The "Bloom Box"

No..it's not a gardening fixture.

It's a new power source technology that will blow you away. An inexpensive,clean and with no emissions power source. The Sunnyvale, Calif. based company has heavyweight customers such as eBay, Wal-Mart Stores, FedEx and others in California which already have been testing and using it to power their company headquarters. And the companies are reporting major savings over what they were paying the standard utility power companies. It was made by Shachar Bar-on. It's a little power plant-in-a-box they want to put literally in your backyard.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6228923n&tag=contentMain;contentBody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVZAT3U_Jls&feature=player_embedded#

Now, what are the problems with it?

Well, one thing is the billions and billions of dollars in subsidies we, as U.S. taxpayers, have given, and set to give, to energy companies for Research and Development. What are G.E., BP and Siemens suppose to do without the U.S. taxpayers funding R&D money to them?

Naysayers state there's nothing that they can see that is that unique about it. The Bloom Energy fuel cell is designed to be stacked into small blocks. It's estimated that 4 or 5 blocks will power a U.S. home. Larger units, such as those with 100kW units, are housed in a unit about the size of a large side-by-side refrigerator. The "Bloom boxes" already in use by companies are costing between $700,000 and $800,000 each. Bloom Energy's CEO K.R Sridhar says it can be made inexpensive enough for everyone to afford.The $3,000 home version is estimated to be ten years away. If adopted by local power companies, this product could result in a huge decrease in homeowners energy bills

Inexpensive, clean and developed technology.
Already produced, being tested and in use.
No huge amounts of taxpayer money appropriated to R&D.
New factories or refitting current factories would be a boon for the jobs market.
Could it be fitted to an auto to totally run it on natural gas?
Oh my Goddess! What will Gore do with no carbon footprints?
What will the politicians do with no energy lobbyists for oil funding them?

Remember Bloom Energy and the "Bloom Box"; lest it be covered over and hidden by the Powers-That-Be.

'..in China, with China, for China'

in June of 2009, General Motors in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was America's fourth largest, but the largest for a U.S. manufacturer as G.M. was 172 billion dollars in debt. The U.S. government initially invested twenty billion dollars and, later, another 30 billion dollars. In return, taxpayers became the owners of 60% of a smaller G.M. Canada and the United Auto Workers union also own part of the restructured company.

To reduce costs, G.M. plans to close more factories and cut more jobs in the United States by the end of 2011. In addition to G.M. plans to sell or discontinue its Saturn, Saab and Pontiac lines; it plans to cut more than 1000 dealerships in the United States by the end of 2010. GM has sold its Hummer brand to a heavy equipment company in China.

Now, if the unemployment rate in the U.S. isn't depressing enough for you, then you might be interested in adding betrayal to that depression. But you will have to discern who betrayed us: companies like GM; or our own U.S. government and its representatives; or both? And, in fairness, we have to claim responsibility for allowing it happen and for being duped.

You won't find this information being reported by your daily cable channel news anchors and reporters. Only a few cable channels report on the real economy, and political plays and deals behind them. Most of them bought, and then sold to us, the 'they are too big to fail' party line.They were too busy with being used to redirect our attention and angst to the big bonuses and company jets issues.

Bush's T.A.R.P. and Obama's Stimulus have done nothing but to hasten U.S. economic decline. While some are hailing the recent report of a 2.7% rise in U.S. GDP, they are ignoring that it is being artificially propped up.

GDP growth was said to be due to higher consumer spending; however, a jump in exports was offset by an even larger rise in imports. There was also the Cash-for-Clunkers that is now over.

The GDP growth was claimed as there was a slowdown in the reduction of inventories; but, no new inventories nor U.S. manufactured goods are being added. There has been no follow through in sustaining a renewed market for the autos in the U.S. Plus, business investment declined as another large drop in investments in structures.

An increase in residential investments, as in home building and new mortgages, is said to have contributed to GDP growth. This is an artificial shoring up as the home-buyer tax credit is still in effect. There are a number of mortgages that are being renegotiated, or refinanced, as new loans.There is also a jump in housing vacancies as in the homes that were started were not completed, or, if completed, are vacant.

Finally, GDP growth was definitely pushed upwards by robust government spending. The Cash-for-Clunkers, T.A.R.P., the home-buyer tax credit, the Stimulus, and more is government spending. Yet, there is still a high rate of banks which have failed. There are 6 so far this month, And it's only December 5th. And bankruptcies are still rising.

Bailing out General Motors was part of the robust government spending. And remember that the Stimulus was also suppose to go for alternative energy research and developement. It was suppose to help create more jobs in businesses like GM for U.S. workers. That's what the President said in his speeches as to why we have to spend all this money to bail out all these big businesses. That's what people in Congress said when they voted for spending all the taxpayers money. That's what the Fed said as it doled out all the taxpayers money.

What we weren't being told by them was that in April 2009, General Motors Corp., in China, and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC) launched SAIC's Shanghai Brand Fuel Cell Vehicle, which is powered by GM's latest fourth-generation fuel cell propulsion technology. What they didn't tell us was that GM has already developed and produced a 700 bar high-pressure hydrogen fuel cell system adapted in the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell cars.

What they didn't tell us was that:

"The two automakers, which operate eight joint ventures in China, earlier signed a pair of agreements to promote advanced vehicle technology. Their Shanghai GM joint venture began selling the Buick LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid last year as part of its Drive to Green strategy. China is slated to become one of the first markets for the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle in 2011"

And General Motors Co on Thurs, Dec. 4 2009, said it has;

"...set up a $100 million joint venture in Hong Kong along with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp Group (SAIC) to focus on the Asian markets. The new venture would bring under its umbrella all the Indian operations of GM including the two vehicle manufacturing facilities, a power train unit and the nationwide distribution network.
GM would also produce and sell small cars and mini-commercial vehicles developed by Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co in India under the new joint venture."

What they also didn't tell us was that:

"The Shanghai and Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles will be featured in the most extensive fuel cell demonstration program ever conducted in China. This follows the government's call for the creation of a sustainable transportation system," said GM Group Vice President and GM Asia Pacific President Nick Reilly.
"GM supports China's move toward sustainability, and we are providing our latest fuel cell technology in line with our overall strategy of in China, with China, for China."

General Motors.
Founded in 1908; in the U.S.A; built up by U.S. workers; sustained by U.S.A. consumers;
now - "..in China, with China, for China".

Remember that the next time Congress or the President tell us they have to spend money for anything; while we taxpayers are going to be betrayed, left holding the bag and beaten with the short end of the stick.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/05/content_9123704.htm

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=GM%3AUS&sid=ary05b2P2J6g

http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm

http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/bank/index.html

Health Insurers endanger your personal information

Health insurer, Health Net, lost 1.5 million patient records in May but never informed patients, law enforcement or government entities, despite data breach laws in some states that require data spillers to notify victims and state officials when residents are affected by a breach. The insurer finally sent a letter to Connecticut’s attorney general and the state’s Department of Insurance this week.

Health Net claimed it took six months to determine what data was on the missing disk. The information was on a hard drive that disappeared from Health Net's Shelton office. The hard drive included all data on patients, including health information, as well as financial and personal data such as social security and bank account numbers. There were also some physicians' personal information on the disk as well. It said that data on the disk was compressed and stored in an image format that required special software to view, which was available only to HealthNet.

Health Net will provide credit monitoring for over two years - free of charge - to all impacted members who elect the service, and will provide assistance to any member who has experienced any suspicious activity, identity theft or health care fraud between May 2009 and their date of enrollment.

So, anyone having Health Net needs to start getting in line. I smell a class action suit for damages in the making.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news11027.html
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Universal American Action Network exposes clients Medicare SS numbers


Thousands could become victims of identity theft just because a piece of mail has been sent to their homes.
Right on the front of the piece of mail, in plain view, is the Medicare recipient's Social Security number.
The postcards were from the Universal American Action Network, a subsidiary of Universal American Insurance. The data leak affected patients enrolled in the Medicare Advantage plan, which uses a patient’s Social Security number as his Medicare account number.

The company revealed that 80,000 postcards with Social Security numbers on them were sent out last Friday to Universal clients throughout the country. Universal American said that the Social Security numbers were on the postcards because of a printing error. And Universal claims it immediately terminated its contract with the printing service.

The big question is -- how did this company get the Social Security numbers? Well, in many cases, Medicare account numbers are your Social Security number. Universal American said it will send a letter to those who received the postcards notifying them of this problem and offer to provide free credit monitoring for a year. In the meantime, anyone with any questions can contact Universal American at 1 (877) 697-6228.

http://www.wgal.com/news/21655737/detail.html