Swap Blog

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The math is wrong…every citizen gets $425 not $425000 - that would require 85 trillion dollars. Sorry for the bad post, though I still like the overall intent of the idea - let the people that messed up, pay up be it on wall st or main st. Both are guilty this time. Taking a loan for more then you know you can afford or offering a loan to someone that you know can not pay are equally irresponsible.

————– Update —————

This came in over the email transom and I thought it was worth pass along for the readers of this blog to think on. It is called the Hoover Plan and it is a outsiders plan to solve the current financial problems with US markets. It will NEVER get proposed or discussed in Washington, but some of the root ideas and concepts contained in it are interesting to ponder - i.e. stimulate the economy by stimulating taxpayers at real levels.

The plan follows -
_________________________________

Good afternoon my fellow Americans,
I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion th at equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college - it’ll be there
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citize n 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.

Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.

Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion

We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC
And remember, The Hoover plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,

Thomas J. Hoover — A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

Personally I like Chrome. I know that is launched strong (quickly getting over 1% of the web’s browser usage) but has now slipped back into a battle with Opera for 4th place in the browser wars. I think Google is playing the long game here, so short term numbers are not important, but time will tell.

Honestly, I use Chrome as much if not more as I use Firefox now as it launches quickly (i.e. it is small) and it gets me results quickly. With that said, there are numerous things I don’t like about it - bookmarks, flash issues, and control of tabs between the top three - but it has potential and when I need quick facts it is the quickest. Since it is in beta I hope that Chrome improves over time, but we will have to see.

Online one of the biggest complaints about Chrome is Google’s EULA which even after revision gives Google ALOT of access and use of your information, your data, your searches, etc. Since Chrome is open sourced though a German firm SRWARE has created Iron - A chrome direvitive minus all the Google right to access / track stuff. Maybe it will get some traction too.

Found this on Knox News today and thought it was worth sharing with the non East Tennessee readers of Swap Blog. It seems that Sevier County - the gateway to the Smokies - now has the longest zip line in the US. This resort has built six course that travel over 2 miles. It takes about 2 to 2 1/2 hours to do them all. The article does not mention the price, but it sounds fun. Full Story here.

Between this and the Zorb, Sevier county may just have a few reasons for me to visit there during warm weather (i.e. tourist season) again.

Troy (who only became in a D-I school in 2001 and only joined the Sun Belt conference in 2004) played / scored on Ohio State better then Tennessee played / scored on Florida today. That really is all you need to say isn’t it?

Saw this over at Open Switch and had to share it…IT ROCKS!!

Jonnelle from habhak has decided to watch Biggest Loser Families this season, even if she is a bit bothered by some of the things that the contestants go through and some of the things that have happened in the past, because it is motivating her to get healthier and live past 54. Based on reading her blog for the last few years, I personally I think she can do it. I also think that watching Biggest Losers keeps me personally motivated in the winter months to get on the bike and go to the gym. Jonnelle here.

The wife and I were watching the previews on a DVD we rented and we saw the preview for Eagle Vs Shark. I have not seen this movie, but there is NO DOUBT I will watch it. It looks like Napoleon Dynamite goes to Australia…that ROCKS!!

Go back to your normal lives now…as you have been enlightened.

It looks like there is a Christian version of Guitar Hero out now. It is called Guitar Praise and it is available for the PC and the Mac. - full details at MTV here.

BetaNews has a nice post up discussing Microsoft’s shift away from ads based on Seinfield and Gates and into a place where they take control of the “PC” brand and define it as they want it to be seen. Recently, Apple has been able to defined the “PC” as how they want it to be seen. That may not have lead to more Mac sells, but it has helped define what the Mac is seen as.

Apple,and their ads, have made their products the definition of what is cool, and not really dealt with defining what the product does well. That point leads me to what I think is the move important part of the Beta News post - that the entire PC vs Mac debate may be irrelevant as computers become more containment / holding devices and less about their distinctive nature.

Both Mac’s and PC’s run on the same hardware base now. Most Macs can and do run PC programs via emulation now. The number of Mac application software titles is still a fraction of the number of PC titles. There is virtually no Mac based game market. Almost any software title on the Mac can be found on the PC as well. Most PC’s are in semi sterile cases - be it beige or black - but are still used to produce the majority of data and code in the world. So the hardware is the same, the amount of software and code base leans heavily toward the PC, but the Mac comes out looking sweet due to it’s appearance and the perception of it’s coolness via proxy. Even with that though data and how is it is accessed / moved and used is the real future of computing. Bottom line, the real differences between Mac’s and PC’s at the moment is the case, the interface, and how that interface is perceived in the marketplace, not what is done with and on the computer. In the marketplace, Macs and OS X are pretty and nice vs PC’s and Vista which are boring ugly dogs.

Back to the Beta News post. This post is worth of a read and the move by the Redmond Gang to try to define the “PC” how they want it to be seen - as one used by people to produce things / information - is one that is worth watching in the future even if the argue is moot due to how data is handled today.