Built Tesla Tough

Wanna be a part of the American engine? What's more American than a Ford Truck? Well turns out Tesla, the electric car that every manufacturer other than Tesla doesn't want on the market, is now becoming the most American-made vehicle. http://qz.com/197241/the-future-of-made-in-america-could-be-tesla-not-ford/

Olympic Woes for the US

There's an interesting graphic online at Washington Post that shows how the Winter Olympics tends to be a race for medals by rich nations. Certainly, it's the colder nations that show up, but with the cold comes expense for some, if not all, of the sports. You can't just run and be a good cross-country skier. Rather, you have to train, have facilities, compete. With, let's say, marathon, Ethiopians can run on the street to train (which they do). Which goes to say, what's with the US? The likes of Canada, Norway, Netherlands, and Germany, are making hay. They're turning in gold medals despite their relative smaller population. It's an Olympics that will force the US Olympic committee to re-evaluate what's happening with the program. Or perhaps athletes only have a certain level of excellence to achieve, and the rest of the world is catching up.

Net Neutrality is Dead....

For now, the net neutrality debate has faced the US Court of Appeals and was struck down. The FCC 2010 order that would impose net neutrality regulations was all but killed. That doesn't mean the fight is over. Far rom, there will be iterations of the bill to come. The question is how big is your lobby compared to mine? However, this may be a rare case when the people speak loud enough that lobbying won't run the normal course of action. http://bgr.com/2014/01/14/net-neutrality-court-ruling/

Colorado Pot Sales Massive

All other States ready to legalize marijuana for personal use take not, lots of people smoke pot, and lots of people want to buy it legally. Colorado practically ran out within a week. http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2014/01/pot_sales_denver_5_million_five_days.php The sale of pot topped 5 million. Now, everyone is wondering to watch extent does pot sale price differ than street? It's more expansive for sure (the coffers are certainly going to cash in), but the expense appears to be manageable enough for smokers as they're willing to pay higher prices for legal weed.

How Far Does NSA Go?

If youre on the web then you're being watched. Doesn't seem to matter where you are. And to make things worse, if various web companies, the biggest in case you're wondering, are part of the game. Usually they don't have a choice, take for example Yahoo where the CEO claims they faced jailtime if they refused the NSA surveillance. Incredible that there isn't more outrage. THe average American is happy to truck along in their own unrealistic and hyper-supervised daily routine. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/11/yahoo-ceo-mayer-jail-nsa-surveillance

The Race for NY Over - Detroit Declares Bankruptcy

With scores of city blocks empty that gives farmers envy (empty land fully serviced by utilities like water), Detroit is bleeding people and therefore vastly important tax dollars. Pegged at the turn of the century as a possible NY, both cities were racing to attract the best and brightest. The beauty of Detroit infrastructure was on par with the grandeur of NY. That was a 100 years ago. Nowadays what old monuments remain stand in eerie and sometimes imposing silence. If you want in on some cheap real estate, Detroit is the place. Unfortunately, the once mighty city, that was at least given legitimacy from all the auto work, has hit a disappointing low. With China stealing all the manufacturing jobs, now under 700000 people live in the city. Declaring bankruptcy means they don't have to worry about paying creditors nor face the possibility of lawsuit. Although, right now there are challenges against the filing with some judges calling it a contravening of the State's constitution. Chapter 9 bankruptcy allows the city to restructure its debts in order to pay them off. However, it does require 'permission' of the state to proceed. Chapter 9 is different than CHapter 11 for businesses or Chapter 7 for personal fillings. It will also mean lay offs for municipal employees, selling off assets, raising fees and scaling back basic services such as trash collection and roads. Detroit is the largest city thus far to declare bankruptcy in the US. The journey now, after hitting rock bottom (can it go any lower) will be the road to recovery. That will start with jobs, and that's impossible to do with businesses on the way out. Detroit has a unique opportunity to try something new to save the city. That's balanced with the catch-22 of the need for tax dollars yet lower taxes might encourage businesses to relocate to the city. Not only are creditors affected, but pensioners as well. There could be a massive loss to the savings of many city workers. Once the CHapter 9 mess is underway the recovery will follow, but the dust won't settle from this vastly expected outcome for years to come. With notes from San Diego corporate lawyer CC Legal.

Snowden and the Whistleblower

The Trayvon murder trial overshadowed a few things (if you were watching CNN you would've thought nothing else in the world was happening, like a coup in Egypt....) Manning, the guy who leaked US documents to Wikipedia, faces life in prison. The things he leaked were both sensitive and also damning. Edward Snowden was next in line. He leaked information that pits NSA as the massive surveillance juggernaut spying on everything and everybody. The extent of NSAs intrusion is monumental. They are literally keeping a database of ALL your phone calls and emails. Why? ... or should i say WOW.

Both are social pariahs that will be imprisoned by the US government. This amidst protection for whistleblowers touted by Obama. You can only whistleblow so long as the subject matter isn't too sensitive is the lesson here. The difference between the two is one is still on the run and may never return, the other is in custody and may never get out. Ultimately, the irony here is the often farcical Republican party were the ones who instituted the heavy handed methods. The programs really took off under Bush the II. So apparently LESS government is the name of the game for Republicans, yet they also prefer ? unwarranted and illegal collection of data for the sake of 'security'. You can't explain that one. Things are really ugly. There's no end in sigh other than years and years of legal proceedings and voters not giving a damn to make some changes (Because I guess the lobbyists are the ones with the real power nowadays hey?)