Saturday, July 19, 2008

Digg this --> Ripped From The Headlines, 7-19-08




12 Local Starbucks to close

This was a bubble waiting to burst anyhow. I was never a fan of Starbucks, I think I can count on my left hand the number of times I patronized them. Their coffee is so rich, it has a burnt taste. Besides the fact it costs 3 times more than EVERYWHERE else you can buy coffee. Granted, I like my coffee in the morning, but Starbucks is not on the options of places to get it, and I work a half mile from a Starbucks.

I think they could recapture the market though if they back off from all their hype. While they glamorize the whole idea with their mix with bookstores, malls, and shopping centers, they are much too complicated for most of us simple people. They have the right idea and the right intent, but they over power it with crap. That drives up the costs for sure. If they would just concentrate on offering a basic cup of coffee at a REASONABLE price, and I don't mean $2.00 for a 16oz cup. They have to compete with all the 7Elevens, Wawas, McDonalds, Burger Kings, and every other corner convenience store and fast food chain. Connect that with the necessity for consumers to tighten their budgets, the $4.00 cup of cappuccino is going the way of the dinosaur.

NYC Chains Must Post Calorie Info Or Face Fines

This has to be one of the more futile laws to be enacted in modern history. Do people really have to be told how unhealthy fast food is? They're not eating there because it's healthy. They're eating there because is fast and convenient. They don't have to go to a store, buy it, transport it home, and prepare it. Most of us don't give a hoot how much fat or carbs is in it, we're gonna do it.

It's another stupid effort by government to regulate our lives. While a small percentage will be frightened away, for the most part, it will be in vain. The most it will accomplish is the added cost and headaches for business to have this information posted. Oh, and give some city officials a job to enforce this.

Maliki: I Support Obama’s Withdrawal Timetable

Given John McCain's pledge to keep troops in Iraq for 100 years if necessary, I think this wins hands down. Is there anyone still supporting John McCain? Let me rephrase that, is there anyone outside the current White House administration that support John McCain?

Oil Prices Tumble in Biggest Weekly Drop Ever

Oil company shareholders beware, you stock is dropping. But you won't notice it among the billions you've taken from Americans.

I personally haven't seen any drop in gas prices recently, but I hope it's a sign of things to come. Meanwhile, I think U.S. auto makers need to shift their thinking away from everything conventional. GM, Ford, and Chrysler need to take a year off from new models. Divert all their efforts to developing alternative transportation means. Why is it necessary to come up with 20 new vehicles every year? Volkswagen made the same bug for 30 years, the SAME vehicle with only subtle changes.

In 1987, I bought a brand new Doge Omni. It was allot like the VW Golf. It had 4 doors and a hatch. I could haul 5 people (including the driver), and cargo. That is as long as the total weight was less than 815 pounds. This thing was loaded, a 5 speed transmission, A/C, comfortable seats, front wheel drive, and it went almost anywhere in the snow. Best of all I got 40+ MPG on the road, 34 MPG or so just around town. Chrysler stopped making them in 1990 (The Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon). As my family was growing beyond this little car, a Dodge dealer commented to me they don't make enough money from them, so they are being discontinued. I don't know if that's true, but it was by far my most cost effective vehicle to own. In 3 years of ownership, I drove it 34,000 miles, and had everything original except the battery when I traded for a minivan. Still had the original Goodyear Vector tires. Other than putting gas in it and regular oil changes, it got a tune-up when I returned from Germany.

So here's the question, why can't they make that kind of car again? Datsun (which later because Nissan) had the B210. It was common for B210's to get 45MPG, and this was in the 70's! The answer, automakers make no money unless you're buying new cars from them. They're gonna have to get out of that frame of mind or they will find their way into bankruptcy.

FDIC Insurance for BIG Bank Deposits

I only have one thing to say to this. That is, I wish I had that problem, then I'd actually care.


Regards
John Crawford

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Wind and Solar Energy: Why Aren't We Using Them?



The answer is that a thin slice of homeowners have adopted wind and/or solar power. That was a different era, however. A gallon of gas was around $1.30 a gallon (slightly higher in Hawaii). We were not feeling the pinch from the electric company either. You could get 2 loaves of bread for a dollar in most grocery stores; maybe 3 loaves if you catch a special.

I don't need to waste my breathe telling you what those same costs are in 2008. But the ideas of wind and solar energy for residential use is still "pie in the sky" for most of us. Oh, we'd like to do it, it's just not in the budget.

What puzzles me is why my electric company isn't beating down my door to get a wind generator (or two or three) put in my yard. Why isn't my county or state government encouraging me to use some of that undeveloped land I have to put wind generators up? I mean, if everyone who has a little bit of land was given the incentives (and subsidies) to put some renewable power back into the grid, wouldn't that help? Wouldn't that help reduce the amount of coal burned and deposited into the atmosphere? Wouldn't that bring down the cost of electricity, and our overall cost of living?

OK, there are incentive programs, but it's not going to help the vast majority of us. Most of us simply cannot afford the upfront costs, period. What I would like to see is the electric companies, local, state, and federal government make wind and solar power sources a viable option for everyone.

One promising initiative is being led by T. Boone Pickens, and if you watch TV at all, you've no doubt seen his commercials about America's dependence on foreign oil. He proposes to replace up the 22% of natural gas electricity with Wind. Then shift the natural gas to transportation needs. The end result is that we reduce how much money we export to oil producing nations (and in some cases terrorist supporting nations) by from $700 billion to $400 billion a year. This is going to be accomplished by creating "wind farms" that will feed back into the grid.

Here's the link to Pickens Plan or watch his video here.


So, I breach the question... What would be the impact if everyone who had the land put up as many wind generators as they could? Granted, some people do not live in houses with land around them. Apartments, townhouses, condos, and other multiple dwellings structures would still be disadvantaged for wind energy, but could probably implement solar energy. Homeowners associations would have to get over their rules and allow these things in. The overall cost of electricity to all of us would be greatly reduced. With mass production, and better government incentives, the upfront costs would come down to where everyone could afford it.

Valuable Resources:

American Wind Energy Association

U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies program

Solar Electric Power Association

Alternative Energy

National Renewable Energy laboratory




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John Crawford

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Sunday, July 13, 2008

Video - Lazyboy- Underwear Goes Outside The Pants

This has been on YouTube for almost 2 years, but it's priceless.



Regards
John Crawford

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Daily Rant 7-13-08

Ripped from the headlines.... Are We In A Recession?





Obama says "little doubt we've moved into recession". What was his first clue? While I'm a registered Independent, I've come to like this person as a potential leader of the US. He is bit green on the foreign policy front, but maybe we need someone with fresh, untainted views. Oh yeah, the recession comment. Well it's like everyone is afraid to say the "R" word, but we're definitely in it. But if you're not old enough to remember the last time things were REALLY bad, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee. Comparatively, we are well off, but you decide for yourself.

On October 17th, 1973, OPEC cut us off. A gallon of gas was 39.9 cents a gallon, but we didn't have any to sell. It wasn't a matter of just paying more for it, you simply were not going anywhere . (The embargo ended on March 4th, 1974). In 1979, there was a revolution in Iran that caused a severe drop in the world's oil supply. Again, gas was hard to come by, long lines were the norm, and you could only buy gas on certain days depending on where you lived.

Also during this period, President Richard Nixon was impeached, a very little known Jimmy Carter became President in 1976. He subsequently gave away the Panama Canal. He allowed Iran to hold 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days, only to be released on the inauguration day of President Reagan. The cold war with the Soviet Union was top story every day almost. It wasn't if we ever have a nuclear war, but when. Oh yeah, we nearly caused our own extinction after a partial meltdown at the Three-Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, PA. To add insult to injury, interest rates were at 21%. That was a recession.

As for whether I'll vote for Obama in the November election, that depends on who the independents are on the ballot. While I know they won't get elected, at least I'll exercise my right to vote for who I want, and not who the press and majority leaders want me to vote for.

That being said, a choice between Obama and McCain is a no-brainer, Obama wins hands down. Anyone (McCain in this case) who says he'll stay in Iraq for 100 years if necessary will not ever step foot in the oval Office if my vote has anything to say about it. Since only about 30% of Americans believe we should be in Iraq, then that's definitely the wrong platform to be on. Besides I think McCain's just more of what we have now. No domestic economic cares and we'll continue to make enemies on our planet. Personal freedoms will continue to erode in the name of national security. We'll continue to live our lives in fear, looking for a terrorist over one shoulder and big brother over the other. The streets of Baghdad are still safer than the streets of Washington, DC. That just ain't right!

Regards
John Crawford

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