This legal maneuvering  will have real implications for the rate of innovation at Apple. Steve spent almost all of his and top executives  time searching for better ways to innovate. This comes through in Isaacson’s biography. Now a large chunk top executives time will be absorbed  in and  devoted to  patent legal actions. Like suing a bankrupt Kodak…it must be the Kodak imaging and  print patents that Apple is after. And so goes  a new brand of “Apple magic”.

Mr. Romney is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, and whatever his personal beliefs may really be — if, indeed, he believes anything other than that he should be president — he needs to win over primary voters who really are severely conservative in both his intended and unintended senses.

So he can’t run on his record in office. Nor was he trying very hard to run on his business career even before people began asking hard (and appropriate) questions about the nature of that career.

Instead, his stump speeches rely almost entirely on fantasies and fabrications designed to appeal to the delusions of the conservative base. No, President Obama isn’t someone who “began his presidency by apologizing for America,” as Mr. Romney declared, yet again, a week ago. But this “Four-Pinocchio Falsehood,” as the Washington Post Fact Checker puts it, is at the heart of the Romney campaign.

How did American conservatism end up so detached from, indeed at odds with, facts and rationality? For it was not always thus. After all, that health reform Mr. Romney wants us to forget followed a blueprint originally laid out at the Heritage Foundation!

My short answer is that the long-running con game of economic conservatives and the wealthy supporters they serve finally went bad. For decades the G.O.P. has won elections by appealing to social and racial divisions, only to turn after each victory to deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy — a process that reached its epitome when George W. Bush won re-election by posing as America’s defender against gay married terrorists, then announced that he had a mandate to privatize Social Security.

Over time, however, this strategy created a base that really believed in all the hokum — and now the party elite has lost control.

Literally the wheels are coming off the GOP party and the US can ill afford that for three reasons:
1)the problems  domestically and in the World continue to fester and get worse. Just look at Europe and the Greek debt crisis for one example – then say  Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, environmental degradation and economic upheaval.
2)Moderates and compromise are necessary part of politics. But moderates have been purged from the Republican party. So much so that compromise is a dirty word. But that means the bitter partisan confrontations over deficits, Global Warming, Religious issues etc. This in turn means the US will be at a disadvanatge economically and politically as its decision-making capacity falters badly. S&P was unfortunately right on in downgrading US debt rating for exactly the reasons they cited – gridlock in national politics.
3)Just when rational and well reasoned approaches to policy are absolutely essential, one player has the distinct tendency to misfire irrationally. Just look at the Tea Party supporters. The Republicans for 30 years added mightily to the deficits under the “Starve the Beast”. Then in the past 2 years they have switched there allegiance and  are supporting No New Taxes and Draconian debt reduction – an absolute about-face contradiction. But these reports show how the Economic Downturn has put new stresses on the Social Safety Net financed by Government – the very TeaPartiers that complain about government handouts are increasingly dependent on them.

 So the US is running on only one political cylinder – the Democrats though subject to the siren song of lobbyists are at least addressing the major issues. Meanwhile the Republicans are kneejerking to the next Super Duper scheme that will generate temporay political advantage. Literally, Paul Krugman is right – the party elite has lost all control as evidenced in the bizarre Presidential Primary Race.

Is a Third Party a viable alternative – maybe for its purging effect. The Canadian scene is instructive. It took the NDP several decades to emerge just as the undisputed loyal opposition in Canada’s 4 party system. This despite the fact that the NDP had a huge influence  in policy making during its formative years.  Thus a third party movement emerging from the Republican party would have almost a nill chance of Congressional or Presidential victory. But by laying waste to the GOP in both Congressional and the Presidential election, the party would be purged of power…then it would have to re-form in both senses of the word. This might not be a bad outcome.

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It is the same old litany. Back in 2008 under Bush the banks were not broken up or allowed to fail. And Goldman Sachs was allowed access to the Federal Reserve’s privileged credit window. None of these actions were reversed under President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner.  Could not do that the system would fail because the complex financial inter-indebtedness would cause financial markets to freeze. Under Obama, Geithner, and Attorney General Holder there have been no successful or meaningful prosecution of the banks, the rating agencies and other financial institutions complicit in the Housing and Banking Crisis.

Naked Capitalism, a blog site devoted to showing the interconnection between Washington and Wall street has a blistering 12 point summary of the “Settlement” – The Top Twelve Reasons Why You Should Hate the Mortgage Settlement. Here is President Obama standing up for the Banksters:

The Announcement looks upbeat and bland, the details are anything but
This is indelible proof that lobbying and campaign finance power is very real and pernicious. Look at the NYTimes coverage of a parallel situation in Greece - “proposed rescue package calls for debt payments as the first priority, whatever happens to Greece itself.” And the whatever is not pretty see here and here.

Meanwhile President Obama got in 2008 and again in 2012 tens of $millions in campaign funds from the banks and financial institutions. This is perfect material for the Republican attack ads. Will Newt “FannieMaeMan” Gingrich take on the issue? How about Mitt “Bain Capitalalized” Romney? Or Rick “Born Again” Santorum. The only Republican likely to even dare to raise the issue is Ron Paul – and he will be ignored.

Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors….

Some former Apple executives say there is an unresolved tension within the company: executives want to improve conditions within factories, but that dedication falters when it conflicts with crucial supplier relationships or the fast delivery of new products. Tuesday,Apple reported one of the most lucrative quarters of any corporation in history, with $13.06 billion in profits on $46.3 billion in sales. Its sales would have been even higher, executives said, if overseas factories had been able to produce more.

Executives at other corporations report similar internal pressures. This system may not be pretty, they argue, but a radical overhaul would slow innovation. Customers want amazing new electronics delivered every year.

But  the issue around  labor practices does  have broader implications in the current economic crisis where there appears to be a jobs shortage as persistent and as pernicious as the energy crisis for not just the US but the World in general. Workers in developed countries in North America and Western Europe  are now at the “back of the jobs bus” because globalization and logistics networks allow products to be produced anywhere in the world where the lowest costs can be obtained.

What Apple Could Do

Last quarter Apple reported $13B in profits. It currently has a almost $100 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet with no debt whatsoever. By spending 0.5% of that $100 Billion on its Chinese workers at the Chengdu Foxconn plant Apple could create a  virtuous cycle.  Adding $0.5 billion to the wage pool at the Foxconn plant spread over 250,000 workers that deal with Apple products would add $2000 to each works wages [or roughly 8-10,000 RMB to each worker's take home pay]. Suddenly working on the Apple line would become very desirable and well rewarded for the anytime overtime and exacting reliability  work that is demanded by Cupertino.

But Apple’s payscale  would put pressure on other international companies like  Dell, Microsoft, Nokia, and Toshiba to match Apple. Wages not only at Foxconn but other electronics suppliers would see upward pressures.  This in turn would mean that  electronics and other products would cost more in the US and the rest of the World [or maybe Apple which does not seem to know what to do with that fast growing $100 billion kitty could absorb the 1-2% price increases and take a slightly smaller profit margin which is currently in the 33% range].  The net result is that wages and self sustaining home consumption could start to drive the Chinese economy in the long term.  And in turn  technical manufacturing could spread more equitably throughout the world.

However,  reaction to this NYTimes report has been polarized. This can be seen well at Betanews –  an excellent tech site that follows the latest technology developments.  The article says Apple is responsible for inhuman working conditions and/or pay in China. But the reaction in the comments section is about as temperate and  civil as a GOP Presidential debate. By this measure and NYTimes promise to pursue this story in upcoming iEconomy reports, it appears this topic will stay on radar screens for the foreseeable future. And well it should given the worldwide jobs shortage.

Source: Baidu.com 
With the upcoming Windows 8, Microsoft should see a huge increase in revenues from China. Consider that aging and no longer supported Windows XP has 86% of all Chinese computer users. But will Microsoft be able to claim this windfall? New computers in China that come from brand name providers  are charged an unknown fee for the latest copy of Windows 7 that are sold with big name computers. But not so for knock-off PC machines that still dominate the Chinese PC market – they use pirated Windows XP copies.  And CNN Asia raises the issue that Microsoft has not made reloading Windows a simple task [ for fear of piracy] like Apple has. This fear of piracy may be very real as  a reverse Phishing process – legit Windows PC’s identifying signatures can be “ported” to illegitimate machines.

So a very good test of Chinese compliance with WTO anti-piracy provisions will be how well Windows 8 “sells” in China this year.

“Don’t stop the debates. The purpose of debates is to get candidates and their ideas before voters. In the Republicans’ case, that includes exposing the failed policies and dubious values of their party.”

Ex-GOPer Andrew Sullivan sees the moment of GOP implosion here in the Daily Dish. John Batchelor at the Daily Beast describes the laments of a Republican professional who sees Republican Self Destruction -

The primary campaign nastiness between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich is exhausting Republican loyalists. What in Iowa was a feisty contest between the haughty Mr. Romney and the operatic Mr. Gingrich turned hollow in New Hampshire and harsh in South Carolina. By the close of the Florida scramble, with the Herman Cain Express back from the repair yard to hitch onto the Newt baggage car, what remains of the Republican dialogue does not appear likely to be of much worth for the fall campaign.

The solution to the puzzle may be to admit that the GOP has forfeited 2012 before the general election even starts. How did this happen so suddenly?

“That’s the great mystery of 2012,” a senior Republican journalist told me while watching the brouhaha in Florida. “We have the weakest incumbent president in 32 years, running on the weakest record in 32 years… and who’s taking the stage in South Carolina and Florida? It has to be the weakest field I can remember. Each of these candidates has in his character, in his history, in his idea set—never mind disqualifying—a guarantee for self-destruction. If Newt is the candidate, he’ll lose badly. If Mitt is the candidate, he’ll lose slightly less badly … So what you have is an almost complete guarantee that if these are the candidates, Barack Obama will be reelected.”

I asked another senior GOP professional with decades of experience measuring party intrigue; he pointed to the negative campaigning as the telltale cause. “Negative advertising, why does it exist? It exists because it’s been proven to work. So Gingrich went negative on Romney on the Bain attacks and brought Romney down in South Carolina. The Romney campaign decided they’ve got to fire back in kind, calling Gingrich an influence peddler and a guy with ethics problems. The result is to create a cumulative effect of slime and dirt and muck attached not only to the two candidates but also to the party itself, as a party that fundamentally lacks seriousness about what’s centrally on people’s minds, which is the state of the economy—especially among independent voters, who keep rising; apparently they’re up to 40 percent of the electorate. This is off-putting. You know, Republicans may say we’re having an internal struggle, Newt represents something we believe in and so forth … Still, they’re running the risk of damaging the Republican brand.”

And see last Sunday’s news talkshows such as NBC’s Meet the Press or ABC’s This Week for a similar reaction among both Republican and Democratic commentators.
How Did the GOP Get Here?
Well there are 4 primary reasons for this self-destruction:
1)The GOP “Base” is fraught with contradictions and internecine emnities among the inherently conflicting groups - see our article;
2)The GOP has pledged allegiance to a policy of Super Dupers. You can fool most of the people most of the time. Take the pledge of allegiance to Grover Norquist for “no new taxes” by over 200 Republican Congressman. This is the same Grover Norquist who advocated for creating the huge Deficit with his “Starve the Beast” advocacy of deliberate overspending in Congress for the last 30 of 32 years. But now the sameSuper  Duping Tactics are being used in abundance in their own Presidential Campaign;
3)GOP has resorted to a Mega-No campaign, not accomodating on almost any and all Obama legislative proposals. This has been accomplished by using the 40-vote Filibuster rule to stall administration budgets, executive appointments and key legislation. The purpose is to show that “government and Obama do not work.”  The process of Federal legislation since the Republicans took the House in January 2011 has simply not been allowed to work because that would show Obama and government as being effective;
4)The GOP has increasingly resorted to politics of fear and smear. It is a badge of honor – like the Willie Horton Attack Ads. But it has slipped from attacks against Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry with the Swift Boat campaign to George Bush’s South Carolina ‘whisper rumor mongering’ against Republican rival John McCain claiming falsely that McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock. If this type of “campaigning” is legit, then anything is legit even against fellow GOP-ers.

So having embraced the deepend of contradictory  coalitions and the politics of smear – the current GOP Presidential wrecking-crew campaign is  natural consequence. Moderates or centerists have been effectively sidelined if not weeded out of the Republican party. This is the party of Rush Limbaugh bombacity or Murdoch Fox News manipulation. Don’t say “who knew?” now.
Bad News for the USA

The US and the World in general face numerous wicked problems- think energy shortages, climate change, worldwide job shortages, and nuclear gamesmanship from petty states. So the US can ill afford the politics of fear and smear. For example, for the US the current toxic political wrangling at the Federal level has already been a significant factor  in the downgrading of US debt from AAA to AA status by S&P. Imagine November 25th 2012. Obama wins the Presidency but the Republicans gain either the House and/or the Senate because voters do not want to give too much power to the Democrats. A Democratic majority did not work in 2008. Or vice versa –  a Republican wins the Presidency but the voters give the Democrats control of the House or Senate. In either case, political  gridlock is the outcome. Neither party is likely to embrace bipartisanship. This is Gresham’s law – the bad drive out the good. And right now very bad partisan politics drives US politics  in general. Can you imagine the political turmoil of 2013 no matter who wins?

Remember even in the past 10 years of increasingly bitter partisan infighting with  Congressional approval ratings  hovering  around 10-14%, nonetheless 90% of incumbent Congressman get re-elected. We keep rehiring those who we disapprove of. So no wonder Federal political leaders think they are impervious to any consequences for their bad  behavior – no matter what they do do they will get re-elected. And so ye Editor will have to take a big swig of a 5th, because my party, the GOP[Andrew Sullivan and I are co-diasporans], is leading the US downhill parade … and so are my fellow electors. I think Walt Kelly’s Pogo said it best – “We have met the enemy- and They is Us”.

The erratic performance started early with Gov. Sarah Palin in or out, Gov. Mitch Daniels in or out, Gov. Mike Huckabee in or out, Donald Trump in or out, Gov. Chris Christie in or out- all these set the GOP campaign off on a wobbly track. But the debate and polls confirmed a volatile Republican electorate as Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich again have all taken a lead in the polls and have achieved “election” victories. Those GOP tires have been drumbeating worse than a NASCAR bucket of bolts. Why so much “Cognitive Dissonance” better known as Feuding Folks in the GOP Fold?

To this one only has to take a glance at solidity of the GOP Base. Imagine the following:
- Farm  and Small Business men  dependent on illegal immigrants coming together with the GOP Immigration Lobby;
- Tea Party debt crusaders sympathizing with Wall Street Bankers and Hedge Funders who are demanding continuiing zero interest rates, huge compensation packages and other deficit creating subsidies;
- Right to Lifers and the Medicare Generation seeing eye to eye with the extreme GunsRights campaigners seeking looser regulations on concealed, automatic and silenced weapons;
- The GOP 20% unemployed in  many counties in States as disparate as Nevada, Ohio, and South Carolina  wanting to support GOP traditional Big Business many of whom have outsourced and exported vital jobs overseas;
- The Evangelicals and Christian Prayer in Schools defenders admiring and supporting the Neocons wanting to strike out on another war heedless of unintended consequences – perhaps  in Iran, North Korea, Somalia or other enemies of the US as in Lebanon[Reagan] or Iraq[Bush];
- Adopt an anti-science, anti-measurement approach inimical to most engineering and business interests but welcomed by GOP special interests in their campaigns to elude responsibility for the true costs of  their  gains;
- Resist gay rights and stigmatize them so they can be controlled by federal and  state measures in society;
- Be among  43% of Mortgage holders who are GOP  and have been foreclosed on or are underwater yet have to see their GOP side with Wall Street against foreclosure limits, against reducing underwater loan levels, and actively resisting the Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would prevent suc h excesses in the future;
- Be a  GOP Middle Class watching the traitorous lobbying elitist Grover Norquist whose 30 year “Starve the Beast” policy created the bulk of the US Deficits under Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush 2. Now Norquist is rushing to lead the charge against deficits with his mindless “no new taxes” pledge that hobbles 200+ GOP Senators and Congressmen who have pledged allegiance to Norquist for some trickles of campaign support. Meanwhile., Norquist is protecting his own kind, essentially the richest of the rich, whose taxes paid as a % of income have reached historical lows compared to that same GOP Middle Class.
And these are just a few of the wonderful  things binding Republicans together.

Given these constituents it is no surprise that  only one policy  can unite these diverging desires and political interests – that  is to make President Obama be  perceived as worse than the worst US President in history, George W. Bush [see Republican Andrew Sullivan's brilliant essay on this topic here]. Do this by refusing to co-operate with President at all, Use the 40 vote Filibuster rule in the Senate not just to block judicial appointments but also Obama department budgets plus dozens of Obama executive Cabinett appointments [“see, the agencies arent working because their managers aren’t there”.  Key adminstrators , especially in financial administration and regulatory control AWOL because  key appointmentsre have not been approved 3 years into the term and their budgets cut. The nihilism is deliberate such that one can easily find the GOP spurning Republican policies offered. As Andrew Sullivan has shown, this is a dangerous strategy because to date President Obama has occupied the center-right over the past 3 years in office to hiw own party’s chagrin.

So now in a party of elites and 1%-ers ruling the roost, South Carolina Republicans said enough already. They rejected the overwhelming favorite of two weeks ago, Mitt Romney, and elected Newt Gingrich, based on his populist leanings. True there were coded racial overtones by Newt. True Newt played to the evangelicals and half a dozen other Base special interests. But the bulk of the campaign was  apopulist one against the ruling elites as represented by the Bain capitalized Mitt Romney. Newt neatly skirted the issue of “attacking capitalism”, but rather asked how did Mitt accrue his super 1% wealth by asking did he pay his fair share of taxes and did the Bain years under Mitt Romney truly net 100,000 jobs for the US and what indeed is the Romney Jobs plan.

So now the wheels have flown off the GOP Base. Recriminations and attack ads will redouble in ferocity. US Supreme Court-approved Super Pacs will be unleashing internecine attack ads of gigantic proportions in Florida and the upcoming GOP primaries. The GOP Base is now crashing out of control – and the Republican Establishment trying to tamp down the populist cataclysm is itself discredited as being one of the elites manipulating events to their own advanatge. GOP – welcome to Occupy WallStreet.

For 15 years, Romney had been in the business of creative destruction and wealth creation. But what about his claims of job creation? Though Bain Capital surely helped expand some companies that had created jobs, the layoffs and closures at other firms would lead Romney’s political opponents to say that he had amassed a fortune in part by putting people out of work. The lucrative deals that made Romney wealthy could exact a cost. Maximizing financial return to investors could mean slashing jobs, closing plants, and moving production overseas. It could also mean clashing with union workers, serving on the board of a company that ran afoul of federal laws, and loading up already struggling companies with debt.

There is a difference between companies run by buyout firms and those rooted in their communities, according to Ross Gittell, a professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics. When it comes to buyout firms, he said, “the objective is: Make money for investors. It’s not to maximize jobs.” Romney, in fact, had a fiduciary duty to investors to make as much money as possible. Sometimes everything worked out perfectly; a change in strategy might lead to cost savings and higher profits, and Bain cashed in. Sometimes jobs were lost, and Bain cashed in or lost part or all of its investment. In the end, Romney’s winners outweighed his losers on the Bain balance sheet. Marc Wolpow, a former Bain partner who worked with Romney on many deals, said the discussion at buyout companies typically does not focus on whether jobs will be created. “It’s the opposite—what jobs we can cut.”

This is the crux of what has been killing middle class incomes in the US for the past 30 years. Too many US businesses like Bain Capital have been raiding the Income Commons by making concerted attacks on US working jobs with stagnant wages, relentless benefit reductions, work cutbacks and job outsourcing overseas. And the facts are indisputable, the beneficiaries of this Romney “I Know Business” policy is that the 1% like Mitt Romney have been the major winners over the past 30 years:

So before you buy Romney, know just how Romney Knows Business.

The media assault on Rick Santorum has begun. Turns out he was a tough-guy lawmaker who played hardball with lobbyists and made a bundle after leaving the Senate.In other words, a typical member of Congress.

This is all fair game, mind you. In fact, it’s the kind of information the voters of Iowa might have found useful before propelling Santorum into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in the caucuses (or a victory, if reports of aRomney overcount are to be believed). But the press didn’t care then. Santorum was an also-ran, a loser, a single-digit guy. Until he wasn’t….

The Post is joined by the New York Times in reporting that Santorum made $1.3 million in 2010 and the first half of 2011 by selling his services to various industry groups, and in a similar vein as Newt Gingrich, Santorum was not registered as a lobbyist. For instance, after pushing two bills in the Senate to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare money to Puerto Rican hospitals, the ex-senator joined the board of United Health Services, where he hauled in $395,000 in fees and stock options. And how did investigative reporters unearth this information? It was in Santorum’s  financial disclosure form.

This is exactly the kind of scrutiny that a presidential candidate should be receiving. Too bad the media didn’t take Santorum seriously enough to provide it until now.

But really Kurtz is right on with the second remark. Why did the media and Press choose to ignore the qualifications of Rick Santorum?
Ye editor has scoured the Web for a media outlet [newspaper, magazine, political websites, even wikipedia] that provides a list of the candidates with a summary of the qualifications, political history, strengths, weaknesses, upside potential and/or downside risks[aka "skeletons in the closet"]. Just a capsule summary is sufficient in briefing style maye double Twitter’s 140 character limit for each category the Press chooses to pursue. It would be nice to have a  pros and cons approach lest it be mistaken for a political ad instead of journalistic coverage.

Ooopps – Journalistc Coverage Is Opinion and Infotainment

Media Shift is  the informative  coverage  by PBS of the decline of traditional paper and even broadcast media in favor of  the Web as the news medium of choice. Seeping through the convenience and financial advantage stories is the the picture of the press in gut-wrenching transition as  wholescale cutbacks in journalist  employment and coverage  are occuring in newspapers, magazines and local radio and television.  But two aspects of the change investigated by PBS  have gotten shortchanged. First, it goes back to Marshall McLuhan hot and cold media. Traditional press like newspapers and magazines are relatively cool – once a day to once a week [or month]news cycles . Traditional black and white layout, people read the news to become informed, there is a strong fact checking aspect to cool media. Hot media like radio and now TV and Web are fast breaking, full of emotional sound, fury and action video, shorter on facts-longer on opinion. Second, as hot media like radio, TV and now the Web with social media  prevail with their built-in  hot, emotional aspects – opinion, especially outrageous, humorous, and entertaining opinion prevail. News and fact checking take second seat to the hot media’s priority:  infotainment. And so the Fourth Estate has such aberrations as Fox News Networks  where opinions  become  News and Ooops-we-made-mistake-in-fact, but now that the show is over with we shall issue a required correction. Or more common – short of the facts,  Just in Time Journalism.