As I’m sure you’re all aware, the House of Representatives voted down the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 3997) today.

People have no idea how screwed we are if the EESA 2008 doesn’t get passed.

“Bailout” was the worst marketing technique anyone could have chosen. The plan is not a taxpayer bailout of Wall Street fat-cats.

The plan should be considered as a long-term investment by the U.S. government … like the sovereign wealth funds from China and Dubai that are buying up so much stuff right now. 80-90% of the mortgages in the currently illiquid MBS’s are good. These mortgages will get paid. The MBS’s aren’t insolvent; they’re not necessarily bad investments, they’re just excessively illiquid right now.

If the government holds these securities to maturity or until the economy stabilizes, there is a very good chance that as a nation, we may actually realize a profit on most of these securities.

Currently, mark-to-market accounting rules mean that if a few of these securities are sold at deep discounts, then everyone else must write-down their values to the current market price … the problem is that right now, there really is no market, which makes it even more difficult.

It’s like having a pocket full of $500.00 bills. Most places can’t make change on them, so if you’re desperate for cash you can spend, you may be forced to sell a $500.00 for $250 in small bills. The way the current accounting rules are, then all of the $500.00 bills you own now have to be valued on the books at $250.00.

Now, if you’re sitting on a stack of $500.00 that you can’t really spend, and have just a few $20.00 bills, you might be hesitant to lend out the $20.00 bills because you don’t know when you’ll be able to realize the true value of the $500.00 bills.

This is the equivalent of commercial credit drying up.

Trading in commercial paper (which funds almost every company’s day-to-day activities) came to a near standstill last week. It will be interesting to see what happens when a business’s lines-of-credit start to dry up, and they can’t make payroll.

Please call or write your Congressional Representatives, and urge him/her to vote FOR the EESA 2008 when it comes up for a re-vote later in the week. Please tell them not to vote based on public opinion polls, but to truly vote for the good of the nation.

Our first line of defense is not missiles, is not soldiers, is not tanks. It’s a strong economy. Failing to pass this act will endanger our national security, more so than Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein ever could.

Apple itself is setting the record straight and says that iPhone 3G's GPS mapping unit is as powerful as in dedicated devices. Also, cut-and-paste is still a possibility, and outside testers have found the iPhone's battery life the best in its class.

Contradicting claims by the New York Times' David Pogue, who was told by Apple that iPhone 3G's GPS chip is too small to work for turn-by-turn navigation, Apple product chief Greg Woswiak tells ExtremeTech that the hardware is just as capable as in other GPS-aware phones, many of which provide live driving directions.

Instead, the lack of an existing program from Apple or someone else to handle real-time road navigation is due to "complicated issues," according to the executive. He expects full navigation functionality to be expanded once developers are given more time.

"It will evolve," Joswiak says. "I think our developers will amaze us."

At least two veteran companies of the GPS industry, TeleNav and TomTom, have already said they are developing fuller navigation software than what's offered with the iPhone edition of Google Maps.

Read more: AppleInsider | iPhone 3G clarifications: battery life, GPS, office apps.

Do I sense marketing spin? Especially marketing spin designed to make people money by not building in certain functionalities, so that other developers can sell an app to take advantage of capabilities?

Nah … couldn’t be.

Cyclist killed instantly in collision with pickup
The Salt Lake Tribune

A Park City man bicycling in Utah County was killed about 10 a.m. Saturday when his group of riders stopped, causing him to crash into another rider and fall into the path of a Dodge pickup.

The group of seven friends, among them 49-year-old William Corliss, was riding bicycles in tandem on the narrow southbound shoulder of State Road 68, about 2 miles south of State Road 73 in Saratoga Springs, said Utah County sheriff’s Lt. Yvette Rice.

Because of gravel on the shoulder, the lead riders slowed almost to a stop at mile marker 30.5. Corliss was farther back in the line. As he tried to slow down, he ran into the back tire of the bicycle immediately in front of him, causing him to fall into the southbound lane.

A Dodge pick-up towing a large trailer with cement forms struck Corliss, killing him on impact, Rice said.

Though he was wearing a bike helmet, Corliss reportedly suffered severe head trauma as a result of the accident.

The accident remains under investigation, Rice said, though Corliss’ death does not appear to be “suspicious in nature.”

- Lisa Rosetta

———-

Bill Corliss was a long-time and well-respected bicycle industry veteran, having directed marketing and product development for many companies, including Schwinn, Raleigh, Vetta and Sports Instruments; and most recently was the Director of Electronic Development for Bell Sports.

Bill had also been serving as a mentor with the Park City Cycling Academy, a developmental cycling program that is unique in the United States.

A sad day for cycling in Utah, and for the bike industry.