Alaskans Gets A Royal Screwin & Big Oil Smiles With Pleasure

Did anyone drop their bagel mid-bite or spit out their coffee when the news Exxon was getting a pat on the hand came through today?

Not long after our dear President Bush indicated that he wanted to put the pipe to more pristine Alaskan territory in that bravado tone he uses...
The $2.5 billion in punitive damages formerly decided against Exxon for the sea of thick black crude it disastrously puked upon Alaska's wildlife and way of life was all but dropped today.

Tax paying Americans, and every TV watcher with a heart and soul worldwide, wept tears of sorrow for the countless suffocating, devastated, and dead creatures of God's design.

The persons of the Supreme Court of the United States deemed that the original ruling should be slashed because it was excessive under maritime law. Instead it has lowered the punishment, not in half but less than a fourth to just over $507 million dollars.

Big oil must be smiling with supreme pleasure. Exxon earned just over $40 billion in the year 2007 alone. Which basically amounts to a minor traffic violation fee for what it was responsible for. The amount won't even come anywhere near to covering the losses families have been forced to endure as they themselves saw their way of life literally drown in the thick, sick sludge which poured from the tanker at 11,300,000 gallons in just a few hours. The result was an oil slick the size of 3,000 sq. miles which has caused a lasting effect still 19 years later.

We can not embed the video here because while they have not been able to prevent the video from being archived, they have managed to prevent the video from spilling out all over the internet. Instead, you'll have to see it by clicking on this link.

If you are a stock holder of Exxon (XOM), you have Supreme Court Justice David Souter to thank for keeping your stock price where it is at today.

Tonight we pray for the souls of the Exxon Board of Directors.
However we doubt they will put things right because they take pleasure in the now and obviously are not worried for their future.

Punishment for the damned (see also the last paragraph)

As of last August 2007, the Exxon Valdez still rode the waters of the world as the S/R Mediterranean. The new name was given in 1990 after 1,500 metric tons of steel were removed and replaced in repairs following the incident.

FROM Wikipedia:
The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, representing approximately 40,000 workers nationwide, announced opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) until Congress enacted a comprehensive national energy policy. In the aftermath of the spill, Alaska governor Steve Cowper issued an executive order requiring two tugboats to escort every loaded tanker from Valdez out through Prince William Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance. As the plan evolved in the 1990s, one of the two routine tugboats was replaced with a 210 foot (64 m) Escort Response Vehicle (ERV). The majority of tankers at Valdez are still single-hulled, but Congress has enacted legislation requiring all tankers to be double-hulled by 2015.

In 1991, following the collapse of the local marine population (particularly clams, herring, and seals) the Chugach Native American group went bankrupt[26]

Many of the real estate appraisal methods used to value contaminated property and brownfields were developed as a result of and following the spill. The use of survey research (e.g. contingent valuation and conjoint measurement) became a well-accepted appraisal method as a result of the complex valuation problems associated with contamination.[27]

According to several studies funded by the state of Alaska, the spill had both short- and long term economic effects. These included the loss of recreational sports fisheries, reduced tourism, and an estimate of what economists call "existence value," which is the value to the public of a pristine Prince William Sound.[28][29][30]

WikiScanner discovered changes made from within Exxon Mobil, altering this article's descriptions of the oil spill and down playing its severity.

Social Networking Power Seeps Into Applications

I have been letting my views and opinions out onto the vast WorldWideWeb now since before most of you readers were even born! I organized the largest number of System Operators (Sysops) ever to meet in one place. Now that says quite a lot as my learned scholarly and entrepreneurial business friends would say.

It would be nice to know that some of my rants and raves such as the one which took out every point of Microsoft's first online published ROI white paper was read and understood. That an intelligent person or team of individuals would find great value in my quality assurance background and position as a consumer advocate.

Well years later, it seems that Microsoft is now attempting to be a little more consumer caring. And it looks like possibly my rant on the uselessness of FaceBook but promotion of social networking sites is being heard.
There are many who are against the internet and use of the web as a way to meet others and collaborate without being able to physically touch or sit in the same office. Some of those concerns are quite valid BUT there are too many positives as well as practical needs for it not to be pursued and developed. No matter how much we wish to prevent Pervs, stalkers, and other negative people in our physical and online life we will never be rid of them no matter what is done. In fact trying to do so online may prevent great productivities from being achieved.

Today we have help (sometimes questionable) from telecenters in India, we have distant learning of which I participated in one of the few way back in the '80s. Do you remember the early online virtual worlds?

I was also part of those early renditions which were exciting but clunky attempts to bring people together online. Well today, Sony and a couple handfuls of other companies have gotten behind the dream to develop this further. And we will eventually see truly productive applications linking people together in both a purely social as well as purely business, educational, and entertaining ways.

One of my Canadian friends turned me onto BlogTV. This is a social networking site that has been around awhile and allows anyone to use their web cam to host a show and even have a co-host on with you from anywhere else in the world! Granted some of the blogTV hosts are quite lame but it gives them an outlet for social interaction which can be for pure fun or for other things. I plan on using blogTV as a way for my online neighbors and friends to chime in on my interest for trading/investing and all things technology. Of course there are other ways but this is simple and fun!

BlogTV Weekly

You can have audio, draw on the screen, kick people out for inappropriate behavior and build a network of followers. Unlike Facebook you don't have a zillion widgets wanting your attention. It is purely an audio/visual world where the host creates whatever kind of show he/she chooses.

This this month we were delighted to stumble upon a brand new site that gets to the point of what we want in a social networking application. It uses an educational bent along with the social networking attraction. The site is called MarketEDU. The best way to describe it is to quote directly: "MARKETEDU.COM is the first financial education website to combine Interactive Rich Media Technologies and World Class Finance Expertise together in one expansive online community. 30 Years of financial experience has been combined with cutting edge award winning, interactive design to deliver the most accessible user friendly financial web community on the globe."

If you have any interest in investing or trading, then I encourage you to become a registered member. You'll find a site that is rich in multimedia and friendly, hence the social networking side of it.

MarketEDU

Since technology is constantly improving and people wish to further push the limits of possibility; social networking will become a key feature in more and more applications to come. I for one look forward to the next pipe dream becoming reality. Perhaps you'll play an integral part and have your fifteen minutes of fame!

There Is NO Energy Crisis_What "They" Don't Want You To Know Part 1

These two Australian partners have come up with a generator that creates power infinitum and can be used in your household to generate free power. What will be the key thing to watch is how quickly this invention is squashed! Yes folks its been done many, many times before. Whenever an invention that can put some big business out of business comes to reality, it is quickly squashed as we call it and that invention is never talked of, seen, or heard of again. That is, until folks like us bring it back to life.

Long Life Electrical Generation For Home

100% Efficient Water/Steam Generator

A Look Inside The Almost Fuel-less Boiler Pump

There Is NO Energy Crisis _ What "THEY" Don't Want You To Know Part 2

Thanks to Google for all the fantastic educational videos we get to see here. Thank you Google for backing Nanosolar. Thanks to GENI and Buckminster Fuller for bringing us these next videos...

There is no energy crisis, just ignorance and a lack of proper leadership among countries, governments, companies, and people. The solution has been around but we have been blinded by politics. We have had propaganda of government and its big business puppeteers turn us into sheep. That same propaganda would have us believe that it just isn't possible to have clean and renewable energy today. Oh! but we have companies like Nanosolar, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), and many others with individuals that see the need and are trying to fulfill it.

We have what we need to be oil / coal independent far sooner than we have been told. We have the ability to make a better life for ourselves and our children today and in the future. So cry out to your leaders, your representatives in every government in every country on the planet. Lets make this thing work and lets get on the ball already!

A Win-Win Solution

Thirty experts from the United Nations, engineering firms, environmental and electrical engineers gathered to discuss the social, political, environmental and economic benefits of the interconnection of electric power grids across borders with an emphasis on tapping remote renewable energy resources. Hosted by the Winnipeg HVDC Research Institute and Manitoba Hydro, these findings offer a strong case for accelerating the GENI Initiative between all nations as a win-win solution for everyone.

Solar Energy Cost Reductions

Thanks for this in part go to EVangel who read the last post and commented. EVangel's suggestion to check out Nanosolar prompted this post.

Nanosolar

Company reduces cost of solar, Nanosolar

An American company is producing a solar product that reduces the cost of solar energy production down to 99 cents per watt. This is a huge leap over the current cost of about $3 per watt. Also, energy payback is almost immediate or less than one month!

The technology used is called (CIGS) photovoltaic. CIGS stands for Copper indium gallium selenide. What reduces the cost is that there is no silicon (a big material cost) and it doesn't have to be mounted to glass (a weight factor).

Two things that bum us out:
1) Nanosolar is not a publicly traded company.
2) The product is not initially being used in our own country but rather in Germany. This underlines the fact that we as a country are far behind not only Germany, but that we are not leading the world through strong government backing in this very important area.

The first 100,000 cells produced were slated to be shipped to Europe, where a consortium will be building a 1.4-megawatt solar power plant located on a former landfill owned by one of the largest waste management companies in Eastern Germany.

According to the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, production of photovoltaics jumped to 3,800 megawatts worldwide in 2007, up an estimated 50 per cent over 2006. Photovoltaics is growing by an impressive average of 48% each year since 2002, doubling every two years, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy source.

The Nanosolar product touts these features:

- the world’s first commercial solar panel based on a printed solar cell

- the world’s first thin-film solar cell with a back-contact

- the world’s lowest-cost solar panel –which they believe will make them the first company capable of profitably selling solar panels for as little as $.99/Watt

- the world’s highest-current thin-film solar panel – delivering five times the current of any other thin-film panel on the market today and thus simplifying system deployment

- an intensely systems-optimized product with the lowest balance-of-system cost of any thin-film panel – due to innovations in design

British scientists called the Nanosolar product "a revolution" in generating electricity.

Why Are We So Contradictory?

Never have we seen such double-talk / double-action in this world as we are seeing in our own back yard. USA and China are the two largest producers of energy now in the world. Though out of the two, the USA remains king of the hill for energy consumption per person. Of course along with that, pollution and climate degradation goes hand in hand.

Earlier in this blog, we brought back the story of how our government along with the car manufacturers and oil companies killed the electric car some years ago. Killed it because it didn't suit the profit model of the car companies and big oil. Killed it because some of the government puppeteer positions are partly held by both these industries.

Born unto a country whose government cares not for my future or that of my brothers and sisters...

1 comment

On one hand, government spouts ecology, conservationism, energy independence, and having a people's choice in all matters. Then they go and do the exact opposite. Or better yet, they say they are for this or that, while doing little to bring it to reality with the importance and time-frame required to make it actionable. The only side that really seems to do anything of purpose is the people's side. More exactly, individuals and their companies who see the obvious needs and strive to fulfill them. But the problem to that is what also needs to happen is that government needs to take a true stand, and then either support efforts by these people or oppose them rather than double-talk and double-action.

For instance, this month, the US and China held the fourth China-US Economic Dialogue. The so called purpose of this is to promote long-term co-operation in energy, the environment and other related areas.

The Chinese government gives high priority to energy and resources conservation and the protection of the environment. They are speeding up the demonstration and promotion of the industrialization of energy-conserving and pollution-reducing technologies and adopting higher standards on energy conservation in major energy-intensive industries, such as iron, steel, non-ferrous metals, coal, electric power, petrochemicals and building materials, as well as in the construction and transport sectors. They are vigorously developing the circular economy and working to reduce energy consumption per 10,000 renminbi of gross domestic product by 20% by 2010 from the 2005 level.

The Chinese are developing renewable energy, promoting the use of hydropower, wind power, solar power, methane and biomass energy. They are planting more trees and better protecting natural forests and increasing the percentage of natural reserves.

What are we doing in our back yard?

President Bush wants to drill for oil in Alaska's pristine ecologically sensitive areas.

Washington's energy policy is to tax successful energy sources and subsidize unsuccessful ones.

A recent poll showed that 94 percent of Americans feel it is important for the U.S. to develop and use solar energy. A vast majority supported extending Federal tax credits for renewable energy.

H.R. 6049, a bill that would extend solar and other renewable energy tax credits would have legislation to extended the residential and commercial tax credits for solar energy for eight years. It is supported by a diverse coalition including manufacturers, construction firms, environmental groups, electric utilities, chemical companies, banks, investors, labor, public health and religious organizations, trade associations and many others.

What happened to the bill?

U.S. Senate, defeated it!

What happens now?

The loss of more than 116,000 jobs and $19 billion in investment in 2009 in the solar and wind energy industries alone!

What could this bill bring?

• Tens of thousands of American jobs
• Stabilize rising energy costs for families and businesses
• Help us achieve national energy security

We are no longer a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people" Not unless the people spoken of are the rich minority, the corrupt politicians, and those in government that stay but bend to the will of the rich and corrupt.

Makes Me Crazy!

You have to eliminate emotions from your trading decisions which is one of the biggest advantages of using MarketClub (see previous post).

You also have to eliminate the NOISE which there are tons! of when you watch CNBC and especially the CNBC Jester they call Cramer. The video here is the best example of how noise can deter you from making a trade decision based on "doing your homework" vs. giving up and letting someone else TELL you what to do. If you want to see red, if you want to feel what its like in the House of Pain, then by all means, do what Cramer says and get back in line with all the other sheep who won't do their own homework.

Note:
We'd like to thank Don Harrold and of course Jim Cramer for helping us see the light...Hallelujah!

Manipulation Continues

We for one are firm believers that insiders associated with Goldman Sachs are taking advantage of GS market manipulations. Just days after good news of a merger nearing, a GS analyst downgraded the stock saying that demand for satellite has diminished. Again, walking the line of truth, the effect of this sent the stock into a glorious discount as millions of shares were sold at the current price and then slowly re-bought. It is our opinion that this was done with intention and those privy to the pre-announcement bought into SIRI after the 28 million share sell-off..giving

SIRIguarantee

buyers a serious discount.

During the Future1investor's Conference in Cabo this spring, several folks talked of their appreciation of satellite radio with one of the investors saying that he could never go back to the old radio. In fact he and his wife purchased a life-time subscription to satellite radio and they say that they can't wait for Sirius Backseat TV. "With two young children who you have to drive around all the time, this is a must!" said the investor. His family enjoys satellite radio in all their vehicles and while sunning and swimming at their back yard pool.

Sirius is featured in over 150 new car models from 24 different brands from Audi through Volvo.

SIRIUS Backseat TV is a pioneering service that delivers live TV from three of the best family networks — Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, to the video screens of select vehicles equipped with a SIRIUS Backseat TV receiver. For added flexibility, rear-seat passengers can enjoy SIRIUS Backseat TV while front-seat occupants listen to SIRIUS Satellite Radio. The system can be operated from either the rear-seat entertainment unit or the radio head unit in the front of the vehicle.

		Nickelodeon service includes popular shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.
		Disney Channel includes popular shows like Hannah Montana, Cory in the House, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and My Friends Tigger & Pooh.
		Cartoon Network Mobile includes short-form programming ranging from two to eleven minutes each, and includes Chowder™, My Gym Partner's a Monkey™, and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends™.

The company also has 37 job openings with the majority in its New York operations. It also has a fall internship program.

Top 5 Picks

Top 5 Picks

Everyone has a top ten list so we are going to have one each day too! These are our top 5 stock picks with volume exceeding 1 million.

• Canadian Solar (CSIQ)
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
• Wyeth (WYE)
• Monsanto (MON)
• Sociedad Quimica Chile (SQM)

These are stocks we like as a buy. Watch the technicals closely as they may turn quickly.

Heavenly Bodies Finally Get Approval!

SIRI

Sirius

XM and Sirius (SIRI) satellite radio FINALLY got approval today from the FCC after a long, long 16 month review.
Now we'll see how long it takes to do the actual deal. Hopefully its very soon so that we can see a huge pop! in the stock price. As of right now the stock is at $2.66 with over 53,650,000 shares volume!

Sirius1

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin confirmed published reports that he would support the transaction, with the companies agreeing to a series of conditions.

Those conditions include a pledge to make 24 radio channels available for noncommercial and minority programming, according to FCC sources. In addition, the companies would agree to cap prices, provide interoperable radios and offer programming on an "a la carte" basis.

"I am recommending that with the voluntary commitments they've offered, on balance, this transaction would be in the public interest," Martin said in a statement.

Martin's proposal to approve the deal could be circulated among the other commissioners as soon as this week, the FCC sources said. As the number of cars with built-in satellite radio has increased, both services are still adding subscribers, who pay about $13 a month for more than 100 channels of music, news and talk programming. XM ended the first quarter with about 9.3 million subscribers, vs. 8.6 million for Sirius.

Last year one of the companies announced subscribers would be able to choose 50 channels for $6.99 -- a 46 % decrease from the current standard subscription rate of $12.95. Customers could then add more channels for a minimum of 25 cents each.

Happy Fathers Day!

You may have noticed if you ever click on the first link near the top of my recent entries here that it directs you to another site of mine. I prefer writing my blog over there but try to maintain it here for those of my readers who are primarily only Blogger.com folks.

Fathers Day

For our readers (Fathers and family members) today on Father's Day we are giving you a one day advance access to the two weeks FREE at MarketClub.

MarketClub is a tool that we use in our trading that utilizes what they call trade triangles to help you find enter and exit points that weigh heavily in your favor bringing you the most profits for your trades.

Without further fan fare..here you go!

Happy Father's Day!

P.S.
If you have any questions just send them here and we'll help you.

These 3 Markets Will Change Everything

June 13

In preparation for the 2 week FREE trial at MarketClub that we told you about recently, Adam produced the video below to help prepare members for what he, and MarketClub, believes will be the direction of three very important markets: US Dollar, Gold, and Crude Oil

We are sharing this with our readers because we know that MarketClub has helped us normal traders/investors and that it can help you too! Check this out and see how simple using MarketClub makes it for you and how these support videos are a valuable training and reinforcement on the use of an already simple service, plus gives you additional insight for making more money in the market. You will get a personal email with a special page embedded video. They wish to know how many people and where in the world you are viewing this video from; and its a promotion now to our Future1investor readers to this wonderful service which we use!

Every once in a while there comes a time in the market when you
get to see some amazing trading opportunities.

I believe this could be one of those times.

In this special private video I analyze in detail the
upcoming major moves in three major markets. This just
maybe the most important video I have ever made on these
three markets and I want you to see it.

Adam Hewison

President, INO.com

Capital Gains & Windfall Taxes

Today, the subject of oil company windfall taxes was defeated by the Republican party. We hope that it will come up again and be passed though we suspect that they will go easy. Of course I'm all for increasing taxes on the huge profits that oil companies are making. Why not? Its windfall profits that we are talking about.

Then, if Obama gets the vote for President of the United States, he proposes to fix the capital gains tax at 28%. Of course this will hurt us as independent traders but I think it is something that we need. We've been hurt by lower taxes as seen with the numerous budget cuts to worthy programs, continued cuts on military health benefits for our soldiers and their families. Of course the crazy war that we've been in on the false face of weapons of mass destruction has not done a bit of good for us as a country either.

The United States of America operates on taxes, gives us our many advantages as U.S. Citizens, and some day will hopefully once again use our tax base to fund alternative low/no damage power technologies. It was once used with our space program (the space race). Instead of hurting others globally, we the citizens, our state and federal representatives, should be using OUR tax money to help the world advance technologies that help the entire planet and everyone living on it.

There is no reason why we can't still make profits from our innovations, improvements, and ecologically safe products while helping even the poorest of the poor in this and in every country!

Apple Stock & Free MarketClub For You!

Yesterday we reiterated the announcement of Apple's new 3G iPhone. Yet the stock dropped $4 bucks! Whats up with that? Today we have more details on the announcement below and then we'll have a video from MarketClub that talks about the stock price.

One other thing that you might well be excited about is that MarketClub is going to be offering their once per year absolutely FREE use of MarketClub for you! This means that you'll have access to many of the members only areas of the site and allow you to get acquainted with the service and even take advantage of its Trade Triangle technology which gives members buy and sell signals on thousands of stocks.

MC

Future1investor has recently become involved with MarketClub and we've seen profits as a result of following the Trade Triangle technology. Included with the profits we've seen a reduction in bad calls and resultant losses. We also benefit greatly from MarketClub training videos that are put out regularly for new subscribers as well as the immensely valuable archive of training seminars (from experienced professional traders/investors) we are able to take part in as part of INO TV. So we will be announcing the absolutely FREE time you can take advantage of with MarketClub very soon. You can use it short term for profits, use the free time as a no cost free trial period or both!

First the details on Apple's new iPhone:

By JORDAN ROBERTSON
AP Technology Writer

(AP:SAN FRANCISCO) The iPhone will soon be $200 cheaper _ and come with satellite navigation, faster Internet access and other new features _ but higher monthly service charges are likely to erase most of the savings.

Apple Inc. revealed Monday that it has scrapped its pricing plan for the iPhone as it unveiled a model that works over faster wireless networks, addressing key criticisms about the device that have hurt the company’s foray into the cell phone industry.

An 8-gigabyte version with the new features will go for $199 when it goes on sale July 11, and a 16 gigabyte model will cost $299, the Cupertino-based company said.

Current iPhone owners who buy a new model and sign up for a new AT&T contract won’t have to pay any penalties to get out of their current contract, AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said. And anyone who bought an iPhone in an AT&T store after May 26 can return it before Aug. 1 for full credit against a new one _ less a 10 percent restocking fee.

Apple plans to make up the difference in sales revenue with volume _ and with subsidies wireless carriers will now pay for the right to carry the gadget.

In changing the pricing arrangements, Apple is pulling out of revenue-sharing arrangements with some wireless carriers, a move that frees the carriers to charge higher prices for the service.

Apple shares fell $4.03, or 2.2 percent, to close Monday at $181.61 on the news, a sign that some investors were hoping for more and others were taking their profits after a four-month run-up in Apple’s stock price, which leaped from $120 in March.

The new iPhones, initially to be introduced in 22 countries, are designed to work over so-called 3G, or third-generation, wireless networks and have global-positioning technology built in.

iPhone

They will also support Microsoft Corp.’s Exchange software, an addition that puts the iPhone in more direct competition with Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Palm Inc.’s Treo smart phones and is intended to appeal to the business market.

Analysts have said Apple needed to slash the iPhone’s price and make it usable on faster networks to hit the company’s target of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. Apple said the 3G iPhones download data twice as fast as the older ones.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Apple has sold 6 million iPhones since the first model launched nearly a year ago and 700,000 since March. That points to a steady slowdown in sales starting in the fourth quarter last year as customers waited for a 3G version.

Jobs showed off the new models of the iPhone and about a dozen new applications for the device at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

New applications range from video games that use the iPhone’s motion-sensing technology to guide characters to study tools for medical students and a program that allows users to find nearby cell-phone-carrying friends on a map.

One program brings real-time video highlights and game stats from MLB.com; another creates an Associated Press news feed based on the user’s location and lets users submit news tips to the AP.

Apple also announced a new Web-based service called “MobileMe,” which the company describes as “Exchange _ for the rest of us,” a consumer-friendly way for people to link their iPhones to their home and work computers so updates entered into one device automatically appear in the others.

MobileMe will cost $99 per year and come with 20 gigabytes of online storage.

AT&T Inc., the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone, said service for it will start at $39.99 per month, plus $30 for unlimited data. That works out to a $10 increase from the cheapest plan for the first-generation iPhone; over the course of a two-year contract, that increase wipes out the savings from the price cut Apple announced Monday.

AT&T’s pricing covers only U.S. residents. While iPhone prices will drop outside the U.S. too, it was not clear whether other carriers would raise monthly fees to compensate.

AT&T also warned that it will take an earnings hit due to the pricing because new subsidies it agreed to pay will produce the iPhone price cut _ not a reduction from Apple.

Apple said in a regulatory filing that under most of its new carrier agreements, it will not receive a share of subscribers’ monthly service fees as it has under contracts for the first-generation iPhone.

Jobs said Apple waited to improve the iPhone for use on the faster network because the chips available when the iPhone first came out sapped too much battery life and were too bulky to fit the iPhone’s slim design.

The addition of global-positioning technology improves the iPhone’s accuracy in locating users. Current versions use a combination of cell-phone towers and Wi-Fi locations to help users figure out where they are.

The 1.73 million iPhones Apple sold in the first three month this year gave it a 5.3 percent share of the worldwide smart-phone market, according to research firm Gartner. Apple has been adding overseas markets gradually with carrier deals.

Click Here For the Apple Stock Video

Battle of the Titans

The new Apple 3G iPhone was announced today just a month after RIMM announced the 3G Blackberry 9000. Last week Google said that they would have phones running their new Android software out sometime this year but without committing to an exact date.

Titans

While the Blackberry has been the clear winner for quite some time in the corporate world, the iPhone holds a lot of promise since Apple is known to constantly innovate and please its customers. That however should be interesting. Interesting to see just how far the newest iPhone has come.

On the other hand, the Google Phone for a lack of a better name at this point, also holds tremendous promise due solely to the powerhouse which is Google. Googlites are not known for doing anything just half ass. That is the brains working at Google are huge crowd pleasers when it comes to applications on the web. Google is thought of as the great leveler. Meaning that they always go one further for the people!

And as this is being written, I'm awaiting yet another phone altogether, hardly mentioned around these parts. Its the Helio service by Samsung phones. I have the model called the Fin, the worlds thinnest clam-shell phone with internet, GPS, texting, emails, rss feeds, camera, games, videos, and music. The only thing that the Fin is not good at is web surfing. Another thing its not good at is swimming. I took mine swimming the other day and now I find myself having to order another Helio until my contract is up. So I chose the Helio Ocean. The Ocean promises a better web experience over the other Helio phones and with its Qwerty keyboard, better texting and email response functionality. The reason I've chosen the Helio service over any other is the one price gets all. I pay $99 for all services all the time rather than a la carte or minutes only but extra for data. Helio says they are a virtual phone company but gives you everything easily. So for now, I'm a Helio subscriber.

The kicker comes in the price tags. Helio Ocean is about $300, Blackberry is around $350-500, but the new iPhone is but $199. It is for this reason that I hope to find that when my Helio contract is up, that the iPhone will have gone a few more improvements and that there will be tons of great apps available. On the other hand, the Google Phones should be no less a functional powerhouse but that remains to be seen.

RIMM has been a good trade for most and Apple too.

A Head Scratching Event

June 3rd (originally written here)

This morning we are scratching our heads over some number which was released yesterday.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for up to $130 million over three years, subject to Congressional appropriations, to advance the development and use of fuel cells for automotive, stationary, and portable power applications.

The head scratching comes into play when we take the other side and say: the government is perhaps doing the right thing to get us away from our addiction to oil. Away from the devastating effect that has now been proven to destroy our environment. A step towards the promise of a far cleaner future.

But then we see the number which is $130 million dollars of your tax paying money, over 3 years.
Wait just a sec... didn't the government spend some $1BILLION dollars beginning sometime near the President Carter administration to develop Hybrid Technologies? As seen from another fairer perspective, $130 million X 3 which is the nine years for the $1 billion formerly used for hybrid technologies... comes out to a small $390 in today's money. Hmmm...390 million in today's money vs. 1 BILLION dollars starting in the Jimmy Carter era.

Perhaps even with the flawed idea of fuel cell technologies, perhaps this is just a diversion making it look like our leadership is doing the right thing when in fact it may be quite the opposite.

This can be seen as a way to prolong the use of oil and combustion engine production until we can show as we have here that we already have proof that this isn't the best way to go in reducing our addiction to oil. That perhaps then, we throw some paltry amount of money at another idea that doesn't quite fit the Eco bill and even further prolong our addiction. A kind of bait and switch tactic if you will.

What was the effect of the U.S.A. producing a clean electric car all those years ago?
It scared Toyota and Honda to produce a good electric car on their own w/o anyone's help.
They only took it off the roads when our government was willing to sue it's own State of California to cause the electric car to disappear off the roads. Why? Because there was not enough profit in it for the car manufacturers and most especially for the big oil companies. Some of you may argue that BP and perhaps other oil companies now have an alternative energy division. So why aren't they using these windfall profits to boldly and swiftly change from oil addiction to a healthy future for all? Because it isn't as profitable maybe?

Hmmm

Shows you how an effective Leader and administration can be changed away from doing what is absolutely right for the consumer, for our health, for the environment, and for our entire human population and the planet.

We are in a sad state of capitalism when leaders have to create laws to help capitalists get away with criminal and some would say immoral acts. Acts which hurt the entire planet and put billions of people at great risk just for a few more years of windfall profits.

This is what has prompted the head scratching event today.

Also, did you know that the White House once had solar panels on the roof? It did during the time of Jimmy Carter but they were removed when Ronald Reagan and his Vice President took office.

More head scratching.....

If you can possibly take one more minute; watch the first minute of this video before it disappears.

If You Say It Enough They Will Believe You

June 2nd (originally written here)

Or some semblance of those words. This comes supposedly from one of our current leaders as I'm told. Well luckily every piece of actual evidence can not be destroyed. I found this at Reuters and Planet Ark. I had trouble highlighting to show the differences between the pros and cons. You may wish to go to the original site that I published this on. To do so, just click on the date link above.

This article is in its entirety.

WASHINGTON - Supporters of ethanol like to describe it as a cleaner-burning fuel additive that helps keep the air clearer, but critics say its environmental drawbacks may outweigh some of the benefits.

While ethanol made from corn gives a boost to the incomes of American farmers, the alternative fuel poses complex trade-offs for US oil refiners, environmental groups and federal regulators trying to find cleaner gasoline to curb pollution.

"The short answer is ethanol is both good and bad for the environment," said Daniel Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming and energy program.

Ethanol is in the spotlight because Congress and the administration of President George W. Bush are grappling with US energy problems, and supporters of ethanol tout the fuel as one of the solutions.

Unlike other fuel additives, ethanol does not contaminate ground water supplies but it produces more smog in some circumstances and tiny amounts of sulfur result when it is blended into gasoline.

"The benefits are that ethanol does reduce carbon monoxide when used in the winter time, but it increases smog when used in the summer," Becker said.

That's because a key drawback to ethanol is that it evaporates more quickly in certain conditions, which results in higher emissions of smog-forming compounds, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

When compared to conventional gasoline, ethanol yielded lower emissions of carbon monoxide than motor gasoline but higher emissions of nitrogen oxide that causes smog, EIA said.

"We are more concerned about solving the smog problem than about solving the carbon monoxide problem," Becker said.

Ethanol is a renewable resource that the Bush administration wants to help reduce US dependence on foreign oil imports. It also can raise octane in gasoline and prevent annoying engine "pings."

Ethanol is one of the main so-called "oxygenates" or oxygen booster added to reformulated gasoline to meet federal clean air requirements. The extra oxygen helps the fuel burn cleaner.

The Environmental Protection Agency requires most major US cities to use the cleaner-burning gasoline with more oxygen by weight during the hot summer months to reduce smog and air pollution.

Ethanol is the second most popular oxygen booster for fuel among refiners - ranking only behind MTBE, which is now used in almost 9 out of every 10 gallons of reformulated gasoline.

However, Ethanol use will soon soar now that a dozen states have decided to ban MTBE because that fuel additive can leak from underground storage tanks into drinking water supplies.

ETHANOL AND SULFUR PROBLEMS?

Separately, finished fuel-grade ethanol contains small amounts of sulfur, between 2 and 8 parts per million, to help distinguish it from drinkable alcohol, according to EIA.

This could become a problem for refiners when they begin meeting new federal low-sulfur requirements in a few years, EIA said. Beginning in 2006, the sulfur content of gasoline must be reduced to an average 30 parts per million.

In addition to environmental concerns, ethanol blended gasoline is more complicated to transport to markets.

The additive poses logistical problems because gasoline containing ethanol cannot be shipped in the nation's vast network of multi-fuel pipelines.

Moisture in pipelines and storage tanks causes ethanol to separate from gasoline.

As result, the petroleum-based gasoline components must be shipped separately to a terminal and then blended with the ethanol when the product is loaded into trucks.

Those higher shipping costs, which would likely be passed on to consumers, are a major reason California sought a federal waiver from having to use ethanol after the state banned MTBE.

The Bush administration denied the request last month, even though environmentalists insisted the White House decision would spew additional smog-forming pollution into the state's air.

"This will mean dirtier air and price hikes at the pumps in California," said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air Trust.

The ethanol industry defends the environmental benefits of its product.

The Renewable Fuels Association, the industry's trade group, acknowledged that when ethanol is blended with gasoline it slightly raises the volatility of the fuel that can lead to increased evaporation of smog-forming emissions.

However, blending ethanol reduces carbon monoxide tailpipe emissions that are responsible for 20 percent of smog formation, the renewable fuels group said.

TRADE GROUP SAYS ETHANOL CUTS OZONE

In addition, ethanol-blended fuel cuts tailpipe emissions of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that form ozone in the atmosphere, according to the trade group.

"Thus, the use of ethanol plays an important role in smog reduction," the association said.

However, some of ethanol's VOC reduction benefits have been scaled back.

Last week, the EPA finalized a rule allowing ethanol-blended gasoline sold in Chicago and Milwaukee to contain larger amounts of VOC pollutants.

The VOC standard was raised to 0.3 pounds per square inch Reid vapor pressure - a measurement of the volatility of fuel - from the previous 0.2 pounds. The EPA move was intended to reduce the cost of gasoline in the two cities, which depend almost exclusively on ethanol-blended motor fuel.

Environmentalists are also concerned over the amount of energy, and therefore the pollution, needed to make ethanol from processing corn.

The industry's trade group said ethanol generates more energy than used during production, and cites an 1996 Agriculture Department report that found ethanol contains 34 percent more energy that is used in the production process.

Story by Tom Doggett

Story Date: 16/7/2001

P.S.
Thats just 34 percent or barely over 1/3 more energy than that used to produce the product. So in other words, we must additionally continue to create a significant debilitating carbon footprint in the production of a product they are saying is better than say: electric vehicles or versus another bio-fuel which can produce far more energy than this from corn which produces only 34 percent.

Criminals Tend to Repeat Offenses

June 2nd

So now that you've watched the documentary entitled "Who Killed the Electric Car?" guess what happened today?

The President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative was re-announced today. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for up to $130 million over three years, subject to Congressional appropriations, to advance the development and use of fuel cells for automotive, stationary, and portable power applications.

I'll make this as short as possible and instead of giving you my rant on the topic; I present reports from apparently reliable sources. But regardless, as in the Iraq war, when heavy research and experience has been reported to some of our key leaders, the research/reports have been ignored, joked about and/or ridiculed at great expense, consequence and death.

Title:		Environmental Impact of H2 from Hydrogen Fuel Cell on the Stratosphere
Authors:		Tromp, T. K.
Affiliation:		AA(California Institute of Technology, Mail Code 170-25, Pasadena, CA 91125 United States ; ttromp@dar.caltech.edu)
Publication:		American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #A72C-0192
Publication Date:		12/2002
Origin:		AGU
AGU Keywords:		0330 Geochemical cycles
Abstract Copyright:		(c) 2002: American Geophysical Union
Bibliographic Code:		2002AGUFM.A72C0192T

Abstract

Hydrogen fuel cell technology seems poised to replace the internal combustion engine in the upcoming decade. Environmentalists tout the technology as environmentally friendly and stress its low tailpipe emissions resulting in cleaner urban air. At face value the technology should have a negligible impact because the major byproduct is water. What has not been considered is that it will take billions of liters of H₂ to power the future national (and international) fleet of fuel-cell vehicles and that the leading contenders to make that H₂ are the very fossil fuels that cause smog and greenhouse gases. If that does happen, there will be two important consequences. First, the current fossil fuel pollutants will not disappear, rather they will be shifted from tailpipe sources to where the fossil fuels are extracted and the hydrogen is made. In addition, the fuel to make the cells work, H₂, is an important trace constituent (~0.5 ppmv) of the atmosphere [Novelli et al., 1999] and participates in reactions involving pollutants and greenhouse gases [Crutzen, 1977]. Thus, anthropogenic H₂ emissions could have significant indirect environmental consequences. The global annual H₂ production from current sources, anthropogenic plus natural, could be doubled in coming decades with the development of a hydrogen fuel economy [Zittel, 1996]. Such an increase could significantly impact the hydrogen cycle and other cycles with which it interacts in both the atmosphere and biosphere. We have examined the potential environmental impact of additional H₂ release for several emission scenarios. We calculated the ODP of H₂. Given that the oxidation of H₂ is an important source of water vapor in the stratosphere, which is otherwise isolated from direct sources of H₂O by the `cold trap' at the tropopause. We calculated what kind of elevated concentrations of stratospheric water vapor could occur for the different emission scenarios. Not only will additional water vapor cool the stratosphere, but also it will allow heterogeneous chemical reactions to occur when it forms PSCs in polar regions. H₂ also reacts with atmospheric OH radicals, the premier oxidant in the earth's atmosphere. We will calculate how increasing fluxes of H₂ to the atmosphere will shift the balance of the earth's oxidation chemistry, potentially increasing the lifetimes of other more harmful gases.

Until next time:
Nuff said!