Folks,
Here is an article covering VP Cheney’s recent expedition to the central Asian
states to seek
oil. the article says, among other things:
“Administration sources said Mr. Cheney has run into significant difficulties as
he has found
that many of the potential suppliers have become committed to China.”
and
“Mr. Cheney also was informed of the contracts China has already signed with
Central Asian
republics.”
Now, Cheney had to leave his “undisclosed location” to find this out?
http://www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/Cheney_2.htm
Related to this is something I saw on CSPAN, in which Ohio Sen. DeWine was
questioning the
nominee to be the next CIA director. Apparently DeWine has a hobby horse in
advocating the
spy agencies employ NOC’s (“non-official cover”) as spies.
In general spies have “official cover”, that is they are 2nd secretary to the
trade attache or
some other low level embassy cover, in which they make contacts and try to
recruit spies
from the other side, meeting at diplomatic functions, etc. As DeWine complains,
and as you
can imagine, and certainly as events have proven, these people are not very
effective, given
our spies missed the Tet offensive, the fall of the Soviet block, and 9-11 to
name a few. The
advantage is if these spies get caught, they have diplomatic immunity, so they
just get the
boot back to USA. Apparently our spies were unaware the Chinese have already
tied up
central Asian oil, something anyone in the oil business already knows.
Heretofore, occasionally, the CIA has used “non-official cover” spies, a good
example is
Valery Plame, who was touted as an “energy analyst” while “secretly” working for
the CIA.
Well, with that cover she might as well tattoo “spy” on her forehead. The
danger for NOC’s, is
without a diplomatic passport, she can be arrested, and there is nothing USA can
do.
While in Hong Kong I dined with a USA federal law enforcement officer stationed
in stationed
overseas, and he shared a practical problem: He is obliged, on station, to
travel using his
diplomatic passport. Since the USA hassles Chinese diplomats entering USA, the
Chinese
reciprocate. He can get into China for a personal visit on his diplomatic
passport, but it just
ain’t worth the effort. He dare not go in on his personal passport. He himself
is not a spy (a
“cop” would be pretty lousy cover for a spy) but personal awareness of
conditions is rather
important to him. I gave him what I could offer, for what it is worth.
What DeWine wants is to end this nonsense. What he wants is for USA to move to
NOC’s,
spies with “non-official cover”. Non official cover would be someone posing as
an academic
scholar, something any college economic professor could do. Or perhaps a
visiting musician.
But the best at this are business folk, who in the course of their work spy for
Uncle Sam. I do
not doubt there will be people who “respond to the call” and spy while working.
I don’t like this change. Up to now, USA spies were rather obvious, and when
not, don’t
worry, FBI agents and CIA agents will gladly sell to our enemies lists of our
spies. For
thousands of dollars. Or now in the Plame affair, republicans have introduced
outing spies
for cheap political advantage.
If we get to NOC’s, then all USA business folk will be suspect when doing
business overseas.
This will add a layer of tedium as we wait to be vetted, or are followed, or
whatever happens
as foreigners respond to a change in USA tactics. As usual, big business will
get subsidies for
this new cost, and some small businesses will break under the new cost.
Intelligence work was once the province of private enterprise, but along with
everything else,
within the last 80 years or so, governments arrogated this private activity unto
themselves.
And like everything else the government does, they make a hash of it. But
because they
make a hash of it, we come full circle, where now the government wants private
business to
spy on the rest of the world.
How about this: we eliminate all USA spy agencies, cut the size of government
and taxes
concomitantly, and let the hundreds of thousands of international traders,
acting accordingly
on what they learn privately, and thus guide what collectively happens, which
naturally,
overall, will be good. No spies, no torture, no arrests, no murders, no
layabouts, retired on
the government payroll, mucking up the good business people do all day long.
What we have now is Hero Dick Cheney goes to central asia to save USA because of
his oil
contacts. Why are we depending on one man? In spite of his position, he is
unaware of what
is going on in central asia. (Privately I suspect he was set-up, but either
way, playing such
games at such stakes could never occur in private business).
What we have now, is a very few driving the many by the leverage of govt power.
The
disaster of the Iraq war is as much a failure of intelligence as it was
inevitable. There is a
better way, and we are getting farther away from it.
John
Saturday, May 20, 2006
We were Counting on Cheney
How we avoid scams... Your kin assistance/ Trust
Richard,
This is a most excellent question. The key here is the scale of biz you are
doing. Recall we
are working on the margin, we are improving a solution already out there. When
we test, for
a foreign manufacturer, the reaction in the USA market to an ice-ax covered in
teflon, our
value is information, not money. Happily though, we can pull down about $250/hr
for this
'service' to foreign manufacturers by means of the margin we charge to our
customers.
As time progresses, we take on more responsibility in the form of higher
frequency and more
products, learn who's who, and build our business, and more fully support our
lifestyle. As
this goes on, we are uninterested in other deals. It's all about lifestyle, not
money.
As to cheats and scams, step # 1 of every con game is for the scam artist to
announce what
they are doing is illegal. Regardless of the "help the poor" or whatever else
is said in these
letters, every letter announces what they are doing is illegal. Why? Every
scam artist knows
you cannot cheat an honest man, so they test first for honesty to save time.
A more subtle version of this is "we have to keep it secret." Now in this case
the point if
"someone finds out, we'll lose our tenuous advantage" so while not strictly
legal, ones greed
is excited.
But in both cases, secrecy is the thing...
We, in small biz int'l trade, are loud mouth about what we do every step of the
way. Who has
our passion for the particular idea, who wants to devote overhead to such a
minor issue...?
Neither big nor small wants to steal from us, scam artists are not going to
bother with us.
This is not to say we are particularly honest, it is just to say we are
otherwise occupied with
beneficial activity, so we "avoid the occasion of sin," if I may borrow from
theology.
So the challenge of concern to you won't be there in real life... age quad agis
keeps you out of
trouble.
JOHN
On Sat, 20 May 2006 08:23:48 -0500, Richard Ingels
> So I guess this is one type of business model in the import/export
> world. It appears we've found the best supplier in the world for this
> service/product, although I don't know how much of a need for it there
> is. [LOL]
>
> It got me thinking about how one navigates in business. One fear I have
> is that my inexperience in navigating foreign suppliers and in dealing
> with domestic retailers will mean I won't always know if things are
> "right". There's a fine line between being suspicious and wanting
> everything nailed down with lawyers and in writing and killing deals to
> being naive and taken advantage of and taking things said orally
> literally (like the scam email) instead of with a dose of skepticism.
> It seems like every day there is a new scam taking advantage of others
> when they don't even need to (they could actually make a profit doing
> what they say if they would deliver, but instead cut and run because
> they can't deliver).
>
> How do you navigate this area in attitude and being open and trusting
> enough to develop new areas and do the deals but cautious enough not to
> be taken?
>
> Richard
Re: Your kin assistance/ Trust
So I guess this is one type of business model in the import/export
world. It appears we've found the best supplier in the world for this
service/product, although I don't know how much of a need for it there
is. [LOL]
It got me thinking about how one navigates in business. One fear I have
is that my inexperience in navigating foreign suppliers and in dealing
with domestic retailers will mean I won't always know if things are
"right". There's a fine line between being suspicious and wanting
everything nailed down with lawyers and in writing and killing deals to
being naive and taken advantage of and taking things said orally
literally (like the scam email) instead of with a dose of skepticism.
It seems like every day there is a new scam taking advantage of others
when they don't even need to (they could actually make a profit doing
what they say if they would deliver, but instead cut and run because
they can't deliver).
How do you navigate this area in attitude and being open and trusting
enough to develop new areas and do the deals but cautious enough not to
be taken?
Richard
Friday, May 19, 2006
Is this a product... a Service?
Folks,
Comes occasionally a phenom like this...
http://www.parkour.com/
Certainly it has products attached, services attached, but it is more of a
movement than a product or
service, and certainly is a money maker... like EST and the Zone. And certainly
this is already being
exported... so what is it called, so we can add it as a category of business
activity?
Products, services..., movements? Phenoms? Lifestyles?
John
Fwd: YOUR KIN ASSISTANCE AND URGENT RESPONSE IS NEEDED
I THOUGHT YOU FIND THIS TOO FUNNY!
-----Original Message-----
From: Mrs Serena Majata Elsworth & Family
To: stopdebt@paidoff.net
Sent: Fri, 19 May 2006 21:28:31 +0700
Subject: YOUR KIN ASSISTANCE AND URGENT RESPONSE IS NEEDED
From : Mrs Serena Majata Elsworth & Family Address : United Nation Refugee Camp
Swaziland-S/Africa Attn: The Director. Dear Sir, With due honour and
respect, my name Mrs. Serena Majata Elsworth, wife to late Engr. Henry Swan
Elsworth of Kwekwe Midlands Province of Zimbabwe and former Member of Parliament
under Ian Smith's rule. I am from Southwest of Harare while my husband is from
Britian nationalized in Zimbabwe before we got married as husband and wife
twenty-five years ago. I am written this letter on behalf of my family, though,
I do not know you in person but I still maintain my late husbands theory that
business is people and contacts. Hence I crave your assistance and urgent
attention. Please read the following: The current war crisis against the
farmers going on in my country Zimbabwe from the support of self styled and
greedy President Robert Gabriel Mugabe in his envy and greediness to claim all
the farms lands for his party members a
nd his followers. My husband Engr. Henry Elsworth, was killed during the crisis
against white farmers in Zimbabwe few years ago because of his vehement
oppossition and criticism of the land reform in Zimbabwe aimed at completely
depriving the white farmers of their lands of decades. My husband in his
goodwill and capacity as the leader of the movement for the survival of farmers
in Zimbabwe joined the international community in condemning and speaking out
against this uncivilized and bizarre policy of Robert Mugabes government. My
late husband been an outspoken to President Robert Mugabe's ruling party
describing the president self styled and greedy act as an injustice and
unjustified war against fair land ownership by farmers. President Robert
Gabriel Mugabe on the 12th of December 2000 been Tuesday orders his security
agents to invaded my husbands grassland cattle ranch farm in Kwekwe Midlands
Province of Zimbabwe, they burnt everything in our farm and made away w
ith a lot of items in my husband's farm,my last son Ian was shot but did not die
as he was rushed to Harare Clinic while my husband murdered in a cold blood.
After the burial of my husband I and my children moved to Binga Province in
Zimbabwe where Mary & Jim of the Oxfam Foundations are providing relief help to
all the affected families. We have been living for past three years due to
goverment restrictions prevailing us traveling outside the country. My husband
before his death told us of one trunk metal box he deposited with a Security and
Finance Vault in Swaziland through thier Affiliate Company in Zimbabwe. He said
that the metal box contains US$15 Million {American States Dollars} sealed with
cotton and gun powder, but that he registered it with the company as family
valuables and precious stones to aviod paying of much charges and for security
reasons. Initially, my husband intended to use this money to open another
cattle farm in Shiselweni Village near u
mbuluzi river Swaziland with the help the Swaziland Monarch King Ngeyaiama
Mswati (lll), before he was killied. Presently, I have just arrived here in
Swaziland along with my Son Ian Elsworth and my daugther Faith Yaavani Elsworth,
and we have been granted asylum under the protection of United Nation High
Commission on refugee. However, I have certisfied the existence of the fund in
the finance and security vault with all the appropate documents of the fund in
our position as the hier of the fund. We have the intention of settling and
investing here but our hopes was turn down as we were informed that as political
asylums, it is against the Swaziland law, asylums seeking (Refugees) in the
country to operate an account with any bank or to participate in any financial
transaction. For the above reason we came up with the idea of foriegn
investment with the fund outside Kingdom of Swaziland. After reading your
profile from your country trade journal we
decieded to unfold our investment plan to you of which we are convince as to
seek for your assistance and help from you as a foreign partner to enable us
reach a contract joint venture partnership agreement to transfer and invest the
fund in a profitable business orientation in your country under long time joint
venture partnership as soon as it is cleared from the finance and security
vault. (1) I will offer a 10% reasonable percentage from the total fund as a
reward for all your help in transferring of the fund to your care in your
country. (2) I will map out 5% of the total fund to meet up any expences made
by both parties during the transaction (3) To enable us relocate and settle in
your country as soon as the fund is successfully transferred to your country.
(4) To reach a long term partnership agreement to entrust the investment in your
management. Kindly regard my contact to you through email as the only
alternative I can reach you for the s
ecurity of the transaction and for further information and proceedures. I
strongly believe that associating with you to embark on this and other business
venture will derive a huge success hereafter. Thank you for your understanding
and I'm looking forward to having a successful business relationship with you.
Please,let honesty and trust is our watchword throughout this transaction. I
anticipate an urgent response from you. Thanks/Best Regards. Mrs Serena
Majata Elsworth For Elsworth's Family To lear more on injustice in Zimbabwe
please click : http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,2763,411115,00.htm
Protecting Design
RE: Re: [spiers] Re: Holisitic Pet food
On Thu, 18 May 2006 22:31:20 -0400, "Joshua Samton"
:
There are small natural foods companies that have been made by Whole Foods.
This can be a
curse as well as a blessing: I've heard rumors of companies that couldn't manage
the sudden
huge upswing in volume and ultimately went out of business (after spending lots
of money
re-tooling).
***
By "made" above I think you to mean 'became established". Indeed, Joshua, those
are not
rumours, that's how it very often goes. Ask any accountant, "increase sales
big, go out of
business." Whole Foods was once small... today there are thousands of small
"whole foods",
in Seattle PCC has I think five stores, and a fiercely loyal customer base.
One's job in going into an industry is learn who the players are, and start
solving problems.
John
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Protecting Design
RE: Re: [spiers] Re: Holisitic Pet food
Olivia,
I used to work at Whole Foods here in New York. If you want them to take your
pet food, you should do what Jon suggests and talk to your customers (i.e., the
stores/buyers). Whole Foods stores are broken down into different departments.
Pet Food is sold through the Grocery department, so you'll want to talk to
someone there. Ask for the Team Leader (Whole-Foods-speak for manager). You can
also go above them and seek out the regional Grocery "coordinators." They
oversee all the grocery departments in their respective region (Mid-Atlantic,
Southwest, Florida, etc.).
Keep in mind, Whole Foods will only sell food that is "clean"--i.e., that has no
trace of any artificial ingredients, whether colors, flavors, stabilizers, etc.
Also, if you persuade them to take your food, prepare yourself. The volume can
be huge, depending on how many stores are interested. There are small natural
foods companies that have been made by Whole Foods. This can be a curse as well
as a blessing: I've heard rumors of companies that couldn't manage the sudden
huge upswing in volume and ultimately went out of business (after spending lots
of money re-tooling).
Hope these thoughts help a little.
Best regards,
Josh
To: spiers@yahoogroups.comFrom: nengfisher@yahoo.comDate: Thu, 18 May 2006
09:29:44 -0700Subject: Re: [spiers] Re: Holisitic Pet foodThis is my goal. I
have given the product to my friends and the local vet gave me the permission to
qoute as recommending the recipes ( also have recipes for dog and cat weight
reducing, and pets with certain illness such as kidney failure , CHF..as my dog
was suffering from this). My friends dogs love it! But I am researching how
to market it in a way that big franchise like WildOats would carry it (i.e.
labeling requirements). Any suggestions and recommendation? Olivia-Las
Vegas ---------------------------------Love cheap thrills? Enjoy
Protecting Design
Re: [spiers] Re: Holisitic Pet food
This is my goal. I have given the product to my friends and the local vet gave
me the permission to qoute as recommending the recipes ( also have recipes for
dog and cat weight reducing, and pets with certain illness such as kidney
failure , CHF..as my dog was suffering from this). My friends dogs love it!
But I am researching how to market it in a way that big franchise like WildOats
would carry it (i.e. labeling requirements). Any suggestions and
recommendation?
Olivia-Las Vegas
Protecting Design
Re: [spiers] Re: Holisitic Pet food
Hi Olivia,
Another (probably obvious) piece of feedback that you've probably
already done- Check out what the other guys are doing. I know I've
seen this somewhere (i believe Wholefoods here in the Bay Area), and I
know Paul Newmann has a new line of Organic dog food. He ate some of
it when he was on Jay Leno one night. Anyway, not sure how different
are the "Holistic" and "organic"/healthy/whatever pet food products.
But, if they are different you can at least still get an idea to find
out how much people are willing to buy.
My 1.5 cents.
Victor
--- bolinasfrank2004
> Olivia,
>
> My understanding is that if you are the manufacturer, then you set
> the price based on production cost (time, materials, etc.) divided
> by the units ordered by the store. And then, because your product
> is unique, you can set the profit margin to however high you want.
> But most importantly, did Wholefoods and Wild Oats say that they are
> interested in your product?
>
> Bo
> --- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, olivia fisher
> >
> > Hello...
> >
> > I will be marketing my holistic pet food in my local city. I
> have fed this recipe to my dog and have been healthy for it for
> years.
> >
> > This dog food is home made and human-grade and I will can it
> myself for distribution. How will I price it? I want to make
> different sizes for different size pets, 1/2 gallon for big dogs and
> a quart for small dogs. I am working with a local holistic vet for
> the nutritional content and analysis. I intend to distribute this
> through national food chain like WHolefoods and Wild Oats. But what
> about the price structure? how much profit margin? how will I
> consider the costs for advertising and making it into the retail
> price?
> >
> > Olivia- Las Vegas
Protecting Design
Re: Holisitic Pet food
Olivia,
My understanding is that if you are the manufacturer, then you set
the price based on production cost (time, materials, etc.) divided
by the units ordered by the store. And then, because your product
is unique, you can set the profit margin to however high you want.
But most importantly, did Wholefoods and Wild Oats say that they are
interested in your product?
Bo
--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, olivia fisher
>
> Hello...
>
> I will be marketing my holistic pet food in my local city. I
have fed this recipe to my dog and have been healthy for it for
years.
>
> This dog food is home made and human-grade and I will can it
myself for distribution. How will I price it? I want to make
different sizes for different size pets, 1/2 gallon for big dogs and
a quart for small dogs. I am working with a local holistic vet for
the nutritional content and analysis. I intend to distribute this
through national food chain like WHolefoods and Wild Oats. But what
about the price structure? how much profit margin? how will I
consider the costs for advertising and making it into the retail
price?
>
> Olivia- Las Vegas
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
New Product Idea - Security
Folks,
Before electronic security systems, before electronics, what did people do for
home security?
Squeaky floor boards and barking dogs to warn of intruders? What if you want
neither?
There is a universe of security systems that need no electronics, which I
imagine could be re-
introduced and packaged as upscale or green or whatever.
For example, imagine a cylinder, say 3 inches in diameter, that passes thru a
wall from inside
the house to out. Inside the cylinder is a propeller of sorts. In a relatively
air-tight house,
the propeller is static until a door opens, a window opens, etc. The instant a
door opens, the
propeller spins due to the draft. The larger the volume, the faster the
propeller spins.
By opening every door and window in turn, the speed of the propeller spinning
can be
calibrated: stasis - that is, slow spinning since no house is air tight. An
open door hits this
speed, that window open hits this speed...
Once this is in place, the alarm itself can be anything: wind chimes, low
whistles (or high
whistles) or even magnetized paint on the propeller and a reader that logs the
speed and (hey
wait, this is electronics!) sets off an alarm.
Electronic systems can go down or be overridden. Nothing can be done to
override a draft.
(Build an airtight shed around the window you propose to break in thru? Easier
to knock off
the neighbors house).
Here again, start with the upscale, and let it ride down to everyone.
It would take a lot of research to rediscover the full range of other alarm
systems, security
systems, but it is all out there, and free.
John
Protecting Design
Re: [spiers] Protecting Design
On Tue, 16 May 2006 12:41:28 -0700, "grp grp"
> Your email about this subject on Protecting Design rights is great and
> following are my comments:
> I think inventors do invent for return for their efforts and not "Cuz they
> like it", especially in today's times. During late 70's when inventor were
> creating, the mind set of inventor was "Cuz they like it", later it was
> realized that it was about someone else's ideas to make money, inventors
> start looking at IP rights, modeling after the leader of the pack Chairman
> Gates.
> grp
Hang on... the vast majority of those who invent for money, at least those who
go through
the IP route, something like 98%, yield nothing at all, in fact waste every
penny they invest.
And there are far more people today writing software for free than there ever
were back in
the 'good ol days' of Bay Area circa 1975. I have no PC equipment, but Apple
sure has on
their website a place where you can look up and download free applications, and
the list
grows daily. I am sure there are PC versions of this. Apparently the
motivation is to see how
many downloads your program generates. That ain't money. Except for getting
bigger, I
don't think anything has changed.
John
Protecting Design
Re: [spiers] Holisitic Pet food
On Wed, 17 May 2006 15:05:08 -0700 (PDT), olivia fisher
wrote :
> Hello...
>
> I will be marketing my holistic pet food in my local city. I have fed
this recipe to my dog and
have been healthy for it for years.
>
> This dog food is home made and human-grade and I will can it myself for
distribution. How
will I price it? I want to make different sizes for different size pets, 1/2
gallon for big dogs and a
quart for small dogs. I am working with a local holistic vet for the
nutritional content and analysis.
I intend to distribute this through national food chain like WHolefoods and Wild
Oats. But what
about the price structure? how much profit margin? how will I consider the costs
for advertising
and making it into the retail price?
>
> Olivia- Las Vegas
As to mark-ups, I'd check with Robert Morris Associates Guide to Key Business
Rations, available
at most libraries, to figure what the standard mark-ups are, and yours will be
higher.
The retail price is none of your concern, you just have a wholesale price, and
what the retailers do
after that is their business. Advertising is an overhead expense, comes out of
your gross profit,
but consider advertising allowances, as I outline in the book.
Keep us informed as to progress!
John
Protecting Design
Holisitic Pet food
Hello...
I will be marketing my holistic pet food in my local city. I have fed this
recipe to my dog and have been healthy for it for years.
This dog food is home made and human-grade and I will can it myself for
distribution. How will I price it? I want to make different sizes for
different size pets, 1/2 gallon for big dogs and a quart for small dogs. I am
working with a local holistic vet for the nutritional content and analysis. I
intend to distribute this through national food chain like Wholefoods and Wild
Oats. But what about the price structure? how much profit margin? how will I
consider the costs for advertising and making it into the retail price?
Olivia- Las Vegas
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Protecting Design
Re: [spiers] Protecting Design
Your email about this subject on Protecting Design rights is great and
following are my comments:
> John wrote:
> Usually what motivates someone to introduce something new is the thing
> itself, to be
> introduced. And the person who does the introduction is someone with a
> passion for the
> introduction.
> Now the argument will be as the 'inventor' of the item, I should be given
> some royalty on every unit that sells whether or not I am ever
> involved. There is nothing in natural law to support this argument, so it
> had to be developed in prescriptive law. Well, in fact this is a secondary
> reason, the primary reason for intellectual property is without it, no one
> would bother ever developing anything new and useful. Of course, this is
> sheer nonsense. People develop the new and different constantly without any
> thought of downstream gain. In fact, there are plenty of people who develop
> useful items specifically assuring they will not get downstream gain. In
> the software industry alone, there is "Eric Allman, author of SendMail, the
> program that delivers your words over the wires.. Larry Wall wrote
> Perl, the freeware used to organize Web sites... Brian Behlendorf
> created Apache, the program that serves up Web pages on demand; Paul Vixie
> ...wrote Bind, the program that translates words into numbers, letting us
> type www.sfgate.cominstead of the string of numbers that really
> constitutes a Web address." (thanks to SFGate for that riff) all of these
> people developed these items for free >and gave them away. Cuz they like
> it.
>
All these inventors you mentioned are inventors of Linux development, which
went through a quite a political technical turmoil because they were taken
for the ride by the riders (cowboys) and left them out of the financial
gains. Initial inventor was guy from Sweden name Linux (Sp?) and Berkeley
guy who invented BSD and all these software you had mentioned were free
contributions by other inventors, hoping that their invention would stay out
of the conservators who financially benefited from someone else's efforts
i.e. inventors. Out of Linux, came Redhat and others who were basically the
financial beneficiaries from the efforts of the real inventors, it started
out as "Cuz they like it" and realized later how they were been taken for a
ride, they revolted, but it was too late, train already hit the rock and
crashed…..
I think inventors do invent for return for their efforts and not "Cuz they
like it", especially in today's times. During late 70's when inventor were
creating, the mind set of inventor was "Cuz they like it", later it was
realized that it was about someone else's ideas to make money, inventors
start looking at IP rights, modeling after the leader of the pack Chairman
Gates.
grp
Monday, May 15, 2006
Protecting Design
Re: [spiers] Protecting Design
Jonh and readers,
Your email about this subject of IP rights is great and following are my
comments:
>Usually what motivates someone to introduce something new is the thing
itself, to be
>introduced. And the person who does the introduction is someone with a
passion for the
>introduction.
>Now the argument will be as the 'inventor' of the item, I should be given
some royalty on every >unit that sells whether or not I am ever
involved. There is nothing in natural law to support >this argument, so it
had to be developed in prescriptive law. Well, in fact this is a secondary
>reason, the primary reason for intellectual property is without it, no one
would bother ever >developing anything new and useful. Of course, this is
sheer nonsense. People develop the >new and different constantly without
any thought of downstream gain. In fact, there are >plenty of people who
develop useful items specifically assuring they will not get downstream
>gain. In the software industry alone, there is "Eric Allman, author of
SendMail, the program >that delivers your words over the wires.. Larry Wall
wrote Perl, the freeware used to organize >Web sites... Brian Behlendorf
created Apache, the program that serves up Web pages on >demand; Paul Vixie
...wrote Bind, the program that translates words into numbers, letting us
>type www.sfgate.com instead of the string of numbers that really
constitutes a Web
>address." (thanks to SFGate for that riff) all of these people developed
these items for free >and gave them away. Cuz they like it.
All these inventors you mentioned are inventors of Linux development, which
went through a quite a political technical turmoil because they were taken
for the ride by the riders (cowboys) and left them out of the financial
gains. Initial inventor was guy from Sweden name Linux (Sp?) and Berkeley
guy who invented BSD and all these software you had mentioned were free
contributions by other inventors, hoping that their invention would stay out
of the conservators who financially benefited from someone else's efforts
i.e. inventors. Out of Linux, came Redhat and others who were basically the
financial beneficiaries from the efforts of the real inventors, it started
out as "Cuz they like it" and realized later how they were been taken for a
ride, they revolted, but it was too late, train already hit the rock and
crashed…..
I think inventors do invent for return for their efforts and not "Cuz they
like it", especially in today's times. During late 70's when inventor were
creating, the mind set of inventor was "Cuz they like it", later it was
realized that it was about someone else's ideas to make money, inventors
start looking at IP rights, modeling after the leader of the pack Chairman
Gates.
grp
Question on getting a new member to join the discussion group
Re: [spiers] Question on getting a new member to join the discussion group
One of your edicts that Alex seems to be willing to abide by is "doing well by
doing good". This is all recent in his life too. He
was the jock type who never did the Burpee Seed sales thing. But he seems to
have already found his way. I was in my mid-thirties
before I even had a compass on my life. Now at 55, I'm still not sure what I
want to do when I grow up!
When the whole poker craze caught on to occupy our country's youth, he created
PokerChipKing, found a supplier from China, imported
a 1/2 garage-load of poker chip sets, and sold them all on eBay.
AHod27@aol.com
thank you,
alan
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Spiers"
To:
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: [spiers] Question on getting a new member to join the discussion
group
Alan,
Yes, anyone can join the list who has read the book or taken a class, if only to
have a baseline
from which we all proceed. He read the book, he is in. One can try to join
from the groups
page, but it is easier to just email me the email address to be added to the
list.
As to his website, yes, it's frightening! Will he be huge in one area like
Steve Jobs and apple,
or will he be in ten things like, hmmm, well... steve jobs in Apple and next and
pixar and
disney and...
John
On Sun, 14 May 2006 20:22:05 -0700, "Alan Fishman"
wrote :
> Hello John,
> I have a nephew who is about to enter Boston College's business school
next Fall. ***
How can he get on your distribution list? Is it as easy as him going to http://
groups.yahoo.com/group/spiers/ and joining by
> himself?
>
> thanks,
> alan
>
> Here's his current website and some of what he's done - he's just graduating
high school,
and I think that this kid is going to go
> far. http://www.alexhodara.com/
Compete on Design!
www.johnspiers.com
Re: Chinese currency activities
Re: [spiers] Re: Chinese currency activities
On Mon, 15 May 2006 08:42:30 -0700, psnyder@alumni.caltech.edu wrote :
> I don't see a risk of "dumping" if that is to be interpreted as exchanging
> dollars for other currencies in an attempt to get rid of dollars as fast as
> possible. It doesn't make sense for the dollar holders, as a "fast"
> dumping would indeed spike the exchange rate - the first .01 trillion would
> exchange at 8:1, but the other 0.99 trillion would exchange at 4:1. Not
> such a good strategy if one is holding dollars, which presumably the
> Chinese banks, are.
***Agreed, a "run on the bank" would be disastrous, and the Chinese are
benefitting far more
from USA policy than USA citizens. But if one of the holders gets greedy and
tries to clear
oput before the others, the others may be obliged to dump and cut the losses,
although I
don't see that happening. ***
>
> It seems the Chinese are taking a wise approach, signalling their
> intentions, then gently loosening the exchange rate limits. They'll watch
> what happens, and probably loosen a bit more. Each time they loosen,
> remember, they win over critics in the U.S. Time is on their side,
> regardless.
***Odd, isn't it, the degree to which our weal depends on the restraint and
sobriety of the
Chinese Communist Party? Sigh.***
John
Question on getting a new member to join the discussion group
Re: [spiers] Question on getting a new member to join the discussion group
Alan,
Yes, anyone can join the list who has read the book or taken a class, if only to
have a baseline
from which we all proceed. He read the book, he is in. One can try to join
from the groups
page, but it is easier to just email me the email address to be added to the
list.
As to his website, yes, it's frightening! Will he be huge in one area like
Steve Jobs and apple,
or will he be in ten things like, hmmm, well... steve jobs in Apple and next and
pixar and
disney and...
John
On Sun, 14 May 2006 20:22:05 -0700, "Alan Fishman"
wrote :
> Hello John,
> I have a nephew who is about to enter Boston College's business school
next Fall. ***
How can he get on your distribution list? Is it as easy as him going to http://
groups.yahoo.com/group/spiers/ and joining by
> himself?
>
> thanks,
> alan
>
> Here's his current website and some of what he's done - he's just graduating
high school,
and I think that this kid is going to go
> far. http://www.alexhodara.com/
Re: Chinese currency activities
Re: [spiers] Re: Chinese currency activities
I don't see a risk of "dumping" if that is to be interpreted as exchanging
dollars for other currencies in an attempt to get rid of dollars as fast as
possible. It doesn't make sense for the dollar holders, as a "fast"
dumping would indeed spike the exchange rate - the first .01 trillion would
exchange at 8:1, but the other 0.99 trillion would exchange at 4:1. Not
such a good strategy if one is holding dollars, which presumably the
Chinese banks, are.
It seems the Chinese are taking a wise approach, signalling their
intentions, then gently loosening the exchange rate limits. They'll watch
what happens, and probably loosen a bit more. Each time they loosen,
remember, they win over critics in the U.S. Time is on their side,
regardless.
At 01:41 PM 5/15/2006 -0000, you wrote:
>Yes, I like csm, they report well... the USA has made a bet on monetary
policy, and the
>chinese have merely taken the other side of the bet... now that it turns
out the chinese are
>winning the bet, the usa wants to cry "cheating". Hard to say how this
will turn out, but it
>can't be good.
>
>One move the Chinese might make that I have not heard anyone mention, is
the Chinese may
>simply absorb the Hong Kong dollar into the RMBY. The whole system is
ready to do this, the
>banks in Hong Kong already offer both RMBY and HK$ at the atm's, and all
accounts are
>automatically dual currency accounts. What makes me think this is since
USA has begun
>complaining about the RMBY, China has slowly been revaluing, and it looks
like a mid-air
>refueling operation, with the RMBY inching towards parity with the HK$.
Will one day, when
>they have been at par for say a week, will china announce there is no more
Hong Kong
>dollar?
>
>The usa economists will have no idea what the impact is, or will be, it
will through our side of
>the bet for a loop. It would certainly buy the Chinese some time.
>
>Just my hunch.
>
>John
>On Sun, 14 May 2006 22:32:06 -0500, "Randal Tietz"
wrote :
>
>> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>>
>>
>> Check this out:
>> http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p16s02-cogn.html?s=hns
>>
>> Salient paragraphs from the article:
>> Over the past 15 years, the US has bought $1.1 trillion more in Chinese
merchandise than
>it has sold of American goods to China.
>>
>> The result is that China, by the end of this year, will have socked away
$1 trillion in US
>Treasury securities in its international reserves as a byproduct of
keeping down the value of
>the yuan. Last year alone, the US had a record trade deficit with China of
$202 billion.
>>
>> Some $47 billion of that deficit, notes Washington economic consultant
Charles McMillion,
>was in "advanced technology products." In other words, China isn't just
making sweatshirts,
>toys, and electronic products for sale to the US.
>>
>> Many economists worry that China and other Asian nations with huge
hoards of US
>securities could decide to dump them. That could knock the dollar for a
loop, raise US
>interest rates, pop the housing bubble, and cause a recession. Many
nations in Europe and
>elsewhere have been relying considerably on sales to the US for their own
prosperity.
>>
>> To proponents of yuan revaluation, this change would be good for China.
It would, Morici
>says, encourage rural and domestic development where it is sorely needed
and dampen the
>excessive boom in cities where most exports are made.
>>
>> In its new five-year plan, China has stated its intent to encourage just
that.
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>Compete on Design!
>
>www.johnspiers.com
Re: Chinese currency activities
Yes, I like csm, they report well... the USA has made a bet on monetary
policy, and the
chinese have merely taken the other side of the bet... now that it turns out the
chinese are
winning the bet, the usa wants to cry "cheating". Hard to say how this will
turn out, but it
can't be good.
One move the Chinese might make that I have not heard anyone mention, is the
Chinese may
simply absorb the Hong Kong dollar into the RMBY. The whole system is ready to
do this, the
banks in Hong Kong already offer both RMBY and HK$ at the atm's, and all
accounts are
automatically dual currency accounts. What makes me think this is since USA has
begun
complaining about the RMBY, China has slowly been revaluing, and it looks like a
mid-air
refueling operation, with the RMBY inching towards parity with the HK$. Will
one day, when
they have been at par for say a week, will china announce there is no more Hong
Kong
dollar?
The usa economists will have no idea what the impact is, or will be, it will
through our side of
the bet for a loop. It would certainly buy the Chinese some time.
Just my hunch.
John
On Sun, 14 May 2006 22:32:06 -0500, "Randal Tietz"
:
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
>
> Check this out:
> http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p16s02-cogn.html?s=hns
>
> Salient paragraphs from the article:
> Over the past 15 years, the US has bought $1.1 trillion more in Chinese
merchandise than
it has sold of American goods to China.
>
> The result is that China, by the end of this year, will have socked away $1
trillion in US
Treasury securities in its international reserves as a byproduct of keeping down
the value of
the yuan. Last year alone, the US had a record trade deficit with China of $202
billion.
>
> Some $47 billion of that deficit, notes Washington economic consultant Charles
McMillion,
was in "advanced technology products." In other words, China isn't just making
sweatshirts,
toys, and electronic products for sale to the US.
>
> Many economists worry that China and other Asian nations with huge hoards of
US
securities could decide to dump them. That could knock the dollar for a loop,
raise US
interest rates, pop the housing bubble, and cause a recession. Many nations in
Europe and
elsewhere have been relying considerably on sales to the US for their own
prosperity.
>
> To proponents of yuan revaluation, this change would be good for China. It
would, Morici
says, encourage rural and domestic development where it is sorely needed and
dampen the
excessive boom in cities where most exports are made.
>
> In its new five-year plan, China has stated its intent to encourage just that.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Question on getting a new member to join the discussion group
Hello John,
I have a nephew who is about to enter Boston College's business school next
Fall. He has the entrepreneurial spirit within him
, and last Summer I bought your book for him. There are so many interesting
discussions in your group that the young entrepreneur
could benefit from, in this case, Alex. To expand his thoughts and open his
mind to the what-if's and how-to's, to be able to see
and react to the discussions that take place here and the nurturing of others by
you. I'd love for him to be part of your e-mail
group and see the inner workings of the minds of folks like you and some of the
recipients of these e-mails.
How can he get on your distribution list? Is it as easy as him going to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiers/ and joining by
himself?
thanks,
alan
Here's his current website and some of what he's done - he's just graduating
high school, and I think that this kid is going to go
far. http://www.alexhodara.com/
Re: Importing raw materials (Exotic wood)
On Sun, 14 May 2006 18:10:06 -0700 (PDT), M A Granich
:
> Hi John,
>
> Your model doesn't seem to work with "raw" materials.
> I'm struggling to find an "inovation" for importing
> wood for use in musical instruments. The prime woods
> are Mahogany, Rosewood, Ebony, Maple, and Spruce.
> There are many other exotic hardwoods used.
***Yes, raw materials are NORMALLY a commodity item, and not our thing,
except...***
>
> The trade is largly buyers from all over the world who
> establish relationships in the areas where the logs
> grow. They'll buy logs outright or bid at an auction
> for the logs. There is no way I could compete with
> large companys like Theodor Nagel & Co. who station
> thier German buyers in India or South America for
> months tracking down the exotic hardwood logs and then
> having them shipped to Germany. Do you have any
> suggestions for a small time importer who wants to
> investigate supplying the trade?
***An optometrist I know who is a sculptor on the side imports marble from
italy, raw
material, which is hand quarried, not blast quarried. Blast quarried marble is
of course
cheaper but often has hidden cracks, a disaster for a sculptor. So he charges
a premium
price selling to a tiny market of sculptors working in marble.***
>
> I thought maybe having the logs milled to specs in the
> country of origin...?
***Well, there you are...what wood do people want that Nagel will not bother
with. Start by
asking nagel.******
>
> AND, you once said shipping via container was done by
> volume NOT weight. In an article I read from 1986,
> wood was being shipped from South America to Germany
> for $200 per ton and from Africa at $150 per ton. Is
> wood different from other items being shipped?
***Well, ocwean freight by volume, trucking by weight, ALMOST always... the
tariff books are
set up for both methods, you pay th method that yields the greatest revenue for
the carrier.
In commodities it is almost always weight, not volume.***
>
> Just so you know, in addition to tinkering with glass
> for telescopes, I also do a lot of woodworking and in
> particular, I build guitars. I got started as a
> teenager working for a violin maker in St. Louis and
> have dabbled off and on over the years. You'll never
> get rich as a luthier unless you morph into a factory
> like CF Martin Company or Taylor guitars. It's a
> labor of love for me.
>
***Guiter ready wood straight out of the amazon?***
John