Unfair Competition? Boy, I'll say. . .
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18777393/
This is funny, but also sad. To think that some corporate lawyer somewhere is justifying his job by suing a drug dealer.
Tell me again why our court dockets are so jam-packed?
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
This just makes me sick.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18910561/
This just makes me sick to my stomach. This is just rotten to the core. I don't care what your political views are, these flags were left in remembrance of family members. Real People.
I can't even begin to understand what would cause someone to do such a thing.
This just makes me sick to my stomach. This is just rotten to the core. I don't care what your political views are, these flags were left in remembrance of family members. Real People.
I can't even begin to understand what would cause someone to do such a thing.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Memorial Weekend Sports?
I couldn't be more dissappointed in the sports-world this weekend.
The NBA playoffs are lousy. I can't stay awake long enough to get into any of the series, and just when I think I may be pulling for a particular team, the refs blow the whistle (or don't) and ruin it for me.
I don't know what game those guys are playing, but it is nothing like the game of basketball that I grew up with. There does not seem to be any cohesive rules. It's become a free-for-all out there. I can't wait for College ball to start back up.
Then the Indy 500 was on today. Rain, and accidents. That about sums it up. If the race wasn't under caution, it was red-flagged for rain. Not much excitement there either.
The most exciting news in the sports world this weekend appears to be Mike Vick's involvement in dog fighting. "Outside the Lines" on ESPN, went way outside this morning showing actual footage of dog fights. I about lost my frosted flakes. It's not pretty.
All I can say is that Vick better have an option C available. No more football, and no more dog fighting will leave him wanting some excitement. . . .Maybe he can go to Vegas with PacMan Jones.
The NBA playoffs are lousy. I can't stay awake long enough to get into any of the series, and just when I think I may be pulling for a particular team, the refs blow the whistle (or don't) and ruin it for me.
I don't know what game those guys are playing, but it is nothing like the game of basketball that I grew up with. There does not seem to be any cohesive rules. It's become a free-for-all out there. I can't wait for College ball to start back up.
Then the Indy 500 was on today. Rain, and accidents. That about sums it up. If the race wasn't under caution, it was red-flagged for rain. Not much excitement there either.
The most exciting news in the sports world this weekend appears to be Mike Vick's involvement in dog fighting. "Outside the Lines" on ESPN, went way outside this morning showing actual footage of dog fights. I about lost my frosted flakes. It's not pretty.
All I can say is that Vick better have an option C available. No more football, and no more dog fighting will leave him wanting some excitement. . . .Maybe he can go to Vegas with PacMan Jones.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Gas Prices and Logic
I had an interesting conversation/debate today regarding Gas prices (which are currently quite painful). I am baffled by our society's inability to apply logic to this situation. I understand peoples anger regarding the price at the pump, but I don't understand the blind rage that leads good-natured folks to vilify oil companies.
These oil companies have invested countless billions in exploration and production, and deserve a return on this investment. Not only do they deserve an return, but they owe it to their share-holders. The money invested is not from their own piggy-bank, but is that of investors the world over, including most anyone that has a mutual fund, or is involved with a pension plan.
The discussion I found myself in seemed to center around the notion of "price gouging". This is truly a great topic, but one I feel must be defined. It is simply too easy to lob the "gouging grenade" into the argument without any true support of it.
I held the position that we must first define what gouging is. Is it an absolute dollar amount? Or is it a particular profit margin that becomes too outrageous?
Really, for consistency's sake it has to be a profit margin, or some similar measure of "profit" vs. "expense" expressed in a ratio.
What was interesting to me was that I couldn't get an answer pinned down. The conversation kept being pulled in the direction of blind anger toward these "robber barons". The truth of the matter is that when you compare the profit margins of the oil companies to other businesses their margins are actually lower than many other Fortune 500 companies.
Sadly, it really doesn't matter. Everyone seems to complain, but no-one is adjusting their behavior very much. The only way to truly affect prices would be to reduce demand, and the only way that is happening is for us to make a dramatic reduction in the amount of gasoline we use as a society. We vote with our vehicles on this every day, and the vote is continuously in favor of high prices.
These oil companies have invested countless billions in exploration and production, and deserve a return on this investment. Not only do they deserve an return, but they owe it to their share-holders. The money invested is not from their own piggy-bank, but is that of investors the world over, including most anyone that has a mutual fund, or is involved with a pension plan.
The discussion I found myself in seemed to center around the notion of "price gouging". This is truly a great topic, but one I feel must be defined. It is simply too easy to lob the "gouging grenade" into the argument without any true support of it.
I held the position that we must first define what gouging is. Is it an absolute dollar amount? Or is it a particular profit margin that becomes too outrageous?
Really, for consistency's sake it has to be a profit margin, or some similar measure of "profit" vs. "expense" expressed in a ratio.
What was interesting to me was that I couldn't get an answer pinned down. The conversation kept being pulled in the direction of blind anger toward these "robber barons". The truth of the matter is that when you compare the profit margins of the oil companies to other businesses their margins are actually lower than many other Fortune 500 companies.
Sadly, it really doesn't matter. Everyone seems to complain, but no-one is adjusting their behavior very much. The only way to truly affect prices would be to reduce demand, and the only way that is happening is for us to make a dramatic reduction in the amount of gasoline we use as a society. We vote with our vehicles on this every day, and the vote is continuously in favor of high prices.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
I guess I'll dip my toes into the blogosphere and see how well this works. This will be a work in progess for some time as I figure out how to construct a good blog.
I have some very diverse interests ranging from Insurance, to Poker, to Denver Broncos Football, to Religion. From time to time I will post about any and all of these, and other topics in-between.
I have some very diverse interests ranging from Insurance, to Poker, to Denver Broncos Football, to Religion. From time to time I will post about any and all of these, and other topics in-between.
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