Oh Europe, do you do such things because you enjoy it when Americans mock you? A Swedish boy is in trouble with elementary school authorities for not inviting all of his classmates to his birthday party. This eight year old is actually being accused of “discrimination“. Even more amazing is that these school authorities have complained to the Swedish Parliament about it. I don’t know how Swedish government works, but is it normal for the nation’s Parliament to get involved in piddling little crap like this? Doesn’t Sweden have a court system that could better handle this?

Oh but that’s just an administrative complaint. It’s mindboggling that this involves school officials at all. I would never have thought this way, but school officials argue that since the invitations were distributed on school grounds, they “must ensure there is no discrimination”. Does Sweden lack any freedom of association? Sitting here in the US I take for granted that I can choose who I invite to my house. That decision isn’t influenced by when or where I extend the invitation. That’s not the case over there? Does that extend to all of Europe?

And don’t think this is a simple discrimination case like if the boy didn’t invite any black kids or any Muslim kids to his party. He left out two classmates because, as the BBC reports, “one did not invite his son to his own party and he had fallen out with the other one”. So apparently discrimination in Sweden doesn’t just have to deal with ethnic or religious minorities, but extends to people you don’t like. You’re just not allowed to separate yourself from people you don’t like for any reason at all.

I know I’m singling the Europeans out for this as just another example of their intrusive nanny states, because it kind of is. But to be fair I could see this sort of thing could happening in America. The difference is how the situation would be resolved. In the US after the busy-body teacher confiscates the invitations, the discriminating student will go home and cry about it. The next day the boy’s parents will complain to the principal. There’s a chance the principal will stand behind the teacher. If that happens, the parents will complain to other parents, and the principal will become inundated with complaints and bad press. That principal will then cave in, claim the situation was blown out of proportion, and hope for the attention to die down.

In Sweden, I bet this situation is being taken seriously by many highly paid bureaucrats. They will have formal discussions and arguments, and churn out memoranda and position papers and directives. It’s just so ridiculous. The teacher never should have said or done anything. This trivializes real discrimination cases. It only reinforces the stereotype that European culture is so choked by bureaucratic thinking, Europeans no longer understand how to resolve issues among themselves. They must lodge formal complaints and involve government in everything. How sad that boy must learn this lesson so early in life.

9AM We Hope You’ll Come in and Be Judged by Us Again Soon
(Woman puts groceries on checkstand, including home pregnancy test.)
Male clerk: Man, I have been selling a lot of these lately!
(Woman laughs nervously.)
Male clerk to female clerk, waving test in the air: Haven’t you been selling a lot of these?
Female clerk: Yeah, I have! It must be spring, you know how people get!
(Woman is now horrified.)
Male clerk, handing woman her groceries: Well, good luck either way!

Safeway
Phoenix, Arizona

Overheard by: Really? Really?
via Overheard in the Office, Jun 26, 2008

Rumors about bankruptcy can swirl around any company going through a rough patch. I wouldn’t automatically lend them credence. Chrysler’s troubles are no secret and it’s natural for people to whisper about the chances of bankruptcy.

The rumors of bankruptcy were whipped up recently because Chrysler made use of a line of credit that was negotiated when Cerberus Capital bought Chrysler from DiamlerChrysler. Chrysler borrowed $1.5 billion from Diamler, and $500 million from Cerberus. The act of borrowing made investors swoon with thoughts that Chrysler was having cashflow problems. However this line of credit had an August deadline. If Chrysler didn’t use it, it would disappear. So they decided to borrow now to ensure they had access to this $2 billion in extra liquidity. Explained in that light, it seems like a prudent decision.

But today a little event made me believe Chrysler’s position is far worse than they’re admitting to. To try and allay everyone’s fears they organized a media event/rally to explain the situation. Then I read that Lee Iacocca was brought out at the rally to speak. I guess Chrysler’s management thought Iacocca would add some credibility to the message, but that just implies management itself has no credibility. They have to go draw from the Iacocca well to try to calm everyone down. Resurrecting Chrysler’s Grand Ol’ Man looks like an attempt to distract everyone from the real problems facing the company. Chrysler’s sales are slumping worse than anyone else’s, and they have no good product in the pipeline to try and save themselves with. GM has the Volt. Ford is bringing its highly successful European designs here. Chrysler is circling the drain. Iacocca is there to lull people into thinking everything is okay. He saved Chrysler before and now that he’s involved, he’ll save Chrysler again!

This move smacks of desperation and only convinces me Chrysler is in dire straights. Bankruptcy is looking all the more likely. That may not be a bad thing though. Chrysler has been the weakest American car company for decades. A bankruptcy, done right, could put the company on some firm footings. It would force the UAW to accept massive cuts in labor and wages. I wonder if bankrupt Chrysler would try to eliminate all union workers. A lot of facilities would be sold off, but I wonder if any would be moved to cheaper places. Moving a factory isn’t free so I don’t expect the whole company to move its manufacturing operations to the US south, or to Mexico. You can rule out Asian factories thanks to the higher cost of shipping from expensive oil.

However if there is no bankruptcy, or an inept one, I think Chrysler will become a Chinese brand by 2015. It’s an easy way for an ambitious Chinese company to buy some recognition and a distribution network.

I have nothing but sympathy for all service workers right now. I saw the most ridiculous thing at Jack in the Box an hour ago.

I don’t normally work on Friday, but today I had to fill in for someone on sick leave. I came into work early so I would have time to stop at the Jack in the Box across the street for lunch. It was crowded but otherwise uneventful. I was standing near the counter waiting for my food when I listed in on this disheveled, scruffy looking guy placing his order.

Now if you visit Jack in the Box with any sort of regularity, you are aware they sell that sirloin burger where you can specify the type of cheese and onions you want on it. This guy took it a step beyond. It wasn’t enough to choose between cheddar, American or Swiss. He wanted one slice of American on top, and one slice of cheddar on the bottom. The guy behind the counter froze for a sec and slowly looked up at him. The order taker was a total professional though. Trying to accommodate this ridiculous request, he told the customer he would have to shout that instruction to the cook. Perhaps this only emboldened the customer, or maybe he intended to ask this all along, but then he decided his burger must only have iceburg lettuce. As he said, “I don’t want the romaine lettuce. I want iceburg lettuce. That pale kind.” The counter guy just went with it. I, for one, had no idea Jack in the Box even uses two types of lettuce, and I eat there about once a week.

I don’t understand what possessed that customer to be so fussy. Is he really going to taste the difference between one slice of cheddar and one slice of American? The lettuce substitution really knocked me for a loop too. Food service workers, I know you have to put up with weirdos like that everyday. I doth my hat to all of you.

I am thunderstruck right now. I have actually seen a Volkswagen I want to buy. For years I’ve denounced that brand and have tried to dissuade others from buying them. Volkswagen charges you $2000 to $3000 more than comparable vehicles from other manufacturers. It’s as if you’re paying for a car and then you get hit with a tax just for the privilege of having the VW badge on the car. Not to mention VWs have build quality issues. There’s the infamous falling windows problem. Then there are the ones whose engines burst into flame.

I don’t have any first hand experience with VWs but that’s because my sister used to own one. She bought a 1991 Jetta brand new. It was her first new car so she especially loved it. That love would not last though. That car developed the most mysterious problem I have ever heard of. At 65 mph it would vibrate like mad. I observed this one sunny afternoon on the LIE. My sister was driving when she turned to me and said, “Hey, take a look at the speedometer and see what happens!” So I watched… 62… 63… 64… 65 mph! Then I heard the most ungodly rumble all around me. The dashboard visibly shook. It was like the whole car was sitting on a vibrating bed. Then 66 mph… Silence. Everything stopped moving. Eventually the car became so unreliable she had to leave the engine running when she pumped gas, and stay in the right lane in case the engine simply decided to stop running. This was not a good advertisement for VW.

Since that ’91 Jetta I have made an effort to avoid VW and warn others to do the same. But today I have finally seen the car that cracked my resolve – The VW Golf TwinDrive! Of course it has to be a concept car. Only 20 have been produced and that’s for a pilot program with the German government.

Looks pretty ordinary doesn’t it? That’s just the outside. Like we tell little children, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. The TwinDrive is a diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain. The electric motor can power the car for the first 30 miles. After that the diesel engine will kick in to recharge the batteries and keep you going. So basically it runs like a Chevy Volt but with a diesel engine. This technical beauty, on a demo run around Berlin, was getting 94 mpg!

I guess it’s a little unfair to compare the mileage of this to the Volt. After all, the Volt doesn’t even exist yet. There was some talk of 150 mpg, but who really knows what that will be until a production model is finalized. To be fair the TwinDrive Golf’s 94 mpg wasn’t reached in rigorous testing either. It was calculated from a run around town. Still though the TwinDrive exists while the Volt is just a gleam in Maximum Bob Lutz’s eye. I’ll pin my hopes on VW’s real world tech before GM’s hopes.

There’s another reason this excites me too. Diesel engines are just better than gasoline ones. You get better performance and fuel efficiency from them. The noise and stink of past diesels have been eliminated. It’s about time someone married a diesel engine to an electric motor and put it in a car. Even with VW’s poor reputation I would be severely tempted to buy this car if it was sold in the US. I even hate hatchbacks, but I would totally overlook that for this technology.

But there is the kicker. Who knows IF this will be sold? Who knows IF this will be sold in the US? This car is just a test. A system ready for production won’t be around until 2010, so that means we have to wait for a 2011 model. I can’t really guess if Volkswagen will try to sell this in the US. The US is not diesel friendly and although Mercedes has been trying to change attitudes, who knows if VW will try. VW is bringing a diesel Jetta to America in August so I guess a lot will depend on how that sells.

But by 2011, who knows what else will be available? Didn’t Nissan say they would have an electric vehicle for sale then? A full electric car trumps any hybrid, assuming it’s not a dinky piece of crap. Whatever my next car will be the only thing I know is that it won’t be a Volt. That thing is fugly.

I don’t know how important the South Street Seaport is to the average New Yorker, but I know I have a lot of memories of the place. I remember as a kid spending many summer days there with my mom. Naturally this was before I grew into an annoying teenager who was embarrassed to be seen with her.

Most years we didn’t have air conditioning at home, so we would spend a hot day in that Pier 17 mall browsing the stores and mooching the a/c. We would always stop at The Sharper Image first. I know that sounds strange but remember back in the 1980s that store was cool. There was always a long line of people to get in. That only built frustration and anticipation in a child. Once inside I would run around and look with wonder at all the useless gadgets. The food court at Pier 17 was also the first place I ate Hawaiian pizza. To a nine year old, pineapple on a pizza is the most exotic thing imaginable. As the afternoon grew long, we would sit out on the third floor deck in those heavy wooden lounge chairs and enjoy the strong breeze off the East River.

Oh but I skipped over the start of the day. We would always take the E train to the World Trade Center and walk across town. The A or C would have been closer to the Seaport but for whatever reason we never transferred to them. Walking by Trinity Church always made my imagination race. The building was so out of place in lower Manhattan. I wanted to get near the ancient gravestones. The stones were so thin and worn. They were so different from any cemetery I had been to.

I think it was Fulton Street that we took to walk to the Seaport. We would browse the little junk stores as we walked. I remember there was a Burger King built next to a basketball court. It always stuck out to me because the Burger King was built in a single story building that was set below street level. The apartments and offices that surrounded it really towered above it. Because the building was such an oddity I always wanted to eat there, but my mom only allowed it, maybe, twice in all those visits. Closer to the Seaport there were these two alleys off of Fulton. That really got my mind racing. There aren’t that many alleys in the street grid anymore. Every time we walked by, the history nerd in me would blossom and I would imagine New York City back in the 19th century when shit would actually go down in alleys.

And when I got older, I didn’t visit the Seaport much, but I did have some interesting memories of the area. There was one winter Saturday I spent the whole day shopping in lower Manhattan with my brother. We literally walked for hours, it was nighttime and quite cold, and we ended up near the Seaport. That’s when my brother got the idea in his head that it would be fun to walk home across the Brooklyn Bridge. So we walked from the Seaport to the bridge and then across. I remember the streets being oddly empty that night. Manhattan without people is quite eerie. That only heightened the tension for me when we crossed the bridge. On the Brooklyn side the area was totally dead. To get to the street we had to walk down this narrow concrete staircase whose overhead lights had burnt out.

It shouldn’t be surprising to learn the Seaport has the plumpest roaches. I think it was during my senior year of high school when I planned to meet friends there one night. I got there early and had a seat on one of those concrete benches near the elevated FDR at the edge of the pier. I sat and people-watched for a bit when I happened to catch some motion in the corner of my eye. I looked down, and it took a few seconds for my eyes to focus, but there I spotted a fat roach crawling around at the edge where the concrete bench met the cobblestone street. Horrifying! Later that same night when I was with friends hanging around the wooden pier in the back of the Pier 17 mall, I kept my eyes open for more roaches. Wow, did I find them! Of course they were there the whole time, but since I wasn’t looking I never noticed. Once I knew what to look for, I saw them everywhere!

Why am I babbling like a man on his deathbed? Well it turns out the South Street Seaport isn’t the draw that it used to be so a real estate developer is going to step in and redevelop the whole site. The Pier 17 mall will be razed. It’s going to be replaced with more retail space, a boutique hotel and a big condo tower. None of this bothers me. The South Street Seaport isn’t a museum. Buildings come and go but I’ll always have my memories. What bothers me is the hideousness of the new architecture. The new buildings are eyesores.

Let’s start with the obvious change – the new condo tower. The first thing that pops into my mind when I look at that permanent scaffold-like structure is the 1970s. That scaffold is a throwback to an era of rounded corners and cheap, plasticy surfaces. It’s hard to be certain from this rendering, but I strongly suspect that is exactly what it will look like close up in real life. I’m also a little skeptical of its placement. I would rather see it on the other side of the FDR.

Now let’s take a look at the boutique hotel. If I didn’t know what this was supposed to be, I would guess ‘College Campus Library circa 1975′. That irregular orange monstrosity may actually be worse than the tower. By the way notice the choice of pavers in this rendering. I hope that’s just lazy artwork and not accurate to the plan. The Seaport should have cobblestones, not whatever those hexagons are called.

I have no objections to redeveloping the entire seaport. I just don’t want it to look ugly. This design is adding some big eyesores to the skyline. That scaffold building is going to be right next to the Brooklyn Bridge too. You can’t ignore that. Community Board 1 seems to go apeshit at the idea of anything with the slightest bit of height to it, so I think this plan is going to end up being killed. I don’t agree with that attitude, but hey at least these horrid buildings won’t go up.

Here’s some news that should make all the energy independence buffs throw their hats to the floor and shout “Tarnashion!” India’s Reliance Industries is building the world’s largest oil refinery. This refinery, scheduled for completion this December, is planned for refined fuel export to Europe and the US exclusively. So by the end of the year we can be dependent on India for gasoline shipments. Gas prices could drop by 60 cents a gallon from this.

How can this lower prices when we’re being told we live in a world of tight oil supplies? It’s actually quite simple. This enormous refinery will process sour crude oil. Sour refers to the sulfur content of the petroleum. Sour crude has lots of sulfur. Sweet crude has little. Removing sulfur from oil is an expensive process, so in the past oil refiners have chosen to favor sweet crude. I was surprised to learn there is actually a glut of sour oil. The extra 200,000 daily barrels Saudi Arabia pledged this weekend to pump is all sour crude. That’s why the announcement did nothing to lower prices. The Saudis will pump more unwanted oil. Iraq has 30 million barrels in tankers floating at sea. They have no destination because no one wants to buy sour crude.

The oil price you see ticking ever higher on TV is the price for West Texas Intermediate crude. That is a light sweet crude oil, and that type of oil is actually in short supply. We’re not finding any new major fields in Texas anymore. The UK’s sweet crude from the North Sea is in decline. Nigeria is another sweet crude producer and thanks to militants in the oil rich Niger River Delta, it’s well below its pumping capacity. Nigeria could pump 3 million barrels a day, but the rebel attacks have cut that by 944,000 barrels. If the rebels were put down, oil prices would plummet.

But remember, No Blood For Oil, so we’ll have to make due with the sour crude no one wants. Well, Reliance Industries will want it by the end of the year. They’re going buy this cheaper oil, turn it into high quality fuel, and sell it to us. They will get even more money because refined fuel commands a higher price than crude, and new jobs from the deal. Construction of the new refinery is employing 100,000 people (not a typo). It will still employ thousands of people when it’s running.

Let this be a reminder that all this energy independence talk is hot air. How can we seriously say we’re going to get away from importing oil, when we’re about to import even more refined fuel!? The US is about to become even more dependent on another country for fuel but nobody cares because doing something (building our own refineries) is impossible. No one is willing to compromise and agree to allow any to be built. Over and over local politicians bemoan the loss of heavy industry. How dare they do that when no one will stand up and offer land for a new refinery. A giant factory that builds cars or TV sets or any widget you choose isn’t going to be any different. Industry is industry and a refinery will be as clean, or dirty depending on your perspective, as any other. Michigan only has one refinery. Indiana has two, and Ohio has four. If they’re hurting for blue collar jobs so bad, let an oil company build some sour crude refineries in those states.

Well that was quick. Obama’s team has said the new seal was for “one-time use“. I really thought they would try to ignore this for a little longer and hope it would go away. I guess they were trying to nip it in the bud, but I feel having a spokesperson make an announcement about it only puts this error back into the news. They should have silently switched back to the big-O logo and moved on.

Anyway, while I was reading about Obama’s fantasy seal debacle yesterday, I found some political humor. It has no relation to the seal story. I just found these amusing.

I especially enjoy the arugula poster.

Then I found an Obama quote where he says he’s traveled through 57 states on his campaign, but has campaign staff won’t let him visit Hawaii. So apparently the US is up to 58 states. If I were the sort of person who wore pins, I would so buy this. It’s hilarious!

I wasn’t going to bring up this subject, but I changed my mind today after reading some comments on CNN. Did you happen to see Obama’s new logo? At a meeting with Democratic governors, Obama had the new logo placed on his podium.

I caught a quick glimpse of it on a news report a few nights ago. In the first half second I was flabbergasted he was using the presidential seal. Then I slowly realized the seal was actually something from his campaign but it has a remarkable resemblance. I thought to myself, “What a cocky bastard!” Once I got over the shock I had to wonder if this was calculated to make the public slowly accept the idea of President Obama. If we keep seeing him with this similar symbol, unconsciously, we’ll all be comfortable seeing him as president.

As I said I wasn’t going to bother mentioning this, because it’s not actually a big deal. It’s an emotional issue, not a real issue. I changed my mind after reading so many comments on CNN that shared my feelings on this. It just seems so presumptuous to create a mock presidential seal for yourself. A candidate with confidence is one thing. Cockiness is another.

There was one comment I agreed with wholeheartedly.

You know, if Hillary did this the Obama supporters would scream foul, talking about how arogant she is, pretending to have won already, not waiting for people to cast their votes. “Ooo, but it’s Obama. Look how presidential he looks. He’s being a visionary!”

That is dead-on correct! It wouldn’t just be Obama supporters though. I think you would have gotten a number of pundits piling on too.

The reaction to the new logo seems to fall along candidate-lines. No surprise there. Obama supporters seem to break heavily in favor of it. I think 80% are gung-ho in favor of it, thinking that there’s no harm done because Obama will have the real presidential seal in few months. The remaining 20% aren’t against it, but fear it’s an intemperate move that will alienate the undecided people and Hillary’s camp. I think most of the Clintonians and McCain supporters are united in their dislike of this. Those two sides agree it makes Obama look really full of himself.

I don’t really know how the undecideds will take it. I can’t imagine any of them will strongly support it. Either they won’t care or they’ll be as angered as the Clinton and McCain supporters. All in all this seems like a big negative for Obama. I doubt we’ll see that seal out again.

John McCain came out as a strong champion of nuclear power on Tuesday. He’s calling for the construction of 45 new reactors between now and 2030. He’s even going beyond the anti-carbon argument in favor of nuclear. He wants the US to start building reactors so we don’t lose the technological base required to build them.

I have never heard anyone make that case before, but it’s not without merit. As I understand the global nuclear energy market, Japan’s Toshiba and France’s Ariva stand as giants. Westinghouse used to be the national champion of the US in this field, but it’s now owned by Toshiba. We still have GE though! A revival of the nuclear industry here would be a boon for GE and Toshiba’s subsidiary. Forty-five reactors though is enough work for everyone. I would expect the smaller nuclear firms in the US would grow immensely from this plan.

I’m left wondering though why there is still a delay on the construction of new plants. I thought the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was supposed to get this on track. That was supposed to cover cost overruns in construction that were caused by regulatory delay for the first six plants to start construction. So where are these six new plants? Supposedly there was this huge demand for them, but who has started construction? What are these companies waiting for, and what exactly is McCain promising that would get them to start building? That last question really needs an answer.

By the way, McCain had a really good zinger for Barack Obama in the same speech where he called for more nuclear plants. He was responding to a criticism from Obama that by favoring an end to the federal moratorium on offshore drilling, McCain was just a third term of Bush.

I guess the senator has changed his position since voting for the 2005 Bush energy bill — a grab-bag of corporate handouts that I opposed,” McCain said. “Come to think of it, that energy bill was the only time we’ve ever seen Senator Obama vote in favor of any tax break — and it was a tax break for the oil companies.

If McCain can get that down to a quick phrase, he’s got a catchy attack to counter Obama’s “third term of Bush” charge. That line alone won’t win him an election, but it can make him relevent again.