“The San Francisco Business Times reports that Software company FrontRange Solutions Inc. will buy German software maker Enteo Software Inc. Dublin-based FrontRange didn’t say what it will pay in the deal. Enteo is based in Filderstadt, Germany. FrontRange used to be called GoldMine Software Corp. Michael McCloskey is its CEO. Stephan Glathe is CEO of Enteo.”

“Golden California Inc. has partnered with a large trade show organizer to stage the “California Technology Fair at CeBIT Asia 2007″ in Shanghai, China, in October. Golden California, a West Sacramento consultancy that advises on doing business between China and California, will produce the Oct. 10-13 fair with Hannover Fairs USA Inc., which is a subsidiary of Germany-based Deutsche Messe AG. The fair will showcase cutting-edge technologies developed across industry sectors in California, Golden California said Thursday.”

There has been more coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle on Corporations links to “non-profits” that are being used to pay for junkets for Schwarzenegger administration officials and members of the State Legislature:

Some of the same corporate interests that dominate the Capitol through high-priced lobbyists and campaign donations also bankroll nonprofit organizations that in turn spend tens of thousands of dollars a year entertaining state lawmakers and administration officials far from home — gifts that otherwise would exceed state limits.

Since 2002, the largesse has included a weekend at a fashionable beachfront golf resort south of Rio de Janeiro for 14 state officials, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and the governor’s chief of staff, Susan Kennedy.

There was also a luncheon cruise on New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf for two state senators and three Assembly members; dinner at Harry’s Bar in Rome for Núñez and another lawmaker; and golf at the renowned Kapalua Resort on Maui — a treat enjoyed by state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Salinas, and Bill Leonard, a member of the state Board of Equalization.

The trips, which typically involved study groups and conferences, are sponsored by organizations such as the Pacific Policy Research Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the California Foundation on the Environment and Economy.

According to a Chronicle investigation, each of these organizations receives substantial funding from major corporations such as ChevronTexaco, Sempra Energy, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Altria Corp. (the lobbying arm of Altria Group, which owns Philip Morris tobacco).

We’re disappointed, but no longer shocked to learn about these shenanigans. In truth, if our elected leaders were doing a decent job we wouldn’t begrudge them an occasional junket. In the area of international trade and economic development, however, they are not doing a good job- they are doing a terrible job.

None of the basics for an effective economic development program are in place in California. After more than three years, they haven’t formed any cohesive business development strategy or policies, there is no administrative infrastructure and few effective public services. The few remaining small business programs are listless and bureaucratic. The junkets are the fun part- but they haven’t earned it by doing any of the hard work to justify their little romps.

Another huge question that always seems to go unanswered is what happens to the information that was collected on these trips? Do they even bother to collect it in an organized and professional manner? The Schwarzenegger administration is virtually closed to public input in these areas- presumably unless you are one of the Corporations funding their junkets and other pay offs, so shouldn’t we at least be allowed to see what they came up with?

“Not one of California’s 15 major business banks did a good job of lending to small businesses, making it difficult for these critical businesses to access capital and provide much needed goods, services and employment in lower income neighborhoods” according to a report by the California Reinvestment Coalition.

Among its findings: Citibank was the only bank that did a satisfactory job in all six California counties, California’s largest bank- Bank of America offered the least access of any bank and received a failing grade for its small business lending, Wells Fargo Bank received a C grade- it lent more than its share of community deposits but was not good at lending to small businesses in California’s lower income neighborhoods, In Los Angeles U.S. Bank got a perfect score in offering access to small businesses, In contrast City National Bank received an F in its headquarters county of Los Angeles.

“This study highlights the institutional barriers that small and minority-owned businesses continue to face when trying to expand their businesses. Since small businesses are the key to opportunity and hope in lower income communities, these barriers cut the heart out of the American ideal of equal opportunity,” said CRC Executive Director Alan Fisher. “This is a situation that must be remedied by major financial institutions,investigated by the U.S. Congress and scrutinized by the federal regulators who are responsible for overseeing these lenders.”

That’s what the NYT seems to be asking in an article, “For Internet Barons, Uncharted Investment Territory”:

There lies a conundrum for the Internet barons who have turned, of late and en masse, to investing in solar, wind, biofuel and other energy startups. Does their expertise with technology qualify them to take on the world of alternative fuel and power? When it comes to Energy 2.0, are some of the nation’s most successful investors in over their heads? … The key to success, they say, is the Silicon Valley investment vetting process. The venture capital model, they contend, pits great entrepreneurs against one another, invests in the best technologies and creates focused, streamlined companies and new industries.

But their certainty, which can spill into bravado, has stirred criticism even within their own ranks. ‘They’re completely wandering in with no clear idea’ of how the energy industry works, said Paul Kedrosky, a venture capitalist and the executive director of the von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement at the University of California at San Diego.

He argued that the party line — that good investment strategists can apply their principles across industries — did not acknowledge the peculiarities and complexities of energy technology. “The downside? They’re going to blow up this sector before it has a chance to get established,” Mr. Kedrosky said.

It is not as unlikely a possibility as it may seem. Before the dot-com boom “business incubators” were sometimes used to help small business grow. This economic development approach was all but destroyed when the venture capital companies got a hold of it. Companies like idealab in Pasadena used it to pump up multi-millions in investor funding until the entire concept of “business incubation” meant something entirely different. In all likelyhood, the recent flood of VC money into alternative energy projects will be a good thing, but the danger does exist that they could ignore smaller, more innovative but less profitable technologies and companies in the never ending quest for the big bucks.

Los Angeles Times: “A physician and her adult daughter returned to Los Angeles Wednesday after being poisoned during a trip to Moscow, the latest in a string of Russian poisoning cases that have sparked international intrigue… Marina Kovalevsky, a 49-year-old internist well known in L.A.’s Russian community, and her daughter Yana, 26, were sickened 12 days ago by thallium, an odorless, colorless, toxic chemical element initially suspected in the death of a former Russian spy in London last year. Their plight has roiled the large local community of expatriates from Russia and other former Soviet republics, many of whom say it is difficult to imagine any motive for an attack on the popular doctor or her daughter. ‘Everybody is upset. Everybody is talking about it,’ said West Hollywood resident Irina Mermel, 69, who has known the family more than a decade. At the same time, some familiar with Russian crime said it was hard to think that the poisoning was accidental”

“A Turkish court ordered access to YouTube’s Web site blocked on Wednesday, after a prosecutor recommended the ban because of videos allegedly insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk… Over the past week, Turkish media publicized what some called a ‘virtual war’ between Greeks and Turks on YouTube, with people from both sides posting videos to belittle and berate the other. The video prompting the ban allegedly said Ataturk and the Turkish people were homosexuals, news reports said. The CNN-Turk Web site featured a link allowing Turks to complain directly to YouTube about the ‘insult. On its front page on Wednesday, the newspaper Hurriyet said thousands of people had written YouTube and that the Ataturk videos had been removed from the site. ‘YouTube got the message,’ the headline said.”

The world’s largest automakers have asked a judge to toss out a federal lawsuit filed by California that seeks untold millions for future damage caused to the state by global warming. In its lawsuit filed in September by then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer, California blamed the auto industry for millions of dollars it expects to spend on repairing damage from global-warming induced floods and other natural disasters. The state sued Chrysler Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and the U.S. subsidiaries of Japan’s biggest manufacturers, Honda North America, Nissan North America and Toyota Motor North America.

The lawsuit was filed as a challenge to the automakers’ suit seeking to overturn California’s law limiting vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases. California Attorney General Jerry Brown went forward with this legal approach, but tried to arrange a meeting with chief executives of the car companies to “discuss resolution of our pending litigation and moving forward cooperatively”. The automakers refused this appeal saying they were only willing to discuss dismissal of the California suit.

In opening arguments, The automakers’ attorney argued that global warming is an international issue that needs to be addressed jointly by the worlds’ politicians. He said it is impossible for California to show precisely what damage automakers have done to the state when there are many sources of carbon dioxide emissions. U.S. District Court Judge Martin Jenkins seemed to also be concerned with how a court could decide a damage award that would accurately determine the damages global warming had on California while also pinpointing the auto industry’s liability. The industry also made the point that it is not really fair for the state to blame the auto industry while maintaining its own fleet of 37,000 vehicles and an extensive highway network.

Auto industries attorneys have also argued that the case raises foreign policy issues and the judge seemed to share the concern that the lawsuit could interfere with U.S. foreign-policy efforts and its abilities to negotiate treaties addressing global warming.

“In remarks prepared for delivery today to the Association of American Publishers, and carefully passed out to selected media outlets ahead of time, Microsoft attorney Thomas C. Rubin ripped into Google as a bunch of copyright cowboys and parasites. ‘Companies that create no content of their own, and make money solely on the backs of other people’s content, are raking in billions through advertising revenue,’ Rubin said.”

That’s what you might conclude by reading the latest LA Times report on the favoritism the Governor has given to those who supported his reelection campaign:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, once a critic of patronage in government, has rewarded 29 aides from his reelection campaign with state jobs, promotions and hefty raises… Administration staffers from the governor’s first term who were employed by Californians for Schwarzenegger in 2006 today earn an average 27% more than they did in January 2006. That is 8 percentage points more than the average salary increase given to aides who were never employed by the campaign, state payroll records show.

Couple the with the revelation that Governor Schwarzenegger paid huge “bonuses” to his Chief of Staff and other senior officials- apparently from Corporate campaign donations, and it is obvious that the seeds have been planted for a corrupt state government. They may not be there yet, but they are getting dangerously close.

The San Francisco Chronicle has written still another expose of Governor Schwarzenegger’s use of business associations and large Corporations to fund his foreign trade missions:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s foreign trade missions are paid for by the California State Protocol Foundation. Though neither the governor’s office nor the foundation will disclose the group’s funding sources, tax records filed by other nonprofits doing business with the foundation show that it received $75,000 from agribusiness interests and banking. The foundation is led by two of the state’s most influential business groups — California Chamber of Commerce and the California Roundtable.

The Chronicle quoted Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger’s spokesman, as saying the governor accepts the gift from the foundation because both share a “passion” for creating jobs in California. He said Schwarzenegger is not influenced by those that pay for the trips and makes his decisions based on what is best for the state.

This is extremely difficult to swallow. There is a huge difference between being “pro-business” and being “pro-Corporation” and to-date the Schwarzenegger administration has not shown the slightest interest in small business concerns. The non-profit organizations he uses to fund his trade missions- including the California Protocol Foundation, The California Chamber of Commerce, The California Roundtable, the California Commission on Jobs and Economic Growth and others are primarily interested in supporting their large Corporate clients, for the simple “Willie Sutton” reason: “that’s where the money is”.

Together, these groups form a private network of Schwarzenegger supporters that have no real interest in diluting their influence with the Government with annoying small business concerns. Since the Governor has essentially used these “non-profit” groups as proxy economic development agencies they have the power, but not the responsibility that comes from being part of government. On the important issue of economic development and international trade promotion, the door is simply not open to the rest of us.

This won’t be the first time that one of California’s big newspapers has done an investigative report on this issue, but we are nearly three and a half years into the Schwarzenegger administration and nothing ever seems to change. Governor Schwarzenegger, who just two years ago said: “I want your ideas, and the more radical the better” now seems to only be interested in input from a few closed groups of his own associates. Since the Governor has not made economic development part of his Government “for all the people” pledge it may be time for the State Legislature to step in and make sure that all California citizens interested in this issue are fairly represented.

The Los Angeles Times reports: “The meltdown in the business of high-cost mortgages to high-risk borrowers accelerated Friday as one major lender revealed that it was under federal criminal investigation and a second said it would quit the business after regulators accused it of making too many loans likely to end in foreclosure… The criminal investigation disclosed Friday focuses on how New Century Financial Corp. of Irvine accounted for losses when it was forced to buy back soured loans last year, and whether its executives profited by selling stock while misleading other shareholders… New Century, the largest independent sub-prime lender, shocked Wall Street last month when it said that it would restate results for the last year, erasing $268 million in profit it had reported. Shareholder lawsuits accuse the company’s officers and directors of selling stock for more than $26 million at falsely inflated levels.

Federal regulators already have leveled civil accusations against the No. 2 independent sub-prime lender, Fremont General Corp. of Santa Monica. Fremont disclosed Friday in an SEC filing that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would sanction its bank subsidiary, Brea-based Fremont Investment & Loan, for failing to control the risks inherent in sub-prime lending and in its second major business, commercial real estate construction loans. The company said it had decided to quit sub-prime lending entirely and was “engaged in discussions with various parties regarding the sale of the business.”

“Two Sherman Oaks immigration lawyers have been indicted for allegedly filing fraudulent visa applications, some of them for workers at their law firm, prosecutors said today. Daniel E. Korenberg, 57, and Steven James Rodriguez, 40, are named in a 33-count indictment. Both are charged with making false statements and conspiracy, and Korenberg is also charged with multiple counts of visa fraud. The two worked for one of the West Coast’s largest immigration law firms, which was formerly known as Korenberg, Abramowitz & Feldun — where Korenberg was a partner and Rodriguez was a senior associate. The firm hired paralegals and other office staff who were not authorized to work in the United States, according to prosecutors. It is now known as the ASK Law Group, and has offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas, according to ICE. “

“Heat and smog aren’t the only hazards of the central San Joaquin Valley. Valley cities had some of the nation’s highest rates of identity theft in a recent Federal Trade Commission report. The Madera area ranked No. 2 for the number of complaints per capita, behind No. 1 Napa. Fresno, the Hanford-Corcoran area and the area including Visalia and Porterville all ranked in the top 50 of about 400 metropolitan areas with more than 100,000 population nationwide in 2006. Why? No one knows for sure, said FTC spokeswoman Claudia Bourne Farrell. But Fresno police Sgt. Doug Goertzen suggests there’s one major reason: methamphetamine. ‘We’re seeing a correlation between drug use and identity theft,’ he said. ‘It’s just a way of generating money to purchase drugs.’ Crooks who once robbed convenience stores for a couple hundred dollars now find they can get thousands of dollars via identity theft, Goertzen said.”

“Officials from the United Nations met on Wednesday with Silicon Valley executives to discuss the ‘digital divide’ _ the growing gap between the world’s wealthiest and most computer literate people and the impoverished masses without Internet access. The meeting, organized by Intel Corp. and the U.N.’s Global Alliance for Information and Communications Technology and Development, was billed as the first between U.N. officials and technology executives and venture capitalists. More than 100 executives and officials from more than 30 countries attended the half-day conference. They discussed low-cost ways to get broadband Internet access to Africa, build computer centers throughout the developing world and encourage entrepreneurship. “

“Oracle Corp. said today it has signed a $3.3 billion deal to buy Hyperion Solutions Corp. in a move that underscores CEO Larry Ellison’s aggressive bid to dominate the business software industry. Hyperion is a key player in the roughly $10 billion market for business intelligence software that companies use to get detailed reports on how a business is doing and to forecast how it would perform in the near future. The company is also known for software used for managing a company’s finances. Oracle, which has bought more than two dozen companies over the past two years, made clear that buying the company was a competitive move meant to undercut a major rival, SAP of Germany.” Both companies are headquartered in the Bay area: Oracle in Redwood Shoresand Hyperion in Sunnyvale.

A House subcommittee may issue subpoenas for four of the eight U.S. attorneys who were abruptly fired two months ago, including Carol Lam of San Diego. In December, the Department of Justice forced eight U.S. attorneys to resign firing six on a single day. The dismissal of Ms. Lam raised suspicions because she had successfully prosecuted Republican Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham and had indicted the former third in command at the Central Intelligence Agency. Just before she was forced to leave her job, Lam helped get former CIA Executive Director Kyle “Dusty” Foggo indicted by a Grand Jury on 11 counts of corruption for his illegal award of covert CIA contracts to his long-time friend Brent R. Wilkes. Wilkes had been a Republican party “Pioneer” who raised more than $100,000 for Bush’s 2004 reelection. At first, the Department of Justice claimed the U.S. attorneys were dismissed for “performance reasons.” It has subsequently been revealed, however, that all but one of those U.S. attorneys had positive job evaluations.

“A Massachusetts man is charged with defrauding Cisco Systems Inc. of millions of dollars worth of computer networking equipment. Michael A. Daly, 53, was arrested Tuesday during a search at his business… Cisco’s SMARTnet program allows customers to receive replacement equipment immediately, without having first to return the broken part. According to the complaint, Daly used false identities in 39 states to obtain networking equipment from Cisco under the program, carrying out the fraud at least 700 times, on each occasion obtaining equipment with a list price ranging from $995 to $25,000. After preliminary proceedings in Boston, Daly will appear in federal court in San Jose to face charges.”

“The Energy Department cited the University of California for 15 nuclear safety violations at the Los Alamos National Lab, the department announced Feb. 26.
The violations stem from a series of incidents at the New Mexico lab in 2005. The University of California was managing the facility at the time the violations occurred. It now manages the facility as part of Los Alamos National Security LLC, which also includes partners Bechtel National, Washington Group International and BWX Technologies. In two cases, lab workers were contaminated with nuclear radiation. One of the workers spread the contamination outside the lab and state, according to Energy. While the radiation levels in both cases were below Energy limits for radiation doses, “the effects could have been significantly greater,” according to a statement released by the department. Inspections of the lab in November 2005 found the university had not properly enacted health, environment and safety programs. At the time the violations occurred, nonprofit groups were exempt from civil penalties, so the university will not have to pay $1.1 million in fines that the violations carry.”

“Throughout Southern California, various trade contractors working on building projects with Lennar Corporation have received letters from the builder directing subcontractors to reduce and resubmit invoices for previously contracted work. Within the letters, Lennar threatens the contractors with being shut out of future
work unless they meet the company’s demand to lower prices for work in progress and, in some cases, already completed. The January letters offer ‘trade partners’ the option of lowering their previously arranged prices or ‘be excluded from bidding future work for a minimum of 6 months.’ According to Beth Curran, executive director of the California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors, Orange County/Inland Empire (CALPASC OCIE), this amounts to extortion and sets a dangerous precedent.”