$13.38 a Month For Cable Sports

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting, "Pro sports leagues will collect more than $7 billion this year from TV networks; the total will jump to $9.5 billion next year, with the NFL collecting more than half the total..

...The sports networks together collect about 50% more than what Disney, TimeWarner and Viacom collect for all their other cable networks -- combined."

Perhaps because I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world ... my short answer is these teams can go stick it. Sports teams and because the major networks force package deals down the throats of cable providers, they will eventually kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

As far as I'm concerned most of the channels I use to enjoy are getting crappier each year. There's only one program left we still watch on Syfy (Haven). This after they cancelled six other shows we watched faithfully (Warehouse 13, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Sanctuary, Eureka, Tripping The Rift). These so-called cable news channels are nearly anything but news anymore. The History channel has nothing to do with History anymore. The Learning channel has nothing to do with "learning" anymore either. There's nothing to discover over at the Discovery channel either. Other then 'Cosmos' NatGeo can stick it too.. .... etc, etc., etc.

We're are just that far from pulling the plug. If it weren't for the telephone/internet/cable TV package discount we would have already. Yeah like the cable company hasn't already figured that out :-)

It's just about come to the point the increased costs of the trade off will make more economic sense for us. Most of these shows can be seen online free or for small online access streaming fees. Even DVD's cost less in some cases.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Water- They Got Ya By The Gonads

Detroit activists call for UN help as city shuts off water for thousands: "The latest sign of Detroit’s decline came from the city’s water department, when it said in March it would begin shutting off water for up to 3,000 homes and businesses a week."

It's not all the fault of the water company. According to this same article, "Nearly 50 percent of DWSD’s 323,000 accounts were behind on payments as of March."


Or Is It?
"The rate for residential customers has doubled in the last 10 years. The average bill is now $75 a month, according to the Free Press, much higher than the nation’s average rate of about $40."



I can see the dilemma. How can any water company maintain a 10" water main that may only feed one or two homes over several blocks. Especially if customers aren't paying. Then on the other hand, who the hell can afford $75 a month either!

All of this is rather sad to watch as the United States slides further from what it once was for the middle class. I'm not sure I have solutions, but one thing's for sure, the lack of decent full time employment for the average Joe Blow has dried up. Perhaps it's due to automation. Perhaps in some cases it's companies taking their operations to cheap 3rd world countries. Perhaps it's the cheap foreign imports. Either way, something has to be done if this nation is going to thrive like it once did.

By accident or design the income gap is has become nearly unmanageable. In the 60's (when I graduated) any kid could get a job straight out of high school. There were plenty of small businesses where one could find fulltime work. Enough to support a family even if the wife stayed at home to raise the family.

Take for example, way back then one could set up a small repair shop. Not anymore since huge companies design things to be un-repairable and refuse to stock or make parts for them. They'd rather sell stuff. Take for example lawnmowers and other power equipment. How many super retailers like Lowe's or Home Depot are interested in servicing anything after the sale? Same goes for electronics, apparel and so forth. In the 60's a kid could set up a small shop and find a niche market to do these things. But in today's world it's nearly impossible to find repair parts for them.

Back then a kid out of high school could make furniture that would last a lifetime, find a fulltime job in textiles or do a whole host of other things they no longer can. Why? Because I don't care how productive, efficient or innovative you are there's no way to compete with foreign workers who are paid less money per week then we need to survive on for just one day.

Therein lies the key to resolving America's difficult problems. (1) We need to re-visit these unfair trade agreements. (2) Give cost benefits (via taxes and regulations) to those companies and small businesses that provide the best support to American workers. I'm not talking about giving American workers an unfair advantage but rather a fighting chance. (3) Recognize not every new worker coming into the marketplace is going to turn out to be a rocket scientist, doctor or hold three degrees in art.

The bottom line in all of this is... we need to reduce the ever widening gap between the haves and have-nots somehow one way or another. Else Detroit is only a reflective microcosm of what will surely become of this nation. In so denying such a problem currently exist is refusing to see what lies before this nation's future.

Power Outages Suck!

I was composing a few posts yesterday when the power went out..
     AGAIN!

I'm not sure why, but this is starting to happen several times a year now.

When it does..

* My four wireless video surveillance cameras have to be reset. It takes about a half an hour to restore all the various settings I have for each one's motion detector zones, pre/post record settings, etc.

* My time settings on the two DVR's, telephone answering machine, microwave oven, stove/oven clock, night light timers and the clocks on my two nightstands.

* Sometimes the TV channel memories also have to be reprogrammed.

* Unfortunately for one reason or another it takes 3 reboots for this computer to restart + I lost the document I was working on the day before to post here today.

* I also lose the electronic settings on my through-the-window air conditioners and my basement dehumidifier.

* Not only that it's freakin' boring as hell w/o electricity! :-)I also try to turn off all my breakers so there isn't a surge when electric comes back on. I suppose all this is no big deal, but it has been happening ever more frequently. I wonder why that is?

The one thing really good about it is how it reminds us how much our lives are centered around the flow of electrons and what life would be like without it. One could only imagine the horrors of a world if a EMP wave would cross our path from either the sun or a nuclear explosion and it's resultant magnetic force were to be set off in our atmosphere. Either of these could result in every form of electrical energy being nullified . This includes all vehicles, cell phones, computers (and all existing records erased).


Yeah like the United States doesn't have one of these weapons in it's arsenal

In short, life would cease to exist as we now know it. So it's a a good thing from time to time to be reminded just how fragile we are and how dependent we are by these occasional power outages. These power outages serve as a constant reminder never to take for granted how quickly everything in this life can change in an instant.

Think life can't change in an instant?
Call me an alarmist, but I am quite sure neither did the residents living at the base of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii, Italy in August 79 AD. Nor the folks living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan on those fateful days back in August 1945. << CORRECTION: I changed the date. My thanks go to a observant reader who left a comment correcting me.

Better to be over concerned then taking for granted that nothing on this Earth can ever happen to change what we all take for granted in-so-much as our lives will last forever unchanged. Yeah I know some think I'm talking nuts after all it was only a short power outage. But just what if it weren't. What would we do if food supplies, water, all communications, money supply and jobs were to suddenly disappear?

     Never say never.. that it can't happen!

What Is Happening To Blogging?

That' is the question Ron is asking over at his blog 'Being Ron'"Some things I've noticed: -People seem to be blogging less or have stopped blogging altogether....

...Eight years ago, when I first started on this social media, it was all about forming a dialogue and community. Yet, I’ve noticed that over the past year, blogging seems to be turning into a single experience in which many bloggers are writing posts and then not discussing them, thus, there is no sense of community...

The whole landscape of blogging seems to be changing. What used to be a media of quality online community and discussion is becoming more of a Tweet, a Like, or a form of solo-blogging masturbation."I do agree with much of what he said but yet... in contradiction he has received over 26 comments on the subject in just the first few hours after he posted on this subject.

There's no doubt about it, Ron's one of the heavy hitters when it comes to blogging although I'm not sure why since he only post about 10x's a month. It's remains a mystery to me how he has so many followers and comments. He seems to have no Facebook, Twitter or the other social media accounts that are supposed to be the recommended way to grow a large blog. Neither am I particularly impressed by his posts.

Yeah sure he also has his YouTube Channel. But his 20 videos haven't gotten more then a few hundred hits either over the last 4 years.

I'm not criticizing the guy. More power to him I admire that, but what's the story?
I just don't understand how he accumulated such a large blog following ??
     ANY THOUGHTS?

Allentown Pa. Bicentennial Parade (1962)

Part 1



Part 2

Videos Courtesy of '19king14'

My Wife In Her Outfit

My Mother-In-Law Marching With The Bell Telephone Switchboard Operators Somewhere In The Group

Bell Switchboard Operators' Float

 

 

 

 

There never was a parade like it before nor will there ever be one quite like it again

Should Local Police Be Allowed To Use Radar Guns in Pennsylvania?

June 20, 2014


As you might expect I'm not quite as optimistic as Rep. Schlossberg. I agree 100% with him if these devices were used fairly with good justification in certain limited areas. However with Pennsylvania's budget coming up short around $1 billion I expect local municipalities will experience less funding coming from the state. If so, then the question becomes can local governments resist the temptation to use these to make up for the lost revenues? Those "if's" concern me.

Hopefully not, but there are still other issues to think about concerning the devices themselves.

On March 31st, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia TV2 reported " A Channel 2 Action News investigation uncovered that McDonough police wrongly ticketed thousands of people within the last decade.", This resulted in their suspending the use of them for several reasons. Check out the video to see why.

Then there's the issue of how well trained the officers will be using them. With radar guns there's the possibility if the guns aren't used properly they may pick up more then one target. Even possibly picking one up going in the opposite direction. Another technological problem with radar is it tends to pick up the stronger of two signals reflecting back to it. For example a large trailer or box truck reflects back a stronger signal. Thus it's speed would be recorded rather then the much smaller target vehicle in front of it. Weather is also a factor. Frequent and accurate calibration is one more (just as it would be with laser devices).

Speaking of laser speed devices. They too have inaccuracies if not held steady so that they are pointed on a very specific area of the vehicle in question.



It's possible speed guns could only be the first step. On March 26, 2013 CBS TV3 in Philadelphia reported "The I-Team found there’s a plan that would bring speed cameras to Pennsylvania." Which was reporting similarly to what 'Philly.com' also published prior on February 2, 2014-- "The cameras would photograph the license plates of vehicles moving faster than the permitted speed and generate a ticket that would be reviewed by police before being mailed to the vehicle's owner. The fine would be $100."

One of the more negative articles I came across was at 'Watchdog.com'. Published on May 9th, 2013. It said, "Speed Cameras: A Scam the Motorist Cannot Win-- The real truth about traffic cameras lies not in the amount of lives saved and accidents avoided, but in the enormous amount of revenue it supplies both the camera manufacturer and the jurisdictions that embrace these forms of policing for profit." While they did put it rather strongly they had some rather interesting background information. If true, they may not be too far off the mark. "One town in West Virginia with a population of only 3,200 issued more than 18,000 tickets in a single year, booking almost $4 million in revenue."


In Summery
Local radar and laser devices may only be the first step towards the further use of plentiful unmanned speed cameras.

While no one could argue against their potential safety value, neither can one rule out the possibility of their abuse by less then honest use of them. Nor deny succumbing to the temptation of using them to generate a revenue stream for locals.

When it comes to trust I'm always a bit skeptical. If we're going to do this let's create restrictive legislation that excludes (as much as possible) any abuse of these devices in favor of the motorists.

I'm of the mindset 'abuse it, lose it'. If motorists can't obey speed laws then they need to get tagged. Same goes if local enforcement can't behave themselves with these devices either. In other words I'd be in favor of legislation that would have to be renewed or left to expire after a certain period of time to see how it plays out. Is that going to happen? Probably not!

What MM Isn't Reporting About Washington 'Redskins'

I've listened and read countless main stream media outlets misreporting about the trademark protections afforded to the Washington 'Redskins'.

Few are reporting that the loss of registration under federal trademark protections doesn't mean any and everyone can just go out now and sell a bunch of stuff with the team's logo on it, even though one newscast I was watching reported anyone now could. Talk about misinformation!

* First off the team's billionaire owner since May 1999 (Daniel Snyder) is appealing. Which could possibly take decades.

* Even if he would lose on appeal it means even though someone couldn't be held for a criminal act they'd still be libel under civil law. This afforded to the team under the civil enforcement provisions of the 'Lanham Act' enacted on July 5, 1946 (signed into law by President Harry Truman).

* It also doesn't nullify existing contracts with manufacturers of their sports memorabilia. These still must pay royalties to them.

* Even though federal protections have been weakened to the team by the federal government, they still have certain protections under Virginia law (the state in which they are headquartered in)Anyone listening to ill-informed news readers on TV and/or radio and still wishing to go out and test that.. be my guest. There must have been at least a dozen newscasts I listened to who never mentioned this.

If anyone is expecting a name change or to get rich off of merchandising the team's logo for themselves anytime soon.. don't hold your breath!