What Caught My Eye Today

Belgium - More than 34,000 people rallied in Brussels to demand that Belgium's political parties form some kind of government. The country has had no government for the past seven months, a European record. Parliamentary elections held last June produced a stalemate. Flemish nationalists won in Flanders, the country's rich, Dutch-speaking north, while Socialists won the poorer, French-speaking south. Two thoughts here. First, perhaps Belgium should consider splitting. It seems to have worked for Sudan. Second, I find it curious, that the Belgian people are so concerned about the lack of a national government. Recent events suggest that governments aren't all they are cracked up to be. Hear me out on this one. I have some examples to back me up (as if any were necessary).

Tunisia - Protesters rocked the capital of Tunis demanding the resignation of the interim government claiming that it includes too many Cabinet members of the recently ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Ben Ali, it turns out, is quite the colorful character. In related news, The Tunisian government announced that it has issued international arrest warrants for Ben Ali and his family for theft of state assets, which include 1.5 tons of gold bars, worth over $56 million. Yeah, that will win back the support of the people. What is startling is how this singular event has sparked similar uprisings all over the region.

Egypt - Egypt's rising middle class is demanding greater political freedom and economic opportunity. Opposition groups are demanding that President Hosni Mubarak resign immediately and hand over power to a transitional government. This is a fascinating situation. At the heart of the matter, is the people's desire to remove Mubarak from power. Dude has been calling the shots in Egypt for 30 years, so it is understandable that motivation for change is strong. The problem though is that the same people calling for change don't seem to have an answer for the sort of change they are looking for. And then there is the United States which really finds itself in a dilemma. On one hand, Egypt is the United States' strongest ally in the Middle East and the peace treaty with Israel that it has abided by for the past 30 years, is due in no small part to Mubarak. On the other hand, the United States is the standard bearer for democracy, so it might be a bit hypocritical (to say the least)not to stand in support of the will of the people. Still, the democratic process does not guarantee things work out in the best interest of the United States. Let us not forget that democratic elections were responsible giving Hamas control of the Palestinian Parliament.

So again, I ask...Seriously, Belgium, is it really so bad not having a national government?

Passwords - The U.S. Commerce Department is spearheading a new online security system that has the potential to eliminate online passwords. The plan calls for a single sign-on using a device such as a digital token, smartcard or fingerprint reader. Once logged in, users would have access to any website that has signed up for the program. Being in the technology field, I could ruminate for quite sometime on the pros and cons of such a plan, but that would be about as exciting as watching dust accumulate on my vacuum cleaner. Instead, I found some fun-facts on passwords that you might find illuminating. If you are like me, shortly after reading this, you might find yourself changing some of those passwords.

• Most-used passwords:
  • 123456
  • password
  • 12345678
  • qwerty
  • abc123
  "Qwerty"? I never thought of that one. For me, "welcome" was always one of the most popular default passwords.
• Time it takes a hacker's computer to randomly guess your password:
  • 6 characters: lowercase - 10 minutes / lowercase + uppercase: 10 hours / lowercase + uppercase + numbers & symbols: 18 days
  • 7 characters: lowercase - 4 hours / lowercase + uppercase: 23 days / lowercase + uppercase + numbers & symbols: 4 years
  • 8 characters: lowercase - 4 days / lowercase + uppercase: 3 years / lowercase + uppercase + numbers & symbols: 463 years
  • 9 characters: lowercase - 4 months / lowercase + uppercase: 178 years / lowercase + uppercase + numbers & symbols: 44,530 years

Potpourri - The thing I like about statistics is how a little thing like numbers can make such powerful statements.

• Air travel - U.S. airlines did not record a single fatality in 2010 despite more than 10 million flights involving more than 700 million passengers. It was the third time in 4 years without a death.That's pretty impressive. That said, who else besides me would like to know how many flights actually departed and arrived on time last year? I'm pretty sure that number is also pretty close to zero.
• Millionaires - There are approximately 24.2 million people in the world with $1 million or more in net assets (more than the population of Australia), and control more than a third of the world's wealth.
  If you think that's disturbing, there are studies that suggest the richest 2% of the world's population controls half the world's wealth.
• 2012 Presidential Race - The Federal Election Commission has announced that 76 people have filed paperwork to run for president in 2012.
  God help us all.

What Caught My Eye Today

Sarah Palin - Fred's Note: I have to give a shout out to my friend Bob who shared this gem with me. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin offered her thoughts on President Obama’s State of the Union address to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren last Wednesday night. While she cleverly zeroed in on the unfortunate abbreviation of the speech’s “Win The Future” theme, (You know, WTF.), Palin displayed ignorance of Sputnik 1’s significance, and offered a bizarre non-prescription for America involving something called "Spudnuts." Here are some excerpts, from Palin's unique perspective on history.

That was another one of those WTF moments, when he so often repeated this Sputnik moment that he would aspire Americans to celebrate. And he needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist USSR and their victory in that race to space, yes, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it resulted in the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union.

So I listened to that Sputnik moment talk over and over again, and I think, No, we don’t need one of those. You know what we need is a "spudnut" moment...Well, the spudnut shop in Richland, Washington — it’s a bakery, it’s a little coffee shop that’s so successful, 60-some years, generation to generation, a family-owned business not looking for government to bail them out and to make their decisions for them. It’s just hard-working, patriotic Americans in this shop. We need more spudnut moments in America.

Should you be interested in the actual facts pertaining to Sputnik and Spudnuts, read on. I for one am happy to take Palin at her word. The Soviet Union’s launch of a satellite is not the model of success to which the President’s speech urges us to aspire, but rather, the flood of research, innovation, and achievement that it spurred in a then-complacent American psyche. And while it is difficult to pinpoint a single reason for the dissolution of the USSR, the space program isn’t one of them. The Cold War arms race is the factor that most closely tracks here, and while the Sputnik 1 launch was a shot across the bow in that war, it was a drop in the arms race bucket. The Spudnuts Shop is, indeed, a successful small business. Spudnuts became something of a craze, eventually growing to over 600 locations in the US and elsewhere. However, the good times didn’t last forever, and the Richland Spudnuts Shop is one of only about 40 surviving Spudnuts locations. The Pelton brothers sold the company in 1975, at which time those who had paid for franchises could no longer get the original Spudnuts recipe. The parent company went out of business a few years later, but a handful of owner-operated shops continue to use the Spudnut name. The Spudnuts Shop’s biggest obstacle to success came, not from government interference, but from a faltering corporate parent. When the Pelton Brothers sold the company, franchise operators were left stranded without a recipe, and those who survived improvised their own. Yeah, that story isn't nearly as entertaining when you apply facts to it. Thank goodness, we have people in the world who don't let actual history get in the way of their interpretations of it.

China - Make way for the year of the rabbit, people. Twelve animals make up the traditional Chinese zodiac, with each year having its own peculiar and unique beliefs, some specific to certain provinces, such as being an auspicious time to give birth or open a new business. The Chinese Year of the Rabbit promises to bring political upheaval from restless youth and sex scandals for the amorous. The rabbit is believed to be one of the happiest signs, with people born in that year renowned for their kindness, reliability and loyalty, though with an air of mystery and propensity to cry. Let me see, here. Political upheaval, restless youth and sex scandals? Sounds like the status quo to me. Maybe in China they limit themselves to once every twelve years. I say, bring it on. I, for one, think it will be rather entertaining to watch China get its freak on.

Beef - As a matter of record, not one that I a particularly proud of, I love Taco Bell, so it is with great sadness--but little surprise--that I present this next item. A class-action lawsuit was filed late last week in federal court claiming Taco Bell falsely advertised its products as "beef." The suit alleges that the fast-food chain actually uses a meat mixture in its burritos and tacos that contains binders and extenders and does not meet requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled beef. The lawsuit claims that the product contains less than 35% beef, while Taco Bells counters that its seasoned beef contains 88% USDA-inspected beef and the rest is water, spices and a mixture of oats, starch and other ingredients that contribute to the "quality of its product." I have to pause here. There is something that just doesn't sound right about suggesting that a mixture of oats, starch, and God knows what else has something to do with "quality of product". That aside, I don't go to Taco Bell expecting 5 star quality. Dude, it is a 99 cent taco. 99 cents is not going to get you much Wagyu beef.

Humor - A good joke is all about the punchline. Without that, you pretty have a lame-ass made up anecdote. And in my opinion, the truly great jokes are those based on things we know to be true. Perhaps the ladies will back me up on this one. A guy runs into God and God says, "Ask me anything." So the guy asks, "Why did you make women to beautiful?" God replies, "So you would like them." Then the guy asks, "God, why did you make women smell so good?" And again, God replies, "So you would like them." The guy asks one final question, "God, why did you make women so stupid?" God looks at the guy and replies, "That's easy, So they would like you."

What Caught My Eye Today

State of the Union - On the off chance that you had not heard, the State of the Union of these United States is "strong". That's good to hear. One less thing to worry about, I guess. The closing theme of President Obama's State of the Union speech was, "We do big things," an idea meant to serve as both a reminder of the enterprising spirit that has long propelled America through tough times as well as an optimistic assurance that the country is up to the enormous challenges it now faces. Obama sought to convince a still-skeptical public that he has a strong plan to spur job growth and the economy. He also tried to re-frame the debate away from one narrowly focused on reducing the deficit and towards the need to invest in the future and maintain America's competitive strength. On other topics, Obama pledged to begin removing U.S. troops from Afghanistan by July, and to finish the job of bringing them home from Iraq. He promised a plan to consolidate and reorganize the federal government to make it more efficient. Having watched the past few State of the Union addresses, I was most intrigued by the dynamics in the House chamber created by the fact that Democrats and Republicans decided to co-mingle rather than sit on opposing sides of the aisle. I found it to be a rather refreshing change in that you actually got to here Obama's address, largely uninterrupted by "spontaneous" standing ovations from his own party that were, no doubt, curbed due to the seating arrangements this time around and the lack of a herd mentality within either party.

National Debt - A new Congressional Budget Office report predicts the U.S. government's deficit will reach a record $1.5 trillion in 2011. The CBO is forecast the economy will grow by 3.1%, but that joblessness will remain above 9 percent this year and drop to a nationwide unemployment rate of 8.2% on Election Day in 2012. The deficit is expect drop to $1.1 trillion in 2012 and to $551 billion by 2015. It's worth mentioning that the current debt ceiling--set by Congress--is $14.3 trillion. Maybe I'm missing something here, but even if the deficits are shrinking, that fact that there are any suggests that the national debt is going to continue to rise. Forget about a "Sputnik moment" (for those of you confused by this, its a sound bite that Obama has been dropping into his speeches for the last couple of months), I'm thinking we're headed more toward a "Titanic moment". Oh, by the way, the CBO had one more ray of sunshine to pass along. Social Security will pay out $45 billion more in benefits in 2011 than it will collect in payroll taxes, further straining the nation's finances. The deficits will continue until the Social Security trust funds are eventually drained, in about 2037. I'm really starting to dislike these guys. Ironically, I turn 65 in 2037. Some birthday present.

Global Economics - Fred's Note: HSBC and Standard Chartered--both are London based banks--have recently release reports on predictions for how the global economic landscape will change between 2010 and 2050. Here are some of the more interesting findings. By 2050, emerging economies, led by China and India will be larger than developed economies. Small European nations, such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Sweden are expected to drop of the list of the 30 biggest economies. How bad is it that I didn't think these countries were currently on the list? By 2030, China and India's combined share of global output will hit 34%, while the U.S. share will slip to 12%. In fairness, we're talking about the output of close to 3 billion people in China and India versus the output of 439 million in the United States. Now if all this seems thoroughly depressing, especially if you are an American, consider the bigger picture. Rich nations grow more slowly than emerging ones because they have slower growing populations and are already close to the leading edge of technology. In other words, when you are already at the top of the heap, there is no place to go but down. But, fear not. As emerging markets become wealthier, their demand for sophisticated goods and services produced by development countries. That sounds promising, though I think the emerging markets are still going to come out ahead, what with most of the goods coming out of the United States having "Made in China" labels stamped all over them.

What Caught My Eye Today

Political Beliefs - It would appear that the old adage, "the eyes are the windows to the soul," may apply to political beliefs. How nice. A new study suggests that when two people converse, their gazes commonly wander, and each will often glance to see what the other is looking at. Liberals are more likely to follow these "gaze cues" than conservatives are. One wonders if there is a correlation between poker players and liberals. I'm thinking, that those "gaze cues" are pretty much the same as "tells" in poker-speak. Researchers theorize that conservatives place a higher value on personal autonomy than liberals do, and are less likely to be interested in other people's opinions, hence their disinterest in gaze cues. I definitely consider myself a bit left of center when in comes to politics, but I have to say that I totally disagree with the conclusion of this study. I have no use for other people's opinions just as much as my conservative brethren does. In fact, I'm pretty sure my conservative friends would agree that I rarely have use for their opinions on political matters, just as they have little interest in mine.

Feminism - Let me preface this next item by pointing out that the rationale for this next argument comes from a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia pointed out in a recent interview that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution--which prohibits depriving any person of equal rights--does not apply to women. Interesting. I cannot wait to see how he came up with this conclusion. Scalia is the nation's most visible and outspoken proponent of "originalism"--the belief that the Constituion must be interpreted only according to its authors' original meaning and intent. when the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868, according to Scalia, it gave equal rights to freed male slaves--not to women. Scalia points out that the Constituion does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. Who else, besides me would like to see this guy run for public office? Can you imagine how entertaining it would be to watch Scalia try to justify his views under the scrutiny of an electorate that includes, you know, women?

Beer - The pint has been a British institution since 1698, when an act of Parliament made it the only legal serving of beer. You have to love the British. They have actual laws mandating consumption of beer by the pint. How cool is that? 313 years later, the government of Prime Minister David Cameron has decided that the public needs "more choice" and that pubs should be allowed to offer beer in the smaller glass known as the Australian schooner, which holds about two-thirds of a pint. The government also believes tthat the smaller measure could lead to less binge drinking. Well now, that is complete nonsense if you ask me. This isn't food we're talking about here; it's beer. If you reduce the amount per serving, all you are encouraging is more servings. In fact, I'm betting that those extra schooners are probably going to cost more than those pints, which means instead of having just a bunch of drunks, you are going to have a bunch of angry drunks.

Underwear - Among the many sources that I rely upon for content, I occassional stumble upon a gem from Consumer Reports, and boy, do I have a revealing gem for you here. A survey of women 18 years of age and over found that they own 21 pairs on average. Other revelations include:

• 46% wear briefs, not bikinis
• 25% have a pair they'd be embarrassed for someone to see.
  Hmm. Embarrassed in a good way or bad?
• 27% say their mood has been affected by wearing ugly underwear.
  I'm guessing this is due to naivety on my part, but why would you buy ugly underwear in the first place?
• 30% complain that underwear rides up.
  Clearly, an argument for wearing more thongs.
• 56% fold underwear before they put it away.
• 45% say the worst undergarment offese is underwear that sticks out of clothing.
  Yet another difference between men and women. In some circles, the dude's look is not complete without showing some undies.
• 10% have gone out of the house without underwear.
  Intentionally or unintentionally?

Potpourri - More stories from the "so bizarre it must be true" file.

• Entrepreneurship - Rapper 50 Cent rented myself out to clear snow from the driveways of his wealthy Connecticut neighbors, charging $100 per mansion, with an additional charge for photos of him shoveling.
  Props to Fiddy for finding a way to make ends meet between album releases.
• Polygamy - A Pakastani man was publicly beaten by two of his three wives, who accused him of having a secret fourth wife and plans to marry a fifth. The man swears that he only has three wives.
  I don't really get the whole multiple wives deal, but dude already has three, one wonders why these wives are making such a big deal with adding a few more?
• Hygiene - U.S. high school students are increasingly reluctant to shower after gym class and sports blaming the general erosion of privacy in the Internet age.
  Makes sense if you think about it. Might as well match a crappy odor to that crappy attitude.