One Poor Correspondent

Yep, that's me. I haven't written a blog post here in some time.

I have been doing a reenactment of the reenactment of Driving Miss Daisy from Be Kind, Rewind all week. She hasn't told me that I am her best friend yet. I am not holding my breath.

Plastic Recycling

I sometimes get annoyed when people refer to the act of placing a bunch of empty containers on the curb or in a bin as recycling. Think about it. Plastic recycling is much more complicated than that. It might shock some people to know that their municipalities are not recycling some materials at all. There are situations where recyclable material is simply being stockpiled while the government people try to figure out a cost effective way to recycle it.

Scrap HDPE is a secondary commodity that has a positive value when it is sorted and compressed into big cubes.

I am trying to reduce my plastic consumption, but I also try to recycle the HDPE that I do end up purchasing.

George Bush Speaks Our About Tibet

George Bush Speaks Our About Tibet, that would be an interesting headline. He has made a few speeches about religious freedom in the past and that is one of the core issues in Tibet.

When pressed about boycotting the upcoming Olympic Games in China in response to the situation in Tibet, a White House spokeswoman had this to say...

Certainly the President wants to make sure that our athletes have a really good experience, and I think that most heads of state around the world believe that, too. It is a chance for that country to put its best face forward, and it's also a chance for other countries to learn more about the country.

George Bush hasn't said much of anything himself.

China kinda owns the USA. That makes this situation quite awkward indeed. The strategy right now seems to be to tell Western journalists that both Bush and Rice are urging the Chinese to exercise restraint.

If you look at the White House statement, you will realize that Bush and his peeps understand the Google. The words China, Olympics, Tibet and probably a few other good search words are conspicuously absent from the statement.

RapArtists.com

First Beat Media Properties has a shiny new site that serves as a resource for people with top rap artists. RapArtists.com has a top ten list of rap artists, a forum and a new releases section.

I was intrigued by a forum posting by someone who was wondering if rap would resonate in the Oval Office if Barrack Obama becomes President. I don't think it will. I have seen Obama dancing on The Ellen Show and I think he is more of an R&B fan.

Obama on YouTube

The most important way to compare Obama and Clinton is delegate count. The person who does not win the nomination may well end as a minor footnote in history.

If YouTube is important in the scheme of things, Obama is completely overshadowing Clinton. This speech is bigger than YouTube. This speech might be bigger than the Democratic Primary.

Blog Contests Rock!!!

One sure way to get people to visit your blog is to hold a contest. You have to give away something with either monetary or intrinsic value. You have to have clearly written rules. You have to have a deadline.

I'm not having a contest right now, but keep checking back because I could someday be giving away a new car.

POS...Show Me The Money!!!

I have looked into the software and hardware components of Point Of Sale systems before without ever thinking about the most important part, the cash drawer. Barcodes Inc sells all the best brands of cash boxes and they can also help you choose the best model for your business. Cash boxes are typically triggered by your printer and that means you have to ensure compatibility. Many brands are compatible with a broad range of printers. Sometimes I see clerks doing these awkward moves to reach under the cash box to open it. I assume that there is some problem with the normal operation of their systems. Either that or the company is committing tax fraud.

Overpopulation

I was thinking that it might be an interesting exercise to create a website that consists of nothing but baby tickers widgets. The number would increase by one widget every time the estimated human population increases. I have decided not to actually make this website. I am lazy.

When I looked around for information about overpopulation, I was surprised to find that it is a very contentious issue. It seems to make sense to me that the Earth would be better off with fewer humans consuming resources and creating pollution. It seems to make sense that people would be better off if there were fewer of us. According to a lot of people, overpopulation is not something that we should be alarmed about.

Buy-to-Let

With the Mortgage situation being less than ideal for the average homeowner, the Buy-to-Let situation is quite dynamic. It's kind of a catch 22. With demand for rental accommodations increasing as home ownership becomes less desirable, the opportunity for generating revenue using the Buy-to-Let model is tempting for many people. I personally would only recommend this strategy if your main expertise and enterprise can be put to use with regard to maintaining or adding value to the rental property. The rates and the real estate market make it so you can't be guaranteed a profit if you have to hire another business to maintain your rental property.

If you are considering a Buy-to-Let scheme with regard to a property in a resort area, you are entering the realm of high risk investment. Financing the purchase of a property that will be used for short lets can pay off if you have a high occupancy rate and you are able to charge high rental fees. Setting the right rental fee is both an art and a science. You should do a lot of market research. Pricing yourself out of the market is suicide. Going down market can mean playing host to rowdy school kids who consider a damage deposit some kind of challenge.

"Tell 'em to keep their dirty money in the state of Texas."

"Tell 'em to keep their dirty money in the state of Texas."

That's what Senator John McCain had to say when a couple of Texas Billionaires ponied up to pay for some attack ads in 2000. Bush's buddy Rove was able to effectively turn McCain's heroic military record into a liability using third party propaganda.

After $20,000 went to McCain's PAC from these same Texans, he had this to say...

"I didn't like what happened, but I've moved on, I've put all that behind me."

Livers From China

I read a great article about Wikipedia yesterday and it got me interested in the editing process of the hugely popular site. Today I clicked on the recent changes link and discovered a shocking article about Falun Gong and live organ harvesting. The disturbing testimony of a few individuals is flatly dismissed as fantasy by the Chinese government. A couple of respected and qualified Westerners published an investigative report that lent some credibility to the rumor. In an interesting twist, another Western journalist wrote a piece that refuted the work of David Kilgour and David Matas. It was later pointed out that the key information source for the rebuttal was an organization that is associated with the Chinese government.

The Story of My Last Collision

I don't think I have rambled on about my car accident on this particular space yet. They say you should write about what you know and anyone who has had an auto collision can tell you that the details stick with you (when you are a sober driver at least) and that you have an urge to recount them dozens of times.

There was a confusing bit of traffic ahead of me...

An oncoming car was veering out into my lane to go around the front of a truck that was trying to nose into the street from a parking lot. I pulled over as far as I could and came to a dead stop. After the car had gone by, the old guy driving the truck started making a surprisingly wide turn towards me. He had the sun shining in his eyes and he couldn't see me at all.

I have practiced honking my horn quite a bit since then, but at the time my reflexes were insufficient. He drove his bumper into my driver's side headlamp. I have Cheap Car Insurance and I didn't want a claim to result in an increase. Besides, I drive an old Skoda and I expected the replacement parts to be cheap. As it turned out, a headlamp costs almost exactly as much as the deductible. I developed a conspiracy theory about that. I was able to save some money by doing the 'body work' myself. I used the heel of my workboot.

The Good Old Days

Here is a very old clip of Stevie Wonder kickin' out the jams in front of the stoop on Sesame Street.

This kind of entertainment doesn't happen anymore. There is a kind of age segregation when it comes to entertainment these days. The music industry markets one roster of mediocre talent to the children and another to the adults. It sucks.