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luni, 29 aprilie 2013

President Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

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Monday, April 29, 2013

President Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

President Obama joined Conan O'Brien onstage at the Washington Hilton Saturday night for the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner -- and gave his fifth address to the organization of journalists who cover the White House. In his remarks, the President poked fun at himself, as well as some of the news organizations and politicians in the room.

But while everyone had a good laugh during the speech, President Obama closed his speech on a more serious note, reminding the audience of the important role the media plays in American society -- especially during times of crisis like the Boston Marathon bombings and the explosion that killed so many first responders in West, Texas.

Watch the President's full remarks from the Correspondents' Dinner.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., April 27, 2013. First Lady Michelle Obama attended the dinner with the President. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

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Seth's Blog : Getting picked (need to vs. want to)

Getting picked (need to vs. want to)

Sure, it's fun to be picked, anointed, given social approval for what you do—the newspaper writes you up, you get invited to speak at graduation, your product gets featured on the front page of a website or blog...

The thing is, it's really difficult to get picked, and those doing the picking don't have nearly the power they used to. (Pause for a second to consider that double math problem: there are way more offerings, creators and choices, and, at the same time, an order of magnitude more media outlets, each with far less power than Oprah or Johnny ever had).

More than twenty years ago, at what he then believed was the high point of his career, Marc Maron auditioned for Saturday Night Live. Lorne wasn't impressed, nor was he kind, and Marc didn't get picked to become a cast member.

Today, of course, Marc's podcast is popular, lucrative and fun. Marc didn't get there because someone picked him, he picked himself (in fact, now he's the one getting pitched).

In the SNL instance, Marc had a career path where he needed to get picked. Unless a casting agent or booker picked him, he had nothing.

With his podcast, though, Marc might still want to get picked, but he's going to do just fine if he's not. By growing from the grassroots, Marc finds his own power. Not because he's still doing the same thing. No, because he's doing a different thing, in a different way, for a different audience, monetizing it differently.

The artist who struggles in obscurity, unfairly ignored because he hasn't been picked--that's a poignant sight. But at some point, the artist has the obligation to seek a different path, one that isn't dependent on a system that doesn't deserve him.

It's easier than ever to imagine a successful project or career or organization that isn't dependent on being picked by those with power.

If you're frustrated that you're not getting picked, one plan is to up your game, to hustle harder, to figure out how to hone a pitch and push, push, push. But in the era of picking yourself, it seems to me that you're better off finding a path that doesn't require you get picked in order to succeed.

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duminică, 28 aprilie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish Interview With "Bitcoin Jesus"

Posted: 28 Apr 2013 10:24 PM PDT

Of all the topics that readers have pleaded me to write about for months but I never did until now, "bitcoins" are at the top of the list.

In private emails, I stated on many occasions "bitcoins are a scam". I now take that back, "scam" is not the correct word. Others whose opinions I highly respect, state the same thing.

For example, Geoff Turk at GoldMoney stated in an email response:

"I have spent quite a bit of time researching Bitcoins and have not found anything scam-like about them. Price volatility is another matter, and that is a result of an increasing demand for a relatively scarce resource. There may be individuals attempting to manipulate the price in some way, which we know is possible in any small (or even not-so-small) market. However, in my opinion the Bitcoin protocol itself is quite sound, and it creates an interesting hybrid of a commodity without corporeal existence that is nonetheless limited in supply."

That was not an endorsement of bitcoin, rather it was a statement that my labeling of bitcoin as a scam was incorrect. I agree, with apologies offered to bitcoin.

OK But What Is Bitcoin

If bitcoin isn't a scam, then what is it? I have struggled with that question, which explains why I never have written about it.

Wikipedia offers a history and description of bitcoin that is rather fascinating.

Who Accepts Bitcoins?

For months I would search for companies accepting bitcoins as payment and found scant offerings. The same could be said for gold.

Yet, the total value of gold at a price of $1,600/oz would be something like $7.9 trillion. The total value of bitcoins is extremely volatile, fluctuating around $1 billion. Simply put, there is no comparison in terms of total price or volatility.

The record 9 percent drop in the price of gold was matched by a 70% plunge in the price of bitcoins in a similar timeframe.

Bitcoin Store

A few weeks ago I decided to do another search for businesses that accepted bitcoins. I was surprised to discover that a new entity, the Bitcoin Store, offers 500,000 electronic products for sale, accepting only bitcoins a payment. The products include high-end digital cameras.

I decided to call the store up and ask a few questions. My timing was fortuitous. The owner of the Bitcoin Store, Roger Ver, answered the phone.

This was unusual since Ver lives in Japan and he just happened to be back in California, and he is the one who answered the phone.

After some small talk and he told me that he was known as "Bitcoin Jesus". I told him who I was and that I had some questions about bitcoins. He recognized my name from Coast-to-Coast AM radio where he tunes in as a subscriber from Japan.

The interview that follows is via a subsequent chain of emails.

"Bitcoin Jesus" Interview

Mish: How did you get started in Bitcoin?
BJ: I heard about them on freetalklive in late 2010.

Mish: When did you start your business?
BJ: I founded MemoryDealers in 1999 and started building BitcoinStore in 2012. BitcoinStore launched March 1st 2013.

Mish: What is your volume in business, assuming a value on bitcoins of $100.
BJ: So far this month we have averaged 115 BTC per day. $11,500 per day, $350,000 per month.
We disabled international orders on the site because we were getting so many orders that we couldn't process them all each day.

Mish: How many products do you sell?
BJ: More than 500,000 line items currently. In the near future we will add additional distributors, bringing our line card to over 1,000,000 items.

Mish: How many employees did you have when you started? How many do you have now?
BJ: Bitcoin store started with one, now there are seven. I need to hire at least two more ASAP.

Mish: Are your employees paid in bitcoins or US$?
BJ: US employees are paid in USD because the tax laws are not clear. Most of them would prefer to be paid in BTC. The international contractors are paid %100 in BTC. I don't know for sure what they do with them, but I suspect they keep them in BTC.

Mish: Who is your merchandise supplier?
BJ: Ingram Micro. They are the world's largest.

Mish: Do you pay them in bitcoins or $US?
BJ: I pay them in USD, but I hope to get them to accept at least partial payment in Bitcoin in the future.

Mish: Are all of your profits kept in bitcoins? What about expenses before profits? Describe your bitcoin currency risk.
BJ: All of BitcoinStore's sales are kept in Bitcoin. Expenses are paid via Bitcoin or USD depending on the vendor. I want to be exposed to as much Bitcoin currency risk as possible. I hold on to as many Bitcoins as I can.

Mish: What happens to you and your business if the value of bitcoins plunges to $10?
BJ: Personally I would lose a lot of money on the value of my Bitcoins, but it wouldn't affect the business model of BitcoinStore at any time. If needed, the bitcoin payment processor, Bitpay, can instantly convert the Bitcoins to USD at the time of each sale, so a guaranteed USD profit can be achieved on each sale.

Mish: Why did you move to Japan?
BJ: I moved to Japan following an unwarranted conviction for selling firecrackers. I wrote up some of the details in a Daily Anarchist article Bitcoin Venture Capitalist Roger Ver's Journey to Anarchism.

Mish note: Please read the article. It's fascinating. Ver is a libertarian student of Ludwig von Mises, Adam Smith, Fredric Bastiat, Leonard Reed, Henry Hazlitt, Friedrich Hayek, and especially Murray Rothbard.

Mish: Please explain how you got the name "Bitcoin Jesus".
BJ: Not only am I a true believer in the model, I have converted numerous skeptics who are now true believers as well. Everywhere I go, I tell everyone about bitcoin, from taxi drivers, to restaurant workers, to girls at night clubs. It doesn't matter when or where, I'm so excited about Bitcoin that I feel the need to tell everyone about it. Someone along the way said you are like a "Bitcoin Jesus" and the nickname kind of stuck.

I also give out $1 worth of Bitcoins to everyone I meet who doesn't already have any.
I just did an interview on Fox News on April 12 and I gave the sound guy at the studio his first $1 worth of Bitcoin after he installed the Blockchain App on his iPhone.

Mish: Anything else you wish to add?
BJ: Yes thanks. It is important to realize that Bitcoin has two independent functions:

1. As a currency
2. As a payment system

To use Bitcoin as a payment system, it doesn't matter if they are worth $1 or $100,000 each. You simply buy the correct USD amount, and send it to the recipient who immediately exchanges them back into whatever other currency they want.

I don't think Bitcoin's usefulness as an unblockable, uncontrollable, potentially anonymous payment system can be disputed. Time will tell how useful the bitcoins within the Bitcoin payment system become as an actual currency.

I'm sure all your readers will enjoy the article. Thank you for letting me contribute.

Mish: Thanks Roger. Good luck to you and Bitcoin Store.

Not A Convert

I am neither a convert nor a true believer. I will stick to gold thank-you. I see things similarly to Ron Paul who said in a Bloomberg Interview "If I can't put it in my pocket, I have some reservations about that."

Link if video does not play: Ron Paul on Gold: No One Knows Value; I'm Buying.

Bitcoin is a Game

My friend Hugo Salinas Price had some pertinent thoughts regarding bitcoins on April 10 in his piece Of bubbles and Bitcoins

The newest invention in monetary affairs are the so-called Bitcoins. Their creators and promoters explain them as follows: 'Bitcoins are digital money. They are transferred person to person through Internet without going a bank or a clearing house, so they are independent of the current monetary system. Several currency exchanges exists where you can trade your Bitcoins for dollars or euros, and some small business and freelancers are starting to accept them in payment'.

The Bitcoin is a game. We live in a highly confused and perplexed world regarding what real money has to be. Let's get this straight: real money has to be the commodity that is generally accepted by society as payment in full for goods or services received.

Throughout history, the commodity most generally accepted in payment has been gold. Silver has taken the second place after gold. Gold and silver were chosen by humanity thousands of years ago, as the commodities with which to make payments.

The Bitcoin is an example of the tremendous hold that the idea of the omnipotence of technology to solve human problems has upon humanity. However, technology cannot create matter; it cannot create commodity-money, as it cannot create petroleum. Technology may give various forms to matter, but it cannot create matter or substance, and money must be the substance that is most accepted in commerce. All the Ph.D.s and Nobels in Economics are playing games to keep the world entertained. The less their pronouncements make sense, the wiser they think we will consider them.

You tell me: What is the future that awaits a humanity so confused that it can no longer distinguish between an abstract concept and what is real and material? Very confused people are participating in speculations in imitation currencies – dollars, pounds, euros, yen, yuans, Bitcoins - in the hopes of obtaining some profit or benefit, because unable to think for themselves, they can do nothing but speculate – and ruin themselves.

Understanding the Game

Even though I am not a bitcoin convert, it's easy to understand why people gravitate towards them.

Yes, people like games and speculation, but they are also fed up with unlimited monetary expansion of Central Banks, especially the Fed and the Bank of Japan.

Bitcoins may also play a role in capital flight. How so? Consider Cyprus or China (See Wall Street Journal February 28, 2013 China Forex Regulator: More Easing of Capital Controls Needed).

Purchase bitcoins, leave the country, convert the bitcoins to a currency of your liking, and voilà!

Yet, should that happen or even be suspected, how long will it take before there is a government crackdown on bitcoin? Should such a thing happen, the value of bitcoin can plunge to next to nothing if confidence is lost.

Bitcoin Hyperinflation?

In its initial days bitcoin hovered near six cents (click on link to see).

It's quite amazing to me that it soared to over $260 at one point. Is it so inconceivable that the value of bitcoin would plunge back to 6 cents?

Perhaps, but what about $1 or $5. A drop from $260 to $5 would wipe out 98% of the value. Should that happen, in a short time frame, what else would you call it but hyperinflation? Curiously such a plunge would not be associated with printing.

Bitcoin Jesus would say that is unlikely, but is it?

I do not know, but I do know history. And when given a choice, the free market has always decided on gold and silver as money, when available.

In my Presentation at the Wine Country Conference, I stated "I cast my vote with history". I still do. Yet, I offer encouragement to those like Roger Ver willing to "fight the Fed" in a literal sense.

To see my video presentation, scroll down and look for Mike "Mish" Shedlock: A Brief Lesson in History

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Who Won? the 93% or the 7%? Why?

Posted: 28 Apr 2013 12:59 AM PDT

Economic trends since 2009 show A Rise in Wealth for the Wealthy; Declines for the Lower 93%.

During the first two years of the nation's economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released Census Bureau data.

From 2009 to 2011, the mean wealth of the 8 million households in the more affluent group rose to an estimated $3,173,895 from an estimated $2,476,244, while the mean wealth of the 111 million households in the less affluent group fell to an estimated $133,817 from an estimated $139,896.

Uneven Household Recovery

What Happened?

Some seriously misguided souls blame free market capitalism for this event.

For details, please see Is Capitalism Killing Our Morals and Economy?

I blame the Fed, fractional reserve lending, political corruption, unions, and the Military Industrial Complex that president Eisenhower warned us about in a Speech in 1961.

In short, the problems we face are not the result of free market capitalism, but rather the results of Fed sponsored corporate and military fascism.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Seth's Blog : The hard parts

The hard parts

In an industrial setting, the obvious plan is to seek out the easy work. You're more likely to get it done with less effort and then move on. The easy customer, the easy gig, the easy assembly line.

Today, though, it's the difficult work that's worth doing. It's worth doing because difficult work allows you to stand out, create value and become the one worth choosing.

Seek out the difficult, because you can. Because it's worth it.

[An aside for entrepreneurs and anyone starting a new project: if you can't describe the hard parts, how will you focus on them? And if there are no difficulties ahead, what makes you think your project is valuable? When I meet an entrepreneur, I always ask this question first--which part of your project is hard?]

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sâmbătă, 27 aprilie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Is Capitalism Killing Our Morals and Economy?

Posted: 27 Apr 2013 09:24 AM PDT

In one of the most hopelessly incorrect collections of drivel that I have ever seen, Paul Farrell of MarketWatch writes Capitalism is killing our morals, our future.

Yes, capitalism is working ... for the Forbes 1,000 Global Billionaires whose ranks swelled from 322 in 2000 to 1,426 recently. Billionaires control the vast majority of the world's wealth, while the income of American workers stagnated.

Over the years we've explored the reasons capitalism blindly continues on its self-destructive path. Recently we found someone who brilliantly explains why free-market capitalism is destined to destroy the world, absent a historic paradigm shift: That is Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel, author of the new best-seller, "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets," and his earlier classic, "Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?"

New free-market capitalism trapped in American brains. Yes, it's everywhere: "Markets to allocate health, education, public safety, national security, criminal justice, environmental protection, recreation, procreation, and other social goods unheard-of 30 years ago. Today, we take them largely for granted."

Examples ... for-profit schools, hospitals, prisons ... outsourcing war to private contractors ... police forces by private guards "almost twice the number of public police officers" ... drug "companies aggressive marketing of prescription drugs directly to consumers, a practice ... prohibited in most other countries."

Something Trapped in Our Brains

Yes, something is trapped in our brains, or rather the brains of Farrell, Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel, and those who think like them.

The first problem is Farrell and Sandel do not know what free market capitalism is. We certainly do not have it.

The free market would not have fractional reserve lending. The free market would have gold and silver as money.

The primary reason for the major disparity in wealth is bank leverage of fiat money created at will via fractional reserve lending. The most redeeming feature of capitalism is failure, but the Fed has a moral hazard policy of "too big to fail" that promotes massive risk-taking.

There would be no Fed in a free market and there would be bank failures, not bailouts on the backs of taxpayers.

In a free market, money would not be inflated at will, nor would credit be handed out to anyone who could breathe as happened in the housing bubble.

Anyone who equates what is happening now with "free market economics" has something much smellier than mush for brains. So does anyone who thinks the socialist model would serve us better. If the socialist model was better, and more regulation and rules were the solution for everything, France would be the booming leader of the world economy.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

SEO Blog

Seven Amazing Tips For Combining Public Relations And SEO
Top 10 SEO Tips For 2013
4 Easy Ways To Get Free Traffic To Your Website
Why SEO Needs High Quality Content
3 Simple But Very Effective Email Marketing Tips

Seven Amazing Tips For Combining Public Relations And SEO

Posted: 27 Apr 2013 01:19 AM PDT

PR and SEO tend to go hand-in-hand more than ever now days. The key is to make the most out of both for particular events ranging from media coverage to conferences you attend. We've put together a list of the top ways to maximize both PR and SEO at the...
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Top 10 SEO Tips For 2013

Posted: 27 Apr 2013 01:14 AM PDT

Search engine optimization is undoubtedly one of the most fast-changing industries which doesn't seem to slow down. Techniques that you used effectively for your website promotion a year ago may turn to be worthless today. Thus, it is crucial to stay abreast of the freshest changes in this sphere. In...
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4 Easy Ways To Get Free Traffic To Your Website

Posted: 27 Apr 2013 01:07 AM PDT

There are one million and one ways to get free targeted traffic. I’m just going to touch the basics here. There are so many free manuals about getting traffic, that it would be a waste of time to spend too much effort on this subject. Forum Posting If you join...
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Why SEO Needs High Quality Content

Posted: 27 Apr 2013 12:07 AM PDT

We've heard the phrase a million times- that content is king. But do you know why? Content you create and publish on your website can also be very helpful for SEO purposes. Anything that goes on your site text/copy, videos, and images, even podcasts and news, are all parts of...
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3 Simple But Very Effective Email Marketing Tips

Posted: 27 Apr 2013 12:03 AM PDT

As with most forms of online marketing, there are some very advanced and technical strategies you can use to maximize the results you get from email marketing. While those strategies are definitely worth pursuing once you hit a certain point, it can be overkill during the earlier stages of establishing...
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luni, 29 aprilie 2013

President Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

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Seth's Blog : Getting picked (need to vs. want to)

Getting picked (need to vs. want to)

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duminică, 28 aprilie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Seth's Blog : The hard parts

The hard parts

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sâmbătă, 27 aprilie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

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luni, 29 aprilie 2013

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