FAA, oil and failures

Heard this from Jason Lewis who was filling in for the Big Guy:

Jason noted that if something costs 75 cents and you add 25 cents for a $1.00 sale price you have a 25% mark up.

No Jason, you have a 33% mark up.

From the same guy who noted that the airlines don't want crashes because of the costs of the aircraft. No Jason, airlines have insurance. They don't want crashes because that is terrible PR, plus they most likely have friends flying them, etc....
In other words, they are human and have human concerns..

Same guy was beating up the FAA for demanding that American Airlines correct the wiring problems..... Uh Jason... it has been identified as a safety issue. That means it must be fixed. Or at least on the MD 80 I fly on.

BTW - Southwest was ignoring inspections for corrosion, you know, like that which caused the top of that Aloha Airlines 737 to rip off in flight. That's kinda serious stuff, don't you think??

American asked for and was granted a staggered plan for correcting the wiring problem. Their fix failed the FAA's inspection. Think that rightfully pissed a few folks in the FAA off? Does that give you a clue on why the FAA is now standing on top of American?? Fool me once shame on you.... twice...shame on the FAA, eh??

And then he told us how safe the airlines have been...

Yes, Jason. The FAA's gudiance, rules and regulations have been remarkably effective.

And then we had the usual blather about the Leftie Environmental Wackos stopping us from drilling......which is true, but where is the law that that prevents oil from wells in the US from being exported?? And if that can be done, how will the price be lowered???

You know, the Repubs had both houses and the Presidency, yet they did nothing except pass a Prescription Drug plan which, though better than nothing, is terribly flawed. Bush made a feeble attempt at reforming Social Security, did nothing about National Health Care and basically ignored energy. Instead they robbed the national treasury with earmarks, and the Demos drove the get away car, while the Repubs were worrying endlessly about the mayor of San Francisco marrying gays.

Of course him making San Francisco a Sanctuary City, a matter of significant, was never mentioned by the administration.

And now we find our ying being yanged and both sides point fingers.

Repub Congressman: "May we drill for oil in Anwar?"

Demo Environmental Wacko Congressman: "No!!!! Think of the polar bears!"

Repub Congressman: "Okay."

Such grit. Such determination. Such leadership. Such wimpyness........

You know, Conservatives used to be level headed people who didn't run around claiming that EVERYTHING should be done by private enterprise. They actually recognized that certain industries needed regulation and were willing to fight for the things that did not. Now all I see is Libertarian viewpoints, often with basic mistakes tossed in.

What's in a word??

Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.


2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an *sshole.


3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.


4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.


5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.


6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.


7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.


8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.


9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.


10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.


11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.


12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.


13. Glibido: All talk and no action.


14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.


15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.


16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.


17. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.



The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.


And the winners are:


1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.


2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.


3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.


4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.


5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.


6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.


7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.


8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.


9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.


10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.


11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.


12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.


13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.


14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with yiddishisms.


15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.


16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

All of the above provided by Dave T....

Global Warming and rain

I wouldn't say that we have had some rain, but all the critters are lining up two by two in front of my fishing boat and I just saw Jonah come floating by on a whale...water water everywhere, and perhaps some for Georgia to drink.

COLE CITY HOLLOW, Tennessee - Nearly two centuries after a flawed survey placed Georgia's northern line just short of the Tennessee River, some legislators are suddenly thirsting to set the record straight.

A historic drought has added urgency to Georgia's generations-old claim that its territory ought to extend about a mile farther north than it does and reach into the Tennessee — a river with about 15 times greater flow than the one Atlanta depends on for its water.

As Granny would say, "Hold on there, varmint, help's on the way."

And Ellie Mae wouldn't have to say anything...just be Ellie Mae.

But I digress...

The good folks over at Global Warming provides us with a video highlighting the energy usage of Pope Algore and his wealthier minions.

Nothing new there, but the video also makes the point energy is needed in the undeveloped world. In one snapshot it shows a single pole mounted lamp being turned on to the cheers of the villagers.

Technology, dear hearts, marches on, or it stops. The nay sayers and world doomers apparently don't give a damn about the "little people." Like the elitist they are, they have a God given right...as the kings and nobles of old...to have all the energy they want while the rest of us can "eat cake." They have technology enough.

In the meantime, think of what might have been had we pursued nuclear power, clean coal... We might be generating enough electrical power to charge the batteries of the electric cars we would be driving.

Think about that when you pay $45.00 for that fill up and see that $400. utility bill....

Later chums.