Phoning, drinking and driving...

According to a 2003 study that has been conveniently “buried” not to offend the telecommunication industry and all the politicians it bribes, cell phone use while driving can be as dangerous as being drunk behind the wheel. "We're looking at a problem that could be as bad as drunk driving, and the government has covered it up," said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for The highway safety researchers estimated that cellphone use by drivers caused around 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents over all in 2002.

Contrary to popular belief that same source said that hands-free headsets did not eliminate serious accident risk as a cellphone conversation - not just holding the phone - takes drivers’ focus off the road. Some University of Utah findings underscore the dangers of multitasking behind the wheel and showed that motorists talking on a phone were four times as likely to crash as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content. The survey concluded by recommending that drivers not use wireless communication devices, including text messaging systems, when driving, except in an emergency. Sounds pretty logical to me; what do you think?

Savings and needs

America's mantra has been to “save” for many years. Not saving in the traditional, healthy sense. I mean savings when buying “stuff” we don't even need, and that when “save” and “need” collide. Most American don't need what they own; in fact they barely use it all. So here we go to the store and we're admonished to save so much on this and that and if we buy more on objects, or even services we don't even need, we save more. Call it virtual savings! This mode of tempting consumers appeals to their sense of greed and on their fear of scarcity.

Since we would never miss to save on that product for which we have no need at the moment but might have one, some day, in the unforeseeable future, we buy it anyway. As a result, our large homes are bulging at the seams with duplicate, triplicate or unnecessary wares and we often have to rent storage space to “bury” these embarrassing items of personal property and get them once and for all out of our daily sight.

Ironically, our addiction to “saving” on what we buy, not what we would ever need, is putting us deep into debt and pretty soon bankrupting us. Wouldn't it be much more simple to work around what we need and try to save, if we can, when we get it, than try to save on what we don't need and sink under the debt we've contracted? This may sound schizophrenic, but this is the American reality, or just was...

Let's sell California to the Chinese!

It's been done before; the French sold us Louisiana and the Russians Alaska. In view of the recent budget woes, my wife suggested this morning that we ought to sell California to the Chinese. They have the money to pay for it and they might reconcile its divided state house so it finally gets in order, something Arnold was unable to accomplish. I thought it was the best idea I had heard in a very long time. With the proceeds, we might make a significant dent into our federal budget deficit or perhaps pay for a decent health care system for the 49 remaining states; I know, the conservative might prefer funding a low-budget, quick-war against Iran, but we should be able to reach a consensus on how to best spend that heap of money...

Once the Golden State sale is closed, we'd be able to travel "abroad" quite cheaply, with little jet lag, and most of us would have a strong incentive to learn Chinese instead of spending too much time shopping, because we'd all know that it might just be a matter of time before our own state is also sold to China. Californians would quit boasting that they are the sixth economic power on earth, Californian universities will continue to accept a minority of non-Asian students, the state capital would be moved to San Francisco's Chinatown, Hollywood would finally be at peace with itself, promoting its productions as market-communism inspired and Silicon Valley could produce everything it can think of, quite cheaply, right in its own backyard.

I've saved the best for last, though. This sale would go a long way into solving our immigration problem. Illegal migrations flows would now be reversed and go from North to South, with Tijuana erecting a fence of its own, and if the experiment gets legs, we could subsequently sell Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to the Chinese so they can be in full control of the issue and, with the proceeds, give one free iPhone to each remaining US Citizen. Don't laugh, a Chinese California might be the solution we've all been waiting for strengthening America!

The Crocs of the matter

From the very day Crocs appeared on the market, my wife and I made a promise never to purchase these faddish plastic clogs. These were the symbol of the boom times and the waste that preceded our economic collapse and we often made fun of all the big, fat adults who thought they looked cool by wearing them. We couldn't get off our minds the fact that when, made in China at a cost of $1.75, these objects could fetch $30! Well, we sure changed our tune and our staunch resolve suddenly melted, when we caught a glance of a cute pair of orange Crocs that we though would be just right for our grandson Finn. They say only idiots never change their minds and we certainly did. We fell in love with the idea and wiped out our stiff, logical and boring view of the world. Our participation was probably “too little, too late” as Crocs is now rumored to be going bankrupt, but you see, huge popularity followed by a steep nosedive is often the crux of the matter in business!

Basic thoughts about health-care

Back in June, I was reporting an article from the Economist stating that the US spends 15.4% of GDP on health care, including government and private expenses. This gets us 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, 3.3 hospital beds and we live to an average age of 78.2.
This contrasted to the whole of Europe where 9.6% of GDP is spent on health care, where there are 3.9 doctors per 1,000 people, 6.6 hospital beds and its citizens live to 81.15 years.

Okay, the basic picture here is that we could save 6% of GDP, which is almost $1 trillion and we'd all be better off than we're today. If we manufactured Boeing planes or Apple products 60% more expensive than Airbuses or Philips products, we'd very quickly be wiped out economically and closed for business forever. We've already lost most of our manufacturing base and soaring health care costs will soon cripple the rest of our economy. That's a simple of that.

We need to place price controls on the medical profession and push insurance companies out of insuring health care and replace them with a single payer system. We should in the process limit malpractice law-suits, make medical school tuition free to unburden physicians with disabling student loans, and make sure that “big Pharma” sells its products for no more here at home than it does elsewhere. The trillion dollar saved would more than pay for transitioning to a great health care system. The problem is crystal clear; it's all about excess greed, bribed congressmen and a nation that keeps its head stuck deep in the sand.

Homesick?

For people like me that leave their home country to settle far away, there always seems to be a good reason to feel homesick at one time or another. For the first 27 years or so, I was traveling extensively between Europe and the USA and had plenty of time to get an overdose of my hometown; after a few days – what am I saying, a few hours - in my old surroundings, it was the same old thing and I was ready to move on or go home. I remembered the experience, and more often than not, it never quite measured with my memories; in fact, it felt as if I had outgrown the persona that I once had in that particular setting. Before cheap telecommunications and the internet, it was in fact hard, if not impossible, to remain culturally current with the “old country.” Nowadays, with satellite TV, streaming audio, Skype, web-cams and instant messages, the world has shrunk in ways that once were unimaginable. Do I still feel homesick? Not really; there's always a European friend or a sight of Haute-Savoie at my fingertips, and if I travel over there only every year or so, that's enough to update my curiosity and refresh my collection of mental pictures!

Outstanding bike service...

This year we've been late for getting back into our mountain bike saddles; June's weather probably contributed to our procrastination and last week, we finally decided to have our bikes undergo a complete “physical;” I got new tires and my wife received a new derailleur cable system. This year, for the first time, we decided to try Jans bike technicians and last night, as I was taking my Jamis Dakar for the first ride of the season around Round Valley, I couldn't believe how smooth and easy my bike felt. Just like a brand new machine and in spite of my 60+ years, it felt like riding on Cloud Nine. None of the three other Park City shops that we had used before had ever done such a great job; kudos to the Park City Jans' bike technicians!