American Power Failure!

Can I just say, "Oh my God!" When I heard Rush Limbaugh playing the blame game and turning the eastern seaboard power outage of last week into a partisan issue, it made me sick to my stomach.

I think the power companies have going one of the best games in town. They do a much needed service, providing for us the so-called comforts of home. But he who provides for our needs can certainly take away what we need, and that's just too much power for one industry to have. And don't tell me that's a partisan problem.

I think more than power companies lost a lot of steam last week. I just hope the failure did some good, that is awakened us to several of the issues that face us.

Is anyone else tired of listening to politicians bicker? Republicans want to impose religious belief on me. Democrats want to socialize the world. I hate them both equally! Fact is, democrats and republicans alike want more than anything to be elected into power without regard for the good of the people. Corporate America wants to get more and more of consumers' paychecks and will buy politicians to get it. Borders will not be protected because democrats want immigrant votes and republicans need the low wages. Health care will never be affordable if insurance lobbies continue to exist.

We all know "drunk driving" is a real problem in America. Everyone, it seems, looks to the 'drunk' part of the equation and fails to understand the huge impact mere 'driving' has on public health & safety and energy issues. While we know driving is a privilege, our society treats the function like a Constitutional right, akin to liberty and freedom. That's a load of crap. Infrastructure is one of the few elements of our society that should be standardized by the federal government, and it should be done through technology, driven by safety and efficiency.

People are human, and humans are not well suited to manage very complicated traffic considerations, such as road conditions, flow and weather. Our brains are not equipped to take in all the information needed to be safe and efficient with multi-ton equipment on busy roads. It's a scientific fact.

And bigger is not better. Jets, trains and busses keep getting bigger; bull’s eye more prominently affixed thereto. They have, are and will always be targets for terrorist attacks. Small vehicles, evenly spread, are not.

The whole transportation infrastructure needs a major overhaul, and quickly. Isn't it time to start turning the corner here? Isn't it time for America to demonstrate leadership in the world and introduce a state-of-the-art transportation model that can work everywhere?

Education is a hot button issue too. Why? Because tax payers don't get their money's worth. All it takes is a few good leaders to do the right thing here. Stop taking bribes and start paying attention to the needs of the kids. Schools should be guarded and monitored by more parents and fewer police and administrators. Bigger is not better. More schools in more and smaller multi-use structures. Air conditioning is not a must. Bussing is not a given. Extra-curricular activities should not be subsidized by taxes. Teaching kids comes first, and should be conducted by those best suited and not chosen through arbitrary, political standards.

Don't get me started on free trade and the border issues. When American companies recruit illegal aliens onto American soil though such porous, we're going to have problems with living wages and national security.

Is insurance really a good thing?

Nearly everyone has insurance of some type, and most have several: car insurance, life insurance and medical insurance. But is the basic concept of insurance, paying insurance premiums and subsequently filing claims, really the best way to pay for unplanned expenses?

Let's look at the benefits and the effects:

Insurance is good because it allows us to better buget our money, and provides a safety net in case a crisis arrises. But let's look beyond the known benefits and get to the actual societal effect.

Most people agree that prices consumers pay for goods and services should be set by free market forces, such as supply and demand, cost of living and simple competition. But when you put the insurance company between you and the doctor, as in health insurance, then basic market forces are all but lost because the insurance company -- and not you -- writes the checks to pay the bills, which frees the health care industry to increase prices to levels far above what consumers can normally afford.

For this reason, I am beginning to wonder if todays insurance models don't add up to social corruption.

Before the insurance model existed...

It used to be simple. Industries mostly didn't gouge their customers because they'd have priced themselves right out of business. People generally paid cash as they went. The breaking point on prices was relatively far lower because the deep pockets people went after when they were injured by medical malpractice or in a car crash were simply not present.

The insurance model is socially corrupt because facilitates gouging.

Employer-provided health insurance...

My electronics instructor had a saying which applied closely in electronic circuits: You can't get something from nothing. You can increase the voltage, but at the expense of amperage. This applies in life as well. When an entire society demands that employers provide health care to employees, there is a feeling that we're getting something for nothing.

I guarantee someone is paying, and it's probably you.

Perhaps the company you work for is passing some of the health care cost on to consumers of its goods and services, but my sense is that the lion's share of the health cost comes in the form of limits on wages and other benefits. And that has a dramatic effect on standards of living.

The pie is only so big, right? The smart people will figure out how to get larger and larger pieces of that pie. The really smart people will get laws passed that will guarantee them a piece of the pie.

The Peer-pressure Model

Employer-provided health care causes a social phenomenon not seen before. Because we don't pay our own bills in a 'pay-as-you-go' system, fat people, smokers and people who have a lot of kids are scoffed by their co-workers. Why? Cost sharing. It's an easy relationship to draw; the more babies YOU make, the more MY health care costs.

I don't think it's fair, but I don't blame co-workers who choose an unhealthy lifestyle for themselves. (Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.) No, I attribute the problem to socially inept leadership; politicians and industry lobbies, for instance, who permit this kind of model to exist in the first place.

Yes, you might think you live in a country that has a free market system, but someone doesn't want you, the consumer, to have any impact on health care costs.

Another MS Exploit

This worm, LoveSan (or Blaster or MSBlaster), exploits a vulnerability in the Distributed Component Object service that is hosted by a Remote Procedure Call feature in Windows 2000 & XP. More...

According to the Reuters article, the worm contains a message: "Billy Gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!!"

On a Past Wise Guys...

While
Dan Adams is out of town, Mix 100 FM's Dee James joins us for
another fun and exciting Wise Guys show this week.

On the show, we'll have Phil Parks, author of "Beat
the Car Dealer, Beat the Car Game".  He'll tell us how to find out if a
used car had its oil changed regularly, or whether there's Bondo under the
paint.

Jeff Green with Click's Cyber Bar & Grill, the Des Moines metro's
newest Wi-Fi cyber-cafe, will be here at noon.

The Helpline, as usual, is at 1pm.

Got any show ideas?  Send 'em in:
Danny@RadioWiseGuys.com.  Got
a Mac question?  Ask Dan, the Mac Man:
Dan@RadioWiseGuys.com.

See ya Saturday!

Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement's Marijuana Eradication Project

On the next Wise Guys, we'll have Office of Drug Control Policy Director, Marv Van Haaften, DNE Director, Ken Carter and Ms. Janet Zwick with the Iowa Department of Health, who will educate us on the negative effects of pot on our society.  We'll
extol the virtues of our drug laws and the state's efforts to clean the scum off the streets.

I don't do drugs. Well, not the illegal kind anyway. I've been known to crack open a Bud Light while barbecuing on the deck, but there's no law against that and I don't abuse it. Come to think of it, if pot were legal, who's to say I wouldn't light up once in a while -- and not abuse it either.

Hence comes NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). This national lobby says there's nothing
fundamentally wrong with occasional and responsible marijuana use by adults and for medicinal purposes -- and they don't believe those particular kinds of uses should be against the law.

I'll ask some tough questions about whether pot is really a "gateway drug" and why statistics seem to focus on the worst of the worst in society, and never really appear to conclude that marijuana use is such a big killer and must be stopped. In fact, out of all the research materials I've read, I can only positively conclude that marijuana is illegal and that it, if abused, might harm you.

Nevertheless, our job is to serve the community and educate you about things that you should know. Pot is illegal and if you grow it, consume it, sell it or use it, state law enforcement official will come after you. Pot is also very dangerous. It stifles learning. If abused, pot can cause a number of health problems. And if you drive while under its influence, you are
dramatically less able to control your vehicle, meaning, you might kill someone. In reality, marijuana use is nothing to take lightly and public education about its use and abuse is needed. That's where begin our discussion Saturday, July 26 at 11 AM on Newsradio 1040 WHO!

Nine-eleven and Iraq: It's Left vs Right

Everywhere we look, there's hostility on the airwaves and in the newspapers and on the net. The left blast the Whitehouse for hastily assembling a case for war against the former Iraqi regime and the right squabash 'dems' for their apparent distrust. In my view, both sides are full of hot air.

I think citizens are, for the most part, very careful to measure the sensational words they hear and read, and are willing to drill down to the literal meaning of these contrasting statements. For instance, one story cited that a majority of Germans think the US staged the September 11 attacks. But when you get to the exact verbage, you learn that a few Germans believe it's "possible" that Americans "could have" been behind the assault on our soil. When you put it that way, you would have to either be naive or have full faith that no one in our country could possibly benefit from such action. The truth is that people everywhere do bad and nasty things. And everything that happens will benefit someone somewhere. So sure, it is conceivable, while improbable.

I do think that the Whitehouse carefully crafted its campaign to bring force to bear in Iraq. I think the left plays on public feelings that war is bad. Both sides exhibiting over-zealous and presumptious behavior. None of the talking heads speak for me, or against me. No one, to date, has hit the nail on the head in reflecting how I, as an American citizen, really feel about all this.

I think trusting the government -- any government -- is afundamentally bad policy for all people. I reserve my faith for God, and I generally only trust good friends. If you're a politician and you want my support and my vote, you'd better prove every day that you're up to the task of making the right choices on my behalf. I will not leave you unchecked and I will hold your feet to the fire if you deceive me.

I think it's a cheap shot to suggest anti-war protestors don't support our troops. I was a soldier. Yes, I was willing to fight and die for America. I still believe in the prinicples of our founding fathers and the rights of people to live free and not to have those liberties our men of war died to protect taken from them. So I support our troops. However, soldiers follow orders given to them, ultimately by the government -- that entity no one should trust. Realizing this truth means you sometimes oppose what soldiers do, but you do so without personally blaming them. Why is it so tough for our outspoken members of society to refelect this dynamic in their rhetoric? Perhaps they truly do not have faith in peoples' reasoning abilities.

Along with many of the values we have lost over the last generation, we have lost the ability and skill to debate. We now argue and accuse. We fight like playground bullies. And we do so in front of the children, which ultimately defines who they become. I hope the silent majority still believe they can make a difference, and will vote with their feet at every corner. I hope the thoughtful of our society keep speaking out and objecting to the sophomoric bickering.

We are one country and many peoples. But we get to define who we are by the words and actions we choose. I hope the hostility and in-fighting will subside very soon.

Proposed legislation to make file sharing a felony

In response to this crazy news story.

This is goofy gubment at work again (see H.R 2517).  This kind of action will have a dramatic chilling effect on technology innovation.

In my humble opinion, file sharing is a fascinating innovation and might otherwise become an important collaboration tool of our hi-tech world. 
I want to be able to share my discoveries and developments with my peers so all can benefit. 
Copyright laws need to fairly serve the public first, and the producers second. 
Studios, networks, artists and their support organizations need to be in step with progress through technology and innovation -- and not suppress it!

But this is
obviously NOT about the artists. It's much more about the money-hungry associations, licensing companies, networks and studios. 
The actual artists, whom 'they' claim to serve, get almost nothing for their
trouble, winding up with a very small chunk of what the consumers pay for the materials. I'd like to see
artists getting more of the pie, even if it means pushing out the big guys, like the RIAA.

And it's too bad that Napster didn't build in a nominal fee to get
those artists paid, as they should.  I want to help artists and encourage them through my payments. 
But alas, Napster didn't want to do that, so we all have to pay for it.  Legislators ought to take note that people like me want to pay, and in fact would spend more on P2P file sharing than would normally spend on CDs. 
But not $1 a song. More like $3/mo or $100/yr.  At a buck a song, I'd have gone broke! 
And what I want is older music, the stuff that doesn't make money any more. 
60s, 70s and 80s music.  And I'd gladly pay for it -- if there was a way to
do so!

Making criminals of good people here is taking the easy way out.  I suggest to RIAA and others, get creative, do your homework and embrace technology, not thwart it.

-- Danny

Call for all area Wireless Internet Service Providers

The Wise Guys want to know! Who in central Iowa provides wireless access to the Internet? If you are a provider, please email us and let us know. We'll publish your contact information here. Please give us consumer pricing including setup fees. We will also take WiFi Hotspot providers and locations for use on another list.

Users: How do you get your Internet? We also want to know how our listeners are getting connected to the Internet, whether you use a cable modem, DSL, ISDN, T1, dialup, wireless, or whether you only get online at work.

Our "Legal Eagle" weighs in...

Richard writes:

"My Dad had a stroke about two months ago and he has no short time memory. He is able to do what has to be done to live. But he owns cattle and they need to be sold. Is there anyway his wife can get anything on paper that will let here to do this or is she able to do that now. I worry about it because I have two greedy sisters, one of them takes care of cattle. I think they [might] take advantage of dad's problem and sell them for their own profit. Whatever you can tell me would be great."

WHO Radio's own George Davison is an attorney and he has this general advice for our
listeners in a similar situation:

• A conservatorship can be established to take care of the assets of the individual.
  
  


• The individual could grant a power of attorney to someone he trusts to act for him.
  
  


• A trust could be created by the individual to own and to manage his assets. The trustee would be a person named by the individual.
  
  


• This is a situation in which both husband and wife need to
  consult with an attorney to prepare the appropriate plan to deal with the situation in which the husband becomes incapacitated.
  
  


• It is very important that all of the facts of the situation be
  discussed with the attorney and that options and alternatives be weighed.
  
  


• This is a situation which can be ripe with complications,
  unintended consequences, and conflicts. This situation emphasizes the need for planning and addressing problems and situations that can arise.
  
  


• At this point, Richard needs to be very careful about his role
  and involvement. There is a potential allegation, if he arranges for the mother and father to see the lawyer, and especially if he accompanies the mother and father to the lawyer and participates in the conference, that he unduly influenced his father's actions.
  
  


• Again, facts are very important to the decisions which need to
  be made and the potential solutions. This is why an in-person conference with a lawyer of mother and father's selection is critical. The selection of the lawyer must be made by mother and father to meet their needs and their situation.
  
  


• The observations that I have made are based upon the
  information that I have and are an attempt to provide basic information.
  The solution to this family's issue must be addressed only after all of the facts have been ascertained and options, based upon those facts, analyzed.

George F. Davison, Jr.,
Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy

Live on the bridge

The WHO Radio Wise Guys returned to Taste of Des Moines with a live broadcast
from the Court Avenue Bridge from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM Saturday.  Recipe
Lady Diane Roupe and Chris Lockergnome's Chris Pirillo joined us fr some fun
chat about food and technology.

Recipe Lady Returns

Food expert and author of "The Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook, The New Standard of Ameican Cooking" will return to The Wise Guys live from the Court Avenue Bridge this Saturday at 11:00 AM. It's your chance to meet her in person -- or if you can't make it to Taste of Des Moines, to listen to her on the radio.

Diane Roupe (ROOP) is a tradition in the Ag Building during the Iowa State Fair, and continues to be an official judge there. We'll talk about her upcoming cookbook, which will feature meals in an hour (the working title is secret for now); USDA standards for safe canning; and midwest cooking in general.

Diane reported record book sales at the fair last year, following her appearances on our show. For information about the Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook, contact Diane by mail: The Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook, 904 12th St., West Des Moines, IA 50265. Call (515) 267-1188.

Google search