The Dodge Retort

I watched the President speak unscripted to House Republicans in a Baltimore hotel yesterday courtesy of JetBlue. The president’s appearance in the lion’s den was unprecedented and given what Mass. senator-elect Scott Brown has been doing lately, maybe, just maybe, Republican and Democrats can work together.

This nano-thaw in relations could lead to a ceasefire or better, a truce. It’s a start. After all, aren’t we all on the same side?

Obama was brilliant and talking candidly about about the animosity on both sides sows the seeds of mutual self-destruction. He had the courage to walk into the enemy camp and take question extemporaneously (apparently, the meeting was supposed to be behind close doors, but it wasn’t).

“We have have to be careful what we say about each other because it boxes us in. [We need] a tone of civility instead of slash and burn,” said the president.

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz asked why the healthcare reform debate was not broadcast on Cspan and why Obama hired lobbyists in his administration when he said he wouldn’t. I didn’t catch Obama’s answer, but he replied that the charge was not entirely true. That Chaffetz got to asked the question point blank was testiment to Obama’s deep desire for bipartisanship.

The Republicans asked the president to stop calling them “the party of no.”  Obama called on Republicans to stop calling his ideas “Bolshevik” and labeing him “a crazy guy who’s doing bad things for the country.” Obama also said the Republicans have substantive proposals and that he read them.

It was raw and all out on the table. Now what?

Were any minds changed? Will any Republicans occasionally vote with the president instead of hoping to freeze government until they have another shot in the midterms and 2012? I pray it be so.

As for Brown, I’ve have been pleasantly surprised. He has reached out to key Masschusetts Democrats because he knows he has to work with them. Casting himself as an independent, Brown is acting more like one now than he did in the campaign.

He has met with Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick. He even ate a little crow when Deval explained to Brown that his earlier remarks about the state not speeding Stimulus dollars fast enough were in error. Brown confessed to not knowing a couple of things.

Maybe it’s the altitude that’s getting to me given I’m on a TVed JetBlue flight to Florida, but I am hopeful and that Scott Brown’s election might be a turning point. I am as partisan as anyone and voted for his opponent Martha Coakley, but at the end of the day, I’d first and foremost like to see the country and Congress come together and get the nation’s work done.

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My good friend and high school classmate Gordie Stuart is  far to right of me, but I think his idea of putting Congress on notice cuts across party lines. His guest commentary suggests putting members of Congress on Social Security, 401ks, no pay when out of office and into the same healthcare system as other Americans.  Term limits, too. The official proposal is below his commentary. Let us know what you think and follow me on Twitter.

by Gordon Stuart

So many people have sent me the article below on “How to Fix Congress”, I feel compelled to seriously express my thoughts and gather yours.   I’m sure you’ve read the article too and I hope you respond. I don’t know who originally came up with the suggestions in the article, but, I do concur with most of them.  This email was forwarded to me as: “An idea whose time has come”.  In my opinion, it is beyond time.  Our Government’s spending is out of control, entitlements are destroying our country, we continue struggling with being the “world’s policeman” and we still concern ourselves about being “politically correct”, while our freedoms dwindle and handouts increase a little more each day.  What happened to Common Sense?  All this should have been nipped at the start and we should never have arrived at this point.  So, what about “fixing Congress”?

Well, there may someday be an elected Representative of the United States who will step up to the plate and initiate legislation along the lines suggested below.  However, I don’t hold much hope that will happen and I hold even less hope such legislation would ever pass unless there was some great incentive.  Maybe I am too cynical, but I think there is just too much greed and corruption among our elected Government officials to get this type of legislation passed without some incentive.

Some of you may respond by saying we can bring about these changes through our election process.  Certainly, one would hope that would be enough incentive.  Unfortunately, that hasn’t affected very much in the past and history repeats itself.  Whether we continue to elect the same old people like Frank Lautenberg in NJ or elect new people, we’ve honestly seen little change in the way our Government conducts itself.  All our elected officials always seem to fall into the “Washington Beltway Trap” shortly after being elected and common sense is put on the “back burner”.  Whether you are Republican, Democrat or Independent, there is probably only 1 or 2 of you who would disagree with that statement.

I listened to a person last week say our elected officials, government employees, Wall Street bankers and corporate CEO’s are responsible for our current fiscal crisis.  That is true, but he didn’t like it when I responded by saying: “in fact, we are all responsible”!  After all, we (the people) let it happen.  The proposed legislation in “How to Fix Congress” addresses nothing more than taxation without representation.  It doesn’t address military operations, corporate greed or even corruption within our government.  It just addresses taxation without representation and in fact, we are being taxed without representation.  What is worse: these are our “employees” whom we are allowing to dictate terms and conditions to us and we should do something about it or hold ourselves accountable.  If you disagree; stop reading right here.  If you agree: what do you think we should do?  My fiancée’s son has a bumper sticker that says: “STOP BITCHIN’, START REVOLUTION”.  I think that is a good solution!

I’m not proposing an outright revolution to overthrow our Government.  That would cause too much chaos and put us in even more trouble.  However, I would like to see a tax revolt because I think it is outrageous to allow our elected officials to enact laws that don’t apply to them and it is wrong to allow them to give themselves pay raises, lavish pension plans and premium health care while the “backbone” of working America paying for it all settles for something far less.  Furthermore, since they are “playing in a different stadium” they’ve had no incentive to improve “the turf” in ours.

To say we can bring these changes about through our election process is a joke!  We can’t wait for the election process and it isn’t effective correcting these issues anyway.  We may get one or two people to introduce such a bill.  However, without some “incentive” to get the other Congressmen and Senators to vote for it, the measure would never pass.  So, what would be enough incentive?  This may be naïve, but, I think if a large enough percentage of the population said: “I’ve had it” and threatened to refuse paying their taxes (unless the suggested, common sense measures are passed) it may work.

Our current population in the United States is a little over 300 million people.  If just 10-30 million people (less than 10% of our population) said: “I’m not paying my Federal Income Tax unless you pass these measures”, what would the government do?   Would they throw everybody in jail?  No, because there isn’t enough room.  Would they put liens on our property, garnish wages or put holds on our bank accounts?  I don’t think so!  Those actions would exacerbate the situation and cause even more revolt- possibly an outright revolution.  I think, under those pressured circumstances, our government officials would do what is right.  Few will “bite the hand that feeds them”.  They’d change things quickly and I’m willing to take that chance.

How about you?  What do you think?  I look forward to hearing your insightful response.  With best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2010…

My 4,200 word investigative package about how Bernie Madoff fooled his customers for decades hit the street last week in Securities Industry News (SIN). Primary sources for the 3,000 word main bar include two IT managers who worked for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Services and myriad untapped legal documents in the ongoing Madoff case.

My conclusion is that Madoff and his right-hand man Frank DiPascali Jr.  used an isolated and aging IBM AS/400 installed around 1993 to generate phony customer statements, trade confirmations and IRS 1099 dividend forms.  Clients didn’t have a clue he was taking their money and putting it into his personal piggy instead of buying stocks, treasuries and options as he was telling them.

I also did two sidebars: one about a victim’s attempt to get some restitution and about the field of data forensics which was instrumental in figuring out how the AS/400 functioned a printing press. One irony is that the expert I spoke with had the same name as me. The actual data forensics investigator for Madoff’s AS/400, Joseph Looby, would not speak to me given the ongoing investigation. The three arrested in the giant Ponzi scheme – Madoff, DiPascali and accountant David Friehling – have pled guilty, but it’s likely more will be charged.

Let me know your thoughts on my work. It is certainly one of the bigger packages I have done in recent memory. The story got picked up by the Huffington Post, ProPublica.org, Dodgeretort.com and CIO.com as well as other Sourcemedia publications (SIN is one of several Sourcemedia pubs about the financial industry).

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My third firefighter training beckons tonight on what is sure to be sweltering once we don our turnout suits. It’s going to hit 90 today. Thank God we’re not in Portland, Ore. where it’s going to reach 105 today!

I’ve been meaning to recount one training session last week as well a 280-slide PowerPoint presentation (the longest I’ve ever been subjected to) on the new ladder truck which while loooong was fascinating.

I did not take notes, but there’s a lot I remember about the truck even after a week. And you can read more about it at manufacturer KME’s (Kovatch Mobile Equipment) web site.

What left the biggest impression is that this of 80-ton piece of equipment can be dangerous in the wrong hands (mine, right now). The aerial (the ladder and bucket) extends 95 feet into the air from it steepest angle of attack and with two firefighters in the bucket, extreme caution should used and competence exercised. I’ll get my turn to share a spot in the bucket eventually. The aerial alone weighs 50,000 pounds (25 tons).

Much of the presentation focused on the aerial and how to set up the truck’s outriggers. There were four major points which I probably don’t recall exactly right: maximize stance, center of gravity and stability and minimize height off the ground. If the truck is in excess of 5 degrees off level, you subtract 500 pounds from the maximum weight in the bucket. That would reduce it to 1,000  pounds. I also seem to recall that if the “line is charged,” you take off another 500, leaving the bucket weight at 500 pounds – still enough for two firefighters.

A green zone gauge tells the operator how level the truck is. The biggest hazard operating the truck is it tipping over with the aerial extended and firefighters in the bucket.  He also reviewed the features of the bucket from which the aerial can be controlled. However, the controls at the base of the aerial have priority and override the ones in the bucket.

There’s margin of safety built in — 2:1 structurally and 1.5:1 from a stability standpoint. Again this is from memory and those numbers could be off. The presenter who was from the dealer who sold West Newbury the truck emphatically said you “never operate in the margin.” Lives are at stake. Indeed!

The outriggers which set the truck in place and lift it off the tires are computer controlled and set level automatically although there’s overrides should the computer fail. It’s impossible to predict what kind of terrain the truck will find itself during a call. One thing he said was not to put an outrigger on top of ground covering a septic tank. You can imagine that picture – dangerous not to mention messy.

As for the 95-foot extension (actually, it might have been 94) and no building in  West Newbury being more than 40 feet high, Bob Pierce later explained that what counts is the horizontal extension. If someone is struggling in a pond 80 feet out, you don’t want a 50 foot aerial. That extension could really matter and save a life.

The truck itself is run by computers. There’s one for the engine, transmission and aerial (I’m leaving out one or two). They fail and your in trouble. I forget if he said there are overrides, but I think not. The 525 HP Cat engine and transmission are major consumers of fluids…upward of 40 quarts of engine oil and a few more quarts than that of tranny fluid. Hydraulic fluid capacity was something like 60 gallons! Think about just how much the hydraulic fluid weighs.

Another area where he spent quite a bit of time was on the alternator which maximally cranks out 320 amps. However at engine idle, it’ll only produce half that so a “fast idle” switch revs the engine to a point where the alternator will produce at full capacity. After all, there’s dozens of lights on the truck (many look to be halogen which we were warned can get very hot). There’s six interconnected batteries acting as a single unit, I think he said.

He also cautioned that if the gauge (and there were many) shows voltage to be high, pull over and call a technician. Continuing with high voltage can fry the electrical system and more importantly the computers which control everything. That’s one expensive repair. A low voltage reading is less troublesome.

Finally, he talked about how exhaust particulate is captured in a chamber nearby or in the muffler. On occasion, it has to be burnt off by soaking the particulate with diesel fuel and igniting it. This is common is all diesels now. The result is a very hot gas in excess of 1,000 degrees F. out the exhaust pipe. So the operator has to be careful about where the truck is situated. The dealer mentioned it’s a bad idea to park it next to chief’s car or truck when that procedure is underway as it leave a brown burn on the paint.

I am sure I am leaving out some aspects of this marvel of technology. It has many cabinets, additional ladders and large air tanks for to provide oxygen for the firefighters in the bucket and even some creature comforts in the cab.  As the dealer remarked, it takes the WNFD into a whole new realm of firefighting.

As for the previous evening’s training, we donned airpacks and used the masks for the first time. One trainer showed how to don air packs by lifting it over heads to put it on in a “cascading fashion.” Like donning the turnout suit, the air packs and related gear are supposed to be put on and set up in under a minute. We all will need to practice as that requires putting on the hood, the mask with airtight seal and helmet, turning on the air, cross-checking capacity using two gauges, and hooking on the air hose to the mask.

The first time I did it, I wondered if I would be able to breath. It was surpisingly easy and there were at least two ways to get air into the mask of the tank failed. We also learned how to recharge the tanks. Training three begins tonight.

The woman who called the police July 16th to report a break-in at the home of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates has come forward to say she’s devastated about happened and that she never mentioned the men were black in her call. She did the right thing and she’s “devastated!”

I raise the issue again because of car break-ins in our neighborhood in Maine where we have a second home. All of a sudden, we find ourselves locking doors when before, we would go days without doing so. Part of the appeal is the casual nature of the neighborhood where we felt incredibly secure. Not so much now.

My neighbor’s car was ransacked over the weekend as were a few others on a side street around the corner. The reality of joblessness, drugs or kids doing stupid things is never far away. It makes me glad to know the police are around and vigilant. I hope they catch the thieves.

Cambridge where Gates lives is far more prone to break-ins. Maybe Henry Louis Gates should consider that the police were also protecting his property, too (or the house Harvard let him live in). That the woman did not initially cite race detracts from accusations of racial profiling.

Much of this will be cleared when the police tapes are released in the next few days and after the Gates and Sgt. Crowley toss back a few beers at the White House. Will they actually drinks beers?What brand? How many?

BTW, comments are running against President Obama for shooting his mouth off about the Cambridge police. My take which reflects many of the these comments is they should have one quick beer and let the president get back to work on our nation’s many problems.

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Here’s where I think the police officer went wrong with the unfortunate incident this week involving Henry Louis Gates. Rather than apologize at the scene once he understood that Gates was in his own home, he acted in a heavy-handed fashion sending us a reminder that the police must have the last word.

If you were confronted in your home by a police officer, wouldn’t you be upset? Gates justifiably may have been agitated so the smart thing for Sgt. Crowley to do would have been back off, apologize and wish Prof. Gates a nice day. The local media would have covered it and 24 hours later, the incident would have been largely forgotten.  Yes, this is 20/20 hindsight, but I can’t imagine there weren’t opportunities for Sgt. Crowley to go conciliatory unless Gates required a straight jacket.

Instead, Sgt. Crowley with his union and department in supporting roles, saying police were just going by the book. No apologies necessary. How many times have we heard that it cost nothing to apologize? How many times have we heard how unproductive pride can be? Forget racism at least about this part of the incident.

Sgt. Crowley is not a monster. He was the EMT who tried to save basketball player Reggie Lewis’ life several years ago and is respected by his colleagues and neighbors. But I think Sgt. Crowley would have acted the the same way with me (I’m white). Does he wish he  could have this one back? You bet although he won’t admit it.

[You can hear his side of the story from a WEEI sports radio interview this morning. His tone seems conciliatory, but his sympathetic questioners and faux news commentators Dennis and Callahan toss him softballs all the way. I wish he had gone onto a more objective and real news outlet such as WBZ. D&C are supposed to talk about sports, but unfortunately veer or I should say, careen into news.]

The incident reinforces the notion that if you challenge or shout at a police officer, some (more than others) will quickly slap the cuffs on, call it disorderly conduct and claim `going by the book.’  You can’t tell me “the book” would say this incident was intelligently handled. After all, the charges against Gates were dropped the following day. Now, that was smart!

I suppose I have sidestepped the issue of racism, but it’s hard to say what was going through Sgt. Crowley’s head although I suspect he is a product of his difficult environment. Big city policing is a dangerous and difficult job, but they should at least try to fight off the cynicism.

As for Gates, he should tone  down rhetoric. Maybe he will after reading Joan Vennochi’s column in this morning’s Boston Globe which says he behaved like an arrogant Harvard professor used to deferential treatment, not just “a black man in America.” Testosterone and machismo played a big  role in this incident and perhaps Prof. Gates should acknowledge that (and Harvard provides him with a house, too?!).

The incident has been instructive. Cool heads need to prevail.

I am cruising in the passenger seat along I-95 in Maine ready to post thanks for my Verizon VZAccess mobile broadband. It’s the version that comes bundled with and built into an HP Mini 1000 Model 1151r. No card or gadget to plug in.

Quite honestly, I’ve had some problems with it so stay tuned for the full review next week.

Damn, that tractor trailer is close!

As expected, Microsoft has eliminated the limitation of running up to only three applications at once in Windows Starter edition, the netbook operating system.

The announcement was made in The Windows Blog and emphasized that Windows 7 Starter edition is still alive and well. Windows 7 Starter lacks many features found in the Home Premium and Professional versions – both considered full versions of Windows 7.  Now users can run as many applications as their hardware can reasonably support instead of being cut off at three.

I posted a Windows 7 strategy story earlier today that originally stated Microsoft was sticking with the limitation which is what I was told by two Windows 7 executives on Wednesday. Shortly afterward, I knew tonight’s blog post was coming and changed the story accordingly.

According to the blog, Starter still does not include the following features found in the full versions of Windows 7.

• Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek.
• Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
• The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
• Multi-monitor support.
• DVD playback.
• Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
• Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
• Domain support for business customers.
• XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7.

Nothing has officially changed with Microsoft’s position that Windows 7 Starter edition will only run three applications simultaneously, but  rumors that surfaced last week that the limitation would be scrapped will likely become fact…and shortly. System utilities and multiple windows open in a single application do not count toward the limit.

That the limit was still official was according to Microsoft director of netbook PC marketing Don Paterson and senior Windows product manager Stefan Kinnestrand. I interviewed them together for an hour Wednesday to figure out what consumers will be see on netbooks when Windows 7 emerges this Fall in time for the holiday shopping season.

Here’s what we know…or knew. Windows 7 Starter Edition will be preloaded onto certain netbooks, mostly the ones with least power, the fewest features and the lowest price. If users wish to upgrade, they can choose the WAU or Windows Anytime Upgrade just like with Vista.

Assuming that the three app limit goes away, Starter and WAU could become history. The question becomes does Starter go away or does it just lose the limitation. Or something else.

“Users can upgrade their machine to Home Premium in 10 minutes or less so there is no buyer’s remorse,” says Paterson, still behaving as if the limit will be in force when Windows 7 debuts in the Fall (it won’t). Pricing for the WAU or any Windows 7 versions has yet to be announced. Paterson tried to allay fears about the three application limit especially given how smoothly Windows 7 Ultimate already runs on netbooks (see my review).

“Usually when we do a demo, the reaction is much less onerous when you see it person than read about it in print. A dialog box informs the user they have to reached the maximum number of applications and must close one [to launch another,],” says Paterson. ZDNet’s Ed Bott does a nice job listing all the exclusions and has screen shot of the dialog box that warns “Maximum Number of Programs is Already Open.”

However, my sources indicate this will shortly be history when “rumors become fact REALLY soon” which I take to be imminently. Clearly placing such a false restriction on Windows 7 posed tremendous risk for Microsoft which faces competition on netbooks from Ubuntu and Android.

The two primary versions of Windows 7 are Home Edition which presently differ from Starter in that it has richer media features and no application limit. Windows 7 Professional is aimed at small business and work at homers who function within an IT environment and thus require certain security features. Microsoft officials have been on record saying these two versions will make up 80% or more of the market. A third version, Windows 7 Ultimate, is the current release candidate combines all the features of the Professional and Home editions.

“There was a couple of things we wanted to do with Windows 7 such as making sure it runs well on all PC hardware, that it shuts down faster and to make we optimize the memory and storage footprint. The second goal was if to offer wide choice and that it has entry level, premium or professional experiences,” says Kinnestrand.

Choice, however, will be as important for retailers and PC makers as it will for consumers, according to Paterson.

“If you’re Best Buy, you think price points like $100, $249 and $399. [Starter] will better enable the lower end of the category,” he says. “It’s up to the Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) how they want to build [netbooks]. They can run different editions to create offerings at different price points,” he says.

The pair also believes that netbooks still have headroom to grow even though some have “morphed” in what more accurately could be described as notebook PCs.

“The underlying assumption is that netbooks are small PC notebooks. Users [with Windows 7] will no longer have to distinguish between notebooks and netbooks. We are optimistic about growth rate through the next year,” says Paterson, who adds that the theme for netbooks this holiday season will be “thin and light” which are two characteristics we’re to already seeing in netbooks introduced during the past month.

What’s more, he doesn’t see price as the dominant factor in netbook buying decisions.

“The economy has played a key role in the low cost nature of netbooks, but the data we look at isn’t just about low price. Netbooks are companion PC devices. [Typical buyers] make more than $75,000, are in their forties and tend toward the $399 and $449 price points. By and large, the data we see is that people are not driven by price [with netbooks].”

Windows 7 will also push the notion that netbooks serve as companions to more powerful notebooks or desktop PCs. According to Kinnestrand, that’s why Microsoft built Homegroups into Windows 7 (I want to play with Homegroups, but I only have Windows 7 installed on one netbook at the moment. It promises to allow users to share file and media libraries between Windows 7-based PCs).

If Microsoft is nervous about the emergence of Linux variants Ubuntu or Android on netbooks, they are not showing it.

“We have 97% share in the U.S. and more than 90% in 15 of the 16 geographies we track. Windows has a billion users. Ultimately, consumers are drawn to familiarity and compatibility. Android has the same flaws that any Linux variant – lack of compatibility and an unfamiliar user interface,” says Kinnestrand.

[In the name of fairness, I have contacted the Android folks at the Open Source Project to their side of the story, but have not heard back.]

Verizon pitched me recently on doing a post on its Friends & Family calling program launched in February. That’s where qualifying customers can exclude five or ten numbers from counting against their plan minutes.

So I asked Verizon how many have taken advantage of the “free” program and what does Verizon get out of it. Verizon New England spokesman Mike Murphy didn’t answer either question, but did extol the benefits of F&F. So I am left to speculate.

My guess F&F sweetens the pot for customers to upgrade their basic plans to the $60 a month Nationwide Single Line plan which is required for the five F&F package or the $90 Nationwide Family SharePlan for the ten. Or to switch to Verizon from another carrier (a quick check of AT&T plans shows it still only has unlimited inter-network mobile to mobile by comparison). While Verizon says F&F is “free,” the company isn’t giving away anything because you have to sign up for the qualifying plans.

Still, F&F for minute gobblers is a good deal and should not be overlooked especially if you already qualify (Shame on me – I qualify for the ten, but have yet to take advantage of it).

Murphy did have a few interesting things to say about what Verizon has invested in its 3G network in New England -$240 million last year and $2.4 billion since 2000. The motive here is spread the word about the huge capital investment it takes to build these networks to assuage the sting of $40 or $60 a month for 3G wireless broadband, for example. Hey, these networks don’t grow on trees so we all have to pay.

Indeed, Verizon is on a roll with its 86.6 million wireless customers which makes one other of Murphy’s comment all the more intriguing. Besides things like its network and F&F, Verizon, he says, has curried customer favor with the company’s aggressive lawsuits against spammers.

“Maybe some of that loyalty is due in part to these lawsuits against spammers!?!” Murphy says. In early May, the company filed suit against a mortgage company for allegedly sending 800,000 spam text messages to Verizon customers.