Federal stimulus efforts to encourage “green energy” businesses took a shot to the chops today when Solyndra, a California solar energy company, declared that it will file for bankruptcy protection.
Solyndra had received $535 million in federal loan guarantees and was one of 40 concerns that was supported by a Department of Energy program designed to encourage green energy projects. Today, however, the company suspended its manufacturing operations and laid off more than 1,000 workers.
It is not clear how much money the federal government will lose as a result of its support of Solyndra, and some no doubt will argue that such losses, whatever they may be, are simply a necessary cost of trying to develop “green energy” alternatives in the United States. For others, however, Solyndra’s failure is a sobering lesson that even significant federal support doesn’t mean much if a company cannot hold its own in the rough and tumble world of the global economy. In this instance, Solyndra apparently couldn’t compete with foreign manufacturers who sold comparable products at cheaper prices. This story also raises more fundamental questions: why should the federal government be supporting certain companies and industries at all, and when they do who is deciding whether the investment of our tax dollars has a prayer of earning a meaningful return?
It may be worth asking that question, because 
The weirdest attempt, in my view, was by 
When it comes to public perception of business and industry segments, lawyers probably set the Mendoza Line. For whatever reason, most people don’t like lawyers. In the media, lawyers are often depicted as conniving, duplicitous, arrogant, money-grubbing, and unscrupulous, which are not exactly endearing characteristics. As a lawyer myself, I think the common characterizations of lawyers are profoundly inaccurate, and I regret that the general reaction to my profession is so negative — but there is no denying the statistics.
Oddly, somebody at FEMA thought it would be a good idea to make a name plate for the President and to place it in front of him as he sat at a conference table. You see it in the photos that were taken during the President’s visit. It says “Barack Obama President of the United States.” I assume it was made by somebody at FEMA because it looks just like the name plates that were made for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FEMA’s administrator.
With cities along the East Coast still wet from Irene’s rain and storm surge, the post mortems have begun. The main topic for debate seems to be whether politicians like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie overreacted when they ordered evacuations, closed roads and transit systems, and issued blunt warnings about the potential harm to people who tried to ride out the storm.
This being modern America, how would you expect “Latin jazz” artists to react? Would they all respond graciously, suck it up, and simply resolve to compete in the more general category? Nah! 
