Useless But Interesting

At 5 minutes and six seconds after 4AM on July 8, 2009 the time and date will be:

04.05.06.    07/08/09

This will never happen again.

Games Republicans Play

Republican Senate leaders, Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyle, declined the President's invitation to be briefed Thursday at the Whitehouse on Afghanistan policy.

Republican House Whip, Eric Cantor, attended a Britney Spears concert rather than hear the President's prime-time news conference on the budget Tuesday evening.

Rebublican Govenor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, after the news conference, attacked the President's budget and mounted, according to CNN,  "a spirited defense" of those who like Rush Limbaugh want our president to fail.

On one hand, these guys want Obama to fail in his attempts to improve our country's  financial disaster that he inherited from the Republicans, and on the other hand, they apparently are too busy to participate in major foriegn policy and budget discussions. As with the stimulus package, they will attempt to obstruct Obama's plans and complain that they were left "out of the loop."

There is a place in a democracy for the "loyal opposition," but this is blatant, self-serving obstructionism.  Such an approach seems to suggest that: it's not what's good for our country; it's what's good for the Republican party interests.

Lest We Forget

Twenty years ago today, the Exxon Valdez spilled eleven million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. By this time, we were told, the effects would be negligible.

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees Council, made up of federal and state officials to oversee restoration efforts, concluded recently that the Sound "is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks of the spill."

The Council continues, "At this rate the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely." Additiionally, they "have documented lingering oil on Kenai Peninsula and Katmai coast, over 450 miles away."

As for wildlife, nine species have "recovered," seven "are recovering," and two have" not recovered." The status of four species is "unkown."

Clearly, the spill was more devastating than anyone anticipated. Hopefully, oil companies and government regulators will take note of that fact on this anniversary.

If you live in Michigan...

If you live in Michigan and are unemployed, you can obtain free tickets to Jay Leno's stand-up comedy show, "Jay's Comedy Stimulus Plan," at the Palace of Auburn Hills on April 7th and 8th. 

A Dedicated "Greaser"

If you like the smell of French Fries or other fried food, you might want to take a ride with Stacy Jurich in her 1981 Mercedes 240 (156,000 plus miles).

Stacy, a talented young woman from Toledo, who among other enterprises teaches tennis lessons at the Toledo Tennis Club, is driving the above mentioned Mercedes across the country using WVO (waste vegetable oil) for fuel. She left Toledo in February for the east coast (Carolinas) and took a southern route west. When she returns from the west coast she will follow a more northern route and expects to travel 8,000 miles or more before she returns. Her car, named "Vegipower, " has been converted to run on WVO in place of diesel fuel.

Exxon and BP do not, of course, sell vegetable oil and thus the question becomes: where does one obtain WVO, especially on a cross-country trip? Not a problem for Stacy. In whatever city she happens to be, she goes to a local Chinese restaurant, asks for their used vegetable oil, puts on her cover-alls, unpacks her 12 volt pump, hooks it to her battery, and pumps the used oil through a series of filters into her "gas" tank. And, no, she does not go to McDonalds, either to eat or to suck up their used oil. Apparently, the used vegetable oil from the traditional fast-food joints contains too much extraneous material.

In terms of miles-per-gallon, the WVO is somewhat better than diesel fuel--about 22 mpg. Not to mention, one has the added benefit of the aroma of fried food in the passenger compartment. It may be for this reason that in the world of WVO, the real afficianados refer to themselves as "greasers" and have a "greaser network" that informs the faithful about desirable sources of grease.

Those of us who are relics of the the Civil Rights movement often complain that this generation of young people is self-centered and not passionate about a cause that benefits the common good. Stacy's dedicated concern for the environment is much more than lip-service; she has taken three months of her life to demonstrate her convictions.

If you are interested in following Stacy's adventures or would like to learn more about her car, WVO, engine conversions etc., please go to her website: vegipwrseesamerica.com.

Florida State University Priorities

Does FSU care more about Bobby Bowden's effort to accumulate a record number of career wins than the message they send to athletes who cheat? Apparently it is Bowden's record.

In 2006 and 2007, 61 FSU athletes were involved in academic cheating. On March 6 the NCAA announced that FSU would lose scholarships in 10 sports, be on a four-year probabtion, and be stripped of victories in 10 sports, including as many as 14 in football. The university president, T.K. Wetherell, is appealling the part of the NCAA ruling that strips FSU of the victories in which the cheating student-athletes were involved.

It just so happens that the 79-year-old football coach, Bobby Bowden,  is in a race with Joe Paterno of Penn State for the greatest number of career wins at a major college. If the NCAA ruling stands, Bowden would lose 14 of his 382 wins and make it more difficult to catch up with Paterno.

FSU is arguing that it is wrong to hold the coaches responsible. Really? So it's all about the coaches.

Face it, 14 of the football team's victories were tainted by the participation of athletes who cheated in order to play. Whether the coach was responsible or not, the team does not deserve credit for a victory, and therefore the coach of the team does not deserve credit for a victory. It would seem that the honorable thing for Bowden to do is to step forward and say: "I do not wish to receive credit for any tainted victory."

Wall Street Holiday?

During the Great Depression Franklin Roosevelt declared "bank holidays"--in effect closing the banks  for a period of four days  to stop the frightened paranoia that was resulting in "runs"on banks. It created a cooling off period during which congress passed the Banking Stabilization Act. Shortly thereafter the FDIC was created and bank customers assets were insured by the government.

In our present financial crisis, once again, fear, paranoia, and misinformation are causing irrational fluctuations on Wall Street The market with no rhyme nor reason fluctuates  like a yo-yo on a string, up and down, reacting irrationally to this or that event, to what this or that so-called expert says. To what avail? Is anything of value being done on Wall Street? Is what happens on Wall Street helping to solve our economic crisis? Is Wall Street, at this point, doing anything for the common good of the country? I think not. The only ones benefitting are the brokers who continue collecting their fees.

My suggestion is that President Obama declare a "Wall Street Holiday"---stop all trading as of 4 PM Friday, March 6, and not resume trading until 9 AM, Monday, March 23. The players, i.e. the buyers and sellers can jockey around for position before March 6,  knowing that nothing is going change until March 23rd. This "holiday" will provide the country with a "cooling-off" period, a period of stability. Prices will be frozen; investors will neither make money nor lose money in that period of time. Brokers should be forced to take a two-week vacation and reacquaint themselves with their families. The public would be spared the fear and paranoia that results from the news media's concern with each and every fluctuation of the market. We would know that, at least for 16 days, our retirement funds are not disappearing into some unknown hole in the ground.

Some, I am sure, would consider such action unthinkable. The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, Bloomberg News etc. would not be happy; but, on the other hand, it would give them a chance to do some serious analysis of our situation and how we got into this mess. Everyone considered it appropriate to close the markets in the fearful days after 9/11, and there were no ill effects. The shut-down in fact had a calming effect. That is what's needed now.

Meanwhile, the Obama Whitehouse could put together a task force of the best and brightest to examine and revamp the SEC from top to bottom--eliminating the possibility of a Bernard Madoff and the other mini-Madoffs.

Govenrors' Postering on Stimulus Package

Give me a break. The Republican governors of Louisiana and South Carolina are suggesting that they will not accept the benefits of the stimulus package for their states because the stimulus package is contrary to their sincere Republican philosophy.

All of which means their name is daily in the news, especially Fox News and conservative talk radio.  But we all know they will eventually accept the benefits of the package,  and two years from now will  claim credit for the beneficial results of the package.

The hypocrisy of these guys is disgusting.

Wishful Thinking, Senator Bunning?

On the day that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg returned to the bench after having undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer, Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky felt compelled to tell us that she will only live for nine more months. Are we to believe Mr. Bunning, who is often confused about many things? He received his medical degree from what university? Or is this just wishful thinking on his part? Anyway, what a nice guy.

US Oil Oligarchs

In one of the country's worst economic crisises, one wonders why the price of gasoline is rising. Since January 1st, the price has increased 22 %. Oh well, we promote capitalism and understand about supply and demand. But wait! In that same period of time the supply of crude increased 16%. Why then is not the cost of gasoline going down?

In the last run-up to $4 a gallon gasoline, the oil executives told us and congress that it was "supply and demand." We soon learned the unrealistic increase was a result of unregulated Wall Street types speculating in the futures market--nothing to do with supply and demand.

Now we are learning that this current 2009 increase, since it is contrary to the laws of supply and demand, is being artificially manipulated by the oil companies who have decreased the output of their refineries in order to drive the price higher.

Now that the Bush-Cheney oil oligarchs have been replaced in government, how long do we have to tolerate the machinations of big oil?