional.

Having read an article outlining the real economic effects of 9/11 two days ago, my favorite part of Hussein’s plan has to do with its intelligent economic component. In phase three (2013) Hussein predicts that “Al Qaeda will have completed its electronic capabilities, and it will be time to use them to launch electronic attacks to undermine the U.S. economy.” This statement is absurd on multiple levels, primarily since the most popular college major in the Muslim world is theology. Increasing “electronic capabilities” would suggest either an increase in Muslim expertise in the fields of mathematics and engineering or the ability to attract foreign experts in the field. Even if there is a large spike in electrical engineering and computer science enrollment in Muslim universities between now and 2013, the promise of heaven in the afterlife will not reverse the brain drain that sucks the best and brightest engineering minds in the world to Silicon Valley.

The second part of their economic plan, which coincides with the above paragraph, is to “promote the idea of using gold as the international medium of exchange, leading to the collapse of the dollar”. This statement once again highlights the deficiencies associated with having a population hyper-educated in religious studies. It doesn’t take too much digging to find a textbook about a) World War I b) the Great Depression or c) International Monetary Flows. Before modern day exchange rates were set by market forces of supply and demand, they were governed by the exchange of gold and a subsequent gold standard whereby a percentage of a country’s fiat currency was backed by solid gold. This system depended on international peace, cooperation, and willingness to support neighbors in times of need, which completely conflicts with Al Qaeda’s plan. If Al Qaeda was successful in reviving some sort of gold standard during its so called phase three, it would certainly see its demise during their purposed stage six which implies the onset of World War III.

To make matters worse, one of the economic effects of 9/11, as outlined in the previously mentioned article, was an increase in market particants’ risk aversion and a subsequent increase in safe assets such as GOLD. So, what’s the point of my drivel? If Mr. Bush and his super-rich cronies want to prevent Al Qaeda from becoming a player in the global economy they need to artificially distort the price of gold to make it unattainable as a reserve currency for the proposed Islamic caliphate. On the other hand, if Al Qaeda is serious about dabbling in world markets they should lay down their guns, creating a more stable investment climate, thus diverting cash away from gold and sending the pice back down.

Tupac's death turns 10

It's been 10 years since the death of Pac and and his legend still reigns supreme. Here's what the Washington post had to say about him

10 years after Shakur died on Sept. 13, 1996, the victim of a drive-by shooting, no rapper is as complex, as multifaceted, as challenging. A handsome and charismatic actor, a violent felon, a brilliant songwriter, a reckless celebrity, a misogynist and a visionary _ Shakur still fascinates from the grave.

He is also one of the only rappers that has had the ability to seemingly cross race, age and music-taste boundaries. Here's another article and sound bite from NPR. R.I.P. PAC!!!

GREMIO CAMPEAO GAUCHO 2006

GREMIO just won the 2006 GAUCHAO (rio grande do sul state championship)... While this is only a regional tournament it is still very important because it shows our superiority over our archrival Internacional.

DÁ-LHE GRÊMIO QUERIDO!

DÁ-LHE GRÊMIO CAMPEÓN!

DA LIBERTADORES...

E DO MUNDIAL!

GRÊMIO CAMPEÃO GAÚCHO 2006

Mais uma vez a raça e a tradição do tricolor prevaleceram, e no momento em que foi nesseçário aquele algo mais... Como sempre, o Interegional não o teve! E justamente por isso eu não vejo a mínima possibilidade do colorado ser Campeão da América.

GRÊMIO CAMPEÃO DO MUNDO

"NADA PODE SER MAIOR"

The Proud Gaucho Tradition

written by Diogo Silva




Intro by C-Ron

This is a piece I commissioned Diogo Silva to write with the objective of globally broadcasting the ideals and traditions of the southern brazilian people. Here in North America Brazil is often perceived as the land of soccer and carnival, in this piece diogo displays a different side of Brazil, one that involves a politically conscience public that has fought hard to defend the ideals of equality, freedom, and hard work.


THE LONGEST REPUBLICAN REVOLUTION CONFRONTED BY THE EMPIRE

"On septemper the 20th of 2005 we celebrated 170 years of the begining of "Revolução Farroupilha" or Tatters Revolution, that during ten years, confronted the powerfull brazilian Empire - centralizated and sypmathetic towards slavery - and defended the flags of the Republic and the Federation. In the same way, this date marked the 160 years of the end of this bloody war and the pacification of Rio Grande do Sul."

POLITICAL ECONOMICAL AND SOCIAL ROOTS ON THE REVOLUTION

During this time "The center of the country, profited from a monopoly on coffee production and high export prices. Here, in the south we were forced to produce "charque"(dried meat) to feed the Northerners slaves. The president of the province was named by Rio de Janeiro, and governed on the interests of those who planted coffee, that marginalized political and economicaly the "Gaúchos". At the same time, the expansionist interests of the province made Rio Grande do Sul a constant battlefield against our neighbors, Argentina and Urugauy, which hampered our economic output. The government also placed economic constraints on the few goods we were able to produce, we paid 25% tax on our "charque" production while Uruguay only paid 4% tax. In 1835 they made even more taxes on spur, stirrup and rum. With this oppression from the federal government Rio Grande do Sul became a stronghold for republican ideas combined with federalists aspirations, as was the case in other provinces. Other provinces had Revolutions that began almost at the same time as Revolução Farroupilha as "Confederação do Equador"(1824), Balaiada(1830), Cabanagem(1835), Sabinada(1837) and Rebeliões Liberais of São Paulo and Minas Gerais(1842). All those factors lead to the revolt of september the 20th."

Read more on:

http://www.riogrande.com.br/historia/revol.htm

I Hope you can make a good use of this information and start to see why the Brazilian "gaúchos" are the way we are!

Abração my friends!

Diogo

I'm not going to jail

Dear Cameron Morris,

Congratulations! You have completed and passed our traffic school final exam. You scored 92% on your exam taken on 03/26/2006. Your certificate will be sent directly to the court. You are NOT required to do anything. A confirmation via email will be sent to you when your certificate is sent out to the court.

Letters from the Brazilian Summer

The other day I received an e-mail from Grande Gaviao a.k.a Diogo a.k.a Diogito a.k.a my future body guard. He described his summer as being more tempered than his usual brazilian coastal forray. That being said he attached this picture to the e-mail. If you ask me it looks like he robbed someone took their money, tickets to carnival, redbull and rum....but when you take a closer look you see that one of those ID cards is actually Diogo's, so this is probably just a picture of his greatest vices. There's even some chimmarrao off to the side of the picture if you look closely. Anyway, happy summer brazil!!!

fashion victim??

About a month after evo morales doned the above sweater on his world tour, yours truly got his own evo sweater and ended up in similar turmoil because of the controversial sweater and accompanying controversial "dress". This puts forth a greater question...will globalization homogenize our culture into a place filled with people wearing pressed brooks brothers button down shirts and slacks or will we accept and respect different cultural norms? Why is it more acceptable to do business looking like a tailored london gentleman rather than a regal aymara indian? Hasta la victoria siempre!!!

"we all chase money cause we're scared to chase dreams"

CTM

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

.... On monday night as I was making the midnight dash across 5 west oakland blocks from the West Oakland BART station to the Park and Ride I came across a simply amazing vehicle (above). As a direct corallary to the Oakland rap scene's "Hyphy Movement" many people have been buying/ customizing their scrapers. The best definition of a scraper is "A bucket with dubs, knock, whistling pipes, tvs and dvd players, and all 4 doors open and hyphy cats in and out of the car like whaaa! primarily a buick or oldsmobile..... So on this cold, rainy, february night I came across a volvo scraper, simply amazing. I felt like the volvo demographic had been excluded from the hyphy movement, but I have been proven wrong. Enjoy!

P.S. I'm still working too long hours... so I'm still having trouble making frequent postings.

I've Been Abducted

Sorry to leave everyone hanging. I've been getting slapped in the face by corporate america for the last 9 days straight. As you can see in the above photo I no longer have an identity I'm just kind of agglomerating into the sloppy, untamed mess of the business world. The above photo clearly portrays the "21st century faceless businessman".....But fear not my comrades just like every rap star that was working as a janitor before he got his "deal" this is just temporary. If I work hard...


Maybe I can be rich and smart like this guy. Wearing all of my financial assets on my body and frequenting places where people have enough cash on hand to buy back my jewelry when I want to buy something like hmm... a baloney sandwich...Or...


I could just be a brilliant economist like this guy and help solve some of the most pressing problems in the world. But obviously he's not as cool...actually that globe looks pretty cool, right??....aaahhh there's just too many options.....Anyway hopefully I'll be back to my regular postings soon.. until then Jimesh, Chinquey....

"The futures lookin dim, I'm tryin to make a profit out of sin" - PAC

CTM

iRaq

written by B.DOW


Que fue, revolucionarios? That's right, y'all...I just wanted to drop by right quick and post a piece of media that should grab your attention. As some of you may have seen, iPod recently released their "Eminem iPod TV Ad," which drew heavily on the artist's 8-mile soundtrack single, "Lose Yourself." Apple has since then pulled the commercial due to not receiving permission for use of the song ( i.e. Eminem's publishing company has filed a suit for copyrightment infringement). Nonetheless, the ad was so popular that it presented a perfect opportunity for some true guerrilla work...

"The Eminem/Iraq Mash-Up"

Yes, as we approach the 3rd anniversary of our entry into Iraq, let us not forget the incalculable humanitarian cost of this war. More importantly, let us not treat the Iraqi War as somehow past its most intense stage; today, more Americans and Iraqi civilians are dying than at any other point since our invasion in March of 2003. The insurgency is stronger than ever, and the goal of a secure Iraq becomes increasingly faint. Yes, we are standing at the brink of an all-out civil war, which no matter how you view it, was ignited (but not started) through our actions. As us young people come to grips with how we want to approach the world we live in, we must not forget that the biggest threat to ourselves is not global terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, or Arab-owned port companies, but rather, our own distraction. The powerful words of Dr. Paul Farmer come to mind:

How do we, as the lingo would have it, "process" such abominable contiguity? Our best hope, it sometimes, seems, is oblivion. Let the world's endless jeremiad be blotted out by action films and other entertainments, sport-utility vehicles, high irony, identity politics that erase the world's poor, or struggles for personal advancement within this or that institution. Choose your poision; choose your anesthesia. Help yourself. Soon we will all be too old for justice, anyway.

On this anniversary of Iraq, let us all not neglect our inherent "spirituality of resistance," that resistance which fights against our own tendency to forget the world we live in, whereby the "world" is synonymous with the "I." Don't get me wrong...I'm guilty, too. I turn my back away, I throw my hands up out of mere complexity, and say, "Is there anything I can really do to change this?" But we all need to fight this urge, together. So, today...I ask you to take a moment with me, and seriously consider the effects of the war with the following piece, "The Eminem/Iraq Mash-Up."

B.Libertad

Original Eminem iPod TV Ad

Gettin Lost in the Sauce

WOW...I don't think that picture needs much of an explanation.


Quench your thirst with a Saucey SISTAH!!!! On friday night that's exactly what I did. Who can resist their provacative marketing?? look how beautiful she is, I couldn't hold back. By the time friday night rolled around I was all ready to go. I headed straight to the only place in the world that serves this refined Ale...Everet & Jones... I must admit I felt a bit like a foreign tourist. We didn't have the courage to ask the waiter for a "SAUCEY SISTAH" so instead we just pointed at her picture and said "I'll have one of those" at which point he said "A PITCHER OF SAUCEY?" and we were sold....Boi o Boi was it saucey, we got lost in the Sauce....

Ribs and SAUCCEYY... yum yumm yummm.... look at that Kool-aide smile...or is that a SAUUCEEY smile??

Technology and Development part II

A couple weeks ago I wrote extensively about the $100 laptop and the potential impact the project could have on increasing educational attainment in developing nations. One of the major determinants of whether or not the project will be successful is the growth of public internet access in places where connectivity is very low or non-existent.

Private investment in infrastructure projects has been waning in recent years. This is reflective of widespread rejection of IMF and World Bank mandated Neo-Liberal economic programs that have led to graft, increased income inequality, and increasing poverty. However, the problem of internet connectivity, while be no means the most grave problem, could potentially be handled by private companies.

Martin, Argentine Entrepreneur...Happy?

FON a, Spanish start-up, has set out to make the internet “super” accessible and create a global community of people who share WI-FI connections. Their technology involves installing an FON ready router to your existing internet connection that will allow you to share your connection with other “FONEROS” who also agree to share their connections or pay a nominal fee to acess yours. This company, founded by an ambitious Argentine entrepreneur, has received tremendous support from Google, Skype and some major Silicon Valley venture capital firms. The interest shown by Google, who has hinted at providing free internet access in certain U.S. municipalities, and Skype, who has revolutionized VOIP technology, gives optimism towards the notion of affordable communication technology worldwide. With boatloads of cash and a commitment towards philanthropy (google.org) Google could potentially make its GoogleNet far reaching, and with the help of FON could have the world blanketed with internet access. In places where microfinance and micro-enterprise is thriving, Google could charge a micro fee to local entrepreneurs to advertise their products on an extended GoogleNet, reaching internet consumers on new $100 laptop. This is an idealistic, optimistic way in which the connectivity problem that faces the $100 laptop could be solved. These innovations are particularly uplifting given not only the “evil” stance taken by Google in China (as highlighted by B.Libertad), but also the increasing backlash towards private investment in infrastructure and development projects.

**please see link and FON logo in sidebar**

Epic Weekend Revisited

I've been slacking a bit with my posts. I know you're all anxious, sorry about the delay. The good news is that I've been diligently exploring content partnerships and have added some cool new features for you to enjoy. You can now "Subscribe" to the blog by entering your e-mail address into the sidebar at right, this will send you blog updates as they are posted.There are also news clips from NPR World and pictures hosted by Flikr in the same sidebar.

So, now to the juicy stuff. Last weekend was pretty epic. I've been telling everyone I'd write something about it, now that it's almost the weekend again I figure it's time to get it off my chest. I'd try to explain and describe it to you, but it can't be summed up in words. I'll just give you a quick snapshot and let you imagine the rest. The weekend included a majestic spiritual encounter amongst friends in Napa, Killa Cali. As you can see in the picture above I had some deeply contemplative moments on "Lookout Hill" located on the Phair estate. It got real contemplative when we realized that the heat in the house didn't work. The remainder of the weekend involved paying a tow truck driver named Jeremy a $40 bribe, seeing killa Mike Ferdinandi drive a big Big BIG red truck straigt into white water, ghost riding the whip in a winery parking lot, and discovering saucy sista ale at everet and jones.

**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

Allow Cam to Introduce Myself...

Below Che lies his spiritual heir, B. Libertad.

This is B. Libertad, also known as" 26 de Julio" (I have recently acknowledged a slight variant of the latter: Firey Veinteseis). Only hours ago, my liberating rhetoric was officially requested by the increasingly known CRon Blogspot of Fire, after posting a response to the recent protests surrounding Google's decision to give China their own "Non-Human Rights" version of the most important search engine in the world (see below).

I have proudly accepted such a highly-esteemed, albeit non-paying, literary post, and look forward to acting as a voice of human rights for this growing webpage. With every topic and/or response, I will demonstrate that every question must always be grounded from the perspective of the destitute, impoverished, and oppressed, as they "constitute the most radical truth of our reality."

So watch out...

Your conscience is on the loose around here, and if you fail to follow it, I'll be the one to pop up and check yo' ass. Veintiseis, hasta la victoria siempre...

One.

B.Libertad


**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

Welcome B.Libertad

I just wanted to quickly welcome B.Libertad to the staff and express my extreme pleasure with signing him as c-ron.blogspot.com's chief political editor. B and I see eye to eye on a lot of important issues, from Bolivia to Baghdad. It is with this pleasure that I would like to further introduce B.DOW

B.Dow recently returned from Ecuador where he not only picked up the Spanish language in a matter of months, but he also gave his blood, sweat and tears to a local public hospital in Quito, further solidifying his ambitions to bring organic change the world and make medical treatment more accessible to those who need it most. Currently, B.DOW continues to formulate his firey ideas and ambitions from his outpost in Las Vegas, while preparing to attend Med. School in the fall........


So, B...All I've got for you is Dow-Morris 2020 (the year of the flames)

"we ain't squares, we're polar bears"

**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

My School Bus

The Google School Bus...The Bus for the gifted and talented.

**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

Le Monde de C-RON all over the world

So, this blog is called "Le Monde de C-RON" (the world of c-ron). It is in this context that I had the pleasant surprise of receiving an e-mail with picture parcel from Ms. S-VAN. In this picture she is seen showing love for the koala population of Australia, isn't that beautiful?? Big up S-VAN.

So we've got postings of readers from North America, South America, Down Under, and Europe.... Asia and Africa where you at??

**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

C-RON's Legal Counsel

The other night I made a key acquisition for Le Monde de C-ron. I officially signed Mark and Jordan to be my legal counsel. As you can see these guys look real serious about their work. Fact #1, Jordan is one of only 3 remaining legal professionals in the continental U.S. that still uses the moustache scare technique.

**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

Free Information, Free Tibet

On Tuesday the Googleplex was protested by a Free Tibet student group. While we were warned that the protest was going to be of biblical proportion, only about 20 people turned out. In this picture you can barely see the group standing at the bottom of garbage hill. In their best choir voices they chanted "free information, free Tibet"...While I agree with them that the Chinese population should have access to uncensored information, I disagree with pointing the finger at Google. It is quit obvious to me that the real problem here is the Chinese government not a search engine that is doing its best to provide Chinese citizens with as much information as is mandated by an oppressive government.

Response written by B.DOW Firey 26 de julio:

yo, way to "soften" your response for any potentially-onlooking bosses.

You say Google is simply a search engine service trying to do its best, and thus should not be the target of protest. But, as you and I both know, Google is no longer just a search engine, but a way of life (globally).

It has changed the way we think abou the Internet, and thus fundamentally affected our world. With such an awesome privilege, however, comes an awesome responsibility. Google has admittedly acknowledged this truth in the past, which is why we would do well to judge them accordingly. In applying flimsy ideas of corporate responsibility, it is easy to arrive at a conclusion such as, "Google should not be the target of such protest." But Google, for its responsible actions in the past, should be set at a higher standard, should be modeled as an example for the wealth of corporations that heavily contribute to the growing inequity of the 21st century.

And when such a company decides to come up short on the human rights of a billion citizens for clear economic incentives, they should be the target of our protest.

Google did nothing wrong - this is true. What's disturbing is that this is sufficient for us in our monitoring of corporate behavior.

**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

THE HUNT

As any good American would do, I decided to follow the example set by our Vice President. Yesterday I tested the huntability of permanente creek, which runs behind my office. I've been scouting the creek for a while, every day at 4pm, and I know it's chalk full of mallard ducks and egrets. Armed with a blow gun and Nelson, the famous dog from the bins (google slang), I headed out to see what i could pull. I had two major problems, 1)I didn't really have a blow gun 2) Nelson seemed more interested in eating the grass than going after the ducks.

All was not lost. I began to forge a healthy working relationship with Nelson, the hunting dog, and I did not shoot my hunting partner

**for free prints of photos seen in this posting send your name and mailing address to ctmorris@gmail.com (courtesy of c-ron.blogspot.com foto service)**

East Oakland, North Oakland, West Oakland, The Bay, Cali, The World

I wake up feelin "yes I can", I'm doing this for Oakland and everybody living. So check out these beautiful pics of the sun setting on Oakland and the surrounding bay area. Voted one of the top three vista sites in the world by c-ron.blogspot.com users.
With these photos the folks at c-ron.blogspot.com would like to announce the launch of c-ron.blogspot.com "Foto Service". In the future any photo on the blog will be available in high gloss prints (shipped worldwide) or e-mailed in high resolution.

To kick off the service, I would like to extend a special offer, to you the readers. We are ready to ship prints of any pic on the blog free of charge/shipping. I hope you're as excited about this as I am. All photo inquiries should be sent to ctmorris@gmail.com.... that's ctmorris@gmail.com . I look forward to hearing from you

SCRAPER, SCRAPER, pull over something

PK Visits the GooglePlex

Last Friday the man known as Peter Kayki, for his affinity towards kayki pants, visited the googleplex for lunch. Here's a picture of us enjoying the outdoor dining accomodations, looking stuffed to the gils.

The Graduate

Voted best bar in the bay area by c-ron.blogspot.com the Graduate boasts a healthy combination of Oakland grit with... well Oakland grit, but it's in a nice part of town. Their most popular special is $1 beers for students (anyone under the age of 40). And they have a nice set of dominoes behind the counter which is readily available to any bar patron.


Their jukebox contains quit an eclectic mix. I usually go for the Sade. It is one of only two bars in the world that has Sade on the Jukebox, that is a fact!! (the other one is actually right down the street). And the weirdiest part about this place is that there is a cigarette vending machine near the bathroom, in a bar and state where smoking is illegal???

Happy Birthday Julie

After 3 weeks of working for a client in Oakland Julie finally got off work before midnight. So Happy Birthday 3 Weeks late!!!!! Julie has been lobbying pretty hard to get on the blog. See that gold card in my hand....that is an accepted form of payment for getting blogged.

The Old Pro

Thursday night I had the exquisite pleasure of enjoying a beer with an old friend of mine. We decided to frequent the silicon valley renowned Old Pro... Actually, I'm not too sure how true that last statement is, one of our co-workers at our old internship refused to go there with us because it was too low class. But anyway, we went there


Here's the accountant enjoying a hoppy beer. See the look on his face?? That's the "Arthur Andersen look" whereby you contemplate life..."boy counting widgets all day gets pretty boring, maybe I should take a couple million dollars under the table and cook the books".

And yes, finally we visited our old place of employment. Except when we got there we noticed that the company's sign was no longer hanging outside and that the office was gutted. I guess that's what happens at a place where the head honcho gets a court ordered restraining order from a client. Strong work Boss

GM - only GM - LiveGreenGoYellow

Check out GM's attempt at staying in business through E85 ethanol

GM - only GM - LiveGreenGoYellow

Wired News: Harnessing the Energy of Exercise

Funny article about alternative energy sources. provided by Mom


Wired News: Harnessing the Energy of Exercise

Ethanol | Life after subsidies | Economist.com

The Economist might be infringing upon my copyright text here, but it's okay they agree with me on the ethanol thing. checkout this article that was released yesterday. They touch a lot more on cellulosic ethanhol. It's a good read.

Ethanol | Life after subsidies | Economist.com

Spring has Sprung at the GOOGLEPLEX

Punxsutawney Phil get back. On Groundhog day, February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil crawled out of his rat hole and told the U.S. that we have six more weeks of winter. Well Punxsutawney, you're wrong. According to Google spring came on February 6th. Above is my photographic evidence of the cherry blossoms in full bloom right alongside Permanante Creek next to the GooglePlex. Happy Spring everyone!! and who the hell is Punxsutawney Phil anyway??

GUZZLE ALCOOL NOT OIL

On Monday George Bush sent to Congress his proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning in the fall of 2006. As would be expected “W” is set to spend a large portion of our tax dollars on protecting our “freedom”, with $513.03b earmarked for defense. (second only to medicare and social security, 980.15b). Amazingly, that is an 8.7% reduction from the amount we will spend on defense this year. In his official statement Bush said that “(he) has focused the nation’s resources on our highest priority – protecting our citizens and our homeland” and presumably fueling our “war on terror”. Following Bush’s remarks, Donald Rummsfeld came out on Tuesday to help articulate his boss’s “freedom, terror, homeland security” soup. The biggest winners in the defense lottery are naval shipbuilders (11.2b) and missile defense producers (9.3b). What is striking to me is the lack of congruence between our foreign policy and our defense spending. It is an indisputable fact that our foreign policy places a high level of importance on our energy interests in the Middle East and sewing up cheap oil in Iraq. So why can’t we spend, at least, 10% (51b) of our allocated defense funds on taking a pre-emptive strike against foreign oil dependency. Currently the budget only calls for 29b to be spent on “energy, environment, and natural resources”, a bit more than 5% of our defense budget. It is becoming increasingly important and urgent that we aggressively seek energy and fuel alternatives. While there are many proposals for alternative fuel sources floating around right now, I will focus the rest of this article on alcohol consumption, something that Bush touched on briefly in his state-of-the-union address.

The first time I was in Brazil I spoke very little Portuguese and found myself confused by a lot of things. One thing that I thought was particularly funny was that you could buy “alcool” at gas station pumps. I knew Brazilians liked to party, but why distribute alcohol from a gas pump rather than in a conventional bottle or can. When my Portuguese and overall awareness increased I realized that “alcool” was actually a combustible variety of alcohol called ethanol that was consumed by automobiles not human beings.

In the 1970s when global oil prices were going haywire the Brazilian government, which was largely autocratic, launched a program to help wean their country away from Middle Eastern oil dependency. In 1975 the government launched its ethanol program (Proálcool) which looked to provide ethanol, a combustible alcohol made from sugar or corn, as an alternative to standard petrol. In launching this program the government was set to incur huge costs and take on large risks. The government issued a mandate that forced all fuel stations to carry ethanol and made it affordable to consumers by subsidizing the price of ethanol to the point that it would always be cheaper than gasoline. This program was a success up until the global oil market re-stabilized and oil prices fell. In the 90s, the government took another decisive step towards making ethanol a viable alternative. They cut subsidies to sugar producers forcing them to innovate, become more productive and face world prices. Currently, with oil prices scrapping the $70/barrel mark ethanol is once again very popular (43% of vehicles run on alcool) and both ethanol producers and car manufacturers are scrambling to meet increasing demand.

While a similar plan seems unfathomable in the U.S.there are a few things to consider. At this point George Bush is a completely lame duck president and doesn’t have too much to lose. Not even his Neo-Con backbone like him anymore. So why not step up and do something that would be considered radical by American political standards? In his state-of-the-union speech Bush pledged to reduce 75% of America's oil imports from the middle east by 2025. Providing an affordable oil alternative would be a lot easier than finding Bin Laden or WMD in Iraq and could be seen as a move to stabilize and protect our country. There are a couple other reasons why ethanol would benefit the U.S. One of the EU’s and Latin America’s biggest gripes with the U.S, obviously second to our involvement in Iraq, is our unfair agricultural subsidies. In order to make ethanol more affordable the government would have to cut subsidies to the corn industry, for the same reason sugar subsidies were cut in Brazil. The money previously used to subsidize corn producers could be used to subsidize ethanol producers and distributors, thus replacing a very wasteful subsidy with something that might actually be useful. Slashing agricultural subsidies would create positive externalities in our trade relations with the EU and our neighbors in the Americas. It would also help to close the Doha round of WTO talks which have been limping along since 2001.

If you are still reading, thank you. I am finished.

Nina Simone

Here's the album of the week. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by Nina Simone. It is once again brought to you by the Oakland Public Library, but was not explicitly funded by Measure Q. This album is a good display of Nina Simone's interesting style and unique voice. The songs in french are particularly interesting