GOP rabblerousers

What in the world is wrong with the GOP these days? Ol' Newt is out there criticizing Obama for failing at his attempt to stimulate the economy. Although I'm a bit nervous about the amount of promised spending, I don't see anyone jumping in with a better idea. The only real way to stimulate the economy is to increase consumer confidence which is getting harder to do with the consumer bearing the brunt of the effects of the failing economy. I can't stand the "pass it down" attitude of the business leaders at the top levels of companies. They are ultimately responsible for our current situation. They are just passing on the cost of their losses by laying off employees and cutting benefits. All of this economic crap happened on the GOP's watch! How can they be a credible alternative to Obama? This is what happens when a Texas oilman and his cronies are allowed to run the country for 8 years. One other thing. Who cares what Dick Cheney has to say anymore? At least Bush is laying low. Cheney is still running his mouth like he has influence. Maybe someone should take him bird hunting!

Credit Cards

It's nice to see somebody going after the credit card companies and their questionable business practices. Some are worse than others but they all need some sort of reforming. They will give a $300 card to anyone with a Social Security number and a pulse. In 2005, the credit card companies lobbied the government to revise the bankruptcy laws to give them a better position financially. They felt like they were getting screwed when people could just walk away from their credit card debt. Isn't that what unsecured credit is? There is a certain amount of risk involved in marketing your cards to a bunch of people who can't afford them anyway. Now they have government backing to support their predatory lending practices. Then there is the high interest rate and exorbitant fees. Let's use the $300 card as an example. Say you go over your credit limit and then pay late. Not only do you owe the minimum $15 payment, you also owe up to $80 in fees. This $95 is almost 33% of your balance. If you continue not paying, you wind up being charged this 33% every month. This amounts to 396% interest the way I figure it.
Another interesting thing about credit cards is the way they affect your credit score. If you have them maxed out but pay on time every month, you look pretty good as long as your credit card balances aren't a large percentage of your income. If you have cards that all have zero balances, it will negatively affect your credit score because of the potential to run them all up at the same time. People who pay off their cards every month don't make the credit card companies any money so the companies will eventually close their accounts. Credit card companies like it when you carry a balance because they are making anywhere from 6 to 21% interest on their investment. It seems backward to reward those with debt and penalize those who pay off their cards every month.
The latest legislation appears to give the consumer a better position to be treated fairly. The credit card companies have had free rein to act like loan sharks with their business practices and it is about time we kick their legs out from under them. I can't believe that some of the companies are receiving federal bailout money while charging the above-mentioned 396%. Of course, this isn't any different than Chrysler receiving bailout money and then closing a U.S. plant and shifting the jobs to Mexico but that's another blog topic.

The Carbon Chronicle

What do we have against carbon? It is part of almost everything living or dead. I saw a Domino sugar ad the other night on TV touting their "Carbon Free" brand of sugar. They claim that production of this sugar has a net zero carbon footprint. I don't think "Carbon Free" is the correct name. Sugar is 25% carbon, 50% hydrogen, and 25% oxygen! How stupid do they think we are? Granted, Domino is using good manufacturing processes for production like a biomass energy plant that recycles all of the plant waste, but look where they have their plant. I'm sure a lot of people would rather have the Everglades in its natural state than the cane fields and water canals scattered throughout South Florida. All of this "green" technology drives me nuts. It lets us feel good about destroying our natural habitat while making some folks lots of money. That's why they call it "green"! "Green" products typically cost more than their non-green counterparts as do the organic foods at the grocery store. There is not a lot of difference in taste and quality but non-green stuff generally lasts longer. Do you ever wonder if we are living longer today because of all the preservatives? ;)
Another carbon-related issue is the whole global warming scheme and the blame laid on carbon dioxide. Let me first say that I don't think global warming is as much the emergency some scientists claim it to be but just a naturally occurring cycle that we have not seen before (unless you lived in the Ice Age). As everyone knows, we emit CO2 but plant life absorbs it. Maybe there are too many mammals or not enough plant life. Maybe it is just our need to reorganize our surrounding to our liking. I think one way to combat greenhouse gases is to PLANT MORE STUFF! Stop the idiots from cutting down the rain forests. While bamboo makes a good flooring option, wiping out natural rain forests in South America to plant Brazilian eucalyptus for exotic flooring is plain stupid. Our quest for over-the-top kitchens is one of the causes of greenhouse gases. Issuing carbon credits is another dumb ass way of making ourselves feel good about destroying our environment. Our guvmint has come up with a way for the rich and powerful to make even more money horse-trading these credits. These credits are just like the wetlands mitigation credits. It is ok to destroy 100 acres of natural wetlands as long as you recreate 100 acres somewhere else. It doesn't matter that you wiped out all of the wildlife on that 100 acres and that it will take 10-15 years for that same wildlife to reappear on the "new" wetlands.
Back to CO2! Some knucklehead has come up with an idea to store CO2 in underground caverns that will be sealed up forever. How do you think we are going to coax the CO2 in our atmosphere to go in a cave and stay there? What would happen if a big cloud escaped all at once? Check out this link: http://volcanoes.suite101.com/article.cfm/1986_limnic_eruption_of_lake_nyos
A gas bubble of CO2 erupted from a lake in Cameroon in 1986 and killed over 1700 people. Over 3000 livestock were also killed. I don't think I want that kind of stuff happening around me. We are mighty bold to think we can re-shape how nature handles itself.
By the way, check out this sugar link. I don't know how legit the info is but it is interesting. http://www.alternativescentral.com/sugar-sweetpoison.htm

Obama's public works initiative

It is being reported that a lot of the stimulus money earmarked for road and bridge projects is not going to the counties hardest hit by rising unemployment. Apparently the roads and bridges needing repair or replacement are not in these depressed areas. I know I'm just armchair quarterbacking here but I'm not so sure this is going to do much to stimulate the overall economy. Our society today is not like it was when FDR created the Civilian Conservation Corps. The guy who just got laid off from his 60k job running a computer-driven production machine will not be able to get a job pushing a shovel on the Interstate. The construction companies already have their employees in place and will not expand to fill the need. They will just push out deadlines for years. Any project not already designed and funded will take 4-5 years to get off the ground. In my area, there has been a railroad overpass project in the works for 25 years! The land has been surveyed twice, the last being 3 years ago. I suppose the theory behind the public works program is the same trickle-down idea that Reagan had. I don't know about you but I don't have 4 years to wait on my job to come back!

Experience is the best teacher

Bristol Palin has been catching crap on the news today for promoting abstinence among teens. A fair amount of people have labeled her a hypocrite. I think what she is doing is a good thing. It can't hurt. The way I see it, if it doesn't sink in by reading the directions, it will damn sure sink in when you smash your hand in whatever machine you are using!

Yo,Boss! MySpace ain't your space!

If I want to talk smack about my boss or workplace on a supposedly private password protected area of a website on my own pc in my own house, I think that I have that right without fear of legal repercussion. Now, if I am doing something illegal, that's different. There are certain instances where material is protected by copyright or contract but that still does not give employers the right to invade one's privacy at home. The manager at the Houston's restaurant in New Jersey where the 2 employees were fired for dissin' the boss was way out of line by using someone else's (an ass kisser no doubt) password to gain access to the private MySpace page. Isn't that some sort of illegal act? That's like my boss walking in my yard, looking thru my window, and seeing me doing, watching, or reading something he doesn't agree with, and then firing me over it. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court. Trespassing is defined as unlawful entry onto one's real property. Invasion of privacy is defined as intruding into the personal life of another. Is your MySpace page real property? Is it your personal life (assuming you have a private MySpace page)? What are we going to do when someone invents a mind reader app or contraption? Dogs and cats are mind readers, but don't speak human which is probably a good thing! Could you imagine if everyone's thoughts were just flying around like radio waves? We would all go nuts from the noise. Well, I kinda slipped off the rail there, so I reckon I'll stop now.

Perception and its effect on decision making

We typically make decisions based on either our own experiences or the advice of others. Of course, these are almost always subjective. When this is done on a global scale, it becomes really apparent how subjective it is. The recent swine flu outbreak is one of these. Currently, there are about 1200 cases worldwide with about 27 deaths. A normal flu season kills anywhere from 20000 to 40000 people. Why the big panic? The WHO keeps jacking up the threat level and by the time the media gets through with it, schools are closed and everyone is scrambling around looking for Tamiflu and wearing masks which, according to some news sources, don't stop the germ. There was not a world panic in 1984 and 1985 when the AIDS epidemic started. It has however snowballed into a huge problem with many deaths and no real end in sight. Was this because the group of people first affected were gay men or drug users? Are they not as important as everyone else? Deaths from AIDS is declining in the more settled areas of the world but it is wide open in Africa. Perhaps if the world's leading nations focused on this issue instead of some of the stupid shit they talk about now, the epidemic in Africa would lessen.
The war in Iraq is another example of subjective decision making. The US jumps in there with guns blazing using the excuse of WMD, religious extremists, and human rights violations and starts an expensive war. No WMDs but I guess the populace is happier now even though half their stuff is blown up. Somalia, however, is another story. With the multiple coups and civil wars, tens of thousands have been killed. There is virtually no government so it is like the Hatfields and McCoys all over the country. Pirates are openly operating in international waters. But hey, guess what? There's no oil production in Somalia!
I ran across a cool link while fact-checking for those who get off on statistics. Check it out if you get a chance. http://www.indexmundi.com/