Rand Paul, Berkeley, San Francisco, Silicon Valley

Rand Paul, The Next President?--not as far fetched as some might think--

Rand Paul, Republican presidential hopeful, finds support in Berkeley, of all places - San Jose Mercury News: "....Director of National Intelligence James Clapper [broke] the law by lying to Congress, Paul said. The nation is under watch by "an intelligence community that's drunk with power, unrepentant and unwilling to relinquish power," he said. "The sheer arrogance of this: They're only sorry that they got caught. Without the Snowden leaks, these spies would still be doing whatever they please." Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich watched from the back of the room. "There are not too many people who can get a standing ovation at CPAC and a standing ovation at Berkeley," said Reich, now a UC-Berkeley professor...."

Rand Paul and the techies: A love story: "..."People were impressed," said 29-year-old Garrett Johnson, the founder of SendHub and the organizer of the event. Wooing the Patagonia-wearing, Blue Bottle coffee-sipping denizens of Silicon Valley, and especially San Francisco, may seem like a fool's errand for much of the GOP, but not for Paul, who recently made his second swing through the Bay Area in as many years. Indeed, his libertarian leanings, which can rankle Republican Party pooh-bahs, resonate in the Valley, where folks are messianic about private enterprise's potential to solve all the world's challenges. (Exhibit A: Google CEO Larry Page saying he'd rather bequeath his wealth to entrepreneur Elon Musk than to philanthropy.) Among the technorati, Paul's willingness to engage ideas outside the mainstream isn't a liability -- it's his strongest virtue...."

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Arrogance Is Good, In Defense of Silicon Valley (video)

Silicon Valley Bro Reacts to Businessweek Cover: Video - Bloomberg:
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Bloomberg Businessweek Art Director Robert Vargas discusses this week's cover story, "Arrogance Is Good: In Defense of Silicon Valley," with Bloomberg Businessweek Tech Bro Toph Tucker. Read Joel Stein's story here: http://bloom.bg/1sFzD02. (Source: Bloomberg Aug8)

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Is the US Government trying to kill Silicon Valley?

As usual, government is more of a problem than an answer in most things--

Billions have been spent trying to replicate Silicon Valley, with little to show for it. | MIT Technology Review: " . . . The only serious challenge I see to Silicon Valley is, ironically, from the same government that once catalyzed its development. Silicon Valley is starved for talent. Restrictions on work visas prevent foreigners from filling its openings. The latest data indicate more than one million foreign workers on temporary work permits now waiting to become permanent residents. The visa shortage means some will have to leave, and others are getting frustrated and returning home. This brain drain could bleed the life out of Silicon Valley’s companies. Then indeed we will have real competitors emerging in places like New Delhi and Shanghai. But it won’t be because they discovered some recipe for innovation clusters that finally works. It will be because we exported the magic ingredient: smart people. . . . "

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Silicon Valley and Obama's Solyndra

From Obama to "greenies" to VCs, John Dvorak speaks "truth" even when it hurts--

H-P’s malaise signals a wrong turn in the Valley - John Dvorak's Second Opinion - MarketWatch: " . . . Once HP goes, if it goes, the entire Silicon Valley is at risk. Tech investors take note. It began a few years back when the Valley began to lose its mojo. . . Silicon Valley. . . a construct invented by creative writers. . . It essentially consists of a large geographical area beginning south of Redwood City and scattering about various industrial parks on both sides of the San Francisco Bay all the way down to Scotts Valley. Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, San Jose, Milpitas, Fremont, Santa Clara are all cities that are more or less in Silicon Valley. The area feeds off itself. It is also financed by the local banks and the slew of venture capital companies that back technology firms. I was struck on a recent drive past Fremont and into Milpitas by the abandoned and “For Lease” mega building that looms on the left side of southbound Highway 880. Solyndra was still emblazoned on the side of the structure. Yes, like a monument to abject failure, Solyndra stands out on the road. All part of a dead love affair with all things green. "This is what happened to suck the energy out of Silicon Valley. Elsewhere most of the world’s lesser venture capitalists were throwing their funds into MEMs (micro-electrical-mechanical systems). The Silicon Valley boys were going after trendy “green” inventions. . . . The green thing began with Obama and the emergence of numerous green funds, many looking for government handouts. The ludicrous appearance of Al Gore as a venture capitalist working with Kleiner, Perkins highlights the errors. And while there is nothing wrong with going green for some conscientious reason, it’s a distraction insofar as modern tech is concerned. The single concept that a semiconductor material can convert light into energy is a great concept that needs research, yes. But a wholesale creation of green funds and green initiatives was lunacy. This to me was pretty much like watching all-time great basketballer Michael Jordan decide he was going to play baseball. “How hard can it be?” At this point the Valley is teetering on the brink of destruction and its symbol, Hewlett-Packard, will mark the beginning of the end or a new beginning. . . " 

Only one thing, Dvorak didn't quite get to the real problem with Obama's Solyndra--

Barack Obama's Solyndra scandal smells like it came from Chicago's City Hall -September 18, 2011|John Kass- Chicago Tribune: "Those of us from Chicago know exactly what the Solyndra scandal smells like. And It doesn't smell fresh and green. The Solyndra scandal cost at least a half-billion public dollars. . . . But back in Obama's political hometown, those of us familiar with the Chicago Way can see something else in Solyndra — something that the Washington crowd calls "optics." In fact, it's not just a Washington saga — it has all the elements of a Chicago City Hall story, except with more zeros. The FBI is investigating what happened with Solyndra, a solar panel company that got a $535 million government-backed loan with the help of the Obama White House over the objections of federal budget analysts.  Obama and Vice President Joe Biden got a nice photo op. They got to make speeches about being "green.". . . Washington bureaucrats warned the deal was lousy. And White House spokesmen flail desperately, like weakened victims in a cheesy vampire movie. So forget optics. What about smell? It smells bad, and it's going to smell worse. Or, did you really believe it when the White House mouthpieces — who are also Chicago City Hall mouthpieces — promised they were bringing a new kind of politics to Washington? This is not a new kind of politics. It's the old kind. The Chicago kind. And now the Tribune Washington Bureau has reported that the U.S. Department of Energy employee who helped monitor the Solyndra loan guarantee was one of Obama's top fundraisers. . . . It's the Chicago Way, but instead of a paving or trucking contract, it's a "green" solar panel contract. . . . "

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