GOP to miners: We don't care

Republicans in the U.S. House have made it very clear that they have little interest in improving mine safety. The GOP blocked passage of a bill this week that would have better protected whistle-blowers, boosted penalties for serious mine-safety violations and helped the government to shut down problem mines. The legislation stemmed from the deaths of 29 West Virginia miners at the Upper Big Branch mine. Apparently 29 deaths is just a drop in the bucket for those lawmakers whose first priority is not worker safety, but protecting corporate profit margins.

Blatant disregard

Dennis Roddy and Daniel Malloy of the Post-Gazette had a good story the other day about what allegedly was going on in the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia before 29 miners were killed in an explosion April 5. According to the report, an electrician at the mine is saying that he was ordered to disable a methane detector on mining equipment. Apparently, that particular piece of equipment was not in the area where the deadly explosion occurred, but investigators are looking into the possibility that the same type of thing was done elsewhere in the mine. If it is found that shenanigans like this contributed to the disaster in that mine, and the deaths of 29 people, somebody should go to jail for a very, very long time. In China, they’d probably execute any executives whose deliberate actions, or orders, led to mass deaths. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.

Why?

Can anyone give me a single good reason why the NFL decided to hold the 2014 Super Bowl in the New York City-New Jersey area? The NFL has long had a policy of holding Super Bowls in warm-weather locales. Why is that being ignored in favor of the Big Apple? There are valid arguments for having the occasional Super Bowl in northern cities. Football is, after all, at its roots, an outdoor game. But I tend to side with the idea of giving the two teams that have reached each year's ultimate game the best possible conditions in which to play. While it's fun to watch the occasional snowy, muddy or fog-shrouded game, there's really no need to let the outcome of the Super Bowl be decided by Mother Nature. But if the NFL is going to give New York a Super Bowl in February, when that city could very well get socked with 2 feet of snow or be facing temperatures in the teens, then there's absolutely no valid reason why the Patriots, Steelers, Broncos and Packers shouldn't get to host a Super Bowl. Either stick with the old policy or open it up to everyone.

This and that

A few thoughts on stories in the news:

– I'm not one of those atheists who thinks "In God We Trust" should be removed from our money or that we should start reworking the Pledge of Allegiance, but I think a Fargo man has a point in his license plate dispute with the North Dakota Department of Transportation. Brian Magee is appealing a decision by the department’s Motor Vehicle Division to refuse his request for a license plate reading “ISNOGOD.” In his appeal, Magee notes that the state has allowed plates reading “PRZZGOD,” “ILOVGOD” and “TRI GOD,” among others. Magee’s views are no less valid than the ones expressed on the religious plates. The state should either issue Magee the plate he has requested or recall all the ones expressing religious sentiments. Fair is fair.

– After months of doing nothing, Wal-Mart finally agreed to pull a whole line of Miley Cyrus-brand necklaces and bracelets from its stores because of the health hazard they posed. The retailing giant had known since February, based on testing conducted at the behest of the Associated Press, that the jewelry contained high levels of cadmium, a known carcinogen that also has been linked to bone softening, kidney failure and negative effects on brain development in children. The AP quoted Wal-Mart as claiming that while the jewelry was not intended for kids, “it is possible that a few younger consumers may seek it out in stores.” Not intended for kids? C'mon. It's cheap jewelry branded with the name of a young star of the kids show "Hannah Montana.” This whole story is black eye for Wal-Mart.

– Some of you might remember the name Anthony Hauser. He's the Minnesota man whose teenage son, Daniel, went on the lam last year rather than have traditional medical treatment for cancer. His family favored a nuts and berries approach to curing the illness, but Daniel eventually underwent chemotherapy and reportedly is doing well. Now it’s Anthony Hauser who is fighting what is described as a rare, aggressive form of leukemia, and while he's currently relying on a dietary treatment, he won't rule out having chemotherapy, if needed. My guess is that it most certainly will be needed, if the elder Hauser wants to save his own skin, and it seems that he's a lot less resistant to conventional medicine now that it's his butt in a sling. The Hauser family also notes that it's suffering “severe financial hardships” because Anthony Hauser hasn’t been able to work much. The next sentence in the AP story was the one that caught my attention. It notes that Anthony Hauser and his wife recently had their ninth child. The Hausers certainly have the right to be fruitful and multiply, but when you make the decision to have nine kids, I think you forfeit the right to whine about financial troubles.

– If you needed any more evidence that your state government is out of control, here it is. An AP story this morning noted that the governor is disbanding a special unit within the state Department of Transportation whose sole task is to push through paperwork to help state lawmakers curry favor with voters. The unit came to light through the investigation into the legislative corruption scandal. A spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell says the 35 workers in the unit are being reassigned within PennDOT, and PennDOT will continue to help lawmakers with their special requests. Let me get this straight. Every one of these unnecessary jobs is being preserved, and the agency will still be doing the lawmakers’ busy work? This is asinine. And wasteful. But it gets worse. The report from the panel doing the legislative investigation also noted that the House Democratic and Republican caucuses spend nearly $1 million a year to employ dozens of people who work to, in the words of the AP, “expedite processing of mostly routine PennDOT paperwork for businesses and other constituents.” It's time that our state lawmakers quit spending their time figuring out ways to pander to voters in order to get re-elected and start doing their real duty. And their main duty, really the only one that is constitutionally mandated, is to produce a budget by June 30. I don't think I'm going to hold my breath on that one. There's a stench in Harrisburg, and the more we learn, the smell just gets worse and worse.

Wandering down to West Virginia

A few thoughts from a quick trip over the weekend to The Highlands, the shopping development just over the state line on I-70 on the way to Wheeling:

– The missus and I paid a visit to the Books a Million store at The Highlands, and after browsing for quite a while, I walked out without making a purchase. The reason: They didn't have a single thing that I couldn't buy online and have delivered right to my front door. At a cheaper price. I'm pretty sure that retail bookstores are about to go the way of record stores. The Books a Million Store was very nice, as are the Borders and Barnes & Noble stores up by South Hills Village, but when a person can buy a book from the comfort of their own home and save money in the process, what's the incentive for folks to drive to one of these stores? When the Borders Express store closed at the Franklin Mall, it meant nothing to me. I hadn't been there a half dozen times over the previous few years. One reason is that there just weren't very many books there. My online bookseller of choice offers thousands more titles than the traditional bookstore, as well as CDs, DVDs, clothing, etc. Plus, I can order used books from vendors affiliated with this particular online retailing giant, saving myself even more money. And I'm not one of those “techies” who wants to read books on a Kindle or some other such electronic apparatus. I like reading a good, old-fashioned hardbound book. I like the smell of them. I like the heft of a good book in my hands. I like falling asleep with one open on my chest. In short, I love books. I just don't love bookstores anymore, at least not enough to make a regular trip.

– I also stopped by Quaker Steak and Lube for lunch. From what I understand, their wings are their pride and joy. Maybe I just hit them on a bad day, but the wings I had were nondescript, tough and dry. I must say that the cheesy, bacon-sprinkled fries I had on the side were outstanding, and from the looks of the menu, I think I'd like to try their burgers and soup, but the wings. Meh. I've had better wings as several establishments much closer to home, including my favorite (and the closest), Breezy Heights Tavern. I think I'll stick with the locals from now on when I want some tasty chicken extremities.

– One of the (typically false) arguments used by those who favor keeping the Soviet-style Pennsylvania liquor sales system is that the clerks at our state stores are the only thing standing between us and private businessmen forcing booze into the hands of drunks and schoolchildren. They paint a horrible picture of unfettered sales by unscrupulous wine merchants interested only in making a buck. Well, it’s certainly not that way with the private-enterprise system in West Virginia, at least based on my experience Saturday. I went into a Target store to buy a couple of bottles of wine – buying wine conveniently, what a concept – and when I approached the young girl at the cash register, she asked to see my ID. Now, I'm 51 years old. On my best day, and with a cashier suffering from extreme astigmatism, I might pass for 40. Nevertheless, the young lady wanted to see my identification. She then took my driver's license, made sure the photo matched my face, and swiped the magnetic strip on my license through a slot in her cash register. Whether that's to make sure that the license was legit or to keep a record of who is buying booze, I'm not sure, but I am sure that West Virginia isn't the Wild West when it comes to alcohol sales.

The holy hotline

There's an old saying that a fool and his money are soon parted. Now, I'm not claiming that those who avail themselves of a new telephone service are fools, but they'll definitely be parting with some of their money. A group of businessmen has created what it calls the Bless Me Network, which it describes in a press release as a "service that allows people of the Christian faith to call a toll-free number and speak with members of the clergy. Just one catch. Once you call the toll-free number, if you want to actually talk with a priest or a preacher, you'll have to ante up $1.99 for the first minute and 99 cents for each additional minute. John Adams, the chief operating officer of the outfit, says the Bless Me Network provides "affordable faith-based counseling with a level of convenience and confidentiality that has never existed before.” The network says it will give more than 50 percent of its earnings to clergy, church, charity and humanitarian aid over the next five years. Anyone want to bet that it'll be 50.1 percent? And do they pocket all of the money after five years? I don't know. But here's the interesting part: the network expects those charitable donations to exceed $200 million dollars over the five-year period. So that suggests to me that their take will also be pretty close to $200 million. Not a bad little business venture. I suppose that if you're having some crisis of faith or other spiritual emergency at 4 a.m., this might be helpful. But if your problem is such that you need to call a man or woman of the cloth in the wee hours, it's probably pretty darned serious, and it might take quite a while to work it out. If we're talking a half hour, that's $30.70 on your next phone bill. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like there's a risk that some really troubled people who aren't the sharpest tools in the shed might get taken advantage of. And there are plenty of people who can talk with folks about these kinds of spiritual and personal problems. They're the ministers and priests who live right here in our own communities. I'm not a religious person, but I know several pastors in our area who would be very helpful to talk with if I needed their input, and they wouldn't send me a bill. And I'm sure there are many more very caring, effective members of the clergy with whom I am not personally acquainted. I do want to thank the Bless Me Network for indirectly leading me to a business idea. While doing a little research before posting this item, I ran across a Wikipedia entry on religion in the United States. It cited a study that found the number of people in this country claiming no religious identification (atheists, agnostics, humanists, deists, etc.) rose from an estimated 14.3 million in 1990 to 34.2 million in 2008, which translates to a jump from 8 percent of the population in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008. So, coming soon to a phone near you: "Talk to a Heathen." I'm telling you, it's catching on.

When is it too much?

It hasn't been a good past few days for actor Nicolas Cage. From all accounts, he's in very severe financial difficulties. He's suing his former business manager, while at the same time being sued by a former significant other, Christina Fulton, who is seeking $13 million. And the former business manager has countersued Cage, saying the star ignored advice to curb his excessive spending. Now, he's been hit with a $36.7 million lawsuit by a group called Red Curb Investments, which says Cage, who just this year is facing IRS tax liens approaching $7 million, failed to repay more than $5 million in loans and also failed to give notice of his tax woes. From the sound of all this, it's beginning to look as if Cage, despite earning millions and millions of dollars, is headed either toward bankruptcy or sharing a prison cell with Wesley Snipes. Which finally brings me to my point: While people who make huge sums of money are certainly entitled to spend it as they wish, isn't it a little bit sickening to watch them wallow in excess? This is not jealousy on my part. I'm not a wealthy person, but I enjoy my "regular life." I have no interest in mansions, yachts, private planes and classic sports cars. But everywhere we look, the various media are slobbering over the rich and famous, basically celebrating their lives of excess. I saw an ad last night for a TV show that glorifies lavish weddings. We're talking six-figure, maybe seven-figure, affairs. It would be disturbing to me to even watch something like that. It brings to mind the infamous case of Dennis Kozlowski, who looted Tyco International and was convicted and sent to prison. At his trial, Kozlowski's spending habits were laid out for the world to see. The pinnacle of this, or the low point, perhaps, was Kozlowski's spending of $2.1 million for his wife's 40th birthday party on a Mediterranean island. When people are fortunate enough to become wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, shouldn't it be enough for them to life a very, very comfortable life - even sock away a few million to ensure the financial security of their children and grandchildren - and then do something more altruistic with their riches? Don't get me wrong. There are many people who do just that, but it seems as if there are a growing number who have embraced a culture of unbridled spending. It's not just "me, me, me." It's "look at me." It also has struck me this Christmas season more than any other - perhaps because of the terrible times so many people have gone through this year - that we are throwing money away (much to the delight of corporate America) on gifts that people don't need. I receive gifts that, while very nice, are not necessary for my daily life. And I'm sure I give people gifts that they could very well have done without. Well, I'm finally stepping off the Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa-whatever merry-go-round. Next year, I'll be telling the people with whom I have typically exchanged gifts that I want nothing from them and that I will be taking money that I usually would have spent on gifts and giving it to worthy charities. Small children will be exempt from my new policy. Is anyone else having the same thoughts?

Self-inflicted damage

We still have people among us who believe climate change is a hoax or some sort of natural cycle of the Earth, despite overwhelming and unrelenting evidence to the contrary. Another brick in the wall of reality was put in place this week with the release of a federal study showing that nearly half of the lakes and reservoirs across our country contain fish with potentially harmful levels of mercury, a metal that is toxic to us humans. An AP story notes that mercury is a pollutant "primarily released from coal-fired power plants." Coal is a valuable fuel resource in our country, and the industry is a provider of a great many jobs in this area, but it galls me that when someone suggests that we need to do more to control emissions from coal-fired power plants - at some additional cost to consumers - the climate change deniers and energy industry apologists start shrieking as if their hair were on fire. The new EPA study on lake and reservoir pollution is yet one more sign that we need to quit poisoning the world in which we live. It amazes me that with all the technological advances and brilliant minds we have in this country, we are still burning rocks for fuel, but if we are going to do so – and we clearly are for at least decades to come – we must find ways that do not kill us in the process.

Just leave me alone

I'm one of those people who truly enjoys grocery shopping, and I've liked it even more since the store I frequent installed the self-checkout aisles. I have one lingering problem, however. Even though I choose to do it myself, store employees are forever trying to pitch in, whether by scanning my groceries for me while I'm at the other end bagging or, even worse, by trying to bag my groceries for me. One reason why I choose the self-service option is that I'd rather not stand there while a checkout person examines my every item as if they have just been handed the Shroud of Turin. Second, I want to bag my own groceries because, for one thing, I can put items in the bags in a way that will make it easier for me to put them away, and I also am not prone to putting a 15-pound ham on top of a loaf of Wonder bread. The other good thing about the self-checkout lines is that they're used by a relative few shoppers. Members of the over-70 set will stand in regular lines that stretch back into the food shelves before they would think of trying those new-fangled grocery scanners. I'm fine with that. In fact, I think people - sorry, but especially the elderly - should be tested before they are allowed to use the self-checkout lines, just to make sure they can proceed at an acceptable speed and are capable of mastering that "futuristic" technology. In the meantime, I beseech the store employees to actually let me do it myself.

Overkill

Did you ever say something critical about someone who had just died, and another person told you that you should be more respectful because the person "wasn't even in the ground yet"? Well, now that Michael Jackson is presumably in the ground or headed there very shortly (unless his head is being frozen somewhere, a la Ted Williams), I'd like to say that the amount of attention paid to his death by the media was beyond ridiculous. I do understand that he "did Thriller" and was a music icon. But the level of fawning and hyperbole at Jackson's memorial service boggled the mind. Magic Johnson, who has never been the sharpest tool in the shed, said that watching Michael Jackson made him a better basketball player. Huh? And then there was this from the Rev. Al Sharpton: "Those young kids grew up from being teenage, comfortable fans of Michael’s to being 40 years old and being comfortable to vote for a person of color to be president of the United States. Michael did that. Michael made us love each other." Now, Sharpton is an idiot of epic proportion, and he and the truth have not always been on the best of terms, but really? A co-worker heard someone else say - and they weren't kidding - that Jackson was "the greatest figure of love and peace in the history of the world." Sorry, Jesus. You're No. 2 now. But I saved the best for last, and it's once again from Sharpton, who told Jackson's three children that "your daddy wasn't strange." OK, I have to call "shenanigans" on that one. What we had with Jackson was one of THE strangest people to inhabit the Earth during my lifetime. We can debate all day whether he was a child molester. But it's pretty clear that he was a druggie who probably took so much "legal" dope that he killed himself. He also was a guy who was once good-looking and black, and at the end of his life, he was a circus freak who made Clay Aiken look like 50 Cent. And while I give the guy his props as a onetime "King of Pop," those days were long gone. Jackson hadn't been a major player on the music scene for close to 20 years, during which time he became a public joke. Some called him the greatest and most influential artist in the history of popular music, but wouldn't you think the greatest artist ever would have continued to be productive and relevant past the age of 35? And there are plenty of other people - Lennon and McCartney, Buddy Holly, Kurt Cobain, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Brian Wilson, to name a few - who were every bit as influential. It's sad that Michael Jackson is dead, and that his life since the mid-90s had been a downward spiral. But there's really no one to blame for that but Michael Jackson, and maybe those who raised him and enabled him. Just a sad story with a final act that was way too loud and long.

The state benefits, but do we?

I've been a frequent and consistent critic of the Pennsylvania state store system, and a fresh news release from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board reinforces my reasons for advocating a free-market, private-enterprise operation. The PLCB announced Tuesday that its liquor stores raked in a record $1.84 billion in the last fiscal year, a figure that included about $495 million in sales tax, liquor tax and profits that was forwarded to the state’s general fund. No one is denying that the PLCB contributes a major chunk of money to state operations, and this year's contribution was a record. But couldn't the same money be generated by privately owned businesses? The liquor taxes would remain in place, as would the sales tax. Perhaps, with lower prices created through competition, those taxes could even be increased slightly without negatively affecting the bottom line for consumers. One would also think that taxes on the businesses running these private wine and liquor stores would offset a significant portion of the $125 million in profits that the state stores generated for the general fund this past fiscal year. And sales might even increase in a free-market system that, presumably, would include more than the 619 stores currently operated by the PLCB. In Washington, we have three liquor stores. The best of the stores is behind Washington Mall, not exactly a prime location. And when I say best, I mean only that its selection is slightly better than the offerings at the two crummy stores on South Main Street and in Tylerdale. The South Main store is now open only three days a week, and its hours of operation are a joke. Ingress and egress from the Tylerdale store are horrible. But the PLCB promises great things ahead. Said PLCB Chairman Patrick Stapleton, "In the next year, our customers will begin to see a renaissance in our retail operations highlighted by vast improvements in the look and feel of our stores and a renewed commitment to customer service and employee education." Does this strike anyone else as comparable to what comes out of the back end of a bull? Of course, these are the same guys who signed a six-figure deal with an outside firm to teach their people to be polite to customers. The news release on Tuesday went on to say that the PLCB has a plan for the coming year that "includes initiatives to improve the customer store experience; enhance training for board employees; boost returns to the state general fund; assure and promote responsible use of alcohol through regulation and education; and take advantage of new technologies." Maybe I missed it, but I sure didn't see anything in the release about better prices, more variety and more convenient hours and locations. I recently conducted an informal e-mail survey of Pennsylvania state senators, asking them whether they would support privatization of the state store system and/or allow the sale of wine and beer in grocery stores and other retail outlets. Most of them ignored me. Some referred my inquiry to my own state senator, who ignored it. But a few responded, and there is some support for privatization. And you might be surprised by this, but it was Republican lawmakers, who sometimes get branded as sticks in the mud, who were more often in favor of the proposals. I know I probably won't live long enough to see these things come to fruition, but I'll keep dreaming.

Well, that's mighty nice of them

I periodically receive letters and e-mails from companies that would like to sell me an extended warranty on the wife's car. They have no interest in my old "field car." Now, I'm not a financial genius. I can generally recognize a good deal on steaks or a lawn mower, but the cost-benefit factor involved with insurance policies has always baffled me. Nevertheless, it has always seemed to me that the price they quote for such coverage on the wife's car is a bit steep. But wait! I just got an e-mail from one of those companies offering me 60 percent off if I sign up now. Is it just me, or do you think maybe the people they duped into paying full price were the consumer equivalent of prison-rape victims? I mean, if they can still make money by cutting their price by 60 percent, they must've been making quite the profit at the 100-percent rate. Buyer beware.

Free choice! (unless you're a senator)

Unions are once again turning up the heat to try to win passage of a sorry piece of legislation known as the Employee Free Choice Act, and misinformation, obfuscation and intimidation appear to be the unholy trinity of their efforts. To those not familiar, the Employee Free Choice Act is an effort by organized labor and its supporters (primarily Democrats) in Congress to kill the secret-ballot system of deciding whether employees wish to be represented by a union. Instead, a union would be considered approved once more than 50 percent of the members of a particular workforce signed union cards. Proponents of the act claim that many workers currently are harassed and intimidated if they try to form a union. Would ending secret-ballot elections and allowing union proponents to browbeat potential members into signing cards be an improvement? Of course, unions would never resort to strong-arm tactics. Right? What sort of twisted logic is required to argue against allowing a worker to privately decide whether he or she wants to be represented by a union? The legislation, at least in its original form, also would require binding arbitration when a company and newly formed union negotiate their first contract, which means a company could be forced to accept a labor deal that it can't afford. If this bill passes, it would serve union members right if companies that are the victims of these crammed-down contracts just close their doors and tell the workers to get lost. U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., had a good take on the bill: "It is beyond me how once can possibly claim that a system whereby everyone – your employer, your union organizer and your co-workers – knows exactly how you vote on the issue of unionization gives an employee 'free choice.' ... I cannot fathom how we are about to sit there today and debate a proposal to take away a worker's democratic right to vote in a secret-ballot election and call it 'Employee Free Choice.'" And now, as the pressure ramps up on lawmakers to take action on the measure, our own Sen. Arlen Specter, a key vote on the legislation, is in the cross-hairs of its proponents. A lobbying group is running television ads asking whether Specter will side "with President Obama, Vice President Biden and the working families of Pennsylvania" or with "greedy CEOs and big-business lobbyists." So what we really have there are lobbyists ripping on lobbyists. If you're a union lobbyist, that's OK, but if you represent America's businesses - you know, the people who create jobs - you're some sort of scum in their eyes. The ad says Specter "usually does the right thing," but it implores those who see the ads to "call and tell Specter that Pennsylvania is for him as long as he's for the Employee Free Choice Act." So, we have a lawmaker who "usually does the right thing," but if he votes no on this bill, he's a no-good bastard. That sounds a lot like the tactics that supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act accuse business owners of using. It would appear that the backers of the pro-union legislation would be OK with it if Specter voted to put roasted babies on the menu of the Senate Dining Room, just as long as he votes the right way on the union bill. These people have no shame.

Those ads are giving him the willies

With all the problems in our country, U.S. Rep. Jim Moran has decided to make it a priority to ensure that no kids hear the word "erectile" on television. The Virginia Democrat wants the House to consider legislation that would ban advertisements for erectile dysfunction drugs between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Said the congressman, "I do object, when you're sitting around with the kids, to be warning people about a four-hour erection. That's not appropriate. I have no problem with the product. I have a problem with advertising it." Yes, let's attach great shame to our private parts and any discussion thereof. It'd be much more fun for boys to be totally shocked, and maybe even a little afraid, when they get a surprise around age 12. Let's face it, little kids couldn't care less about mushy advertisements showing semi-elderly people getting frisky. And if a kid is old enough to take interest in such advertising and ask a question, would it be that horrific to give him or her an age-appropriate answer? I do have to admit, however, that the "Viva Viagra!" ads are so catchy that anyone from 8 to 80 can't help but be sucked in. Moran claims the ads have become "increasingly aggressive ... more pervasive and explicit." Hey, in this day and age, just having a guy toss a football through a tire swing as a metaphor doesn't get anyone's attention. And it's not like those folks in the Cialis spa commercial are in the same bathtub playing "Up Goes the Periscope." I also guarantee you that if the drug companies didn't warn people about the possibility of four-hour erections, a lawsuit is coming from the first guy who has an unwelcome encounter with the corner of a chest of drawers while navigating a dark bedroom. The three major ED-drug manufacturers note that their television advertising is carefully targeted to run during shows that appeal primarily to men over age 50. And at least one of the companies already has its own restrictions on hours of the day when the ads run. If you ask me, Moran is the one going off half-cocked.

Say what?

An oil company has an advertisement currently running on radio that praises a driver who switched from an "inferior" oil to the company's synthetic product by telling the driver, "That's using your dipstick." The phrase is repeated several times throughout the ad. They intend it as a compliment. I had a totally different take. Do I just have a filthy mind?

Mum's the word

Would you like to know what members of the Washington County Authority board really think about the plan to build an upscale Wal-Mart at Southpointe II? Good luck with that. Wednesday night, members of the politically appointed panel did their best impressions of attendees at a convention of deaf-mutes. Asked to approve a property sale needed to clear the way for the Wal-Mart project, the members of the authority board – Bill Burt, John Rheel, Scott Frederick, Suzanne Ewing, Lawrence Miller and Dennis Dutton - didn't utter a peep when board chairman Alan Veliky asked twice for a motion on the matter. If they wanted to vote against the plan, that's fine. But these people didn't have the guts to even put the matter up for a vote or to take a public stand one way or the other. We could assume, I guess, that they all bowed to pressure from project opponents, or maybe from the politicians who appointed them to the board. Rod Piatt, president of developer Horizon Properties, said the authority never had the right to "pick and choose" what businesses locate in Southpointe II, but the panel essentially did just that by refusing to act on the property deal. Mike Swisher, a principal with Horizon Properties, said $200 million worth of construction and 3,000 jobs were at stake. Chris West of Cullinan Properties said the apparent demise of the Wal-Mart store will have a negative trickle-down effect. "We don't have the critical mass. It's going to kill our (movie) theater deal and other associated restaurants that were going to come along with it," he said. So now, the developers are back to square one, and in the current economic climate, most other major retailers are not expanding to new sites. The opponents can talk all they want about things such as traffic concerns. I think the real reason this project drew so much opposition is that the snooty suburbanites in that area were deathly afraid that a Wal-Mart might attract "the wrong kind of people." You can bet there would have been a lot less discontent if a Macy's had been slated for the site.

Catching the ambulance

It took only a couple of days for the family of Jdimytai Damour, the famously trampled Wal-Mart worker from New York, to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the retailing behemoth. The suit claims that Wal-Mart failed to provide sufficient security to handle the mob of Black Friday shoppers who descended on the Long Island store where Damour worked and literally was crushed to death by bargain-thirsty customers. But the suit also contends that store ads touting deep discounts "created an atmosphere of competition and anxiety" that led to "crowd craze." The suit says the store "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem." Now, I think it's fine to argue that security and crowd-control measures were lacking, but I think it's a bit much to chastise a business for trying to attract shoppers. Isn't that their raison d'etre? Whatever the case, I'm sure Mr. Damour's relatives will be financially comfortable for life when this is all over.

Let 'em dangle

Businesses come and go. Some thrive. Others die. It's the nature of capitalism. Those that make goods or provide services that people want, while maintaining sound business practices, will thrive. Those that don't, well, they fail. The Big Three automakers are on the brink of failure, and I'm tempted to say we should let them do so, rather than give them billions to stay afloat. The only thing that gives me pause is the number of good jobs that will be lost, but the United Auto Workers union has to bear some responsibility for the current mess, and if GM, Ford and Chrysler were to be relegated to the dustbin of history, somebody else will make cars in the United States, and will need the skilled labor to do so. The UAW negotiated itself a jobs bank program in which, at last count, about 3,500 workers for the Big Three automakers were being paid up to 95 percent of their salaries for NOT working. At the same time, the bigwigs of the auto companies have been pulling down millions in salaries while running their businesses into the ground. Last week, Fritz Henderson, president and chief operating officer of GM, said bankruptcy reorganization was not a viable option for his company, because GM would lose consumer confidence, "and we want (consumers) to be confident in their ability to buy our cars and trucks." Number one, why shouldn't we just allow consumers to have confidence in buying Toyotas, Hondas and BMWs? They make good cars and trucks, many of them right here in the United States. Number two, many companies have gone into bankruptcy reorganization and emerged to become successful again. That suggests that consumers didn't abandon them just because they needed to get their houses in order. If the hardware store down the street from you goes under, nobody's going to come running from the government to cut them a check. Why should GM, Ford and Chrysler be any different?

Energy out of thin air?

Texas oilman and billionaire T. Boone Pickens says he's seen the future, or at least what he hopes is the future, in terms of meeting the country's energy needs, and according to Pickens, it's wind power. You can check it out at Pickens' Web site, but Pickens' basic argument is that we need to reduce our reliance on foreign oil - Who can argue with that? - and that greater reliance on wind power, along with natural gas-powered vehicles, is the way to go. Pickens notes that this year alone, based on current oil prices, we will send $700 billion out of the country, and he points out that America, with just 4 percent of the world's population, uses 25 percent of the world's oil production. Pickens has positioned himself to take advantage of a shift to wind power (He says he's building the world's largest wind farm in Texas right now), but hey, he's a businessman. Just because he might profit from it doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do. Any thoughts?