December 2008 - Posts
It is said there is an ancient Chinese curse that reads, "May you live in interesting times."
This year we've seen:
- Sky rocketing fuel prices followed by a crash in prices that hurt both dealers and consumers.
- Congress refusing to even consider allowing us to go after the petroleum here at home, preferring to play politics instead.
- Our economy tank big time.
- Home prices falling to the point some homeowners are now upside down in their mortgages.
- Congress and the President give $750 Billion in apparently untraceable money to failing financial firms who's executives banked the money, refused to loan it out and then took really expensive "retreats" and seven figure bonuses.
- Bernard L. Madoff's $50 billion dollar Wall Street Ponzi Scheme that could well be that last straw that makes a recession into a depression.
- UAW leaders make it plain they would rather put the US Auto Industry out of business then give enough to make them competitive again.
- Governor Blagojevich stop just short of placing President Elect Obama's senate on eBay while trying to get all he could get out fo the deal.
- A practical demonstration that even an idiot political satire writer has a shot at getting becoming a US Senator.
- Proof beyond any doubt that the Minnesota election system is corrupt beyond redemption.
- Undeniable evidence that a significant percentage of our voting population get most or all of their information from Comedy Central, left wing blogs or narrowly focused political action comities.
So... who pissed off the Chinese?
When you encounter seemingly good advice that contradicts other seemingly good advice, ignore them both.
- Al Franken
Cost vs. price of text messaging topped several business news segments today. Herb Kohl (D-WI) chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights set his sights on the business of text messaging. He is upset by a report from T-Mobile that text messaging piggy backs along existing control channels and is very inexpensive to carry on their system.
"Text messaging files are very small," the Democratic senator said, "as the size of text messages are generally limited to 160 characters per message, and therefore cost carriers very little to transmit."
Fox News: Text Rip-Off? Pricey Messages 'Cost Virtually Nothing' to Carriers
Randall Stross of the The New York times interviewed Srinivasan Keshav, a computer science professor who said, "Messages are small. Even though a trillion seems like a lot to carry, it isn’t." Stross ran that quote in an article called, "
What Carriers Aren’t Eager to Tell You About Texting."
To read these and other stories on the matter, you would think that we are all being taken to cleaners by the lowest of the low con-artists. With no logical thought on the matter, it would be easy to believe that cell phone companies are gouging us on each and every text message.
Here is a heads up for those writers: For the moment we still live in a free market economy. Cell phone providers can set the price anywhere they want for their services. There is lots of competition in the cell phone industry. They are not monopolies. As much as teenagers may disagree, text messaging is not critical to continued life on this planet.
What it costs cell phone providers to move a text message from point A to point B is none of our business. When was the last time you saw anyone in a grocery store walk up to the store manager and demand to what the grocery store paid for that gallon of milk? If you don't like the price on text messaging, change carriers or do not send text messages.
And if the cell phone companies are raking in a small fortune on text messaging, good for them. You can bet that the cell phone companies are using those revenues to offset other costs like voice services, data services, keeping their systems up and running, upgrading cell sites, building new sites, etc, etc. As anyone that has paid attention to any advertising for more then a couple weeks knows, the competition for your cellular budget is fierce. Each and every one of these carriers know that almost half of their customer base makes their final purchase decision based price. If the money they make on text messaging keeps the over all cost of cell service down, more power to them.
This is completely ridiculous. If this is all Senator Kohl has to do with his time, the good folks of Wisconsin need a new senator.
The next bit of business news that caught my eye discussed the woes of consumers, both public and private, that entered into contracts with heating oil companies to lock in a price for fuel oil for the coming winter. Professional traders call this practice "investing in the futures market."
Last year when oil began the most recent ride on the price rocket, many petroleum companies scrambled for credit to cover larger then expected demands on contracts with prices locked in at lower then market rates. Attorneys General all over the north eastern region busted their collective tails to get in front of the nearest TV camera to remind heating oil companies of dire consequences if they failed to honor those contracted lower prices. With the exception of a couple smaller companies that went bankrupt, consumers got their lower prices.
Over the summer, individual consumers, businesses and even government agencies fearful of climbing record high oil prices signed contracts locking in their price for petroleum products over this winter. Who knew back then the bottom was going to fall out of the economy. We all know what's coming next:
In Connecticut, more than 500 people have called the attorney general's office in the past two months, trying to get out of the fuel contracts. The national average for home heating oil is $2.41 a gallon. Some paid more than $4 this year.
"It's a universal plea: they want us to extricate them from these contracts," says Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
He says statewide, about 100,000 of the 680,000 heating oil consumers signed contracts this year.
USA Today: Tempers rise over oil-heat lock-ins
Let their tempers rise. When you gamble on something as volatile as the petroleum futures market you can win big and loose big. If you don't like the game, don't play. Buy your fuel by the tank load and pay the current market rate when it is delivered.
What many of these whining consumers do not realize is that most local petroleum companies purchase all or part of their product on the futures market based on the price commitments and expected demand in these contracts. That way their customers are are assured the product will be there when needed and the dealer is assured a profit. When consumers signed those contracts to lock in those prices, in most cases the dealer purchased that oil less then a week after that contract was executed, sometimes even the same day. But even if that is not the case, the consumer has no right to walk out on that contract.
When the shoe was on the other foot, we didn't see a whole lot of sympathy for the heating oil companies. Why is it I need to feel sorry for consumers that locked in prices that are now much higher then the current market? The customers placed their bets and lost. Hopefully those customers will have a little more sympathy for petroleum companies when the contracts work in their favor instead of against them.
It is no secret that business is fleeing the country where ever possible. We can now add "consumers that don't think they have to honor their contracts when things don't go their way" to the ever growing list of reasons.
You can no longer buy commodities at Merrill Lynch. My guess is many analysts and even executives are too young to know how profitable a hot commodities market can be. They will soon.
- Jim Rogers
This is possibly the cutest deer picture ever. Click the link and surrender to the cute.
Cute Deer PictureI have no idea who took it or where it was taken. But it is one of the finest wildlife photos I've ever seen.
"I can haz treets plz?"
- LOL Cats
Used with permission, copyright ©2005 Chesney Here is wishing your year was the best it could be, filled with joy and people you love. May your holidays be made up of good food, fine drink and warm and loving people.
Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
- Calvin Coolidge
Several television stations around the country are conducting soft tests to Digital Television (DTV). This is an FCC sponsored program where stations take down their analog signal for a time (not in prime time) and broadcast a slate with words to the effect of "If you can read this, you are not ready for the conversion to Digital TV. Call this number for help." In one market, that number was the public line into the news room. One of the engineers assigned to answer those DTV questions detailed some of the calls on a broadcaster's forum. With his permission, I am posting his notes here. The names have been changed to protect the innocent...
Me: Good evening, Channel X News...
Caller: When you folks did the test, I saw snow. Does that mean my converter box won't work with my TV?
Me: No, chances are your converter just isn't connected properly. Let's work through it.
Caller: Well, the converter is still in the shipping box.
Me: Um... that would have something to do with it... it does need to be hooked to your TV.
Caller: But it isn't going to work until the switch in February, so why hook it up now?
Me: Good evening, Channel X News...
Caller: I get every station good except for channel Y... the picture and sound don't line up.
Me: Have you tried calling channel Y about it?
Caller: Yeah, they don't answer the phone.
Me: Good evening, Channel X News...
Caller: Does this digital thing mean I need to replace my refrigerator?
Me: The changeover only affects televisions, ma'am.
Caller: I have a $3,500 LG refrigerator with a TV built into the door.
Me: Oh! What sort of antenna does it have?
Caller: We have an antenna in the attic, and it hooks to a VCR on top of the refrigerator.
Me: That makes it pretty easy: just get a converter and hook it between the antenna and the VCR.
Caller: I don't need a new refrigerator?
Me: Nope, the converter should do the job... but it will still only make analog ice cubes.
Me: Good evening, Channel X News...
Caller: Can I still use the TV in my Winnebago?
Me: Well, you'll probably need a converter box unless the TV is brand new.
Caller: I don't want to mess with that... I'll just sign up for cable.
Me: Good evening, Channel X News...
Caller: What was the phone number for the diet program you had last night?
February 17, 2009 is going to be a train wreck. My prediction that mail, e-mail and phone calls to the congressional and senate office buildings will choke the system still stands. I think there is a 40% chance we might even find the analog signals turned back on for a while.
In the mean time here are a few things you might not have thought of. If you have a battery operated TV, as many do for trips to the beach, hurricanes, tornadoes, The Apocalypse, etc, unless it is digital, it won't work without the converter box. If you don't have power for the converter box, your battery operated TV is a paper weight.
Some low power stations and repeater stations called "translators" (like in rural mountain areas) have been given a pass on on shutting down. If you are watching one of these, there is now telling when they will get their plug pulled.
There is also some question about the claim that cable and satellite customers will not be affected. It seems that after a question was raised, a quick and dirty survey was taken of cable and satellite receiving stations. It turns out over half of those facilities are still grabbing an off air analog signal just like they have for the last few decades. If they don't get that fixed by Feb. 17, 2009, those signals will go dark and their phones will melt under the call load.
Feb. 18, 2009 is going to be an interesting news day...
Unless you've been under a rock for the last few days, you cannot help but see the video of Muntadhar al-Zaidi tossing a couple shoes at President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Much has been made the incident but for lots of different reasons.
In the Arab world, calling someone a dog and throwing a shoe are two of the ultimate insults. We are talking serious fighting words and deeds. In this post we are going to break down the difference between free speech and assault.
The old saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" still holds true. In a free society you can call anyone just about anything you like as long as you make it plain you are stating your opinion. You cannot state as fact that someone is a whore without court room quality proof that person is in actively operating in the world's oldest profession. Well, ok, you can. But at not without some legal risk.
However you can say, "I think she is acting like a complete whore" with no legal problems at all. She may come after you with a two-by-four, but that is another matter.
You can call the President of the United States all kinds of names as demonstrated by at least a third of you reading this blog. You may do so with almost complete impunity because he is a public figure. Public figures have a much harder time winning slander and libel suits, but it can be done. Political figures almost never pursue legal action over statements made about them. Politicians pretty much figure that goes with the job.
However, the line is drawn at physical action. When Muntadhar al-Zaidi, impersonating a journalist (more about that later) hurled his shoes at the President and the Prime Minister, he crossed over the line between speech and assault. He was thrown to the floor and hustled out of the room. The only part that surprises me is that al-Zaidi got a second shoe off before he was tackled.
Now we find a full blown *** storm over something that should have been a footnote on a much larger story. So let us address it.
There are many that find the entire event completely amusing. The event spawned the
Size Ten Brigade, complete with their own stamp. The owner of that site has a blog and thought it was funny until I pointed out the problems with Muntadhar al-Zaidi's actions. Then she deleted my comments. Venezuelian President, Hugo Chavez, thought the entire event was hilarious.
Earlier, Chavez had a more jovial response to the incident -- laughing and calling it "funny." Referring to the shoe-tosser, he said, "What courage!"
Fox News: Chavez Says Shoe Toss at Bush Is 'Funny,' 'Courageous'
I think most of these people are chronic suffers of Bush Deranged Delusional Syndrome (BDDS). The symptoms are easy to spot. Any time President Bush comes to their attention, they either begin sniggering like Jr. High Students that just heard a potty joke or frothing at the mouth with a fervor that even the religious zealots cannot touch. They are mostly incapable of seeing the possibility that President Bush did something right. Any suggestion that is even remotely positive about President Bush triggers severe BDDS episodes in these poor afflicted people.
Now we have people
demonstrating in the streets of several countries proclaiming this idiot to be a hero and demanding his immediate release. His family
believes him to be sitting in jail, too beaten and bloody to appear in court.
Iraq's Parliment Speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, threatened to resign after a heated debate in Parliament over releasing this idiot from jail.
Here is a reality check for all of the above people and all those people that think like them. Muntadhar al-Zaidi is a common petty criminal charged with simple assault (at least). It is a tribute to the United States and the new government of Iraq that he was not summarily executed for his shoe tossing antics. He would have been dead ten minutes after chucking a shoe at Saddam Husein. He should be punished as prescribed by Iraqi law, then kicked out of jail with the timeless words, "Go and sin no more."
One other thing, he is no longer a journalist, if he ever was. He became the story. That is not what journalists are supposed to do. Even Iraqi journalists know this.
Al-Zeidi may have also been motivated by what a colleague described as a boastful, showoff personality.
"He tried to raise topics to show that nobody is as smart as he is," said Zanko Ahmed, a Kurdish journalist who attended a journalism training course with al-Zeidi in Lebanon.
Ahmed recalled that al-Zeidi spoke glowingly of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose followers organized protests Monday to demand his release.
"Regrettably, he didn't learn anything from the course in Lebanon, where we were taught ethics of journalism and how to be detached and neutral," Ahmed said.
Associated Press: Family: Shoe thrower hates both US, Iran role
He might need a new job once all this is over. Or at least a new beat. It is a safe bet his days of covering governmental pressers are over. Something tells me his government press credentials are history.
Houston, TX - What is it that is white, cold, wet, falls from the sky, turns to slush and paralyzes Texas cities with fear?
Must be global warming.
It's up to people like us, all of us, to address and talk about things like runaway global warming and how we can use things like remote viewing to save our planet.
- Jim Sullivan
Houston, TX - I need this like a need a hole in the head. The tow truck driver informs me that he sees this particular failure on a fairly regular basis. I wasn't aware the fan hub assembly and the radiator are going to be disposable items on this rig.
I'll be stuck until Saturday morning if all goes well. Bright side, there should be time to get some of the pictures from this road trip posted.
"What the $&*# was that noise?"
- Me, when the the radiator hit the fan
Tucson, AZ - This morning in the breakfast lounge at the Holiday Inn Express the TV was running CNN. I found it interesting that in the hour or so I was down there, there was not one mention of the day's significance. Once I was back up in my room, I turned CNN on and continued to watch for another hour and change.
During the time I watched, the people on CNN talked a great deal about their desire to see Obama take a more active roll in in the current administration's decisions regarding the economy. Congressman William Jefferson's defeat and what it means to New Orleans was a hot topic. A couple of Obama's cabinet appointees took up some time.
They spent a remarkable amount of time discussing other network news operations. Much energy went into a piece about what Rupert Murdock really thinks about his network, Fox News. A couple large blocks of time were dedicated to David Gregory's appointment to the helm of Meet the Press over at NBC.
But not one word about the anniversary of a day that will live in infamy, December 7, 1941. That was the day the Japanese Navy under the command of Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto attacked Pearl Harbor drawing the United States into World War II and ending the Great Depression.
You would think the day would have received some notice. You have to wonder if they simply forgot. Or perhaps the event no longer holds any significance for the management at CNN. Who knows.
Everybody knows about Pearl Harbor. The thing that really fascinated me is that through this tragedy there was this amazing American heroism.
- Michael Bay
 Dear Santa...
Dear Santa,
This year I've been busy!
In June I ate my brussel sprouts (1 points). In January I gave ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) stormgren a wet willie, then I took it back (-5 points). In August on a flight to LA, I stole the emergency flight information card (-40 points). In May I invaded Iraq, broke it, and couldn't glue it back together before Mom got home (-1012 points). Last Monday I committed genocide... Sorry about that, mieaga (-5000 points).
Overall, I've been naughty (-6056 points). For Christmas I deserve a spanking!
Sincerely,
Uplinktruck |
Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:
This one hit close to the mark, so I posted it here. Swiped form
mieaga and
laken_steeljaw.
"I'm getin' nottin' for Christmas, mommy and daddy are mad..."
- Stan Freberg