In 2004, John Kerry, a Democrat US Senator from Massachusetts, was running for President. The Governor of Massachusetts at the time was Mitt Romney, a Republican. The Democrats were worried that if Kerry won, Romney would appoint a Republican to replace him. So, they passed a law that says if a US Senate seat is vacated, the Governor can't do anything about it. A special election must be called to fill the vacancy.
Fast-forward to today. Senator Edward Kennedy's favorite bit of legislation (health care reform) is up for consideration. His health is failing fast. The Democrats have a majority in the Senate, but it's shaky, and some moderates have already bolted. His seat cannot be empty if his pet project is to pass. So he's back in Massachusetts, trying to get the lawmakers to pass a new law to get rid of the almost-new law, and allow the Governor to appoint a successor.
As the Republican House Leader, Brad Jones, puts it, "If this is going to move forward, people are going to have to explain what's changed between then and now."
(And lest anyone think I'm picking on the Democrats here, well, I am. But I know that Republicans could easily try something so blatantly underhanded and partisan. In the northeast, this is politics as usual. In most of the rest of the country, it wouldn't even cross people's minds to try something like this.)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Collegian Gets it Right!
It isn't often I read something in the KSU Collegian that's worth the time it took to read it, but today's editorial by Tim Hadachek is wonderful. In discussing the party switch by Senator Arlen Specter, Hadachek reminds both parties that nothing much will change. Specter already voted with the Democrats most of the time.
Hadachek also tells us that Specter's party switch isn't about ideology, or a perceived swing to the right in the GOP. It's all about Specter, and his reelection in 2010. Interestingly, Specter was livid in 2001 when Senator Jim Jeffords changed from Republican to Independent. That move cost Specter his chairmanship of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
The whole party switch is to preserve Specter's cushy Senate seat. Surprised?
Quoting the last paragraph of the editorial:
Read the whole column here.
Hadachek also tells us that Specter's party switch isn't about ideology, or a perceived swing to the right in the GOP. It's all about Specter, and his reelection in 2010. Interestingly, Specter was livid in 2001 when Senator Jim Jeffords changed from Republican to Independent. That move cost Specter his chairmanship of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
The whole party switch is to preserve Specter's cushy Senate seat. Surprised?
Quoting the last paragraph of the editorial:
So Republicans can politely ask that Specter not let the door hit him on the way out. Nothing changes in the Senate -- except that another slimeball career politician will probably be reelected in 2010. But that's hardly a new development.
Read the whole column here.
Lessons from SARS in dealing with North American Flu
The news about the North American Flu (normally called "Swine Flu" ... but there's apparently some good reasons to believe pigs are not to blame) makes this article from 2008 particularly interesting. There's some wonderful stuff on the rest of the website, too!
The Heroes of SARS
The Heroes of SARS
Friday, April 17, 2009
The environmental cost of spam
Tree-hugger or not, here's some news from the BBC we can all take an interest in:
Spam produces 17m tons of CO2
Spam produces 17m tons of CO2
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Here we go again ...
MADISON, Wis. (4/15/09)--Credit unions are a "bright spot on the banking front," Arianna Huffington wrote on her blog Monday in The Huffington Post (April 13).
"They're lending, their balance sheets are solid, and their capital levels are near record highs," Huffington added.
She also wrote that credit unions are owned by shareholders, put member service ahead of profits and have avoided the subprime loan fiasco.
Huffington mentioned on her Facebook page and to her followers on Twitter that she was going to write about credit unions, and asked readers to send in their thoughts.
Some reader responses posted on her blog:
"My own experience suggests that if you are looking for a secure financial institution in these turbulent times, think small and think local ... look for banking and credit institutions that have ties to your community," a reader wrote about his positive experience going to a credit union.
"A credit union saved me from Bank of America. Every day BoA had a way to take some amount of money from me--every day a fee ranging from 25 cents to 35 dollars. Once I went credit union, transparency came back into my life. I woke up with the same amount of money I went to bed with ... The robbery was over. I will never trust a large bank again."
"All I can say is that nothing beats the personal attention a credit union offers. It's the 'Cheers' bar where everybody knows your name."
"My 19-year-old daughter, with no previous credit history, was unable to get a car loan even when she was putting 50% down. Our credit union came through for her."
"They're lending, their balance sheets are solid, and their capital levels are near record highs," Huffington added.
She also wrote that credit unions are owned by shareholders, put member service ahead of profits and have avoided the subprime loan fiasco.
Huffington mentioned on her Facebook page and to her followers on Twitter that she was going to write about credit unions, and asked readers to send in their thoughts.
Some reader responses posted on her blog:
"My own experience suggests that if you are looking for a secure financial institution in these turbulent times, think small and think local ... look for banking and credit institutions that have ties to your community," a reader wrote about his positive experience going to a credit union.
"A credit union saved me from Bank of America. Every day BoA had a way to take some amount of money from me--every day a fee ranging from 25 cents to 35 dollars. Once I went credit union, transparency came back into my life. I woke up with the same amount of money I went to bed with ... The robbery was over. I will never trust a large bank again."
"All I can say is that nothing beats the personal attention a credit union offers. It's the 'Cheers' bar where everybody knows your name."
"My 19-year-old daughter, with no previous credit history, was unable to get a car loan even when she was putting 50% down. Our credit union came through for her."
Friday, March 27, 2009
More on Credit Unions ...
Here are national average interest rates from DATATRAC as of March 26, 2009:
Numbers are: Average Credit Union rate, Average Bank Rate.
Savings
Savings: 0.56%; 0.36%
Interest-bearing Checking: 0.39%; 0.29%
1-Year CD: 2.17%; 1.69%
Consumer Loans
Regular Credit Card: 11.65%; 12.72%
48-month new car: 5.38%; 6.69%
48-month used car: 5.64%; 7.24%
36-month unsecured: 10.62%; 12.46%
Mortgage Loans
Home Equity Line of Credit: 4.40%; 4.77%
1-year ARM: 4.81%; 4.98%
30-year Fixed: 5.16%; 5.15%
Easy to see the difference, isn't it? Credit Unions win every category but one, and that one is almost a tie.
Numbers are: Average Credit Union rate, Average Bank Rate.
Savings
Savings: 0.56%; 0.36%
Interest-bearing Checking: 0.39%; 0.29%
1-Year CD: 2.17%; 1.69%
Consumer Loans
Regular Credit Card: 11.65%; 12.72%
48-month new car: 5.38%; 6.69%
48-month used car: 5.64%; 7.24%
36-month unsecured: 10.62%; 12.46%
Mortgage Loans
Home Equity Line of Credit: 4.40%; 4.77%
1-year ARM: 4.81%; 4.98%
30-year Fixed: 5.16%; 5.15%
Easy to see the difference, isn't it? Credit Unions win every category but one, and that one is almost a tie.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Credit Unions and the financial meltdown
At a time when many banks are failing, and the one's that aren't can be blamed for many of the economic problems facing our country, there's one bright spot: Credit Unions.
In testimony yesterday (March 24) before the Senate Banking Committee, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) CEO and President Dan Mica said that Credit Unions stand ready to loan as much as $10 billion to small businesses who have lost their lines of credit due to banks' hunkering down. The problem is that bankers years ago pushed for unrealistically small limits on how much money Credit Unions can loan out to businesses.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) asked bank representatives why the cap on business lending should not be lifted, even temporarily. The bankers were unable to give a reasonable answer. The truth, which could never be stated aloud, is that bankers fear competition from Credit Unions, and will do absolutely anything they can to limit their influence.
You can be a part of the solution! Look around for a local Credit Union and join. You'll meet good people, who make sound investments in people of your community. They have money to loan, and at rates which give bankers bad dreams. If you're depositing, you'll find better rates too. Why? Because unlike banks, Credit Unions are not-for-profit, run by volunteer boards, with dividends paid out to the members. Their costs are lower.
If you "live, work, worship, volunteer or attend school in Riley, Pottawatomie or Geary County" Kansas, an excellent choice would be the K-State Federal Credit Union. Check them out here.
Also, read the whole story of Mr. Mica's testimony here.
In testimony yesterday (March 24) before the Senate Banking Committee, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) CEO and President Dan Mica said that Credit Unions stand ready to loan as much as $10 billion to small businesses who have lost their lines of credit due to banks' hunkering down. The problem is that bankers years ago pushed for unrealistically small limits on how much money Credit Unions can loan out to businesses.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) asked bank representatives why the cap on business lending should not be lifted, even temporarily. The bankers were unable to give a reasonable answer. The truth, which could never be stated aloud, is that bankers fear competition from Credit Unions, and will do absolutely anything they can to limit their influence.
You can be a part of the solution! Look around for a local Credit Union and join. You'll meet good people, who make sound investments in people of your community. They have money to loan, and at rates which give bankers bad dreams. If you're depositing, you'll find better rates too. Why? Because unlike banks, Credit Unions are not-for-profit, run by volunteer boards, with dividends paid out to the members. Their costs are lower.
If you "live, work, worship, volunteer or attend school in Riley, Pottawatomie or Geary County" Kansas, an excellent choice would be the K-State Federal Credit Union. Check them out here.
Also, read the whole story of Mr. Mica's testimony here.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Customer Service, US Airways' Style
US Airways is not known for it's customer service, but Business Week magazine reports in it's March 2 issue (p 31) that the airline's performance after Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River "may become a model for crisis management."
US Airways stages disaster drills at every location it serves three times a year. When their plane went down in the Hudson River, their "Care Team" went into action. A special toll-free number was activated for families to get information. More than 100 employees boarded a plane from corporate HQ to New York to help. The Managing Director for Corporate Finance carried a bag of cash and credit cards to purchase whatever the passengers needed. There were prepaid cellular cards and sweat suits available. Employees escorted passengers to hotel rooms or other flights. They arranged train or bus tickets and rental cars for those who (perhaps understandably) didn't want to fly. Some passengers lost their Driver's Licenses, so US Airways worked with top management at Hertz and Amtrak to make sure people could go on their way without proper ID.
US Airways has sent each passenger three letters updating them on status, and along with one letter was a check for a refund of their ticket price, plus a $5,000 advance to purchase whatever they needed to replace what was lost. Of course, some do-gooders are griping about the small amount of that check. However, US Airways has done something surprising: These checks were given out without the passenger having to waive any of his or her legal rights. This is, as one consultant put it, "an unprecedented exception to the industry norm."
Sounds like they got something right after all.
US Airways stages disaster drills at every location it serves three times a year. When their plane went down in the Hudson River, their "Care Team" went into action. A special toll-free number was activated for families to get information. More than 100 employees boarded a plane from corporate HQ to New York to help. The Managing Director for Corporate Finance carried a bag of cash and credit cards to purchase whatever the passengers needed. There were prepaid cellular cards and sweat suits available. Employees escorted passengers to hotel rooms or other flights. They arranged train or bus tickets and rental cars for those who (perhaps understandably) didn't want to fly. Some passengers lost their Driver's Licenses, so US Airways worked with top management at Hertz and Amtrak to make sure people could go on their way without proper ID.
US Airways has sent each passenger three letters updating them on status, and along with one letter was a check for a refund of their ticket price, plus a $5,000 advance to purchase whatever they needed to replace what was lost. Of course, some do-gooders are griping about the small amount of that check. However, US Airways has done something surprising: These checks were given out without the passenger having to waive any of his or her legal rights. This is, as one consultant put it, "an unprecedented exception to the industry norm."
Sounds like they got something right after all.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Ireland's worst driver
The mystery of Ireland's worst driver has finally been solved. Prawo Jazdy had been wanted all across Ireland for racking up speeding tickets and parking fines. Authorities knew he was Polish, and he carried a Polish driver's license. However, every time he was stopped, he managed to elude capture by giving a different address.
Finally, some bright boy in the Garda figured out that "Prawo Jazdy" is Polish for ... "Driver's License".
Turns out there were nearly 50 entries in their database for Mr. Jazdy. A notice has gone out to all officers to examine Polish licenses a little more closely in the future. I suspect that authorities all over Europe are doing a quick (and quiet) scrub of their databases, too.
Read the BBC story here!
PS: I just noticed that my previous post was number 100. Hmmm.
Finally, some bright boy in the Garda figured out that "Prawo Jazdy" is Polish for ... "Driver's License".
Turns out there were nearly 50 entries in their database for Mr. Jazdy. A notice has gone out to all officers to examine Polish licenses a little more closely in the future. I suspect that authorities all over Europe are doing a quick (and quiet) scrub of their databases, too.
Read the BBC story here!
PS: I just noticed that my previous post was number 100. Hmmm.
Friday, February 13, 2009
The New New Deal
If you do not get Imprimis magazine, you must start now! Subscriptions are free, it's a very brief read (5-10 minutes), and it's always excellent.
Warning: If you are of a liberal political persuasion, exposure to the truth presented in Imprimis could be a shock.
In the January Issue, there is an article by Burton W. Folsom, Jr. He holds the Charles F. Kline Chair in History and Management at Hillsdale College. In the article, he discusses the effects of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". The amount of political wrangling, graft, and corruption involved in the handouts of Federal money is staggering. In addition, many of the programs created had unintended (and in some cases disastrous) consequences.
His concluding sentence:
Warning: If you are of a liberal political persuasion, exposure to the truth presented in Imprimis could be a shock.
In the January Issue, there is an article by Burton W. Folsom, Jr. He holds the Charles F. Kline Chair in History and Management at Hillsdale College. In the article, he discusses the effects of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". The amount of political wrangling, graft, and corruption involved in the handouts of Federal money is staggering. In addition, many of the programs created had unintended (and in some cases disastrous) consequences.
His concluding sentence:
If history is a guide, we have every reason to believe that if President Obama institutes a New New Deal, then universal health care, federal bailouts, and jobs stimulus programs will be costly, will be politicized, and will fail.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The more things change ...
An interesting story today on the BBC about "banksters", a word which combines "banker" and "gangster".
In 1928, Professor William Z. Ripley of Harvard condemned the practices of Wall Street at that time. He called them "prestidigitation, double-shuffling, honey-fugling, hornswoggling and skullduggery".
He tried to warn then-President Coolidge, but the President was an insider on Wall Street, making money using some of the very practices Ripley was citing. The result was the crash of 1929 and a decade of depression. A depression, by the way, made much worse and much longer by the Socialistic programs of Franklin Roosevelt.
Alas, the situation is remarkably similar today. And we now have a President who will take a slim victory in the polls as a "mandate" to do things far above and beyond what Roosevelt ever dreamed of. I hope you have comfortable shoes. You'll need them when you're standing next to me in the soup line.
Read the BBC story here. There's an interesting twist at the end.
In 1928, Professor William Z. Ripley of Harvard condemned the practices of Wall Street at that time. He called them "prestidigitation, double-shuffling, honey-fugling, hornswoggling and skullduggery".
He tried to warn then-President Coolidge, but the President was an insider on Wall Street, making money using some of the very practices Ripley was citing. The result was the crash of 1929 and a decade of depression. A depression, by the way, made much worse and much longer by the Socialistic programs of Franklin Roosevelt.
Alas, the situation is remarkably similar today. And we now have a President who will take a slim victory in the polls as a "mandate" to do things far above and beyond what Roosevelt ever dreamed of. I hope you have comfortable shoes. You'll need them when you're standing next to me in the soup line.
Read the BBC story here. There's an interesting twist at the end.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Gotta Love Ted!
(stolen unashamedly from the Forwarded Funnies website, which means it's going around the net ... you've possibly already seen it.)
Gotta Love Ted
Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being interviewed by a French journalist, an animal rights activist.
The discussion came around to deer hunting.
The journalist asked, 'What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it 'Are you the one who killed my brother?'
Nugent replied, 'Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, what am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away. They are very much like the French.'
The interview ended.
Forwarded Funnies: Gotta Love Ted
Gotta Love Ted
Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being interviewed by a French journalist, an animal rights activist.
The discussion came around to deer hunting.
The journalist asked, 'What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it 'Are you the one who killed my brother?'
Nugent replied, 'Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, what am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away. They are very much like the French.'
The interview ended.
Forwarded Funnies: Gotta Love Ted
Sunday, January 11, 2009
You're changing your oil too often!
The old "rule" about changing your oil every three months or 3,000 miles is just that ... OLD. Most cars and light trucks can easily go 7,500 to 10,000 miles on an oil change. The state of California just completed a two-year, three-million-mile study on Oil Change Intervals which proves that. You can read about it at The 3000 mile myth site.
If you're lucky, you're driving a vehicle which has an oil life monitor. These devices are available on most newer GM vehicles, many Chrysler products and some imports. They calculate the oil life based on the actual use of the vehicle. It's not necessary to change the oil until a message appears on your dashboard that it's time. On the two vehicles I own which are so equipped, the oil change intervals run 12,000 to 15,000 miles!
The simple truth is that both engines and oil have improved dramatically in the last forty years. Changing oil too often is expensive, unnecessary, and (perhaps worst) really, really bad for our environment.
(Please consult your vehicle's documentation for recommended oil change intervals. Some particularly harsh environments or rough uses will require more frequent changes, but 75-90 percent of drivers will fit into the recommendations for normal use.)
If you're lucky, you're driving a vehicle which has an oil life monitor. These devices are available on most newer GM vehicles, many Chrysler products and some imports. They calculate the oil life based on the actual use of the vehicle. It's not necessary to change the oil until a message appears on your dashboard that it's time. On the two vehicles I own which are so equipped, the oil change intervals run 12,000 to 15,000 miles!
The simple truth is that both engines and oil have improved dramatically in the last forty years. Changing oil too often is expensive, unnecessary, and (perhaps worst) really, really bad for our environment.
(Please consult your vehicle's documentation for recommended oil change intervals. Some particularly harsh environments or rough uses will require more frequent changes, but 75-90 percent of drivers will fit into the recommendations for normal use.)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Random Quotes
Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.
--Hub McCann in the movie "Secondhand Lions"
In the old days, people worried that computers would take over the world. We have now come to a point where computers are intelligent enough to realize that they don't want to.
--Randy Cassingham, thisistrue.com
--Hub McCann in the movie "Secondhand Lions"
In the old days, people worried that computers would take over the world. We have now come to a point where computers are intelligent enough to realize that they don't want to.
--Randy Cassingham, thisistrue.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)