I'd Tap That Aquafina

So with the big article the other day about Aquafina, the uproar about it being tapwater is crazy. I mean serious with titles like "Aquafina admits the truth about it’s water" and "Aquafina: Unearths Its Source" it makes it sound like they were lying about their source of water. Which, um , they haven't.

I happen to have a bottle right here on my desk, that I haven't thrown out in "disgust" yet. It has the words "Purified Drinking Water" right on the front. How hard is that to figure out? I guess it could be misleading because of the logo that has a mountain there, meaning that it comes from mountain springs right? I guess since it shows the sun on the logo then they are misleading as they collect and bottle water at night too?

Anyways what it all comes down to is the move to ban bottled water, nothing else. There are certain groups that are pushing for the move to get rid of bottled water, and are pushing the bottle water is tap water angle as much as possible.

Truth is the tap water is probably fine for you to drink in most cases. Truth also is that purified water takes out many of the things that tap water has as well such as large amounts of chlorine or arsenic.

I never though of Aquafina as some magical water from the fountain of youth. For me it is the convenience of having cold water that available right away. It is about the ability to take that water anywhere with me. It also gives me a piece of mind that I am not drinking Madison's water.

Elbow Room

Today at 8:46, my time, the population clock at the Census Bureau rolled over 300 million people in the U.S. Of course that doesn't mean that is when it actually happened, just an estimation. 200 Million hit in 1967 and there was a big deal made out of it. This time around the big 300 is going quietly as to not stir up talk about illegal immigration.

Of course with the number of cars our neighbors have parked in the road around our house, I suspect a good chunk of that 300 million live there.

Minimum Markup Law

So Wisconsin has this nice little law that requires gas companies to inflate the price of gas by 9.18% from the price at the terminal. So that means deals like this from Woodman's had to be taken away. Oh yeah and when this guy tried to help us out by lower prices he got smacked around too.

So after the prsident of Badger Ethanol, a contributer to Gov. Doyle's campaign, has gone public with his want of the minimum markup law to be removed, Doyle says Don't Enforce Law on Ethanol Sales

In the article he says

This law was passed at a time that it was designed to protect the little guy against the bigger people. But it used to apply to every single product. Now it only applies to gasoline."

So why is Doyle only calling for the removal of the Markup only for Ethonal E-85? If it shouldn't apply to gasoline sales it should be across the board, right? Or is it the Petroleum industry hasn't given him enough money yet?

Star Wars Video Suit Settled

Sci Fi.com reports that the law suit is settled between Ghyslain Raza and the students who put the video up.

I think this lawsuit is ridiculous. He is internet famous now he should revel in it. A kid as dorky as him will never be this cool any other way. The various videos with music and special effects are what every Star Wars geek imagines.

He isn't as cool as me of course!

Oh So That Is All That It Takes?

Today Madison passed a referendum to Bring the Troops Home. So I guess that means they will be on the plane home tomorrow eh?

Other referendum issues voted by Madison and passed are:

Changing the harsh red color of Mars to a more pleasant color of Mauve

Gravity changing from 9.8 N to 9.45 N

All bunny rabbits receiving opposible thumbs

Madison becoming the capitol of the US

Year in Review: 2005

I see that everyone else does it so I thought I would as well. Want to keep it brief and to the point though so it doesn't drag out too long. So here it goes!

Jan 1 2005 12:00:01 AM: Yay its the New Year!

Stuff happens to me and to other people around the world for the next 364 days

Jan 1 2006 12:00:01 AM: Yay its the New Year!

Idiots on the Road

Driving into work today I saw a license plate that said "MPEACH W". Not only did this guy drive like a jackass but he had every cliched liberal bumper sticker you could think of. So my first thought was that maybe it is Al Franken's car, but his license plate would read "XECUTE W"

Just when I am about to give up hope

I often feel like giving up hope on people in general, not specific. The latest example is the blaming going around that Bush is a racist, purposefully killed off the poor in New Orleans, etc. Kanye West took the opportunity to bash Bush during a fundraiser. (How much money did the fundraiser lose to that comment?)

Now I feel most people are able to see past that ignorance, though the people in charge of the Democratic party don't seem able or willing to. But it seems like the general public is not believing it....or at least the football crowd isn't.

The chart topping hip hop rapper star who used a network hurricane fundraiser to charge "George Bush doesn't care about black people" was loudly and lustily booed during last night's NFL kickoff show.

The appearance of Kanye West, who was beamed into the Boston stadium via remote from Los Angeles, received a strongly negative response from the crowd.

"The boos were thunderous and lasted for much of his number," reports the BOSTON GLOBE

By the way, check out the latest blog I listed over on the right. It's intentionally going over the top to blame Bush for everything to point out how absurd it can get. Unfortunately it is hard to distinguish from Democratic webpages or the daily newspaper articles.

Blame Game

Ok I was planning on not writing at all if possible about this, but today I feel I must. Blame is being thrown around all over the place. It's politics, it's what they do. Unfortunately alot of people don't understand how things really work, which is why politics work so well.

Take for example that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was created in 1979 to assist state and local governments in times of disaster, not to be solely responsible. So why are these people calling for their resignation even when two months ago it was a someone else's responsibility:

Staff writer Bruce Nolan reported some 7 weeks before Katrina: "In scripted appearances being recorded now, officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation."

"In the video, made by the anti-poverty agency Total Community Action, they urge those people to make arrangements now by finding their own ways to leave the city in the event of an evacuation.

"You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person next to you," Wilkins said in an interview. "If you have some room to get that person out of town, the Red Cross will have a space for that person outside the area. We can help you."

Here is the City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. The plan states that New Orleans evacuation of the civilian population was the primary responsibility of the city – not the federal government.

As established by the City of New Orleans Charter, the government has jurisdiction and responsibility in disaster response. City government shall coordinate its efforts through the Office of Emergency Preparedness

The evacuation was the responsibility of the govenor and local government:

The authority to order the evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane is conferred to the Governor by Louisiana Statute. The Governor is granted the power to direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from a stricken or threatened area within the State, if he deems this action necessary for the preservation of life or other disaster mitigation, response or recovery. The same power to order an evacuation conferred upon the Governor is also delegated to each political subdivision of the State by Executive Order. This authority empowers the chief elected official of New Orleans, the Mayor of New Orleans, to order the evacuation of the parish residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.

Also New Orleans was responsible for moving out the citizens that couldn't

The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Those evacuated will be directed to temporary sheltering and feeding facilities as needed. When specific routes of progress are required, evacuees will be directed to those routes. Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life saving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed. ...

Evacuation procedures for small scale and localized evacuations are conducted per the SOPs of the New Orleans Fire Department and the New Orleans Police Department. However, due to the sheer size and number of persons to be evacuated, should a major tropical weather system or other catastrophic event threaten or impact the area, specifically directed long range planning and coordination of resources and responsibilities efforts must be undertaken.

Now I am not trying to place blame of the state or local government, just pointing out that blaming the Federal Government is silly. Bush admitted the response could have been quicker, but thats government for you. (as I finish writing this Bush is doing something about that) Bush or FEMA aren't slowing the response down on purpose, or rascist, or ageist or whatever else.

Maybe the blamers need to step up their actions more than just blame everyone else.

Lots O' Respect

So this week a nasty little Windows 2000 virus hit where I work. Despite recent layoffs, people leaving for other jobs, and our current at-risk status that has left our IT department a shell of what it once was, we managed little downtime and kept our web presence up. So 2 days after we have it all taken care of, what kind of acknowledgement have we gotten from management? It's right here

And no that isn't a broken link. Instead of a "great job fellas", we got our FY05 Rate Analysis.

Oh and when we get Thank you's from our customers for going the extra step, my boss responds with comments like this one from yesterday:

It is not EXTRA. It is what I/we are paid to do. If people don't ask me/us to do things then I/we don't get paid.

Somedays (mostdays) it is not even worth trying anymore.....

Thoughts on Cindy Sheehan

This is a tough subject for me to write about, but it has been in the media and slightly intertwined in events in my live the last week. Cindy Sheehan has been in the news alot in the last week or so. As this is going on I went to a funeral of a soldier who just died from injuries in Iraq on Monday and Saturday went to a friend's promotion ceremony/party from his efforts in Iraq.

I have no idea how a loss of a child would affect me, and I don't want this entry to sound like I am bashing Cindy. But the media is giving one side of the issue, as it normally does. Also I believe the Anti War groups have been using her to further their cause. Here is what she said in the article above:

"I want to ask the president, why did he kill my son?" Sheehan told reporters. "He said my son died in a noble cause, and I want to ask him what that noble cause is."
. . . . .
"He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name," she told CNN Sunday. "Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject."

Yet last year after meeting President Bush the article about the meeting said this:

"I now know he’s sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he’s sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he’s a man of faith."

The meeting didn’t last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son’s sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.
. . . . .
The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected. For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle. For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.

"That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together," Cindy said.

Her Husband said this after the meeting:

"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us,"

In the end, she should be honoring his memory, not doing the opposite of what he wanted. Casey Sheehan had re-enlisted in the U.S. Army voluntarily when he was 24-years-old, after serving his first hitch successfully. Casey Sheehan was in fact a hero who received a Bronze Star. He was attached as a mechanic to the artillery division of the 1st U.S. Cavalry in Iraq. When a convoy of soldiers from Casey’s unit was attacked in Sadr City by insurgents, Casey volunteered to join a rapid rescue force to get them out. His commanding sergeant told him he did not have to go into combat, because he was a mechanic and not an infantryman. Casey was quoted telling his officer, “I go where my chief goes.” He was tragically killed during the rescue attempt.

And to Cindy's question on what was the noble cause? It is stories and people like this that makes the effort worth it.

People's Republic of Madison Strikes Again!

Madison continues to pass laws that take away rights to business owners and threaten the ability for small business owner from doing business and making a profit(and the side affect of people losing jobs)

First Minimum Wage increase. Many small businesses had to cut back on the number of employees they had. So nice increase for those who still have a job.

Second Inclusionary Zoning Law. Its nice for Madison to dictate that. I sure like looking for a nice apartment complex and willing to pay a little more and having low income familys in the same building so my car or storage area can continually get broken into. Hate to be stereotypical, but that always seems to happen.

Third Smoking Ban. Ok I am a non smoker and always have been, to me this is a bad law. I enjoy going into a bar a little more now that the smoke doesn't bother me, but no one is there! At least at the bars I frequent that happen to be at the edges of town. The bars are saying a 40% to 60% decrease from this time last year! More jobs down the tube, and probably higher prices.

And the latest Required Sick Leave. Again this is hurting businesses in Madison and not in the City's best interest!(or ours) This Mandate lacks the flexibility needed and imposes more restrictions on doing business.

All these ideas look good on paper, and of course I think people always can use and in alot of cases need a bigger paycheck, sick leave, and/or affordable housing...but I feel these laws are not helping!

As a business owner I should be able to decide these choices. If I run a place that pays poorly, people will work elsewhere and I will have to increase what I am offering. If I have benefits that don't meet someone's needs, then they should look elsewhere. If I have open apartments because rent is too high, I can open it up at a lower price. If I want to run a bar that is non smoking because I feel I can create a niche for myself, then I should be able to choose that.

Madison is making doing business in Madison a risky choice. It is putting the existing businesses in the city at a disadvantage to outside competitors, and signaling to outside vendors that doing business here is difficult.

So in the end who gets screwed by all of this...the people who these laws are supposed to benefit.