I'm going to give some background to this next post before getting to the meat just so that there's absolute clarity regarding the issues involved.
About 2 months ago my honey, (significant other), bought a Toyota Camry from Enterprise Car Sales, (ECS).
The sales person showed us the certification done by 'a qualified independent mechanic' that guaranteed that everything was in good working condition. The carfax looked o.k. too.
They pushed getting an extended warranty that would cover the car "bumper to bumper" excepting normal maintenance such as oil changes. We got that. Inclusive to that warranty was that enterprise would provide a rental car free of charge while the purchased car was in the shop.
Initially she drove locally just to get a feel for the vehicle. Up to that time she had been driving a Dodge Caravan. On the third day she drove on the freeway to work for the first time.. and discovered that when breaking at about sixty m.p.h. the car shuddered badly and that the shudder was transmitted violently up the steering column. She went to play a CD only to discover that the CD player in the car was non functional.
We immediately contacted ECS and spoke to the sales person who stressed that the vehicle had passed inspection and that the extended warranty would cover any problems.
Because her schedule is incredibly hectic it was nearly two months before she had a day where she could drop the vehicle off to have it checked out. Well, first off Enterprise said she'd have to pay for the rental. Then Toyata told her that there was a deductible of two hundred dollars, and even worse that the brake pads and rotors were shot and would need to be replaced/repaired.
The brakes were not covered by the warranty and cost nearly seven hundred dollars.
The CD player was covered but the repairs was less than the deductible.
The Toyata dealerships mechanic affirmed that there was no way that the brakes could possibly have become so degraded in such a short period of time. The condition of the pads and rotors has been documented.
We contacted the dealership with this information and were told we'd be called back on whether or not the would cover the costs of repairs.
It's mid-day of day two and still no return call.
Can you say Better Business Bureau? Can you say State Attorney General?
I can. Better still, ECS should have done some homework on how well connected my sig other is statewide and nationally not to mention locally. I won't toot my own horn.. I annoy some people, but they also know I tell it like it is.
The people she knows love her and know she's bright and shiny, if she asks for help on something like this I feel sorry for the people that tried bending her over a barrel.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Doh! Factor of 10 to the 10th power
Seriously. I was still living in lower Manhattan on 9/11/01 .. this is beyond stupidity.
Do bureaucrats have major portions of their brains excised before being placed in positions where they make decisions like the one mentioned in the link posted below?
If you wanted to create panic and psychological stress in people who had been on site for the afore mentioned event the official responsible for setting up the Statue of Liberty 'photo-op' did everything exactly right.
They need to not be tasked with public relations related activities or anything job operation that might impose their ham fistedness on the public at large. Just an Ex NY'kers personal opinion.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/27/low.flying.plane/
Do bureaucrats have major portions of their brains excised before being placed in positions where they make decisions like the one mentioned in the link posted below?
If you wanted to create panic and psychological stress in people who had been on site for the afore mentioned event the official responsible for setting up the Statue of Liberty 'photo-op' did everything exactly right.
They need to not be tasked with public relations related activities or anything job operation that might impose their ham fistedness on the public at large. Just an Ex NY'kers personal opinion.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/27/low.flying.plane/
Monday, April 20, 2009
Earth Day and global warming and later on
Well, it's been 39 years since the first Earth Day and issues of dumping pollutants into the water and air supply as well as burying it in the ground are still rampant.
I've given this issue a lot of thought since I first heard about the CO2 issue 41 years ago and have reached a few conclusions.
1: Unless large corporations see immediate profits* from reducing the pollution generated by their operations they will not willingly undertake action to reduce said pollution.
2: Once people become used to a lifestyle that is comfortable they are unwilling to relinquish that lifestyle.
3: The processes of climate change can be likened to a supercargo vessel, once it gets going it's not going to stop on a dime... or a manhole cover.
4: Most of the dialog by scientists monitoring global warming trends focus specifically on the man made elements and chemicals which have accelerated a process the planet normally goes through.
I have seen no instances where they added in the 'natural' forces such as volcanic gases, methane release from oceanic clathrates and melting permafrost although I'm sure someone is probably trying to look at those numbers, (while gnawing their fingernails to the quick).
5: When I first learned of this issue way back when, I learned about the complete natural cycle.. after it gets hot.. it gets really really cold.
Of course that can take centuries but one small fun fact that should be mention is this: we're in what they call an 'inter-glacial' period. In fact according to the dating of ice cores we're actually a bit on the late side to begin a new ice age.
Isn't science fun?
But it gets better.. how do ice ages begin? First you warm up the planet, then melt the ice caps.
If you dump say, all the fresh water frozen on Greenland into the Gulfstream you essentially hit the 'off switch' for the global conveyor current.
It's only in the last decade that it became clear that all ocean currents are tied into one giant heat exchange system.
It's also the main reason we live on mostly ice free continents.
But turn that system off and the places that are getting warmed by the heat carried up from the equator begin to cool, rather rapidly.
Are we having fun yet?
Well hang on, it gets better.
So, there you are living in say.. Chicago or New York City or London or Moscow and the first year after the conveyor goes offline is on the cool side, say the next year the snows stay through too late April, May or possibly depending on the latitude of your city.
And each successive year the winters last just a bit longer. Reflecting heat back into space for every day that snow is on the ground.
Within a relatively short time the 'habitable' zone will begin shrinking southward toward the equator.. and all the creature comforts we humans have invented will be legends told to the survivors. Tales of flying machines and buildings that reached the sky..
First the fire and then the ice. It sounds like something a deranged science fiction writer would pen doesn't it?
*(inside a 5 year time period)
I've given this issue a lot of thought since I first heard about the CO2 issue 41 years ago and have reached a few conclusions.
1: Unless large corporations see immediate profits* from reducing the pollution generated by their operations they will not willingly undertake action to reduce said pollution.
2: Once people become used to a lifestyle that is comfortable they are unwilling to relinquish that lifestyle.
3: The processes of climate change can be likened to a supercargo vessel, once it gets going it's not going to stop on a dime... or a manhole cover.
4: Most of the dialog by scientists monitoring global warming trends focus specifically on the man made elements and chemicals which have accelerated a process the planet normally goes through.
I have seen no instances where they added in the 'natural' forces such as volcanic gases, methane release from oceanic clathrates and melting permafrost although I'm sure someone is probably trying to look at those numbers, (while gnawing their fingernails to the quick).
5: When I first learned of this issue way back when, I learned about the complete natural cycle.. after it gets hot.. it gets really really cold.
Of course that can take centuries but one small fun fact that should be mention is this: we're in what they call an 'inter-glacial' period. In fact according to the dating of ice cores we're actually a bit on the late side to begin a new ice age.
Isn't science fun?
But it gets better.. how do ice ages begin? First you warm up the planet, then melt the ice caps.
If you dump say, all the fresh water frozen on Greenland into the Gulfstream you essentially hit the 'off switch' for the global conveyor current.
It's only in the last decade that it became clear that all ocean currents are tied into one giant heat exchange system.
It's also the main reason we live on mostly ice free continents.
But turn that system off and the places that are getting warmed by the heat carried up from the equator begin to cool, rather rapidly.
Are we having fun yet?
Well hang on, it gets better.
So, there you are living in say.. Chicago or New York City or London or Moscow and the first year after the conveyor goes offline is on the cool side, say the next year the snows stay through too late April, May or possibly depending on the latitude of your city.
And each successive year the winters last just a bit longer. Reflecting heat back into space for every day that snow is on the ground.
Within a relatively short time the 'habitable' zone will begin shrinking southward toward the equator.. and all the creature comforts we humans have invented will be legends told to the survivors. Tales of flying machines and buildings that reached the sky..
First the fire and then the ice. It sounds like something a deranged science fiction writer would pen doesn't it?
*(inside a 5 year time period)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Now?!
Unbelievable.. the party of corporate give-aways and tax cutters extraodinaire, (does anyone remember voodoo economics and which party invented it? Think Reagan.), that party which engineered the financial morass we find ourselves in is now going to be the party of fiscal responsibility?
Wow.
Wait a minute.. where was their fiscal responsibility when they voted for more money for a war where money literally disappeared? A war that sucked hundreds of billions of dollars out of tax payer pockets.
Isn't that the same party that swore the 'market' could and should regulate itself?
Are they going to keep saying government shouldn't get involved now that the rampant greed of people like Madoff have been laid in the light?
Ohh, did they mean regulate like sharks do in a feeding frenzy? Is their philosophy 'Carpe diem, caveat emptor'? I thought that was more a libertarian stance.
The dichotomy between what their party supposedly stands for and what they truly act in favor for seem to be at odds if taken in view of the last 30 years of the party as a whole.
They talk the talk, but somehow it's the CEO that gets the breaks and the average working man or woman find themselves needing 2 jobs where one used to suffice.. if they can find a job.
Talk about hypocrisy, suddenly now that they've been kicked in the figurative family jewels by the voters who actually did give the current president a real majority mandate for change, they're going to 'return to the roots' of their party.
I have an idea.
If they're so patriotic let them pay for their own health care instead of that ultra inexpensive health plan they have courtesy of every working tax payer, (some of whom are undocumented workers. You should say thank you all you congressmen and women whenever you use it). It's a health plan that every blue collar American could only dream of having.
Let them pay for their own travel without getting reimbursed by the tax payer.
And while their at it, why don't they vote to cut their pay by 20% to show some empathy for the squeeze the average worker is feeling.
Fiscal responsibility? Do more with less Mr. and Ms. Republican congress person, not less with more as you have in the past, (anyone want a Bridge to Nowhere?), and the country *might* start believing your are the party of Lincoln again.
But, and here's the kicker, if you helped create a wreck and there are people in dire need of first aid and you start crying that the bandages are too expensive you won't impress anyone with that argument that has half a brain.
Serve the nation or get out of the way.
Wow.
Wait a minute.. where was their fiscal responsibility when they voted for more money for a war where money literally disappeared? A war that sucked hundreds of billions of dollars out of tax payer pockets.
Isn't that the same party that swore the 'market' could and should regulate itself?
Are they going to keep saying government shouldn't get involved now that the rampant greed of people like Madoff have been laid in the light?
Ohh, did they mean regulate like sharks do in a feeding frenzy? Is their philosophy 'Carpe diem, caveat emptor'? I thought that was more a libertarian stance.
The dichotomy between what their party supposedly stands for and what they truly act in favor for seem to be at odds if taken in view of the last 30 years of the party as a whole.
They talk the talk, but somehow it's the CEO that gets the breaks and the average working man or woman find themselves needing 2 jobs where one used to suffice.. if they can find a job.
Talk about hypocrisy, suddenly now that they've been kicked in the figurative family jewels by the voters who actually did give the current president a real majority mandate for change, they're going to 'return to the roots' of their party.
I have an idea.
If they're so patriotic let them pay for their own health care instead of that ultra inexpensive health plan they have courtesy of every working tax payer, (some of whom are undocumented workers. You should say thank you all you congressmen and women whenever you use it). It's a health plan that every blue collar American could only dream of having.
Let them pay for their own travel without getting reimbursed by the tax payer.
And while their at it, why don't they vote to cut their pay by 20% to show some empathy for the squeeze the average worker is feeling.
Fiscal responsibility? Do more with less Mr. and Ms. Republican congress person, not less with more as you have in the past, (anyone want a Bridge to Nowhere?), and the country *might* start believing your are the party of Lincoln again.
But, and here's the kicker, if you helped create a wreck and there are people in dire need of first aid and you start crying that the bandages are too expensive you won't impress anyone with that argument that has half a brain.
Serve the nation or get out of the way.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Cost Analysis
Find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down.... - S. Stills 1970
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down.... - S. Stills 1970
Monday, February 02, 2009
We knew this 30 years ago....
We did know this, and for a while even China was trying to slow the birth rates in their country.. and then the 80's hit and the Me Generation started cranking out kiddies.. and suddenly being aware and responsible for your impact on the planet became passe.
Fun fact: It was never passe. There's a saying" Mankind forgives, nature doesn't. In the real world cause and affect never go away even when you choose to bury your heads in the sand.
It reminds me of costal communities back in the 1990's that were continually whining about beach erosion, as if suddenly the cycle had after millions of years accelerated in less a decade.. what made more sense and is actually the case was that the sea level was on the rise.
But hey, calling something beach erosion is less scary.
Let's talk fish then. One thing people always believed is if they stick a net in the ocean they'll pull out the same quantities of fish as their ancestors did generations before them barring seasonal variations.
But back in their ancestors days let's say there were just 100 fishers in the area, come forward to this generation and there are 1000 and they are using nets that don't catch some fish they're using nets that catch most fish. That's not a sustainable cycle.
In nature, normally when a species population reaches a critical point that population would crash after having exceeded it's food supply.
Enter Man the toolmaker. No longer do we have massive die offs from plagues and food shortages except in the poorest of countries or where warfare has disrupted supplies.
Something will give.
Fun fact: It was never passe. There's a saying" Mankind forgives, nature doesn't. In the real world cause and affect never go away even when you choose to bury your heads in the sand.
It reminds me of costal communities back in the 1990's that were continually whining about beach erosion, as if suddenly the cycle had after millions of years accelerated in less a decade.. what made more sense and is actually the case was that the sea level was on the rise.
But hey, calling something beach erosion is less scary.
Let's talk fish then. One thing people always believed is if they stick a net in the ocean they'll pull out the same quantities of fish as their ancestors did generations before them barring seasonal variations.
But back in their ancestors days let's say there were just 100 fishers in the area, come forward to this generation and there are 1000 and they are using nets that don't catch some fish they're using nets that catch most fish. That's not a sustainable cycle.
In nature, normally when a species population reaches a critical point that population would crash after having exceeded it's food supply.
Enter Man the toolmaker. No longer do we have massive die offs from plagues and food shortages except in the poorest of countries or where warfare has disrupted supplies.
Something will give.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Slime
People responsible for this sort of abuse need to be sent somewhere where lead is flying until they get a clue.. or they catch some.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Protests.. equal time?
Ok, the perennial battle between Palestinians, (who have valid grievances), and Israelis, (who have valid grievances), has erupted again after the cease fire with Hamas ended.
Almost immediately rocket and mortar fire began landing in towns in southern Israel.
For several days the Israelis seemed to hold off on responding except to issue warnings. And then the jets came in and began plastering Hamas's compounds. Nothing new there, right?
Here's the thing though, When Hamas or any other group attacks civilian targets in Israel you never ever see Arab groups protesting those attacks.
On the other hand if Israel responds with it's notoriously heavy handed response, (if you don't comprehend the thinking behind that tactic you need to go back to the time of Golda Mier or read a boook titled Ender's War), there are protests from nearly all corners of the Arab world.
If the people of that region are ever to have peace then both will have to get past the retribution cycle and end the blame game. Easier said than done when most people in the region approach an argument as if it were an art form.
Almost immediately rocket and mortar fire began landing in towns in southern Israel.
For several days the Israelis seemed to hold off on responding except to issue warnings. And then the jets came in and began plastering Hamas's compounds. Nothing new there, right?
Here's the thing though, When Hamas or any other group attacks civilian targets in Israel you never ever see Arab groups protesting those attacks.
On the other hand if Israel responds with it's notoriously heavy handed response, (if you don't comprehend the thinking behind that tactic you need to go back to the time of Golda Mier or read a boook titled Ender's War), there are protests from nearly all corners of the Arab world.
If the people of that region are ever to have peace then both will have to get past the retribution cycle and end the blame game. Easier said than done when most people in the region approach an argument as if it were an art form.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tunnel Vision
No, it's not a new cool device! It's da Pope!
I wonder if the Vatican is using the lead pipes the Romans were using to pipe water though the city. It's the only explanation I can see for this type of thinking.
I wonder if the Vatican is using the lead pipes the Romans were using to pipe water though the city. It's the only explanation I can see for this type of thinking.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
A picture is worth a thousand words...
And this one captures exactly what seems to be the Senate Republican's stance.
Fiscally Conservative?
Apparently there's a faction of the Republican party that is anything but fiscally responsible.
It used to the democrats that were the friend of big business, and voting Republican meant you opposed that type of collusion. Now the situation has flipped 180 degrees. There may be some real fiscal conservatives in the Republican party, but they are getting harder and harder to find.. it's far easier to find Republican's that talk the talk and are more socially conservative but even there only giving lip service to that ideology.
In the last few days just how much contempt the current president has for the middle class people of our country has come to light. An attempt to rein in the greed found at the top of Wall Street firms and in some banking institutions was eviscerated at the current president's behest.
Why do I say contempt? Very simply it will be every tax payer's dollars that go to provide the money for any bonuses, golden parachutes or pay dividends these executives reap.
Doesn't our president think that these people should be held responsible for the wreckage they've created? No, apparently not.. if your crime is so egregious and your connections so far reaching apparently you can get off scott free for having engineered the failure of your institutions, the bankrupting of hundreds of thousands of people.
Are you responsible for setting in motion events that end up casting millions of people out of work? Not a problem, you're a member of the club, we can't let you suffer. So much for compassion for the people of this country, it looks like that applies to only people above a certain earnings bracket.
It used to the democrats that were the friend of big business, and voting Republican meant you opposed that type of collusion. Now the situation has flipped 180 degrees. There may be some real fiscal conservatives in the Republican party, but they are getting harder and harder to find.. it's far easier to find Republican's that talk the talk and are more socially conservative but even there only giving lip service to that ideology.
In the last few days just how much contempt the current president has for the middle class people of our country has come to light. An attempt to rein in the greed found at the top of Wall Street firms and in some banking institutions was eviscerated at the current president's behest.
Why do I say contempt? Very simply it will be every tax payer's dollars that go to provide the money for any bonuses, golden parachutes or pay dividends these executives reap.
Doesn't our president think that these people should be held responsible for the wreckage they've created? No, apparently not.. if your crime is so egregious and your connections so far reaching apparently you can get off scott free for having engineered the failure of your institutions, the bankrupting of hundreds of thousands of people.
Are you responsible for setting in motion events that end up casting millions of people out of work? Not a problem, you're a member of the club, we can't let you suffer. So much for compassion for the people of this country, it looks like that applies to only people above a certain earnings bracket.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Even Worse (Not the Weird Al Yankovic album)
Sometimes your the ball, sometimes your the bat... but are you ever ahead of the curve?
I touched on climate change in my last post.. and today I read this article.
It's always the unanticipated effects that catch you out.
Funnily enough some of the problems like melting permafrost have been considered by some scientists. I see no mention of the methane that will be released when the permafrost melts. It's only a major greenhouse gas.. someone will plug that in soon I'm sure.
Oh, and here's a fun fact: pytoplankton are a major part of the CO2 to oxygen cycle.. kick up the ultraviolet penetrating the earth's atmosphere and you reduce the ability of earth's oceans to take up CO2.
Ever wonder how a mammoth could have been flash frozen even as it was munching green vegetation?
That's been a puzzle to the scientists who were studying it. We may, (relatively), soon be able answer that question. Whether we'll be able to record that information for whoever follows us is another question.
I'm sure there will people that read this and think, "he's a nut job alarmist". To the ostrich's that walk as human beings among us I say this: eat drink and be merry, for in less than a century civilization as you knew it will be gone.
What a legacy....
I touched on climate change in my last post.. and today I read this article.
It's always the unanticipated effects that catch you out.
Funnily enough some of the problems like melting permafrost have been considered by some scientists. I see no mention of the methane that will be released when the permafrost melts. It's only a major greenhouse gas.. someone will plug that in soon I'm sure.
Oh, and here's a fun fact: pytoplankton are a major part of the CO2 to oxygen cycle.. kick up the ultraviolet penetrating the earth's atmosphere and you reduce the ability of earth's oceans to take up CO2.
Ever wonder how a mammoth could have been flash frozen even as it was munching green vegetation?
That's been a puzzle to the scientists who were studying it. We may, (relatively), soon be able answer that question. Whether we'll be able to record that information for whoever follows us is another question.
I'm sure there will people that read this and think, "he's a nut job alarmist". To the ostrich's that walk as human beings among us I say this: eat drink and be merry, for in less than a century civilization as you knew it will be gone.
What a legacy....
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Greed, Corporate Responsibility, and the American Public
(Or What's Good for GM is Good for America)
As Americans we live with a lot of assumptions. We assume that the government is there to serve us, We assume that the people in big business would not knowingly put out products that are harmful to us, our children and future generations.
I could print up a list of countless examples where all of those assumptions are proven to be erroneous, where the trust is continually be broken. Worse I could cite examples where industries knowingly and falsely deny that their product is harmful to the public.
The Tobacco industry comes to mind. For decades they denied the product was addicted and potentially lethal to the users of their product. In the face of independent scientific and federal studies they brought forth their pet scientists to cloud the issue for decades.
Eventually they caved in and admitted that yes, tobacco can lead to a rather unpleasant death, but they continued to deny that is was addictive.. and then they caved in and admitted it was addictive. Then it's was rumored that they enhanced the addictiveness of certain products. And yet again it came out that in fact they did add chemicals to make them more addictive. And it doesn't just kill the user, oh no.. in the case of the cigarette the user can help kill off the people nearby who happen to be breathing the air the smoke is drifting on.
But it's good for all the farmers that raise the crop, and for the people employed in manufacturing, distributing and advertising the products.
Much as the raising of poppies or coca is in other countries. But the products from poppies and coca are illegal because they're harmful to you. Yeah. Wait.. so I can smoke myself to death.. but anything that might make you feel a buzz is illegal? But what about alcohol? Hmm. Ok, we're diverging from the main track slightly there. But can you spot a trend?
Ok, we all like clean drinking water, clean air, decent food right? Forty years ago climate change was bought to the attention of the federal government by certain concerned scientists. Back then all they were just looking at was CO2 levels, chlorofluorocarbons weren't on the radar and ozone holes weren't even a bad dream.
They basically said, we need to cut back on output or life on this planet is going to get really unpleasant. Their report was met with skepticism. I was 14 when I read about it and the data they had back then was rather compelling, even to a 14 year old*. They hadn't coined a good name for the effects though. What they did do was lay out a line of general projections of what happens when the earth gets too warm.
When other people all around the world began getting similar results and tried getting their governments to pay attention a certain industry got rather upset and bought some scientists of their own that would blow smoke and cloud the issue so that they could continue doing business with no loss of profits.
I'd go so far as to say they bought some politicians, but well then I'd have to lay out substantiation and it would get messy. Besides we all know that you can't buy a public official, right?
But does anyone really doubt that global warming is here now? (Let me clue you in on a little something, it's effects are a lot worse than has been publicly mentioned. A few years ago the Pentagon issued a rather grim assessment of the situation and how it would affect people's ways of life. Be afraid. Or invest in water reclamation systems.
And now we have the global economy meltdown. Yes sir your stock brokerage were out there making sure your investments were safe! And if you believe that now I have a small used planet I'd like to sell you. Cheap.
In all these instances a small group of people made unholy amounts of money while the effects of that lay waste to the lives and the planet they live on. Here's the thing I don't get.. these people have children too. Don't they give a damn about the quality of life their descendants will inherit? Apparently not. Maybe they plan on living in sealed self sufficient bio-domes.
You'd assume that people wouldn't do something as shortsighted as the people behind the decisions that have led to these various debacles. But the proof is in the results.
Apparently it's all about how many credit points you're worth not whether you leave the world a better place than you found it.
Sadly most people are too busy trying to keep their heads above water in an arbitrarily created socio-economic system to really reign in the nut cases that endanger their futures. And it doesn't matter what economic system you look at you always have these fruit cakes grabbing the reigns eventually and heading the horses for a cliff.
I don't have a solution. Throughout history there have been people that proposed alternate modes of behavior and if they didn't get killed for their efforts they were co-opted.
It would be nice if people woke up and held people that make decisions that effect the entire planet responsible for their actions. Just desserts. Then perhaps the greed impulse would start to automatically get restrained. Picture it.
It's just a thought and I know it'll never happen.. but I can dream... for now.
* I started telling everyone I knew about it, friends and acquaintances. 40 years ago if you went around spouting scenarios that see human civilization scraped off the face of the earth you quickly got a label as 'the weird guy'. Now it's fashionable, go figure. I'm comfortable being 'the weird guy' though.
As Americans we live with a lot of assumptions. We assume that the government is there to serve us, We assume that the people in big business would not knowingly put out products that are harmful to us, our children and future generations.
I could print up a list of countless examples where all of those assumptions are proven to be erroneous, where the trust is continually be broken. Worse I could cite examples where industries knowingly and falsely deny that their product is harmful to the public.
The Tobacco industry comes to mind. For decades they denied the product was addicted and potentially lethal to the users of their product. In the face of independent scientific and federal studies they brought forth their pet scientists to cloud the issue for decades.
Eventually they caved in and admitted that yes, tobacco can lead to a rather unpleasant death, but they continued to deny that is was addictive.. and then they caved in and admitted it was addictive. Then it's was rumored that they enhanced the addictiveness of certain products. And yet again it came out that in fact they did add chemicals to make them more addictive. And it doesn't just kill the user, oh no.. in the case of the cigarette the user can help kill off the people nearby who happen to be breathing the air the smoke is drifting on.
But it's good for all the farmers that raise the crop, and for the people employed in manufacturing, distributing and advertising the products.
Much as the raising of poppies or coca is in other countries. But the products from poppies and coca are illegal because they're harmful to you. Yeah. Wait.. so I can smoke myself to death.. but anything that might make you feel a buzz is illegal? But what about alcohol? Hmm. Ok, we're diverging from the main track slightly there. But can you spot a trend?
Ok, we all like clean drinking water, clean air, decent food right? Forty years ago climate change was bought to the attention of the federal government by certain concerned scientists. Back then all they were just looking at was CO2 levels, chlorofluorocarbons weren't on the radar and ozone holes weren't even a bad dream.
They basically said, we need to cut back on output or life on this planet is going to get really unpleasant. Their report was met with skepticism. I was 14 when I read about it and the data they had back then was rather compelling, even to a 14 year old*. They hadn't coined a good name for the effects though. What they did do was lay out a line of general projections of what happens when the earth gets too warm.
When other people all around the world began getting similar results and tried getting their governments to pay attention a certain industry got rather upset and bought some scientists of their own that would blow smoke and cloud the issue so that they could continue doing business with no loss of profits.
I'd go so far as to say they bought some politicians, but well then I'd have to lay out substantiation and it would get messy. Besides we all know that you can't buy a public official, right?
But does anyone really doubt that global warming is here now? (Let me clue you in on a little something, it's effects are a lot worse than has been publicly mentioned. A few years ago the Pentagon issued a rather grim assessment of the situation and how it would affect people's ways of life. Be afraid. Or invest in water reclamation systems.
And now we have the global economy meltdown. Yes sir your stock brokerage were out there making sure your investments were safe! And if you believe that now I have a small used planet I'd like to sell you. Cheap.
In all these instances a small group of people made unholy amounts of money while the effects of that lay waste to the lives and the planet they live on. Here's the thing I don't get.. these people have children too. Don't they give a damn about the quality of life their descendants will inherit? Apparently not. Maybe they plan on living in sealed self sufficient bio-domes.
You'd assume that people wouldn't do something as shortsighted as the people behind the decisions that have led to these various debacles. But the proof is in the results.
Apparently it's all about how many credit points you're worth not whether you leave the world a better place than you found it.
Sadly most people are too busy trying to keep their heads above water in an arbitrarily created socio-economic system to really reign in the nut cases that endanger their futures. And it doesn't matter what economic system you look at you always have these fruit cakes grabbing the reigns eventually and heading the horses for a cliff.
I don't have a solution. Throughout history there have been people that proposed alternate modes of behavior and if they didn't get killed for their efforts they were co-opted.
It would be nice if people woke up and held people that make decisions that effect the entire planet responsible for their actions. Just desserts. Then perhaps the greed impulse would start to automatically get restrained. Picture it.
It's just a thought and I know it'll never happen.. but I can dream... for now.
* I started telling everyone I knew about it, friends and acquaintances. 40 years ago if you went around spouting scenarios that see human civilization scraped off the face of the earth you quickly got a label as 'the weird guy'. Now it's fashionable, go figure. I'm comfortable being 'the weird guy' though.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Greed pays...
... well no.. it doesn't in this case!
Picture a sardonic smile here. The boys at SCO thought that they could badger linux users into paying bogus licensing fees and convinced a few companies to cough up some dough.
Interestingly enough Microsoft apparently loaned SCO some money for reasons murky at best.. but consider that at one point in a meeting a certain officer high in MS administration named linux as being the greatest threat to the dominance of the MS Windows operating system.
Draw your own conclusions.
But then they got greedy and sued IBM and Novell. SCO claims that the code that IBM, (which they had acquired from Novell), donated to the linux community was actually owned by SCO by right of purchase.
But in the end the original contracts signed by SCO were examined by a court.. and testimony was given and it turned out that what SCO had actually bought was the right to license the operating system, but the original owners still owned the IP. Oh dear poor poor SCO. After much dragging of their feet it turned out that SCO's claims were all smoke and mirrors and that their claims of IP theft was a thing of fantasy.
Ohh.. but it gets better, Novell looks at the books and says 'Hey, wait a minute! You owe us fees!' And lo, the court agrees!.
Oh what will poor greedy SCO do? Why declare bankruptcy, of course!
At that point some 'company' appears on the scene and says.. oh we'll give you some money poor SCO.. but then they get a good look at the mess SCO had created and realize none of their goals will ever be realized and they suddenly got cold feet. (So much for raking in money from bogus linux licenses!)
Well.. the court say.. 'ok boys, you've had you fun.. pay the money you owe Novell and stop jerking everyone around' to grossly paraphrase. Does SCO even make a token attempt to pay their debt, they do not.. and so the court has issued an warning.
So why the sardonic smile? Because there's nothing I enjoy seeing more than a pack of malicious greedy dirtbags getting their heads handed to them while they figuratively thrashed before their peers. If only it happened in the financial community too.. sigh.. I can dream.
Picture a sardonic smile here. The boys at SCO thought that they could badger linux users into paying bogus licensing fees and convinced a few companies to cough up some dough.
Interestingly enough Microsoft apparently loaned SCO some money for reasons murky at best.. but consider that at one point in a meeting a certain officer high in MS administration named linux as being the greatest threat to the dominance of the MS Windows operating system.
Draw your own conclusions.
But then they got greedy and sued IBM and Novell. SCO claims that the code that IBM, (which they had acquired from Novell), donated to the linux community was actually owned by SCO by right of purchase.
But in the end the original contracts signed by SCO were examined by a court.. and testimony was given and it turned out that what SCO had actually bought was the right to license the operating system, but the original owners still owned the IP. Oh dear poor poor SCO. After much dragging of their feet it turned out that SCO's claims were all smoke and mirrors and that their claims of IP theft was a thing of fantasy.
Ohh.. but it gets better, Novell looks at the books and says 'Hey, wait a minute! You owe us fees!' And lo, the court agrees!.
Oh what will poor greedy SCO do? Why declare bankruptcy, of course!
At that point some 'company' appears on the scene and says.. oh we'll give you some money poor SCO.. but then they get a good look at the mess SCO had created and realize none of their goals will ever be realized and they suddenly got cold feet. (So much for raking in money from bogus linux licenses!)
Well.. the court say.. 'ok boys, you've had you fun.. pay the money you owe Novell and stop jerking everyone around' to grossly paraphrase. Does SCO even make a token attempt to pay their debt, they do not.. and so the court has issued an warning.
So why the sardonic smile? Because there's nothing I enjoy seeing more than a pack of malicious greedy dirtbags getting their heads handed to them while they figuratively thrashed before their peers. If only it happened in the financial community too.. sigh.. I can dream.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wall Street's Pork Barrel Revealed
It's the nitty gritty.
Everyone has been saying that default credit swaps were too complex to explain, or they'd resort to double speak in an effort to cloud the issue.
Apparently it's not really that complex, it's just a really bad idea that people bought into... a Wall Street Pyramid scheme that like all pyramid scheme's leaves the last ones in holding the bag.
If you have the stomach for it read this article. And brace for impact.
Everyone has been saying that default credit swaps were too complex to explain, or they'd resort to double speak in an effort to cloud the issue.
Apparently it's not really that complex, it's just a really bad idea that people bought into... a Wall Street Pyramid scheme that like all pyramid scheme's leaves the last ones in holding the bag.
If you have the stomach for it read this article. And brace for impact.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Yeee-haaa!
Whoa there little doggies!
Can this be true?
Texans indicting the current VP and former US AG of criminal racketeering, color me flumoxed!
Of course the likelihood of it ever going to trial are about as good as the EU's charges of war crimes sticking.
But still it takes guts to go after someone that unloaded a shotgun in someone's face and got away with it.
Can this be true?
Texans indicting the current VP and former US AG of criminal racketeering, color me flumoxed!
Of course the likelihood of it ever going to trial are about as good as the EU's charges of war crimes sticking.
But still it takes guts to go after someone that unloaded a shotgun in someone's face and got away with it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)