The BuffaloBloviator wormed his way into the Op-Ed page of the Buffalo News today by being mentioned in a nationally syndicated story about GPS and cheating spouses.
Gee, if I knew that this story was going to be reprinted in the Buffalo News, I would have said something deeply profound and meaningful to our city’s forward advancement such as ”No Goal!”.
New York Sun Interviews the BuffaloBloviator for Valentine’s Day story about love and covert GPS vehicle tracking systems.
By LENORE SKENAZY
February 13, 2008
…”If somebody has somebody on the side and they don’t make contact with them in the course of Valentine’s Day, they’re in deep trouble,” the owner of a Buffalo-based surveillance equipment company, BuffaloBloviator said. “So if you’re going to follow somebody, you should really follow them on Valentine’s Day, because that’s the time you’re going to hit pay dirt.”
His company, christened Goldman Computers so it would look innocuous on credit card bills, always sees interest peak at this time of year, he said, and at Christmas.
Elmwood Avenue’s venerable music store, New World Record, announced this week they are planning on closing their doors after 24 years.
BuffaloBloviator writes:
Govindan Kartha,
Congratulations New World Record founder, Govindan Kartha, for 24 years of success. That may not be a “world record” - but it’s a hell of a record for any private enterprise. That doesn’t happen without the right chops and a lot of hard work.
You may be leaving an expired industry but you certainly are not leaving behind the business experience and instincts that come from 24 years in the trenches.
My own specialty electronics e-commerce (mail-order before WWW) business happens to be 24 years old this year also. 10 years in, I started losing money because the nature of the home and studio recording industry changed, just as the record store industry now has changed. I hung on until the end because I really didn’t think I knew how to do anything else, it was all I had ever done since college. I quickly learned that the experience easily transferred to new industries. In fact, I am convinced that the experience I gained during the tougher years was even more valuable than the experience gained during the successful years. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade that painful experience for anything.
You are battle hardened my friend. I hope that you decide to remain self-employed because you will be amazed at the resources that you discover within yourself. As in physical exercise, when talent is exercised one day at a time, over the years, you don’t realize or notice all of that development and power until you have the opportunity to test your strength on something new.
Congratulations again, and may your next venture bring 24 years of success.
Howard Goldman
Pope Benedict XVI Condemns The Climate Change Prophets.
In a story published in the Daily Mail, Simon Caldwell wrote:
Attack: Pope Benedict criticised climate change prophets of doom.
Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.
The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement.
>>>Upon which I bloviate:
It appears clear that the issue of global warming, the notion that the earth is trending toward gradual warming and that its further extension, that man’s technology is contributing to that trend, has been thoroughly hijacked by politics.
I see red flags when two opposing sides to a science debate also happen to be split perfectly and consistently by opposing ideology. The global warming debate looks like it has been hijacked and appended to the respective qualifications of today’s two main rival political groups; the Secular-Darwinist faithed-Socialist-Progressive-Democrat-Self Loathing Ashamed of America-No Such Thing As Good Or Bad Just Cultural Relativity-Global Warmest political group versus the Religion Tolerant-Capitalist-Conservative-Republican-Happy that America is top dog-Freedom Is A Natural Right Of All People And America Is The Best Vehicle For Delivering That Freedom Whether They Like It Or Not-Man Made Global Warming Agnostics. (I invite you to help me further refine these two nomenclatures.)
If there is any science behind the global warming theory, good luck sifting it out of the politics. Earth temperature may or may not be affected by man, but a safe scientific certainty is that this debate is heating up.
BuffaloPundit wrote the following post about our new ethanol plant: http://buffalopundit.wnymedia.net/blogs/archives/6057#comments
To which I bloviate:
Nobody ever claimed that ethanol is cheaper than gas. (Except in Brazil where they can make it from cane sugar.) Our national mandate to pursue ethanol is motivated by the goal of increased independence from fuel sources that are controlled by enemy nations.
Modern technology has greatly reduced the odor from ethanol plants. The older plants that had community complaints did not have the benefit of the modern scrubbers that our plant is installing.
I expect that a great many of us, First Ward residents especially, will be happy with the renewed importance of our old grain elevators, the inner harbor, and their significant contribution once again not only to our city but our nation.
Kevin Townsell and Rick Smith are two Buffalo boys who’s beer drinking (and beer serving) was literally the total extent of their familiarity with grain. It is very exciting to see that two local regular guys, by having the faith to follow their own vision, have brought good old Buffalo style private enterprise back to the Buffalo Harbor. The stuff that made Buffalo great in the first place, is the same stuff that these two gentlemen are made of.
My hat is off to the man in the cowboy hat.
http://www.buffalorising.com/story/new_era_celebrates_one_year_do
New Era Celebrates One Year Downtown
New Era is a great neighbor and I am not picking on them. The last thing I would normally want to do is rain on their parade. They have nice employees and great attitudes. It is a great pleasure having many of them as my personal friends. Glamorizing graffiti is not good public relations. Glamorizing any attitude or behavior that inhibits the forward movement of Buffalo is not good public relations during our New Era of high hope and expectations for our city. However, I think inviting graffiti vandals is a good opportunity for the Buffalo Police graffiti task force to collect intel. I am also planning on attending so that I can drag their sorry asses over to my place to help me remove their art from my building.
I appeal to our good neighbors at New Era to reconsider promoting graffiti at their December 15th event -for the city’s sake as well as for their own public relations ramifications. Can you imagine the news stories that would result from this decision? All of the good that New Era Cap has done will be overlooked and the stories will all focus on the stupid graffiti promotion. They did the right thing when they cancelled their production of custom gang hats. Remember? I have to believe that New Era Cap will reconsider and wind up dropping the graffiti promotion from their event.
…I ask my WNYmedia.net friends to join me in a brief exercise of devil’s advocacy. We all know how to do that. For the purposes of our exercise, lets set aside our actual beliefs. What if Buffalo is still on the cutting edge and we just don’t recognize it yet? …
By EDWARD L. GLAESER
October 19, 2007
Buffalo Bloviator comments on the above Sun Times editorial:
The New York Sun story certainly supports conventional wisdom. But does the old popular doomsday theory explain the three billion dollars in new downtown development by our biggest developers? Does it really explain the current urban migration? Does it really explain the new wave of optimism and community participation that we are witnessing? Does it really explain how so many average individuals such as myself are optimistic enough to be willing to invest their life’s savings into our downtown? Or, are these just the examples that prove their rule? Perhaps not.
I ask my WNYmedia.net friends to join me in a brief exercise of devil’s advocacy. We all know how to do that. For the purposes of our exercise, lets set aside our actual beliefs and for the moment accept a different assumption. What if Buffalo is still on the cutting edge and we just don’t recognize it yet? Consider that during the industrial revolution it was widely believed that our region was heading down hill because we were loosing our agricultural base and the values that were part and parcel with that agrarian economy. Many people were alarmed by the flight to the city because they did not recognize this as progress at the time.
Assume that once again Buffalo is on the cusp of a new definition of prosperity -a brand new prosperity that once again requires brand new metrics. The new metrics measure quality of life. The new metrics take account of values that cherish water, air, time, and very importantly merciful vehicular traffic rankings. (I heard this week we ranked #2 for best commute.)
Think about it. We were among those few who invented big American cities. Cities like Atlanta and Los Angeles have finally caught up, but they came to the game too late. The game in this century is overall quality of life. Not density and congestion. I’m sorry but in my book you have no quality of life when you are stuck in a three-hour traffic jam every day and you can feel your lungs because of the poor air quality.
How does the average guy benefit by living and working in a density-and-congestion city? His take home pay doesn’t go any further than in Buffalo. He doesn’t sock away more money. He doesn’t get to spend more time working. He doesn’t get to spend more time playing. He doesn’t get to spend more time with his family. The only advantage to the old model of urban success is that governments can collect more money to feed their own organism. Remember, taxes never go down no matter how many new taxpayers there are. I’m doing fine in Buffalo and if I moved to an old 1800’s definition of success density-congestion city, I would not be living better.
Sure we hated to go through the painful right-sizing process we endured. Remember, our ancestors endured pain when Buffalo led the industrial revolution too. We hate splitting our families up and seeing our kids move out of town, but keep in mind that Buffalo was founded by individuals who left their families behind in Europe. They made the ultimate sacrifice for Buffalo and so have we.
Our predecessors struggled so that we could enjoy a better life. Thanks to preservation through neglect in Buffalo, their gifts have survived. We shed our old industry and replaced it with new industry. Moody’s has ranked us #1 in industrial diversity. We led and currently lead the revolution in adapting. The painful dues have been paid. Now Buffalo is on our watch. Perhaps we should use what we have and not pine over our lack of density and congestion. The God given resources that made us great in the first place are making us great this time around too.
Isn’t it easy to imagine that the density-congestion cities may soon be pining over what Buffalo has to offer? (Just wait and see what happens when they start running out of water!) Our next problem may be keeping people out!
Could it be that Buffalo, once again, is literally defining to the nation what metro economic success is?
By Howard Goldman,
aka Buffalo Bloviator
bloviate@buffalobloviator.com
One of WNY’s largest and most important economic goals of the past five decades has been achieved and even surpassed.
According to the latest unemployment figures released by the NYS Department Of Labor, unemployment in Erie County has dropped to a record 4.4%. Economists generally consider 4.7% unemployment as representative of full employment. The unemployment rate for the entire nation is now only 4.6%, which is considered slightly better than full employment. Erie County is actually now beating the nation and beating the state in this very significant economic indicator.
The great numbers illustrate the fact that we have successfully established the most industrially diverse economy in the nation. We are close to achieving population market equilibrium. Recent job creation in the insurance and finance industries has helped push us over the top.
Now, if you don’t fear that taking a moment to celebrate good news will threaten our philosophy of invincible pessimism, let’s toast this achievement.
Mr. and Mrs. Bloviator were among the delighted diners last night at the Rue Franklin restaurant as world famous concert pianist Van Cliburn dropped in for a surprise performance. Here Cliburn is shown asking the Bloviator for directions to Ted’s.
