“Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century.”
- Lewis Perelman

Let’s get right into the meat of today’s post…

Alabama Power Co. has asked the Public Service Commission to raise rates for residential customers by more than 14%.
…

A company spokesman says the proposed increase of 14.6% would mean an extra $16.45 for a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours per month.

- From “Alabama Power asks PSC for 14.6% rate hike”
- WTVM - 26 August 2008

There you have it… or do you?

First of all, just how many rate hikes has this been in just the last year or two? Well, we weren’t able to find a definitive answer to that on the web but we do know that there has been at least two from our own archives here at Sin City:

Stuck holding the bill… again
20 June 2007

Merry Christmas from Alabama Power
3 December 2007

The issue is, of course, the cost of the energy that is required to make energy. And like everything else, it is the consumer who is expected to bear the entire weight of it. This is why we have repeatedly said that the consumer IS the most important cog in the free market machine. Regardless of how good or how bad the economy, it is always the average Joe who holds the whole contraption together.

So, what does this new jack in the price of electricity going to mean to you? Well, let’s not even pretend that it won’t be approved by Alabama’s spring-loaded rubberstamp Public Service Commission… although you should note that they will be holding the obligatory hearing on September 23rd.

We’ll include information for this public display at the end of this post.

According to Alabama Power (noted from a number of websites)… the rate jack will cost the consumer over $16 a month for 1000 kilowatt hours (KWH) of usage. This in itself sounds rather benign but… you can get the same kind of fully manipulated disinformation on a doggone candy bar when looking for fat content.

You first have to understand exactly what proportions are being measured and then, how that relates to you. For instance, that candy bar may say that there is only 2 grams of fat per .5 ounces but the candy bar itself weighs in at 2.5 ounces. Follow? Good.

Now in this case, just how much is that 1000-kilowatt hours figure to you and what you may use during an average month? In the graphic below there are two real household bills being measure against that 14.6 percent rate hike…

The first is from a single-family home that used 3579 KWH over a billing period of 30 days. The proposed rate hike would jack their power bill by about $50!

The second is for a simple singlewide mobile home, inhabited by two retirees who do not own a computer or a large TV or any other modern energy eater. They used 1954 KWH over a 28-day billing cycle. The proposed rate hike would mean about $30 even to them!

Alabama Power fronts-up the 1000 KWH - $16 figure like that candy bar’s content listing was designed to make it look less fattening.

Here’s one final figure. When added to the last two rate hikes, the new proposed jack would make the total increase for the last 18 months go to a hefty 26.35 percent!

Things are tough all over but enough is enough. The Alabama PSC needs to actually earn their paycheck here by serving the public or be dissolved as a waste of taxpayer dollars.

References –

- Alabama Public Service Commission Main
- Alabama Power Rate Increase Hearing page

* * *

“I have an existential map; it has ‘you are here’ written all over it.”
- Steven Wright

The clouds were ominously dark… and moving along at quite a clip. The weather cube that’s built in to our car’s radio was bleeting a tornado warning for Lee and Russell Counties; something that was happening at least once an hour… or so it seemed anyway.

The path of the storm was from the ‘Russell County Sports Complex’ towards Crawford… and almost at the same time, Better Half and I asked, ‘Sports complex’? Where in the hell is that? How useful is the information when they use obscure references that only the local police dispatcher can decipher?

We decided to pull in at a local eatery on US 280, mainly just to get out of the wind and the rain for a spell. Just inside the front door, the floor was wet… puddle even, evidence that we were not the first to consider this idea. We were seated in fairly short order though, with a front window view of the highway and traffic we had just escaped.

After browsing the menu, we both decided that we were hungry enough to call this dinner and ordered accordingly. I had picked up a newspaper that someone had left in the waiting room and began by scanning the political section… otherwise identified as the comics.

Whilst occupied reading Dilbert, a large gust of wind howled past outside and that was enough to get our attention. The rain was coming down at nearly a 90-degree angle and in such copious amounts that it obscured the scene. The 280 Bypass, maybe 150 feet away, was completely gone… with nothing but a few glazed-over headlights to suggest there was anything there to begin with.

Then, nearly as suddenly as the downpour had arrived, it passed and aside from a misty tropical wetting, the picture returned to normal.

On the way home, the radio was reporting that some areas of Phenix City had lost power.

We had initially thought to avoid US 80 West as a route because of that road’s tendency to flood over anytime a stray dog whizzed on a telephone poll. But because we needed to make a stop at Winn Dixie, we decided to brave the great asphalt-induced flow that is Crawford Road.

After dropping Better Half at the door, I circled the parking area to see if I could find a good spot to wait that also offered me a view for when she exited. While waiting, there was one gentleman who headed out to his car with an umbrella and lo, the wind came and took the doggone thing right out of his hands!

Last seen, it was headed towards the Subway/Little Caesar’s shop… acutely airborne and bouncing off of cars along the way.

Upon reaching the homestead, we immediately set about trying to locate that confounded ‘Russell County Sports Complex’ but the enigmatic landmark was not to be found listed anywhere we looked. So from there, we sent an email to the National Weather Service in Birmingham and asked them if they wouldn’t mind pinpointing it on a map… or by sending us the longitude and latitude.

To this point, there’s been no reply.

 
* * *

“Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it” -Mark Twain

I guess you could call it… the ‘NASCAR Effect’.

Remember how the local chapter of the Brotherhood of Budweiser complained when the last hurricane passed this way because the local TV stations interrupted a race in favor of tornado warnings? Well, here in the wee hours of Sunday morning, there has been one come and gone for up Opelika way with nary more than an air raid siren and a small TV screen corner overlay.

Oh, there was an ongoing… and going, and going, informercial for something called ‘Orbitrek’. It’s one of them machines that you stand on whilst peddling and pretending you’re on a ski slope. From there, I guess you pretend to lose weight, get married, have kids, make a million dollars… all while channeling your inner narcissist.

Gnarly.

But it is those sirens that wake you up… even with the central air running and double-paned windows between you and the warning. Something inside your head is programmed to hear these things… like how new parents can hear their youngun when it’s time to change the diaper at 4 am.

Uh oh. A new Tornado Warning for Russell County at 5:00 am… and on WTVM, Kurt has appeared with his trusty TrueView radar. Luckily for him, there’s the broadcast tower if the water gets too high.

Here, we have already nailed some boards to the big pine tree out front… and run the squirrels off, just in case.

* * *

“Of all human powers operating on the affairs of mankind, none is greater than that of competition.” -Henry Clay

As much as I dislike politics and regularly disavow its many practitioners, I have to confess that… well, I too am a political animal. To one degree or the next, I think we all are. It’s not something I take any pride in because it is in this unholy art that many, if not most of our worst ills are born and nourished.

As the 2008 Beijing Olympics approached, I watched and read the news reports of the Chinese crackdown on dissidents in what was once the independent nation of Tibet. My reaction was instinctive, but so too political; here was this large communist nation squashing a people who wanted nothing more than freedom. I railed at the actions against them, calling the brutal Chinese regime out as if they were listening… or even gave a tinker’s damn about one small voice shouting from an even smaller, insignificant web journal.

In all likelihood, the words published here were never read by a single soul from either China or Tibet. That’s just the reality of it and one that I really never doubted on the inside. But as I’ve stated here before, so much of what is written here is more for me than for anyone else. It is a pressure valve where it all finds a voice.

As in the past, where the Olympics have been utilized as a political tool, this year would have been no different… in that the effort would have been in vain. What’s more, in retrospect, that is as it probably should be because it is not for political glory that most of the athletes compete, but a short place in time when the dreams of a lifetime manifest on the field of competition.

It’s been hard not to take note of the achievements of Michael Phelps, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor, Nastia Liukin or so many of the international Olympians. There they stand as their national anthem is played, giving each of us a split second to share in their glory. No politics, no ulterior motives, nothing between them and the purity of the moment.

If only all things human were so simple and yet so very graceful.

It has been said that the Chinese wanted to make a statement… that they had arrived to join the world. This Olympiad was to have been the hammer they used to drive the point.

Oh well.

It was probably never their intention that these Olympics of 2008 would upstage even the host nation and their carefully crafted message. But on this occasion, that is exactly what has happened.

 
* * *

“An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted”
 -Arthur Miller

Hear that sound of wheezing and choking? It’s actually the death throes of ‘urban sprawl’ and at one time, it was growing like kudzu all across the Southeast.

Atlanta could be the poster child for this malignancy. You can call yourself living and working in Atlanta but during any given 24 hour period, you might never even cross the line into the city limits of the same. To the contrary, with the variety of concrete and asphalt highways that gird the great metropolitan area like ripples on a pond, Atlanta has become a geographical abstract that goes in all directions from any random point.

To the rest of Georgia, Atlanta’s hubris became a template to be copied and modeled. Travel to any of Macon, Augusta, Savannah and yes, even Columbus and you’ll find the smaller examples of the same thing. Vast, outlying suburbs are connected by Interstate or Interstate-like roadways designed to carry tens of thousands to, from and through the hub axis of the complex.

Elsewhere, other examples of urban sprawl can be found in Jacksonville, FL, Birmingham, AL and Charlotte, NC, with that latter city so much like Atlanta in its early/mid sprawldom that it boggles the mind.

Anyway, the point being is that like kudzu in November, the central root system will likely survive but the great spread will succumb to the seasonal change. In this case, the initial catalyst is the cost of gasoline. But there’s more going on here than just the mere price of a gallon of go-juice…

The Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid, would begin production-ready prototypes within 10 days.

The bad news?
You mean other than the decrease in revenue for roads, bridges and other critical highway infrastructure because of a decrease in gasoline taxes?

From “The good news?”
- Redneckin - 15 August 2008

Uh huh. That’s right. As we migrate away from petroleum and towards whatever follows… in all probability an age of electric cars, there’s going to be a very deep, very wide chasm that was once filled by gasoline taxes.

Now, this could end up giving birth to the same via your monthly electric bill or perhaps even a regulated car-charging device that will be read like your power meter. But at least in the short term, there will be that great emptiness. Chances are, the first means to begin to replace that revenue will be through tollbooths, or extra taxes on other things like tires or windshield washer fluid.

As the energy noose slips even tighter, the choking turns to gagging because what was once a thoroughly delightful trip to the shopping plaza 10 or 20 miles away is now an added expense to those things we want or need to purchase. What’s the point of going that far if the savings are immediately offset by the cost of the fuel to get there?

All of a sudden, closer to home becomes attractive and more important than variety…

There is a tremendous amount of disposable income in Phenix City. In the past it has been a foregone conclusion that most of that income would be spent in Columbus businesses. However, during the past 2 to 3 years, we’ve seen many of our shoppers making the trek to other areas. While we want to be good neighbors, we’ve got to change both of those trends and the only way to do it is for Phenix City to offer additional quality shopping areas in Phenix City!

From “Phenix City Mayoral Candidate Sonny Coulter’s Statement”
- WRBL - 20 August 2008

Hmmm… that there is “a tremendous amount of disposable income in Phenix City” is more than a little suspect but the idea that we need to offer more business alternatives to local consumers is a good one. Speaking for us here in the Q household, we rarely go to Georgia anymore if there is a decent, local alternative. The money we spend here in our own state and community will go towards insuring our continued ability to support the same… not to mention saving on gas.

Yup, all fingers point to the last gasps of the age of sprawl. And no, it’s not like we’re all going to be moving back to city center. But what it will probably do is to force us to consolidate the smaller existing towns and communities, filling in each with sufficient services and supplies to satisfy the needs of that immediate area.

Some things will change, but some things won’t need to. Convenience stores, for instance, won’t sell gas but will probably still have blended fast food joints. Grocery stores will also have pharmacies but won’t be so large that they cross county lines or require a sack lunch for the hike to the front door.

The trend will be to travel less to sustain our needs… a move that should see the distant big box super center eventually displaced by somewhat smaller and more localized businesses.

It very well could be the next great social and economic shift; a nation reborn not on the eight-lane commute but back to where it all began, with sidewalks and neighborhood schools. What began as an energy crisis ends as move back towards common sense.

It could happen and it could be a good thing but… really, what are the chances? Well, this time, no one’s asking.

* * *

“Idealism is the despot of thought, just as politics is the despot of will.” -Mikhail Bakunin

Today’s Ledger-Enquirer makes note that on this day in history, 19 August 1991, that Michail Gorbachev was sacked by the old Soviet Union power brokers.

Ironic that today it is being reported that Russian troops have taken ‘hostages’ in the form of Georgian troops. What’s more, despite its agreement to withdraw from Georgian soil, she remains there as if digging in for the long haul… adding SS-21 missile launchers that can only be meant to threaten the Georgian capitol.

Deep breath.

We live in such a different time now because if Russia had played this game prior to 1991, NATO would have been immediately there to stop the advance. What happened?

Globalization.

The whole concept is at the root of so many ills. It lies at the heart of our own problems along our borders with Mexico, with Europe’s problems with being virtually overrun by middle easterners, and it is the mechanism behind China’s rise from being nearly a third world power to standing on the brink of displacing the USA.

The idea is that once we are a fully blended planet, war will be nearly impossible because we will all be indespensibly interdependent. It also erases national borders and invents hate speech as a new crime to squelch those who disagree with the premise.

Well, Russia has just thrown that notion to the wind. And as for NATO? What ever may still exist of this once proud and powerful alliance; NATO is wringing its hands over a response.

It is really quite sad because without a firm and resolute Northern Alliance, the enigma that has always been Russia becomes a brute force without equal or challenge. Georgia is learning this the hard way while we sit back and watch as Ivan takes those hostages… along with US supplied arms.

So, should we now go to war with Russia? We hope not but short of a firm NATO/European/US response, Vlad the Invader will likely feel no urge to do more than take more hostages, loot and pillage more Georgian dirt and perhaps, annex it as it pleases him.

If there were an ounce of guts left in the former alliance, there would be a stream of tanks and soldiers marching into Georgia to offer some hope against Vlad and his imperial ambitions. But as it is, he will likely feel comfortable signing off on any treaty offered and then, respecting nary a word of any of them.

A New Cold war? No. Probably not. Call this one a Russian winter.
 
* * *

“Hell is a half-filled auditorium.”
- Robert Frost

There are a hundred axioms that define how we view the world around us. One of the most basic comes in the form of a question:

‘Is the glass half empty or half full?’

Aside from the purely philosophic, the glass is, of course, half full because in its natural state, the glass is nothing but an empty vessel. It is up to us to put something into it; filling it all the way up or only half full. Even a glass that was once full, but then partially drained, contains more than it was holding at its inception.

But naturally, when answering the very same question while delving into the philosophic core, we are tasked to make the call based on our personal perceptions.

Okay, enough of that… you get the idea, right? Good. (We’ll come back to this in just a bit.) Now an explanation for the class in abstract thought…

WTVM’s Lee Brantley has posted one of his customized editorials that addresses the cost of living and the generally dour economic outlook, versus a bright ray of sunshine blowing up from Georgia Tech and the new KIA plant in West Point…

“You may think the economy can’t get any worse, and you could be right. The housing mess and the cost of food & fuel are enough to make us all worry about what’s ahead.”

Thanks Lee, that’s a pretty accurate observation. And do let me apologize too for not offering this via your TV station but… honestly, I am not terribly photogenic and, well, you have your medium and I have mine.

Anyway, Lee’s editorial speaks of a study done by The Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech that points to a “… titanic ripple effect” from the KIA plant. He also makes mention of the BRAC expansion at Fort Benning, closing his article thusly:

“We’re encouraged by the predictions, especially when you factor in the arrival of thousands of soldiers and their families through base realignment. The Kia plant doesn’t open until next year, but if Georgia Tech’s study holds true, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Well, here we are again staring into that annoying glass. Is it half full with a healthy blend of KIA and BRAC juice? Or is it half empty, with swarms of bacteria-like traffic jams and a cost of living that will drain just as much from your wallet no matter who you work for?

Falling back upon our charter, it is a little difficult to imagine that the increase in population (BRAC) and/or jobs (KIA) will do much for the cost of a gallon of gasoline, an ear of corn or a sack of flour. It may well increase the tax base for local communities already struggling to keep up with what could be termed, ‘normal growth’ but with the increase will come more crowded roadways, more demand on infrastructure and already overburdened public safety services. The increased revenue will, in all likelyhood, be spent before it’s ever even counted.

Don’t get me wrong; the potential jobs are great. Bravo! But the cost of living remains a problem no matter how many jobs we have. In fact, looking at it strictly from the half empty section of this half filled auditorium, the biggest beneficiary from any growth will be to the same oily (and sandy) quarters that are creating the current problems.

* * *

“I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.” –Groucho Marx

That says more to the current situation than I could have… and believe me, I’ve tried. So, I hope Mr. Marx doesn’t mind because… we’ll be leaning on him again before this post is finished.

It began several weeks ago with a fever and chills followed by the cold sweats.

From there, it led to doctor’s offices and hospitals while in between the symptoms and the treatment went I, trying to keep up with the daily routine. Then all the color bled away and people were coming up to me just to tell me that I looked like hell.

Geez, thanks. Nice to see you too.

The diagnoses have run the full spectrum of ailments, from kidney stones to West Nile virus. It had in fact become more like scratching a lottery ticket than anything resembling healthcare just to find out what was wrong about what was wrong.

“If you’ve heard this story before, don’t stop me, because I’d like to hear it again.”

In the meantime, there were the potions and concoctions getting poured into my system like water spinning down sink drain. The effects and side effects varied from the standard nausea to the inner desire to stay as close to the bathroom as possible without actually moving the bed in next to the commode.

In truth, I should be getting paid for trying all these drugs.

Oh, and to the local ER: Thanks for the double shot of morphine but… next time, remember to give me a cigarette and one of those back-scratchers too, thank you. 

“Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.”

That is the problem here, isn’t it? Between the 750ml Levaquin IV-drip and the above-mentioned double dose of morphine, there was the distinct possibility of not realizing what honest old age was going to be like.

But be that all as it may, here we are trying to bang out something while the brain and the fingers are wandering the foggy halls of a pharmacopoeia induced lucidity.

“Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped.”

If you’re judging from the number of posts here in the last two weeks, you might be tempted to wonder. But no, don’t worry, it’s the watch.

Promise.

* * *

“Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.”
 -St. Francis of Assisi

Just briefly, there’s a new(?) website out there that acts as a sort of consignment/thrift store for both those who like to shop rummage sales and those who like to donate to charities.

The website, throwplace.com, has free registration and offers items in several categories: US Charities, International Charities, Business/Individuals and Up-For-Grabs. All merchandise is free but is available based on which category it is being offered under.

Oh, and you may have to pay for any shipping charges.

This is similar to the Freecycle concept that has taken the internet by storm over the last few years. The difference is mainly in its organizational characteristics… meaning there’s probably more order and less chaos in the process.

Here are a few examples from the Up-For-Grabs (free to anyone) category…

Item Number: 2787
Listed on: 2008-07-12 16:47:41
Item Name: Sabrina the Teenage Witch soundtrack
Section: Up-For-Grabs
Listing: Status Active
Item Category: Other
Item Description: Soundtrack from the TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, released in 1998, all original packaging, CD is like new

Item Number: 2825
Listed on: 2008-08-10 18:34:33
Item Name: Rabbit Hutch (2 available)
Section: Up-For-Grabs
Listing Status: Active
Item Category: Other
Item Description: Outside rabbit hutches, only one year old, purchased from a rabbit breeder. All feeding dishes/water bottles included. One is dwarf-rabbit sized, the other is larger and can be used as a double hutch. Please call in the evening.

For more information, just click over http://www.throwplace.com/

* * *

“I don’t expect that the million will ever be won, simply because there is no confirming evidence for any paranormal claims to date.” -James Randi

No brag, just fact, right? Maybe. But then again, maybe it’s finally time for Mr. Randi to put his millions where his mouth is.

Here’s the basic story…

A couple of good old boys from North Georgia are claiming to have bagged a Big Foot… and we don’t mean a Ford truck with oversized wheels either. Nope, in this case, these guys allegedly found the already-dead animal, carted it home and put it in the chest freezer.

NOTE: We can only guess that this was a temporary situation… until they could either find someone to check the critter’s DNA or get it to the processing plant for sausages and steaks.

I didn’t say that.

Anyway, as Big Foot claims go, this one looks like it is in much better health than the specimen itself. In fact, they may have finally solved one of humanity’s greatest enduring mysteries.

Here’s part of the press release followed by a few pictures of the beast we found elsewhere on the web…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2008
BIGFOOT BODY FOUND
DNA evidence and photo evidence to be presented at a
PRESS CONFERENCE
to be held on
Date: Friday, August 15, 2008
Time: From 12Noon-1:00pm
Place: Cabana Hotel-Palo Alto (A Crown Plaza Resort) 4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, California 94306

Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. Menlo Park, California
Tom Biscardi, CEO

BIGFOOT BODY FOUND - EVIDENCE AND DNA DETAILS TO BE PRESENTED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 15th

FROM 12 N00N TO 1:00PM AT THE CABANA HOTEL-PALO ALTO IN PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA

A body that may very well be the body of the creature commonly known as “Bigfoot” has been found in the woods in northern Georgia.

DNA evidence and photo evidence of the creature will be presented in a press conference on Friday, August 15th from 12 Noon to 1:00pm at the Cabana Hotel-Palo Alto at 4290 El Camino Real in Palo Alto, California, 94306. The press conference will not be open to the public. It will only be open to credentialed members of the press.
Here are some of the vital statistics on the “Bigfoot” body:
*The creature is seven feet seven inches tall.
*It weighs over five hundred pounds.
*The creature looks like it is part human and part ape-like.
*It is male.
*It has reddish hair and blackish-grey eyes.
*It has two arms and two legs, and five fingers on each hand and
five toes on each foot.
*The feet are flat and similar to human feet.
*Its footprint is sixteen and three-quarters inches long and five and three-quarters inches wide at the heel.
*From the palm of the hand to the tip of the middle finger, its hands are
eleven and three-quarters inches long and six and one-quarter inches wide.
*The creatures walk upright. (Several of them were sighted on the same day that the body was found.)
*The teeth are more human-like than ape-like.
*DNA tests are currently being done and the current DNA and photo evidence will be presented at the press conference on Friday, August 15th.

The creature was found by Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer (residents of Georgia) in the woods in northern Georgia. (The exact location is being kept secret to protect the creatures.)
Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer will be flying in from Georgia to be at the press conference. Also present at the press conference will be Tom Biscardi, CEO of Searching for Bigfoot, Inc.
…

On a related side note, various reports from the web say that Fox News will have a spot on the discovery today (Wednesday) at 10:45 AM ET.

From the source -
Searchingforbigfoot.com

Elsewhere -
Has Bigfoot Been Found?
 

Imagry - 

* * *

“The only way to see a movie is in a big theater, on a big screen, with a big bag of popcorn.” -Dan Glickman

George Bernard Shaw once said, “England and America are two countries separated by a common language”. Well, that may have been at one time but as the UK has fallen further and further into the loving embrace of the Nanny State’s sweaty bosom, the degree of separation has become more pronounced.

But another point of departure, probably less connected to a bloated, centralized government than just a good deal of high-hatted snobbery, has reared its ugly head in the neighborhood cinema…

The credits are rolling in Britain for the time-honoured cinematic tradition of munching popcorn at the movies — a newspaper reported Sunday that increasing numbers of cinemas are banning it.
…

It quoted Daniel Broch, the owner of the renowned Everyman cinema in London’s upmarket Hampstead district, who recently bought 17 more venues.

“I will de-popcorn every new venue I acquire,” he said. “It has a disproportionate influence on the space in terms of its overwhelming smell, the cultural idea of it and the operational problems created by the mess it produces.

From “‘The End’ for popcorn in British cinemas: report”
- AFP via Yahoo - 9 August 2008

“…its overwhelming smell, the cultural idea of it and the operational problems created by the mess it produces”? Where was this guy born? In a sterile laboratory? Did Mum and Dad not allow him as a child to enjoy popcorn while catching a Saturday matinee?

How awful. Somebody call a shrink for this poor fellah!

Imagine if you will, going to any of our American theaters to find the odor of a zombiefied Victorian intolerance instead of the beloved smell and taste of hot popcorn! Talk about a reason to revolt!

Okay, so the Founding fathers of our nation could have never foreseen this kind of future… but there can be no doubt at all that they would have held vigil at the concession stand to protect our rights to munch our way into steamy, buttered entertainment bliss!

In closing, I must confess to have complained about the price of a sack of popcorn on my last trip to see a movie. But it is a far better thing to have that opportunity than to someday wake to find there is no popcorn at all!

* * *

“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
- Winston Churchill

It seems that if a Russian leader wants to get their name in the history books, they have to inflict suffering on their neighbors.

Historically -

Ivan (The Terrible) IV
The Grand Prince Ivan having achieved much overseeing numerous changes in the transition from a mere local medieval nation state to a small empire and emerging regional power, became acknowledged as the first Tsar of a new more powerful nation, became “Tsar of All Russia” from 1547.

Ivan was strong minded, devout, and impulsive; given to rages, and according to the suspicions of some, probably had episodic outbreaks of mental disorder. One notable outburst resulted in the death of his groomed and chosen heir – Ivan Ivanovich – resulting in the passing of the Tsardom to a less than ideal younger son – the mentally retarded Feodor I of Russia.

Wonderful fellah.

The latest version appears to be Vladimir Putin, who has now sent his legions into the former Soviet sub-state of Georgia. Since the fall of Russian communism and the Soviet Union, Georgia had been moving to align itself with the west and had even asked to join NATO. For an old KGB cold warrior like Vlad, this couldn’t have set too well. In fact, as each former Soviet client and satellite state has in turn moved towards western-style democracies and alliances, the problematic Mr. Putin has become more and more bellicose.

What does this mean for Georgia? Militarily, Georgia’s entire combined armed forces number only some 27,000 personnel, with around 80 tanks and 7 combat aircraft. On the other side, Russia’s numbers are, as one might suspect, a bit more formidable with over 600,000 in uniform, 6,000 tanks and 1200 combat aircraft.

So, short of a full scale war in Europe, there’s not a lot anyone can do. Had they already been admitted into NATO, though, the question would not be a question. In fact, the invasion would have never happened.

The excuse being fronted for this Russian gallop across the border, is the rescue of ethnic Russians in the region of Georgia known as South Ossetia. For those familiar with history, it’s not a far shot to recall that this was the excuse that Hitler and Nazi Germany used in annexing Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.

But it hasn’t stopped there, as it now seems fairly apparent that Russia intends to annex both South Ossetia and another break away region, Abkhazia, which takes in about fifty percent of Georgia’s Black Sea coast.

Vlad Putin has a lot of nationalistic and personal political ambition. Left to their natural courses, it’s not hard to imagine that he will eventually become another in a long line of notable Russian leaders, who have etched their name into the history books with the blood of those who were unfortunate enough to be their neighbors.

* * *

“I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.” -Samuel Butler

Okay, I owe all yall a explaination for not posting regularly of recent and… well, this is my excuse.

You ever just feel like crap warmed over? Seriously, it has been almost two weeks now of this.

According to my doctor at Web MD, the symptoms most closely point to either West Nile, a Tick Bite or… an unknown virus. In this day and age, nothing can be ruled out. But I saw my real healthcare provider today and as a result, I am short several test tubes of blood so… I should feel better, right?

On top of all of that, my keyboard died on me in a splendid display of sparks and smoke last night. On the upside, I had paid a dollar for a spare from a yard sale several weeks back.

Anyway, here’s a rather interesting story to try and make up for our absence…

You’ve heard of hybrids, electric cars and vehicles that can run on vegetable oil. But of all the contenders in the quest to produce the ultimate fuel-efficient car, this could be the first one to let you say, “fill it up with air.”

That’s the idea behind the compressed air car, which backers say could achieve a fuel economy of 106 miles per gallon.

Plenty of skepticism exists, but with many Americans trying to escape sticker shock at the gas pump, the concept is generating buzz.

From “106 mpg ‘air car’ creates buzz, questions”
- CNN - 8 August 2008

Imagine that! A car that can run on compressed air! The technology here can’t be new and that makes one wonder where all the geniuses have been for the last… what, 35 years?

Old steam locomotives worked on the same principle. The problem then was with the cost and pollution of coal, and the habit pressure vessels sometimes have of blowing up. Even removing coal from the equation, there is that pressure. One minor fender bender and you could find yourself hanging in an erratic orbit, dodging space debris.

Nevertheless, if we can drive to work on a few pounds of air, that should help balancing the monthly budget… until someone comes along to claim that technology and jack the cost to $5 per pound for air.

Well, that’s it for now. As soon as this grundge plays itself out, we’ll get busy again on the new website and put stuff up here on a regular basis.

Thanks for hanging in there with us.

 
* * *

“I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.” -Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the light…

Nothing’s definite, but the three members of the state Public Service Commission this morning said rising costs of coal and natural gas, fuel burned at power plants, likely will lead to higher electric costs for customers of Alabama Power Co.

From “PSC warns Alabama Power customers of likely higher electrical costs”
- Birmingham News - 5 August 2008

Nothing’s definite? Oh, let’s not be modest! The very name, Alabama Public Service Commission, has become something of a running joke. And if you take the time to read the full article, you will leave feeling as if the issue has already been decided.

Now, we’re not beyond understanding that Alabama Power IS a business and that the business of business is to make money. What’s more, the cost of the energy that makes energy is indeed going up. All you have to do is to look at the nearest gas pump to see that.

But at the same time, we’re all in the same leaky boat here.

That’s right. The consumer is in the same economy as the multi-state power generating mega-corporation. Will there be a sharing of the pain? Will Alabama Power’s CEO and shareholders take a hit to their dividends and bonuses at the same time We the Consumer try and survive the parade of never-ending rate hikes?

Another thing here is that this segment of the market is not terribly competitive.

In truth, most (if not all) of us just can’t go out and subscribe to another electricity vendor if we feel that Alabama Power has gotten a little too happy with their pricing plan. In place of that, we have these so-called Public Service Commissions to act as oversight on the public’s behalf. But today’s hard truth is that the PCS’s appear to be little more than fully funded, rubber stamp apparatuses for those services they are supposed to be overseeing.

So yes, if our state PSC says we are going to get it yet again in our wallet pocket, you can pretty much take it as gospel and be ready to feel the pain in that exact spot.

In closing, Alabama is not one of those rich northern states with built-in social programs to rescue those who are tossed from the machine. We are in fact, one of the poorest states in the nation made up of hard working, tax paying (and voting) families who sweat the bills month after month after month. If Alabama Power’s profit paradigm is less flexible than their rate plan to the consumer, it could eventually happen that some of those working families will be unable to keep up… and find themselves left out in the dark.

In fact, if that’s their business model, we may all find ourselves in dark someday.

Moreover -

Want to add your two-cents?
Alabama Public Service Commission (website)

 
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“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.” -Daniel J. Boorstin

It’s that time of year again; when we’ll all have to keep a watch out for the younguns on the side of the road peddling pencils for a nickel.

Wait a minute. That ain’t right! Actually, it’s more like that they’ll be out there waiting for the school bus.

That’s better.

In addition to the buses, you can bet that those speed zones around the schools will be on the radar for local law enforcement too. What that means for all those Dale Jr. wannabes who now blow through those zones at warp nine… is probably in the neighborhood of several hundred dollars in fines and court levies, along with a noticeable increase in insurance premiums.

Ouch! There are no painless pit stops, huh?

Another thing we’ll need to be mindful of is all those young and inexperienced drivers who still manage to squeeze Mom and Dad for enough gas money to drive their own cars to school each day. But if the high cost of fuel has any single upside to it, you’ll likely find it in those who you don’t see dancing in and out of rush hour traffic.

A family friend of ours who a high school aged boy told us just the other day of a conversation he had with his son. After explaining that with the price of gasoline, that he’d be limited on the number of days he could drive to school this year. The young man was reported to have replied that if he had to ride the bus, he’d put a bag over his head.

Dad says that’s fine with him because Publix doesn’t charge extra for paper grocery sacks.

Anyway, just be careful and watch out for the younguns… and if you start seeing a mess of them wearing paper bags, you know why.

* * *

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore
- Burning Bridges - Mike Curb Congregation (1970)

It’s almost like being a kid again. No, not the song quote above either.

The issue is what has crept up over the last 48 hours… a temperature that hovers at/about 101F and numerous body aches and pains. A million-or-so years ago when I was a youngun, getting sick was part of the drill. Same thing later in life too, when I made kids of my own. They brought stuff home from school that the CDC couldn’t have never even guessed at!

Anyway, here it is about 5 AM and I am wide-awake with all those aforementioned symptoms plus… a severe headache. Now, if I can just manage to finish the post what began, but never did, yesterday morning…

It was the height of the afternoon rush hour when a seemingly sturdy Minneapolis bridge suddenly came apart at the seams - taking 13 lives down with it.

It was a wake-up call about the nation’s crumbling infrastructure…

From “States Get Creative After Bridge Collapse”
- CBS News - 31 July 2008

With that word, “creative” inserted into the title, it was a story that had to be read. Unfortunately, it’s not terribly good. On the upside though, it IS a worthy subject for those of us who commute daily across any of four bridges to work in Georgia.

With that last thought in mind, we set out to find bridge ratings… again. We did this before, about a year ago and came up a little short. This time however, we found a link to an AJC (oh joy) article that has all that bridge inspection information… or presumably so, at the click of a mouse.

Right off the bat, you have to know that the site is S-L-O-W. So to compensate, we’ve linked directly to the section for Muscogee County and from there, all of those bridges ‘should’ be listed in a concise, easy to understand way.

Uh huh. Think of another word here… ‘bureaucracy’, and you’ll have the basic, working theory behind the format.

After wading into the bog of the AJC site and negotiating what has to be the proud listing nomenclature of a government computer technician, we began searching for those four bridges. They are: US280/SR 520 Oglethorpe Bridge – Dillingham Street Bridge – 13th Street Bridge (Horace King World Of Peace & Love Bridge) and finally, the US80/North Bypass/JR Allen (Deep & Wide) bridge.

Next, a few notes from the accompanying AJC article…

Using factors such as structural adequacy, serviceability and traffic volume, each bridge is assigned a sufficiency rating. Bridges with scores of 80% or less are eligible for federal bridge rehabilitation money and those with ratings of 50% or less are eligible for federal bridge replacement funding.

Okay, now you are up to date on what task lies ahead of you should you decide to go and have a look-see for yourself. NOTE: We are not responsible for any premature aging or random rage you may experience during your expedition.

Here below are listings for three (3) of those four (4) bridges mentioned above, with bold text added to information that is most likely important…

[Oglethorpe Bridge]
County: Muscogee
Road or highway: US 280 COR Z
Mile point: Ala-Ga St Line-W Columbus
Feature intersected: M-8007- Chatt. River- Rr
Bridge status: Open
Year built: 1962
Length (meters): 398.0
Average daily traffic volume: 32,410
Year of traffic volume estimate: 2007
Bridge improvement project cost: $0.00
Month/year inspected: 10/2006
Sufficiency rating: 57.90%
Deck condition rating (0-9): 5
Superstructure condition rating (0-9): 7
Substructure condition rating (0-9): 4
Channel condition rating (0-9): 8
Culvert condition rating (0-9): N
NOTE: Bridges with deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert ratings less than or equal to four are classified as “structurally deficient.” However, structurally deficient bridges are not necessarily unsafe.

[Dillingham Street Bridge]
County: Muscogee
Road or highway: Dillingham Street
Mile point: Ga-Ala St Ln-W Columbus
Feature intersected: Chattahoochee River
Bridge status: Open
Year built: 1910
Length (meters): 213.3
Average daily traffic volume: 6,250
Year of traffic volume estimate: 2007
Bridge improvement project cost: $1,681,000.00
Month/year inspected: 9/2006
Sufficiency rating: 70.70%
Deck condition rating (0-9): 5
Superstructure condition rating (0-9): 5
Substructure condition rating (0-9): 5
Channel condition rating (0-9): 7
Culvert condition rating (0-9): N
NOTE: Bridges with deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert ratings less than or equal to four are classified as “structurally deficient.” However, structurally deficient bridges are not necessarily unsafe.

[13th Street – Horace King Memorial Friendship Bridge]
County: Muscogee
Road or highway: 13th St-Horace
Mile point: West Columbus
Feature intersected: Chattahoochee R
Bridge status: Open
Year built: 2000
Length (meters): 386.4
Average daily traffic volume: 24,240
Year of traffic volume estimate: 2007
Bridge improvement project cost: $0.00
Month/year inspected: 10/2006
Sufficiency rating: 78.40%
Deck condition rating (0-9): 7
Superstructure condition rating (0-9): 8
Substructure condition rating (0-9): 7
Channel condition rating (0-9): 8
Culvert condition rating (0-9): N
NOTE: Bridges with deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert ratings less than or equal to four are classified as “structurally deficient.” However, structurally deficient bridges are not necessarily unsafe.

First of all, how is it that the relatively NEW 13th Street (Horace King) Bridge only sacks a 78.40 percent rating when, just upstream, the nearly century old Dillingham Street Bridge knocks down a 70.70 percent? Was there some poor concrete used in construction?

Then there is the Oglethorpe Bridge, built in 1962. It sees its daily share of abuse but… only a 57.90 percent rating? Are they waiting until it falls (no pun intended) under that 50% threshold for some free federal funding?

Lastly but importantly, we just could NOT find any listing for the US Highway 80 (North Bypass) bridge. Even using the best logic; that it does cross the Chattahoochee and that it is a duel-span unit that bears a US Highway designation, we could not find it listed.

NOTE: If by chance any of our guests decide to take up the quest to find this bridge’s rating and then so too succeed, could you leave us a comment with a link to it?

These three ratings (and the one notable absence) open the door to a number of questions… like, do I really want to join the daily throngs on some of these bridge decks? Curiously enough, the one built in 1910 may also be the safest one.
 

AJC Bridge Ratings Page - Main 

AJC Bridge Ratings Page – Muscogee County

* * *

“Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down.”  - Jimmy Durante

It’s gonna be a busy day so here’s a few quick notes to hold the course until later on…

First of all, this WOULD have been the last post/day for Sin City Q… but we still haven’t mastered the CMS program for building the new website so, as a result, we’ll be here for at least a bit longer still.

Elsewhere… and just briefly, we’ve read the story about WTVM’s new anchor and we would like to welcome her. From the various articles appearing on this subject, we understand she is well worthy of the position.

That being said though, we are sad to see Dee Armstrong go. She had become a familiar and welcome face each day on our TV screen. And since we will likely never be privy to the full reasoning behind her release, we are left to our… um, assumptions.

* * *

“Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions.” -David Borenstein

Earthquake in California? Big, fat,  hairy shaky deal. The entire coast is a fault zone. If you lived over a septic tank, you would (or at least, you should), expect the occasional geyser, right?

Thank you.

Anyway, here are a few more stories and what can, or should be expected…

If you thought Red Bull Racing was crazy, you won’t believe the Rocket Racing League. Think NASCAR, but in the air, using planes powered by solid-state rockets flying simultaneously.

From “Rocket Racers: Like Crazier NASCAR In the Sky”
- Gizmodo - 29 July 2008

We’ve made mention of the upstart RRL before but this time, they’re about ready to do more than talk about racing. And since it has now been compared to NASCAR, there’s no sin in bringing up the fact that if there is a crack-up on the track, it will be spectacular and probably quite deadly.

Imagine 30,000 beered-up rednecks from Wisconsin or Alabama whooping if that should happen! Budweiser and Redman should make a fortune on this escapade. If they don’t… it’s their own fault.

A little closer to mother Earth, there is this story of someone inventing another one of those personal, jet-powered flying devices…

On Tuesday, an inventor from New Zealand unveiled what he calls “the world’s first practical jetpack” at the EAA AirVenture, the gigantic annual air show here. The inventor, Glenn Martin, 48, who has spent 27 years developing the devices, said he hoped to begin selling them next year for $100,000 apiece.

From “The Jetpack: From Comics to a Liftoff in the Yard”
- New York Times - 29 July 2008

Yup, gotta rush right down and buy me one of these! But… wait a minute. Did they say $100,000? Oh well, will just have to wait until they come out with a base model under $10,000… which will likely be, um… never.

We can put a man on the moon and make gas pumps that take credit cards but we just can’t build a personal, portable flying device for the masses. What a shame.

Finally, closer still to the ground and designed to tug at your heart strings… meet the first robot that will cry right along with you when the boss is cranky…

Childlike Heart Robot has a beating ticker, a “breathing” chest and sensors that respond to movement, noise and touch.

If he is cuddled his limbs become limp and he “relaxes”.

But if he is yelled at, he gets upset.

From “’Human’ robot is all heart”
- The Sun - 30 July 2008

Are we being primed to live under a liberal president and Democrat Congress, or what?

Well, that seems unlikely as this story emanates from the UK… where liberal command has already placed video cameras on every street corner while, at the same time, nearly criminalizing the art of everyday personal photography.

At least we know what to look out for.

If the ‘Nanny State’ is your cup of tea, then this darling little machine may be just the item for Christmas. Forget humans, dogs, cats, birds or goldfish. This little automaton sympathizer will be right there to share your despair when Sex in the City finally ends its primetime run on TV.

* * *

“The more sins you confess, the more books you will sell.”
-Ninon de Lenclos

Some people see UFOs. Others catch a glimpse of Big Foot or the Loch Ness critter. No such luck here, though, we did just recently note some falling gas prices.

We were rolling down the road over this past weekend and saw one of those large LED signs change right before our eyes. It was like… did that really just happen? Did that sign just change to $3.71 a gallon? We spun about (screeching tires) and sped back to the scene to find that yes, we did see the cost of gasoline fall but in that short span of time, people from miles around had already flocked to, and packed, the pump islands.

Looking back, it was just a bit like a mess of those little black sugar ants crowding around a small scrap of food. Call it… controlled (almost) mayhem.

We did (finally) manage to get to a pump… and from their, filled our tank with the that pungent smelling substance known as 87-Octane. It was sometime afterwards that it all came rushing home. You know, there we were and for a few gallons of fuel that were but a few cents cheaper than most anywhere else, we had interrupted our journey and spent about 15 minutes in an honest-to-Jim gas line.

Yeah, I know what I said…

“I’ll make the effort to buy the less expensive product if there isn’t going to be a long wait but… as my car sits and idles away waiting for a pump to open up, how much am I really saving? The longer I’m in line running the A/C and burning fuel, the less I save. In fact, after a certain point, I’m actually spending more.”

No excuses… I personally bear the scarlet letter of the preachy hypocrite. But, I did at least confess…

 
* * *

“Propaganda is that branch of the art of lying which consists in nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies.” -Frances Cornford

The media is playing the part of national propaganda machine again and not surprisingly, the whitewash this time is the same as it has been before.

The story excerpt below is titled, “Hundreds protest immigration raid in small-town America”.

“Led by 43 women with electronic tracking bracelets on their ankles, hundreds of people from around the country marched down main street here Sunday to protest the biggest immigration raid in US history at a kosher meat plant that has split this tiny Iowa town asunder.”
 
“Released from jail so they can take care of their families, the 43 women out front were among 390 mainly Guatemalan and Mexican workers arrested by federal agents May 12 at the Agriprocessors meat factory and charged with identity theft.”

Right off the bat, people who have been charged with ‘identity theft’ are out in the streets protesting their arrest, which is to our mind, NOT taking care of their families. Nothing more should even need be said to that but, the story goes on to further obfuscate the matter…

“The protest is not only directed against the anti-immigration movement, but also the meat plant itself… “

Talk about spin, this could easily sustain itself in a secure Earth orbit. Of course, there is no “anti-immigration movement” but rather, a large segment of American society that is concerned, angry even, over ILLEGAL immigration.

Painted carefully to help you disregard the ‘identity theft’ charges and the illegal nature of of their presence, the story is apparently designed from the bottom up to evoke sympathy and support for those who not only came here illegally, but also did so with stolen identities.

In our opinion, coming from a major news source, this kind of jack-legged journalism makes the media complicit to the crime. How could one argue that stories like this don’t encourage more foreign nationals to break our borders and our laws?

We should begin right away to press our presidential candidates about their position on ILLEGAL immigration and not allow the media another opportunity to dictate one more page of national policy!

* * *