jstol3's Blog

Lately I've seen several blogs which invite no comment. What's up with this? I've seen several that I would like to reply to but I can't.

Today I wrote this opinion to the KC Star regarding an ad on page A7 that attempts to blame the gas price and supply problems of the 1970s on the government. I am not a particular fan of price controls but in the case of fuel I make an exception because the energy companies have take such unfair advantage of us. I am blogging the opinion here because the Star does not usually publish letters which are critical of its policies.

"I just picked up today's copy of the Star (8/22/07). On page A7 is a full page ad paid for by a group calling itself "The People of America's" and then in small, barely readable script it says"oil and natural gas industry".

The ad is misleading because it is designed to cause one to believe that it came from "The People of America". It doesn't! It comes from the same people who brought us $3.00 plus per gallon gasoline and natural gas prices that are designed to bring that industry big profits as long as you are hooked up to a gas meter even if you use no gas.

The ad is false because it does not represent history correctly. Before the Arab oil embargo of 1973 - 1974 gasoline here in Missouri sold for 25.9 cents per gallon at the pump. When the embargo happened BIG OIL saw their opportunity to gouge us and they took it! Before long the price of gasoline and everything else that had to be transported  or which required fuel for its manufacture skyrocketed. It wasn't until after the government stepped in and threatened gasoline rationing and regulation of fuel prices that the price of gasoline stabilized and the gas lines disappeared.

The Star knows that this ad is historically incorrect (they have a record of the news of every day since the Star's inception on file). Shame on the Star for accepting advertising money for an ad that they know to be misleading and historically incorrect"

The following was not a part of my letter to the Star:

A conspiricy theory could be developed if one could believe that the oil companies might have paid the Arabs to stage the embargo to give oil companies a springboard from which to launch their price hikes in the '70s. I don't know if any one has ever looked into that possibility. We do know that they used hurricane Katrina as an excuse to shut down some of their refining capacity to launch the price hikes that started right after Katrina. We also know that they could not have caused Katrina.

The gas lines of the 70s were caused by jittery consumers who were watching the price of gas go up and up and didn't want to let their fuel tanks get too empty so they would run an errand and then stop in to top off their fuel tank. Rising prices and rumors of shortages made people nervous - add to that the fact that the oil companies started shutting down most of ther outlets on Sundays which added to consumer jitters.

The fuel problems of the 70s were not caused by the government. They were contrived by the oil companies and now they want you to write to your elected representatives so their feeding frenzy on our incomes can go on uninteruppted.

Don't buy their propaganda! They want you to help them do their dirty work!

Way back in the late 1970s Jimmy Carter was our president, we had just gone through the oil embargo of 1974 - 1974, the price of everything was skyrocketing due to the increased price of oil and interest rates were in double digits. This gave birth to the adjustable rate mortgage. It worked out back then because interest rates went down and when the mortgage rates adjusted they went down and everybody was a winner. Instead of discontinuing the ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) after the real need was past the mortgage companies kept offering them and consumers kept demanding them. For nearly 30 years everyone continued to be a winner. The ARMs were originally meant to help people who wanted to buy a home to get past a rough spot in the economy and it worked but it evolved to the point that a 45 yer old dishwasher who had probably never made very much more than minimum wage could afford to purchase a $200,000.00 home at a beginning payment that he could afford. It wasn't like this person was a college student studying law with a stellar career ahead of him that would allow for a much bigger payment in the near future or that mortgage rates were soon going to decline from an all time high. ARMs reached the point of sheer stupidity on the part of both the lenders and the borrowers. Lenders ended up with what they deserved - a lot of bad loans and the borrowers ended up with what they deserved - foreclosure! I don't favor a bailout of the lenders or the borrowers but I do favor the government putting an end to this kind of loan unless it can be demonstrated that the borrower will be in a position to meet the payments as they increase.

I have been a resident of Kansas City since 1972. I really can't remember the names of all of the local politicos who have gone to jail over those 35 years. I remember Bill Waris doing some time, Adam Taft, now Saundra McFadden Weaver. Katherine Shields trial for mortgage fraud is in the works. How is it that we, the voters, keep letting these scumbags who think they are above the law get by us and into office?

Maybe we have more scumbags and maybe its easier for us to scrutinize what they do. With the internet we can see into their lives. Try google. Take Kansas City, Missouri councilmember John Sharp, for instance, - run him through google. You will learn a lot about him. He thinks Barak Obama is the cat's meow. Try googling Katherine Sebelius, Kay Barnes, Emmanuel Cleaver. They are all there. You may be as well.

My point is, in today's world, why do politicians try to get away with any kind of corruption? They may think that others are stupid (we're not) and today its just stupid of them to think that because they are in office they are above the law.

Dear Council Members:

As a citizen of this city I demand that the council either A. Rescind any and all ordinances which ban smoking and/or the use of tobacco products in any place within the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri or B. Enact an ordinance which not only bans the use of all tobacco products in all public places within the city limits but which also bans the sale of any tobacco products and related paraphernalia (pipes, cigarette papers, cigarette rolling machines, etc.) at any place within the city limits.

It is absolutely unconscionable that this city would accept tax revenue from the sale of tobacco products and paraphernalia and then penalize the very people who provide that revenue to the city by forcing them outdoors to enjoy the products they purchased.

I will be looking for a positive response to this demand!

This letter was sent to the city council on 8/11/07.

There are two types of people who are against smoking bans - 1. People who love personal liberty and 2. Those who smoke.

I happen to fall into both categories.

Proponents of smoking bans fall into neither. That's right - if you are a proponent of smoking bans you are not a lover of freedom. You want it all (not freedom), you want it all to be your way. You don't want me to have the choice to eat where I wish and enjoy it. You don't want me to go to a sports event of my choice and enjoy it. You don't want me to go to a bar of my choice and enjoy it. You are against us having separate accomodations in these places so we can all enjoy it - you want the enjoyment to be all yours. You want me to stand outside in the cold or the heat to enjoy my smoke. Well, I'm putting all of you on notice. I'm tired of it. You have things that you like to do as well and I probably don't agree with your lifestyle. I will be watching what you do and how you live and I will be working to ban you and your activities from my environment. I'm mad and I've had enough!

You have taken my tax money and tried to bully me far too long! I'm fighting back!

I heard that Sean Penn went to Venezuela to buddy up to that idiot Hugo Chavez. Two things come to mind about Sean. As I recall he used to be married to Madonna and he waited around for her to dump him. I just watched the movie "All The King's Men" in which he starred. He couldn' t coordinate his body movements to his political speeches in the movie. He ranted and raved during his speeches. The effect was kind of like watching someone try to do the twist to "The Star Spangled Banner".

I really don't think that we have anything to worry about from him. Fools usually expose themselves quicker than anyone else can expose them.

I am not black. I'm not 100% white either. I can't speak for the black community and I won't attempt to. I can only speak from observation. I live in a very mixed neighborhood, I've been married to a black woman and I have 3 black stepchildren who are all legally adults and who are each in varying stages of "growing up" ( a process that occurs in all children of every race). My observation is that members of the black community are not law breakers. Most of them mow their lawns every week, they eat breakfast in the morning. Most of them work hard for a living. Most of them don't listen to loud rap music and most of them become angry with their children when they run afoul of the law. They are just like most everyone else in this country.. Does a "black culture" exist? Yes it does! Does "black culture" include lawbreaking? No! (although there are lawbreakers within the commuunity). Does it include dog fighting? Yes, to the extent that some members may like dog fighting (just like some people of other races). Do most want to participate in dog fighting? I don't believe so. Do most play loud rap music all of the time? No, most of the like to sleep at night and have better things to do with their time than give themselves a headache.

Is Michael Vick entitled to use "black culture" as an excuse for conducting dog fighting and killing animals? I don't think so. Michael Vick plays football, makes a lot of money and he thinks that he can do as he likes. Hello! He can't. He has to follow the law just like you and me (regardless of our skin color). His problem is money and testosterone - not his race!

Well folks, it does't work. Last week I went shopping and bought a bunch of bananas and put them in the 'fridge. They do taste better cold on my cereal but they are turning dark just as quickly as if I had left them out on the counter. Next time I'm going to do what was suggested - peel  'em, slice 'em, put the slices in sandwich bags and pop 'em in the freezer.

By the way - I'm lactose intolerant and can't drink milk so I put apple juice on my cereal. It's best on Cheerios but is good with just about any kind of cereal. If any of you are lactose intolerant you might want to try it. I know about all of the milk substitutes and Lactaid but I've become partial to my apple juice.

I use Netzero for my internet connection - have for several years. Until a couple of months ago I was very satisfied with their service ( I have the HiSpeed3G - not DSL). Netzero is now attempting to market their DSL in this area and my service seems to have deteriorated. I am having a lot of connecting problems (no connection available, failed to log me on, have to redial the access # after it was already logging me in, etc).

Is anyone else out there experiencing the same kinds of problems? I suspect that NETZERO might have intentionally thrown some monkey wrenches into their regular dialup service to force us to convert to DSL at a higher price.

I get paid every two weeks and since I hate to shop I only grocery shop once every two weeks. I like bananas with my cereal. Problem is the bananas become over ripe if I leave them out. Will keeping the bananas in the refrigerator slow down the ripening process? Is it even ok to put them in the fridge? When I was a kid we never had the problem. When Mom bought bananas they usually disappeared in a day or 2 so she always left them out.

I just saw an old blog by stinkycarlsaw from 6/4/07 that showed a picture of a fat lady on a park bench. Her belly was hanging down below the hem of her dress and you could see her navel. (Stinky - where did you get this? It's priceless!)

This blog has been overdue and I'm going to correct that right now. Not out of meaness, but out of a call to public service.

I'm 61. When I was a kid we didn't see too many fat people - they were kind of a curiosity. Kids would walk up to a fat lady and ask if they were pregnant - not being mean, you understand, in their experience the only people with bellies like that was a pregnant lady. If someone was overweight people made fun of them, laughed behind their backs and sometimes to their face. They told jokes about them. Sometimes out of ear shot - sometimes within. I'm not making a case for cruelty here. People back then had some incentive to try to maintain a proportionate body weight (they didn't want to be made fun of).

Today we have political correctness - everyone is ok and we don't make fun of them. There is no incentive to maintain a proportionate weight so half the country is obese - some grotesquely so like the lady on the bench. It's not McDonald's fault, it's not Wendy's fault, it's not some glandular imbalance - fat, obese people just eat too much! We don't help them because we are too willing to accept their gluttony, their needing two seats on an airliner, driving a car that leans dangerously to the left, breaking chairs, and becoming disabled and dying long before their time.

People with a serious weight problen - learn the most important exercise known to mankind - push yourself away from the table before you feel full and don't come back to the table until the next regular mealtime - do yourself a favor - extend your  lifespan and the amount of time you can spend on this earth with your loved ones. Stop blaming your doctor, your drugs, your spouse, your boss and everything else that you blame. JUST STOP EATING SO MUCH!

I have been insured by Safeco for my auto needs since 1980 & my home since 1989 so I am a long time loyal customer. On jan 27th this year my stepson who was also on my auto policy at the time had his pickup truck stolen from in front of his mother's house. His mom and his sister were at home at the time. When he heard his truck leaving he rushed to the front door only to see his pickup truck disappearing over the hill. He reported the theft to the Kansas City PD and to Safeco - he did everything you are supposed to do when your vehicle gets stolen! Later that night the KCPD contacted him and advised him that the truck had been located and that it had been burned out. Safeco took six months - from 1/27 - 6/27 to settle with him. They said they were conducting an "investigation" They left him to hang in the wind for 6 months. He had to continue making payments on a truck he no longer had the use of, he had to buy another vehicle out of his own pocket so he could get back and forth to work, and Safeco pulled his rental car out from under him after 2 or 3 days. During their 6 month "investigation" Safeco never interviewed his mother or his sister who were there at the scene of the theft, they never interviewed any of the neighbors and they never interviewd me (he was living with me at the time). These lowlifes at Safeco finally settled after six months and in their settlement letter they made a point of stating that they had determined that the cause of the truck fire was not accidental. If you are considering Safeco - forget it - if you have them - dump them - I did!

Twelve years ago my wife and I and two of my stepchildren (she is now my ex) took off on a two week vacation from Kansas City. We went west thru Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, back thru Kansas, & home to KC. We decided to avoid the interstates as much as possible in order to see more scenery. What I didn't know when we set out was how ferarful I would be of those high mountain roads where you look straight down thousands of feet over the mountainside! I was totally petrified and travelling so slow that the local sheriff's deputy stopped me and asked me if I was ok. I was probably travelling at about 15 mph and had a long line of traffic behind me. As I recall we were on a near vertical descent somewhere close to Green River. I told the deputy that I was fine, just afraid of the high mountain passes and would try to drive more normal - he let me go and we really had a wonderful visit in Utah. I will never drive on non-interstates thru the state again but I loved the visit! Arches National monument poster has been on my wall ever since and i really enjoyed visiting the areas where dinosuar bones have been discovered. You have a beautiful state. I envy all of you who live there!

I have been a Safeco auto policy holder since 1980 and homeowners policy holder since 1989. On January 27th this year my stepson who was on my policy with me at the time had his pickup truck stolen from in front of his mother's home. He heard the truck driving off and ran to the door only to see the truck's taillights disappearing over the hill. He immediatly reported the theft to the Kansas City PD, reported it to Safeco and did all the things you are supposed to do when your vehicle gets stolen. The police located the truck a few hours later - it had been burned out and abandoned by whoever stole it. Safeco started what they called an investigation. During the 6 months following the theft they never once spoke to my stepson's mother or sister who were both at the scene of the theft. They never spoke to me - he was living in my home at the time - they never questioned any of the neighbors at the site of the theft. They kept telling me that they couldn't settle the claim until their "investigation" was complete. As far as I know their "investigation" consisted of obtaining a copy of the police report, bringing the truck into their claims facility and questioning my stepson about child support obligations, maintenence records on the truck and how much money he earned in the past 2 years. For 6 months this young man had to make payments on a truck he no longer had the use of, he had to buy another vehicle out of his own pocket and he had to do without his rental vehicle - they pulled that out from under him after 2 or 3 days (he was entitled to 30 days with a rental). They have finally settled with him after 6 months. When they sent their letter saying that they were ready to settle they stated that they "had determined that the truck fire was not due to accidebtal causes". Brilliant!!

Needless to say, I no longer have my auto insurance with Safeco and won't have homeowners with them when my policy comes up for renewal.

If you have insurance with Safeco dump them, if you are considering them don't!