07.04.08

Travel Friendly

Posted in Economy at 0:31 by lnxwalt

By now, everyone knows that the higher cost of fuel is causing airlines to tack on fees and restrictions, as well as to cut back on flights to smaller cities. The airlines do need to raise prices and reduce some costs in order to stay (or more accurately, become) profitable. However, the fees are like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.

Airlines, like most other businesses, need to operate in such a way that their customers do not mind paying a profitable rate to obtain the company's product or service. Given all the unpleasantness of airports (thanks to security hysteria and airline routes & scheduling that turn a short trip into an all-day ordeal), airlines really should be thinking about making planes a more pleasant place to be.

Personally, I love the flight from point A to point B. I might feel differently if it was a longer flight, but for the few hours I am aloft, I really enjoy it. Yet, I would gladly drive across the nation if it meant I could avoid airports.

I flew from California to Newark, New Jersey last year. It was quite an experience, because I found myself waiting for a few hours at Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The year before that, flying to Albany, New York, I spent a few hours at Atlanta airport. A couple of weeks ago, I spent hours at Minneapolis airport. These may all be pleasant cities, but I really do not desire to go through their airports any more.

And that, to me, suggests a way out for the airlines. You see, the airlines' business model is based upon charging very high prices to those who are most desperate to buy your product, while discounting to attract those who are price-sensitive. Because business fliers are usually absolutely desperate, they pay the highest rates, moderated by frequent flier miles and bulk discount plans. Because many business fliers' flights are paid by their companies, they take the lowest priced from point A to point B, even if that means going through points C and D before arriving.

One thing the airlines might want to look at is going back to direct flights to most destinations, coupled with fixed-price tickets that cover the costs and bring a decent profit. I think this would be the best way to restore the profitability of airlines while giving a more pleasing experience to their customers. One thing is sure: the current model of treating paying customers like cattle to be herded and prodded is failing under the strain of our current economy.

Permalink Comments

06.17.08

Gully-Washer

Posted in General Management at 4:26 by lnxwalt

Anthropogenic global warming is taken as a proven fact and an article of faith, but many climate and weather scientists disagree. Science, if you did not know, is a religion. This means that it may be time for the founding of non-AGW-believing branch.

The founder of The Weather Channel recently wrote a guest article on “Watts Up With That?“, a blog that debunks much pro-AGW doctrine.

The future of our civilization lies in the balance.

That’s the battle cry of the High Priest of Global Warming Al Gore and his fellow, agenda driven disciples as they predict a calamitous outcome from anthropogenic global warming. According to Mr. Gore the polar ice caps will collapse and melt and sea levels will rise 20 feet inundating the coastal cities making 100 million of us refugees. Vice President Gore tells us numerous Pacific islands will be totally submerged and uninhabitable. He tells us global warming will disrupt the circulation of the ocean waters, dramatically changing climates, throwing the world food supply into chaos. He tells us global warming will turn hurricanes into super storms, produce droughts, wipe out the polar bears and result in bleaching of coral reefs. He tells us tropical diseases will spread to mid latitudes and heat waves will kill tens of thousands. He preaches to us that we must change our lives and eliminate fossil fuels or face the dire consequences.

I read Watts Up from time to time. What I’m seeing there interests me. You see, with my main job, I go to places that are devasted by fires, floods, and earthquakes. Let me tell you, this year looks to be a busy year for me. And I’m seeing, thanks to Watts Up, that it may all be caused by the sun. Hundreds of years ago, there was a period of time we call the “little ice age” because it was so bitterly cold. It appears that the pattern of sunspots observed then resembles the pattern observed today.

The article attempts to refute much of what former Vice President Al Gore is telling us (that man’s activities are causing the earth’s temperatures to rise, and that one of the possible consequences of our activities is the extinction of our species). I’m not a weather or climate expert, so I have to rely upon what those who are experts tell me.

I saw on the news that skiing is still happening in Colorado in the middle of June. Heavy thunderstorms and rainstorms have stayed over much of the Midwest, producing tornadoes, flooding, and lots of damage. If sunspot-caused global cooling is now in session, this is what lies ahead for us over the next few years. The cool year we are experiencing in 2008 could be the blueprint for the next few years.

What can you do? There are some things you can do, and should. First of all, check to see whether you are living in a low-lying area that is prone to flooding. Are you in a floodplain? Perhaps in an area that is protected by dams and levees? If the answer is ‘yes’, you need to start working toward relocating. Remember, one wise move can save the lives of yourself and your family.

There are other things you can do. Contact your state’s disaster preparedness / response  / recovery agency for information on what you can do to prepare for an event.

The important thing is that you take the time to become acquainted with the possible kinds of disaster, from fire, to earthquake, to flood, to windstorm (e.g., tornado or hurricane), to societal breakdown, to a meteorite hitting and destroying your home. Then, develop a realistic plan for dealing with each situation, including possible actions you can take beforehand to lessen the impact of the situation. Finally, act on the plan, preparing for disaster–it will come eventually, so your best bet is to be ready.

Another important thing to look into is insurance. If your home or business burned down, you’d be in a world of hurt. But with insurance, you at least have a fighting chance at getting back to where you were. Be sure to ask about the national flood insurance program and any corresponding programs for earthquakes or other big events.

Permalink Comments

06.05.08

Will Our Leaders Look Forward? Or Wait Until The Lights Go Out?

Posted in Economy, Society at 2:42 by lnxwalt

PlexNex: Wind Will Power Our Future

According to the report, the DOE expects coastal states to harness 50,000 megawatts of offshore wind in shallow water depths of less than 100 feet. The report notes for some coastal states (like Massachusetts) shallow water offshore wind can provide 100 percent of the electricity supply.

The DOE further states that increasing the use of wind power to supply 20 percent of the nation’s electricity would reduce carbon dioxide emissions (that contribute to climate change) from the electricity generation sector by 25 percent while creating up to a half million new American jobs.

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have been harping on the need to act for some time. Being a California resident, I have seen how our state and local leaders are harming our economy by waiting until they are forced to start moving us toward energy independence.

I think of the proposal to build a wind farm in the hills Northeast of Apple Valley. The Town council spoke up against it, fearing that the appearance would keep people from buying homes in the part of the Town nearest that area. We’re talking about a place that has occasionally suffered blackouts because of California’s lack of power capacity. Even the slightest bit of common sense would say that having local generation capacity is a good thing in times of scarcity.

Maybe there is a silver lining in the fuel price increases. If the price increases force our governments and our society (including individuals and families) to seek out alternatives to fossil fuels, then that part, at least, is good.

What we have been doing is unsustainable. Our homes are large, with large expanses of glass, and poorly insulated. We make up for this by turning up the furnace or air conditioner. We live in places that are distant from where we earn our livings, so we spend a lot of time getting to work and back home. Because we are so far from our workplaces, there aren’t many people following exactly the same routes, so we almost have to use private vehicles to commute–sure, we could take the bus or the train, but we’d add an hour or more to our commute time.

We need to change, but not just as individuals. We need change society-wide. We need to have our leaders behind these changes, whether it means public financing or changing regulations and zoning to make sustainable living allowable and in fact preferred. That our state and local governments have ignored this for the past thirty years is tragic. If they continue their present policies, there will be a very painful time when the lights go out and the tanks run dry. At that time, we will all suffer unbearable anguish, although wealthier and better-connected individuals might escape the effects longer or suffer less than their neighbors do.

It’s Time To Change

Sam has found an important editorial in support of these ideas. I am not an East coast resident, and have no opinion as to the desirability of the “Cape Wind” project. However, we can either do something, even if it isn’t a perfect solution, or we can sit on our hindquarters until the lights go out and we are trying to survive a breakdown of society. At the very least, we’ll learn more as we proceed, including whether existing technology is sufficient or we need to develop new technology.

Technorati Tags: alternative energy, economic development

Permalink Comments

05.26.08

Local Investment The Key To Area Recovery

Posted in Economy, Political at 1:14 by lnxwalt

Permalink Comments

ODF, OOXML, Microsoft, And You

Posted in FLOSS, Industry News at 0:22 by lnxwalt

Permalink Comments

05.15.08

The Hague Declaration: Statement Of Human Rights Online

Posted in FLOSS, News and Announcements, Political, Society at 1:01 by lnxwalt

Standards attorney Andy Updegrove announced the creation of the Hague Declaration recently. The Hague Declaration is a statement of human rights on the Internet. But it is more. Without being overly verbose about it, the Declaration also promotes free software, where “free” is not about the price of the software, but about the freedom that the user of that software gains.

I want to encourage you to visit Mr. Updegrove’s blog to read his statement, and then to go to the site to sign the Hague Declaration. As a follow up, write your elected representatives to encourage them to require government agencies to use vendor-neutral, open standard file formats, such as ODF.

Permalink Comments

05.11.08

Political Policy And Small Business

Posted in Political, Small Business at 17:11 by lnxwalt

I have recently made several posts on political subjects.

• What Are Dems Thinking?
• More Politics
• No Pain McCain
• The Dream Team–NOT!
• Speculating On A “Dream Team”

The object isn’t primarily political (as in pro or anti this or that candidate), however, but to help mold the agenda to focus on SLOBs as the key to our economy and our society (in conjunction with another small, local unit, the family).

For small towns in far away areas around major cities, SLOBs provide the economic wherewithal to keep the town going when economic swings cause large, out-of-area corporations (LOOACs) to retreat. Because they are locally-owned, their interests are intimately tied to those of the local economy. Because they are small, they are less likely to be able to coerce local governments into sacrificing residents’s interests for the benefit of the business. Certainly SLOBs are not a panacea for every possible ailment, but they are a fundamental piece of bringing about a locally-focused economy where fewer individuals are marginalized.

When the glass factory, the slaughterhouse, and the furniture store leave your town, the only way your community will keep going is to have a strong local economy, based upon smaller, locally-owned businesses, and not upon LOOACs.

The Victor Valley’s cities are currently oriented toward attracting LOOACs, rather than organically growing their economies through backing SLOBs. This must change, if we are to have any chance of adequately employing all or nearly all of our residents. The best thing about backing SLOBs? No tax subsidies! All they really need to do is fund the training and education work of the local college and help with loan guarantees for smaller start-up businesses. Barstow, in a similar state, needs to back its college and help with start-up funding for its local residents. LOOACs ask for all of this and tax subsidies too!

For inner cities, SLOBs, rather than LOOACs, are the key to bring about prosperity. LOOACs hire hundreds or even thousands of people at once, and therefore attract applicants from far-away parts of the city, often leaving nearly as many local area residents unemployed (or underemployed) as there were before the corporation’s arrival. They also use that large number of jobs to extract tax and other concessions from city governments. In essence, your local minimart probably pays extra taxes in order to allow “Big Blue” to bring a few hundred minimum-wage jobs and Chinese goods to the market.

Small, locally-owned businesses cannot exist in isolation, if we want the local community and economy to benefit. There must be a veritable ecosystem of small, locally-owned suppliers, distributors, and retailers to help the community become resilient against the various twists and turns of the wider economy. But there is more: SLOBs are more strongly integrated into the local community, sponsoring Key Clubs and youth sports, ponying up funding to send the local band to a competition in the state capital, hiring your brother-in-law who just got out of jail, and giving a first employment experience to your neighbor’s high school kid. Because SLOBs lack the resources to go it alone, they are more likely to support your local community’s attempt to bring about high-speed Internet access, towers and infrastructure for mobile telephone service, and better lab facilities at your local high school and local college.

In remote farming communities in middle America, SLOBs may be the only things still keeping some towns on the map. When LOOACs leave a farming-based community, or during times of consolidation, where smaller, family-operated farms are gobbled up by large, corporate-operated agricultural businesses, graduates often have no choice but to leave the area.

So it is vitally important that any so-called small business advocate makes his voice heard on political choices that will affect the direction of our national policies toward smaller businesses.

Tags: political, small business

Permalink Comments

05.04.08

Gas Taxes Are Not The Problem

Posted in Economy, Political at 13:54 by lnxwalt

Higher fuel prices are causing pain for most people in our country. As a consequence, Congress-members are talking about temporarily suspending the tax (about 18 cents per gallon on gasoline) for a few months. The problem is, gas prices are likely to briefly drop later this year, and then start rising again, possibly going until they surpass five dollars per gallon.

The gas tax suspension will slightly reduce present pain, but in the process, will also lead to much greater pain in the future. What we need is to make it financially untenable for most people to operate low-mileage vehicles such as pickups and SUVs. Why? Because we need to make some dramatic changes in our economy and infrastructure, but are not willing to do so as long as we continue to have relatively cheap fuel.

How many of us have lots of single-layer glass in our homes? This is a sure-fire way to waste energy, heating and cooling the great outdoors. How many of us have only minimal insulation? How many of us have city governments that balk at energy-conservation efforts that might not match the look of the rest of the town?

All of that must change. But it won’t change unless the cost of change is lower than the cost of keeping things the way they are. Years ago, during California’s power crisis, a resident of my town wanted to put up a windmill to generate some of his family’s electric power. The town told him that he could only have it if it was forty feet tall, surrounded by trees that were sixty feet tall, because it needed to be invisible to the neighbors. This is the same mentality that causes them to require mobile telephone towers to be disguised as hideous false trees or hidden inside of building attics and fat flagpoles. We then complain because we cannot get reliable service on our phones.

If we want to reduce the pain of higher fuel costs, we have to first let the pain get so intense that people refuse to take jobs that involve long commutes or refuse to live long distances from their existing workplaces. I can say this, because where I live, most available jobs are seventy-five miles or more from home. As a result, I do work where I fly outside the area (I’m currently working in Columbus, Ohio). Meanwhile, I’ve got my eyes open for jobs and housing together, preferably outside of California.

In the Inland Empire of California (and the I-15 corridor North of the I.E.), we have made a conscious decision to encourage housing developments and retail developments, without corresponding industrial, mining, and agricultural development. We have lots of homes, we have low-wage retail and service jobs (but even there, not enough to meet the demand), but we sorely lack local jobs that have pay and benefits sufficient to support a family on. Therefore, most of our residents get in their cars and drive fifty, seventy-five, or even one hundred miles one-way to get to work. We could sacrifice and put in high-speed commuter rail systems to make this tenable, or we could refuse to approve housing developments that do not have sufficient employment opportunities within twenty or twenty-five miles. However, hard decisions such as these will never happen until we stop fiddling with the system and let greedy oil companies chase off all their customers.

Permalink Comments

04.15.08

Working On Updating Our Site

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:56 by lnxwalt

It has been over a year since we first established this domain. In that time, I’ve been mostly working out of state or at least out of my home area, so I haven’t had any time to do anything about it. I may be going out again soon, but I’m trying to at least get things started beforehand.

Be patient and we’ll get there.

Our focus is not really on polishing our own site(s), but on making sure that the SLOBs/OMBs/FOBs that we ally ourselves with have the tools they need to better compete with the big corporations that rule our lives and our country. Only in this way will our towns and cities be rebuilt and our state and local governments begin to focus on the smaller businesses that provide the bulk of our employment.

Our toolset is firmly planted in the open camp. FLOSS uses copyrights and licenses to benefit the user, rather than to oppress the user (as EULAs do). Among the freedoms that are inherent in FLOSS is the freedom to use and distribute modifications to the original application. We look forward to using that freedom to make open source software an even better fit and an even better deal for smaller businesses.

Watch this space for news and updates.

Tags: Announcements, coming soon

Permalink Comments

04.10.08

Infrastructure Suffers From Years Of Neglect

Posted in Economy, Political at 2:40 by lnxwalt

The original article will probably be gone in a couple of weeks.

US water pipelines are breaking - Yahoo! News

Essentially, the article describes some major aqueducts that are reaching the end of their expected lives, either because of their age or because of lack of maintenance and repair.

This is actually an example of where short-term focus is harmful in the long run. One place I lived in this town, we had a water pipe that would break a couple of times each week during the Summer (breaks were discovered less frequently during colder weather). The company would come out and use a metal strap to provide a temporary patch. Then a few days later, the pipe would break somewhere else. In the local case, the pipe is only about four feet deep, so it isn’t infeasible to selectively replace the worst pipes in a desert.

It seems to be an America-wide thing, though. Lack of attention to infrastructure is costing us repair costs elsewhere (damage to homes and vehicles, traffic delays, emergency repairs, maybe even lost lives when some spectacular failure happens). We focus on the short-term instead of acting to prevent failure or to replace already-failing pipes and roads. We even neglect to build needed things like a region-wide high-speed rail system in Southern California, where some commuters travel up to 100 miles one-way to work. Or seeing that our current water imports are going to be reduced in the future (due to sharing Colorado River water and restrictions on other water supplies), we still fail to construct an ocean desalinization plant that can help make up the difference.

While we grumble about almost $4 per gallon fuel, we can’t do something that can help insulate us from the effects when fuel costs rise to $5, $6, $7, or even $10 per gallon? I don’t buy it. When I was spending five hours per day sitting in traffic, I was keenly interested in anything that would be faster and cheaper or even the same time and price but less frustrating.

A few years ago, when California was having its power crisis, our town leaders forbade a resident from putting up a windmill generator. The neighboring city decided to promote a power plant fueled by natural gas and cooled by the very water that is in short supply in the area.

This is nothing less than a failure of leadership. As a citizen, I know that I am not averse to higher taxes if they are spent wisely. Where I begin to put my foot down is when taxes rise, but there is no visible effect. Here in California, this must start in Sacramento and in city hall. There will be no improvement while things stay the same there. Local residents need to make it a big issue that their water pipes are bursting, that their roads are crumbling, that their electric rates continue to rise, that their commutes are taking longer, that their city plan spend more time trying to ensure that everyone’s front yards look alike than actually making the city a better place to live.

We live in a great country, but we’ve gotten so used to enjoying the benefits of it that we never face the fact that there are some costs that need to be borne also. A longer-term perspective helps us think about what we can do to make things better and to maintain what we already have. I hope you will join me in contacting your state and local officials to ask that they invest in the future of your community.

Permalink Comments