Re: [spiers] Walls
I think to build a wall between two countries these days is a big mistake
since there should be other applicable measures to deal with the problem.
Nevertheless such an expensive paid with the taxes of the citizens looks
unreasonable since it may be used for other type of projects like making
cheaper the
universities for students, etc. I am sorry for this decision that will
produce a negative image of the US abroad .
Luis Cabo
Tel/Fax 305 667 7630
Cell 786 473 0868
email: Luis1467@aol.com
Friday, October 27, 2006
Walls
Walls
Re: [spiers] Walls
Well, aren' t you addressing two problems? Security and economics?
I agree we have total lack of security on the borders. Anyone who wants to
attack us via the docks, can and will, since there is no security. My sense
that another power is holding back an attack because an attack is so easy, mere
terrs would have done it by now. For republicans to claim we have not been
attacked because torture and disappearing people and spying on everyone does the
trick, is to tempt fate. When the terrs tried to bomb the WTC in 1993, they
promised in court and elsewhere to succeed next time. The next time was eight
years later. We are only 5 years after the last attack. No wall will stop
these people.
One reason we are wide open to attack and illegal immigration is we were founded
as a country built on peace and freedom. We never built our roads, buildings,
capitals, biz districts and industral infrastructure to anticipate an attack.
As we see today an infrastructure to defend against attack is expensive, ugly
and won't work anyway. Look at what a mess has been made of our airpports. AS
we allow our country to change by putting more power into fewer hands, those
fewer hands decide they need more control. So now we are building concentration
camps, walls, domestic spy networks, legalize torture, etc.
Instead of the bad guys in USA govt being met with "12 million illegals and NOW
you want to build a wall?" or "300 million people with 600 million guns and we
need a wall to protect us from mexican day workers?".. . the bad politicians are
met with "Do something, anything...' In their contempt for us they build walls
and torture people.
Instead of camps, walls and torture, how about freedom? Restore congress's
oversight role, Withdraw the president's ability to declare war, end welfare as
we know it... end our standing army, which was never intended to be. And see
how freedom works. Our attackers do not hate us for our freedom, they hate us
for interfering in their freedom, in their home countries.
I agree we cannot afford illegal immigrants' burden on welfare. Get rid of
welfare and they will still come, because we still need them, as we are getting
older and they are getting younger. WE will need them, when we are older, to
work and support us, these illegal immigrants we just threatened and insulted.
John
Hogwash! This country NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING about the total LACK of security on
our borders. We can not continue to support, educate, provide free medical care
etc for the countless illegal alien that arrive in our country, not to
mention the security risks we face from terrorist attacks with unsecured
borders. I don't agree with a lot of the Bush Administration policies but this
one I support 100%. This country needs to wake up.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: John Spiers
>
> --
> Folks,
>
> Although New Orleans is down to 190,000 people for lack of repair,
> our gov't is funding a wall with Mexico, which will certainly
> inhibit trade.
>
> It brings to mind that other great wall, the Berlin Wall which I
> first saw in 1975. We know why the Berlin wall was built of course,
> to keep East Berliners in. It was quite cruel, manipulative, hard
> core communist thug politics.
>
> But what was the official East German reason for the Wall? What
> excuse could they use to sell such a monstrosity to the East German
> people? Believe it or not, they claimed it was to to keep West
> Berliners out of East Berlin, to protect the East German way of life
> from West German and Western lawlessness. The chief reasons were
> three:
>
> 1. Economic... West Europeans come to live in East Berlin, because
> East Germany is a welfare state. West Germans come for free
> education, welfare, medicine.hurting the East Germany economy.
>
> 2. Some West Germans work in East Germany, and spend in West Germany.
> They take jobs from East Germans.
>
> 3. Security... spies, terrorists, etc come from West into East.
>
> Now of course, this may all be true, but to build a wall is nonsense
> as a response, I sure felt it cruel and thuggish then. The worst
> part of course, is the East Germans would kill people who tried to go
> from East Berlin to West Berlin.
>
> Let's look at the reasons USA is building a wall with Mexico.
>
> 1. Economic... Mexicans come to live in USA, because USA is a welfare
> state. Mexicans come for free education, welfare, medicine.hurting
> the USA economy.
>
> 2. Some Mexicans work in USA, and spend in Mexico. They take jobs
> from Americans.
>
> 3. Security... spies, terrorists, etc come from Mexico into USA.
>
> Same reasons as East Germany! Now of course, this may all be true,
> but to build a wall is nonsense as a response, I sure feel it cruel
> and thuggish now. The worst part of course, is
> US security officers already have killed people, including US
> citizens, who try to escape into Mexico, instead of letting Mexico
> arrest them. (As West Germany arrested anyone escaping from the
> East, at least until they can determine why they left... Asylum...?
> criminal?)
>
> Is a wall with Mexico a good idea for USA? Is it the best we can
> come up with? Will it serve someday to keep us in?
>
> I am not worried whether or not our leadership is like the old East
> German thugs, I just wonder if the American people are any different
> than the German people.
>
> John Spiers
> www.johnspiers.com
>
>
> Compete on Design!
>
> www.johnspiers.com
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Walls
--
Folks,
Although New Orleans is down to 190,000 people for lack of repair,
our gov't is funding a wall with Mexico, which will certainly
inhibit trade.
It brings to mind that other great wall, the Berlin Wall which I
first saw in 1975. We know why the Berlin wall was built of course,
to keep East Berliners in. It was quite cruel, manipulative, hard
core communist thug politics.
But what was the official East German reason for the Wall? What
excuse could they use to sell such a monstrosity to the East German
people? Believe it or not, they claimed it was to to keep West
Berliners out of East Berlin, to protect the East German way of life
from West German and Western lawlessness. The chief reasons were
three:
1. Economic... West Europeans come to live in East Berlin, because
East Germany is a welfare state. West Germans come for free
education, welfare, medicine.hurting the East Germany economy.
2. Some West Germans work in East Germany, and spend in West Germany.
They take jobs from East Germans.
3. Security... spies, terrorists, etc come from West into East.
Now of course, this may all be true, but to build a wall is nonsense
as a response, I sure felt it cruel and thuggish then. The worst
part of course, is the East Germans would kill people who tried to go
from East Berlin to West Berlin.
Let's look at the reasons USA is building a wall with Mexico.
1. Economic... Mexicans come to live in USA, because USA is a welfare
state. Mexicans come for free education, welfare, medicine.hurting
the USA economy.
2. Some Mexicans work in USA, and spend in Mexico. They take jobs
from Americans.
3. Security... spies, terrorists, etc come from Mexico into USA.
Same reasons as East Germany! Now of course, this may all be true,
but to build a wall is nonsense as a response, I sure feel it cruel
and thuggish now. The worst part of course, is
US security officers already have killed people, including US
citizens, who try to escape into Mexico, instead of letting Mexico
arrest them. (As West Germany arrested anyone escaping from the
East, at least until they can determine why they left... Asylum...?
criminal?)
Is a wall with Mexico a good idea for USA? Is it the best we can
come up with? Will it serve someday to keep us in?
I am not worried whether or not our leadership is like the old East
German thugs, I just wonder if the American people are any different
than the German people.
John Spiers
Update on Book Markets
Re: [spiers] Update on Book Markets
On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 20:32:02 -0700, Paul Snyder
wrote :
> I was interested in the latest on this thread, have you met with the
> buyer? Also, was it really the artist or was it you that had the
> samples made in China?
***Well, Betty David is the artist, and is another "does exactly what I say
works but has never
heard of john Spiers" case. My daughter and I went into her retail store (which
she is shutting
down, wholesaling and retailing does not quite work, as I teach) and were
stunned by the
quality. Her north coast indian designs on the jackets caused me to mention I
had the
chinese do such on carpets long ago. She said she'd been trying, with no luck, I
said I'd have
no problem getting her designs on chinese carpets. this meeting was circa
11/05, we were
both too busy to work on it, so we agreed to meet in jan 06. Late jan 06 we
met, decided
neither of us needed contracts or even agreements... we'd figure out if there
were customers
and then worry about who gets what. She had a series of trade shows to do so I
got her
designs in late feb and sent them to china, and in april I picked up the samples
in China when
i was there. May jun she shopped the samples at her trade shows, and then began
developing designs based on feedback...
I've been swamped, so when I recalled the jiffy lube was next to the high end
furniture store, I
grabbed the samples and did the "would you really buy something like this"
thing, which
generated the buyers name.
Betty wrenched her back and has been out for 2 weeks, and I've been travelling,
so neither of
us has followed up yet. We'll pitch a show at the retailer, if an when we can
find time to get
there..and I'll certainly keep y'all updated.
>
> I am curious about what led up to this event. As I recall, you have
> been working it for some time. If you could please estimate what
> date it was that you first started thinking about this product idea.
***prox oct 1979.***
> Also, how many hours or days in total, do you estimate that you have
> been working it? The latter would include the creative process of
> visualizing the solution, the market research to determine it does
> not exist, the search for an artist, and the mechanics of working
> with the artist to produce the samples. I know it is difficult to
> estimate, so let me give you a guideline - was it <5, <50, or <500
> hours. Thanks!
>
***Well aside from the comment above, this iteration has required maybe 12 hours
in the last
year, including the time I spent speaking with the communists in china, and i've
probably got
a total of no more than $1500 in this. if we quit today, I've got some pretty
cool indian art on
carpets. i am probably ahead. I have no idea how much time Betty has spent on
this.
In a perfect example of market distortion by the fed causing malinvestment, most
of my time
is remodelling a house which I enjoy immensely, but would not happen if the ROI
was not
huge... it is huge since the market is manipulated by politico shenanigans. I'd
be working if
the money was not so easy otherwise...
Also, the book thing is a window of oppty I am exploiting, learning a lot and
taking advantage
of what amazon and google is doing, and I see Apple is linking up with google
and mimicing
amazon in paying associate fees for people who send buyers to Apple's itunes...
I've long wanted to write a case study of how the music industry competes on
design, and
how everyone copies everyone else, with examples, and now I can also embed the
itunes
samples into the story and make money every time someone reads the story and
buys Geo
Harrisons "My Sweet Lord" after reading that it is just a remake of the
Chiffon's "He's so
Fine" ... (the Chiffon's opened for the Beatles when when they first came to
USA, and of
course Geo Harrison had to have heard their hit, He's So Fine." 7 years later,
he has a hit with
"My Sweet Lord, which is proven to be really, "He's so fine" After winning a
1/2 million in
royalties in 1976, the Chiffons record and release "My Sweet Lord".) That saga
was 16 years
long, and finished 30 years ago. Tempus Fugit.
I don't know if I've answered your question, but I must reflect: Being ADD/ADHD
is the most
wonderful thing... the ability to think and do 3 things at once, and have the
energy to sustain
it... I realize that it causes trouble in the classrooms, but happily back in
my day they only
beat us, they didn't drug us. Instead of a drug that inhibits ADD/ADHD, I think
they should
make a drug that causes it, and give it to teachers.
John
> > Also this week, after topping off the oil in my car at Jiffy-Lube,
> > I walked into a high end home
> > furnishings store and blew passed the receptionist alarmed at the
> > carpets under my arm. I
> > wandered around until a nicely dressed fellow said "may I help
> > you?" I dropped the carpets at
> > his feet and said "an artist has designed these carpets, and had
> > these samples made in China.
> > She says stores like your will sell these carpets. Is she dreaming?"
> >
> > He replied, "I am not the buyer, just a designer. Here is the
> > buyers name and number. But if
> > he will not buy them, I have clients always looking for new and
> > interesting. Can I take
> > pictures for them to see." "Sure, and just contact the designer
> > direct if you want any made..."
> >
> > As soon as I can find time, I'll meet the buyer, and let you know
> > what he says.
> >
> > Folks, this stuff is easy... must get going!
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> > Compete on Design!
> >
> > www.johnspiers.com
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Update on Book Markets
Re: [spiers] Update on Book Markets
John-
You have been rather profuse lately, have enjoyed it.
I was interested in the latest on this thread, have you met with the
buyer? Also, was it really the artist or was it you that had the
samples made in China?
I am curious about what led up to this event. As I recall, you have
been working it for some time. If you could please estimate what
date it was that you first started thinking about this product idea.
Also, how many hours or days in total, do you estimate that you have
been working it? The latter would include the creative process of
visualizing the solution, the market research to determine it does
not exist, the search for an artist, and the mechanics of working
with the artist to produce the samples. I know it is difficult to
estimate, so let me give you a guideline - was it <5, <50, or <500
hours. Thanks!
> Also this week, after topping off the oil in my car at Jiffy-Lube,
> I walked into a high end home
> furnishings store and blew passed the receptionist alarmed at the
> carpets under my arm. I
> wandered around until a nicely dressed fellow said "may I help
> you?" I dropped the carpets at
> his feet and said "an artist has designed these carpets, and had
> these samples made in China.
> She says stores like your will sell these carpets. Is she dreaming?"
>
> He replied, "I am not the buyer, just a designer. Here is the
> buyers name and number. But if
> he will not buy them, I have clients always looking for new and
> interesting. Can I take
> pictures for them to see." "Sure, and just contact the designer
> direct if you want any made..."
>
> As soon as I can find time, I'll meet the buyer, and let you know
> what he says.
>
> Folks, this stuff is easy... must get going!
>
> John
>
>
> Compete on Design!
>
> www.johnspiers.com
Hello John...
Hi John...
First I would like to say thanks to keep me update with all emails that you have
been sent to me.
I was check here in my city and I found out a great niche of marketing to start
my company as a cleaner, janitorail cleaner, start with small business first.
When we studied in your book you said that we need to have a customer than open
the company, but, in this case some companies that I will bid for the job they
want to know the name of your business, references and other information.
Can you assit me in this point? I think I need to open the company first than
look for a customer.
Please, send me back the answer only for my email.
I hope everthing all right with you.
Take Care,
Sincerely,
Valdir Da Mota
Monday, October 23, 2006
RFID Passports
Folks,
As you can imagine, I believe our govt is approaching the USA security exactly
backwards,
and one product area I dislike is the national identification cards. They will
do no good, since
bad guys will buy forgeries from government workers, who have a long history of
selling the
real McCoy to bad guys anyway. Higher level technology just raises the price of
the illegally
issued identification cards; making them more expensive, not too expensive.
News stories
about govt staff who issue identification illegally, like state drivers licenses
and USA
Passports, are common.
And really, I am a big believer in good manners, not security cameras.
The newest proposed USA identification will contain RFID, and USA citizens do
not want it.
The ACLU has spotted the US fedgov doing policy laundering...
http://www.policylaundering.org/about/
One of their people “...describe(s) how " policy laundering " works. The Feds
want every
American to carry electronic I.D. cards, but the proposal fails domestically. So
U.S. officials
prod an international agency to adopt the new standards for machine readable
travel
documents , aka biometric passports. In this case the feds went to an obscure
agency known
as the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ). The feds then return
saying, "We
understand the concerns that American citizens have about I.D. cards, but it's
out of our
hands now. We are just complying with international standards.”
Here is story on the new passports...
Internet News, 23 October 2006
http://www.internetnews.com/wireless/article.php/3639411
Here is story on credit cards that already have RFID, and what a problem they
are:
New York Times, 23 October 2006 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/business/23card.html
Wonderful things happen... just as the Feds get close to destroying our freedom,
the
relatively free market shows us all what a bad idea the plan is. I doubt the
total info
awareness ID will ever see the light of day.
John
A Perfect Example
Folks,
Last weekend my wife and daughter and I toured marin county and of course they
shopped.
In the town of Pt. Reyes there was a small tack store, with the kind of electic
selection that
was not uncommon in small stores 30 years ago. If there was a theme. it was all
high quality.
Back in the day, I did english riding myself, and was delighted by some training
jacket
designs I saw in the store (in fact, long ago i had my tailor in Hong kong make
riding jackets
to my specifications, blending a bluejeans jacket and a english riding
jacket...)
As i examiined the coat, i was stunned by the quality... the fabric was a
micro-herringbone,
and all the other components beyond common first rate. Further, the place
people cut
corners, like pocket materials, was better than anything any designer name uses.
So i bought my wife the jacket and will have a local clothes designer study it
for me. I've
never heard of the company, although the jacket said "Kyra K., since 1969."
Looking at her
website, it appears SHE was born in 1969, not her company. But that is a small
thing, like a
writer who puts an old picture of himself on the back of a book.
As a side note, the clothing was made in China, which may be necessary for such
a garment,
since managing the production of such clothes in the west would be cost
prohibitive.
http://www.kyrak.com/
I hesitate to point out such success stories because I am sure Kyra K. has never
heard of me,
yet her modus operandi is precisely what I argue. She has a passion, she lives
it, hooked up
with a designer to execute clothes she needs in her field, and ends up
importing. naturally.
But then, as you already know, all i offer is what I learned from others, all I
can claim is I have
done everything myself too, so I can add, "yes, it works."
John
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