Zane Safrit

Paddling through Iowa City, IA

From IowaFlood.com

The Power of You (as measured and controlled by us)

Time-Warner announced their new metered-use internet service plan for the lucky residents of Beaumont, Texas. From TechCrunch.

Time-Warner's slogan now  is The power of you. After today, for the residents of Beaumont, it should say The Power of You (as measured and controlled by us).

The power of innovation that's been unleashed until now in the US with internet access is what's opened the doors to opportunities and startups and competition and innovation, regardless of locale. It's a level playing field that's benefited everyone. THAT's what's unleashed the power of you. And not a single corporate provider.

And now by limiting it, by controlling it and metering it ...they serve only to  control (stifle) this power of innovation and creativity and enterpreneurship...they seek to become the gatekeepers of small business, the jobs they create, our ability to compete globally...

Yeah, it is that big a deal, especially for small business, startups and small communities. You know, those places where over 50% of new jobs are created.

I'm blessed in many ways. One way is our community's commitment to bringing fiber to each home. 1/4 of the town has it now. We'll have ours later this summer. Let's measure the job growth in each town, Fairfield and Beaumont, over the next few years. For job growth, my money's on my town.

Ironically, not as in funny irony, but the kind of irony that makes you get...agitated, we've, all of us,  maybe already paid for fiber to the home. From TechDirt: You've Already Paid...

Job Surplus...in Iowa!

A survey of companies by Iowa Workforce Development, a state agency, found as many as 48,000 job vacancies, in industries including financial services — Des Moines trails only Hartford as the nation’s insurance capital — health care and skilled manufacturing. One estimate projects the job surplus to reach 198,000 by 2014, with vacancies increasingly in professional positions. Greater Des Moines alone faces a shortfall of 60,000 workers in the next decade.

Come on out.

Corn Ethanol: Environmentally Disastrous?

Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous.

...The grain it takes to fill an SUV tank with ethanol could feed a person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of ourselves.

Soaring corn prices have sparked tortilla riots in Mexico City, and skyrocketing flour prices have destabilized Pakistan, which wasn't exactly tranquil when flour was affordable.

But the basic problem with most biofuels is amazingly simple,... using land to grow fuel leads to the destruction of forests, wetlands and grasslands that store enormous amounts of carbon. The Clean Energy Scam, Time magazine.

Link from Trends I'm Watching.

The prospect for  grain-based ethanol held such promise. Living in Iowa, the prospect of an industry to bring jobs to the rural communities built around grain production, seemed ideal. But has time's gone on, much of the benefit comes not to the local community but to the corporate owners who, too often, live, and take their profits, outside the state.

But that's not unique here. That business model is consistent around the world from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, as well as here in Iowa.

Des Moines, Iowa: Center of the Universe

Go ahead and laugh now, some of you. But in some scenarios...coming to fruition in oh, say 5-10 years, that's a reality:

If one were to mindlessly extrapolate the present to the future, to say 2015, oil would go from $120 to $500 a barrel, corn would be at $15 a bushel and Dubai and Des Moines would be the two most powerful places in the world. - From Always On post titled Corn Flakes.

Mindlessly? Yeah, it's not so difficult really to extrapolate much of this happening. I mean who extrapolated a 30% increase in oil prices in the past 2.5 months?