Can You Believe This?

Hi Everyone: When I learned about today's topic, I became upset and angry. I'm not sure about the state in which you may live, but New York state has hit another low in a series of low blows. According to data compiled by the New York Public Interest Research Group from the state Commission on Public Integrity; statewide, local governments and affiliated organizations paid more than $7 million for lobbying in 2010. What? I can't believe that towns, cities and counties etc. in New York state pay for lobbyists. In essence that means that taxpayers are paying for lobbyists, or insiders, to argue for one level of government against another. You've got to be kidding. This makes no sense to me, but is the norm. One lobbyist group, Albany-based Patricia Lynch Associates is now caught up in a series of corruption scandals. One had to know that was coming. Anyway, Lynch paid a $500,000 fine and admitted arranging campaign contributions, gifts and other favors to gain access to the state's comptroller office for clients selling investments. "Gifts, favors and campaign contributions are not a legitimate basis for government contracts or special treatment," then Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo said last December. "Lobbyists whose stock in trade is pay to play have no business appearing before government agencies that safeguard taxpayer dollars," he added. Then Cuomo said that, "Lynch's lobbying group is a major broker in Albany's corrupt pay to play political culture." What a tangled web. It is unimaginable that taxpayers are paying for a questionable service just to find out how corrupt the service and lobbying in general is. Lobbyists are a big business, not only in local and state governments, but also in our federal government. Our founding fathers never imagined that governments would work in such a manner. Common sense tells one that this isn't right and should be stopped, but I feel that lobbyists are so entrenched that they are not going away any time soon. Someone needs to protect the interests of taxpayers and if lobbyists aren't able to do it, who will? Politicians? Yea right!!! Til next week. Peter

Man of the Cloth Without Any Common Sense

Hi Everyone: Last year, the Rev. Terry Jones, pastor of a very small church in Gainesville, Fla., threatened to burn a Quran, Islam's holy book. His threat made national news and notority to both the pastor and his small congregation of 50 +/- people. Islamic followers were outraged that a Reverend would consider burning a copy of another religions holy book. What was he thinking? Nothing good would come out of burning a Quran. Eventually he backed down and didn't burn a Quran. On March 20th, The Rev. did indeed burn a Quran. Under the First Amendment, the pastor had the right of free speech to burn a Quran. But just because he had the right to do it, should he have done it? What would the outcome be if he did burn a Quran? Would anyone really care? Well as it turned out, people did care and the outcome was not good. Muslims worldwide were outraged and in Afghanistan, it further strained relations with the West. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, condemned the burning four days after it happened. On Friday, according to Gannett, 11 people were killed, including 7 foreign U.N. workers, in a protest in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. On Saturday, in Kandahar, Afghans protested for a second day and nine more were killed. An unofficial total says that 20 people were killed due to the protests of the Quran burning. So there you have the jist of the story. The pastor's burning led to deaths of innocent people half a world away from Florida. There were repercussions. But the infamous pastor on Friday said that Islam and its followers were responsible for the killings. As for the actual killings, yes Afghans killed Afghans, but all they needed was a spark and the pastor gave it to them. Even though the pastor had the right of free speech to burn the Quran, common sense should have told him, don't do it. There were deadly consequences to his actions and he should be ashamed of himself. Can a pastor be defrocked? If yes, Terry Jones should be! Til next week, Peter

Federal Government's Lack of Commom Sense.

Hi Everyone: I read about today's blog about 6-8 weeks ago. But before I wrote about it, I had to do some investigation to make sure I had the facts. I was shocked and dismayed when I did learn the truth. How could the Feds do something so stupid without using any common sense. The bottom line is that the Feds actions will have an unknown effect on many businesses, people and advanced technology. The feds could have and should have had the foresight to determine that their actions would have far reaching consequences. What am I talking about? I am talking about helium. What is going on with helium you may be wondering? Well it seems that we are running out of helium and it is all the government's fault. Helium is not a naturally occurring element. Think about it, since helium is lighter than air, if it was found in nature, it would just float off into space and be gone. To verify the info that I had learned, I called a very good friend of mine, Greg. Greg, who just happens to be a highly respected chemical engineer, told me the honest truth about helium. First he informed me that helium is not found in nature, due to the fact that it would indeed float off into space and disappear. Oh, no, helium is made by a chemical reaction that can only be done in a highly specialized lab. Greg told me that it is a dangerous process but safe if done properly. There has never, ever been a helium processing accident. The problem Greg told me is that, President George Bush the first, under the guise of the EPA, banned the use of the second of three elements needed to make helium. The ban was to take effect in March of 2003 because of its cancer causing side affects. There was a long battle against banning the element but President George Bush the second, sided with his father and implemented the ban. Now 8 years later the helium shortage has begun. How will this affect you and me? Well first of all, you can forget about buying helium filled balloons. If you can buy it, it will probably cost you an arm and a leg just to fill up a medium size balloon. Helium is also the "glue" so to speak, needed in the process that makes titanium. Titanium is an extremely strong metal that it is also extremely lightweight. Numerous car manufacturers were getting ready (2015) to introduce new hybrid vehicles made entirely of titanium that could get up to 75mpg. The underlying factor of the superior high miles per gallon is due to using the lightweight material that could shave off 1,000+ lbs from a 2,400 lb car. Crash tests that compared titanium made cars and non titanium cars was a pleasant surprise. Titanium built vehicles fared far better then expected. The energy absorbing material was super strong and protected the passenger compartment better then ever before. That is huge and now it isn't going to happen. Greg also told me that helium was being tested in other applications. Most of the apps are top secret, but he did tell me about tires made with helium and then filling the tires with helium. Again, all of those innovations are dead in the water. By the way, Greg was laid off due to the ban. When push comes to shove, someone, somewhere, has to put their foot down and tell the truth. I am now that person and the truth of the matter that I have to say is, happy early april fools day. Gotcha? All of the above is complete and utter rubbish and totally untrue. FYI, helium is the second element on the periodic table. That means that it is the second most abundant element found in nature and it is naturally made. Next week I will return to more important lack of common sense issues. Til next week. Peter

Common Sense Awards #3 and #4

Hi Everyone:

After a very long absence, since 8/2/09 to be exact, I have some good news to blog about while handing out my third and fourth Common Sense Awards. There are far too few people, businesses and politicians etc., that can or do think outside the box using good old common sense. In today's blog, the heroes so to speak, are not businesses, but a politician and an institution of higher learning who thought outside the box using common sense. Who would have thunk it? Not me. Go figure.

Drum roll please.....

Common Sense Award #3 (albeit a bit late) goes to New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie. This award is late, since it was only this past week that I read an article in my local Gannett paper about what New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie did. He signed legislation this past January, that allows school bus advertising. That makes New Jersey the sixth state that allows advertising on school buses. The others that permit the ads are: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Tennessee and Texas. FYI, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah and Washington are presently considering the idea.

But wait, are you thinking (like I did), about what kind of ads are on those school buses? In a nut shell, there are no ads about: beer, alcohol, bars, drug companies, tobacco, politics, religious organizations or anything sexual in nature. The school districts actually stay away from any ad that might be controversial. Advertising on 100 buses, on average, generate $500,000 over a four year period. Larger school districts will earn more, as will where the district is located may mean more money.

This is free extra money for the schools and is probably one of the best common sense, thinking outside the box, way to generate extra money, that is sorely needed in probably every school district in this country. A great idea in my book, to generate extra money.

Common Sense Award #4 goes to an institution of higher learning. But this story is about an airport and a college. What? Yes! In lower New York state, there is the Westchester County Airport, located in Harrison, New York, which is of course located in Westchester County. It is a highly used airport with a terrible parking problem. If you really, really want to park in the airport's covered parking lot, you should arrive about 60-90 minutes earlier then you normally would arrive. This is so you can go round and round and up and down, looking for that elusive vacant space.

Located about 5-10 minutes from the airport is Purchase College. The college is now allowing parking for airport customers for $5 per day and that includes help with your luggage and a shuttle ride to the airport. Of course, since this is a new venture for Purchase College, the price increases to $15 per day as of 6/1/11. Still, this is a fantastic way for the college to make extra money and simultaneously help alleviate the parking crunch at the airport. Another great use of common sense while thinking outside the box.

Congratulations and kudos to the recipients of the third and fourth Common Sense Awards.

If you know someone who is deserving of a Common Sense Award, post in the comment section so you can share with everyone.

Til next week.

Peter

Bad Drugs

Hi Everyone:

This is a true story and no names have been changed to protect the guilty. In August 2002, Cheryl Eggert, a Quality Control Manager for Glaxo, Smith, Kline, (a huge pharmaceutical company with 80 plants world wide) wrote a letter to her boss (VP of QualityControl)
regarding the problems with the manufacturing processes at numerous plants around the world. But the Cidra plant was by far the worst with what Ms. Eggert saw as shoddy oversight of the entire manufacturing process. Ms. Eggert said that the Cidra plant had 9 serious problems including contamination of medicine and wrong drugs put in the wrong bottles. She told her boss that the plant should be shut down immediately and recall the drugs ASAP.

Ms. Eggert's alarm went unheard. GSK told her that the plant just had a FDA inspection in July 2002 and had passed. So her concerns were not valid. Ms. Eggert continued with her very real concerns until April 2003. That's when GSK laid her off due to what the company called a reorganizing. Ms. Eggert saw it differently, so she became a whistleblower to alert the FDA. For years, GSK stated that there were no problems with their plants and all was well. Well, well, well, in November 2010, GSK plead guilty for allowing adulterated drugs to be sold. GSK paid $750 million dollars in fines.

What concerned me the most is that since GSK plead guilty, they had to have known about the problems, but still allowed adulterated drugs to be sold. It is obvious to me that GSK had no common sense what so ever and that the bottom line, (money) was more important then the health and safety of the people who took their medicine. Shame on GSK and shame on the FDA for not finding the problems themselves during their inspection!

Common sense still rules and greed still drools!

Til next week.

Peter

Big Bank Sticking It To Customers

Hi Everyone:

My wife received a letter this past week from JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. It was one of those, "You are pre-approved for a Chase Freedom with Exclusive Benefits", a Visa credit card. We get these alot. Having good credit means you are inundated with these offers.

Not that we need another credit card, but we decided to read the entire offer. The following is exactly as it appeared on the Pricing Information and Interest Rates and Interest Charges page under the heading - Penalty APR and When It Applies section:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29.99%. This APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. (Ed note: It is really 26.99% plus the prime rate, as stated in the very fine print at the bottom of the page. The penalty rate will increase when the prime rate increases).

The Penalty APR will be applicable to your Account if you:

• fail to make any Minimum Payment by the date and time due (late payment);
• exceed your credit line (if applicable);
• make a payment to us that is returned unpaid; or
• do any of the above on another account or loan you have with us or any of our related banks.

How Long Will the Penalty APR Apply: If your APRs are increased for any of these reasons, the Penalty APR will apply indefinitely.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did you catch the problem I have with this offer? FYI, I have no problems with the first three, although a 29.99% penalty rate is excessive. But if it is legal to be able to charge that amount, so be it. My problem is with the last condition. To me, it states that if you do any of the first three with any other JPMorgan Chase account or loan or with a related bank, they will apply the 29.99% penalty APR to your Chase Visa Credit card. So if you are late with a payment to a Chase loan etc., etc., your credit card rate will increase?!!!

We couldn't believe it, so I took it a step further. I called Chase and spoke with a customer rep. The rep's response to my questioning that condition was very evasive. The rep kept saying that they "might" raise the credit card rate. I responded that the word "might" is not there and as I read it, they "would" raise your rate. Getting nowhere with the rep, I then asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor's responses were even more evasive. He also used the word "might" but kept dwelling on the first three conditions dealing with the credit card solely. After 5 minutes of playing word games, I finally got the supervisor to agree that Chase would indeed raise your credit card rate if you met any of the first three conditions on any other Chase account or loan. I then asked the supervisor if that made any common sense? He again became very evasive and wouldn't directly answer. I told him that it didn't make any sense. I said that anyone who reads all the conditions and fine print would not sign up and be subjected to that 4th condition and that it seemed to be based purely on greed. Believe it or not, the last thing the supervisor said to me was if I wanted to sign up for the card? I told him that it was obvious that he hadn't listened to what I had been saying so I hung up.

So there you have it. Please be very careful signing up for a new credit card in these times and make sure you read every single word in the offer, including all of the small print. Big banks lost their common sense years ago with the sub-prime mortgage mess and continues to this day. Big banks have replaced common sense with greed. They even train their customer service reps and supervisors on how to be evasive and deceitful. WATCH OUT.

Common sense rules and greed still and always will drool.

Til next week.

Peter

Are High-Capacity Mags Really Necessary?

Hi Everyone:

I blogged last month about the incident in Tuscon, where a deranged man legally bought a gun and a high-capacity magazine to make his carnage as deadly as possible. Did you know that sale of those high-capacity magazines were unlawful until 2004?

FYI, the sale and manufacture of high-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds has been outlawed in New York since 1994. They were also unlawful under federal law from 1994 until 2004. In 2004, Congress and President George W. Bush failed to renew the assault weapons ban and the sale and manufacture of high-capacity magazines became lawful once again.

Since 2004, high-capacity magazines have been used in every mass shooting. According to Gannett, the following mass killings happened:

2007, the Virginia Tech shootings: 33 dead, 15 round magazines used, hundreds of shots fired.

2008, the Binghamton shootings: 13 dead, 30 round magazines used, 99 shots fired.

2008, the Northern Illinois University shootings: 6 dead, 21 wounded, 30 & 15 round magazines used.

2009, the Fort Hood shootings: 13 dead, 30 and 20 round magazines used.

2010, the Connecticut Beer Distributor shootings: 8 dead, 2 wounded, high-capacity magazines used.

The unfortunate statistics speak for themselves and they speak volumes. Failing to renew the assault ban weapon in 2004 was a grievous and fatal mistake that to date has cost at least 73 people their lives. High-capacity magazines were designed as a weapon of war to kill as many people as possible. The blaring common sense approach would have been to renew the ban. But since it wasn't, HR 308/S32 legislation sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY and Sen. Frank Lautenburg, D-NJ needs to pass. It will again ban the sale and manufacture of high-capacity magazines with more than 10 bullets. Again that is a common sense approach that needs to be implemented asap.

The NRA shouldn't have a problem with it since it doesn't take guns away from people, just high-capacity magazines. But you know what? The NRA will have a problem with it and will again try to use their clout to kill the bill. The hell with the NRA, pass the bill! There shouldn't be any debate about the right to bear arms or turn it into a Republican or Democrat stand. This should be a peoples stand to try to save peoples lives.

Enough said.

Til next week.

Peter