1. NYTimes 11/9/12. An innovator vs a follower. Craftsman tools, a respected and up till now coveted maker of tools, has switched from selling an American made and designed product, The Bionic Wrench, to making it’s own rip- off in China. Approximately, 31 Americans are losing their jobs, as Dan Brown, the inventor prepares to take Sears to Court and fight for his patent rights. Sears has suspended all orders of Dan’s wrench and has replaced them with the Craftsman duplicate. The Battle lines have been drawn, do we want American products? Or do we want to limit American innovation and participation in our market places?
2. Americorp is alive and well. Last week at least 40 young people from as far away as Washington State arrived in Brooklyn, with the intent to help with the clean up. Instead,they are helping 250 people survive in BrooklynTech High School. They’ve had no training for this job,but a little on site guidance has been invaluable, as they help special needs adults and elderly survive their move to this shelter from Nursing Homes. For those who are unemployed or looking to make a commitment to our Country, try AmeriCorps? Thanks, just a suggestion.
3. FT 11/8/12 San Francisco Tech Groups winTax poll victory. On Tues, the tech industry benefited from a passed corporate tax reform. Now companies will pay taxes on their sales, instead of the number employees on their payrolls. Makes sense to me? You pay taxes on revenue, not on your potential? I believe the VC ‘s , the law will encourage job creation.
4. LOL. FT 11/9/12 Insurers set to pay the price for Sandy’s downgrade from Hurricane. Finally, ordinary people will be able to benefit at the cost of their insurers. Had the storm been declared a hurricane home owners would be responsible for a greater proportion of their rebuilding costs. Since the insurance companies will challenge this determination, a class action suit may be required. My thought, why should individuals fight this one? Everyone is suffering and needs relief as quickly as possible. After all, why have insurance, if you can’t collect? Once this disaster recedes, it might be time to start work on massive rebuilding with climate change on all of our minds.