Author: Serkadis

“Out of context?… I’m reading from your book, dude”

One forgets just how good a debater and interviewer Maddow is, until she shellacs an unwary charlatan.

Another gem from Tom FIske:

It’s not that I have given up on Genealogy. It’s just that all the easy stuff has come to light. Now I am down to searching through Bavarian files from the 1800’s and early American files from the 1800’s. Not as much fun as it used to be. And the “oh, ho” remarks are sounding more and more like “oy,vey.” After all, I have been at it since I broke 100% of my legs about 1990. That’s about 20 years.

Yes, I know many of you readers have been at it much longer than twenty years, and I have taken advantage of the Internet during my twenty years. But you know what I mean: the easy data comes first and then you run out of easy data unless you hail from a series of large families (another of Fiske’s maxims is that large families produce more genealogists than small families, making research come much more easily).

As I sat back to write this year’s Christmas letter to friends (Evie insists on doing a letter for family members) I gave a thought to bragging points. It wasn’t long before I realized I was at an age when the length of a surgery scar was more important than the length of a holiday trip. But I could talk about my new book, Ploughshares into Swords, which was selling a few copies; I could mention my wild run-in with the CIA having to do with my tenth book; and there were two huge breakthroughs in my genealogy studies.

Nobody much cares about somebody else’s genealogy, though – unless it involves historical figures. And part of mine was historical, in a way. I had put away my folder on one of the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This “cold case” was Sgt. Nathaniel Hale Pryor, who supposedly had a son, also named Nathaniel, born in Louisville, KY about 1806. (My mother was a Pryor, who was born near Louisville in 1902, so I always had an interest in this family.) Senior was definitely historical and Junior Pryor was instrumental in making sure California went to the United States when Mexico lost its hold, so I think he was also an historical figure.

This is the year (2009) in which I found that Junior was a son of Senior and that both Junior and Senior have descendants who are alive and kicking as this is being written. Some of Junior’s descendants are actually grateful for my work in proving their relation to Senior, but it doesn’t do much good. Actual proof of Senior’s ancestry goes back a generation or two in early Virginia. Then it seems to fade away, although I think I know where it goes after that.

The important thing to me is that those Pryors were Americans – not original settlers perhaps, but very early, anyway. Weren’t there already English people in Virginia when the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, MA, in 1620? I personally have seen Plymouth Rock and I am no more proud of it than I am those kinder shores in Virginia upstream from where George Washington’s family arrived years later.

Being American is what counts, regardless of the year of entry to our country.

I said there were two big breakthroughs this year. The Pryors were the first. What was the second? Well, my Bavarian great-grandfather Adam had two families. His wife died in the 1860’s in Louisville, leaving him with four small children. One of them died and he farmed out the rest. But I didn’t know that. All I knew was that the first set of kid disappeared from all records before 1870. I spent many years looking for those youngsters. Finding all of Adam’s second family had been a chore (and that’s my group), so I closed and put away the folder on his first family several years ago. They became another cold case.

Then, about September, a descendant of a kid in the first family sent me an email. Despite all I could do to discourage him, this young man proved he was indeed my cousin. We shared Adam as an ancestor, but not Adam’s wife. Cheerfully and gratefully, I shared what I knew about Adam. He came from Bavaria, he said, and that’s all I know about the guy. Oh, a good guess is that he lived in the Pfalz, but that really is all I know.

So I have learned three things in 2009. Two are specific items about my family members and the third is that there are no such things as truly cold cases.

One more thing—when I meet certain people in a restaurant to get background material for my next book, I am taking a camera. I hate being spied on.

The Tegra 710 and 810 multi-function digital metering systems display and communicate major electrical parameters. To suit user requirements the range includes single-phase, three-phase three-wire and three-phase four-wire capabilities under low voltage with unbalanced loads.

Operation
The digital meters are available in 4 module DIN-rail or DIN 72 panel mounted enclosure and display up to 57 electrical parameters including the true rms values, selectable CT and VT ratios and monitor current, voltage, power factor, phase angle, active/reactive energy, and frequency values.

The simple menu-driven interface offers three reading modes (phase parameters, system parameters and maximum parameter values).

Programmable Display
The interface programme buttons enable simple programming of CT and VT ratios settings, configuration of selected communication options and adjustment of operating parameters.

System Input
Designed for all low and medium voltage switchgear and distribution systems, the Tegra 710 and 810 DMS offer programmable VT and CT ratio capability and direct connection up to 500V ac with 5A CT inputs.

System Output
The standard version of Tegra 710 and Tegra 810 offers two independently programmable relay outputs (2A, 250V) that can be configured to produce either a pulsed output or can be individually programmed to be associated to the measured parameters. (Operating value, latching, alarm mode, relay operating mode, set-point value, differential value, relay activation delay).

Digital Communications
Tegra 710 and Tegra 810 DMS offer optional RS485 communication port for direct connection to SCADA systems using the Modbus RTU protocol.

Remote monitoring enables user to record system parameters in real time, using high resolution numbers.

… now has a higher punching and clamping force

The new BUP200 sheet metal testing machine was developed in response to new materials with higher strength properties and associated ductility behavior, together with increasing demands on component quality. The machine now provides punching and clamping forces up to 250 kN and, with its new and fresh design, the BUP200 completes the successful portfolio of sheet metal testing machines up to 1000 kN.
Zwick’s latest machine has a maximum drawing force of 200 kN and covers all commonly used standards for sheet metal testing (e.g. EN ISO 20482, and EN 1669). It can be used for determining material properties as required or for quality control in sheet-metal processing.
The control system is based on programmable logic control, with test parameters entered numerically via a display with direct input function. Clamping force and deep drawing speed are regulated through proportional control valves as specified by the operator. Measured values can be read off conveniently from the attractive color display. On request Zwick can also program customized test sequences such as clamping force or deep drawing speed as a function of ram stroke.
Typical uses for the BUP 200 include the determination of properties for deep drawing or stretch-forming to standard procedures, plus other important applications such as determination of forming limit curves and hole expansion tests. A further example of the machine’s wide range of application options is process monitoring during surface treatments, for example lubricant coating and application.
For detailed investigations of the forming process the ram force, clamping force and ram stroke can be read out via the testControl electronics and stored, processed and analysed via Zwick’s proprietary testXpert® II software.
Zwick’s new testXpert® Master Test Program Evaluation Software for BUP gives sheet-metal manufacturers and processors access to a software package which offers significant advantages in use, such as freely definable curve representation of analog or digital input signals, online display of actual measured values, start and stop of test and data logging via external signals, together with calculation of deep drawing speed and results displayed in freely configurable reports. The measured values are used for test control at machine level, for approaching defined force and travel values, for detecting incipient specimen failure and for controlled termination of the test.
The advantages of the new sheet metals testing machine lie in its flexibility, with fast, easy fixture changes for various tests and individually controllable functions such as holding down, punching, drawing and ejection.
Transport and maintenance are greatly simplified by the introduction of a closed and encapsulated oil circuit. Particular attention was paid to achieving low piston-cylinder friction, ensuring high reproducibility and accurate data acquisition.
Safety in operation is also a primary consideration; all functions have hydraulic and electrical fuses and conform to the latest safety standards. Two-handed operation is incorporated as standard for increased operator safety when closing the blank holder. This compact testing machine is easy to transport, clean and quiet in operation and robust enough to guarantee many years of continuous operation.

Yogi Tea is one of my favorite brands of tea because I delight in the little pearl of wisdom left on each tea bag like, “The beauty in you is in your spirit.” Ahhhh! Indeed this tea makes me feel soothed.

I’ve been on a whirlwind of writing working on getting my book ready for the first round of full editing. When I get on a writing spree like this I always crave cereal, so I went to Whole Foods to see what they had.

I was pleasantly surprised to see some new cereals from the folks who make Yogi Tea. Yeah! Who knew. So, instant sale. I picked the Walnut Spice Crunch flavor designed for digestive health. All the nutritional info is here. The other flavors include Cherry Almond Crunch and Goji Berry Flake & Cluster.

Pictured above is a bowl of the cereal with fresh bananas and rice milk. This cereal was awesome! Crunchy. Nutty. Fun in my mouth. In fact, it’s something I could just pour into a bowl and eat dry like popcorn. The other fun thing was to find two tea bags as the “prize.” It’s not like getting a super hero action figure, but Yogi tea is a splendid prize too.

The only thing I think they can improve on is to lower the sugar content a bit. The cereal comes in at 16g of sugars per 2/3 cup serving which to me is on the high side. But, sugar is usually the least of my worries.

Have you tried the Yogi cereals? What did you think?

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Chevrolet

In yet another “that didn’t take long” moment from General Motors, Chevrolet’s vice president, Brent Dewar, has retired after being appointed in July by recently-ousted CEO Fritz Henderson.

GM’s vice president of Sales, Service and Marketing, Susan Docherty, made the announcement late today, with Dewar being replaced by Jim Campbell, the General’s former Fleet and Commercial Operations manager, effective immediately.

Unlike the recent push to find an outsider to fill Fritz’ vacancy, Campbell, 45, has been with the automaker since 1988 — effectively making him another GM-lifer. Let’s hope Campbell serves a longer stint as vice president than his predecessor — a total of five months. Press release after the break.

Continue reading Chevrolet Vice President Brent Dewar retires from GM

Chevrolet Vice President Brent Dewar retires from GM originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc.

For the 6th year in a row, Dustin Troyan organized and hosted the Motor4Toys charity toy drive and car show in Southern California this past weekend. Every year this show continues to grow, gathering together several thousand car people and their exotic and collectible sports cars, race cars, muscle cars, tuner cars, and the like. All of them come to support the cause of making sure every child has a gift to unwrap during the holidays.

This show is unique in that it draws its participants entirely from the car community and since its inaugural year Motors4Toys has been the single largest donor of toys to any charitable toy donation program. Tens of thousands of toys have been collected by Motor4Toys and distributed to groups such as Toys for Tots and law enforcement charities, and while we’re always happy to be a part of such a worthy cause, we have to admit that half the fun is the huge gathering of sweet rides.

Imagine seeing hundreds of cars lined up by make or model. It’s like taking a peek inside the fence of your favorite manufacturer and seeing all of your dream cars lined up, ready to ship out for delivery. Whole rows of Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, Cobra, Mustang, Lotus, WRX, Evo, GTR, MINI, VW, Tesla, Camaro and Mazda greet the enthusiasts that come each year. And as if it needed any more cred, Jay Leno attends every year. This year Leno happened to drive over in his Chrysler Turbine car, which wowed the crowd. Click below to see our large gallery of pics from the event courtesy our friends at Speed and Motion.

[Photos: SpeedandMotion.com]

Motor4Toys charity car show attracts Leno and his Turbine originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jaewon alerts us to the news that the US Patent Office has agreed to fast track “green tech” patents to get them through the process much faster. This is the opposite of what should be done. One of the biggest problems is that examiners don’t have nearly enough time to thoroughly examine a patent to make sure that it’s really patentworthy (i.e., that it’s both new and non-obvious to those skilled in the art). Speeding up the process seems like a recipe for a lot more bad patents — which doesn’t help the green technology space, it’ll cause significant harm. We’ll end up with more patent thickets, and a huge waste of money on legal battles, rather than actual innovation.

Yet, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke supported the plan by announcing:

“American competitiveness depends on innovation and innovation depends on creative Americans developing new technology,” Locke said in a statement. “Every day an important green tech innovation is hindered from coming to market is another day we harm our planet and another day lost in creating green businesses and green jobs.”

This statement makes a bunch of assumptions that simply are not supported by any evidence at all. First, innovation isn’t just about new technology, but about successfully bringing the technology to market. Second, over and over again, studies have shown no causal effect between more patents and greater innovation. It’s amazing that Locke can claim this as if it’s fact when there’s no evidence to support it. Third, there is no hindrance in job creation from a slower patent approval process. Companies can still bring their products to market and can still hire and grow whether or not they have the patent. There are plenty of “patent pending” products on the market. The idea that fast tracking green tech patents creates more jobs is pure fantasy. Apparently, when it comes to intellectual property, the policy of our federal government is entirely faith-based.

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HAMP Must Address Second Liens, Congress Hears – By DIANA GOLOBAY – … Earlier at the hearing, Laurie Goodman, senior managing director at Amherst Securities, pointed toward the key role negative equity plays in predicting default behavior, saying HAMP’s failure to address negative equity meant it was destined to fail. Only principal reductions can make a lasting effect, Goodman said, but financial conflicts of interest keep servicers from reducing principal. … – HousingWire –    hattip Ira Artman
————
MUST READ: Testimony of Laurie Goodman, SMD Amherst Securities before the House Financial Services Committee – Makes 2 points –   house.gov

Laurie Goodman Testimony 8 Dec 2009

Will my generation be safe?

Editor, The Times:

My name is Molly, and I go to Chief Sealth High School. A class I’m taking called Global Leadership is teaching me a lot about climate change, and the more I learn, the more scared I get [“Climate policy we can afford,” Opinion, Paul Krugman syndicated column, Dec. 8]. I’ve been looking to the convention in Copenhagen as a sign of hope, as something to combat this growing claustrophobia and panic. And yet I continue to see President Obama, America’s own visionary, play down the threat.

I know adults think it’s easy for kids to want radical things because we may not have jobs or cars or mouths to feed. But this is really our battle. My generation is the one that’s going to experience the major consequences of our predecessors’ carelessness.

I can watch the ocean begin to swallow the island and people of Kiribati, and I can watch the search for drinkable water become desperate for people in Bangladesh as their own sea level rises. When I learn these things I feel guilt, I feel helpless, and I feel like we’re next.

I know a common perception of teenagers is that of desensitized human shells. But we stay up at night, wondering if we’re on the edge of an apocalypse.

I can’t be in Copenhagen. I don’t have the power to change the world just by eating vegetarian and taking the bus. I need to know that the powers of the world care about me and my future. I need our world leaders to step up to their responsibilities, and lead our world to a sustainable future.

— Molly Freed, Seattle

‘The Wizard of Oz’ and the Earth’s rising temperature

In the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy and her friends see a little man behind a curtain madly manipulating instruments. When the wizard realizes the little man has been spotted, he thunders, “ignore the man behind the curtain.” Too late. Dorothy and her friends realize the wizard is a hoax [“Copenhagen talks begin today in stormy climate,” page one, Dec. 7].

Advocates of global warming recently had e-mails published that admit they have been manipulating data, ignoring and suppressing data that doesn’t support their preconceived conclusions, and generally cooking the books. They systematically try to silence those who question them through lies, ridicule and outright intimidation.

It turns out global warming is a huge hoax, that has nothing to do with climate change. It is designed to promote a social agenda and extort trillions of dollars from the citizens of the world through fear.

The response of the biased mainstream media is to try to ignore and cover up the content of these e-mails. They tell the public, “ignore the man behind the curtain,” but it is too late.

The ugly truth is that global warming — or climate change, or whatever one wants to call it — is a left-wing socialist hoax.

— Gerald D. Cline Jr., Seattle

Climategate: the global climate controversy

Conspiracy theorists are like suicide bombers — loud and dramatic — but there are only a few of them, and they are soon forgotten by all but those they injure [“Hacked e-mails heat up Capitol Hill,” News, Dec. 3].

In the case of Climategate, the conspiracy theorists are wearing WMD and may injure us all. They’re generalizing a few pieces of doctored data in an attempt to impede the entire sustainability movement.

While it may be true that a few scientists in the U.K. have manipulated data, and while it may or may not be true that the climate is warming, what is crucial to realize is that both climate-change science and Climategate are red herrings, distracting us from specific, vital issues that threaten humanity.

Whether in climate change humankind has created a monster or a myth couldn’t matter less. Beyond the issue of global warming, readily verifiable facts show we’re running out of fish, forests and fresh, clean water.

If we continue to abuse the Earth, we in the developed world will certainly encounter a drastic decrease in the quality of our lives, while witnessing the excruciating deaths by starvation and poisoning of hundreds of millions in developing regions.

— Galen Sanford, Covington

In need of a common sense U-turn

It’s not often The Seattle Times’ editorial opinions are pointed the wrong way in regards to common sense. Except for a car parked in the wrong direction on a freeway, apparently [“The right ruling on a wrong-way car,” Opinion, editorial, Dec. 7].

If no ticket can be given because a police officer didn’t see the car drive in the wrong direction, then that would also mean a body with four bullet holes can’t be murder unless a police officer saw the shooting. Or a drunken driver isn’t drunk unless the police officer saw the drinks consumed.

And so forth, on and on.

The editorial writers need to make a common- sense U- turn, and hope a police officer doesn’t see it.

— Don Johnson, Kirkland

Traffic ticket sent to Supreme Court?

Having a traffic ticket reviewed by the Washington Supreme Court doesn’t say much for the intermediate judges in the appeals courts, or any other decision-makers in the system who allowed this farce to proceed.

I suggest the appeals cost be apportioned out to those involved, and deducted from their termination pay.

— Terry Slaton, Federal Way

Only true reform is single-payer option

It is now crunch time for our U.S. members of Congress to show their core values about representing the vast majority of us who want and need real health-care affordability and access [“Senate reaches deal to strike public option from health bill,” page one, 9].

I, along with my wife, children, friends and relatives, will be watching very closely, as our elected senators and representatives decide whom they stand with.

Will they stand with the voters who put them in office, or the behemoth insurance companies that are stuffing their pockets with money and/or promising massive payouts behind closed doors, after leaving office.

I know the only true reform comes through the single-payer option, with a distant second place being a strong public option. Anything else is a sellout, and an outrageous abandonment of my family, relatives, friends and fellow countrymen.

— Gary Ochsner, Seattle

A Christian Scientists’ spiritual health care

The article “Christian Scientists lobby to add prayer to health bill” [News, Nov. 26] seems to conclude with the impression that Christian Science healing is ineffective.

Those who have never witnessed or experienced physical healing through the study of Christian Science may be persuaded to place it in the category of questionable faith healing or mere positive thinking, which it definitely is not.

When I was 12, my mother was diagnosed, treated and labeled incurable by three independent medical specialists. Our family then witnessed her complete healing solely by Christian Science treatment recommended by a neighbor.

For more than 50 years since then, I have relied solely on Christian Science to maintain my own health because of its dependable results when correctly adhered to. Because of this, I have no recorded medical history.

Some of the healings I’ve experienced through Christian Science treatment are blood poisoning, broken arm and foot, abscessed tooth, influenza, migraine, impaired eyesight, dislocated hip, heart problem and back injury. There have been a multitude of others, which proves to me and to those who have witnessed it, Christian Science offers a remarkable, Bible-based system of spiritual health care.

— Julie Foskett, Edmonds

Blaming the Republicans

I was amazed reading the column “$10 an hour with 2 kids? IRS pounces” [NWSunday, Dec. 6], but the greatest shock was columnist Danny Westneat’s efforts to blame this on Republicans.

No, there’s no bias in the printed media press. Westneat seems to have forgotten that it was the Republicans who tried to abolish the IRS in the 1980s.

I think the Democrats love the IRS — the more income they can divorce from American citizens, the more they can spend, and the more they can control our lives.

Conservative Republicans have longed for the day when the IRS remains only as a past nightmare.

— Richard Monson, Goldendale

This is what my tax dollars paid for?

An article describing a smuggling ring in the small city of Pacific has sickened me [“Pair accused of smuggling, enslaving illegal immigrants,” NWFriday, Nov. 27]. I have so many questions, which produce skirting answers from public officials of any stature.

Why do my tax dollars fund enforcement of pathetic minor infractions, which do not directly protect members of the community?

How did my tax dollars support upgrading police cruisers to high performance secret-service-style sports cars?

I drive through Pacific five days a week in 25-mph zones. It is well known that speed enforcement is a high priority in this city.

Now I’m informed that I have been coasting by the dwelling of violent smugglers. The sexual, physical and emotional abuse was reported in 2006, verifiably. Realistic people know it has been going on for much longer, but the children’s cries for help were ignored.

Will protecting our safety ever supersede the importance of creating city revenue?

My guess is, no. I will continue to drive past meth addicts, and possible prostitutes because the almighty buck is more important than our present and future safety.

— Erin Anderson, Puyallup

To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends,  

• We think that the paperless office is clearly the future for mortgage banking, but for everyone doing it successfully, we see someone for whom it just doesn’t seem to help speed up the process. We’d love to hear of your real success stories out there. Or any real disappointments.
• A pretty high rating in the Dumb Bank Names Hall of Fame goes to a California bank with the improbable name Bank on It.  The stock in this small bank trades, under the symbol BKOT.
• The always curious Chris Brown analyzed the big banks last week, and here are the Texas Ratios for the five biggest.

Isn’t it interesting that the two banks that most investors are worried about, BofA and Citi, have the lowest (i.e. best) ratios?  For those new to this, a Texas Ratio of 36% means, at its most basic, that for every $100 of capital and loan loss reserves, the bank has $36 of bad loans. Bad loans are defined as non-accruals, REO, plus loans 30 days or more delinquent.  We prefer using 90 days and would settle for 60. A number over 100 is supposed to be a very good predictor of the bank failing. 

• When the Texas ratio gets too high, it’s also a predictor of the Bank’s obvious need to raise new capital.  From the bank’s perspective, it’s a simple issue:  Do they raise capital and stay alive, or do they not raise capital and fail.  From the shareholders perspective, the possibilities are (1) Does the bank not raise capital and fail, and (2) if it does raise capital, does the bank survive but with my interest as a shareholder being wiped out.   This refers to highly dilutive capital raises, and we’d love to see the dilution numbers for the typical deal the past year or so. Temecula Valley Bank almost did a deal to raise new capital which would have saved the bank. Unfortunately for the shareholders, it would have been 95% dilutive. Deals like this remind us of the line uttered during the Vietnam War, that ‘We had to destroy the village to save it.”
• Hey, we have an idea. An analyst at Oppenheimer was the guy during the S&L crisis twenty years ago who coined the term Texas Ratio, so we’ll claim authorship of a new phrase, the Vietnam Strategy.  This will refer to a strategy of raising dilutive capital that saves the bank but destroys the shareholders.  If you’re at a Board meeting and your investment banker tells you “We have good news…. we can raise capital for you”, ask him about the bad news.  Ask him if it involves a Vietnam Strategy.
• We just re-read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, the story of a Lithuanian immigrant family that comes to America and goes through truly horrible struggles. The most devastating mistake was the decision to use all their money for the down payment on a house that was way beyond their means. All the nightmares that follow start with the father losing his house to the bank.  The book was published in 1906, but it sure seems relevant to 2009.
  To fellow libertarians, now that you’ve read Atlas Shrugged, please read The Jungle. It will convince you that Ayn Rand’s cold-hearted philosophy needs to be tempered with a good dose of compassion. 

• Be careful about the clichés you use. What if you have a Texas Ratio of 200%, a C&D and a Prompt Corrective Action letter, but you tell your Board that you’ll be okay, that  “No way the FDIC seizes the bank.  That’ll happen the day it snows in San Francisco ” knowing that it never snows here.  Um, a few days ago it snowed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Kevin Tam answered our question about General Motors, noting that GM’s market capitalization, which was once more than $40 billion, is now about $372 million. He  contrasts that to Peet’s Coffee with a market cap of $400 million.  GM once epitomized the industrial might of America .  Have Starbucks and Peet’s now replaced the once iconic GM as epitomes of American business?
• Is the demise of General Motors as an American icon a sad thing, or is it just a reflection of the times? In terms of symbolizing America and our great strengths, wouldn’t we prefer that the world see Microsoft, Apple, and even Google as symbols of American business rather than an auto maker?

• Remember our mentioning the song “Get an ugly girl to marry you”?  A very senior officer at a multi-billion dollar bank (we’re not naming names) sent in the second line, completing the opening “If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife, so for my personal point of view, get an ugly girl to marry you.”  This song was truly a phenomenon at parties. Everyone would sing along loudly, but when it came to the last part – “Get an ugly girl to marry you” – people would stop dancing, look up at the ceiling, and shout those last words at the top of their lungs.  They’d then laugh hysterically, as if it were the first time they’d heard the song.
• Good news:  A secondary marketing person wrote us that they sang the “Ugly Woman Song” at parties when she was in college around 8-9 years ago. It still lives!  Long after you’ve graduated from college and completely forgotten the point of Beowulf, you’ll still remember that song, and isn’t that precisely what college is all about?  And speaking of Beowulf,  wasn’t that about the worst book you ever read?  Even the Cliff Notes were incomprehensible.
• In a few weeks it will be 2010, so let’s look back fifty years to 1960. Financial historian Barbara Campbell tells us that the total national debt was $286 billion, a first class stamp was $.04, a gallon of gas was $0.25, a brand new Chevrolet was $2,600, and the average salary was $4,743.  The nostalgia for that decade implies that it was the best time imaginable, which like most generalizations, is only partly true.
• So before we get too nostalgic for the 60’s, remember that 55,000 American boys were killed in Vietnam, 10,000 Soviet missiles were aimed at us, blacks couldn’t vote, eat in most restaurants, or sleep in a hotel in the South, tens of millions of Americans lived in crushing poverty, and woman couldn’t get hired for most jobs other than as secretaries and teachers. If a woman got pregnant against her wishes, she had to go to back alley for an abortion, our air and water were horribly polluted, many men died of heart attacks in their 40’s and 50’s, and very few women survived breast cancer.  It was a fun decade in many ways, but it was also scarred with horrible assassinations, a draining war, and all the upheaval that accompanies change.
• We asked, tongue in check, what a Mojo was, and we got 30-35 responses, among them: “Mojo is when everything is working for you, and our Mojo has been working, with a 100% increase in volume this year.”  Or from a woman in Sacramento “I’ve always considered Mojo the same asswagger.”  And   “Mojo is a proper noun! You either have it or you don’t!”  From Kelly in Phoenix “It’s a presence.”  And from Illinois “Greenspan does not have it. Brett Favre does.”  Or this one ”It’s as simple as…. 20 kids in a room and you can clearly see who has Mojo and who does not!”  Here’s one that’s a good guess but is wrong “It’s the same as a Soul Patch.” Here’s another wrong answer:  “Jim Morrison sang about it in L.A. Woman when he sings “There’s a Mojo rising”.  Most likely, he was referring to the sun or moon.”   And about 20 people sent us the definition right from the dictionary.
• For your viewing pleasure, here are the bank holding companies with the biggest credit card portfolios.

What’s interesting is how quickly the numbers drop off.  The 15^th biggest is Popular Bank with $1.1 billion, #21 is Bank of the West at $385 million, and #29 is First Horizon at $151 million.  These are all from the December 1 issue of American Banker.

• And how about Richmond , California ’s Mechanics Bank?  These guys just don’t believe in stock splits, so one share is $11,000.
• Next time you see the Salvation Army people, why not slip $5 into the pot instead of a quarter. It’s a good organization doing good things. And next time a homeless person outside the supermarket asks for spare change, why not take him inside with you and buy him some food?

Garrett, Watts & Co.   special article:  How to Use Return on Capital to Determine ProfitiablityHelping mortgage lenders increase revenues, control costs, and better manage risk.

• Joe Garrett         ([email protected])
• Mike McAuley      ([email protected])
• Corky Watts         ([email protected])

Filed under: Japan, Nissan

Here’s a bit of interesting folklore for you history-obsessed car buffs out there. Nissan (then selling Datsuns) was tricked into coming to America. Seems that Nissan never planned to sell cars here, as they felt that their diminutive, economical rides were too small and slow for the mighty U.S. market. However, one man felt different: Nobushige Wakatsuki.

The year was 1958 and Wakatsuki had a job with Marubeni Trading Corp. where he was charged with finding Japanese products to import into the U.S. Wakatsuki approached Datsun’s management and asked them if they’d be interested in bringing the brand Stateside. After all, Toyota had just began selling cars to Americans in 1957. Wakatsuki was humiliated when he heard their blunt reply, “No.”

But Cazy Nobe — as Nissan execs would later refer to the then 29-year-old — refused to let a good business opportunity go to waste. He went ahead and procured some cars from Nissan under the pretense of a marketing exercise and proceeded to put them on sale. All of this was done behind Nissan’s back. Which really pissed them off. In fact, it took another full year of pestering before Nissan took over the dealer network Crazy Nobe established here in 1960. However, the joke is on them, as Nissan/Infiniti sold nearly 1,000,000 cars in the US last year.

Nobushige Wakatsuki died on November 13, 2009 at the age of 81. Thanks for all the good memories, Mr. Wakatsuki.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req. | Image: Fudge]

Nobushige Wakatsuki, the man responsible for bringing Nissan/Datsun to U.S. dies at 81 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As an avid infosthetics reader, you should be well accustomed with the notion of infographically animated movies. Well, you might be surprised that the latest infographic movie in Australia has caused a storm of controversy, which even motivated the country’s Prime Minister to step in and comment that the company in question should have ”a long hard look at itself”.

The background is not that complex. Westpac, one of the only 4 large banks in Australia, recently raised its variable mortgage rate with 0.45 percentage points, nearly twice the level of the Reserve Bank’s 0.25 percentage points increase, and significantly more than its 3 other competitors. While this initiative was already enough to score some major headlines in the national press, the bank tried to smooth things over by sending hundreds of thousands of Westpac customers an email on Monday night from the bank’s retail chief explaining its supercharged interest rates.

Included in the email was an infographically animated video titled “Cool Bananas”, justifying the bank’s decision to raise interest rates by comparing the business of banking with selling banana smoothies. Just as a storm hits and destroys a banana field, and increases the prices of banana smoothies, the banks were hit by a crisis of their own, increasing their cost of lending. For those outside Australia, the chosen theme subtly points to an Australian phenomenon in its recent past, namely the banana shortage caused by Cyclone Harry in 2006, which increased banana prices across the country by 400-500%.

Australian banana farmers, advertising executives (already embarrassed worldwide by the recent Vegemite “iSnack 2.0” rename debacle), local politicians and bank customers somehow did not like the gesture. Their comments range from the utterly condescending tone of the movie, to the implied comparison between “an act of God” (the hurricane) and the (self-inflicted?) current banking crisis.

Read some the press coverage here and here.

Watch the infographic video in question below. (sorry for the bad quality, cannot seem to find better version)