BLUE GOLD

 BUSINESS WEEK (2008) 6/23

Berrfield/40-45

T. Boone Pickens calls it “blue gold.” Most of us call it water. Particularly, it is underground water that can be made into drinkable water or water to keep an area green.    Pickens who made his billions with oil is now looking at water as a scarce resource. It is part of the water wars going on around the world. Years ago, Paul Erhlich wrote a polemic called the POPULATION BOMB. It came out in 1969, and looking back it was filled with errors. However, what he was right about was the explosion of population further; a good sign is a number of poor countries are getting a tad bit richer. So? They consume more. One of those things is water.

In Texas water laws are fairly lax, so Pickens is buying up water rights as fast as possible.

In 20 years, half the world will be in water stress areas. Pickens will be happy to sell you water. As he builds up his control of water, his people are taking over the public offices that deal with water.

At one time, water was thought to be a community property. Many cities and towns still own their own water, gas and electricity. However, that is slowly dying to corporate take over.

Pickens is powerful and as an individual owns more underground water than anyone else in the United States. Local and counties has fought and lost to Pickens.

HOT TOPICS:

PREMATURE BABIES: There is money in it. Expect more money directed at saving preemies. /50

DISTRACTION: 55/ Lots of money are lost when employees are distracted. Therefore, new strategies are being used to keep workers on task.

GENERAL MOTORS is slowly going down the drain. . 58

CHINA BLOGS/ Roberts/ 60-61 You make fun of China in a corporate ad and numerous bloggers and hackers will try to destroy you. They are from China.

ABU DAHBE is so rich that it is causing strain on the country.

MICROSOFT is losing to FIREFOX/ MOZILLA FOUNDATION. It was the old NETSCAPE. They started all over and now with 190 employees and thousands of volunteers that have 18% of the business.

AMERICAN WORKERS are worse off than before and it is getting more risky.

Two new books THE BIG SQUEEZE and HIGH WIRE suggest that country move more from laissez fair to risk sharing.

Time (2008) 6/23

24/ More men are not wearing a neck tie. The average now is 6%.

24/ There is less food and some short term solutions are  on the way, but long term we have 900 million malnourished and starving.

38/ Obama makes more sense on the economy than McCain. Obama has lots of problems with rumors about his life. Go to Fightthesmears.com or a more neutral source like snopes.com.

60-61 SIMPLEXITY. It appears that many things in this world are not so simple or complex, they are in between and a postmodern contradiction is that as you move along the non-linear pendulum, the two connect. Most of us are suckers for scale. Thus big things have to be complex. Well no.

115/Keegan Whats the latest thing to steal? Copper. Manhole covers are pretty good too.

116/ What is the latest to use to burn without lots of heat. Burn your leftovers. Or make it into  fertilizer.

125/ Poniewozik/125/ Unfortunately, SHOWTIME, has a new show on the behind the scenes of prostitutes. Why are they prostitutes, they like money and they like sex. If that was the case more women and young men would be in the business. Prostitution has a number of other causes from neighborhoods to early sex with relatives or neighbors. Disregard the show says this columnist.

THE WEEK (2008) 6/20

17/ Guess who is the back pocket of most western governments? They are anti-global

warming types. What appears to be ahead is that symbolic agreements will be made and then we will go other issues. If that is the case, people adopt, but millions should die. Anti-global warming strategists know that changes are expensive.

20/ Bloggers are the new gotcha journalists. They catch a candidate off guard, pretend not to have anything to do with journalism, and make their move. They get the audio and sometimes the video.

HEALTH AND SCIENCE:

1. There is an anti-aging element in wine.
2. Pressuring one to diet back fires and they want to eat more.
3. A new acne cream is being developed so that viruses will be rubbed into the acne and it will destroy the bacteria in the pimples.
4. Using personal cell phone signals, discovery that most of us stay within a 20 mile distance of our homes.
5. Anti-bacterial wipes actually causes more bacteria because a residual is left that mutates to a stronger bacteria.
6. 36/ it is an economic downturn. What to do? Besides the usual, more folk are turning to plastic surgery particularly the eyelids and whitening of teeth. Nose

Reduction is also high on the list.

40-41/ Nick Putumgarten

So you get stuck in an elevator, because you stayed late to work on a Friday night. You are in the elevator 41 hours or most of the week end. It is not your fault, but the rumor has it that you are more fool than victim. You are laid off.