Gene Morphis ' View

If you work for a company and the President, CEO or COO - especially if he is new to the company, says "we are going back to basics", update your resume' that day. Don't hesitate; begin networking for a new position, post on Monster/Hot Jobs/Career Builder, etc. as soon as you can prepare a competitive resume'. Your company is in big trouble and the leader most likely is clueless to the nuances of the market, competitors and internal capabilities. If you own a stock and, in a presentation or earnings call, the CEO says "we are going back to basics", sell the stock, and give strong consideration to shorting it. Of course, by the time they are spouting that, the stock has probably already been pummeled.

I ordered a sampler of the new, much-discussed and much-promoted Nub cigars. From Oliva, the concept is that regular cigars have a sweet spot, generally in the middle, where it most richest and most flavorable. So, they attempted to develop short cigars (shorter than robustos) but rolled so that the entire cigar is the sweet spot. I'm not too sure they succeeded. But I am sure that they are far stronger than I expected. Even the Cameroon wrapper, suposedly the mildest blend is one charged-up stick. I would only recommend to someone who likes them really, really strong...

Let's parse the credit crisis and explain what really happened rather than all the silly and illogical explanations bandied about. There are actually multiple causes, not just simply one. Actually, we'll discover seven. Each type has its own backstory. Start with Freddie and Fannie . While widespread fables attribute this to inadequate regulation, nothing could be further from the truth, or, to be direct, a dumber explanation. Fannie and Freddie were incredibly regulated - in fact, there was a regulator OFHEO that had nothing to regulate but Fannie and Freddie. (As an aside, when you hear one of our outstaning elected officials say that this all happened because of inadequate oversight, just remember OFHEO. Your tax dollars were at work on oversight right there. Feeling better?) Rather, F & F's demise, at enormous cost to the now-frequently-abused American taxpayer, was directly caused by a failure by the slimy gutless weasels we elected to run our government. F&...

Charles Eugene Morphis, 92, of Jonesboro, passed away on Monday August 18, 2008, at his home. He was born in Pocahontas TN on April 1, 1916, to Charles and Ida Morphis. Mr. Morphis was a manufacturer’s representative and habadasher with Langenburg Hat Company where he designed hats for stars such as Elvis, Charlie Daniels, Loretta Lynn among many others. He was a Mason and a former president of US Men's and Boy's Apparel Club. He was a sergeant in the Army and served in World War II and was awarded five battle stars. He was a proud patriot and a member of Walnut Street Baptist Church. He leaves behind his two sons, Gene Morphis of Ambler PA and Gary Morphis of New Orleans LA; a daughter, Stephanie Wilbanks of Jonesboro; two brothers, Leonard Morphis of Selmer TN and Rayde Morphis of Pocahontas TN; two sisters, Maxine Firnhaber of Huntington IN and Sadie Foster of Pocahontas TN; seven grandchildren, Blane, Misty, Blake, Josalyn, Cree, Jillian and Dusty; and three great grandchil...

A new conservative voice - Jake Bell - has joined the blogosphere with Jaxxe Ramblings . I'm going to label Jake a neocon - but you and he can judge and comment. He has posted his opening conservative manifesto. And Russ Morphis, perhaps a touch less vociferous in his conservatism, but more than a touch more religious, has updated his site with pictures from his trip to Ecuador. He deserves your financial support.

How to unfreeze your IPOD nano. OK - I'll accept that the IPOD series from Apple has been breakthrough technology. And Apple's persistance in continual improving the product has been impressive. However, these little gadgets aren't perfect, and the documentation isn't just inadequate, it is non-existent. So, about half the time I'm on an airplane my IPOD freezes just before music starts to play. Here is what you do: hold the click button in the middle and press menu. You have to hold them for 10-12 seconds or longer. May take several attempts. But, eventually you will get the little Apple logo and it will reset.

Much has been said and written over the last few months about energy independence as gasoline prices have starkly indicated how America has become a debtor nation, subject to the whims of the oil producing countries. So what are the hallmarks of a energy policy that would deserve our support? I submit that it should have four principles, it should: -encourage every alternative. -make a difference as fast as possible. -depend upon private capital as much as possible rather than require funding from the over-stretched U.S. taxpayer. -support free-market and price mechanisms. Broad alternatives To break our addiction to the crack cocaine of foreign oil, we are going to need to exploit all our energy options. Wind power has a number of advocates, and rapidly improving technology from blades to turbines. No government funding is really required; wind is finding investors. The Pickens' Plan deserves not only consideration, but quick action. Solar is moving along; is a long-time envi...

In the ultimate final repudiation of the conservative movement, President Bush is leaving a $473 billion deficit - except that it is really at least $553 billion, since the Iraq and Afghanstan wars will cost at least $80 billion and, in the zany world of government accounting, those are not included. Shortly after his first election, an editorial article in the Wall St. Journal called him a "big government conservative". I wish I could remember who wrote the piece. It stands out in my memory because there really isn't such a thing. Going back to the founding fathers, conservative thought has centered on small government; indeed, there were serious debates about maintaining a standing army because the risk to a republic was too high. When President Lyndon Johnson supported the war in Viet Nam and the Great Society social programs, we called it guns and butter, and argued vehemently against it. Now that a so-called conservative has supported the exact same policy, our v...

Presidential Race #7 I had written McCain off. His campaign has seemed dismal to me and not much of a message. Obama has been a rockstar campaigner (note Euro love fest tour). However, the Democrats' stubborn clinging to an anti-oil, anti-anything practical concerning energy, policy may just be backfiring. We aren't so stupid as to believe drilling in Anwar and on the continental shelf means cheap gas forever; but it does mean we don't have to return to an agrarian society until clean coal, biomass, wind, and solar have critical mass. (I want to scream build nuclear power plants here but I'll likely be dead before the court cases would be settled). The Obama campaign has been Marshall McLuhan based (the medium is the message) and therefor content-free. This may sound critical but it's not: content-free has prevailed over Biden, Clinton, Edwards, Dodd, etc. But it isn't so clear that it will continue to work against a real platform presented clearly and concisel...

Beware the argument tactic of false choices. While it is really transparent, it is being used so frequently that someone must be convinced it is working. Example: Senator Shumer et al gave a press conference where they said they are going to continue to oppose offshore drilling because it detracts from real solutions like renewable energy. No it doesn't This is a false choice. We should pursue all the energy options. There are a number of solar companies, they've raised capital and generally on their way (although note environmental obstacles in previous post). I'm all for them. There are numerous investments in clean coal technology, some backed by the most successful venture capitalists ever. I hope they make it work. There are utilities that are seeking approval to build nuclear plants. They should be approved, and with legislation that restricts lawsuits so that plants can actually be built. Boone Pickens and others are building windmill farms. Good. Some of ...

For a brief moment, I deluded myself into believing that our elected officials might take action and help make the U.S. more self-sufficient for energy. But recent developments have snapped me back to reality. Environmentalism is the new religion, and it has either co-opted or swept all the old Western religions aside. (The Muslim world has yet to be converted). While Christianity has been banned from the U.S. classroom (as well as a large portion of Europe) young minds can be proselytized endlessly on preserving the environment - it is actually a core curriculum topic. Rachel Carson would be shocked to learn she created a movement that is likely to eclipse communism. And in what - a mere 46 years? It took hundreds of years for Christianity to spread across Europe. The degree that organized Christian churches have been co-opted by this movement is equally impressive: note the propaganda, er...public service message by Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson (is it me, or does Robertson seem s...

I was a fan of Fox News Sunday from its earliest days. In part because there were real thinking conservatives on the panel, but equally important because it was civil discussion. In a world of gotcha and wolfpack journalism, Tony Snow was the opposite. It was thoughtful civil discourse. I have nothing but admiration for the man: he always had a smile, he was never mean or nasty, and he wasn't ashamed of his faith. May God bless his family. RIP.

Thanks to Michelle Malkin here is the voting list on the motion to allow offshore drilling: Against (in straight party-line voting): Norman Dicks (WA), James Moran (VA), Maurice Hinchey (NY), John Oliver (MA), Alan Mollohan (WV), Tom Udall (NM), Ben Chandler (KY), Ed Pastor (AZ), and Dave Obey (WI), all Democrats. For: Todd Tiahrt (KS), John Peterson (PA), Jo Ann Emerson (MO), Virgil Goode Jr. (VA), Ken Calvert (CA), and Jerry Lewis (CA), all Republicans. This could have been an excellent issue for the Republicans in the fall, except that McCain is opposed to drilling in Anwar or opening up offshore drilling. Score one more for Obama, who may win this like Nixon beat McGovern if McCain continues to grow dumber (I'll comment in a different post about his view that the oil company profits are "obscene"). A key point is that the offshore part is really offshore: fifty to two hundred miles.... So, please join me in sending a personal letter to each of the individuals who vote...

To the astonishment of everyone I've spoken to, the House Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations voted to extend the ban on drilling for oil in areas that have been off-limits for over a decade. To my even further astonishment, this seems to be more or less OK by McCain. (I wasn't even surprised that Obama's only view was that prices have gone up to fast rather than gradually - the environmentalists have embraced energy scarcity as a positive development...). I'll publish a list of representatives voting for and against as soon as I can dig it out. I encourage you to write and congratulate the supporters and let the oponents know that they should reconsider.

Carly Fiorina is now Chair(person) of John McCain's campaign. I've made a couple of modest donations to the campaign, and I probably will again. However, stop sending me those trumped-up phony surveys. If you want to know what I really think - or even care - send me a real survey. But not these made-up things supposed to rile me up: "Should we do everything we can to stop Democrats from weakening border security?" Please. We had the majority and a Republican President and you didn't do a damn thing for border security. You think I have no memory at all? The party got what it deserved - in fact what it worked hard for: it abandoned all its principles and as a result got thrown out. Come up with a real plan you are prepared to go to the mat for and tell me about that. Don't give me a negative sell about how much worse the Democrats are going to be. Tell me about how much better you are going to be. No more BS surveys.

A friend of mine and I were talking about oil prices and the effects that imposed on the economy. I mentioned that I had sent letters to Senators and Congressmen beseeching them to streamline the process for commissioning nuclear plants. "Why nuclear" she inquired, "why not solar and wind?". Simple answer: the solar companies are doing fine on their own with new developments (thin film solar panels, etc.) making them more competitive, and the wind power folks are moving along and harder to stop (property laws give landowners - particularly in rural areas - a little more freedom of action). Nuclear, on the other hand, has been plagued by litigation from wide ranging groups including adjacent property owners, environmentalists, anti-growth groups, etc. Energy companies are now loath to even undertake development activities, given that they can expect 15 years or more of approval process and millions of dollars in legal fees. If we want to have power and reduce our de...

I had concluded early Sun. morning that I would sell my MSFT. I remained convinced that MSFT could spend $4 billion a year for the next ten years and take whatever market existed at that point from YHOO. So, in my view, an acquisition for $44 billion, a meaningless few thousand of which represents my MSFT stock position, was a giant waste. I was pleasantly surprised - almost shocked really - to learn later on in the day than MSFT had called the whole thing off. Steve B.: sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make. This is one of those times.

I need to post a correction to my summary of Ed Rose's position on the election. In his words: "Supporting Obama based on the fact that he is more likely to beat McCain whom I believe will destroy the Supreme Court (and the constitution) for decades. I believe that while Clinton's Policies are probably slightly closer to McCain's in many ways, her Supreme Court picks will be much closer to Obama's in terms of being safely liberal. (i.e., not like Scalia who was recently quoted as saying "who ever said Torture was Punishment?") So...First Choice: Anyone but McCain. So...Obama based on current thinking in terms of who can beat him...but also support Hillary. I think the (R)s have done quite enough for the country for now. " So, my interpretation would be that he is taking more of a pragmatic view than I concluded in my original post... I'll post on my view on the economy shortly - which Ed and I discussed as well. He is more confident than I am ...

Stay with me on this one: I'm going to bounch around a bit. First, for political junkies, Noemie Emery's ground breaking article on Hillary Clinton is a must read: follow this: Weekly Standard This is a bit of a fascinating conincidence. I was talking to Ed Rose , CEO of Open Channel Solutions, overall smart guy and I think fairly described as a liberal. Ed surprised me by saying he was supporting Obama even though he wasn't sufficiently ready to "drive the bus", in part because he thought Hillary would be too much like McCain. (To my conservative friends, take a diffibulator minute). Part of his argument is that one of the things that matters most is the appointment of Supreme Court justices, and her appointees would be too moderate. Since I voted for Bush last time largely for the same reason (us deficit hawks having no where else to go even though we've been thoroughly dissed) his logic was persuasive. With her "obliterate" speech she is cl...

To:Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer: Please, please don't spend my money on Yahoo. Spend $4 billion per year for the next 10 years building something new and better. This has to now be an ego deal, not an economic deal. If you withdraw the bid, YHOO is a $15 stock. You are too smart for this. Many times the best deals are the ones you don't make. This is one of those times. Don't spend my money on this. Sincerely, gene