Well folks, I made it back home to my little island this afternoon--just in time to have a quiet birthday dinner with my girl and settle in to watch Georgia Tech play Auburn in football.
I checked E-mail early this morning before my flight to Atlanta and didn't have the energy to get back online until a few minutes ago.
I think I'm just going to take it easy and let my 46 year old body rest a little more. Tech's winning by 3 right now--you got to take life's pleasures where you can find them...
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Friday, September 02, 2005
Everything That’s Wrong In The World
Isn’t Caused By Racism
I’m sick and tired of this well worn, predictable, yet ever present refrain.
Every single time some population of African Americans, er um Negroes, aaah Blacks…whatever the politically correct description du jour, gets their tail in a crack somewhere, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, et. al. all jump in front of the nearest microphone and/or TV camera and start complaining that things aren’t moving fast enough or are otherwise falling short of expectations and it’s all because the people are POOR or BLACK or some combination thereof. Somehow we are to believe that the displaced well-to-do white residents of New Orleans were shuttled out of town in Gulfstream Business Jets before the storm while the Po Folks was left to sweat and die in a scene of mass hysteria.
To hear the media, the Democrats, and the so called “self-proclaimed” Black leaders tell it, President Bush is supposed to act as some sort of Nanny for delinquent city and state leaders--running around sticking diapers and pacifiers on and in everyone and everything that screams because they don’t like the situation that THEY AND THEIR ELECTED LEADERS MADE FOR THEMSELVES.
What the hell do they think that the President’s job is, any way?
The situation in Louisiana generally and New Orleans specifically didn’t develop overnight, nor did it come about in the five years that Bush has inhabited the White House.
Let’s face some facts here people. Louisiana is one of the bottom five states when it comes to income, education, employment, and quality of life in general. I don’t mean that there aren’t nice places to live and educated people in Louisiana, but the state historically has lagged behind the rest of the nation when it comes to catching up with the 21st century. States like Georgia and Florida have lead the south in modernization and improvements, with the Carolinas, Alabama, and even Trent Lott’s beloved Mississippi turning the corner in recent years.
Exasperating the situation is the fact that the state government of Louisiana has a long, long colorful history of graft and corruption dating to the jailing of a former governor in the past ten years. New Orleans has always been a political cesspool within the larger landscape of swamps and corrupt parishes run by little local dictators.
Who knows how many billions of dollars have been wasted or outright stolen/misappropriated that could have been used for things like hiring and training more police officers and equipping them with things like boats or amphibious vehicles to address just the kinds of emergencies the city is facing now?
Remember Rudy Giuliani and NY City after 9/11? Rudi and the people of NY didn’t wait for the National Guard and Federal troops; they put on their uniforms and went to work. Rudi didn’t sit around cussing about the Federal Government’s involvement or lack thereof, he took command of the situation and handled things as he saw fit.
Today the world has proof that the leaders of New Orleans, like those of Atlanta and Detroit and any number of other medium sized US cities with large populations of inner city “minority” residents, is horribly guilty of taking the tax money allocated to them--local, state, and federal--and wasting it on programs and “empowerment initiatives” that continue to yield no tangible benefits to the citizens and communities they serve.
When are we going to stop bending over backwards and start calling a spade a spade?
I’m sick and tired of this well worn, predictable, yet ever present refrain.
Every single time some population of African Americans, er um Negroes, aaah Blacks…whatever the politically correct description du jour, gets their tail in a crack somewhere, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, et. al. all jump in front of the nearest microphone and/or TV camera and start complaining that things aren’t moving fast enough or are otherwise falling short of expectations and it’s all because the people are POOR or BLACK or some combination thereof. Somehow we are to believe that the displaced well-to-do white residents of New Orleans were shuttled out of town in Gulfstream Business Jets before the storm while the Po Folks was left to sweat and die in a scene of mass hysteria.
To hear the media, the Democrats, and the so called “self-proclaimed” Black leaders tell it, President Bush is supposed to act as some sort of Nanny for delinquent city and state leaders--running around sticking diapers and pacifiers on and in everyone and everything that screams because they don’t like the situation that THEY AND THEIR ELECTED LEADERS MADE FOR THEMSELVES.
What the hell do they think that the President’s job is, any way?
The situation in Louisiana generally and New Orleans specifically didn’t develop overnight, nor did it come about in the five years that Bush has inhabited the White House.
Let’s face some facts here people. Louisiana is one of the bottom five states when it comes to income, education, employment, and quality of life in general. I don’t mean that there aren’t nice places to live and educated people in Louisiana, but the state historically has lagged behind the rest of the nation when it comes to catching up with the 21st century. States like Georgia and Florida have lead the south in modernization and improvements, with the Carolinas, Alabama, and even Trent Lott’s beloved Mississippi turning the corner in recent years.
Exasperating the situation is the fact that the state government of Louisiana has a long, long colorful history of graft and corruption dating to the jailing of a former governor in the past ten years. New Orleans has always been a political cesspool within the larger landscape of swamps and corrupt parishes run by little local dictators.
Who knows how many billions of dollars have been wasted or outright stolen/misappropriated that could have been used for things like hiring and training more police officers and equipping them with things like boats or amphibious vehicles to address just the kinds of emergencies the city is facing now?
Remember Rudy Giuliani and NY City after 9/11? Rudi and the people of NY didn’t wait for the National Guard and Federal troops; they put on their uniforms and went to work. Rudi didn’t sit around cussing about the Federal Government’s involvement or lack thereof, he took command of the situation and handled things as he saw fit.
Today the world has proof that the leaders of New Orleans, like those of Atlanta and Detroit and any number of other medium sized US cities with large populations of inner city “minority” residents, is horribly guilty of taking the tax money allocated to them--local, state, and federal--and wasting it on programs and “empowerment initiatives” that continue to yield no tangible benefits to the citizens and communities they serve.
When are we going to stop bending over backwards and start calling a spade a spade?
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Price Gouging
Let's go through this AGAIN...
OK, if you’ve read me ranting about this topic (price gouging) before and already understand what I am saying, skip this posting.
If, however, you have disagreed with me in the past, please read me one more time if you will--maybe I can crack this through your thick skull.
Raising prices based on raw costs and market demand is not PRICE GOUGING.
Got that?
No?
Here is the deal on gas pricing specifically and price gouging in general…
Say that my name is Rahsee Patel and I just bought the local convenience store with gas pumps down on the corner near your house. In addition to stocking a lovely assortment of exotic smelling incense and plastic wrapped porno magazines, I also have one 10,000 gallon and two 7,500 gallon gasoline storage tanks buried in the ground under the parking lot out in front of my new retail empire.
After closing on my purchase, I rush to the store from the lawyer’s office and check my gas inventory. My giant wooden dipstick tells me that I currently have on hand 5,000 gallons of regular, 3,000 gallons of mid-octane, and 3,500 gallons of premium gasoline.
My sign out front of the store currently advertises $2.59, $2.79, and $2.99 per gallon, and sales are brisk this afternoon when we return to the store.
With the Labor Day holiday coming on, I place a phone call to two different distributors (my station is an independent) and I am shocked at what I hear. My new COSTS for replacement product exceeds what I am currently selling my gasoline for.
The first thing my brother “Big Bob” Patel does is prepare to go out and change our signs and the pump pricing--after all, we have to be able to afford to replace the gas in our tanks with new product at the higher prices, and our bank account is drained quite low after making the cash purchase of the store and its existing inventory.
I need at least 5,000 gallons of regular at a cost of $2.65/gal, and 3,500 gallons of plus and and 3,000 gallons of premium now costing $2.85/gal and $3.05/gal respectively.
Based on my actual purchase cost for the gasoline plus my 25% overhead and profit, the new costs will be $3.31, $3.48, and $3.71. This means that my new selling price for gas will go up by an average of $0.72 per gallon. We post the new numbers on our sign, and the uproar starts.
PRICE GOUGING SCREAM THE CUSTOMERS!!
A satellite news truck pulls up out front and the reporter asks me to come on camera and explain myself to the American people.
“Look,” I say, “I’m just a small business man and I don’t make the gasoline, I just sell it.”
“But what about all of that gas you already had in your tank that you bought last week for a lower cost?” they ask.
“If I sell my existing inventory at the old prices, I won’t make enough money to be able to fill the tank back up paying the new costs--don’t you see?” “I’ll have to borrow the money else operate with less than a full tank--I’ll risk running out.”
Here's the details. If I sell the existing 11,500 gallon inventory at the old prices, regardless of the initial cost, the store would net $33,785.00. That would be $4,490.00 less that the $38,275.00 cost to purchase equal quantities of new products.
By selling the gas already in the tank at a price based on the new product costs, the store will net $39,750, a whole $1,700 more than needed to replace the existing inventory at the increased costs.
Can you honestly call an extra $1,700 on a nearly $40,000 transaction PRICE GOUGING?
No?
Then how about everybody thinking before they holler next time? I know that the rising prices hurt in the ole' wallet and are a hardship for many people, but the details bear out the fact that everyone in the gas business isn't a thief and does not deserve to be villified the way they are.
The bottom line here is that gasoline sales is a business, not a charity, and you have a choice to pay what the asking price is or stay the heck at home.
It’s just that simple…
OK, if you’ve read me ranting about this topic (price gouging) before and already understand what I am saying, skip this posting.
If, however, you have disagreed with me in the past, please read me one more time if you will--maybe I can crack this through your thick skull.
Raising prices based on raw costs and market demand is not PRICE GOUGING.
Got that?
No?
Here is the deal on gas pricing specifically and price gouging in general…
Say that my name is Rahsee Patel and I just bought the local convenience store with gas pumps down on the corner near your house. In addition to stocking a lovely assortment of exotic smelling incense and plastic wrapped porno magazines, I also have one 10,000 gallon and two 7,500 gallon gasoline storage tanks buried in the ground under the parking lot out in front of my new retail empire.
After closing on my purchase, I rush to the store from the lawyer’s office and check my gas inventory. My giant wooden dipstick tells me that I currently have on hand 5,000 gallons of regular, 3,000 gallons of mid-octane, and 3,500 gallons of premium gasoline.
My sign out front of the store currently advertises $2.59, $2.79, and $2.99 per gallon, and sales are brisk this afternoon when we return to the store.
With the Labor Day holiday coming on, I place a phone call to two different distributors (my station is an independent) and I am shocked at what I hear. My new COSTS for replacement product exceeds what I am currently selling my gasoline for.
The first thing my brother “Big Bob” Patel does is prepare to go out and change our signs and the pump pricing--after all, we have to be able to afford to replace the gas in our tanks with new product at the higher prices, and our bank account is drained quite low after making the cash purchase of the store and its existing inventory.
I need at least 5,000 gallons of regular at a cost of $2.65/gal, and 3,500 gallons of plus and and 3,000 gallons of premium now costing $2.85/gal and $3.05/gal respectively.
Based on my actual purchase cost for the gasoline plus my 25% overhead and profit, the new costs will be $3.31, $3.48, and $3.71. This means that my new selling price for gas will go up by an average of $0.72 per gallon. We post the new numbers on our sign, and the uproar starts.
PRICE GOUGING SCREAM THE CUSTOMERS!!
A satellite news truck pulls up out front and the reporter asks me to come on camera and explain myself to the American people.
“Look,” I say, “I’m just a small business man and I don’t make the gasoline, I just sell it.”
“But what about all of that gas you already had in your tank that you bought last week for a lower cost?” they ask.
“If I sell my existing inventory at the old prices, I won’t make enough money to be able to fill the tank back up paying the new costs--don’t you see?” “I’ll have to borrow the money else operate with less than a full tank--I’ll risk running out.”
Here's the details. If I sell the existing 11,500 gallon inventory at the old prices, regardless of the initial cost, the store would net $33,785.00. That would be $4,490.00 less that the $38,275.00 cost to purchase equal quantities of new products.
By selling the gas already in the tank at a price based on the new product costs, the store will net $39,750, a whole $1,700 more than needed to replace the existing inventory at the increased costs.
Can you honestly call an extra $1,700 on a nearly $40,000 transaction PRICE GOUGING?
No?
Then how about everybody thinking before they holler next time? I know that the rising prices hurt in the ole' wallet and are a hardship for many people, but the details bear out the fact that everyone in the gas business isn't a thief and does not deserve to be villified the way they are.
The bottom line here is that gasoline sales is a business, not a charity, and you have a choice to pay what the asking price is or stay the heck at home.
It’s just that simple…
A Herd Mentality--Part II
Most people have no idea how the gasoline they rely on to transport them to work, school, and the grocery store each week actually gets to their local gas stations.
Believe me, it doesn’t arrive straight from the oil well in a tanker truck and it isn’t magically “beamed” Star Trek style from the refinery to the local Quick Trip or Gas & Go in the blink of an eye.
Those of us here on the gulf coast and most the Atlantic coast enjoy the delivery of our petroleum products using the services of The Colonial Pipeline Company. The 5,500 mile long Colonial Pipeline was constructed beginning in 1962 and now extends from Houston, Texas to the port of Long Island, NY, with branches running to major cities in Tennessee, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia. A short feeder branch runs from the port of New Orleans into the pipeline.
The pipeline is actually two 30” lines running parallel to each other through a network of pumping stations, terminal tank farms, and re-refining stations located along the length of the pipeline. Gasoline and other petroleum products are distributed locally via rail car and tanker truck--tanker trucks always being the end delivery vehicle.
The pipeline is a very cheep, efficient means of making petroleum product deliveries, but beleive me when I say that the tree huggers and enviro-fascists raised a bunch of hell when the pipeline was being permitted and constructed, and they continue to fight its’ expansion tooth and nail today. It seems to me that a big pipe full of oil buried in the ground presents a lower risk than a 75,000 pound tanker truck full of gasoline rolling down the road with the idiots I normally see driving around, in front of, and underneath it.
The thing about the pipeline is that it still takes an average of 18-½ days for product to move from Texas to the other end of the pipeline in NY. The pipeline norally moves an average of 100,000,000 gallons (yes, that's 100 MILLION gallons) of petroleum products each day, but it has been shut down since last Sunday, just resuming partial operation at 6:00 PM CST on Wednesday 8/31 and it is up to about 38% right now according to their latest press release.
The problem has not been physical damage, it has been rather a lack of electricity in Louisiana and Mississippi to power the mid-line pumping stations located along the length of the pipeline. They expect to be back to 74% capacity by Sunday and into the mid 80% capacity by next week.
So my advice to everyone is to sit back, marinade some ribs, pop open a cold beer, and stay close to home this Labor Day weekend. Chill out, you don’t HAVE to drive cross country this holiday--regardless of your prior plans.
The gas is on the way, and the price will go back down once things settle down a little. All you are doing by panicking and paying the current prices is guaranteeing high costs for yourself. I’m personally waiting to buy my next gas because I PLANNED ahead.
And besides, it could be worse--we all could be sweating and hiding from the terorists in the Big Easy, ya’ know what I mean?
Believe me, it doesn’t arrive straight from the oil well in a tanker truck and it isn’t magically “beamed” Star Trek style from the refinery to the local Quick Trip or Gas & Go in the blink of an eye.
Those of us here on the gulf coast and most the Atlantic coast enjoy the delivery of our petroleum products using the services of The Colonial Pipeline Company. The 5,500 mile long Colonial Pipeline was constructed beginning in 1962 and now extends from Houston, Texas to the port of Long Island, NY, with branches running to major cities in Tennessee, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia. A short feeder branch runs from the port of New Orleans into the pipeline.
The pipeline is actually two 30” lines running parallel to each other through a network of pumping stations, terminal tank farms, and re-refining stations located along the length of the pipeline. Gasoline and other petroleum products are distributed locally via rail car and tanker truck--tanker trucks always being the end delivery vehicle.
The pipeline is a very cheep, efficient means of making petroleum product deliveries, but beleive me when I say that the tree huggers and enviro-fascists raised a bunch of hell when the pipeline was being permitted and constructed, and they continue to fight its’ expansion tooth and nail today. It seems to me that a big pipe full of oil buried in the ground presents a lower risk than a 75,000 pound tanker truck full of gasoline rolling down the road with the idiots I normally see driving around, in front of, and underneath it.
The thing about the pipeline is that it still takes an average of 18-½ days for product to move from Texas to the other end of the pipeline in NY. The pipeline norally moves an average of 100,000,000 gallons (yes, that's 100 MILLION gallons) of petroleum products each day, but it has been shut down since last Sunday, just resuming partial operation at 6:00 PM CST on Wednesday 8/31 and it is up to about 38% right now according to their latest press release.
The problem has not been physical damage, it has been rather a lack of electricity in Louisiana and Mississippi to power the mid-line pumping stations located along the length of the pipeline. They expect to be back to 74% capacity by Sunday and into the mid 80% capacity by next week.
So my advice to everyone is to sit back, marinade some ribs, pop open a cold beer, and stay close to home this Labor Day weekend. Chill out, you don’t HAVE to drive cross country this holiday--regardless of your prior plans.
The gas is on the way, and the price will go back down once things settle down a little. All you are doing by panicking and paying the current prices is guaranteeing high costs for yourself. I’m personally waiting to buy my next gas because I PLANNED ahead.
And besides, it could be worse--we all could be sweating and hiding from the terorists in the Big Easy, ya’ know what I mean?
A Herd Mentality
Gas on St. Simons Island has always been ten or twenty cents more expensive than the same product purchased eight miles away on the mainland. Island residents like us always plan our trips so we can take advantage of the savings.
Back in July when gas prices on the mainland fell down to below $2.40 a gallon I drove my Suburban across the causeway and pumped it slap damn overflowing full of gas. Over eighty dollars worth in the form of about 35 gallons (it holds 42 gallons) of regular unleaded. I still have probably 35 gallons worth in the tank because we drive Pat’s Mustang most of the time unless we’re hauling lumber or furniture and the Mustang‘s 18 MPG beats the heck out of the 9 MPG I‘ve been getting over the past year or so.
Since I’ve been recently living in a hospital room and on my mom’s sofa, I haven’t bought much gasoline in the past month. Maybe that is why I find it easy to want to poke fun at people in Atlanta and other parts of the country that are running around screaming about the price of gasoline and more recently--
GASOLINE AVAILABILITY. But hold the presses--the plague is spreading!
My mom just got home from shopping and had to go to two different gas stations to fill the tank on her car up. One place she went here in Elba was limiting people to $15 worth and the second in another nearby town had a $20 limit. Remember that $20 worth at $3 per gallon is only a little over 6-½ gallons--60 miles worth of driving in my Suburban.
The good news is that the present prices are as predictable as is the current short term shortages are. The bad news is that consumers are exasperating the situation by running out filling up every car, boat, lawnmower, and gas can in anticipation of higher prices and in the process--artificially forcing demand up and thereby increasing prices and CREATING many of the shortages being experienced on a local basis.
Now enter the politicians--those miserable panderers to the stupid low brow mentality and lowest common denominators in human nature--envy and greed. Most politicians aren’t really stupid--they just let their desire to stay in office and get re-elected override their own education and knowledge of free market economics.
The politicians can’t resist jumping in front of any available microphone or TV camera and uttering the words--PRICE GOUGING and the masses bow down at their feet and run to the polls to voice their approval.
I’m sorry, but a station owner or manager has the absolute right to raise their gas prices as much as they damn well please and it’s neither your nor my nor the government’s business how the numbers are determined.
Are you mad at me now, or just think that I’m crazy or stupid?
Stay tuned and read my next couple of postings and see if you still think the same way...
Back in July when gas prices on the mainland fell down to below $2.40 a gallon I drove my Suburban across the causeway and pumped it slap damn overflowing full of gas. Over eighty dollars worth in the form of about 35 gallons (it holds 42 gallons) of regular unleaded. I still have probably 35 gallons worth in the tank because we drive Pat’s Mustang most of the time unless we’re hauling lumber or furniture and the Mustang‘s 18 MPG beats the heck out of the 9 MPG I‘ve been getting over the past year or so.
Since I’ve been recently living in a hospital room and on my mom’s sofa, I haven’t bought much gasoline in the past month. Maybe that is why I find it easy to want to poke fun at people in Atlanta and other parts of the country that are running around screaming about the price of gasoline and more recently--
GASOLINE AVAILABILITY. But hold the presses--the plague is spreading!
My mom just got home from shopping and had to go to two different gas stations to fill the tank on her car up. One place she went here in Elba was limiting people to $15 worth and the second in another nearby town had a $20 limit. Remember that $20 worth at $3 per gallon is only a little over 6-½ gallons--60 miles worth of driving in my Suburban.
The good news is that the present prices are as predictable as is the current short term shortages are. The bad news is that consumers are exasperating the situation by running out filling up every car, boat, lawnmower, and gas can in anticipation of higher prices and in the process--artificially forcing demand up and thereby increasing prices and CREATING many of the shortages being experienced on a local basis.
Now enter the politicians--those miserable panderers to the stupid low brow mentality and lowest common denominators in human nature--envy and greed. Most politicians aren’t really stupid--they just let their desire to stay in office and get re-elected override their own education and knowledge of free market economics.
The politicians can’t resist jumping in front of any available microphone or TV camera and uttering the words--PRICE GOUGING and the masses bow down at their feet and run to the polls to voice their approval.
I’m sorry, but a station owner or manager has the absolute right to raise their gas prices as much as they damn well please and it’s neither your nor my nor the government’s business how the numbers are determined.
Are you mad at me now, or just think that I’m crazy or stupid?
Stay tuned and read my next couple of postings and see if you still think the same way...
A Thin, Thin Line...
Anybody who has spent any time wondering how things could go so wrong in Iraq after the US removed Sadam from power need look no further than what is happening in New Orleans this week for an answer.
See the thin, thin line that exists in this country between civilization and anarchy? That line is virtually non-existent in most of the third world and is frighteningly fragile in the so-called developed countries.
Blame human nature and culture (or the lack thereof), not politics--it‘s not Bush‘s fault that the idiot black thugs being housed for free in the Superdome and staging for relocation to Houston are now stuck indefinitely in the hot, humid, rancid cesspool that New Orleans has become.
Why has the evacuation been cancelled or at least delayed?
Because some idiots started shooting at military helicopters before daylight this morning and the military said as a result:
“Sit there and sweat it out and deal with the consequences of your actions”
Of course the bleeding hearts will all say "but it isn't FAIR to penalize everybody."
Well, until "everybody" (or at least somebody) gives up the names or otherwise identifies the terorist thugs living in their midst in the Superdome refugee population, I say that I agree whole heartedly with the current decision to let them sit where they are.
See the thin, thin line that exists in this country between civilization and anarchy? That line is virtually non-existent in most of the third world and is frighteningly fragile in the so-called developed countries.
Blame human nature and culture (or the lack thereof), not politics--it‘s not Bush‘s fault that the idiot black thugs being housed for free in the Superdome and staging for relocation to Houston are now stuck indefinitely in the hot, humid, rancid cesspool that New Orleans has become.
Why has the evacuation been cancelled or at least delayed?
Because some idiots started shooting at military helicopters before daylight this morning and the military said as a result:
“Sit there and sweat it out and deal with the consequences of your actions”
Of course the bleeding hearts will all say "but it isn't FAIR to penalize everybody."
Well, until "everybody" (or at least somebody) gives up the names or otherwise identifies the terorist thugs living in their midst in the Superdome refugee population, I say that I agree whole heartedly with the current decision to let them sit where they are.
Live Blogging From New Orleans
The Interdictor is live blogging the situation in New Orleans from an office building in the middle of the chaos downtown.
He and his co-workers are guarding and operating their building and harboring police officers at night and trying to stay away from the looters.
Stop over at the site or some interesting reading that you won't see on FOX News.
He and his co-workers are guarding and operating their building and harboring police officers at night and trying to stay away from the looters.
Stop over at the site or some interesting reading that you won't see on FOX News.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
24K Blogging
Arggggggghhhhh...
I'm happy to announce that my health has improved enough that my mother's darn slow Alaweb dial-up internet connection is starting to annoy me. I'm in at 24K baud right now, and if I'm lucky I can get 36K or even 40K once in a blue moon.
I might actually be awake enough and cranky enough to get a few decent rants put together this afternoon. Gas prices and and idiots like Bobby Kennedy Jr. politicizing the hurricane are rumbling around in my head--let's see what happens.
I ate my first complete meal at lunch today since dinner on August 12th--a turkey and swiss sandwich with a Heath candy bar for desert. Everything has stayed down so far, and my guts aren't tieing themselves in knots and killing me yet like they did when I tried to eat more than a few bites earlier his week.
There's nothing like a good brush with death to take a few pounds off the old girth--I haven't weighed but I bet I'll loose at least 20 pounds through this fiasco.
I'm happy to announce that my health has improved enough that my mother's darn slow Alaweb dial-up internet connection is starting to annoy me. I'm in at 24K baud right now, and if I'm lucky I can get 36K or even 40K once in a blue moon.
I might actually be awake enough and cranky enough to get a few decent rants put together this afternoon. Gas prices and and idiots like Bobby Kennedy Jr. politicizing the hurricane are rumbling around in my head--let's see what happens.
I ate my first complete meal at lunch today since dinner on August 12th--a turkey and swiss sandwich with a Heath candy bar for desert. Everything has stayed down so far, and my guts aren't tieing themselves in knots and killing me yet like they did when I tried to eat more than a few bites earlier his week.
There's nothing like a good brush with death to take a few pounds off the old girth--I haven't weighed but I bet I'll loose at least 20 pounds through this fiasco.
Domed Stadium Tour--2005
So FOX News is reporting that the "officials" have decided to move the New Orleans "dome refugees" out of the Superdome and into the Astro Dome in Houston, Texas?
What I want to know is, did these people get sports agents to represent them during their short residency in the New Orleans' sports arena?
Is there something in their contracts that says that they will not be required to sleep in a building without a 150' high roof or housed in a facility without an astroturf playing field for their kids?
Just wondering?
What I want to know is, did these people get sports agents to represent them during their short residency in the New Orleans' sports arena?
Is there something in their contracts that says that they will not be required to sleep in a building without a 150' high roof or housed in a facility without an astroturf playing field for their kids?
Just wondering?
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Al, Al, Al...
What We Gonna Do Wit' You?
It seems that perenial presidential candidate and camera hog Rev. Al Sharpton is at it again:
WAXAHACHIE — A driver for the Rev. Al Sharpton led Ellis County Sheriff's deputies on a nine-mile chase at speeds up to 110 mph before state troopers stopped the car, authorities
The civil rights activist called the sheriff's report "ludicrous on its face" and accused the officers of "embellishing the story."
Chief Deputy Charles Sullins said the driver was rushing Sharpton to the airport after Sharpton visited anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan on Sunday at her camp outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford. The car carrying Sharpton and two other passengers was clocked doing 110 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 35 in Ellis County in North Texas.
"That nine-mile chase is news to me," Sharpton told The Associated Press. "All I know is that the police pulled us over because they wanted to talk to the driver about speeding. Other volunteers in the car asked if they could go on and take me to the airport, and that's what we did."
Sharpton said the law required officers to arrest everyone in the car.
"That would be wrong to arrest everyone," Sullins said. "Why would we arrest the passengers for something the driver did?"
Deputies arrested Jarrett Barton Maupin, 43, of Phoenix. Because the 2005 Lincoln was rented to Maupin, sheriff's deputies impounded the car. Maupin posted $1,000 in bonds on charges of evading arrest with a vehicle and reckless driving.
Sullins said the officers offered Sharpton and the other volunteers a ride to a hotel across the highway, but they declined.
Sharpton said he made his scheduled flight from Dallas to New York.
Texas citizens can rest easy, but if I were in NY I'd be checking my rearview mirror very carefully...
It seems that perenial presidential candidate and camera hog Rev. Al Sharpton is at it again:
WAXAHACHIE — A driver for the Rev. Al Sharpton led Ellis County Sheriff's deputies on a nine-mile chase at speeds up to 110 mph before state troopers stopped the car, authorities
The civil rights activist called the sheriff's report "ludicrous on its face" and accused the officers of "embellishing the story."
Chief Deputy Charles Sullins said the driver was rushing Sharpton to the airport after Sharpton visited anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan on Sunday at her camp outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford. The car carrying Sharpton and two other passengers was clocked doing 110 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 35 in Ellis County in North Texas.
"That nine-mile chase is news to me," Sharpton told The Associated Press. "All I know is that the police pulled us over because they wanted to talk to the driver about speeding. Other volunteers in the car asked if they could go on and take me to the airport, and that's what we did."
Sharpton said the law required officers to arrest everyone in the car.
"That would be wrong to arrest everyone," Sullins said. "Why would we arrest the passengers for something the driver did?"
Deputies arrested Jarrett Barton Maupin, 43, of Phoenix. Because the 2005 Lincoln was rented to Maupin, sheriff's deputies impounded the car. Maupin posted $1,000 in bonds on charges of evading arrest with a vehicle and reckless driving.
Sullins said the officers offered Sharpton and the other volunteers a ride to a hotel across the highway, but they declined.
Sharpton said he made his scheduled flight from Dallas to New York.
Texas citizens can rest easy, but if I were in NY I'd be checking my rearview mirror very carefully...
Multi-Billon $$ Bamboozle
I’ve been studying the political and business concepts of insurance for a while now. Boy have my opinions and beliefs changed in the past ten years.
Back in the early 1990’s I was what I called and “insurance mans’ dream”--I owned at least a little bit of practically every form or insurance available to the American consumer.
Term life, whole life, universal life, health, hospitalization, professional disability, replacement value homeowners’, auto insurance, boat insurance, business liability insurance, and get this--a million dollar “umbrella” insurance policy that would kick in and cover me if some other form of insurance fell short of my needs--real or imagined.
I forget the details now, (and I refuse to re-live the pain and agony thinking too hard) but I bet I was paying nearly $1000 each month out of pocket for my INSURANCE. I admit that most of it was optional like my $400K life insurance and professional disability insurance, but some of the costliest insurance was government mandated or otherwise a necessity like my auto insurance and my homeowner’s insurance required by my government backed mortgage company.
When I first moved to Georgia back in the late 1970’s, it was up to the individual if they owned auto insurance. It wasn’t against the law to not have insurance, you just took your chances being able to pay a claim if you ran into someone and you were uninsured. I had full coverage insurance on my car. That was a good thing because I was a stupid little bastard driver back then and had a lot of “fender bender” wrecks that my insurance (and my dad) paid for.
Then the government of the state of Georgia, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make auto insurance mandatory and in addition, make it no-fault. This means that it is against the law to drive without insurance, but people still do it anyway, and like everything else that is mandatory, the price of insurance went up. I still owned insurance on my car while others’ didn’t--then only difference was that the State of Georgia gets to write a ticket and charge a fine if they catch you driving around without insurance. The situation has degenerated in most states to the point where it is a careful balancing act deciding whether to report an accident to your insurance company and make a claim for fear that your premium cost will exceed the cost of the claim or worse yet--that your insurance will be cancelled.
The good news is that I haven’t had a car wreck since 1985.
Homeowner’s insurance is the latest insurance racket that is going to self-implode right before our eyes. While it is reasonable for the mortgage companies to require borrowers to insure property held as equity for the loans, the government is forcing insurers to take ridiculous risks from hurricanes in states like Florida and the rest of the US Gulf and Atlantic coastal regions, and from risks like wildfires and earthquakes on the west coast.
After hurricane Andrew in 1992, the Florida Insurance commissioner required all insurance companies to create a “pool” and provide insurance in coastal areas if they intended to write insurance policies in the interior areas of Florida. This is counter to supply/demand marketing. Add the Federal Flood Insurance Program on top of all of this, and toss in FEMA that runs behind disasters and pays people that are too stupid to take advantage of the already unrealistically low priced insurance made available by state mandate, and I say we are going to see the availability of homeowner’s insurance evaporate practically overnight in the southern coastal regions of the US.
I’ve overheard news estimates that Katrina’s final cost could be between $20 and $25 Billion dollars, overtaking Andrew at $21billion (adjusted for inflation) as the costliest hurricane in history.
The American Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize people living in flood prone regions, and I believe that there is big trouble on the horizion if substantial changes aren’t made…
Take it from someone that lives on an Island…
Back in the early 1990’s I was what I called and “insurance mans’ dream”--I owned at least a little bit of practically every form or insurance available to the American consumer.
Term life, whole life, universal life, health, hospitalization, professional disability, replacement value homeowners’, auto insurance, boat insurance, business liability insurance, and get this--a million dollar “umbrella” insurance policy that would kick in and cover me if some other form of insurance fell short of my needs--real or imagined.
I forget the details now, (and I refuse to re-live the pain and agony thinking too hard) but I bet I was paying nearly $1000 each month out of pocket for my INSURANCE. I admit that most of it was optional like my $400K life insurance and professional disability insurance, but some of the costliest insurance was government mandated or otherwise a necessity like my auto insurance and my homeowner’s insurance required by my government backed mortgage company.
When I first moved to Georgia back in the late 1970’s, it was up to the individual if they owned auto insurance. It wasn’t against the law to not have insurance, you just took your chances being able to pay a claim if you ran into someone and you were uninsured. I had full coverage insurance on my car. That was a good thing because I was a stupid little bastard driver back then and had a lot of “fender bender” wrecks that my insurance (and my dad) paid for.
Then the government of the state of Georgia, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make auto insurance mandatory and in addition, make it no-fault. This means that it is against the law to drive without insurance, but people still do it anyway, and like everything else that is mandatory, the price of insurance went up. I still owned insurance on my car while others’ didn’t--then only difference was that the State of Georgia gets to write a ticket and charge a fine if they catch you driving around without insurance. The situation has degenerated in most states to the point where it is a careful balancing act deciding whether to report an accident to your insurance company and make a claim for fear that your premium cost will exceed the cost of the claim or worse yet--that your insurance will be cancelled.
The good news is that I haven’t had a car wreck since 1985.
Homeowner’s insurance is the latest insurance racket that is going to self-implode right before our eyes. While it is reasonable for the mortgage companies to require borrowers to insure property held as equity for the loans, the government is forcing insurers to take ridiculous risks from hurricanes in states like Florida and the rest of the US Gulf and Atlantic coastal regions, and from risks like wildfires and earthquakes on the west coast.
After hurricane Andrew in 1992, the Florida Insurance commissioner required all insurance companies to create a “pool” and provide insurance in coastal areas if they intended to write insurance policies in the interior areas of Florida. This is counter to supply/demand marketing. Add the Federal Flood Insurance Program on top of all of this, and toss in FEMA that runs behind disasters and pays people that are too stupid to take advantage of the already unrealistically low priced insurance made available by state mandate, and I say we are going to see the availability of homeowner’s insurance evaporate practically overnight in the southern coastal regions of the US.
I’ve overheard news estimates that Katrina’s final cost could be between $20 and $25 Billion dollars, overtaking Andrew at $21billion (adjusted for inflation) as the costliest hurricane in history.
The American Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize people living in flood prone regions, and I believe that there is big trouble on the horizion if substantial changes aren’t made…
Take it from someone that lives on an Island…
Monday, August 29, 2005
Can You Say Morphine?
Well folks, the long siege is over with, hopefully. They took away my Morphine drip line yesterday evening and I can actually hold my head up for more than two hours in a row without drooling on myself.
Let me tell, you--I was sick--and got sicker in a hurry. Two weeks of the calendar just basically disappeared from my life, all courtesy of something called intestinal ischemia. I had at least one and possibly three blood clots in the blood vessels between my stomach and liver and intestines and kidneys.
It was debilitating and painful, but I’m supposed to be no worse for the wear in the long run, however. I get to go back on blood thinners for the rest of my mortal life, but I prefer Coumadin to the available options.
I'd also rather be here enjoying the fine cuisine in the hospital in Dothan, Alabama, wondering about when I’ll be able to catch a flight back to the Georgia Coast, than sitting in the Super Dome in New Orleans watching the roof blow off and the surrounding streets flood.
Let me tell, you--I was sick--and got sicker in a hurry. Two weeks of the calendar just basically disappeared from my life, all courtesy of something called intestinal ischemia. I had at least one and possibly three blood clots in the blood vessels between my stomach and liver and intestines and kidneys.
It was debilitating and painful, but I’m supposed to be no worse for the wear in the long run, however. I get to go back on blood thinners for the rest of my mortal life, but I prefer Coumadin to the available options.
I'd also rather be here enjoying the fine cuisine in the hospital in Dothan, Alabama, wondering about when I’ll be able to catch a flight back to the Georgia Coast, than sitting in the Super Dome in New Orleans watching the roof blow off and the surrounding streets flood.
