Happy Holidays to All!

Happy Holidays to all my readers!
(Even the ones that send me flaming emails every day.)

That includes Chanukah, Christmas, Quanza, Ramadan, Feasitvus etc.

MasterPo is taking the rest of the year off (yea, I know I said that for the summer but this time I mean it).

I'll be back in January.

Have a happy and safe New Year to all!

What's In Your Plumbing? (or Who Really Cares About Web Browsers?)

As of writing this the EU has dropped its long running anti-trust legal battle against Microsoft over the Internet Explorer web browser. As usual, the argument was that having Internet Explorer come as part of the Windows operating system gave Mr. Gates an unfair advantage over other software companies trying to get people to use (and therefore buy) their own version of web browsers.

The EU's lawsuit claimed that consumers weren't given the choice as to what web browser they wanted to use. IE was forced upon them as a default since it came with Windows.

This article isn't about how fair or not Microsoft's marketing and publishing strategies are. That's been well debated in countless articles, blogs and on TV.

The point of this article is: When all is said and done, who really cares about their web browser??

I'm sure there are some specific situations where say Firefox would work better for this or that website than IE (or visa-versa too). And I'm equally sure that some techies and software gurus will prefer this or that browser over IE because of whatever technical reasons.

But so what?

People who do have the knowledge to know that "A" is better than "B" because of XYZ reasons also have the knowledge and skills to go out and get another browser, install it and use it. So IE coming with Windows isn't going to be a big obstacle to them.

But for the rank&file home and business PC users, they just don't care!

Sure you'll find people who gripe about how IE doesn't play well with their favorite movie or game site (or porn!). Or how it crashes, runs slow blah blah blah. All of which are usually more caused by some other software or setting on the user's PC rather than IE itself. But I'm not here to defend it.

The bottom line is this:

Asking most people to choose which browser they want at the time of purchasing a PC is like asking people what brand of pipes they want in their home plumbing.

They just don't care!

All that most people want to know is when they open a faucet, turn on the shower, start the dishwasher etc. water is there. Period.

Same with a computer. Most people simply do not have the technical savvy to know (much less care) about brands of web browsers. They just want to connect to the web and start surfing.

In the generic sense it seems like a good idea to have a more open competition between software providers. But if all this is being done in the name of helping the consumer, let's not loose sight of what the Joe Average consumer really wants to be able to do.

Is The "New World Order" and "One World Government" Finally Here??

To begin with, MasterPo is NOT a conspiracy theorist!

Never have been.
Never will be.

But 1+1 still equals 2 (no matter how much they try to re-write school books and impose "outcome-based" education over the three R's!).

Before you think I've gone completely over the cliff, with Kool Aid in hand, please read on.

During the November 27, 2009 broadcast of the Glenn Beck show on Fox News Glenn spoke with an economist/financial advisor Damon Vickers of Nine Points Capital who previously had been interview on CNN and brought up the topic. Glenn was shocked the CNN reported wasn't surprised when Mr. Vickers connected the current economic problem and the massive U.S. government borrowing and spending with the establishment of the often claimed "new world order" and "one world government".

Normally I don't put any stock in claims of these things. These kinds of conspiracy theories hold that this has been a goal of various groups for centuries. If there was a conspiracy to take over the world spanning centuries they sure aren't doing a good job of it!

But now, with the economy and government spending what it is, I agree with Mr. Beck that it is possible to connect the dots (though still not at all a certainty but well worth exploring).

Consider this:

As of writing this the U.S. Federal government has spent and/or committed to spending $13 TRILLION over the next 10 years. That is in addition to the $12 TRILLION in outstanding debt the U.S. Treasury already owes right now! Let me add it up for you: That's $25 TRILLION!!!

And that's before any sort of National Healthcare plan, additional stimulus and/or bailout funding, emergency/disaster spending, war spending (if "war" is even in the American official lexicon anymore), pet projects and wanna-do's, etc etc etc.

ALL of this spending has been financed by the Federal Government borrowing money from overseas (at this time, mainly China) in the form of selling U.S. Treasury Bonds.

$13 TRILLION!!

Just try to imagine the kind of economic grow and tax revenue generation that will be needed to pay down even merely half of that debt! Remember that people were so deeply concerned about a national debt of "just" $12 trillion at the end of 2008.

Meanwhile, national unemployment is over 10% and expected to rise even more (state/local unemployment is nearly 20% in a great many places!).

So where is all this money going to come from to pay even just half of the new (never mind the existing!) $13 TRILLION debt??

The answer is really very simple: It doesn't exist!

Not now.
Now ever.

When debt gets that high the concept of any sort of meaningful ability to pay it down (much less pay it off completely) become pointedly absurd. In other words, it simply can not be paid down any meaningful amount. Even if all forms of taxation doubled and "the rich" were taxed 80%-90%-even 100% at certain income levels there simply is not enough money to make paying it down a reasonable – or even rational – concept!

(Not to mention the stake though the heart of the American economy such taxation would do thereby killing the very source of the tax revenue stream needed to pay the debt!)

So what does all this mean?

One word: Receivership

"A type of bankruptcy a company enters when a receiver is appointed by bankruptcy courts or creditors to run the company." (my bolding)

(Source: receivership. (n.d.). Investopedia.com. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/receivership)

Replace "company" with Nation and I think you begin to see the "new world order" and "one world government" angle.

With receivership comes being insolvent.

"Having ceased paying or unable to pay debts as they fall due in the usual course of business; having liabilities in excess of a reasonable market value of assets held; insufficient to pay all debts."

(Source: insolvent. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/insolvent)

Even in such a bad economic state we still are a HUGE consumer base, military base, technology and information services base. So, as the current popular jargon likes to say, the United States is just "Too Big To Fail".

Who is the creditor of the United States?

China mainly but also Europe, Russia, Japan, even the Saudis!

If the U.S. is deemed insolvent the rest of the world will not simply say "Oh well" and walk away. They gave us mega $$$ and expect all or at least as much as they can back! (so would I!)

Probably through the IMF and the UN the world would point the U.S. into receivership.

Remember what happened to General Motors, AIG, Citigroup, Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, et al when the U.S. government had to bail them out. The bailout came with a steep price:

- The government now owns 60% of GM.
- The government has mandated pay and benefit cuts for AIG, Citi and Chase
- The government has made Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley key cogs in the system of selling U.S. Treasuries to overseas government (they already where but they did have a choice before, now they don't), etc.

So guess what happens when America is deemed to become insolvent and is put into global receivership?

Now China et al via the the UN and IMF can flex muscle and do things like want to "approve" the national budget, dictate domestic (and foreign) policy, even alter the tax code!

Just imagine China saying "No U.S., you're spending too much on military this year. Cut your military budget in half!" or "You want to give a tax cut? We don't think so. In fact, you should raise taxes more to help better pay us back!"

New World Order.
One World Government.

It may be closer then you ever thought!

This is the discussion between Mr. Beck and Mr. Vickers. Please watch it in it's entirety.

(Special note: I am not endorsing or supporting the website/group that put put this video segment on YouTube. Merely, this is the only complete piece of the video; Other sources cut it into 2 or 3 sections.)