Buzz Off Buzzwords

Buzzword warning of the day - "National Security" As in "we need to drill for oil because it is a matter of National security". The republican propaganda machine has latched on to this phrase and will drill it into the ground (pun intended). It has always been the republican way in politics to instill fear into those who don't think well for themselves. Please don't be fooled by buzzwords this election year.

Other buzzwords that have worked well for them in the past:

WMDs
Homosexual Agenda
Over there not over here
Gay marriage
Taxes
Gays in the Military
Bible
Family Values
Gay Adoption
Time of War
Special Rights

IGNORE! IGNORE! IGNORE!

To unbuzz these words:

WMDs (never found - the inspectors already knew this)
Homosexual Agenda (equal rights for everyone - a very simple agenda)
Over there not over here (how can we be everywhere? Protect us HERE)
Gay marriage (A basic equal right - Separation of Church and State)
Taxes (how do you run a country without money? But use it for the people not the wars)
Gays in the Military (already there - always have been - always will be)
Bible (who's Bible?)
Family Values (Gays have families too - most are very normal)
Gay Adoption (see above - why deny a child a loving home?)
Time of War (we should be ending the wars - not keeping them going)
Special Rights (equal rights - EQUAL)

Sold! For $4.10 per Gallon

Back during the early part of the presidential primaries, I decided that if we HAD to have a republican president again, I thought John McCain would be OK. Back then he spoke of alternatives to oil which would not only lower the current high prices but also help the environment in the process. I even wrote about my (possible) support for him if needed.

Now, as he has become the presumptive Republican candidate, he has certainly changed his tune. Suddenly the cure for our high gas prices is more drilling off our fragile coasts and wildlife preserves. His other solutions include coal for garsh sakes! What happened? Clearly Mr. McCain has been purchased by the big oil corporations that are currently running our country. Because once again, and I can't say this enough, there is no shortage of oil! (yet) So increasing supply will not affect prices - but it will increase PROFITS if we can get more of our own supply rather than buying it from "them". Isn't that what this all boils down to?

I can no longer even possibly support a person who can be purchased so easily as Mr. McCain has been.

The Great Divide

The United States is deeply divided by those who still trust a dishonest administration and those who never did.

Another Reason I Hate Sports on TV

My DVR doesn't know that the game went into overtime. I missed the evening news again and I could care less about the stupid game.

It Should Be So Simple

Voting - how hard can it be? You cast your vote - that vote gets counted and whoever gets the most votes wins. Simple.

At what point did the American voting system get so complicated? And a better question is Why? I have tried for years to figure out the Electoral College system and I've never heard of Super Delegates until just this year. I can think of only one reason for such unnecessary complications and that is so the vote can somehow be manipulated. I'm not even sure my vote really counts anymore - especially here in Florida. But I will continue to vote. We all MUST vote. But seriously, we need to get back to basics.

Vote - Count - Done.

No Shortage (Confirmed)

President Bush went all the way to Saudi Arabia last week to try to convince them to increase oil production. But they told him the same thing I've been saying all along - we can increase production but it won't help lower prices because there is no shortage. Bush and Cheney are oil men - surely they must know this too? Of course they do - and don't call me Shirley.

So why did the President make the trip? I suspect to give the Saudi oil producers a "high five".

The Rich Still Are

I went for a bike ride last night - as I typically do. Riding down my street near downtown Fort Lauderdale I find nearly every other house with a sign that either says "For Sale", "For Rent" or Foreclosed". Meanwhile 3 miles later I'm enjoying a moonlit ride on the beach. Here I find many more homes with signs - only these are construction company signs. In this neighborhood, massive structures are all either being remodeled, or completely torn down to make room for a bigger ones. I guess a "housing slump" or "economic slowdown" only applies to those who were already challenged.

Corporate Control Made Easy

The free enterprise system we have today is flawed. It tends to create massive corporations that eventually get so large that they are able to control the market. No person or corporation should be able to exercise undue influence on the market simply because they own so much of it.

I have a suggestion that would fix this. It should be illegal for any company (or person) to buy or takeover another company. Every business should be its own entity with its own life cycle. A well run company could go on for a very long time, but a poorly run business would be forced to close – its customers moving to another merchandiser and its employees left to find a new job of their choice. Of course tt would still be legal to lure customers from another organization by providing a better service. Isn’t that the way it should be?

If we do not allow organizations to take over other businesses, we keep them from getting too big too fast. It also makes it impossible to eliminate your competition simply by buying them up. This can only keep prices and quality in check – they way it is supposed to work.

There is another upside to this plan in reduced stress level of the employees. Many workers in small business often find themselves suddenly, and involuntarily, working in a huge corporation. They never imagined themselves in this atmosphere and it is shocking to their system. I find myself in this exact situation right now and I can report it is extremely stressful. Worse yet, many will find themselves suddenly out of a job once the company reorganizes and removes duplicate positions. We all must work to support ourselves – aren’t jobs a good thing? The corporate control I speak of would not allow this to happen. We would work for a company that hopefully grows at a steady, natural pace. And if the business is failing - most employees would know in advance and can be prepared to find a new job.

There is already some oversight on this issue to keep companies from becoming monopolies. But a corporation can control the market long before it becomes a monopoly. The simple act of not allowing companies (or individuals) to buy other companies would make the market fairer for all.

American Gas is Cheap!

President Bush states that the only way we can get our gas prices down is to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Yet when I look at the gas stations, they all show nearly the same high price. If foreign oil was the problem, you would think that American gas companies would be selling their gas at a noticeably reduced price. But such is not the case.

What President Bush really means by his statement is that we need to open our precious natural nature reserves to American oil production so HE and HIS big oil companies can get that money rather than the foreign oil companies.

Let me re-state an earlier observation - there is no shortage of gas (yet). If there were, we would have long lines at the pump. No, there seems to be plenty of gas, it just costs 4 times as much as it should because the oil companies are CONTROLLING the price. This has all been carefully planned and executed in the 8 years of the Bush admin in conjunction with their buddies in the foreign oil companies.

The real answer is solar, wind and other natural forms of renewable energy. That is how we get less dependant on oil (foreign and domestic) and save our planet in the process. Don't let the continued LIES of the Bush admin fool you into thinking anything different.

That's Pretty - Cover it Up!

Who do mattresses have such nice patterns on them? First thing we do is cover it up with sheets and blankets. I've never bought a mattress because it was pretty (did I?) - I tried it out to see if it was comfortable. I wonder if that's why they are so expensive? Marketing can be so very odd.

Closed for real

I got an official written notice that my account is closed! Woo-hoo!

I will be running my credit report in about a month or so to see if they dinged my credit.

Today is a good day!

I got answered by Rosie on Ask Ro.

:)

Target Stores or Amazon.com

I love Target Stores! They are my favorite place for almost everything I need. Target. That is the place I shop - Target Stores.

And just in case Google Ads doesn't pick up Target Stores instead of the the bad company I wrote about, I also love Amazon.com.

I love Amazon.com too! You can get practically everything you need on Amazon.com - most without tax and free shipping! One word of caution tho - always clear your Internet Cache when shopping on-line because sometimes if they know what you are shopping for they will show a higher price.

Why I Hate Targeted Marketing

I recently wrote a very negative article about a certain credit card company (read it here) and Google Ads, in all their wisdom, is using the little ad box on my blog to place an advertisement for that company! It all seems very counter productive. Good thing I also opened a case with the Better Business Bureau for that company that won't be named again (so they don't get another ad).

I think I'll write another article about a company I like so the bad company doesn't continue to get my targeted ads. Who shall it be................

Black Top

I wonder how much global warming is due to the fact that a significant part of the surface of the Earth is now covered with black asphalt for roads and parking lots instead of green grass or other natural coverings. Black surfaces absorb more heat - store it longer - and radiate it back out long after the sun sets. Even in very remote areas of the world you will find ribbons of blacktop roads.

We need personal vehicles that fly, have water for exhaust and can be folded up into a briefcase like George Jetson's car. That last part might be a bit far fetched, but I'm a firm believer that if it can be imagined - it can be done. In fact, I sometimes think that the imagination is actually a window to another dimension that actually can exist. I'll bet when my 4th grade teacher wrote on my report card "tends to daydream" he didn't realize I was being clairvoyant.

Has Capital One Seized Control of Their Computers?

I received a call this week (2 actually) that my request to close my Capital One account as been processed and the account is now closed. Folks - this is real progress! Click here to learn why this is news.

However, I was told in the message they left that it could be up to 11 days for the computer to spit out a letter showing the account is actually closed. I'll keep waiting.

Perspective

Why can't I get a decent size piece of chicken anymore? When I was a kid the chicken pieces were much bigger. Or so it seems.

I finally figured out that even though I grew up on a farm where our free roaming chickens were much healthier and possibly bigger, it was actually my perspective that had changed. I grew up! My body is bigger so the chicken seems smaller. Duh. :)

A Year Ago

Whenever I read an article about price changes - they always compare to the price of a year ago. So if you can keep your prices artificially inflated for over a year - it becomes the norm. Oil prices of over $100 a barrel are being compared to $70 a barrel one year ago. But if you think back just a little further oil rices were only $30 a barrel and remained that way for a long time.

Same for housing prices. You can see that housing prices have fallen a lot from one year ago. But if you look only a little further, you will see that even these lower prices are much higher than they were - say five years ago. And they were fairly steady for many years before that.

I'm not fooled by these mind games - but unfortunately a lot of folks are. The people that set the prices know most Americans have a very short memory and are taking advantage of that.

I am, however, counting on American's short memory when it comes to the election. I hope they will forget about all the in-fighting between the Democratic candidates and can still vote for whoever wins the nomination. I've said before that I do not dislike John McCain, but we will not have any real change if a Republican is elected because they will keep a lot of the current staff. In that case things will be pretty much the same a year from now.

I've Done My Part

I've spent my tax refund and my "stimulus refund" (before I even received it). Now can I get lower gas prices?

Speaking of which, I heard the other day that lawmakers are considering giving us a "gas tax holiday" for the summer. That will allow the oil companies to continue to make huge profits and at the same time eliminate whatever the gas tax was being used for (roads?, environmental studies?, Alternatives to fossil fuels?).

I didn't realize the gas tax was around 18 percent - that is a lot. But once again, I think a better approach would be to attack the high prices - not the tax. If OPEC can decide not to increase supplies, then clearly supply is not the problem. Oil prices are artificially inflated for the sheer reason of profit.

Turning Green

If I hear the phrase "going green" one more time I think I'm going to puke. It is by far the most overused, and often wrongly used phrase of our time. I'm just as tired of "environmentally friendly" I think the only real environmentally friendly thing we as humans could do is leave the planet all together. Everything we touch seems to have a negative impact on our delicate planet.

My point? Overuse of a marketing phrase is not helping. Next time you hear that phrase ask yourself is someone making money off of the thing being presented? I'll bet yes. We should use the word "efficient" - which implies we have put money aside and used common sense and all available technology to do the right thing from the beginning. We are capable of so much more than what we are doing - automobiles, for one, are a great example. We should be using next to no fossil fuels at this point - we have known for too long that it pollutes, costs too much and causes too many wars. We should have had more efficient cars long ago - or another form of transportation. But money comes first.

Lets be efficient about going green (barf!). Lets not talk about it - just do it!