I'm just going to say it - Tim Cook is a lying liar who lies - What I am reading 12/21/2015

The Register - Skilled workers, not cost, lured Apple to China says Tim Cook -

 Skilled workers, not lower salaries, were the lure that brought Apple to China, according to Tim Cook.

In a soft-ball interview with US news magazine 60 Minutes, Cook said “China put an enormous focus on manufacturing. In what we would call … vocational kind of skills.”

That focus paid off: the CEO said “you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we're currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.”

First off, it's absolute bullshit.  At the time that Apple started moving to China their tool and dies manufacturing was primitive.  Second, as The Register points out, tool and die makers are a very small proportion of what Apple does in China.  But, hey... It's Apple let's not look too close.

TechCrunch - On “60 Minutes” Apple CEO Tim Cook Bats Away Car Talk, Criticisms Over Tax Picture, Low-Wage Workers -

Charlie Rose: But here’s what they concluded. Apple is engaged in a sophisticated scheme to pay little or no corporate taxes on $74 billion in revenues held overseas.

Tim Cook: That is total political crap. There is no truth behind it. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe.

OK first off, I agree with Tim Cook both that the 40% in taxes that Apple would have to pay to repatriate their profits is way too high and that the tax code is in dire need of reform.  I don't even have a lot of problem with what they are doing to keep the money offshore.  My complaint is that he is denying that they have structured their company in a way that deliberately avoids US (and EU etc.) taxes.  I don't think what they are doing is wrong, but obviously  Cook does or he wouldn't be ying about it.

Huffington Post - 'The Martian' Author Andy Weir's New Book Will Take Place On The Moon -

Weir's upcoming book is set to take place in a city on the moon, and -- I'm pretty excited about this bit -- will center on a female lead. While Weir was decidedly vague on the details of his next work, he teased a late 2016 or early 2017 release. Mark your calendars accordingly.

So this is a good time to bring up too of my favorite booka as a kid -

You Will Go To The Moon   I still have a copy of the 1959 edition.

Rocket Ship Galileo - Rockets and Space Nazis what more could you want?