What's Really Wrong in America?

Pat & Oscar's Restaurants - Followup

2012-01-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

I wrote about this restaurant chain in December 2010 and indicated the food and service was falling by the wayside. I also indicated I feared that the company would follow their service down the tubes.

The inevitable has happened and the corporate Pat and Oscar's has gone bankrupt, closing their company owned restaurants without notice as I have gathered. Some franchise operations remain operating and I understand will attempt to make a go of it without the corporate albatross hanging on.

Again, I finished that previous story in wishing them luck. But it takes more than that to bring the customers back, To those franchisees out there, you have a wonderful product, so best of luck and maybe with your abilities to preserve your own customer base and without the pressure of a corporate presence, you can be successful. I sure hope you can.

Warning - Warning - Holiday Delivery and "Free Shipping"

2011-12-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

Did you know that many of the companies out there, including the big ones that you do business with are turning to alternative shipping solutions to save money on shipping? Yes, and that might turn out to be a very bad thing for you, the consumer, especially at this time of year as holiday shopping hits its frenzied peak.

You probably are aware that United Parcel Service or UPS takes about 7 days to get a package from coast to coast. Of course, with what they call "delivery exceptions" it can take longer. But for small packages, retailers are now using a service called UPS Mail Innovations or UPS MI in which the original package is shipped through UPS and moved about the country, then at some point is handed over to the US Postal Service for the final legs of delivery. The catch? Ten days or more between NY and CA on one delivery. 13 days on a shipment from Chicago weighing about 6 ounces where the seller, Dyson Vacuums charged $6.95 and could have Priority Mailed it for less than $5.00 and still made two dollars on packaging in the envelope. Imagine 13 days without a vacuum if you didn't have a spare. And they never said it would be going by UPS Mail Inovations, just UPS!

Problem here is that the shipper electronically manifests the shipping company who may not pick up for a day and it doesn't get shipped for a day. Then even as it moves from terminal to terminal, it changes hands several times more. Then the shipping company manifests the post office before giving them the package and finally hands it over. Then the package is on its way again with several stops in the interim before being delivered.

Think FedEx is any better? Think again! We loved FedEx Ground for heavier shipments as they were always faster than UPS with 5 day coast to coast times and for home delivery, they delivered on Saturday. But wait, FedEx came up with FedEx Smart Post where it now takes 10 days in some cases to get an article from outside of Phoenix, Arizona to San Diego, less than 400 miles away. Same type of deal as with the UPS mail , it moves through the FedEx Ground system and then gets handed off to the Postal Service down the line. But one wrong move and then nobody has any idea what happened to your package. Mine disappeared in Phoenix for days and neither the shipper nor FedEx could tell me anything about where it was except it was still there somewhere. Big freaking help!

There are others too, but those are the big two. My daughter became frustrated with one called Streamlite Delivery where they promise 5 business day delivery, but not to her door!

Amazon.com has taken to similar shipping on its free shipping deals with economy shipping. Yet, for some reason, Amazon does it right. Whether the shipper is afraid to lose Amazon as a client, thus moves their mail post-haste or whatever, the items actually have been delivered quickly. But, then again, maybe that's just an anomaly as this is the beginning of the holiday season, and the items are starting to move at the start. We'll see as the season progresses.

The caveat here is to ask before you choose the free or reduced shipping, or any other shipping this holiday season. Even at QVC.com and on the air purchases, you have a choice. If you click "best way" they will ship UPS or US mail at their prerogative, but you usually have the choice on smaller items to click down to have them use US Mail at the same price and it will arrive faster with less chance of damage.

The problem is so many shippers won't tell you who they actually use. They say your order will ship UPS but it will ship UPS Mail Innovations for one hellishly long ride. Or, their ads will say they use FedEx so you think you're getting FedEx. Well, you are, sort of. But it's a bastardization of the mail and FedEx Ground that may leave you scrambling for a last minute replacement present when the one you bought doesn't show up. Try telling your wife/fiancee/significant other it was UPS or FedEx fault on Christmas!

Finally kudos are in order to the Busted Knuckle Garage because after a package went awry from them, I called Warren, the owner, and he now posts on his web site that they do ship FedEx Smart Post for Free Ground Shipping on orders over $99, and it may delay your receipt of shipments. If you would like another way to ship, please inquire when ordering. A real stand up company who does right by their clients through informing them of choices. That's all the consumer asks...let us know what to expect and when to expect it. Busted Knuckle Garage...a 5 Star Company. I don't usually do plugs for anyone but these are really stand up folks: http://www.bustedknucklegarage.com/

Warning...Children at Play

2011-07-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

In Washington, I mean. Grown adults, or maybe people sized as adults with minds that are so filled with lack of logic except political partisanship, that they just can't seem to get anything right. Or anything done!

What's the huge problem is settling the debt fiasco? And why do these imbeciles seem to believe the way to do it is to screw the old, the infirm, the senior citizens, the veterans, the middle class and forget about all the special interests and the rich? The Republicans are becoming as bad as the Democrats in their self-serving lack of logic. The filthy rich have told them "Tax Us!" That's right, a group of the wealthiest people said they don't pay their fair share and should pay more. What? Many of those Republicans signed a No Tax Increase Pledge? But that's only for their rich assed friends and special interests? It sure seems that way when we hear that to "fulfill the pledge" they can cut Social Security or veterans benefits to offset not reducing a tax loophole or giveaway for oil companies or ethanol production, or some other pork barrel item, thus not increasing taxes. For example, to avoid eliminating 7 billion dollars in ethanol subsidies, you simply cut slightly more than 7 billion dollars in benefits to the working class Americans, and you avoided a tax increase, although you just screwed tens of millions of people. Take away the homeowners income tax mortgage interest deduction, property tax deduction and their tax bill will rise markedly. Those on the cusp of losing their homes due to affordability will fall over the edge. But do these buffoons care? Nope. Because they didn't have to raise taxes on big oil or corporate jets, or simply do away with the deduction of interest on planes or yachts for multi-millionaires and billionaires, nor the mega-mansions in Malibu, Laguna, Miami or the Hampton's! They'll simply put the screws to middle class America once again, and sit back and watch as more people lose their homes, because nobody thought about the long term consequences of what this would do.

That has become the hallmark of our politicians. They don't think long term. Here and now and not about later on. Like a child buying candy with their last money and eating it all at once. When it's gone and nothing is left, then they get concerned because they made a bad choice and they want more candy. So they cry and whine, kick and shout, and ask for more money or candy. See the parallels here? Sounds like politicians, doesn't it? Maybe oversimplified because I don't know any kids needing several trillion dollars for candy...yet! Maybe after this administration gets done with us....

We'll all have to bite the bullet in this mess. But those who can least afford it shouldn't be asked to bite a howitzer shell while the mega rich are asked to chomp on a .22. Once again, politics shows, that the most vulnerable are the ones most likely to be chopped up in this mess as it runs the course in Washington.

The backlash won't be pretty. No matter how this is sliced and diced, nobody will like the outcome. Those pushing cuts with no tax increases will incur the ire of those they hurt; those pushing tax increases will incur the wrath of those who have to foot the bill, who might not be those who should be footing the bill at all.

One final thought...you just have to look at them like a group of school children running amok before the bell. Even after they take their seats, nothing gets done. Because the head of the class is no smarter than any of the students, and no one is leading the group to a successful conclusion. The only thing they excel at is...recess!

A Curt Reply

2011-06-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

I received a comment from a reader whom, in my opinion, is simply infantile and wanted to do nothing but mount a personal attack. Thus, it wasn't published. This blog, while my opinion about companies and organizations and our government, is simply that, a blog. My opinions and nothing more. Except for those public officials who fail to keep promises and who rape, plillage and plunder for their own good, and those who attempt to set themselves up as ideals to the world in general, I don't set out to attack them, or their sometimes corrupted morals, although it sometimes ends up that way because of their own behavior. I don't set out to attack individuals, so when someone decides to attempt to dissect the blog and tell me who they think I am, in a hateful way, I exercise my right to hit the delete button and send their junk to the trash heap. However, I would like to address a few points of that person's writings anyway:

1. You stated your one grandmother hates kids. By the tone of your vile writing, your grandmother probably hates kids because she has you for a grandchild. If you were mine, I know I could learn that pretty easily. Your drivel and venom would make you easy to dislike very quickly.
2. You make unqualified statements as to my dislike for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. I don't know how you discern that. The only rant I made was about some idiot who decided to take a beauty pageant entrant to task because she answered honestly. She was entitled to say whatever she wanted to and nobody has the right to spew venom about what she said. That's EXACTLY what the problem has been for the LGBT community. If they want to be accepted for who they are, they have to accept everyone else for who they are. Idiots like you who toss every minute thing up to make it sound homophoboic are the problem, not the cure.
3. You talk about "beautiful California"? Liberal politicians and others like you are the reason we're nearly bankrupt because everyone wants something for nothing. There's no free ride and the money's running out. But of course, you're not contributing anything, are you?
4. You're right on one count. I don't like the way legislators deal with gun control. Why? Because they have no idea what they're doing. They are pushed and manipulated by people who think guns are evil, rather than understand that it's the idiot behind the gun that needs attention. Guns don't just up and shoot someone. Cars don't just run off and drive over a kid on a bike. The idiot behind the wheel or trigger is to blame. People who wish to own firearms need to be trained, tested, a thorough background check initiated and have a reasonable waiting period. There are people who should never own a gun. There are people who should never drive a car. You might be either, or neither. And if you commit a felony with a gun, or a car, your right to own and operate either should be removed and your ass should go to jail. Period. No fancy attorney to get you out or back on the road. In my opinion, a person who drives impaired is as dangerous as an idiot with a loaded gun. And cars are much easier to obtain.
4a. Oh, one more thing on Gun Control. As one who has been through war and in law enforcement, gun control in the hands of a trained user means a well placed first shot, so you don't have to waste a second shot. I'm sure that will cause your tidy whites to crinkle.
5. You think I should be deported? That made me really laugh. Where? To Ireland. About half my family came from there so I'll be waiting for your personal cashier's check to move the family.
6. You said you wouldn't bleed for this country. People like you are the reason we're in such sad shape. A real candy ass who sits and waits for someone else to defend the land while he sits at home and devours the benefits of their blood and sweat. While they keep aggression and terrorism from your door, you make such a statement. You are a sad piece of trash, a boil on the buttocks of humanity.
6. Finally, I'm glad you got it all off your chest. I served two tours in Vietnam so people like you could continue to have the freedom to run your mouth and say whatever you like. Service men and women have and will continue to do so for the same reason, so continue to enjoy life in America while you contribute absolutely nothing to it.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day has traditionally been celebrated as the beginning of Summer. No, not the actual date summer begins, but the official day when the seasonal holidays start and the barbecues begin, beaches open, playgrounds are filled with children, parks, lakes and pools ring with the laughter and mirth of kids and adults alike. The sweet smoky smell of hot dogs, hamburgers and even marshmallows over a fire waft through the air, an odor that beckons each and every one of us to childhood memories no matter our age.

But wait, somehow, in all of the fun and frivolity, many seem to have forgotten the solemnity and sacred meaning of Memorial Day. What it should mean to every American. Memorial Day is a day set aside each year to remember the fallen warriors of our country; those who made the ultimate sacrifice to give each of us freedom, and the ability to reach out for the American Dream. No, they didn't give you the American Dream, you have to work for that yourself. But they gave their lives to assure you had the freedom to reach out for it, free from oppression, tyranny and grave injustice as is the case in so many other countries.

It doesn't matter whether you call it a war, police action, or what name you pin on combat. Or any other action that places our military men and women in harms way to defend freedom. Men and women gave all so that we might live free. They didn't do it for fame or glory, or a medal to pin on their uniform. Medals usually came too late to shine in a parade; many were laid on rows of caskets at ceremonies in such places as Arlington and Fort Rosecrans. The Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Coast Guardsman, Air Forceman or Merchant Marine never saw the glint of the Silver Star or Purple Heart or other medal in the sun as it laid upon his casket. But the family knew the bravery that he or she displayed many days or weeks or months before this day came to pass.

Most of our fallen warriors did come home, to be interred in their beloved country near family and loved ones. But many didn't and are buried on foreign shores in huge cemeteries, marked by simple crosses and markers, the only remnants of fierce battles, where Americans shed their blood to give freedom to others in a foreign land. They didn't know the people, but knew freedom was as important to them as it is to us. Freedom, the one thing that is perhaps as much important as life itself.

In my humble opinion, the three most important things are life, love and freedom. Without them life is just a bleak and somewhat hopeless experience. With perseverance and luck, many find love, but it takes a very special person willing to lay it all on the line to fight for your freedom. When you realize the warrior doesn't know you, or the individuals they are fighting for in most cases, it makes it even more impressive that they are willing to sacrifice all for others, to give them a chance at a better life.

On this Memorial Day, I will remember my brothers who have fallen in Vietnam, as well as all those who have fallen before, and after, in every war and conflict. I will remember those who have been ravaged by the remnants of war, and who have died as a result of service-connected injuries and illnesses, those who never appear in casualty rolls, but who are casualties just the same.

And some special prayers to several brothers who are very close in my heart today and always will be. Rest well my brothers; we'll all be crossing the bar to join you some day.

And, just in case anyone ever forgets:

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans

2011-05-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Here it is, almost Memorial Day, 2011, and about 45 years since some of us came home from 'Nam to face a country full of hostilities. No bands, no parties, no big group welcomes, not even cities or towns flying flags to say thank you. Other than family and close friends, there was no "welcome home." Even then, many never confided much to family or friends, because this just wasn't a popular war. No sense discussing it with people who would never understand anyway.

Vietnam Vets returned in ones, two and threes to the cities and towns across America, still filled with misery over what they had seen and felt a continent away. Little time to re-integrate into society, many were thrust back into civilian life to wend their own way through a system that had damn near discarded them, now that their active duty was over.

Bearing the scars of war, internally, externally or both came at a terrible price. Sure, the external scars were lots easier to see. Those could be treated, and maybe even healed a bit over time. But what about the scars that couldn't be seen? The suicide rate and divorce rates for Vietnam Vets has been publicized to be higher than the national averages. I don't believe all the data because every study seems skewed based on different data sets. But I do know that a major reason is because nobody thought much about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and how to treat it effectively. The "get over it" logic and the macho willingness to "hide it deep" gave way to the inability to keep it bottled up, and it manifested itself in numerous ways, none good. The DOD was putting people back in civilian life without adequate medical screening, the VA didn't have adequate mental health programs to diagnose and treat PTSD, and many veterans found it shameful to admit they had a problem. As a result, a good number turned to drugs and alcohol to mask their actual illness, a disease which should have fallen on the shoulders of the military and the VA to treat effectively.

You can't blame the warriors for turning to solace wherever they found it. When your mind is ravaged, nobody is helping, and red tape is wrapping around your every move, the vices are said to cut the pain and dull the senses. To each his or her own I suppose!

Things have turned the corner for the newer veterans of the latest wars and conflicts. Better diagnosis and treatments, which helps us all. Some Vietnam Vets still feel left out in the cold, as the newer vets are pushed to the front of the line, while the older vets remain queued somewhere awaiting adjudication of their cases, benefits and, sometimes I am told, treatments. That is patently unfair. While we all wish the newest breed of warrior the best in their quest for fairness in obtaining their just benefits, the "front of the line" logic has many of the older vets concerned that as they get older, their conditions will worsen before they receive the benefits they are due. I can't argue with that logic either. Many with conditions related to Agent Orange have died before the VA finally admitted that AO was a cause of their illness. Didn't help them any to have that found posthumously. The 1991 Persian Gulf Vets were hearing the same about Depleted Uranium and Gulf War Syndrome/Illness. It took until 2008 for that to be admitted as an issue!

In any case, I want to wish all my brothers and sisters a very hearty

WELCOME HOME

and thank you for your service. And to all vets and active duty out there, thank you for your service as well. You and I know where the real American spirit is. And it isn't in Washington or in a newsroom or Hollywood stage. It's in the heart of every American service man and woman and their families.

God Bless and Be Safe.

Mother's Day

2011-05-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

On this special Sunday in May, we pay tribute and homage to Mother's everywhere, especially to our own.

Mom's are someone very special, and we only get one to go around. Sometimes children who lose a parent for whatever reason get lucky, and get a stepmother to help carry the burden, or a foster mother who cares for them, and in them embodies a special love that you won't just find anywhere else.

My mother was a very special person. A brilliant woman, the granddaughter of a Nova Scotia fisherman and a Scottish immigrant, and the daughter of a Maine ship builder and his French Canadian spouse, she worked her way through nursing school in the 1920's when you worked long hours at a hospital to pay your way through school, then slept a few hours and went back to class, and then did it all over again. She worked continuously throughout her life, taking time off to have three children and stay with us during our early years. She was nurturing, caring, and always made sure we were clean, bathed, fed and had good manners.

My mother was the disciplinarian in the house, although it was Dad who put the Fear of God into us if we did wrong. I suppose we'd be just as afraid to offend Mom and make her sad as we would to incur the wrath of Dad. Part of what makes Mom's so special. Mom was the one to yell if I tore my new trousers, yet she would set dutifully to mend them as close to new as she could. Mom was the one who bought the clothes for the kids; Dad bought the toys and the fun stuff. I retrospect, I guess we'd have had toys, but been cold, without the concerted efforts of Mom and Dad together.

My Mom retired from nursing at age 59, having suffered a cerebral thrombosis (blood clot in the brain) about 8 years before. At age 67 Mom began showing signs of what was called Senile Dementia, although we now know for certain that Mom had Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's hadn't even been known at that time; older people who exhibited memory lapses, started forgetting every day important habits were just tagged as having senile dementia, but the symptoms were all classic Alzheimer's when described today. Over the next 4 years Mom declined gradually.

At age 71, Mom died not knowing where she was or why she was there. Alzheimer's had stripped her of her life and her dignity. And nobody could even understand the disease that had taken her down that path. Actually. Mom died from complications of Alzheimer's, congestive heart failure. I still see that small, frail, old lady, holding my arm, and somehow knowing that we were both surely wondering where my mother had gone.

You only get one Mother. Cherish her, love her, be good to her, make her proud of you and the accomplishments you make in life. She helped set the stage for your future. Go out there and be a star. That's all she ever wanted for you, to be a quality person, to have a good life and to excel in all you do. Nothing more and nothing less.

The best gift you will give to your Mother, on this, or any Mother's Day, is love and respect, and being the best person you can be. Because whether she's here to see you, or has passed on, that's all she ever wanted.

To all the Mother's out there:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

and

God Bless

HealthNet Violates HIPAA Again and Again And Again

2011-04-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

On March 14, HealthNet notified many subscribers, probably close to several million, that they were affected by the loss of "several hard disk drives" containing names, addresses, Social Security numbers, health information, and financial information. In essence, just about everything anyone could want to know about you to steal your complete identity.

This severe breach of security and violation of HIPAA law occurred on January 21, yet it took until March 14 for HealthNet to mail letters out? Which arrived several days later? Seven weeks? So they allowed their subscribers identity theft potential to hang out in the wind for seven weeks, while they did nothing but probably try and cover their corporate asses?

Then to make matters worse, what do they do? Give your information to some third party you never even heard of. Debix. Not Equifax, or Trans-Union, or Experian. No, to some other outfit that they probably got dirt cheap and then gave all your private information, such as your name, address, birth date, Social Security number and God knows what else to so they can "monitor your credit." Hell, you can do that yourself, and I strongly suggest you put a security freeze on your credit reporting agencies if you are affected by this mess.

How do I know that HealthNet violated privacy regulations yet again?

Because, HealthNet "offered" affected subscribers the "choice" whether to use the services offered by Debix or not. Also, to reimburse fees incurred to attach and lift "Security Freezes" on credit reporting agencies to guard against identity theft. However, when requesting a reimbursement, I was first advised I had to go through HealthNet and not Debix. Then that I had to sign up for Debix. When I advised them I didn't want to sign up for Debix, I found HealthNet had already provided all my personal information, including Social Security number, birth date, address, etc to Debix without my knowledge or permission, whether I "signed up" or not! Another privacy breach by HealthNet!

I strongly suggest you file complaints with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights because your Health Privacy Rights have been severely violated. The web site is http://hhh.gov/ocr and you will find the forms to fill out and either print and sign and mail there or e-mail.

Also contact your State Attorney general and request they file suit as has the Attorney General in Conneticut. Time the States clamp down and protect our privacy as well.

PS: Latest news says that there are 9 server drives missing and unaccounted for. NINE. That's a few more than SEVERAL!!

Cadillac GM Update

2011-02-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

A quick update on the lack of customer service from GM. It no longer concerns me. I purchased a new BMW so I don't care what GM does from here on in, as long as we taxpayers don't have to bail them out again. Following their attitude, I'll never buy a GM product again. Sadly, I think GM stands for Get Mauled by their customer service.

I tried to come back and buy a top of the line American product, but my willingness to get kicked in the family jewels by uncaring peons sitting at a desk somewhere is beyond my comprehension and acceptance, especially since the vehicle I purchased probably paid someones salary for many months. How quickly they forget the customer when times seem to get better; how fast the car companies forget the hands that feed them, until they need a handout once again. Not unlike the teenager who refuses to help until they need money for a date, GM won't be satisfied until they need money to stay afloat. And, by then, America should hand them drills instead of plugs!

Sadly, I find out the Truth About Cadillac

2011-02-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

I was high on Cadillac. I'll admit that. As high as anyone could be with a new car. Up there in the ionosphere somewhere, but then...then...came the big letdown. That GM doesn't give a rats' ass about the customer after you buy the car, and wishes you wouldn't bother them, and hopes to never hear from you again.

My vehicle came without a navigation booklet. The vehicle has an owners manual about an inch and a half thick, but little information on the entertainment or navigation system; I thought it was just really sparse in content on those subjects. I never knew it was a separate booklet as it's not referred to as such in the manual, but found it was difficult to determine all the nuances of the navigation system until I found a copy of it on the Internet. Many things I never knew about, and small wonder there were items I couldn't find or do. So, in order not to copy a huge document online, and try to store a sheaf of letter size paper in the car, I requested the missing booklet.

I spoke to a very nice woman at Cadillac Customer Service, who turned me over to someone else in customer service, who then informed me that for a paltry $24.95 she would send me the book. WTF? It was missing when I bought the car. That didn't matter, because they don't replace missing items, and since the dealer has done nothing to replace the booklet (I did request one from them with no help), they couldn't help without $24.95.

This is the second time I have requested assistance from Cadillac regarding issues with the navigation system, and the second time I have heard the same sad story. The first time it took about a week to finally get some action from a person at Cadillac who agreed that the navigation system was not properly updated and arranged for an update. That damned near took an act of Congress.

Having to fight for every little issue is beyond comprehension. We also bought a new BMW within 30 days of this Cadillac and the difference in service and attention to detail is amazing. Following the purchase of the Cadillac, we received several calls from the dealer and all they wanted to be sure of was that we were happy enough to give them high marks on the GM survey. Not a word since. With the BMW, we receive e-mails from their general manager, a letter from the sales person, and communication about once a week asking if there is anything they can do to assure our experience is everything we wish it to be. Plus info from BMW America to help with vehicle familiarization, etc.

Once again, good old GM "f**k you" customer service sends another customer who tried to come back to American Iron back to another foreign car. A $53,000 vehicle and they balk over a $24.95 booklet that they forgot? Fine. I've already been to the BMW dealer to seek a deal on a new car. Luckily, it's not the money, but the principle.

On a footnote, I never experienced this type of "screw you" service from Ford. Must be part of the arrogance from being bailed out with MY money, huh? We got your money and sold you a car so now screw yourself. Hmm..no, you got it all wrong, GM. Screw you, and in the future, there won't be any more bail outs for you, especially from me personally, because I won't be buying another one of your products ever again. So you better do well. Because. there's at least a half-dozen cars you won't be selling me in the future. Oh, yeah, and about at least that many you won't be selling my spouse either. Wait, did I mention the corporate business in the family? Hmm...check the right hand and notice which finger is saluting GM now!

Is it Really Time for Unity in Washington?

2011-01-30T21:58:00.000-08:00

Talk around the water cooler, scuttlebutt it was called in the service, is that there will be more unity in Washington between the opposing parties. This allegedly due to the recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona.

Far be it from me to take lightly any hope of some sort of unity and forward movement by our elected officials, but it's so hard to believe they are taking such an outrageous act and using it as some sort of blanket truce, to tell us they are making an effort to be civil, and actually work together.

Washington thrives on division and derision, each side making the other look like fools and buffoons. Not to say that the current administration doesn't frequently look that way without any help from across the aisle. And not to say that the other side of the aisle doesn't also smack themselves with the stupid stick occasionally, and make us wonder why the hell they even open their mouths.

Unity? Actually moving forward to solve the issues that will make this country prosperous and productive again? Put people back to work and reduce the unemployment to near zero? Reduce the deficit, both at home and the trade deficit with other countries? Cut dependence on foreign countries products and energy, with a reasonable, not "knee-jerk" energy policy, that doesn't penalize ordinary Americans in favor of big business? Stop favoring splinter groups, and start listening to the majority of the American people on important issues? Cut welfare in favor of workfare, where people actually must work for money, and don't get paid for sitting at home having more children than they, or we, can afford? Stop paying for all benefits for illegal aliens, and tighten the borders so we have a secure America? Eliminate the so called "anchor baby" issue so babies born here to non-citizens do not automatically become US citizens?

No, this just isn't going to happen. Maybe I'm dreaming, but there is a left and a right in Washington and there is no centrist attitude that will allow them to meet in the center of the aisle. Unless there is a huge Pork Barrel there where all the politicians can heap their special interests in it along with a few things that really help the country along. And those special interests will offset and cost more than the good that the bills passed will do.

Finally, trying to pass off this new "unity" as a result of Congresswoman Giffords tragedy is shameful. The politicians didn't seem to want to be any more united for the twelve soldiers killed in the massacre at Fort Hood Texas in 2009. Nor for the killings of the four Lakewood, Washington police officers the same year, or for any of the other horrible incidents involving public servants or our service men and women. This is just a symbolic gesture to snow the public once again.

Sad, but with tragedy sometimes does come unity. Even more tragic is that I don't believe it comes in Washington political circles.

How Stable is YOUR Bank or Credit Union?

2011-01-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

Did your bank or credit union suddenly start charging for things they used to provide free? Did the dividends and interest rates on your savings , Certificates of deposit (CD's) and IRA Certificates go from sizzle to drizzle? Has the offered interest rates on car and other loans rocketed while those other rates have dumped? If so, could your institution could be headed for the dumper as well?

We all know that banks are greedy. Same as credit card companies, which in the end, are usually banks. But credit unions? Those who operate on the premise to serve members? To reinvest that money to keep interest rates low on loans, and interest rates high on your savings? Well, I'd start to wonder about that when there are huge spreads in those rates among various institutions, and nobody can, or perhaps is unwilling, to explain why.

Example: I did much business with a local credit union including banking online. Then I was informed they were going to charge for banking online, the only service I actually used. The cost would exceed that of writing checks and sticking stamps every month. They explained they couldn't subsidize the costs of free online banking any longer, and had to charge the customers. Around the same time, their interest rates on savings and certificates plummeted, and interest rates on loans started climbing. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) which is the credit union equivalent to the banking industries FDIC had down rated the credit union from "well capitalized" in December 2008 to "adequately capitalized" in September 2009, a sign to me of potential problems. Maybe not failure now, but any downgrade is important where money is concerned. Especially with all the banks, and to a much lesser extent, credit union, failures these past several years.

Another credit union that remains "well capitalized" sponsors big dollar local events. How that affects their pocketbook, I don't know, but they too started dropping their savings and certificate rates precipitously, while loan rates started edging higher. All those big screen monitors on the walls of the branches and fancy offices, along with television commercials and sponsorship of professional sports spectaculars must cost a bundle. And that money isn't going into the member's savings accounts for sure.

To look up how your credit union is doing, check the National Credit Union Administration website at http://ncua/gov Then click on "Find a Credit Union by State" or "Advanced Search" in the upper right and go from there. If you find your credit union by State, copy the name and then go back to "Advanced Search" since you'll need to do that to get more information. When you get your credit union, click on "Call Reports" and then a date, and when that page come up, click to view the block showing "PCA Net Worth Calculation Worksheet." Lines 13 through 16 should give you some idea of changes in the overall financial health of your institution, and how it compares with others in your state and local area, or around the country should you choose to look. Go back and look at different quarters and years, to see whether it's doing better or worse than in the past.

Some institutions have "Moderately Undercapitalized and Significantly Undercapitalized" captions, so who knows where they are heading?

Just a final thought. Three credit unions within less than a ten mile radius:

A: New car loan: 1.99% for 6 years
4 Year CD with $20,000 deposit pays 2.40% annual interest.

B. New car loan: 2.99% for 5 years, 3.99% for 6 years
4 Year CD with $20,000 deposit pays 1.80% annual interest.

C: New car loan: 3.99% for 5.5 years
4 Year CD with $20,000 deposit pays 1.06% annual interest.

Big disparity... and the reasons why may lie in the wellness of the institutions? Only time will tell. Here's some interesting reading:

http://bankimplode.com/blog/category/credit-union-failures/
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/09/24/when-credit-unions-fail/
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

More very interesting reading...the UNOFFICIAL problem bank list by Calculated Risk for Dcember 2010: http://www.forextv.com/forex-news-story/forex-unofficial-problem-bank-list-increases-to-949-institutions

Bottom line is that it's your money. If you aren't looking after it, don't expect someone else to do it for you. You know, those guys in the nice offices who never seem to come out on the bottom? Them. They're looking out for Number One and you aren't even on the list!

Pat & Oscar's ... A No Response Company

2010-12-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

For many years, I had the pleasure of dining at Pat & Oscar's Restaurant chain in the San Diego area. The food was always a cut above, the service excellent, and it was just a fun place to go.

In the beginning, it was just Oscar's, before Oscar added his wife Pat to the name. And for all those years, it was a gathering spot for myself and my employees for luncheons, catered meetings, informal business dinners, carry-out meals and family meals. I brought clients to "P&O's" as I came to call them, because they were a great place to go. A highly responsive organization and great food.

But something changed. A recent experience soured my last perhaps fifteen or more years experience with this chain. Following what I considered a very poor take-out order, I contacted them twice via their site, and they never responded. I attempted to contact them via their office phone, which was not answered; it simply invites you to leave a message.

In short, all those years of business has come to a halt. Although they are close by, we'll no longer do business. There are way too many fast food places available to simply be ignored by a company when you have a valid complaint about an order. And, it's the first complaint in all those years.

It's not that I was unwilling to "give it another try." It's that I feel as if the company doesn't care about their customers. Nobody can tell me they don't get nor read their e-mails that originate on their own site. It doesn't go to spam. It simply tells me they just don't want to be bothered with consumer issues.

And they wonder why you don't come back? The restaurant business has long been one with a difficult survival path, with about 30% failing in the first year. Pat & Oscar's has had a remarkably successful run, and I sure wish them continued success. But I won't be one of their customers anymore.

California's Bureaucracy is Way More Than Sacramento!

2010-12-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

Whew. Over the past year or so, I found out just how screwed up the State of California really is. I mean so screwed up that it makes you want to vomit explosively. Especially when you realize that the lackadaisical attitude of the elected officials spreads all the way to the offices throughout the state. Yes, the same people who whine and cry that it's the "big politicians in Sacramento" who are at fault for this mess we're in." Sorry to use an expletive, but bullshit!

I have found that State offices pass the buck for not doing things that need to be done by saying they are too busy, don't have the manpower, it isn't their job, call someone else and then have phone systems that just don't allow you to make any choices at all, not even leave a message.

Example. A contractor is working with a suspended license. The State Contractors License Board enforcement unit in Norwalk indicates they actually need to physically see the contractor doing work, but won't have anyone available for three weeks to send to check the contractor out. Will he still be doing work in three weeks? WTF? The guy is doing work NOW! Get your ass out and see, and levy the fines that will fill the state coffers, protect the public against an unlicensed contractor and do your damned job. But no, nothing ever happens.

Illegal activity 1 State 0 Consumers -1

Example. Contractor is working without Workers Compensation insurance for his employees. While he states he has no employees and doesn't need to provide the State proof of a policy, he shows up for work each day with four or more workers for the job. Probably day laborers but still employees. State Division of Workers Compensation wants nothing to do with it. They only regulate insurance companies, and handle complaints against insurance companies by insured people. If this guy is uninsured, you need to go to the Labor Commission, part of the Department of Industrial Relations and let them know. We don't do that here.

Illegal activity 2 State 0 Consumers -2

Labor Commission phone system is a recording that plainly states it's not equipped to take messages. It provides you with a street address and tells you the business hours and that a Deputy Labor Commissioner is on duty. Also that you can call back and then you are done. No other options. Nobody to talk to, nobody to register your concerns with, nothing. Do they expect you to drive to the office and hope someone will actually be there to talk to you. Or, would you think that somehow, like a miracle, they might take action during this millennium? Oh, wait, the recording did say that they are not open certain days anymore since the State furlowed employees due to the budget crunch.

Illegal activity 3 State 0 Consumers -3

So, this teaches us several lessons. First is what a crap job the State is doing in many areas when you have to deal with them. Secondly, it reinforces most citizens "don't give a rat's ass" attitude about what goes on illegally since you can do all in your power and nothing gets resolved. Frankly, you're better off calling Channel 10 News investigations and asking them why these things go on like they do, and let them do the legwork if they care to.

Then we have the office that says we'll actually go out and check this situation out. It's just to appease you and they allegedly take down the information. They never do go out and when you contact them again to determine the results of their "action", they give you the cold shoulder or hang up on you. I believe that's because they think if they ignore you enough you'll simply go away. Oh, and while they have you on the phone, should you dare criticize their actions, they'll tell you what a wonderful job they are doing given the current budget constraints!

Honestly, the attitude of the State workers and the politicians here is why, in my opinion, Obama and the bunch of imbeciles in Washington got elected and some re-elected. People who can't do what is necessary to serve the people, and just let everything slide. Waiting for change.

November 2010 showed that change came. Not enough change perhaps, but some change nonetheless. Lots more is needed to dump these politicians and slackers on their butts. People are still screaming for change, and if you read the blogs, California State workers, they're screaming for YOU to get your butts booted out of your jobs, and replaced by people who will work for less money and do a better job. Most believe we could employ twice as many people for less money, reduce the ridiculously rich benefits packages, and save the State hundreds of millions to boot. Don't take my word for it, just read the blogs about the State financial conditions. Those are taxpayers' comments and those people pay your salary!

Maybe more State workers should look at and take lessons from the true public servants and quality professionals of our state and communities, our Emergency Service personnel, Highway Patrol, Cal-Fire, sheriff, police, fire, EMS, and those who lay it all on the line for the community every day, many making much less than the almost useless paper pushers who do so little to make this a better place to live. When you need our public safety professionals, they just respond. No bunch of buck passing...they just do their job. What the hell is wrong with the rest of you?

It's sad, but combined with those who want everything and contribute nothing to the system, there's is little to wonder about why we're in this financial condition.

Ethanol - And the Corn Cob Isn't the Only Part You're Getting Screwed With!

2010-10-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

Ethanol, also known as corn alcohol, was once touted as America's road to independence from foreign oil. Turning corn into alcohol to fuel internal combustion engines, as an abundant, relatively low cost, All-American homemade form of fuel, while boosting farm output and helping America's farmers. A grandiose idea of being energy self-sufficient with clean fuel dripping from that familiar yellow ear of corn all over the Midwest. Touted as a massive, never-ending supply. Gasohol stations sprouted up in the south and Midwest with over 1000 stations selling gasohol by January of 1980, with this new-fangled, and costly fuel in pumps ablaze with bright corn symbols.

Sounds great on the surface. doesn't it? Too bad most of it is...well..bullcrap! Let's see just how the Washington bureaucrats and administration has foisted a miserable hoax on the American people, costing us billions of dollars, not only in taxes, but also in fuel costs and repairs and added to the lousy gas mileage for our cars. And, providing 7 billion dollars in farm subsidies to grow corn strictly for ethanol fuel use, which we actually have little use for. Supporting farmers is one thing but why not grow the corn for food for impoverished people?

First, let's look at the BTU (British Thermal Units) equivalency of gasoline to ethanol. According to experts, there are 116,090 BTU's of energy in a U.S. gallon of regular grade gasoline, 76,000 BTU's of energy in a U.S. gallon of ethanol. Thus, it takes 1.53 gallons of ethanol to equal the same energy output of one U.S. gallon of gasoline.

Ethanol costs approximately 57 cents more per gallon to produce than gasoline! Add that together with the fact that it takes 1.53 gallons to equal the power of one gallon of gasoline! That alone equates to 87 cents in real energy costs for every gallon you put in your tank, using only ethanol. So, if gasoline was $3.00 a gallon in real cost in California, a guesstimated price for ethanol would be $3.57 a gallon. However, to produce the same energy of that gallon of $3.00 gasoline, you would have to fill up with 1.53 gallons of ethanol at a cost of $4.59 per gasoline gallon equivalent to drive the same miles. Now do you understand how you've been conned and screwed by the ethanol hoax?

Ethanol mileage tests showed that vehicles operated on ethanol gave exactly 2/3 the mileage of the same vehicles operated on gasoline!

"The EPA measured the gas mileage of what are called E85 (up to 85 percent ethanol) vehicles on the 2006 flexible fuel models. For the 31 models they tested the average reduction is 26% fewer miles per gallon. For example a car that gets 30 mpg on regular would typically get 22.2 mpg with E85. This is exactly what is predicted from the fact that E85 has less energy per gallon than gasoline.

For these calculations, the EPA assumes that E85 costs $2.00 and regular $2.20/gallon. Obviously they are way off on the low side, especially for ethanol, but this proportion is similar to what DOE predict for the next few years. The loss in mileage more than makes up for the cost savings, and on average the EPA predicts driving on E85 will cost 23% more than driving on regular."

Ethanol is corrosive, and damages rubber and other engine parts. When it was introduced, motorists had major problems with engines that were not manufactured to allow the introduction of ethanol into the system, and seals leaked, and parts failed, necessitating expensive repairs. Lawnmowers, chainsaws, garden and landscaping equipment, outboard motors and marine engines suffered damage because of the ethanol blend. Now they have been re-designed to run with the current 10% ethanol, but not any greater percentage! But hold on...our government is allowing even more to flow into your tank!

On October 13, the EPA allowed an increase in the amount of ethanol in your fuel from 10% to 15%. The automakers, as well as 38 other groups, including environmental and others asked for congressional hearings, but were waved off and the EPA simply went through with the okay.

Does increased use of ethanol reduce dependence on foreign oil? Hell no! In the ten year period between 1999 and 2009, U.S. ethanol production increased from approximately 100,000 barrels per day to over 700,000 barrels per day. During that same time frame, our oil imports actually increased in excess of what the ethanol production was! I have heard that during the same time period, US oil exports doubled to 2 million barrels per day. That's amazing. We import more as demand grows yet we still export oil? And then provide 7 billion of dollars in farm subsidies to grow corn for ethanol to provide fuel we don't need? Ethanol production levels obviously have had had no apparent effect on oil imports or consumption.

What about pollution? The EPA admitted back in 2007 that increased use of ethanol in gasoline would increase emissions of key air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, by as much as 7 percent. On October 20, the agency again acknowledged that more ethanol consumption will mean higher emissions of key pollutants.

On a personal note, we had a gasohol station in Florida that dispensed this wondrous concoction to the public without warning of the consequences of use. Seems that someone, somewhere, believed that high ethanol concentrations would be fine in cars. Much like a physician failing to warn you of the dire consequences of a new prescription, vehicles quickly stopped running as fuel filters clogged, rubber gaskets started leaking, carburetors became inoperative and the local repair shops were overwhelmed with repairs. Seems the gasohol was a poor fuel, but a wonderful solvent that ate everything in sight! It scoured the gas tanks so clean that all the gunk was dissolved into the fuel lines and clogged the filters. Either you had to drain the tank of 20 gallons of gas, or change the filters numerous times until all the gunk was out of the tank and lines. Then the gaskets in the carburetors needed changing, the rubber gas lines from tank to steel lines needed replacing, any under hood rubber lines containing fuel needed replacement. Lots of dollars lost here. And the gasohol station? It became a no-name regular fuel station quickly no longer selling gasohol. The end of the corn fuel history in my area.

Bend over, folks. That corn cob isn't done with you yet! The increased percentages of ethanol will obviously create problems for your cars and other power equipment. The bad noises you hear from under your hood are just your cars way of telling you that those people in Washington don't have your welfare at heart, unless you're on welfare that is. The noises will get louder and no, you can't take the repair bills off on your taxes either. Thank the EPA and the current administration for that.

The Elections Are Almost...Over..Will the Trash Be Picked Up?

2010-10-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Every time we have elections, the candidates seem to think the more paper, and card stock signs they can plant all over, the better chances they have of being elected. Well, frankly, I don't see it that way. I see it as a blight on the streets of America and a mess that is seldom cleaned up immediately after election day.

For example, several days ago, I was driving on beautiful Pacific Coast Highway in Carlsbad, California when all of a sudden there was a blight of signs. They were blocking the view of traffic coming down a particularly bad intersection, where one road enters another. The signs were literally one on top of the other, as each candidates helpers jammed their sign as close to the other candidates sign, either to block it from view, or to get as much view for their own as possible. Take your pick, but what really occurred is they blocked the motorists' view, and created a traffic hazard! In about a half mile stretch of that beautiful road were hundreds of signs for candidates. It's almost as if one sign is planted and others grow up immediately along side of it!

On fences, on sticks, posts, poles, walls, anywhere they can be fastened, it seems they show up. On lawns and trees (if they don't get caught) and even attached to homes, the signs stare out hoping you'll vote for some candidate for a particular office, many of whom you have never heard of before. Or whom you have already passed over in the voter guide. Or whom you now wish you had never heard of, perhaps!

Then comes the election. And it's over. And the signs remain, although it's now illegal and subject to fines if the signs are nor removed within a certain number of days following election. But what happens? It seems the energy of the campaigns becomes drained and people now don't have the energy to go around and remove all the signs. Or don't remember where the last hundred or so signs were placed. And so, since it's illegal to remove another person's signs, they remain as a blight, and you curse the winner or loser, as the case may be, until the winds and rains wash away the vestiges of yet another election.

And you wonder why Election Day is so close to Halloween? Hmm...just watch the ads, the lies, the half-truths, the smears, the innuendos and how the candidates act, and you can see why some intelligent soul decided that placing it close to a day that commemorates the dead was such a good idea! Spooky to say the least!

Delta In-Flight Entertainment...NOT

2010-10-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

On a recent Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis to San Diego, passengers were treated to a new type of in-flight entertainment. Well, not actually new, since the silent pictures preceded the talkies for many years.

Problem here was that for a three hour and six minute flight, there were no headsets handed out either because the airline didn't stock them for the flight, or as the flight attendant noted, some aisles didn't have connections for the headsets. WTF? So if some couldn't listen, the idea would then be to have the rest of the almost 200 passengers look blankly at the pop-down screens in silence because we also could not listen, although our rows worked? For three long hours the screens showed what appeared to be television programming of some sort in silence.

Of course, this was aboard a MD-90 jet where many of the passengers were too busy trying to get warm or cool, depending on the moment, since those aircraft are notoriously horrible for maintaining decent cabin temperature levels. That has been the case since the DC9-31 and 51 series of which the MD-80 and MD-90 are variants, and simply newer models in my opinion.

Strangely enough, there was a gate change for this flight and when on board, the flight attendants began making excuses for the lack of luggage space on the plane, saying it was because of the gate change, etc. What the hell does a gate change have to do with a change in luggage space? It's the same type plane and the same seat numbers and seat configuration we booked 5 weeks before! It's absurd to think that moving a plane between gates somehow changes the luggage space! So passengers had no place for their luggage and it took extra time to depart because bags had to be checked. I do have to say the plane arrived on time.

Speaking of seats, our seats were not the correct seats for their placement in the plane. They had trays that swung out of the arms and we were not in exit rows or in the first row of the cabin. The center heavy metal trim piece was loose and hanging and could be lifted off; great in an emergency to have flying loose in the cabin.

It's always good to be on solid ground, better to be off anything that resembles a DC-9 and sadly, glad not to be flying Delta, whom I used to fly so regularly. Comparing the outbound trip via United to the inbound via Delta was like day and night. And I sure saw the light in this trip!

What's Wrong with Rental Cars...

2010-10-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

I recently flew to the east coast and had the displeasure of renting a car. Hell, it's just one of those things you just have to do if you don't want to walk or take a bus, taxi or whatever. And for most of us who fly into an airport (where else do you fly into?) you're stuck out in the middle of BFE and need a car to get around, especially if you're not just going to a local hotel or a meeting, etc.

In many years of renting cars, it seems they tend to be in three categories. Good, bad or horrible. Not much else to describe them anymore. The service you receive when making the reservation would lead you to believe you're going to receive a great car and great service. Don't believe it. If you reserve a Ford Fusion, you might get a Nissan Maxima. If you're told you'll get a new car, you might get one with almost 20,000 miles on it. Think it will look good when you pick it up? Guess again. Most of the cars I've received over the past years needed a better wash, had dings and scratches and were not very presentable. Good Lord, the US rental cars are starting to look as bad as the Yaris from Ireland that went through the thickets with each driver, and they thought the long lines of scratches on both sides were normal!

Some examples of really crappy cars, and service:

A Ford Taurus where the tire went flat within a mile from the airport. I had to change the tire in a thunderstorm (no cell service) and the rental car company refused to swap the car for another one and wanted me to drive hundreds of miles on the spare "donut" tire! (Not allowed in any case...it's a TEMPORARY spare) I had to call their home office to get them to agree to swap the car out for another one.
An Oldsmobile with a huge dent in the side and when I walked to the other side, the tire was already flat, yet they rented it to me anyway. That entailed another 60 minute wait to get another car, since they were low on vehicles and had to wait for a car to be returned.
A Dodge with a dead battery within several hours after I rented it. The rental company insisted I must have left the headlights on. It was bright daylight and the headlights were not on. They would not deliver another car and pick up this one or at least jump start it; I had to ride the light rail back to the airport, take the shuttle to the rental pickup, and pick up another car while they sent a tow truck for the dead vehicle. Cost me a half day of work.
A Ford Taurus that the steering wheel locked up on when you made a turn. It was defective so every time you turned a corner, the steering wheel would not release and you had to force it to come straight. Rental car company wanted me to keep driving it, but to drive slow! Really bright!

And those are only the really bad ones I can think of off hand. The latest one was just a piece of junk. A 2010 Nissan Altima with over 17,000 miles on it already, scratched, gouged, front end road rashed, and dirty. The positives were that it had comfortable seats and a big trunk.

Add to the cars that are sub-par, the staff at many of the rental places, and the entire experience is less than ideal. Some are actually surly, and on the latest rental, the attendant at the exit, who simply checks your contract to be sure you're not stealing the crappy car, wouldn't lift his ass off the seat to provide assistance. Yet the rental companies send you thank you e-mails? Send me a survey and let me tell you what I really think of your service!

Folks, that's one of the problems in America today. Service industries forget what the word service means. They can't figure out why people quit using their "service" and go somewhere else because they didn't provide the service they promised. But the big issue is that so many have defaulted on providing a level of service commensurate with what they charge, and promise, that the public doesn't know where to turn anymore. And that loss of public confidence starts a downward spiral that's hard to recover from. Factually, some companies don't deserve to recover at all.

Home Depot Comes Through in the Clinch!

2010-09-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

First off, we had nine vinyl replacement windows windows installed by Home Depot's THD at Home Services. Five of the nine windows were wrong. The installation was beautiful...the windows themselves were made wrong; wrong glass, wrong coating, etc. Visually and cosmetically, the windows were beautiful. Functionally, they worked well; just that they did not meet the specifications of the original contract, nor did they meet the IRS Tax Credit program.

THD at Home Services offered to make nine all new windows, but my spouse was adamant that the east side of our home was not going to be pulled apart again. The windows on that side did meet the energy standards, just not the glass coating we expected to receive. I acceded to her wishes and those four windows remained in place.

Home Depot ordered new windows to replace the other five windows. And ordered them again, and again; the windows that came in still were wrong. Finally, the fifth set of windows, counting the ones already in place, met the requirements and were ready for installation.

The same crew came out and tore out the existing new windows and installed the correct ones. Excellent workmanship again. I have to say that Home Depot has high quality personnel on their subcontractor crews and although this was the first crew we dealt with, we were to be pleasantly surprised again in the future, with additional THD work.

We had discussed purchasing two sliding patio doors and THD offered to discount the doors in return for all the trouble and problems we had with the windows. We chose the French Style doors with the wide frames and internal grids, or mullions, to match the windows in the house, and they turned out perfect. In addition, the installation crew, a different one than did the windows, did an excellent installation job on the doors as well.

So, Home Depot truly stepped up to the plate, and made a significant effort to make things right. It gives a very positive impression of their ability to cut through the red tape and get things done. Sure, it took some time. Yes, we did complain. Yes, we did make inquiries to the manufacturer of the glass and the windows. But actually, in essence, the real culprit in making the windows wrong lies with the manufacturer, since Home Depot sells them and installs them, counting on the manufacturer to make the windows and doors that meet their specifications. If any blame for the original windows and doors lies with THD, it was not checking them before they were even brought to us for installation.

Does the salesman "puff" the product a bit? Maybe? Are the brochures out of date, and do the brochures confuse the buyer some? Maybe. But in the final analysis, did Home Depot make it right? Absolutely!

Making an Ash Out of Yourself…and others too

2010-09-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

It’s around 7:41 AM on Thursday, September 9, 2010 and you’re driving south on Interstate 5, between La Costa Avenue and Leucadia Boulevard in your blue Mazda Protégé. Driving down the freeway, you’re obviously very interested in the cigarette you’re smoking, more than public safety, as you mindlessly continue flicking your cigarette ashes out of the open car window. After all, you wouldn’t want those stinking, dirty things in your car, even though they’re filling your body with tar, nicotine and about a hundred or more carcinogens that are roasting your lungs just as surely as a barbecue at the beach.

As you near the end of that cigarette, you take one last puff and flick it out the window. It bounces a few times, sparking, and rolls to the edge of the highway, near the unburned vegetation. Yes, the same type vegetation that you can remember we were still trying to extinguish over a week after the most devastating wildfires in San Diego County and California history. But, obviously, you don’t care much about the losses and suffering other people have endured, the toll on humans and animals, property, and the huge costs involved in fighting the fires, nor the huge task in rebuilding. Because you just tossed that lighted cigarette out the window without a second thought to what it could do to our lives and our community. You

How do I know this? Because I was the one behind you who watched your callus act and took down your vehicle description and license plate number. You see, I was a fire and accident investigator most of my working life, and I saw the results of what irresponsible people like you did to others and to our communities. Your act is a misdemeanor under California Code, as follows: CA Vehicle Code Section 23111 - No person in any vehicle and no pedestrian shall throw or discharge from or upon any road or highway or adjoining area, public or private, any lighted or nonlighted cigarette, cigar, match, or any flaming or glowing substance. A fine may be assessed up to $1000 for the first offense, which, in my opinion, is not nearly enough; given the current circumstances we face in this county and all of this state!

If you want to make an ash out of yourself, stay home and do so. You can make your own decision to smoke and discard those cigarette butts all over your living room or bedroom or wherever you like. If you don’t have the common sense or decency to use an ashtray, then it will be your home and family that suffers, not the rest of the community.

Maybe the moral here is simple. Just like drinking, if you can’t smoke responsibly, you shouldn’t drive while smoking. Stay home.

FedEx Smart Post ... Not All That Smart for the Customer

2010-09-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Businesses looking to save a few bucks on shipping, while not passing on those savings to the consumer in many cases, are using a service called FedEx Smart Post. This is a service where the shipper sends out the package with FedEx, and then it gets handed off somewhere down the line to the US Postal Service for delivery to your home.

Problem here is that the packages take an inordinate time for delivery. Considering a package coming from the east coast to California, it's not the usual Postal Service delivery time of five to seven days for Parcel Post, not the usual two to three days for Priority Mail, not the usual 5 days for FedEx Ground, not even the usual 7 days for UPS. It's 10 days for Smart Post! And to me, that's Stupid Post at best!

Maybe smart for the shipper, but stupid for the consumer who's waiting for a product. And, in most cases, you don't know your product is being shipped by this system, as the seller tells you it's being shipped FedEx! And you think you're getting a FedEx package with reliable FedEx service. and you're not. You lose the reliability of FedEx and the reliability of the Postal Service all at once.

And, when things get lost, you're really screwed. Because that's when nobody seems to know where the package got ripped, torn or damaged or where the pieces went missing, and the finger pointing starts. I was fortunate the last time and the Post Office found the item later in a bin after the package had been decimated through handling. But by whom? Who knows. Luckily my description was so good they could identify the item and since it was literally one of a kind, I was able to claim it.

So, be aware. When you order FedEx, you may not be getting FedEx service to your door. And, sellers like X10.com don't tell you that it's not really FedEx until you get your shipping info much later. Then it's too late because your order has already been shipped by the slowest method I know of, other than by walking it across America. Even bus service is faster than this!

Agent Orange ... Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad

2010-09-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Finally, after about 50 years, the government is finally bucking up and taking responsibility for the illnesses that came calling on veterans, as a result of the herbicide and defoliant, Agent Orange. Known as AO by most, it was so called for the orange bands around the fifty-five gallon drums containing the mixture, that was sprayed as a defoliant over the vegetation in South Vietnam during the war. Most was sprayed during Operation Ranch Hand using C-123 aircraft, although a significant amount was sprayed using helicopters as well. Millions of gallons of herbicides of various kinds were sprayed, 21 million gallons alone attributed to Agent Orange.

Oh, there were many other sprayings and releases of this super toxin in the world, and right here in the U.S., but the ones we remember most were those associated with Vietnam. The ones where the droplets fell from the sky like rain, where men slogged through the residue, where ships and patrol boat decks were covered with the mist, yet the government said it never was sprayed in those areas, not at that time, and every excuse to avoid rightfully owning up to the misery caused by this deadly chemical.

Only recently, after lawsuit after lawsuit and delay after delay, has the Veterans Administration stepped up to the plate (more like being bulldozed to the plate according to most) and accepted that so many illnesses are associated with this chemical. Not only to the veterans themselves, but to their children, and perhaps to their children's children. Not to even mention what this did to the people in the country we were trying to bring a sense of democracy to.

Sadly, many who were affected by the ravages of Agent Orange never lived to see any benefits. They died from cancers and other maladies foisted on them by the insidious diseases that this chemical brought. Never expected it, most figured it was probably something they got in Vietnam, since so many were ill. Service in Vietnam was the common denominator. But the government said no, and after all, would the government lie and withhold the truth from our men and women who fought for our country? I want to laugh and cry at the same time when i ask that question. Seems they always have and it seems they always will to cover their collective asses.

Spina Bifida, where the spine of the fetus fails to close during the developmental stages of pregnancy has been shown to be an effect on the unborn children where either parent served in Vietnam or in some cases, Korea, where herbicides were also used in the late 60's to early 70's. The long term effects of spina bifida include care far beyond the formative years, often resulting in permanent physical defects, including paralysis and inability to control bladder and bowel functions. There are also about eighteen other birth defects presently recognized as resultant to Agent Orange exposure by women veterans.

There are over a dozen diseases associated with exposure to AO currently listed by the VA. This does NOT mean that because one has one of these diseases that it was AO caused, but there is now a presumption that if you were in Vietnam during the war, that you were exposed. The old "boots on ground" theory is gone so those on ships and patrol boats can now make claims for the benefits they are rightfully entitled to if their conditions are Agent Orange related.

I'm certainly not anti-war. Guess as I age, I'm just anti-death and destruction when you don't expect it because it's insidious. Much like the current warriors, and the Gulf War syndrome, and the Depleted Uranium issues that nobody gave lots of thought to until after the fact. WTF? Uranium not being a problem? And we pay scientists to figure these things out before the fact? Good Lord!

I am including some links below, and I want to warn you, some of the photos are not nice. They are horrible in fact. Don't look at them if you are squeamish. And, these are not even the worst of the lot. You won't find veterans there, but what we left behind as an unfortunate legacy of war. Yes, many veterans suffer horribly from what this chemical caused, as do their families. Yet the pain that is suffered by others seems to make ours pale in comparison. I suppose that's because those who remained continued to have exposures unabated for so long.

We didn't condone chemical warfare, nor do we now. Yet our children, and the children of those we tried to bring a better life to, are now paying the price, for trying to spread democracy across the treetops of their country. A sad legacy for everyone.

Courtesy of Phillip Jones Griffiths: http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0401/pjg_thumbs.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-091204-vietnam-agent-orange-pictures,0,4281985.photogallery

http://www.whale.to/b/nguyen.html

Rebates Redux ... Cuisinart this time

2010-07-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

Once again, I've been bit by the rebate vampires. Bit right on the keester when I counted upon a reputable, or what I thought was reputable, company to honor a rebate on a product I purchased.

On March 19 I purchased a new Cuisinart coffee maker through from an Amazon.com with a $10 rebate. The coffee maker was received on March 25, and the same day I completed the requisite rebate form, cut the UPC from the box, and sent it, along with the original sales invoice to the address for Cuisinart Rebates in Douglas, AZ, aka Promotion Fulfillment Center, a division of Blue Monde LLC, with the website Rewardsbymail.com.

After waiting three and a half months, I checked the website and find my rebate was denied. I sent them an e-mail and all they could tell me was that it was invalid. Nobody could tell me why it was invalid, but that it just was invalid. Nobody contacted me by e-mail or phone, although they had both contacts on the rebate form. Why do they want those contacts? Probably to sell the names and numbers like most do for profit! A Shalonda stated they must have sent me a postcard but I sure never received anything.

Frankly, I think these rebate companies process the rebates and stick the money in their own pockets OR they make a profit by denying the rebate and get a bigger cut from the manufacturer when they don't give anything back. That makes so much sense it's nauseating.

To compound things even more, several contacts with Cuisinart, a division of Conair (sounds like the people who transport prisoners, huh?) were to no avail. They could do absolutely nothing and told me to contact the rebate company. WTF? I told them I already did that and they were no help. The next contact was to tell me that they considered every customer a pleased customer and were sorry I wasn't one of them. LOLOL. What a bunch of morons. Certainly I'm not pleased. You just screwed me out of ten bucks.

It's not the ten dollars that really matters. That's a couple of salads at Jack-in-the Box for God's sake or a couple of Carl's Jr. Burgers. It's the principle. A manufacturer lures you into purchasing their product by offering you a rebate and then, after you do so, they renege on the rebate and you find you paid more than you were willing to pay in the first place. In this instance, I settled for the black chrome model rather than the Stainless Steel because the rebate made it such a good deal. Whoops...bit by the rebate vampires again. Gawd, an imported product besides.

I'm boycotting Cuisinart and Conair. Plus, I'm suggesting we send a message to manufacturers:

Don't buy products with a rebate. There is absolutely no reason they can't do like Costco and give you an "instant rebate" at the point of sale. Let the merchant hassle with the manufacturer if they want your business.

If enough people say no to rebates, prices will either drop, or instant rebates will become the norm, and put these rebate scams out of business.

JUST SAY NO TO REBATES!

NOAA, Hurricanes and the Spill

2010-06-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

Strangely enough, about a week after I posted about the Gulf Oil Spill and the potential for disaster from a hurricane, NOAA, which is of course a government agency, published an article on the same issue. What I find really strange is that they say the exact opposite, but in many ways couch their statements with wording that leads me to believe they are just trying to soothe say the entire issue. Just like BP and the government has been doing about the entire oil spill.

Here's NOAA's statement on oil in the rain from a hurricane:

"Will there be oil in the rain related to a hurricane?
• No. Hurricanes draw water vapor from a large area, much larger than the area covered by oil, and rain is produced in clouds circulating the hurricane.

NOAA tries to tell us that a hurricane won't be influenced by the oil because it picks up water from a bigger area. Sure. Are they trying to say it won't pick up the oil laden water too? They say the water from a hurricane is produced in the clouds. For God's sake, man. The water in the clouds is picked up from the water's surface, and that will contain oil! And these people are scientists trying to feed us this this crap? Do they think we're all that stupid that we can't see the illogic in what they're saying here?

Sadly, I used to have a lot of faith in NOAA, and think highly of their ability to function independently of the charlatans and shifters in Washington. This changes things for me. I don't know about you, but it sure makes me suspicious of their statements and seems they must be just as much willing to sacrifice credibility as anyone else in that bunch, to help dismiss what could happen before many weeks or months pass.

Gulf Oil Spill... What Nobody's Talking About!

2010-06-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

Several points nobody seems to have thought about...the first hurricane of the season that enters the Gulf of Mexico may become more powerful than ever expected, due to the oil on the water. The oil will block the natural release of heat from the water into the atmosphere during the nightly cooling cycle, and retain the heat in the water. Hurricanes feed upon heat and just a few degrees of water temperature increase may have a tremendous increase in the power of a hurricane. That has been a concern in past hurricane forecasting; wonder why nobody has been thinking of that here?

There has been talk about the oil being driven onto beaches and roads near the coast in the event of hurricanes or severe storms. But, nobody seems to have given thought to the fact that a hurricane picking up the oil laden water will drive it far inland mixed with rain, and as the water evaporates, will leave the oil as a combustible layer on everything it touches, severely raising the fire potential. Vegetation and frame dwellings will become highly combustible and any fire, unless immediately quelled, may lead to a conflagration of immeasurable proportion, one that could make the California wildfires look tame in comparison. And perhaps in highly populated areas as well!

Sometimes I think the government wants to assure we're treated like mushrooms. Kept in the dark and fed lots of bull crap. In that manner you get the Alfred E. Newman syndrome and don't worry about what might happen. Same with the gusher. Most have never been apprised of the really catastrophic potentials if this thing goes further sideways than it is. As bad as it is now, it's nothing compared to what could happen if they fracture the cap on that deposit. How about the other plumes that BP and the government don't seem to be talking about or accounting for? Are they other leaks from the same deposit? How bad did the release of "toxic dispersants" foul the Gulf waters when it broke down the oil into smaller particles, and how will that be cleaned up? Or will it simply poison the food chain as it slowly makes its way through the layers of the Gulf? Why does the Department of Energy contradict the government's own engineers and scientists when it comes to the amounts flowing into the Gulf? And contradict civilian scientists and engineers also? Because they don't want anyone to know the true scope of what's happening and how bad it really is.

The "light ahead" that Obama sees may well be the headlight of a runaway locomotive that's coming out of the tunnel headed our way, or it may be the fickle flame starting to ignite a 25,000 PSI gas and oil explosion that will be unlike anything we've ever seen on this earth.

We can all hope and pray that the light is nothing more than the click of a Zippo lighter as someone relaxes and lights up a Lucky Strike, saying the problem is solved. That would be a relief to every American, no matter where you live, and to the world too.

BP Louisiana Gulf Oil Spill

2010-06-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

The following comment was on Yahoo regarding the amount of oil flowing at a rate much higher that the figures given. It was published today, June 10 and was credited to a writer who used the handle Exxon1. I tried to contact them to assure they were the originator but was unsuccessful. In the interest of scientific information, I wanted to share this viewpoint, whether it is all too real or just conjecture. At least we know it's not being mouthed by BP or the government, so we can remove those lies from the mix.

Exxon1

"WARNING: DEPRESSING Not to scare anyone, but from someone familiar with spills like DH, including the magnesium blocks and risers, this is the way I see it. First, the problem started when an axial drill bit system was moved while the seal was in a ''closed'' position. This damaged the rubber seal and pieces of that seal came to the top in the mud used for drilling. When the engineers saw that, the tested the blowout preventer with a pressure test. OK, no problem, but the test they used was based on a 1960's patent using an algorithm that never though humans could drill 5,000 feet underwater. Took 8 hours for pressures to equalize, BP rushed everything, and the top blew off. Whooops.

They go out where the ocean is about 5,000 feet deep and drill another 18,000 feet into the crust of the earth. This it right on the edge of what human technology can do. Well, this time they hit a pocket of oil at such high pressure that it shot up through several seals and barriers before exploding, causing the rig to sink. Take a moment to grasp the import of that. The pressure behind this oil is so high that it destroyed the maximum effort of human science to contain it. Pressure estimates are 15,000 psi for the BOP and 21 inch riser. Some speculate the pressure in the area where they dilled (Mississippi Block 252 aka Macondo Prospect) could be a multiple of 10x, incredible pressure that can move about anything on earth. This is a HUGE deposit, Natural Gas and Oil is leaking out of the deposit as far inland as Central Alabama and way over into Florida and even over to Louisiana almost as far as Texas. If things break apart, it could be like the Yellowstone Caldera, except from below a mile of sea, with a 1/4-mile opening, with up to 150,000 psi of oil and natural gas behind it.

That would be an extinction event.

A junk shot or similar mud/heavy cement measure might bust open additional weaknesses they don't know about (or blow the thing wide open), hence their attempt to x-ray the remaining visible pipe before attempting the next "guess." Even the "relief" well is not a sure thing, that's why BP is drilling TWO reliefs in case the 1st doesn't work. Some countries require 4 relief wells.

Matthew Simmons told Dylan Ratigan that "there's another leak, much bigger, 5 to 6 miles away" from the leaking riser and blowout preventer which we've all been watching on the underwater cameras. Was this bigger leak caused by destruction of the well casing, or caused by some opening of a larger natural "fracture" oil seep? This might explain the strange red plumes of oil a few hundred feet under the surface.

For the relief well to succeed, the bore hole must precisely intersect the damaged well. If it misses, BP will have to back up its drill, plug the hole it just created, and try again.

If we can't cap that hole that oil is going to destroy the oceans of the world. It only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife. Not toxic to whales, but the smaller organisms that begin the food chain. Are you starting to get the magnitude of this?

Imagine what happens if that oil keeps flowing until it destroys all life in the oceans of this planet. Who knows how big of a reservoir of oil is down there.

Not to mention that the oceans are critical to maintaining the proper oxygen level in the atmosphere for human life.

The only piece of human technology that might address this is a small nuclear bomb. I'm not kidding. Google "russian nuke oil spill" I pray the 1st relief well works in August! By then the Gulf will be black, but hopefully the east coast can be saved. If they put a nuke down there in the right spot it might seal up the hole. However, the nukes worked to seal the oil channel from a LAND rig, it's never been tried under 5000 ft of pressure on a sandy bottom, but still, nothing short of that will work."

Again, this is NOT my scenario or my scientific opinion, but I did find it interesting in any event. Scary as hell, but interesting. I'd love to hear from factual, actual scientists with opinions on this. The nuke theory is unnerving to say the least. If it went wrong....

Rocks, Guns and Crossing No Man's Land

2010-06-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not happy that two Mexican nationals were killed crossing into the United States illegally. I believe anyone who would find joy in the death of another human being is deeply disturbed, regardless of whether that death is justified or not.

That's not the point here. The issue is that once again, we have a border war. A war by people who think it's okay to propel rocks and create a dangerous situation for our Border Patrol officers, and then decry the situation when the Border Patrol reacts to protect themselves. Other situations when people attempt to cross illegally into the US and resist apprehension and arrest, turn violent and are subdued by whatever means, and then die, it's never a good thing for anyone. But in the final analysis, it's not the Border Patrol's fault.

Nobody gave the right for people to throw rocks at the officers and try to injure them. An intelligent person wouldn't be with a group of people doing so. Not much different than a crowd of rioters who suddenly are swept up in a police rush and someone gets injured or killed. There are always those who say they were not rioting, just bystanders. In my opinion, if you're not part of the crowd, then you don't belong in the crowd!

If a person attempts to enter the country illegally and is caught, they simply submit to arrest and detention. Seems like many thousands do that each year from what records I have viewed. Yet when a person resists arrest and tries to avoid legal detention, and fights with officers, they place themselves at risk of harm. Yes, of being Tasered or perhaps worse. And, if they have an underlying medical condition, even death, as the recent unfortunate case in San Diego shows. But, it was the illegal border crossers' fault, not the officer who tased him. Because the initiation of the illegal act of crossing the border, compounded by resisting arrest, made it necessary to initiate force in subduing the subject.

I do understand this person was illegally living in the US for 20 years, was deported and was illegally coming back in again. The shame is that our system is so screwed up that he wasn't caught 20 years ago, and permanently deported before having a bunch of children that are now fatherless. Had the system worked as it should have, this would never have played out as it has, and this man would likely still be living south of the border. So, in a way, our system of failed immigration policies that are so politically oriented and wishy-washy, that fails to apprehend illegals, is more responsible for this situation than any Border Patrol action.

Yet we hear the Mexican president whining about rights being violated. What audacity this person has to judge anything when he can't effectively run his own country! When Americans die in Mexico we don't hear him whine about it. He can't control the violence that saturates his own country, yet he has the balls to complain about how we handle illegals, and attacks on our own people in our own country? He can't fix his own country's problems, and that's why the Mexican citizens want to get the hell out!

Do I blame the Mexican people for wanting out? No! I blame the government there for not fixing the problems that drives their own people out of their own country. Does anyone think for a minute that if the people in Mexico could make a decent wage, and have a decent home for their family, and live in safety within their own country, that they would be headed north? No. But that won't happen as long as corruption remains king and the government points their finger north for the blame.

Just remember, when you point a finger, 4 more are pointed back at the real problem in your own front yard!

THE Oil Spill

2010-06-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a month and the undersea gusher continues. As the oil fouls everything seen and unseen, the anger grows at the destruction of not only wildlife and sensitive marshland and coastline, but of peoples' livelihoods. Now and for the foreseeable future.

What happened here wasn't a simple "oops" in a mechanical failure. According to all accounts, it was management exercising its usual "screw your rational judgment...do as I say at all possible costs" pressure on a drilling operation. The drilling crew knew the high potential that removal of the heavy drilling fluid would allow gas and oil to escape from the well. They also hoped the "pinchers" referring supposedly to the "blowout preventer" would work in the case of an emergency. As we know, it didn't. In the ensuing failure, 11 lives were lost and the worst ecological failure of an oil company property came to be.

Add to this debacle the missed inspections by the Minerals Management Service, the Federal agency that was supposed to safeguard lives and the environment on this and all oil rigs. 12 missed inspections out of 60 so we are told? Sounds like what happens in mines when MSHA doesn't do its job and a mine explodes killing numerous miners. They either inspect too infrequently, or cite the mines and allow the citations to be contested forever, while the safety violations go unabated! Then we have OSHA which allows some of the states to handle some of their inspections and I don't even want to go down that road with what I have witnessed personally.

Obama is making more trips to the Gulf region as the beaches become fouled and the summer tourist season gets into full swing. The jobs lost, the toll on the economy, the loss of livelihoods, damage and death to wildlife and wetlands will never be mitigated. He waited too long before jumping in with both feet and ordering the federal government to pour all necessary support into this catastrophe, without waiting to see if BP could solve its own problem.

Why don't we have a plan for such catastrophies? Why not have a warehouse full of oil eating microbes ready to ship out to places like this when disaster strikes? Why not have a pollution task force that can handle this? Where are the hundreds of oil skimmers and vacuum barges that should be descending on this from all over the globe? Like Katrina, this is a dollar short and a day late in execution by the government. Waiting until it's too late and hoping someone else will take care of it. Did contributions by big oil dull the response?

No, I'm not an environmental activist. I know we need the oil and energy, but we don't need to destroy out coastline and wildlife to do it. Nor do we need big oil to run the show while the most powerful government in the world sits on its hands wondering if this will turn out okay. Putting the Coast Guard in charge is fine except they have been hamstrung for decades with budget constraints on equipment. They should have had a fleet available for issues just such as this, if not their own, at their beck and call.

Watchful waiting is not the answer. Because, like some cancers, it grows beyond control and kills everything in its path before it can ever be stopped.

Memorial Day

2010-05-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is a time to take a few moments and reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by so many, and so often virtually forgotten by all but those they have left behind.

The grassy fields of Gettysburg, rows of crosses on a foreign land, rows of graves in the National Cemeteries, the names engraved on the granite walls, the plaques and memorials, the statues and emblems of wars gone by, and those still underway. What differs seems to be only the faces and the names; perhaps the name of the memorial, or the name of the war or action. And, the faces and names of the loved ones who mourn timelessly for those who sacrificed all for the country they loved.

Those of us who served alongside others who were killed in action, or who never returned, will never forget those brave and noble warriors. Even now, those who served in a conflict long over, Vietnam, are having their names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, known to most of us simply as "The Wall," having succumbed to wounds and injuries inflicted long ago.

So, on this Memorial Day, bow your heads and say a prayer for every fallen warrior who has allowed you to enjoy this day. Because without them, and those who follow in their silent footsteps, there would be no freedom for you to enjoy. And while you're at it, if you see a service man or woman, tell them "Thanks for your service." They deserve a big thank you.

And, finally, should you meet a veteran, tell them "Welcome Home." Many never got that when they returned, and it would mean a lot to them.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day.

New Award!

2010-05-24T13:54:00.001-07:00

I'd like to thank Laura at OurScented Cottage http://ourscentedcottage.blogspot.com/ for bestowing this great award on my site. It's much appreciated. I never think my site can hold a candle to hers, with her fine poetry, and ability to purvey the finest in recipes and homemade cures for just about everything under the sun, so her nomination is that much more special.

As time goes on, I'll be nominating some special sites to share this award with and post them right here on WWW in America.

The Joys of ...Car Washing!

2010-05-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

How many of you can remember the old days when we washed our own cars? When only the well-to-do, those whom we considered the lazy, and of course, those who didn't care much about their cars, would subject them to the evils of the automatic car wash?

When a bucket of suds, a garden hose and a Saturday morning meant washing that American Iron, or even that little foreign car, with every inch carefully washed and wiped clean of dirt and grime. Then, for the lucky vehicle, there was the anointment with polish or wax. For those with muscle to spare, the Simoniz Wax job was the supreme gleaming effort, where taking the wax residue off was much harder than putting it on. Those who dared open that yellow can, and smear that concoction on their paint, were treated to a shine that seemed to last for months, or at least longer than the cheap and quick waxes and polishes on the market. Or, maybe it just seemed that way, because of all the hard work.

You knew every inch of your vehicle. Every tiny flaw, every scratch, ding and imperfection. The pride of ownership, the knowing that you personally had maintained the finish and put heart and soul into making it look its best. Same with the interior as you cleaned, vacuumed and polished. Especially important for those with a Saturday night date, or other important social schedule, such as cruising the car hops.

The "quarter car wash" came into being in the 1960's and it truly was a quarter. Not that you could wash and rinse your car for a quarter, but all it took was a quarter to get it started, and for fifty cents, you could get the winter salt off your car or at least the heavy grime. Sometimes your car became encased in a block of ice if you lived in the colder climes, but what the heck, it was a cleaner block of ice anyway! Many learned the trick of putting tape over the drivers' door keyhole so the door lock wouldn't freeze! (Remember, the only "remote" door locks was on de-chromed custom 1950's Mercs with solenoid buttons hidden in the rocker panels!)

The ubiquitous car wash that it seems everyone now uses seems so generic. What'll you have, brush or brushless? Car pummeled by plastic brushes, alleged soft cloths that just cleaned a muddy 4X4, or high pressure water that could peel the paint off an Army tank? Of is it the "hand wash" by a group of people that really don't care how clean your car is, who allow it to sit in the sun and water spot after it leaves the wash bay, haphazardly clean the windows, (don't even ask if they clean the window on the fastback or hatchback) and watch in horror as the dropped towel is again used to wipe the $50,000 vehicle in front of yours...or was that yours? All for a mere $12.00 including tip, with coupon.

No, thank you. Today I washed both our cars, and had a major appreciation for fine automotive craftsmanship. The flowing lines and the finish, several hair thin scratches that only show up in certain light, the location of each tiny rock chip that has been carefully touched up, and the appreciation of looking at the finished work and being pleased with the results. It took me back to my boyhood washing my first car, and all 38 cars since then. It's a pleasant tiredness when I wash and shine two cars in a morning, a feeling of satisfaction that still comes about after all these years.

I must confess that some have, shudder, gone through the car wash, due to circumstances which were unfortunately unpreventable. Such as the vehicle which had to be parked outside and under the pine trees, and saw the soft touch car wash often. But it was a work vehicle and I waxed it often and tried to use only one car wash, but the ravages of the wash still showed in the swirls in the paint.

A point to make about the washes with the plastic brushes is that the rough plastic brushes will actually strip the wax off your vehicle. It's like sanding the paint with a weed whacker with thousands of tips. I felt the outside of a vehicle after a wash and the paint actually felt rough, needing to be clayed and waxed again, only weeks after a thorough waxing. Not what you'd want to do to your finish!

There are some great automotive products out there to make your job easier and more enjoyable. I don't hawk labels, but the products from Griot's Garage fill my cabinets and not only do they work extremely well, but they back everything with a super guarantee. For wheel cleaner for factory wheels, however, I really like Hot Rims by Meguiars. Dissolves brake dust immediately, virtually no scrubbing and leaves wheels with a shine.

Happy Motoring...

Immigration...Thank You Arizona!

2010-05-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Way to go Arizona! If the US Government won't do what they are supposed to do, then the States must take action.

Yet, we see cities, and yes, school districts passing "resolutions" condemning Arizona's new law. Where in hell did they ever get the idea they have the right to condemn another state's laws? What balls! You want to know why San Diego Unified School District and others want so badly to see laws like Arizona's defeated? Because they will lose money! Sure! They get paid by the State and Federal governments to educate, feed and transport illegal alien kids while we, the taxpayers, foot the bills! The schools cut transportation schedules so our kids ride public buses that we pay taxes for, and pay for each and every ride too, and don't get don't get free school bus transportation, increase the requirements so our children don't get to participate in the free lunch program, and guess who gets all those freebies? You got it! The illegals. Hell, in some school districts, they actually come across the border for the free education and we have to teach them in Spanish at the expense of our education system and our own students!

Want to be mad as hell? Read the following:

"Every day along the 1,952-mile border, children from Mexico cross into the United States and attend public schools. No one keeps statistics on how many.

Citizenship isn't the issue for school officials; district residency is.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled illegal immigrants have a right to an education, so schools don't ask about immigration status. But citizens and illegal immigrants alike can't falsely claim residency in a school district.

Enforcement of residency requirements varies widely along the border. Some schools do little to verify where children live beyond checking leases or utility bills, while others dispatch officials to homes when suspicions are raised.

Jesus Gandara, superintendent of the Sweetwater district, with 44,000 students along San Diego's border with Mexico, said tracking children at the border goes too far. "If you do that, you're playing immigration agent," he said. "

Even more disturbing was the television interview yesterday with the girl who is an honor student, who admits she is an illegal alien, and who is protesting the Arizona Law. Here is a kid who appears to be about sixteen who should be sent back to Mexico, or wherever she comes from. Honor student or not, illegal is illegal. That doesn't give her or any other person the right to be here illegally.

What the hell do these people not understand about illegal. Is it the word that somehow loses something in translation in their language? Or is it because in their country nothing is illegal, so they think nothing is wrong with whatever they do, or wherever they go, and someone else should bear the consequences for their actions?

Wait...that's it! It's finally sunk in! To them there is no difference between legal and illegal. They have tons of kids without marriage, the hospital ER is the family doctor, they lavish their babies with gold jewelry but they can't afford medical care, drive cars without licenses and insurance, run away from accidents, but then want all the benefits afforded to legal US citizens. They then call us racist when we want them to go the hell back to wherever they came from because we don't want to support them!

It wouldn't matter where they came from. Mexico, Peru, Germany, Holland, Poland, Canada or anywhere else. If you didn't come here legally, don't let the door to my country hit you in the ass on your way out. And take your illegitimate kids with you! Oh, by the way, take that damned sign with the family running across the freeway with you too.

Medicare Cuts and the Reality of Medical Care

2010-03-18T15:23:00.001-07:00

The truth about cutting doctors reimbursement from Medicare lies not simply in cutting money from the Federal budget. Not simply in allowing Obamacare to move money from a program for Seniors, into what has become a pork-barreled promissory note to senators and congressmen in a greedy grab for their votes. It's not about cutting doctors' salaries or the money that goes into their pockets. America, you need to wake up and see the big picture far beyond what this entails.
First, most doctors are not getting rich on Medicare money. Sure, some might have huge practices that specialize in the elderly patients and, yes, some might make a good living at it. But, far and large, most doctors do not make a lot of money on Medicare. Why? Because Medicare pays a set rate for everything that a doctor does. And that rate is lower than the "usual and customary" charges for the service. So, even with the patients co-pay, the doctor doesn't make as much as they normally would.

Example: Doctor charges $120.00 for a "level 4 (lengthy)" office visit. Medicare allows only $65. Patient co-pay is $15. Total is $80. There is no "Balance Billing" allowed so the doctor is now out $40.

When Medicare reimbursement is cut, does anyone think that insurance reimbursement cuts will be far behind? Since many insurance companies now pay a percentage of Medicare reimbursement, such as $110% or 125%, in the above example the insurance company would either pay $71.50 or $81.25, still leaving the doctor short on payment.

Leaping forward, cut those rates by the proposed 21% by the current Obamacare package as a way to jump start their health care reform package, and in the first example, the doctor is now out over an additional $13.00. If you don't think the big insurance companies, who have jacked up the rates on their policyholders, while making billions by their parent companies, will not cut reimbursement rates too, you're sadly mistaken. Because that's just what will happen.

Every year, the big insurance companies make deals with hospitals and large physician groups to accept contracts, to allow them to pay less for their policyholders bills, while the rates increase. Year after year, more and more medical groups and hospitals say NO to the insurers and won't buy into their deals, reducing the policyholders choices of plans and increasing their health care costs. Do you blame the hospital for not accepting ten cents on the dollar for treating the patient? Or is it the insurance company who pockets your premium, raises it every year whether you are ill or not, and still changes your benefits so that it costs you more out of pocket if you do get sick? Not hard where to place the blame here.

Doctors have a hard choice. Many have a large clientele of Medicare patients. But cut their income so much that they can't afford to continue with that type of practice and they say they'll have to stop accepting new Medicare patients or slowly clear their book of Medicare patients altogether. That's a sad commentary on Obamacare when they're telling America how they want to make things better for Americans yet in the process they could be screwing millions at the same time. A group of greedy myopics working with blinders on and hands out in Washington, caring not about the nations' Senior Citizens, or really anyone but themselves and their political future.

Speaking of doctors, has anyone ever figured out how much it costs to actually run an office? Nurses, physician's assistants, medical assistants, receptionists, medical records clerks, an administrator, office equipment, laboratory equipment and supplies, computers, medical equipment, medical supplies, medications, disposables, special sanitation, rent, utilities, paperwork and all the rest? The cost is actually staggering. Some new physicians actually fail to make money during the first several years in practice! Ever notice how many doctors join together as a group? Mostly because they share expenses, or they couldn't survive as a single practitioner? It's expensive!

So if anyone thinks it's a good thing to cut money from the local docs Medicare reimbursement, they need to think of where they might need to go when they have to see a doc when they're on Medicare, Tricare or any other similar product. And, you needn't be old and a "geezer" to be on Medicare either. If you're disabled, you could end up on Medicare in your 20's under Social Security Disability and find you have a long road to health...or to see a doctor too.

And, don't think you're in the clear if you're not on Medicare or a similar program. Because those big insurance companies have you in their cross-hairs too. And their finger is right on the trigger...

The Harsh Reality of Life, Death and Love

2010-03-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, February 25, in the early afternoon hours, several thousand miles way, my beloved sister Fran passed on to another life. Her years of suffering through one affliction, and then another, suddenly lifted from her shoulders, as a yoke might be lifted from the shoulders of a burdened soul.

Quietly and without much notice, she was gone. Little time for all the family to gather and say all the things they might have wanted to say in those last moments. Yet, in this case, we had not wasted those moments when the important things could, or should, have been said. Those special words from the heart, spoken to the dearest and nearest of kin and soul, "I love you" were said often and repeated back, signs of heartfelt caring and love between family. In this case, between a brother and sister, who shared many magical moments in life, some from a continent apart, for over six decades.

Strange but little things come to mind, such as the first time I ate pizza. Fran brought it home one evening and the family sat and stared at the new food and slowly ate it. We all laughed at the shape and the strange taste, but it was a new adventure and Fran was like that, always an adventurer.

One of the last times we spoke, only several weeks ago, we laughed about her going to Bingo with our mother in Maine. Bingo was held in the hall above the fire station, and they played for sugar and bacon instead of money. It was a big night when someone came home with a grocery bag full of food items! Quite a memory for a couple of kids to hold on to all these years.

I watched my "big sister" grow up into a beautiful young woman who loved to ride horses, and would chide her about the "horse" smell of her Levis when she came home after a weekend of riding. Fran was more at home in a shirt and Levis than a dress, but when she got dressed up she was absolutely gorgeous. I remember her wedding to Rich, and how beautiful she was in her wedding gown. Somehow, at that moment, it appeared that she outgrew the jeans and shirts, although in truth, I think that jeans remained her favorite method of dress most of her life.

On March 2nd, the funeral service was beautiful, and God listened to our prayers that day for no more rain. The morning was rainy and windy with thunderstorms, but it cleared up and the sun shone for the services, and although it remained windy, and later cloudy, Fran was laid to rest near the river, close to the water she always loved, with friends and family there to say good bye.

Things will never be the same. I won't have the phone calls to look forward to, to chat, exchange jokes, or family stories, or simply just enjoy hearing her voice again. I won't be able to tell her how much I love her. But, there is one bright spot. She always knew how much I loved her, and I know how much she loved me. Because we never held back on telling each other every chance we got. Each and every conversation ended with "I Love You" and more, from the heart.

So, if you love someone, tell them. Don't let the opportunity pass by to say "I Love You" while you can. There may not be another chance today, tomorrow or ever. Time is a precious commodity and there is so little of it to share with those you love. The sadness of the passing of a loved one will become more bearable as the days pass, and along with it more joy in the knowledge that you knew you loved, and were loved in return, And said it well and often.

The Middle Class Becoming Poor

2010-02-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

I've recently read accounts where the middle class working Americans, those who have supported those who never worked, have now suddenly and through no fault of their own, have become poor. And know what? The government turns their back on them!

That's right. The people who worked, paid taxes, paid for all those lazy bastards to sit on their asses and have illegitimate child after child, receive subsistence from state and federal agencies and free health care, are suddenly finding themselves with no lifelines or safety net when their lives go bad. It's not a black, or white, or any color issue, folks. This crosses every line you can think of. It's an AMERICAN ISSUE! It's happening to your fellow countrymen and women each and every day, and could happen to YOU! As one of my co-workers used to say when we saw a homeless person: "There but for a few paychecks go I." How very true!

One article was about a Nevada couple who both worked their whole lives; the man unfortunately tripped and fell and broke his back. Then a broken hip, skin cancer and the onset of dementia. Out of work and living on social security, his wife had to quit her job due to non-flexible hours, and take a low paying job to be home to take care of him. They lost their home, have no insurance, have nothing, yet the government says they're not poor. Don't qualify for food stamps or Medicaid. WTF? We support all these people with multiple illegitimate kids who never worked, and the illegals, yet an American who worked his whole life can't get help because he gets a meager Social Security check and his wife works for what amounts to fast food wages?

A woman from Mississippi worked her whole life and now has become disabled and living on a very meager $679 Social Security check plus $41 in food stamps. She has to decide which of her 15 prescription medications she can live without since state regulations limit Medicaid recipients to 5 low-cost prescriptions each month. By the Federal government's standards, this lady is living in poverty, and receiving aid, which she obviously needs. But in my estimation, it's clearly not enough! Why should she have to pick and choose what medications she has to live without?

It doesn't just happen to people on lower incomes. A Hollywood prop master making $100K a year ended up living in a trailer in a mobile home park Nevada after sickness wiped out his savings and cost him his home in a once affluent community in California. He stopped repairing his car and let the tags expire to save money; he sometimes overdraws is bank account to pay the utility bills, costing him large bank fees. According to the Federal government, he is not poor enough to get assistance.

A health care bill is not going to fix the inequities in our system. What will fix it is getting the politicians off the dime and stop paying welfare to those who are able bodied and can work, put them into public service jobs , limit the amount of time welfare is paid, limit the payment of welfare to one child per mother, and quit all the payments to illegal aliens for anything.

If an illegal has a child, bundle them both up and ship them back to the country of origin. Close the border tight and quit pandering to those who seem to have no consideration to the sovereignty of our country, and who think we should be the great provider for every other person on earth. If a politician thinks Mexico is so great, send them there and let them live there as an ordinary citizen for a year. Then come back and tell us how nice it is. If you want to spend money, make Mexico nicer for those living there so they want to stay, not come here and live off of us!

I understand the want for a better life and the "streets paved with gold" north of the border story. But it's not true, and life here isn't about making good for those making the trek north anymore. It's hard times for everyone and work isn't plentiful for immigrants. Americans are tired of bearing the burden of health care and welfare for so many illegals. We have enough problems with our own recession, and our government isn't taking care of our own people. The system is failing us, yet people still want the system to take care of them. Is it any wonder there is a deep resentment that continues to grow?

It's not racist. It's not anti-Hispanic. We'd feel the same, and do, about anyone who illegally comes here and mooches off our system. We feel the same about the generations of welfare recipients who perpetuate the same fraud upon the government by raising yet more generations of recipients. Unwed mothers who give birth to yet additional generations of welfare recipients, who do likewise and continue to pump out burdens on the public dole. It's an unending cycle that the government does absolutely nothing about.

Daycare in high school so the unwed pregnant teens don't drop out? And just where do you think most of them go or do after that? Have more kids and live off the system! Sure, there are some success stories and we laud those teens who do go on to bigger and better things. But listening to the multitudes of kids who are still teens or maybe twenty and on their third child or more, all with separate fathers who don't support any of the kids, makes me sick. Because we support the kids simply because they exist, and some dumb ass wasn't smart enough to keep her knees together!

Yet our disabled and elderly who worked their entire life can't get enough to live on when they're out of work and ill.

Shame on our government for failing the Americans who pay the bills.

Anthem Blue Cross - Greed or Need?

2010-02-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

No, it's not the National Anthem, but one that you're less familiar with, unless you happen to need individual health insurance in many states. One of 800,000 policyholders in California for example. And what has this Blue Cross / Blue Shield company now named Anthem Blue Cross done now? Made an announcement that it will raise rates as much as 39% to some policyholders in California. And, perhaps raise rates more than once a year too!

Although Anthem's parent company, WellPoint made a 4.75 billion dollars profit in the last quarter of 2009, it seems they have lost millions on health care. Good Lord! I'd be willing to lose millions to make billions! Seems like a damned good trade off if you ask me. But then again, it seems greed has no boundaries where health insurance is concerned. Blue Cross also states their proposed rates reflect anticipated medical costs. Don't you wish you could ask that your salary reflect your anticipated living costs? It seems Anthem doesn't give a damn about your living costs at all, as long as they can nail you on your health care. To add insult to injury, the State of California estimates the rate hikes would affect 700,000 customers and average 25% with some as high as 39%.

The State of California has asked, and Anthem has agreed to postpone its rate hikes from March 1 until May 1 so the State can conduct an audit. Here's a link to the news story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100213/ap_on_bi_ge/us_insurance_rates_wellpoint

The individual policies are purchased by people who are out of work and are no longer covered by employer policies. Many take relatively high deductible policies so they can afford the premiums, then when they become sick or injured, that have a big deductible of thousands of dollars to pay before Anthem pays a cent on their policy.

When people are forced to make a choice between the roof over their heads, food and insurance, it's a no-brainer that the insurance is dropped. Plus, if you feel well, maybe you believe you won't need the insurance coverage right now. Many out-of-work people can't afford the standard premiums and when they are increased, drop the coverage, adding to the huge pool of uninsured people that in the event of emergency the taxpayers somehow support, or that the medical providers and insurance companies, in their greed, will drive into bankruptcy. There are the two choices and I need not delineate who falls into either category.

A friend received a big increase on her policy premium, and when she asked what she could do about it, Anthem representatives suggested she "increase the deductible." She already has a $5000 deductible, so they suggest she consider $7500 or even $10,000 deductible to keep monthly premiums down. Pretty shrewd since they won't pay for her doctor visits, tests, or any procedures until she pays at least $7500 or $10,000 out of pocket first. And that's in addition to the high premium she already pays for coverage! And, don't even think that any deductible amount is all you will have to pay. On some policies, the "annual out of pocket limit" excludes the deductible, so you might have a $5000 deductible plus a $2500 out of pocket limit making your costs $7500 plus the cost of the policy, before you see any significant policy benefits.

Another ripoff, in my opinion, is the "calendar year" scam insurance companies pull. Purchase a policy in mid-year and if you become ill in any following year just before the policy year ends, they will tell you everything is based on the policy year which is 12 months. So some of your benefits are in the current policy year and some in the next, which boggles up your calculations when figuring out your actual deductible and out of pocket limits. Yet when January 1 rolls along, your deductible starts all over again, and your trips to the doctor and medications become your expenses until you reach that deductible and out of pocket plateau. The only benefit is that if you see a doctor or other provider who accepts your insurance, they have set fees for the insurance companies versus cash patients, and you pay only what the insurance company would pay.

I don't agree with the current administration ramming health care down the peoples' throats in the way it has been done. But we need some form of affordable health care for all Americans. There needs to be a way to take companies that abuse the trust of their subscribers, and make billions while doing it, and say, you're done. You'll not sell another policy until you prove you are not making money on the policies you are already holding. The states regulate the property-casualty and workers compensation and other insurance markets. Time to step in and lasso in these mavericks before they destroy the lives of more Americans with their greed and careless approach to human life. Because that's what health care is all about. Caring...for and about humans and their lives and their future. Corporate greed doesn't have a place in care.

Appliance Energy Rebates...Too Little Too Late

2010-02-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

Once again, our illustrious government waste precious time and energy ramping up a program to get taxpayers to dump old, inefficient products, and purchase new, with the promise of government rebates to help them out. Or, better yet, should I say taxpayers who actually pay taxes helping pay for new cars, or in this case, appliances, for people who decide they need them, or maybe just want new ones.

The problem with the "Cash for Clunkers" program was that it didn't really accomplish anything but waste lots of taxpayer money. It's funny, actually, to find that many of the vehicles taken off the streets and ostensibly crushed, were replaced with vehicles that didn't get much better gas mileage. Lots of Ford F-150 trucks were sold in numerous configurations, as well as Chevrolet Silverado's . In fact, according to Edmunds.com, these two trucks were in the top ten vehicles purchased, including 4 wheel drive versions!

Now we have the big appliance rebate program for purchasing Energy Star rated appliances. But, instead of starting the program January 1st in all states, the Federal Government let the individual states decide when to start the program on their own turf. Thus, the start dates are all over the map. Some start in January, some as late as April. Kansas already ran out of money in January, as they used the money to give to low income families to offset purchases of energy efficient appliances. In fact, they gave vouchers of $800 for clothes washers to low income families...no wonder they ran out of money. There are lots of energy efficient clothes washers that don't cost $800 bucks!

Frankly, these programs become a disincentive to many people. What if your appliance truly breaks down before the rebate period? You're out of luck. No rebate for you. However, you can have your appliance fixed if you wish, and keep it running just long enough to slide into the rebate window, then go for the new one. Whether that works for you or not depends on the rebate, which again, isn't a constant across all states. Which makes no sense.

Speaking of clothes washers only, some states base the rebate on the energy savings of the machine, with several categories available.
Arizona for example offers either $125 or $200.
Connecticut is $100
Delaware is $75
Georgia is $50 or $99
Illinois offers a 1 week 15% markdown at point of sale and a $50 recycling mail-in rebate
Maine is about the lowest, offering only $50
Michigan is also in that $50 category
Minnesota is offering $200
Texas offers $150 or $180 plus a $75 recycling rebate as well = $225 or $255
Oregon is using this to provide new residential heating systems to low income families
Rhode Island's site excludes clothes washers at this time; nothing about rebates for them.
Washington is $100

Plus, the other requirements for a rebate are somewhat asinine as well. For example:

Alaska: Only for Alaskans with disabilities. Further enhanced if in a rural area. WTF??

Here's the site so you can look for yourself.

http://www.energysavers.gov/financial/70022.html

Another fiasco where the people get little and some bureaucracy gets bigger and bigger building more and more government and in the name of a green earth. Not that a green earth is at all bad...but when you add in all the delivery trucks, crushers, energy and work to dismantle and reprocess all the junked appliances and waste materials, I'd bet the savings don't amount to much at all, except to those who get them for free or close to it.

Another idea for a give away program that just doesn't do much for the American struggling to make ends meet. If you can't put food on the table, you don't need a new range to cook it on, or a new refrigerator to keep it in. A few bucks a month in energy savings won't help you make the payments on the big appliance you just bought, will it?

More smoke and mirrors, brought to you by same the people who promised change. Next we'll hear about a "chicken in every pot"...oh wait...some say they heard that one before!

Those of you who wanted change sure got it...maybe it isn't the change you wished for?

School Bus Accidents...Ignored?

2010-01-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

It seems most school bus accidents go largely ignored by the press here in California, unless a student is severely injured. Some may think there are few school bus accidents, but if you simply view the CHP logs, there are many, and the press is simply either ignoring them, or for some reason, doesn't want to "let the cat out of the bag" because the real numbers of buses in accidents would probably alarm parents.

Every day there are numerous minor bus accidents in San Diego County alone, yet the only ones you ever see reported are those where the student is transported by ambulance, due to injuries. And, you might not actually see those if the news doesn't care to report on it.

Parents need to demand an accounting for the safety of their children on school transportation, be it privately operated under contract, or operated by the school districts themselves. There are many highly qualified, safe operators out there. But I can tell you from first hand experience, there are operators who regularly exceed the speed limits daily, and calls to their district and supervisors, while met with surprise and promises to take action, do nothing to slow them down.

In numerous cases, while operating FCC licensed moving radar, school buses have been clocked at 15 to 20 miles over the 55 mile per hour mandated speed limit with students on board. Some buses pass all too frequently, fail to signal and allow students to stand while the bus is in motion. All of which lends to the severity of injury in event of accident.

Children are our most precious resource and the most precious cargo carried on the buses of any transportation system in the world. For them to be anything less than 100% safe is tragedy waiting to happen.

With Great Pleasure...Good News for FORD

2010-01-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

The one out of the Big 3 US automakers that stood on its own two feet, or four wheels, and didn't take a government bailout, has now turned a profit!

Today, Ford Motor Company announced a 2009 full year net income of 2.7 billion dollars, and a 4th quarter net profit of 863 million dollars, the first profit in four years. It will also start giving out profit sharing checks to US hourly workers in March, the first time that's been done since 2004. And Ford expects 2010 to be profitable as well.

My congratulations to the management and all the people at Ford who made it through the storm. They have fought hard and kept their hands out of the government till, while keeping the government hands out of their pockets as well. They have succeeded where GM and Chrysler have failed. In Chrysler's case, failed multiple times, and judging by the way things continue to go, will likely fail again. Not to beat a dead horse, but how many times do they think they should be bailed out anyway?

Once again, American ingenuity and ability can do the job. Congratulations Ford on a job well done!

2010 Arrives and Death Follows

2010-01-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year.

I was hoping to start the new year with some great positive, uplifting information. I honestly tried. I woke this morning feeling great, looking at a sunny sky, and feeling like Ralphie after he discovered his Red Ryder 200 shot Carbine was really a Christmas present after all.

Unfortunately, that all went south after finding out that a 21 year old pregnant female was killed by a suspected 30 year old drunk driver, as she sat in a friends' vehicle that was awaiting roadside assistance on the freeway. The unborn child was also killed and two other occupants, as well as the drunk driver, were taken to a local hospital with major injuries. The suspected drunk driver was arrested for felony DUI.

In our county, this is the third fatality in less than 12 hours, at least two of which are attributable to drunk driving. More injuries can be attributed to drunk and impaired driving as well. Even with DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols, the carnage continues.

Worse, the numbers continue to climb. Are there more DUI arrests because there are more people being caught? Or because there are more people driving under the influence? The television stations report more drivers are using their cell phones to turn in drivers who appear impaired. If the numbers are climbing because of vigilance and closer scrutiny by the law enforcement authorities and the public, it's a good thing. If it's because more people are driving under the influence, it's not.

At one time I was appalled to hear that 41% of all people on the road were impaired by some substance, legal, illegal or otherwise. That's a huge figure. Look at it this way...if you're sitting in your vehicle, there's a huge potential that the person next to you, and either the one ahead or behind you, is impaired. Two out of the four vehicles surrounding you! Whew...that's one helluva number! That's plain scary at freeway speeds!

Bottom line is that if you drink, or otherwise are impaired, please don't drive. Take a cab, bus, or have a sober designated driver. That young pregnant mother-to-be didn't deserve to die on a cold, dark freeway this morning. She didn't do anything wrong; she was an innocent victim who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's the tragedy of most of the victims of drunk drivers. They happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or get in the vehicle with the wrong driver without thinking, as they themselves are impaired.

I wish you a safe and healthy New Year filled with love and peace.

California Fixes Good Samaritan Law

2009-12-21T14:58:00.000-08:00

California Legislators finally correct the wrongdoing of the State Supreme Court!

On August 6, 2009 Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 83 (Feuer/Benoit), legislation which encourages individuals to act as "Good Samaritans" and voluntarily help rescue others in peril. The legislation goes into effect immediately.

“Now Good Samaritans have no reason to hesitate to responsibly help someone in an emergency out of fear that they might be sued, " Assembly Member Mike Feuer said. "This legislation encourages Californians to look out for each other at a time when public resources are all too scarce. I'm proud of the broad coalition that came together to make this common sense law possible." The bill garnered unanimous bi-partisan support in its passage through the Legislature, and it created a broad and unusual alliance of support from law enforcement and rescue agencies, as well as the plaintiffs and defense bars and the American Heart Association.

“As a former Highway Patrol Commander, I’ve experienced many situations where Good Samaritans arrived first on the scene, making the difference between life and death for accident victims,” commented Senator John J. Benoit (R-Bermuda Dunes), a 31-year law enforcement veteran and principal co-author of AB 83. “Good Samaritans show kindness to others and their good acts should be encouraged, rather than discouraged.”

AB 83 reverses a recent court decision and clarifies the Legislature's intent to shield all Good Samaritans from lawsuits if they act responsibility – regardless of whether their rescue assistance is of a medical or non-medical nature. In the court case of Van Horn v. Watson, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state’s Good Samaritan statute only partially protected those who voluntarily act as Good Samaritans from possible negligence lawsuits. The Supreme Court held that such volunteer rescuers would only be shielded from lawsuits if they provided “medical care” at the scene of an emergency; they would not be protected from possible liability if they provided "non-medical care."

Another supporter of the legislation, Christine D. Spagnoli, president of Consumer Attorneys of California, stated: “This bill strikes an important balance between the human desire to help people who are in distress, and the rights of victims. Consumer attorneys are delighted to join police, firefighters, paramedics and insurance and business groups in endorsing this measure.”

“Assemblyman Feuer and his co-authors deserve a big thanks for acting quickly and fixing a quirky law that threatened to penalize people who performed noble acts in helping others in an emergency," said John H. Sullivan, president of the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC).

Assembly Member Feuer was moved to introduce AB 83 by personal experience. While driving home from work on a Los Angeles freeway we witnessed the driver of a pickup truck swerve and lose control, overturning in traffic. Feuer helped pull the driver and his family from the overturned vehicle while others blocked traffic on the busy freeway.

Catching the Seniors Off Guard!

2009-12-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

Today I received a solicitation from AARP's United Healthcare Insurance Company for the AARP Medicare Supplement Insurance.

I thoroughly read through each and every page of the material I received, and not once did it mention what coverage I would receive! It did suggest they have a variety of plans giving me a choice of options. Yet not once did they tell me what each of those plans did, or did not cover. It did however tell me about there being a pre-existing condition exclusion and enough gobbledy-gook about that perhaps not applying, that it would take a Miami lawyer to tell you whether you were or were not qualified under pre-existing health care coverages or not. They use the term "other exclusions may apply" but don't tell you what those exclusions might be.

The insert sheet shows plans A through L yet doesn't fully explain what you do or do not get under each plan. The heading states "See Outlines of Coverage Section for details about ALL Plans". That would be nice except there was NO Outlines of coverage section included. I did receive a rate sheet however that would allow me to choose a rate starting from $$75.60 all the way to $145.60 for "Early Enrollment Discount rates" and from $108 to $208 in the future. A supplemental piece of paper included in the package states that the plan rates shown in this package are only good for 2009. Yet the solicitation and application are for coverage effective 1/1/2010! Thus if your Medicare rates increase, so will this. And then you have no idea what you will be paying!

Finally, reading the printed page, the kicker is this statement:" This material describes the plans available through the AARP Health Care Options program but is not considered a health insurance contract or insurance certificate.

Folks, you aren't getting health insurance or health coverage, but a plan of some sort that seems very undefined. After reading it again, I can't determine what I would be paying for. And, I have experience in the insurance and healthcare field, unlike most others who have to wade through the Medicare minefield all alone and uneducated about the pitfalls.

The cover letter says call them and I, frankly, won't do that. I have had dealings with AARP in the past and they seem to have the phones handled by sharks who simply want to sell you something. I once called about auto insurance and the woman hounded me on the phone to sign up, although the coverage she was hawking was hundreds more than the AAA coverage I already had, and the AARP program even had worse coverage to boot! Then I was subject to a barrage of unwanted mail and phone solicitations for months trying to sell me more insurance. Still receive tons of junk about some form of insurance from these people just about every week.

If you can't get a clear answer to what you're buying, don't buy it. Paying for something when you don't know what you're getting is what I call paying for "air biscuits." Sounds good but no substance.

Finally, on Page 31 of the December 2009 AARP Bulletin, they have a Scam Alert on buying worthless or less than value insurance policies. Maybe they should have named themselves in that article as Consumer Reports and others have in the past!

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/scamalert/articles/when_health_insurance_is_phony_.html

AARP Backs Obamacare and Medicare Cuts!

2009-12-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

Today, December 2, AARP supported $460 billion dollars in Medicare cuts to fund the Obamacare health care reform bill. As Republicans tried to have the cuts restored, the AARP stated the cuts by the Democrats were just ways of eliminating waste and inefficiency within the Medicare system.

This bill will increase seniors' Medicare premiums by over $60 Billion Dollars!

What they will do is destroy the Medicare Advantage program that provides additional services and coverages to Medicare recipients who sign up for the plans. And those plans offer the extra services at no extra cost to the senior citizen in most cases. Better coverage, less cost when you are ill and can least afford it, and no more money out of your pocket at the beginning. No wonder AARP opposes that. If you can get that. why would you want the often costly and sometimes questionable coverage of AARP "supplemental insurance" programs and "prescription drug" programs that can be covered by Medicare Advantage programs with the premiums you already pay as part of your Medicare monthly costs?

Screwed by the association that seniors trust, the AARP is like a dog that bites the hand that feeds it. How seniors can trust these people is beyond me. It nauseates me to think how they deceive their members and then push for a bill that will help fill their coffers. YES, fill the AARP coffers since they offer supplemental insurance plans! And how many recognize that the AARP makes more money on revenues from hawking insurance and other products than from membership, grants and contributions?

When your Medicare benefits are cut and you need extra coverage, the AARP is going to be hawking that coverage, just as they do now. Read my past posts on their coverages, and what Consumer Reports says about some of those coverages.

Even back in 1988, Money magazine laid open the devious practices of the AARP, which was originally funded by an insurance broker named Leonard Davis, who later founded Colonial Penn Insurance, which later replaced Continental Insurance as AARP's insurer! Even Consumers Union (Consumer Reports) found fault with them back then! Read the entire story here:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/1988/10/01/84702/index.htm

Think the executives who are not volunteers at AARP will be hurting on Medicare? Not a chance. According to the New York Times Business Section, December 3, 2009, "Horace B. Deets, Executive Director of the AARP earned $369,000 plus $141,806 in retirement benefits."

Barry Rand, the new CEO of AARP has an annual salary of $575,000 according to his bio published in USA Today on March 12, 2009. You can bet he won't be worrying about Medicare!

At the risk of being "politically incorrect, here's a link to what Capitol Hill is saying about the AARP back door dealings with the Democraps:

http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/09/10/20/democrats-cut-back-room-deals

Shame on AARP and their underhanded plan for screwing America's seniors!

SDGE San Diego Gouge and Extort

2009-11-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

Some interesting facts you probably didn't think of about your residential electric bill:

If you are overcharged on your electric bill one month as a result of an incorrect meter reading, you think, and are probably told by SDG&E, they it will be lower next month and it will even out. Not so!

Facts are that any electricity you are billed for, whether you use it or not, over the "baseline allowance" of 326 kilowatt hours is charged at a higher tier rate. The rates are based at up to 100% of baseline, 101% to 130% of baseline, 131% to 200% of baseline and then another charge of 131% to 200% of baseline for some odd reason. I'm sure SDG&E can explain away the second charge that is higher for half the month than the earlier charge but that's beside the point here.

The next month, if your meter is read correctly, your bill will be lower. Lots lower, since you will be getting billed likely at the under 100% baseline usage, and thus, the lowest rate. But you already paid a premium rate the month before for electricity you never used, and SDG&E didn't give you credit on your bill for your overcharge, either, did they? You just got gouged by the utility that you have no choice but to use.

Your protection? Check the date your meter has been read in the past, learn to read your meter, and read it every month. Both gas and electric if you're wise. Because you can't trust the gas and electric company to be right every time, and when they're wrong you'll come up on the short end.

Smart Meters:

You probably heard SDG&E is spending 500 million dollars to install a million "Smart Meters in San Diego County. Their publicity and bill inserts and media would have you think this is all for your benefit, and how you'll be able to watch your meters on-line and be able to track your own energy use. Right? When the hell did the electric company do anything good for YOUR pocket that didn't line theirs?

Truth is that THEY will be able to watch your energy use, and in the future, you will see peak demand pricing just like the big energy users. If you use energy during peak hours you will pay a big price for it. It will be Big Brother Utility's way of keeping their thumb on you, to be sure you don't use more at any given time than they want you to, and if you do, they'll slam you with a big surcharge for using more than you should. In this manner they can avoid building more power plants, and make you pay for plugging in your coffee pot when you come home from work, for that extra cup of coffee. It won't be worth it! There's nothing in this for you, unless you want to spend your time at the computer watching your electric and gas meter. Incidentally, having the computer on just adds to the electric bill...should there be a credit for checking your own meter?

Oh, by the way, those "smart meters"? They're presently dumb! They have to be read by meter readers, and there are already reports of severe overcharging, as the meter readers apparently have not gotten used to reading them yet. Once again, learn to read them every month and don't depend on SDG&E to do so. If you see a mistake, call them on it immediately, or you'll end up paying the bill, and the credit you get next month will not be equal to what you paid this month.

Finally, expect BIG problems when the system goes fully computerized. Can you imagine what will happen when you put 1 million meters on line? Mistakes will likely be rampant, so read those meters, and try and keep SDG&E honest. Because if you don't tell them they made a mistake, they sure as hell won't tell you!

Swine Flu and Obamacare

2009-11-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

This is simply a test question. There is only one question and one chance to get it right. Your life depends on the right answer. Ready? Do you trust a government that screams paranoia about the severity of the H1N1 "Swine Flu" and tells people the importance of being vaccinated if they are in a high risk group, then can't provide the vaccine in the amounts originally promised to the public?

YES or NO? Fast...you must make a decision. Because the next decision the government will likely make could be forcing Obamacare upon you and your family, like it or not. And, you need to make every effort to tell your senators your feelings about having that edict rammed down your throat, or up another orifice, before it happens and it's too late.

What happened to the original "every American being covered by health insurance"? That sure didn't last long. Those tall tale figures waned from perhaps a hundred million additional insured people to what, 36 million or so at last count? And the bill for covering one-third the number never dropped a dime, rather it seems to have remained the same or even increased?

And nobody will see the benefits of this 1.2 trillion dollar debacle (plus the billions spent by the current politicians playing with the bill to get this far) for about four years. All the while we'll be paying for it in the form of reduced Medicare benefits, reduced Medicare Advantage benefits, increased taxes and God knows what else they have cooked up to screw the taxpayer.

It comes down to a simple question. How can a government that can't get the swine flu vaccine out to the public, during a declared public health emergency, be counted on to handle a huge national health care reform en total? The simple answer is that they can't.

Does that surprise you?

Here it is the middle of November and the H1Ni vaccine is nowhere to be found, except in some public health clinics, and that's on a spotty basis. Healthcare workers are being told they must wait for vaccinations, as are senior citizens and others with cardiac and specific needs for immunization. Can you imagine having a true pandemic sweep a city or county, and all the healthcare workers who are supposed to aid the sick are instead ill themselves, too ill to care for those who need their skilled medical help? That could happen due to the manner in which the current vaccine shortage seems to be going. YOU could end up having to take care of yourself and not be able to seek medical aid. That's a scary thought.

Some figures:

The Obama administration ordered 250 million doses of vaccine.
They confidently predicted that 120 million doses woule be available by now (Nov 14).
Only about 42 million doses have been received by the government as of Thursday and not all of those have been distributed.

According to Fox News "A study released Tuesday from Purdue University said it may be too late for the H1N1 vaccine to be of any benefit to Americans, as they may contract the virus before the vaccine takes effect. The study said most people would be infected during the month of October at a time when the vaccine is not available to most Americans."

Of course, the government won't admit this. "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleeen Sebelius disagreed and said government health officials anticipate a spike in both seasonal and H1N1 cases going forward, not a drop off — meaning that the vaccine will not reach the majority of Americans too late. She added that even those infected with H1N1 in the spring should consider getting the vaccine once widespread availability is made."

Believe what you will. It's no different than fighting a war. If they sent you into battle with no defensive weapon or bullets, how good would you feel? The flu enemy is insidious and silent, but just as deadly to many. Yet the promises of a shield to stop the flu bullet just isn't coming in time for many.

AARP Endorses Obamacare

2009-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

I knew it would happen. It was inevitable. The AARP jumped on the Obama bandwagon, screwed all 40 million of its members, and endorsed Obamacare, even if it means that Medicare will feel a huge hit in the future as a result of the proposed healthcare "reform" package.

In their latest "bulletin" dated November 2009, sent to members, AARP once again promises not to endorse any plan that will hurt Medicare recipients. On page 34 of that bulletin, Barry A Rand, CEO, states "We have made it clear to the president and congress that we will fight with the strength of our entire membership, nearly 40 million people, to protect your benefits. We will block any proposals that eliminate benefits, raise out-of-pocket costs, reduce access to care or lead to rationing." Yet the same day that bulletin arrives in my mail, AARP endorses just such a plan that will strip 500 billion dollars away from the Medicare Advantage plan payments so many of the nation's senior citizens depend upon for care. It is those Medicare Advantage plans, administered through private insurance companies, that make drugs affordable, doctor and hospital visits affordable, and keep the costs of simply living within the reach of many of America's aging population. Medicare is a crutch and these plans provide a walker if you look at it that way. Without them, many of us still could not afford the hight cost of medical care, even through medicare!

Even one of their own AARP members on Page 40 of the November 2009 bulletin asks "Does AARP believe that when Medicare cuts 14 percent from its payments to Medicare Advantage plans, the 25 percent of Medicare recipients enrolled in those plans will not lose benefits?" AARP didn't respond. No surprise there!

Yet, the AARP, an organization formed by and alleged to serve the senior population, sucks up to Obama's healthcare reform like a Hoover to dog dander. They have become as deceitful and politically charged and absolutely have an agenda that does not serve the greater good of the senior citizens. Millions have walked away from the AARP and joined other Senior Groups, simply due to disgust and the alliance the AARP has formed with the current administration.

I do wonder if there are back door deals, pockets being lined, or what promises are being made, to get the AARP in such lockstep with this healthcare reform bill? How can they publish statements that they won't support changes that will hurt the seniors, and on the same day align themselves with changes that will do just that?

Wake up Senior America. Time to boot these people out of your life and look for something better on the horizon. They are not doing you any favors and are selling you down the river while telling you otherwise. Look at who runs the AARP and you'll find it's not people on Medicare who really care about what happens to us. It's people making money from the organization who have it as a job just like any other. Think of AARP as a political action committee that uses it's hulk to get what they want, and not what YOU need!

Why Does AARP Support Any Healthcare Reform?

2009-10-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

I read the AARP position papers in the newsletters, magazines and other media, and although they say attempt to say they are taking a neutral position to Obama's reform plan, AARP demands change in the healthcare system. While most of the members are significantly older than the 50 years old required to join, and should be covered by Medicare, the AARP then focuses on the prescription cost "donut hole" that impacts only a small percentage of overall Americans on Medicare, especially those who choose a decent Medicare Advantage HMO policy including prescription coverage!

The shame is that the senior citizens actually believe in AARP and the tripe they throw at their gullible audiences. Like the recent TV commercial showing the ambulance being blocked at every opportunity, by what supposedly were insurers and/or Republicans?

Sure, AARP wants to see health care reform pass, regardless how poorly the reform might be. They want to keep receiving a cut from those supplemental policies they keep hawking on TV, the media, and their own magazine and tabloid.

The fact is that Consumers Union looked at some of those policies and found them to be nearly useless in providing decent coverage–some people paid much more than the policy actually covered; some covered virtually nothing while collecting stiff premiums.

Many senior citizens don’t have a clue what they’re buying when insurance is involved. Sadly, they seem to be assured that if AARP says it’s good, it must be.

I talk to many who praise the coverage they purchased because they never had to use it. But when we review the policy, they are astounded to find they have little coverage at all.

No, I’m not an insurance counselor or agent, just someone who hates to see the older generation get ripped off when they can’t possibly understand what they’re getting.

To me it’s no different than a roofer selling you a new roof, and the first time it rains, the roof leaks and you find out there is a rain exclusion. Or the first several thousand dollars in water damage is excluded, and the policy only covers several thousand dollars.

Oh, I’m sure there are some good policies to be had, but try and differentiate between them unless you have some insurance background, and basic policy language understanding is difficult, if not impossible. Even with “plain language” policies, my spouse, who is a nurse, and I, often sit and pore over the contracts for a long time to ferret out what’s good and bad. And we don’t think we’re even close to the “average” consumer.

Maybe that is a case for reform, but you know what happens when the government gets involved. They never simplify anything. Look at your tax forms. Other than create one that says “send in all you made,” simple just is not in the government vocabulary.

The bottom line is that just because some organization says something is good, or bad, you need to make your own mind up. Like the life insurance policies that promise coverage for only so much per "unit" which in many cases is per $1000. When you multiply the monthly cost times the number of "units" you need for a decent burial and then multiply that times 12 for an annual payment, you can see that in about ten years you pay the entire cost of your funeral up front. Now if you expect to die sooner, maybe it's a good deal but read the fine print to be sure there are no exclusions that prohibit your passing on within the first several years. If there are, you could be throwing your money in a hole...and it won't even be your own grave!

Driving You to Insanity...Really

2009-10-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

How long has it been since you took a road trip? No, a real road trip I mean, not just a few miles or even a hundred or so. I mean a thousand or more in a day or two, when you drove the vast interstate highway system, that concrete and asphalt ribbon that runs through the country like the veins and capillaries of a body, pouring life into every small city and burg along the way. And sucking the life out of so many drivers along with it!

Let's start out with some observations:

Rest Areas: Why do some states have many rest areas and others have virtually none? And is it just a coincidence that those that have fewer rest areas have the most that are closed? California seems to lead the West in this area where you can travel long distances with no rest areas and just when you think you're lucky enough to come upon one, those dreaded orange cones announce that your bladder isn't getting any relief just yet, and your muscles tighten for another long ride.

Drivers who live in the fast lane, regardless of their speed. Most states post signs and have laws stating that slower traffic is to keep right. It just doesn't matter. People will drive in the left lane and stay there, slowing down all the traffic behind them. That increases the potential for an accident as drivers perilously swerve around them on the right to gain distance and get back in the fast lane to pass other slower vehicles and trucks.

Speaking of passing, many drivers will pull out to pass slower vehicles and then simply slow down to the speed of the vehicle they are passing or a tiny bit faster and then take eons to make the pass, if at all. You know the ones...the speed limit is 65, they come up on another vehicle moving at 66 and then slow down to 64 to pass. Takes about a half hour but they don't care. They seem to have no place to go and all day to get there.

Highway construction: Why the hell don't they take down the signs that tell you the right or left lane is closed ahead when they are done for the day and nothing at all is closed? They could at least cover the sign or turn it sideways or something. You have all these drivers switching lanes, or speeding up, or slowing down anticipating something that never happens. And the DOT wonders why motorists have such a blatantly "don't give a rat's behind" attitude toward road construction? Because it seems the road construction is a 24 hour issue that never gets settled or done or even properly delineated in many cases.

Pavement: Ever notice how the right hand truck lanes are all beat to crap from the heavy duty trucks and the ruts from the heavy loads? So the trucks don't want to drive in the mess they created and move to the middle lane when they can and leave the right lane empty, thus creating the same ruts in the middle lane. Wonder where they will go when the center lane is all screwed up too? I don't blame the truckers for not wanting to bounce like a jack-in-the-box down the highway, but they did create the problem with their trucks. Lets see them force some action by the DOT and Congress to come up with a plan to fix the roads so they don't have these problems. Incidentally, why in hell would any state use blacktop on their highways anyway, knowing full well it won't stand up to truck weights? Might want to ask the northwest states that question.

Speaking of poor roads, driving in at least one state, you find the lanes are crowned to the point that you must constantly fight the wheel to remain straight down the road. It's not alignment or anything else, simply that the road tracks so badly you can't remain in the lane without working at it pretty intensely. I know they call the BMW the "ultimate driving machine" but really, who wants to wrestle with the wheel for hundreds of miles on what's supposed to be a decent highway system.

Motels: Why would anyone build a motel that backs up to the interstate so close that trucks make the building shake like an earthquake? We stayed in a Best Western that was a nice place except that I was sure we were on an earthquake fault, until I realized it was the big rigs going past. The funny thing is that we had to drive a ways off the interstate to get there, but it circles back on the highway and in the dark, you couldn't tell. Actually, from the courtyard it was not nearly as noisy as in the room! Sometimes being dead tired is a blessing...

More on motels...doesn't anyone think there are likely families traveling along the highway and that there should be some really nice hotels available. At least some that don't appear outside like a truckstop or a no-tell-motel? Many we encountered had so many semi's parked outside it was difficult to tel if they were motels or truckstops. I'm not ragging on truckers, but if the motels expect family clientele, they need to have some that are family oriented, where you don't need to run through a gamut of tankers and 40 foot boxes to reach the front door. Then again, I do understand that most clients of the motels are likely truckers moving goods up and down Interstate 5 so that's who they cater to.

GPS downloads: Incidentally, if you download the programs for your GPS that tell you that your favorite hotel chain has a hotel at the next exit, don't expect that it will be a decent place anyway. Just because it's a national chain means nothing. And those "diamond" ratings? In some cases they should be replaced by small piles of you know what, or perhaps cockroaches. That would better signify what the hotels are like. Sometimes I wonder when the last time AAA has been to the hotel to give it a rating at all.

One more on motels...don't shampoo the carpets if you're going to rent the room out. It makes the customers feet wet and really pisses them off when they take their shoes off! Plus, the shampooer doesn't get the carpet clean as evidenced by the filth on my white socks. Nice clean room otherwise, but hold the shampoo for warmer weather!

Road signs: Some states post road signs well ahead so you can be prepared to make whatever moves are necessary and safe to exit or change lanes. Others seem to find it amusing to place the signs where you have to either guess, or make evasive maneuvers to exit in a hurry. Take lodging signs. Why not use English that says HOLIDAY INN or BEST WESTERN or similar. Why use a logo that you can't hardly see at night especially when the reflectivity is mostly worn off. Do they expect you to get off at every exit to see what the hell is really there? I sure guess so, since that's how we found all the creepy hotels that we wouldn't stay at! As you're cruising past the exit, you see the eatery or motel that you wish you had stopped at...after it's too late. Then you're doomed to the Roach Motel at the exit from hell.

Back to reality, road trips can be fun, yet exhausting. If you have lots of time and can take in the scenery, stop often, and have an enormous bladder, you're good to go. Otherwise, road trips put a lot of pressure on you to get where you're going and then you can relax. But there's always the trip home.

Giving Mortgages to Illegals? More Michelle Malkin

2009-09-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

ACORN’s illegal alien home loan racket

By Michelle Malkin • September 18, 2009 08:33 AM

My column today blasts ACORN Housing Corporation’s criminal-enabling home loan program for illegal aliens. To paraphrase Jon Stewart: Where the hell is everyone?

AHC is one of the endless non-profit arms of ACORN. Their response to the BigGovernment.com sting videos hasn’t received as much attention as the national ACORN flagship’s. You can read AHC’s CYA reaction here.

***

ACORN’s illegal alien home loan racket
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

There’s one thing more shocking than the illegal alien smuggling advice that an ACORN official in San Diego gave undercover journalists James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles. It’s the illegal alien criminal racket that ACORN has already been operating with the full knowledge of the U.S. government.

On Wednesday, O’Keefe and Giles published the fifth in a series of BigGovernment.com sting videos. ACORN official Juan Carlos Vera coached the pimp-and-prostitute-posing pair on how best to pull off a border-busting smuggling operation. It would be “better from Tijuana,” he counseled on videotape. Carlos Vera then generously offered the investigative couple his Mexican “contacts” to bring 12 illegal alien girls into the country for prostitution.

GOP California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now wants an investigation. But neither the Terminator nor any other California public officials raised a peep when the very same San Diego ACORN office publicly announced a partnership with Citibank to secure home loans for illegal aliens. In 2005, Citibank and ACORN Housing Corporation – which has received tens of millions of tax dollars under the Bush administration alone — began recruiting Mexican illegal aliens for a lucrative program offering loans with below-market interest rates, down-payment assistance and no mortgage insurance requirements. Instead of Social Security numbers required of law-abiding citizens, the program allows illegal alien applicants to supply loosely-monitored tax identification numbers issued by the IRS.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that “undocumented residents” comprise a vast market representing a potential sum of “$44 billion in mortgages.” Citibank enlarged its portfolio of subprime and other risky loans. ACORN enlarged its membership rolls. The program now operates in Miami; New York City; Jersey City, N.J.; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Bridgeport, Conn., and at all of ACORN Housing’s 12 California offices. San Diego ACORN officials advised illegal alien recruits that their bank partners would take applicants who had little or no credit, or even “nontraditional records of credit, such as utility payments and documentation of private loan payments.”

The risk the banks bear is the price they pay to keep ACORN protesters and Hispanic lobbyists from the National Council of La Raza screaming about “predatory lending” off their backs. These professional grievance-mongers have turned the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act – which forced lenders to sacrifice underwriting standards for “diversity” – into lucrative “business” opportunities. Or rather, politically correct blackmail. As the Consumer Rights League noted in a 2008 report on the group’s successful shakedowns of financial institutions, “an agreement with Citibank, a significant ACORN donor and partner, showed that some activists become less active when deals are in place.”

In the wake of the sting videos, ACORN officials are making a great show of clamoring for “reform.” ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis blamed the debacles across the country on the “indefensible action of a handful of our employees.” But the corruption is systemic. ACORN has long thrown rank-and-file operatives under the bus to cover for its management’s indefensible conduct. And ACORN’s highly-touted advisory watchdogs include inherently conflicted foxes guarding the henhouse:

ACORN advisory council member Henry Cisneros resigned from his post as Clinton HUD Secretary after lying to FBI agents about payments to a former mistress.

ACORN advisory council member Andy Stern is president of the SEIU, the Big Labor organization plagued by embezzlement scandals and inextricably linked to ACORN’s disgraced founder Wade Rathke. (And see my document drop here on ACORN’s “nurturing” of SEIU Local 100.)

And ACORN advisory council member Eric Eve of Citigroup is a champion of the ACORN/Citibank illegal alien loan program that openly undermines immigration laws and integrity in banking.

The truth is more sordid than any fictional scenarios caught on tape: ACORN is a criminal enterprise.

Posted in: ACORN Watch, Immigration, SEIU

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ACORN and Obama, Courtesy of Michelle Malkin

2009-09-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

Obama plays dumb on ACORN

By Michelle Malkin • September 20, 2009 11:21 AM

Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti

Channeling clueless Charlie Gibson and Nancy Pelosi, President Obama is playing dumb about ACORN. Here’s what he said on ABC’s This Week this morning:

STEPHANOPOULOS: But have your — have some of your allies made it easier for — handed your opponents some ammunition, like ACORN, for example…

OBAMA: Well, look, the — you know, I think that — are there folks in the Democratic camp or on the left who haven’t — haven’t always operated in ways that I’d appreciate? Absolutely.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Congress said they should cut off all funding for ACORN.

OBAMA: Is — is — is…

STEPHANOPOULOS: … all funding for ACORN. Are you for that?

OBAMA: Is that true on the other side, as well? Of course that’s true.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How about the funding for ACORN?

OBAMA: You know, it’s — frankly, it’s not really something I’ve followed closely. I didn’t even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Both the Senate and the House have voted to cut it off.

OBAMA: You know, what I know is, is that what I saw on that video was certainly inappropriate and deserves to be investigated.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you’re not committing to — to cut off the federal funding?

OBAMA: George, this is not the biggest issue facing the country. It’s not something I’m paying a lot of attention to.

It strains credulity — no, it snaps credulity in half — to believe Obama “didn’t even know” that ACORN was “getting a whole lot of federal money” given his extensive legal services on behalf of the group and training for its voter education arm, Project Vote. (Go re-read my column from June 2008, “The ACORN Obama knows,” and all the links for a refresher course.)

Repeat after me: Obama is ACORN. ACORN is Obama. Barack Obama can no more disown ACORN than he could disown his own shadow.

Now that the White House supports an investigation, Congress should make sure to investigate:

1) How Team Obama hid its $800,000 campaign payment to ACORN through front group “Citizen Services, Inc.”;

2) How Team Obama shared donor lists with the president’s old employer, ACORN affiliate Project Vote, a 501(c)(3) organization, which is prohibited from engaging in political activity (Mr. President, meet Anita MonCrief);

3) And how Project Vote and hundreds of myriad entities intermingled non-profit, tax-exempt funding with the national ACORN flagship’s political operations — a buried story Obama would know about if he read NYTimes reporter Stephanie Strom’s report last October before she was muzzled as Election Day drew near.

Bring it on.

My comments: Once again our fearless leader only knows or pretends to know what he wants to know or hear. He plays ostrich when it's convenient and later says that we need to investigate Acorn. Sure...but he'll be sure the investigation is superficial and doesn't uncover too much because of his past dealings with ACORN, although we already seem to know much about that. Hmm...has the nut fallen right on the tree in this case?

Start a Fire and Charge the Rate Payers

2009-09-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

San Diego Gas and Electric, often referred to as San Diego Gouge and Extort, has come up with yet another way to shift the burden away from their shareholders and on to the backs of their customers. Charge them for the costs of the lawsuits they lost as a result of their alleged negligence in the huge wildfires in San Diego County! My God, man, isn't that akin to an arsonist charging you for the cost of their matches?

I realize they didn't start the fires intentionally, and that SDG&E are not arsonists, but both Cal-Fire and the California Public Utilities Commission has determined that three of the worst fires, the Witch, Guejit0 and Rice Fires, were caused by SDG&E's power lines malfunctioning during Santa Ana winds. Those malfunctions caused destruction of thousands of acres of wildland and over a thousand homes.

So, now we receive word that SDG&E and Southern California Gas Company, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison are asking for a rate increase, called the Wildfire Claims Cost Recovery, that will allow them to recoup uninsured costs associated with wildfires. Even as a result of their own alleged negligence? Isn't that sweet? Here's what their bill insert says:

"In the face of a potential insurance crisis that may limit the utilities' ability to obtain insurance coverage, the application asks for CPUC to approve for each utility to establish a Wildfire Expense Balancing Account (WEBA) to record for future recovery all uninsured costs arising from wildfires, including:

Payments to satisfy wildfire claims, including any, co-insurance and deductible expense paid by the utilities;
Outside legal costs incurred in the defense of wildfire claims;
Premiums for insurance against wildfire claims;
The cost of financing these amounts"

In my way of thinking, this is like asking a judge to allow a negligent or drunk driver to receive fees from the parties he hit in an accident, to pay for his increased insurance costs, and to pay for legal defense costs in the event he gets sued again for negligent or drunk driving! Only every ratepayer will be paying these fees, including those who lost their homes and property in past fires resulting from malfunctions in utility equipment or lines.

Sure they are getting nailed with increased insurance costs. If you are deemed negligent, insurance companies raise your premium, or find you an unacceptable risk and do not want you. That's the facts of life. So the utilities want the ratepayers to cover the big insurance costs because they screwed up? Is that part of this message? Once again, pass the guilt on to the people who rely upon you for services and have nowhere else to turn for the product.

And, what's this about the gas utilities joining in? What do they know that we don't know? Are they concerned that regulators and gas transmission lines will turn into blowtorches and incinerators in the event of a wildfire? If so, why not get off the dime and be sure that can't happen, rather than get the ratepayers to cover their costs for any losses they might incur.

What happened to big business standing the losses they incur? Don't tell me or any other ratepayer that SDG&E isn't making money. Pass the expenses on to the stockholders just like every other corporation does. You make some money, you lose some money. Most of the time you seem to be rolling in the dough and whenever you get a chance you're squeezing the ratepayer with some scheme to suck more money out of their pocket. Spending money stuffing the mail with energy saving tips while raising the rates. Shame on you.

Yup, San Diego Gouge and Extort hits it right on the nail head. What the hell happened when corporations had a conscience? Oh, wait, that was way back when the government lost theirs too....

Tha California Public Utilities Commission should say NO loud and clear to these utilities; tell them to grow up and stand on their own two feet. Cut payments to their shareholders. Let the fat cats in the big offices take a cut in salary; lay off some of the administrative help like the rest of the busineses have had to do. . And., maybe slow down the SDG&E trucks we see driving at 20 plus miles over the speed limit and save some fuel costs that could help keep our bills in check. And save wear and tear on the trucks too.

Politicians all Lie...So What's the Problem?

2009-09-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

If you simply remove all doubt about the veracity of any and all politicians, and understand there is always going to be a time that they will lie, you won't wonder if they are telling the truth. You will always wonder if they are lying or not and disbelieve just about everything they say. The only question is exactly what part of the truth they have distorted or put a "spin" on to make it a lie, or so far from the truth that it really isn't the truth but they want to make believe it really is. You remember the old adage.."How can you tell if a politician is lying? Their mouth is moving!" Unless they're a good ventriloquist, that's probably true.

Take Bill Clinton. Please take him! You remember the immoral ex-president who "never had sex" with Monica Lewinsky. Now he's saying that Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst telling Obama "you Lie" was "racially motivated"? What a jerk. The same Bill Clinton who couldn't tell the truth if it smacked him in the face like an open book, written in first grade language? The same Bill Clinton who was disbarred from the US Supreme Court and who had his Arkansas law license suspended for five years in 2001? The same Bill Clinton who is the subject of many pieces, both online and off detailing nothing but lies emanating from him and his cabinet and his cover ups? And he has the balls to accuse anyone of anything? During his wife's campaign, he did everything he could to smear Obama (who I am not defending incidentally) and now wants to jump on the political bandwagon once again, by denigrating Wilson for his remark.

You GO, Joe! Maybe it wasn't in great decorum to make that remark, but you were right on target. We the people are sick and tired of the lies, and the run around, from the mealy-mouthed politicians who tell us things that are blatant lies and untruths, then backpedal, and can't remember the crap they told us before, stating we just didn't understand what they said. Or in Obama's words, he should have "calibrated" it differently.

They have enough hot air to float the entire state of New Mexico, let alone the balloons that race there!

Obama Goes to Montana and Spins and Spins

2009-08-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

No, he wasn't caught up in a tornado, unfortunately. Just that he and the spin doctors, according to the below, put the usual spin on their left-winged political agenda, and the truth is nowhere to be seen. Not in the press, and certainly not in the glib drivel that emanates from his oration.

As if there isn't enough bullshit in Montana (Yes, they have a huge number of bulls in that state..it's a great cattle market) the American people were fed a line about how receptive the people of Montana were to Obama and his health care plan. As the e-mail below points out, it was all allegedly staged as a giant, highly expensive ruse. Conning the people is Washington's game, and the current administration are geniuses at it. I guess if you stage it right, even the trip into the cyanide showers at Auschwitz could seem inviting, couldn't it? Another person with a moustache had a way with words that led a nation to ruin; a pied piper of sorts. Seems like the tactics are reappearing once again by isolating the dissenters and creating an illusion of support by the masses. As Kathy points out, smoke and mirrors, lots of them at our expense.

The e-mail, exactly as received:

Hello All,

By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not covered. I feel that since Bill and I live here and we were at the airport on Friday I should share some facts with you. Whatever you decide to do with the information is up to you. If you chose to share this email with others I do ask that you DELETE my email address before you forward this on.

On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and deciding on what they were going to do. The White House would not release ANY details other than the date.

On about Tuesday Bill found out that they would be holding the "Town Hall" at the airport. (This is only because Bill knows EVERYONE at the airport) Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tiny town) in a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally secluded from the public.

FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a large amount of folks with sufficient parking. (gymnasiums/auditoriums). All of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED IN!! $$$$$

During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly. Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though it was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was, especially during a recession. $$$$$

Late Tuesday/early Wednesday the 12th, they said that tickets would be handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be arriving around 12:30 Friday.

Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500 were printed at a Local printing shop per White House request. Hmmmm......900 tickets just DISAPPEARED.

This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama. Montana has some of the best beef in the nation!!! And it would have been really wonderful to help out the local economy. Anyone heard of the Recession?? Just think...with all of the traveling the White House is doing. $$$$$ One can only imagine what else we are paying for.

On Friday Bill and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups that wanted to protest Obama's spending and healthcare had gotten a permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be. A large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members drove up onto the area (illegal)and unloaded right there. It was quite a commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying to make trouble and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd.

The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99% were under the age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns and PROFESSIONALLY made signs. Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and Planned Parenthood folks were with them.....professing abortion rights with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks did have a permit to protest in ANOTHER area)

Those against healthcare/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though SEIU kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very intimidating and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man.

So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade signs and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses, doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store, made a sign, and came to protest.

If you are wondering about the press.....Well, all of the major networks were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything about the crowds.

We did have some local news media around us from this state and Idaho . Speaking of the local media...they were invited. However, all questions were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event. Wouldn't want anyone to have to think off the top of their head.

It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to make it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government healthcare. Even those people that talked about their insurance woes........the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and Development Committee) and asked for names. Then the White House asked those folks to come. Smoke and mirrors...EVERYTHING was staged!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White House. The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I was not living in the United States of America , more like the USSR !! I was physically nauseous. Bill and I have been around when Presidents or Heads of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very frightened for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine what is going on in Washington DC . Scary!!

Kathy

Bozeman , Montana

You decide. Does this sound like another Obama staged "Town Hall Meeting" where he buses in supporters once again and isolates his opponents? Sure sounds like it to me.

Rebates - Screwing the Public Even if You Jump Through the Hoops!

2009-08-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Rebates. The promise of cold, hard cash back for making their brand your choice! You buy the product, carefully read the rules, fill out the coupon, circle the date and purchased item on the receipt, cut out the UPC Code from the package, put the dated register receipt, UPC Code and register receipt in an envelope with the rebate address carefully printed on the outside and with your 44 cent stamp attached. Then you wait, and wait. Sometimes, you actually win, and then, sometimes you actually get screwed, as happened to me today.

This is no huge rebate, just $7.99 on a bag of Tyson frozen chicken. But after doing all the above and especially circling the purchase date (which I always do as sometimes I know it could be hard to find) today I receive a card in the mail from CMS Rebate Center telling me my rebate is not qualified because "Reg receipt did not contain a valid purchase date." WTF??

Luckily, I make copies of each and every rebate I send in and sure enough, there big as day is the purchase date of 7/19/09 circled on the store identified register receipt. The rebate period is from 5/1/09 to 10/31/09 so it sure was a valid date!

The rebate company states to resubmit the "missing information" within "7 business days" to an address they provide. I'm resubmitting it, and submitting copies to the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs and filed a complaint with Tyson Foods.

Why? Because I think this is just another way to screw the consumer out of their rebate. Who could miss the purchase date circled? Do they employ the visually handicapped to read the submissions? What next...they'll say it wasn't returned within the seven business days and therefore invalid? Would save them lots of money to just send out postcards instead of rebates, wouldn't it? We all have heard about how some rebate companies have scammed their customers by refunding the money, but not to the consumer. And others who make big bucks by the number of rebates they can deny rather than by the number of rebates they fulfill.

As an investigator, I don't get mad. I generally get even at some time, sooner or later. I could tell you of getting ripped off for five thousand dollars some years back, that cost a company millions in the end, but that's a story for another day.

UPDATE: After writing to Tyson (who simply asked what I bought and no further response...no more of their products for me) and calling the rebate company (who were very nice on the phone I might add) I received a notice in my e-mail today, September 1, stating my rebate was being processed and would be received in two to four weeks. All of this for a rebate, which still brings the question of how many thousands are not getting their rebates because they don't complain?

I suggest people buy products with instant savings and let the stores know that the store should be doing the instant rebate and the work if they want to sell the product. Bags of old outdated chicken left on a shelf would tell the company more than you could imagine!

The REAL ObamaCare Plan

2009-08-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

First off, for those who doubt this at all, Dr. Janda's writings and factual statements have been authenticated on Snopes.com at the following URL:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/janda.asp

Written by Dr. Dave Janda

Thursday, 23 July 2009
As a physician who has authored books on preventative health care, I was given the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at a Congressional Dinner at The Capitol Building in Washington last Friday (7/17).

The presentation was entitled Health Care Reform, The Power & Profit of Prevention, and I was gratified that it was well received.

In preparation for the presentation, I read the latest version of "reform" as authored by The Obama Administration and supported by Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid. Here is the link to the 1,018 page document:

http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

Let me summarize just a few salient points of the above plan. First, however, it should be clear that the same warning notice must be placed on The ObamaCare Plan as on a pack of cigarettes: Consuming this product will be hazardous to your health.

The underlying method of cutting costs throughout the plan is based on rationing and denying care. There is no focus on preventing health care need whatever. The plan's method is the most inhumane and unethical approach to cutting costs I can imagine as a physician.

The rationing of care is implemented through The National Health Care Board, according to the plan. This illustrious Board "will approve or reject treatment for patients based on the cost per treatment divided by the number of years the patient will benefit from the treatment."

Translation.....if you are over 65 or have been recently diagnosed as having an advanced form of cardiac disease or aggressive cancer.....dream on if you think you will get treated.....pick out your coffin.

Oh, you say this could never happen? Sorry.... this is the same model they use in Britain .

The plan mandates that there will be little or no advanced treatments to be available in the future. It creates The Federal Coordinating Council For Comparative Effectiveness Research, the purpose of which is "to slow the development of new medications and technologies in order to reduce costs." Yes, this is to be the law.

The plan also outlines that doctors and hospitals will be overseen and reviewed by The National Coordinator For Health Information and Technology.

This " coordinator" will "monitor treatments being delivered to make sure doctors and hospitals are strictly following government guidelines that are deemed appropriate." It goes on to say....."Doctors and hospitals not adhering to guidelines will face penalties."

According to those in Congress, penalties could include large six figure financial fines and possible imprisonment.

So according to The ObamaCare Plan....if your doctor saves your life you might have to go to the prison to see your doctor for follow -up appointments. I believe this is the same model Stalin used in the former Soviet Union .

Section 102 has the Orwellian title, "Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage." What this section really mandates is that it is illegal to keep your private insurance if your status changes - e.g., if you lose or change your job, retire from your job and become a senior, graduate from college and get your first job. Yes, illegal.

When Mr. Obama hosted a conference call with bloggers urging them to pressure Congress to pass his health plan as soon as possible, a blogger from Maine referenced an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance.

He asked: "Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?" Mr. Obama replied: "You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about."

Then there is Section 1233 of The ObamaCare Plan, devoted to "Advanced Care Planning." After each American turns 65 years of age they have to go to a mandated counseling program that is designed to end life sooner.

This session is to occur every 5 years unless the person has developed a chronic illness then it must be done every year. The topics in this session will include, "how to decline hydration, nutrition and how to initiate hospice care." It is no wonder The Obama Administration does not like my emphasis on Prevention. For Mr. Obama, prevention is the "enemy" as people would live longer.

I rest my case. The ObamaCare Plan is hazardous to the health of every American.

After I finished my Capitol Hill presentation, I was asked by a Congressman in the question-answer session: "I'll be doing a number of network interviews on the Obama Health Care Plan. If I am asked what is the one word to describe the plan what should I answer."

The answer is simple, honest, direct, analytical, sad but truthful. I told him that one word is FASCIST.

Then I added, "I hope you'll have the courage to use that word, Congressman. No other word is more appropriate."
Dr. Dave Janda, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon, and a world-recognized expert on the prevention of sports injuries, particularly in children. His web site is noinjury.com

Democrats and Obama's Town Hall Meetings

2009-08-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

First off, Obama pre-loaded his town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH with a bunch of shills. The meeting was quiet and, as usual, Obama didn't answer any question directly, but did the usual dance around the questions leaving lots of room to change the story according to his whim in the future. The little girl who asked the health care question was pre-primed and was the daughter of a contributor and an Obama activist! Not a child with a simple question, but an Obama plant. Not even from New Hampshire, but from Massachusetts! Some say Obama even had people bused to the meeting from other states to assure a friendly crowd. What a bunch of crap that was.

Look at the video above. He compares the proposed health care system to the Post Office. Losing money every year, increasing the rates twice a year lately, cutting services and going broke. Yet he indicates that FedEx and UPS are doing fine. Hmm, sound like they need to let the private insurers handle this one with some government subsidies somehow? We definitely do not need a health care system that runs like the Post Office. Or, maybe when you reach end-of-life you suddenly go "postal"?

Far from the way the congressmen and senators were received at town hall meetings across the country. The public damn near tore their heads off about how the health care issue was being handled, spending and other issues. And Senator Arlen Specter had the unmitigated gall to state that the disgruntled Americans "were not necessarily representative of America". He must be a freaking idiot to think that and make that statement. Just who in hell does he think goes to those meetings to stand up and voice their opinions? People from Russia? No, Senator, Americans who are sick and tired of getting screwed by the way fast and loose spending politicians work on Capitol Hill. Those Pennsylvanians had your butt in their sights and were about to run you through the corn binder!

And it happened all over America. Yet the politicians think it's a minor issue and only a few loud-mouth Americans are speaking out. The crying shame is that more people didn't shout out on Election Day 2008 when it would have counted! But you can get these jerks out of office as soon as possible. Want to rock their world? Simply vote every incumbent Democrat out of office and put in a Republican and do the same for the Republicans. A completely fresh slate! And maybe start a campaign to impeach the egotistical, narcissistic leader who's at the head of this mess we're in?

One press release stated a "narrow slice of Americans who not only don't trust government, but also have come to regard it as a dark conspirator in their lives." WTF? That "narrow slice" is becoming a whole pie from what I see. Who decided that narrow slice theory. The yellow journalistic media who clears writings with the White House? With Obama at the helm people are becoming more and more distrustful of the government. With "planted" questioners to add to the dishonesty, tainted politicians on his staff from the very beginning. (usually they get that way after they gain entrance to office!)

Now I read that the government is worried because the right wing "militias" are once again having a resurgence in many areas of the country. The ATF as well as other official sources indicate such groups appear to be spreading rapidly, with "the most growth seen in a decade" according to the ATF. "Stresses of a poor economy, and a liberal administration lead by a black president" are among the causes for the recent rise, according to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Gun purchases are at an all-time high and building. Personally, I think the government is worried that the people will revolt over what they're doing? I don't condone that at all, and it is scary as hell to think about what could happen if something like that ever comes to being!

The politicians need to start thinking more about their constituents and less about their pockets and aligning themselves with their parties. That's one major problem...they don't vote with a conscience because I don't believe many have a conscience. They vote along party lines to pass what's best for the party no matter how bad it screws the American people, then go back later and spend billions or trillions more to try and fix what they screwed up in the first place. They're no better than the government contractors who throw away your tax dollars on $600 toilet seats, and $400 hammers, or building an aircraft that costs $44,000 an hour to fly. Then again, give them the ability to spend, spend, spend with no real oversight and it's like letting a child run loose unsupervised in a candy store. A very big and costly candy store at that!

Lack of Comments Tell Me Nobody Cares

2009-08-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

After all this time, the blog has had but a handful of comments, yet thousands of readers. I can only suppose that means either nobody much cares, and I am completely correct in presuming America has become a country of apathetic lemmings who don't have much to share about where their country is going. Or, that most just don't give a damn about what happens in America and sit and hope for the best, come what may.

I've shared my opinions on what's gone wrong in the country, and now it's your turn. While you all pay your share of the huge tax burden the current administration is heaping on your shoulders, while you just sit and accept it, remember you heard the warnings from multiple sources, including right here. Remember the campaign promises of "not one cent in new taxes"? Last month it was let's tax the rich. Now the theme is more new taxes on the middle class! The middle class has been paying for everyone in this damned country forever, and it's going to get worse. Funny thing is how the "middle class" keeps being those who can afford it least, yet those who continually get all the freebies and screw the government on welfare and social service programs never end up becoming the middle class, no matter how much they make, because they hide it from the government. Same with the illegals who get paid in cash and don't pay taxes, and day laborers who get paid "under the table". Yet they will become beneficiaries of new healthcare legislation the "middle class" will pay for...

What is "middle class"? That all depends on who you talk to and where you live. In some areas of the country, living on $30,000 gives you a comfortable middle class lifestyle, while in California it will give you poverty. Maybe it's best to use what Wikipedia calls the Vernacular Middle Class:

Vernacular middle class

The term middle class in more colloquial language use may refer to all those individuals who might at one point or another be identified as middle class, as they occupy neither extreme of the socio-economic strata. Most of those with households income between $40,000 and $95,000 identify as "middle class." The term can also be used to describe those at the actual center of the income strata, who may also be referred to as the middle-middle class. There are many different theories on the middle-middle class. The middle-middle class may be composed of those households with annual incomes of 80% to 120% of the national median household income. Persons in this income range could, in accordance to solely economic reasoning, be referred to as the American average. Such households would boast annual incomes ranging from $35,200 to $52,800, and thus be located in the middle of the income range. Some of these households, while actually being in the middle and thus sometimes referred to as being middle class, cannot, however, afford the middle class lifestyle. Yet another definition states that the statistical middle class includes all those households with income ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. This is, however, a very vague definition, as it includes persons from all but the lowest quintile. Using this definition creates a class so economically fragmented that it would lump together those who are struggling to make ends meet with two incomes and those who are able to live the iconic middle class lifestyle with just one income and are highly educated.

Your president wants to assure his ingratiation with all the people who don't want to work, won't work and are on the eternal dole, the illegals and the minorities (wait...we're the minorities, so strike that comment) and he's willing to bankrupt the country to do so. The heads of the agencies handling the money can't account for where it has been going, and don't know how to answer factually questions from Senators and Congressman when questioned about it. They just either play dumb or are actually dumb, or a combination of both. Even overseers of entire government departments, such as the Federal reserve can't tell where trillions of dollars have gone. Or maybe they know and won't tell?

What happened to all the bail out money? Some of the banks took the money they were supposed to use to lend to people who needed mortgages, and paid off their own debts, and bought other banks. Then ended up in deep crap anyway. The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on January 12 did a segment on this. What a shame for the American taxpayers, and the government made sure it slipped under the radar so we wouldn't see it.

So, America, sit back and get screwed. You seem to be enjoying the fruits of your voting booth antics. You pushed or poked the ballot blanks for this group of morons, and now we're all stuck with them. And sadly, our children and grandchildren will be stuck with the legacy of their overspending and huge debt. Strangely the incumbents try and place the blame on the former administration for all the failures, and pat themselves on the back for any small success. Yet look at the debt...why is it so much more today than a year ago? That wasn't the prior group giving billions away while you ate canned beans, folks.

Just ask yourself...are you and the economy better off now than you were a year ago? Is your 401(k) or retirement plan better off now than it was a year ago? Is unemployment better now than a year ago? Are there more store closings now than a year ago? Are there more bankruptcies now than a year ago? That's right, folks. You made a really bad choice. One Big Assed Mistake America...

Smaller Size, Costs More, Consumer is Screwed Again!

2009-07-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

Has anyone noticed what's happening to many of your favorite products in the grocery store? Right before your eyes, it seems, they're shrinking!

You think you're getting a great price on ice cream in those "half gallon" cartons? Think again! Many ice cream brands went from 2 quarts or one-half gallon to 1.75 quarts and many of us didn't really notice. But now, the size has dwindled to 1.5 quarts. Yes, you're losing 25% of the ice cream you used to get to feed your family, and the stores make it seem like it's a bargain when they put it on "sale"! It's not a bargain, friends, it's just the real price you should be paying for the product if you weren't getting screwed on content and sizing!

Same with orange juice, I purchased a carton of Tropicana Trop 50 less sugar juice and found the container to contain not 64 ounces as you would expect, but 59 ounces, although at first glance the container appears similar to a standard 64 ounce half-gallon juice Pure-Pak carton. Hmm, sleight of hand here in this fast switcheroo I guess. Even the Tropicana three-quart jug has shrunk to just 89 ounces, but executives say your juice is replaced by a snap cap and new jug style. I've found that hard to swallow, literally and figuratively. Besides, plastic is as hard to digest as is the marketing ploys of these companies.

Simply Orange, that used to come in a half-gallon size container is now also 59 ounces. No notice of the smaller size here either! Florida's Natural is still found in 64 ounce half-gallon cartons but the jugs are 89 ounces and not 96 ounces anymore. Yet Minute Maid, if purchased in the bottle is 59 ounces and in the carton is 64 ounces. Yet in most stores, the bottle costs more! Hmm, less product and more plastic for the landfill or recycle bin. Nice!

Cereal boxes contain less cereal, although some boxes remain large to give you the illusion of getting more cereal than is in the box. One ploy is for the manufacturer to say thgey're going "green" and decreasing their packaging material, but not telling you that your paid-for content also went out the window as well. Shrinkage works in mysterious ways, doesn't it? Some packages of other products have decreased in size, and the manufacturers say it's to keep from increasing the price to the consumer. Bulls**t! To put it bluntly. Seems they don't tell the supermarket that!

When fuel prices went up sky-high, the manufacturers and producers used that as an excuse to raise prices. Some of that was understandable, but now that fuel prices are about two dollars a gallon less than they were a year ago, the prices haven't dropped much, if at all. What's the excuse now? Are we paying for an all-new fleet of more fuel-efficient trucks and have to do it in one year? Isn't that part of the cost of doing business? Some bought fuel on open markets and got caught when prices went down and now we're paying for the tens of thousands of gallons of fuel they paid four-fifty to five dollars a gallon for and can't back out of deals.

I'd suggest consumers boycott companies who are ripping you off on their products. Do not purchase juices and ice cream, cereal and pizza and other products where the weight or volume had been decreased without a commensurate decrease in daily pricing! Not a single sale price, but daily overall pricing. And write the companies on their web site and ell them you won't but. Flood them with phone calls at their 800 numbers.

Don't you feel screwed enough by the government, without getting it from the manufacturers, retailers and corporate America too? Then do something about it!

Damn, America, you only have so many orifices!

Obama and Economic Advisers...Throwing YOUR Money down the Drain!

2009-07-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

Want to talk about throwing your money down the drain? Good Lord! Here's a good example of why we're in such deep debt and deep kimche in this country. A news story today from the Associated Press states:

"President Barack Obama, citing a new White House study suggesting that small businesses pay far more per employee for health insurance than big companies, said Saturday the disparity is "unsustainable — it's unacceptable."

"And it's going to change when I sign health insurance reform into law," the president said in his weekly Internet and radio address.

A new study by the White House Council of Economic Advisers said small businesses pay up to 18 percent more to provide health insurance for their employees. As a result, fewer of them do so and the number has been shrinking further in these hard economic times."

No Sh*t Sherlock. Anyone could have told you that. You didn't need a bunch of highly paid bureaucrats to do a White House study of small businesses, at god-knows how much money spent, to develop that information. It's simple economics and economy of scale!

When a large company negotiates with an insurance carrier, they do it on the basis of numbers. If they insure several hundred, or a thousand employees, they get a better rate than if they insure a few, It costs the insurance company less to process in bulk, they assign claims people based on customer numbers, and can project costs better when they have a solid base to do so. Plus, an insurance company can negotiate buy-down costs from health care providers from a position of strength when they have hundreds or thousands of employees in a plan, rather than a few. That's why an HMO can have the bill for a $19,000 surgery cut to $2,000 and the patient only have to pay several hundred dollars from their pocket. The negotiated pricing is gained from having a large client base, and you can't agglomerate all employees from every company into one plan. Thus each company and plan has different costs and pricing.

I'm not on the insurance company side here, but I do understand the cost/benefit relationship of bulk buying. If you go to a wholesaler and purchase in bulk you save money, thus the concept of Costco, Sam's Club, etc. Or the bulk packaging at some supermarkets. Buy more and save more. Go to the local store and get a small individual portion and you pay more. It's just simple economics that just about everyone understands.

Yet it takes an entire team of economic advisers on the government payroll to tell our supposedly intelligent president this? Nothing like spending millions when it isn't your money, eh?

Obama and Stupidity...He has the Market Cornered

2009-07-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Obama continually does more to play the race card than anyone could have thought possible. Even those of his own race are sick of it. Worse, he runs his mouth even when, by his own admission, he doesn't know all the facts, and then goes on to make statements that apply racist overtones to an issue he shouldn't even be dealing with.

His latest asinine entry into a situation is that of the arrest of a black scholar, Henry Gates, Jr. in Massachusetts. Oh, wait, the scholar is a friend of Obama. That in itself makes everyone else stupid, doesn't it? The point that the professor was breaking into his house and someone called the police to report what they thought was a burglary, and the police duly responded. Mr. Gates at first refused to provide identification and accused the officer of racism. For what? Doing his job and protecting Gates' property? Just who the hell does Gates think he is...some celebrity that everyone is supposed to recognize at first glance and bow down to? No, just someone who is breaking into a house and needs to be identified. Since he refused and was allegedly abusive, he was arrested. The case has since been dropped. But Gates is demanding an apology from the sergeant who arrested him and it isn't forthcoming!

Then we have Obama spouting off that the police acted "stupidly". Then again, had there been an actual burglary or armed intrusion into his "friends" home, what would he have said then. The police were stupid because they were not there on time? Or should have done more?

Obama's statement at the end of his health care conference Wednesday night, without knowing the facts:

"I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three — what I think we know separate and apart from this incident — is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."

Yet I haven't heard Obama fry the obviously idiotic ex Virginia Tech campus clinic chief, Dr. Robert Miller, who took Seung- Hui Cho's mental records home more than a year before the gunman killed 32 people on the college campus before committing suicide. According to reports, Cho was counselled because of his "disturbing behaviour" and nobody knows why Miller took those files, along with the files for other students home with him when he left the University.

Maybe he hasn't had time to look into a "racist" element there to spout off with. I'm sure he can find something. A president, no less, who divides the country in more ways, than I can remember anyone ever doing. Politically, racially and morally, all within his first six months. Ain't that just grand!

TomTom Does it Again - Lousy Customer Service

2009-07-09T15:30:00.001-07:00

TomTom wanted to update their database, so they sent out an e-mail promising a $10 coupon off future purchases at tomtom.com if you updated your information. True to their word, they did send an online coupon supposedly valued at $10. That's where the good part stops.

Nowhere in the coupon does it state that it cannot be used for map upgrades or map downloads. But, when you try to use it, there is no place or space to enter the code in your shopping cart. Neither can you enter it as a promotional code.

So, I contacted TomTom asking how to handle this as I wanted to upgrade my current map and but an annual map update, at a cost of about $48.00 less the $10 coupon.

TomTom e-mails me a reply NO. The coupon is only good towards hardware and accessories. I tell them the coupon doesn't say, that and TomTom simply sends me another e-mail telling me that they understand my frustration and will "pass my comments on for review." Basically, another too bad, too sad that we baited you to do something for us, and we're now screwing you once again and not performing as promised. Hmm, seems they have done this in the past too. Must be a pattern with them.

Here's what the coupon states:

If you are having trouble viewing this email, view it online.
To ensure you receive our future emails, please add US.news@tomtom.com to your
address book now.

Thank you for updating your email preferences!

Use the coupon code provided below next time you're shopping at TomTom.com, and we'll take $10 off* your purchase during checkout.

3UYP__grAqDGaa6QAAAEiw6wZdxjO

Thanks again!

*Product purchase total must exceed $10. Coupon must be used on TomTom.com.

Does anyone see anything about "must use towards hardware or accessories"? And isn't maps and map upgrades a "purchase"?

As usual, TomTom makes and changes the rules during the game, gets what it wants and then lets you stand out in the cold if you actually go to use the coupon for something you can use. Factually, why would anyone buy a GPS from their website when most retailers and Internet vendors sell for much cheaper? The only reason to go to TomTom is their maps, and their service, which leaves me cold. Maybe their customer service is offshore and that's the problem?

Time to put the TomTom on Craig's List and get a Garmin where they actually believe in customer service.

Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan is Out of Control already!

2009-06-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

Recent testimony shows that even the Federal Employee Health benefits Plan is out of control in spending, yet the government wants to control the health care of all Americans. The FHBP as it is commonly known, runs a 35 billion dollar annual price tag, and 30% of that cost is for prescription drugs, compared to 15% in the private sector. Yet the stakeholders of the government plan, the Office of Personnel Management, during a June 24, 2009 Congressional Hearing, didn't really have a good answer why. The respondent did try and blame much on the large number of retirees who are on the plan, and consequently could use more medications, but also alluded to poor controls on their part, the lack of inter-agency cooperation in purchasing and pricing drugs, etc.

Bottom line is that it takes Congressional hearings and watchdogs to police waste within the agencies that cover governmental employees' own health care. So, why would we ever expect more from a system that covers the general public? The government proves time and again they simply cannot do things right, yet wants you and I to believe that "this time it will be different." I think Bernie Madoff said the same thing if they just let him work one more Ponzi scheme, didn't he?

Do You Want Obama Health Care?

2009-06-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

From

20/20 John Stossel's Web Page

Canadian Health Care: The End of Innovation?

John Stossel: Government Controlled Health Care Means Waiting Lines, Serious Drawbacks

By JOHN STOSSEL, ANDREW SULLIVAN and ANDREW KIRELL

This was scheduled for June 26, 2009 but was postponed to July due to the Michael Jackson death breaking news

President Obama said that the government is going to "fix what is broken about health care in America." It sounds like a great idea, but often what sounds good has unintended consequences.

When the government takes over, many critics say that you may not get the care and breakthroughs you need to save your life.

"The only way they can get costs down under a government-run system is to control the amount of money that is spent on health care," says Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute, who was born in Canada, and is wary about government taking the reins of health care in the U.S.

"We are going to have denied care, lack of access to the latest technology, and long waiting lists, just like people do in Canada and Great Britain," she warns.

In those countries, the government pays for all health care, and bureaucrats put limits on spending in order to control costs. They determine how much doctors can be reimbursed and put caps on the amount of money that can be spent on treatments.

The result of all this cost-cutting? People wait for care.

In England, shortages of dentists have caused hundreds of people to wait in line just for an appointment. The queues can be so long that some people have resorted to pulling out their own rotting teeth, using vodka and pliers as tools. One British hospital even tried to save money by not changing bed sheets. Instead of washing them, a British newspaper reported that the staff was encouraged to simply turn the sheets over. At any given time in Great Britain, there are over half a million people waiting to get into a hospital for treatments.

But Obama has said he doesn't want a government takeover of health care.

"When you hear the naysayers claim that I'm trying to bring about government-run health care," he told the American Medical Association last week, "know this -- they're not telling the truth."

Public vs. Private Plans: Cost, Care, Competition

Canada and Great Britain have what's called a "single-payer" health care system: the government pays for everyone's health care using tax revenue. It's true that Obama says he doesn't want a health care system exactly like that.

Instead, he says he wants to set up a public insurance program run by the government that will compete alongside private insurance plans. However, critics warn that a plan like this won't allow private insurers to compete on a level playing field. They say the government will keep costs down for their public plan by setting payment rates for doctors below the market level, the same way that Medicare does now.

"What will happen in the long run is that private insurers will not be able to compete with the government on price," Pipes predicts, "so they will leave the market."

Critics like Pipes say that when the size and power of a government plan grow large enough, public insurers will crowd private insurers out of the health care market and American health care will become a de facto government-run system, like Canada or Great Britain.

"People line up for care. Some of them die. That's what happens," Dr. David Gratzer says of Canada's health care system.

Gratzer, a Canadian doctor, thought Canada's government health care system was great -- until he started treating patients.

"The more time I spent in the Canadian system, the more I came across people waiting for radiation therapy. Waiting for the knee replacement so they could finally walk up to the second floor of their house," he explained.

"You want to see your neurologist because of your stress headache? No problem! You just have to wait six months," he continued. "You want an MRI? No problem! Free as the air. You've just got to wait six months."

Many ER doctors in Canada agree that the system is broken. They say hospitals face a consistent shortage of bed space, and patients often have to wait.

While people in America also wait in emergency rooms, the wait is different in Canada. When patients go to the ER for treatment and are found to be sick enough to enter the hospital, they have to wait in the emergency room for an average of 19 hours before they can be given a hospital bed.

"We can't send these patients to other hospitals that have capacity because there is no other hospital in the area that has capacity," said Dr. Eric Letovsky, an ER doctor from Ontario. "Every other emergency department in the country is just as packed as we are."

Serious Drawbacks to Canadian Model

A national shortage of general practitioners in Canada means that 1.7 million Canadians don't have access to a regular doctor to go to for routine care.

The town of Norwood, Ontario, has only one family doctor available to serve the entire community. To ration the patient list, the town clerk holds a lottery once a month, drawing a few names out of a box that contains all of the people hoping to get on the doctor's patient list. She calls the lucky winners, but everyone else must continue to wait.

It's true that America's partly-private, profit-driven system is expensive and sometimes wasteful, but that pursuit of profit has allowed our health care system to offer rapid delivery, great doctors, and incredible lifesaving discoveries.

"This is the country of medical innovation. This is where people come when they need treatment," said Gratzer.

Thousands come from countries with government-run health care to take advantage of the advanced care in the United States. The famous Spanish tenor Jose Carreras didn't get treated for cancer in Spain -- he went to Seattle. King Hussein of Jordan came to America for treatment. So did Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"Literally, we're surrounded by medical miracles. Death by cardiovascular disease has dropped by two-thirds in the last 50 years," said Gratzer. "You've got to pay a price for that type of advancement,"

The reality is that there are always trade-offs in life. Although government "universal coverage" promises great things like equal care and that no one need worry that an illness will bankrupt them, government control also means waiting in lines and sometimes going without care.

Innovations like birth control pills, cholesterol medication, robotic limbs, and many other things, would not have happened without the possibility of big profit, said Grace Marie Turner of the Galen Institute.

"I want companies to come up with cures for Parkinson's, cures for cancer, cures for Alzheimer's. Unless there is a reward for them to do that, we're not going to have those new medicines," she said.

Canada: Pets Fare Better Than Humans

Some of the best, most innovative treatments and most rapidly-delivered care happens through this pursuit of profit. Even in Canada, you'll find one area where they offer easy access to cutting edge technology.

CT scans and MRIs, hip and knee replacements: available 24 hours a day and without a wait.

"If I see a patient that's torn a cruciate ligament in that patient's knee, we can generally have the patient scheduled for within probably a week," said Canadian Dr. Terri Schiller.

But you have to bark or meow to get that kind of treatment. Schiller is a veterinarian and her practice makes a profit treating cats and dogs. Want a CT scan in Canada? Private veterinary clinics said they can get a dog in the next day. For people, the waiting list is a month.

"Many clients will come here with their pets and as they're leaving, it's, 'Next time, I get sick, I want to come here. I don't want to go to the regular hospitals,'" said Schiller.

Obama Says Let the Elderly and Very Sick Die...but Not His Family!

2009-06-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

During his recent ABC health care forum, which nearly everyone agrees was so one-sided and biased toward Obama and the yellow journalistic style of ABC, Obama made it abundantly clear that he'd opt to let our terminally ill and senior citizens die when they could be expected to run up big charges on the health care system, but wouldn't promise that he'd forego those costs for his own family. Whatta guy that Prez is..whatta human being!

Here's part of his discussion:

WASHINGTON -- In ABC News health care Forum, the President answered questions about health care reform.

President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people -- like the president himself -- wouldn't face.

The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.

Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance.

Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.

The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if "it's my family member, if it's my wife, if it's my children, if it's my grandmother I always want them to get the very best care."

(Thus...although we would have to suffer, people like him won't because they have money or they're "better" or whatever. And this jerk is proposing a system that covers "all Americans". Isn't he one of US? Obviously, he and the elitist government bureaucrats are NOT ONE OF US!)

"There's a whole bunch of care that's being provided that every study, that every bit of evidence that we have indicates may not be making us healthier," he said. (Can you say double-talk here? If it's evidence, then it either is or is not, "may not" is just nonsense. And "whole bunch...do you like those specifics?)

Gibson interjected that often patients don't know what will work until they get every test they can.

"Often times we know what makes sense and what doesn't," the president responded, making a push for evidence-based medicine. (Obviously Obama doesn't know what makes sensse or not!)

Gibson asked the president if it doesn't make sense to decide what the limitations will be on options in any health care reform proposal before voting on it.

"That's what people are afraid of," Gibson said.

The president said he understood the American people "know they're living with the devil, but the devil they know instead of the devil they don't."

(We do know the devil. He lives in the White House and his name is Obama. He's not willing to subject him and his family to the same rules as everybody else, but willing to throw the rest of America under the bus to reach fulfilment of his agendas. Really a nice guy. Thanks to all who voted for this buffoon!)

What people are concerned with is Senior and Terminally Ill euthanasia where the "system" simply decides that it's time for you to go, based on an algorithm of cost versus your worth. Hell, the insurance companies already do that when you reach your maximum insurance value and they pay no more. If you can't afford to carry on treatment you either go home to die or end up in some indigent situation with inadequate care and die anyway. What is so different about the Obama thoughts on this?

The statement was bantered about at some point that in the final years of a persons life they incur 80% of all their medical bills. During this ABC Forum, Obama indicated that some 30% of all Medicare costs are spent in the final year of a person's life. He further indicated that perhaps, surgery might not be the answer where painkillers might be used more wisely where life might not be prolonged.

The point is, do we want bureaucrats making life and death decisions for us? Do we want government funded doctors making those choices, where their pay, and perhaps bonuses, come from how many patients they see off to the graveyard and off the medical system this year? That's not only scary, but a real possibility when the government gets oversight of your records and has it's large hand in your medical care. Doctors selected by the bureaucracy decide that you are too sick/frail/old/costly or whatever and should not have expensive treatment to maintain your life. Thus your treating physician prescribes palliative care and you slowly slip into the sunset. Sound like something out of a cheap television movie? Nope...just another political wrangling to spend your money while using smoke and mirrors showing you how well you're being taken care of.

If anyone wants to take you to the showers for any reason...be very afraid....

Schwarzenegger Defends Spending on Illegals; Says Cut Elderly and Ill American Help!

2009-06-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes cutting aid to the most vulnerable of the states residents, the elderly, frail and ill, such as Alzheimer's patients. Per this story in the Associated Press today:

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. – With empty pockets and maxed-out credit, California is debating whether it can continue honoring all parts of its social contract with the state's most vulnerable residents.

The state faces an unprecedented drop in tax revenue and a widening budget deficit amid the deepest recession in decades, prompting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to propose cost-cutting steps that once seemed unthinkable.

At stake are programs for the poor, elderly and frail, placing millions of people in the nation's most populous state at risk of falling through a decades-old social safety net.

Ending the welfare-to-work program for mothers and their children would affect some 546,000 families, and health insurance could be eliminated for 1 million children from low-income families. Services for Alzheimer's patients, disabled and other frail recipients of in-home care also would be greatly reduced under the governor's latest budget proposal, leaving more than 400,000 people without such support."

Yet, Schwarzenegger defends spending 4 to 5 billion dollars annually on illegals services, insisting they are not part of California's budget problem. He says it's a "small percentage" of the deficit California faces. HELLO!

If you have a 24.3 billion dollar budget shortfall, then that's 16% to 20% Gov! Then add all the taxes these folks don't pay, and the money they send back to Mexico rather than spend here, and there's lots more money that you lose. Then add in the amount of criminal activity encountered, incarceration cost, cost of police services, emergency services not covered by the above 4 to 5 billion, cost of the Border Patrol and ICE due to the illegals, and, well, you get the picture. I'd bet the cost is double what you postulate it to be. And you say we need them here to work the fields and pick the crops and work construction jobs. How stupid is that? If they were not here, Americans could have the jobs at decent wages, because employers would be forced to pay the true value for the labor they need.

Then, get this quote from the Governor: "You know something, as far as I'm concerned, I'm happy that they can get the services," he said Friday. "Because I would like to have the services if I'm somewhere in another country … if I have an accident with a motorcycle and I go to an emergency room, I don't want someone to say, is he here legally?"

(Obviously, Arnold has no idea about the Form 1011 where ER personnel can't ask about citizenship status. That's how all the illegals get the free ride. How could he not know that if we're spending 4 to 5 billion dollars on "services"! Plus, other countries do not provide "free" services to people who arrive there legally or illegally. You'd better be prepared to pay or have insurance or a credit card. Arnie...if you know of a place that will provide free services...maybe we can deport all the freeloaders to there?)

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1923957.html

Arnold, you make me want to vomit. Your pandering and political correctness to play all sides of what appears to be a polygon are sickening to the taxpayers of this state. You've been hanging around the Democrats in Sacramento too long, and your mind is gone. Worse, you're selling our American elders and ill down the drain, to get in bed with those whose votes you're seeking at any cost. You won't get mine, and I hope any one who is smart won't give you, or any other incumbent, theirs either! And Schwarzenegger has the balls to call anyone else a Girly Man?

Carfax or Carfix --What you'll never know!

2009-06-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

First off, I'm not picking on CarFax. There are lots of other similar vehicle data providers that promise to provide you with a complete vehicle history report on that used, or sometimes new, vehicle you're thinking of buying. Unfortunately, all have the same Achilles heel, in that the information you receive might be so incomplete, that you can get a wrecked, or salvaged vehicle, and never know it. Even the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System won't have the information you request! And it's run by the Federal Government, but the system is still full of the same holes! Even Consumer Reports has indicated in a recent issue the problems with relying on these services.

Many fleets, including federal, state and municipal fleets as well as large privately owned fleets are what is known as self-insured. That means they pay all their own claims on their vehicles. Some file a bond with the states they do business in, others simply show they have the assets to pay any and all claims that result from the use of their vehicles. Others purchase only excess liability insurance, and have what is known as a SIR or Self Insured Retention. That means they retain the first dollar costs of a loss themselves, ranging anywhere from a hundred thousand dollars to millions, and then the insurance policy kicks in to pay anything above that amount.

However, the SIR does not include property damage to the fleet vehicles, only liability, so if a vehicle is in an accident, it gets reported to no one. Minor or repairable damage is covered by the fleet owner, often in their own, or contract, body shops. If the vehicle is severely damaged, has frame damage, or is totaled, it usually is sold as surplus, at auction or placed on bid with other vehicles on an "as is" basis. The purchaser signs an agreement that there is no warranty and the vehicle is purchased "where is, as is." The vehicle can be almost new, as far as miles are concerned. I've seen police vehicles with only a few hundred miles on the odometer totaled in an accident, sold to a bidder and repaired, then end up on eBay and the sellers say nothing about previous damage!

As for clear title, there is absolutely no guarantee a salvage title will be issued on the vehicle, as state laws vary so widely, a vehicle can have a clear title and still have been a total wreck. With a clear CarFax or other report!

Worse yet, pull a CarFax or other report and most times you'll find no mention of any Fleet Use, Governmental Use, or Damage of any kind. Because it's never reported. The report will show the correct information as far as the VIN and perhaps the mileage if the vehicle was required to pass smog at any time, or registration changes, if it was sold and re-registered. But, if it was almost new, and wrecked, you'll likely find nothing other than the description of the vehicle.

Every one of these reports depend upon someone providing truthful, factual reporting, so it's really possible that if you're looking at a vehicle from a private seller, a one-owner or perhaps a second owner vehicle, you actually can get a report that provides good information. But, if you're looking for a vehicle and you suspect something might be more than is contained in any report, simply walk away from the car. Because once you purchase it, you're the one with headaches. Remember that the "lemon laws" don't cover used vehicles, and the old phrase "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware" is more applicable today than ever. Lots of people want to get rid of their vehicles, especially with the down sliding economy, and you don't want to be stuck with a junker. Used vehicle values are down, and dealers don't usually give people anywhere near what their vehicle is worth at trade-in time; worse if they simply want to sell their car outright to a dealer or get out from under a car payment.

Take the vehicle to a mechanic of your choice and have it checked out. A few dollars spent up front beats hundreds or thousands spent later. A good mechanic knows what it takes to get a vehicle in tip-top shape and he'll give you the straight story. An example is a great deal on a car that needed 4 new tires. Sounds like a small item, right? Nope! The exotic tires cost about $400 each and were different sizes for the front and rear. That added almost two thousand dollars to the cost of the vehicle when you include tax, mounting, balancing, and the road hazard warranty (a must with these short-lived jewels!) So the deal wasn't so sweet after all, but the new owner didn't bother checking first.

Finally, if the deal seems too good to be true...it usually is. Like they say, "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch." It might seem free, but the string is there to reel you in. Happy car shopping!

For great information on used police cars, see the eBay guides by drcop2u.

(A hint: Dealers will usually give you $500 to $1000 "back of book" for your used vehicle if it's in excellent condition. That means if you take the Trade In Value and deduct that much from it, you can get a rough idea of what to expect on a trade-in. But remember, dealers use many different books; Kelly Blue Book, NADA Book and even one called the Black Book (?) And for an unpopular color, make or model, the "back of book" deduction could be more. )

For the Record

2009-06-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Most of us here in America are not Native Americans. Thus, we come from foreign stock at one time or another. A mixed bag in many cases, others more pure-bred where the families are perhaps more recent immigrants to the United States than others.

As for me, I am a mongrel of sorts. Irish, Scottish, Cornish, (English) French Canadian and Dutch. I'm proud that my paternal grandfather came from Holland. He came here legally at 8 months old in 1879, worked as an insurance salesman, truck driver, laborer and a landscaper. Yes, a landscaper like many Hispanics do today. But he came here through Ellis Island in New York legally! He came to California to follow his dream, and died here in 1941, still working, and without reaching that pinnacle of wealth, the street paved with gold, that most hope for in their life. I never knew my grandfather, but I hope he at least was a happy man and loved and lived life to the fullest possible. At least in his Final rest, he is buried with the movie stars and celebrities in Forest Lawn. It took death to be side by side with them, but he made it.

My paternal grandmother's father was from Cornwall, a place off the English coast that is Gaelic and many people speak the Gaelic language, similar to Ireland. Her mother was all American, the only one whom we can trace roots way back to American soil and the time of the Revolution. My maternal grandmother was a foreigner too, from Nova Scotia, Canada. Her mother was from Scotland. My maternal great grandfather's side of the family was from Ireland.

So, as you can see, although I consider myself an All American, I am composed, as many of us are, of a melting pot of heritage from all over. But, the big difference is that our families came here legally, and worked, paid taxes, built the country, not drained it and didn't look for handouts.

Our forebearers didn't look for some sort of "entitlement" where simply by taking breath they had everything coming to them. Somehow that attitude has pervaded our society, and the government panders to the multitude that holds out their hands in greed rather than gratitude. We have allowed generation after generation of welfare recipients to grow on the backs of taxpayers, where one welfare child has children, and those children have more offspring to be fed, clothed and taken care of by the system, while the "baby daddy" is responsible for nothing. Watching TV, I note there appears no shame for the welfare recipient to announce that the "baby daddy" is in prison for drugs or other criminal activity, or has deserted the mother and child, leaving the taxpayers to foot the bills. And, no, if he's not in jail, she won't admit to who he is anyway, because there is a minuscule chance the authorities might actually find him and cut off some of her welfare!

Then we have the illegals who have multiple children, paid for by the taxpayers, and somehow think this is their "right" to come here and live off someone else. And groups form and tell us these illegal aliens have "civil rights" after they break Federal Law and protest when our law enforcement agencies actually have the audacity to enforce our laws? Go to another country and do something illegal and see who protests for you! See how the foreign authorities there coddle you! Nope, only here do we make laws and then allow people to continually break them with no penalty. And now, the illegal population and their supporters are depending on Obama to help them gain amnesty and citizenship for breaking the law. With his record so far, there's sadly a good chance he'll pander to them and do so.

Is it any wonder why people are so dead set against illegal immigration? Yet more people draining our taxpayer-fed system? Sure, illegals do work that many don't want to do. But if you cut off the supply of illegal labor, and fined and jailed those who take advantage of cheap illegal labor, the jobs would pay more, and would be open for legal workers, regardless of where they're from. People deserve decent wages and living conditions, and living in a cardboard box while working for less than decent wages at some establishment, whose owner knows he's employing illegal labor, is patently wrong, morally, ethically and legally. And if both sides of the immigration issue can't see that, there is something very wrong.

Bring back the day laborer program. Let people enter legally, work, pay taxes, and return home when they want. Make employers pay fair wages, and if they employ labor for more than a day, require they provide adequate housing that is inspected and safe. Allow them to charge a nominal fee for housing and meals and require they provide a safe environment with good sanitation. Close the border tightly to illegal immigration. That would be fair to all, especially the taxpayers who are sick and tired of footing the bills for illegal immigration.

How about it Washington? Are you listening? Or are you more interested in ripping off the taxpayer and bankrupting the country with more bailouts and give-aways this week? Better listen to Bernanke or you'll be broke sooner than later. He's one of the brighter stars on the wilted tree in DC.

Wanna Buy A Government Motors Car?

2009-06-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

Good Grief, the government is in the car business! Obama stressed that they took 60% of GM simply to bail them out, but I find it difficult to believe the government will be able to keep their grubby paws out of the car makers business when and if they finally emerge from bankruptcy. Obama stated further the government would only be involved in the "most critical" decisions...which to many translated dictating what kind of cars they make to meet his greenhouse gas emissions mandates. Socialism and a bailout all rolled into one. Pretty neat package at the taxpayers expenses. Oh yeah, one more thing, Obama stated that the predictors were wrong in thinking the car business would "fall off the cliff" and Chrysler sold more cars in May than they did in April. DUH. Of course they did...they cut the prices by ten to fifteen thousand dollars on some models, and had to liquidate inventory by June 9 as dealerships were told they lost their dealership franchises with Chrysler. Plus, some dealers purchased vehicles from other dealers at below invoice prices to beef up inventory in markets where they were able to move vehicles. What the hell is this guy thinking? Does he think we're too stupid to see the spin?

For those who thought the Democrats were going to save America, you were sadly deluded. They will sink the country with their free spending, just as they have California. Yes, California has a Republican governor but he has been unable to bridle the run away spending of the Democrat controlled legislature and look at the mess we're in. A state that will again run out of money by July and that held up Tax refunds this year because there was no money to pay them. A state that throws billions at welfare and illegal immigration costs and cuts education and mental health benefits for the most needy.

And, the Democrats in Washington will do the same. Spend every penny they can print and watch while the country sinks so far into debt we'll never get out. Did anyone notice that the personal savings rate went up for the first time in 14 years? That's because people are scared of what's coming, and squirreling away cash as best they can to prepare for the future. When Washington talks about playing with Social Security and Medicare, and is silent on welfare, that speaks volumes about where the administration is coming from. People who earned the money and placed it into a trust with the government will likely get screwed, as those who put zip into anything continue to enjoy a free ride on the taxpayer and the backs of the retired.

What happened to Social Security? Why is it being drained so fast? The government neatly blames all those retiring due to the recession and not enough going into the plan. But what about all the borrowing from the plan that took place over the years? What about the movement of money from and to Social Security that wasn't repaid with adequate interest? Why didn't the government act to increase the Social Security tax gradually over the years to accommodate retirement potentials and only use the money for retirees?

What about the millions or tens of millions of Form 1011 charges for illegal aliens that are charged to Medicare annually to drain a separate portion of the fund? Why should the illegals get free care and then the Americans be told their Medicare is on the verge of collapse? Go to another country illegally and see how good your health care is. Wait, go to another country legally and see if you get free health care. Not only no, but hell, no! Looks like their politicians have more brains than ours do. We're not talking about emergency, absolutely needed care either. We're talking about every little damned thing that you can show up at the ER for. Just be illegal and you're home free. And the taxpayer is paying for it.

Sad

The People Have Spoken in California

2009-05-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

The voters of California have finally come to their senses. How this could have happened is way beyond my mortal powers of comprehension, but they have. They defeated all but one of the six propositions that the state legislators tried to have passed on the May 19 special election, and passed just one...the proposition that says no pay raises to state politicians when they don't balance the budget. Good for you, voters!

Now how about placing a proposition on the ballot that says NO PAY AT ALL IF THE POLITICIANS DON'T PASS A BALANCED BUDGET ON TIME? Bet that would get them off their dime and political oriented butts to pass the budget in a heartbeat! Or maybe get some of the dead wood out of office once and for all.

Or, maybe, California voters are going to dump the politicians who have been draining this state so long when the next elections come around? Or will they forget how bad things are and simply vote along the same old party lines and place the same old useless politicos back in their seats for another round of what could be bankruptcy and tax hikes?

Car taxes went up, sales taxes went up, counties are complaining they don't collect enough taxes because property values plummeted, people have asked for revaluations to reduce taxes on lower valued homes; many homes have been foreclosed, and taxes are not being paid.

Employment is the worst in about 40 years so income tax revenue is way down, so they raise the income tax rate..how about that for brilliance? Tax the crap out of the remaining working people to make up some of the lost income so the state can continue to pay for welfare and Medi-Cal for the illegals and the welfare recipients and the will-not works? Cut education, teachers and services for the understandably medically needy, but still be sure to throw that money at the services for those who won't ever contribute anything to society due to a lack of work ethic and/or pure laziness? How much can the working people of California accept before they realize how bad they're getting screwed? Year after year, ad nauseum?

Time to dump the surfer dude image, folks and get involved with changing the way Sacramento does business. If you don't, your children and grandchildren will bear the huge burden that the politicians keep piling up. The fastest and best way is to vote, and tell them you're not happy with them. Get them out of office, and make them get a real job for a change. Let them see what the working class sees, a dwindling paycheck and increasing bills and taxes. It isn't a pretty sight!

Memorial Day

2009-05-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is a day to remember the fallen warriors of our country; those who made the ultimate sacrifice to give each of us freedom and the ability to reach out for the American Dream. No, they didn't give you the American Dream, you have to work for that yourself. But they gave their lives to assure you had the freedom to reach out for it, free from oppression, tyranny and grave injustice as is the case in so many other countries.

Men and women gave all so that we might live free. They didn't do it for fame or glory or a medal to pin on their uniform. Medals usually came too late to shine in a parade; many were laid on rows of caskets at ceremonies in such places as Arlington and Fort Rosecrans. The Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Coast Guardsman, Air Forceman or Merchant Marine never saw the glint of the Silver Star or Purple Heart or other medal in the sun as it laid upon his casket. But the family knew the bravery that he or she displayed many days or weeks or months before this day came to pass.

Most of our fallen warriors did come home, to be interred in their beloved country near family and loved ones. But many didn't and are buried on foreign shores in huge cemeteries, marked by simple crosses and markers, the only remnants of fierce battles, where Americans shed their blood to give freedom to others in a foreign land. They didn't know the people, but knew freedom was as important to them as it is to us. Freedom, the one thing that is perhaps as much important as life itself.

In my humble opinion, the three most important things are life, love and freedom. Without them life is just a bleak and somewhat hopeless experience. With perseverance and luck, many find love, but it takes a very special person willing to lay it all on the line to fight for your freedom. When you realize the warrior doesn't know you, or the individuals they are fighting for in most cases, it makes it even more impressive that they are willing to sacrifice all for others, to give them a chance at a better life.

On this Memorial Day, I will remember my brothers who have fallen in Vietnam, as well as all those who have fallen before, and after, in every war and conflict. I will remember those who have been ravaged by the remnants of war, and who have died as a result of service-connected injuries and illnesses, those who never appear in casualty rolls, but who are casualties just the same.

And some special prayers to several brothers who are very close in my heart today and always will be. Rest well my brothers; we'll all be crossing the bar to join you some day.

And, just in case anyone ever forgets:

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

Poncho is Dead, thanks to General Motors

2009-05-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

Many of us die-hard aficionados of Pontiac called the marque "Ponchos" as a shortened version of Pontiac. I have no idea when this started, but back in the 1950's when someone owned a "Poncho" you knew it was a Pontiac. No big long name, just a simple pseudonym for a great car. And, now Poncho is dead, thanks to the idiots at General Motors.

How could this happen? Let's take a short trip down memory land, to when the muscle car was king of the street. The American Muscle Car, that is. Yes, there was the 1950's Corvettes and the Chevy's and even the Fuel Injected 1967 Pontiac Bonneville and Chevrolet Bel Air, but the car that set the tone for all muscle cars to follow was the 1964 Pontiac GTO.

In the early 60's, most of the big engines were in big cars, such as the Ford Galaxy with a 427, a Chevy Impala or Biscayne with a 409 or later on a 427. Dodge and Plymouth as well as Chrysler offered big engines as well, including the 383 and 440 blocks as well as the 426 Hemi. But again, these were in big cars with lots of weight to pull.

So, along came the GTO, from the parts bin at Pontiac, built on the Tempest frame and body and infused with a 389 cubic inch engine and a 4 speed transmission, the "Little GTO" was just about King of the Street. Add three two barrel carburetors, or three deuces as it was known and called "Tri-Power" by Pontiac, and you had a potent street and drag machine that few cars could match. The Mustang came along later that year, but the smaller engined "Pony" car was no match for the "Goat" as the GTO was called by many. For years the GTO ruled the streets and was the cradle upon which the American Muscle Car industry was born, giving rise to the famed Olds 4-4-2, the Plymouth Road Runner and GTX, Dodge Super Bee, Shelby Mustang GT500KR, and even such unusual, yet amazing players, as American Motors with the AMX and Studebaker with the Supercharged Lark, and Studebaker-Packard with their Hawk series.

Camaro soon followed along with Firebird. The car that Grandpa drove, the Buick, gave birth to the Buick Grand National in later years, followed closely by the venerable GNX version that could whip just about anything on the drag strip with it's turbocharged V-6.

Then, for some strange reason, in the 90's GM decided that we didn't want what we wanted. That we wanted what GM would give us, and like it or not, if you wanted a GM product you had to settle. What? Settle? We were Americans and not used to settling for just any Iron. We wanted muscle and not rice burners and Japanese tuners. We wanted cubic inches and V-8's and thunderous exhausts. And GM and Chrysler let us down. Ford still produced the Mustang and thus, has survived the debacle pretty well, at least to this point.

GM dumped Oldsmobile. Remember the slogan they used during the waning years of that marque? "This isn't your father's Oldsmobile!" Hell no it wasn't. Dad's Olds had horsepower and could smoke most of the cars on the road or the track on Saturday nights. It had style. The new Oldsmobile was pathetic to say the least. No self respecting muscle car person would own one. Thank God it wasn't your father's Olds!

Buick was the consummate symbolism of a granny car. Driven by the aged and the perfect vehicle to clog the highways between the senior citizens home, and the all you can eat buffet in Senility City. Big and style less, they were avoided at all costs by the younger population. Then, someone got the idea to use the same body style as the Olds Cutlass during the early to mid 80's and create the Buick Regal. Then, why not turbocharge it. Then create the Buick Grand National. Now there was excitement on four wheels. Then, for the ultimate fun with a V-6, came the GNX, a Super Stock version of the Grand National. For once in a hot rodder's life, they actually could say YES to the jingle "Wouldn't you really rather own a Buick?"

Aah, but GM screwed this up too. Blame it on gas shortages or maybe brain shortages at GM, but the fast Buick's disappeared in favor of over sized behemoths that guzzled gas anyway, and were never going to sell to the kids and young adults who had money to spend. Buick regressed to the car driven by senior citizens and people who didn't yet have their AARP card just didn't want to see in their driveway

I am saddened to see Pontiac disappear, just as I have been by many of the names of our automobiles that once graced our streets. I have had three Pontiac's, a 1957 Bonneville, a 1966 GTO and a 2005 GTO. I bought that 2005 GTO thinking somehow it would hearken me back to the days when the GTO was king of the road. Maybe I thought, somehow, it would bring back 1964 and the excitement of the era when the GTO was the car to drive. Factually, it was faster, drove better, handled better on curves, and had a better fit and finish than my 66 Goat. But, it wasn't really a GTO at all, and it wasn't really even a Pontiac. It was a re-badged Holden Monaro, made in Australia and not in the USA. It was scary fast and fun, and had GTO emblems, but it still wasn't true American Iron like the old days. They only made the "new" GTO for three years, 2004, 2005 and 2006 and production ceased. There will never be another GTO made. Period.

Bad decisions on the part of the automakers, greed on the part of the unions and trying to force cars that we didn't want down our collective throats has brought us to the current state of affairs. Those of us who bought American for 50 years now turn to the imports for better value, better performance and mileage, and stability of the makers. It never had to come to this. But when companies forget that the consumer gets what they want, not what you want to give them, it all ends up the same.

Bottom line is that the tag line on Pontiac commercials "Pontiac...We build excitement!" has fallen on deaf ears, as it just hasn't been true. What Pontiac and GM has done is build apathy, and the motoring public has finally responded by saying we'll have someone else build something exciting for us, thank you. You had several generations to make the grade and failed, now it's someone elses' turn.

Miss California was-and is-right!

2009-04-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

I'd like to say "F" Perez Hilton first off but that wouldn't be nice, although it would be nicer than dropping a pile of manure on the head of the overtly mouthy ass who seems to think everyone should ascribe to his philosophy in homosexual and lesbian marriage

Carrie Prejean's answer wasn't "controversial" at all. She said what she believes in and proclaimed her moral and Christian values. She was asked a question and answered it. Pretty simple. You just didn't like her answer because it didn't suit your agenda.

What most decent people don't understand is why in hell anyone even let you, a nobody who is lower than whaleflop at the bottom of the ocean, ask a question in the first place? Where did they dig you up from? Must have been one helluva deep hole to get you out of to crawl to the surface, and try to push your agenda on a contest where your sexual beliefs had no place, nor purpose.

People like you do more to churn hatred and discontent among the people of California and the nation than you could ever think possible. When people like you speak for gays and lesbians, or are taken as being spokespersons for them as a whole, you create a greater schism than ever existed.

So crawl back in your dark hole until you can spew poison again. Someone will tip over the rock or turn over the turd and let you out another time.

California Illogic and Laws that Seem to Have Been a Waste Writing

2009-04-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Here's some ideas to help Arnold fill the state coffers. Of course, the Granola State" is so filled with political idiocy, that passing a law that makes sense, has teeth, is enforceable, and furthermore IS enforced, is as likely as freedom from drought and having a heavy snowstorm in San Diego in August. Regardless, here goes:

Raise the fine for talking on a non-hands-free cell phone from $20 to $500. Every day I see dozens of people using their same old cell phone slammed to their ear, dialing it or otherwise scoffing at the law that was passed a year ago. Twenty bucks doesn't cover the cost of a Bluetooth device but would cover the cost of a wired headset. But when it's only twenty bucks and the chances of getting caught are about zero, why bother. RAISE THE FINES, IMPROVE SAFETY, AND ENFORCE THE LAW!

Raise the fines for cutting into the carpool lanes in non-access areas and enforce it. It's dangerous and people do it all the time. Double the fine for crossing the double yellow line to enter a carpool lane and if the person is a single occupant, double the carpool lane fine too. That should get someone's attention. On San Diego's Interstate 5, place an officer or two on the Del Mar Heights bridge to watch traffic heading north and watch them cutting in before and after the bridge; have several motor officers on I-5 north of the bridge. You could pay a politicians salary multiple times a week with the tickets you could write there. RAISE THE FINES, IMPROVE SAFETY, AND ENFORCE THE LAW!

Enforce the speed limit within reason. If that means installing speed cameras, then do it and collect the fines and slow down the blithering idiots who seem to think that driving at 100 miles an hour and weaving in and out on the freeway is somehow okay! Maybe if the speed limit was enforced and the fines were really heavy when someone were caught, the message might get through. Endangering everyone else's life just because you drive like an asshole on fire isn't justified in any case. You should be caught, fined and your license revoked. And, if you get caught driving again, your vehicle should be impounded and your ass thrown in jail. Wanton disregard for public safety shouldn't be acceptable behavior, even though this is California! RAISE THE FINES, IMPROVE SAFETY, AND ENFORCE THE LAW!

Go after all the outdated and unregistered vehicles and make them comply with current registration requirements. Vehicles that are unregistered or outdated have high levies placed on them, so collect it rather than allow them to be run on the streets for months or years while not collecting a cent! The State has raised the vehicle license fee on the rest of us to make up what they don't get from these scofflaws. Have the police and parking enforcement cruise through parking lots, private developments and gated communities and ticket vehicles with outdated registrations. Tow vehicles that are unregistered. Those that are junks yet are still roaming the streets should be noted as unsafe for use and impounded. Quit taxing the crap out of everyone else to make up for the inadequacies of the State in enforcing the laws that are on the books already. RAISE THE FINES, IMPROVE SAFETY, AND ENFORCE THE LAW!

Can anyone see the gist of the above? This State makes laws they don't enforce, or perhaps never intend to enforce. They simply place them on the books to placate the general public, like MADD and other safety minded groups. Then the legislators can brag that they passed a law, even though it is hollow and really presents no positive impact on public safety. And if accident statistics go down, they can tell you it's because of their work on passing the law; except that in reality it's probably a glitch or because someone cooked or skewed the statistics to read how they wanted them to read this week or month or year.

Time to quit being a Girly Man, Arnold! You accuse everyone else of it....look in the mirror and see how you acquiesce to the political machine and pass taxes and laws to screw the ordinary citizen, while doing nothing to properly use the laws that we already passed to protect us.

What Now, Oh Great Leader?

2009-04-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Face it, America, we're screwed. Not that I feel like purveying gloom and doom to those who read my blog. No, that has been done very effectively by the economy and furthered by the idiocy of the current leadership of our state and nation.

The entire world is on the brink of disaster, with war on the minds of many countries, as Obama tries to "make nice" with them. To many he's seen as a brilliant speaker and a non-issue, the same as he was on the campaign trail ,when he caught the fancy of so many idealistic voters. It's telling when the glut of press reports out of a country he's in, are on Michelle Obama's clothing, rather then President Obama's speeches or actions. To the rest of the world, she's more interesting, I suppose!

The leadership has squandered out tax dollars effectively giving billions, leading into trillions of dollars of debt to companies who don't deserve a dime. AIG is just one glaring example of how handing out cash unfettered by proper and adequate regulation ends up feeding an alligator with fresh meat. When the meat is gone, he comes back for more, and all you have is the detritus he's left behind in the pond. That's what AIG has left for the taxpayers, my friends. If you don't know the word, it's what comes out of the other end of the 'gator. And, in the case if AIG 'gator, it seems to have a huge hunger and the poor employees and "little guys and gals" are whats getting squashed under the outflow. The executives are riding high on the head of the 'gator eating the fresh meat and probably will for the foreseeable future because while Washington talks tough, they don't follow through. Only on the little guy will they put the screws to them and ruin their life...not to the big guy.

Take Bernard Madoff for example. How did he get away for so long with so much? Didn't the Securities and Exchange Commission see something wrong there? Greedy people were the most likely explanation, as Ponzi schemes feed off those who seek high returns on their money in markets where the general rate of return just isn't all that great. The old adage "if it seems too good to be true, it usually is" always seems to be factual. In this case it was disastrous for all those investors. Madoff will likely die in prison with no enjoyment of his swindled money from here on in, but that's little comfort to those he screwed with his scheme. Then again, I ask the same question...why was there no watchdog at any level seeing this couldn't happen, especially at this level? Was the government blind or just turning a blind eye?

I have little faith in the current administration as I see it being filled with tax evaders and people who have had questionable pasts. Obama seems to draw these people into his circle and promote them to what could be their highest level of incompetence. Will this be the "peter principle" at work once again in Washington? We'll see soon enough as the bottom continues to fall out.

Obama will continue his tirade that all this mess belongs to Bush. And any success will be Obama's. You and I know that's a bunch of bull! Bush didn't start the housing crisis nor the meltdown on Wall Street. It was started by bad decisions in Washington, mostly forged by the Democrats and the illogical mantra that everyone deserves a house regardless of whether you can afford one or not. Push Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into cramming low down loans down the banks throats to keep money flowing, and add in the liar loans, and here we are. Cities crumbling, and once prospering neighborhoods becoming ghost towns.

Nice work, politicians. You sure have done well in screwing America, haven't you?

Vets object to billing private insurance for service injuries & Update

2009-03-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

If you think Obama cares who or what group he screws next, as he throws billions away, read on. His latest idiotic idea bears grave notice by every veteran, past and present, as well as every future defender of freedom of this country.

Didn't he even think an injury while in the service would be equal to a Work Comp injury and thus NOT covered by private health insurance anyway? Once again, lay it on the backs of those who served and give more to the welfare recipients and illegals.

This likely won't fly, but it shows how little this man, with no military experience, knows or cares about those who have sacrificed and given so much so he can stand in the place he is now.

By Adam Levine
Pentagon Supervising Producer
March 4, 2009

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans groups are warning President Barack Obama against going ahead with a possible administration move to charge veterans' private health care for service-related injuries.

In a letter sent by 11 of the most prominent veterans organizations, the groups warned that the idea "is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government's moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much."

CNN obtained a copy of the letter sent to the White House last Friday by groups including The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Read the letter (PDF)

A White House spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the option is being considered.

"The details of specific proposals will be transmitted with the full submission in April. The president has made it clear that meeting the needs of veterans is one of his priorities, and as a result has requested an 11 percent increase in discretionary funding for 2010, and the administration is actively working with the veterans community to ensure we get the details of this budget right," said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.

In the letter, the groups said they have been told by sources on Capitol Hill and at the VA that the idea under consideration would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to bill health insurance for a treatment of a disability or injury that was a result of military service.

The argument for the proposal is that it frees up money for the VA by charging the private insurers, allowing the VA to spend on more services, said Joe Violante, legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, who opposes the idea. While there could be savings, Violante warned it also could lead to an increase in premiums for veterans with private coverage.

""We cannot and would not agree to any proposal that would expand this concept any further," the heads of the 11 groups wrote in the letter.

"While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable."

Currently, veterans' private insurance is only charged when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu.

Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," said Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments.

It could also make it harder for veterans to get private insurance if the companies decide to reject them for pre-existing conditions, rather than be billed for service-connected injuries, Davis said.

"This seems like bad politics and bad policy," said IAVA Policy Director Vanessa Williamson, noting that every veterans group opposes it and warns it will adversely affect veterans. "I don't see this as a tenable option."

As an 3-24 update to this, Obama pulled this from the agenda, but had the balls to ask the Veterans Service Organizations to meet with the VA and figure out how to make up the money they would save by taking this off the table! The VSO's did meet with the VA but told Obama it's not their job to decide how to budget items at the VA! Good on the VSO's for standing up for us vets and shame on Obama for even thinking of this in the first place. And, to the new head of the VA...fight harder for the troops...you used to be one of us if you can recall before being a politician! Or does becoming a politician negate all your past history??