Addressing Climate Change

 The Democrats want to address climate change by forcing people to move to green energy. Their strategy is to reduce fossil fuels which will drive up the cost of energy which will force people to move to green energy because it is better for the environment and hopefully cheaper. The problem with this approach is it puts the pain on the consumer. The Democrats answer is if gas is high buy an electric car. Not everyone has that option. If you have the money to buy electric you are not feeling the pain anyway. If you live in an apartment you might not have that option for charging at home. Therefore the Democrats are forcing a move to green energy without a viable option.

I would suggest the opposite. Subsidize green energy which will lower the cost for consumers to move in that direction. Using supply and demand, as consumers move to green energy the demand for fossil fuels will decrease.  As that demand decreases the cost of fossil fuels will lower giving consumers that can't make the immediate move more time and consumers that want to keep their classic cars can still keep them. Over time production will decrease but never go away entirely. It's a way of moving to green energy without inflicting pain on the consumer.

We talk about the move to electric cars. Why don't we hear more about hydrogen fuel cars the has water as it's output? My suggestion for green energy would be electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars, nuclear plants, more wind and hydro-electric power. 

We can get there without putting the pain on people that have no way to get there.

Sacramento Bee Tries to Collect from a Deceased Person

Today I received this email from the Sacramento Bee.

	Dear GLORIA JOHNSEN :  Your subscription is past due. Please call directly to update payment information if your account was previously setup with the Easypay Automatic Renewal. Regular renewal payments can be processed through the link below or by calling 1-888-415-1420. Don't miss a single day of The Sacramento Bee. Renew now to stay connected to Northern California's top news source. Click the button below to access your account and to make your payment now.https://sacbee.com/payment If you have any questions or wish to renew by phone, please call 1(888)415-1420 Option 2 to contact Customer Service; we’re here to help! Thank you for being a member of The Sacramento Bee.

I responded that my mom passed away in April and to please cancel the subscription. Mom lived in assisted care and the paper was delivered there. 

The reply from the Sacramento Bee was they needed payment anyway and they had renewed automatically after the last payment expired.

Email thread came from someone named Josh from the Sacramento Bee who has to be the most insensitive bastard on the planet. 

We had no problems with every other vendor she had.

I don't know why anyone would subscribe to a paper in today's world when you can get all the information real time on the internet. 

If they still want to collect they can find her at the Vacaville Cemetery. 

Comcast Has No Compassion For The Elderly

Six months ago, after my father passed away, we decided to move mom, who is 88 years old, to Sacramento to be closer to the rest of the family. We all grew up in Vacaville and mom was still living there. Vacaville is in a different area code than Sacramento. Since mom has had the same phone number for over 50 years we felt it would be easier on her if she kept the same area code and phone number. Because of that we decided to get her an internet phone so she could keep the same number. This required that she got internet to her room in the assisted living facility. She signed up and received a rate of $34 including the cable modem. This month the rate went up to $64 and I called Comcast to inquire as to why the rate almost doubled. I was told that the lower rate was introductory and after six months the rate went up. Mom is 88 years old and on a fixed income. Thirty additional dollars adds up and every dollar counts. I was told by the Customer Service Representative that her only other option would be to drop the bandwidth down to 6mb. I don't know if her phone will work on 6mb reliably enough.

Why does Comcast use this predatory method of sucking people in only to double their rate later? Some people can afford it but not someone on a fixed income.

If anyone has a solution other than paying the additional $30 please let me know. If you are also pissed off at Comcast please share this with other people.

Fighting Piracy on the Sea

Wouldn't it be more cost efficient to have about 12 marines on every cargo ship in the area where there are pirates instead of having navel ships patrolling the area? We are burning fuel and manpower that could be used elsewhere. When pirates come to board the ship we just blow them away. After a while they might get a clue that it's not a good thing.

Why Build High Speed Rail That Nobody Will Ride

California, why are you building high speed rail in the middle of nowhere? You are destined for failure.

If I were in charge I would have started with either a San Diego to Los Angeles run or a Sacramento to San Francisco run. That way you would be guaranteed ridership from commuters. Can you imagine if you could live in the Sacramento area, where the cost of living is less, and work in the bay area where wages are higher. Also imagine if you could get to work in under an hour. Once you build those two links and prove that it will be profitable then you can work on connecting San Fransisco and Los Angeles. You will then have a high speed rail system connecting north and south.

I just don't get your current dirction.

Pops

Open Letter to the City of West Sacramento

You guys are really missing the boat by not having the District of Pudong China as a Sister City. Like West Sacramento, Pudong is across the river from a larger city with an identity. Unlike Pudong, West Sacramento has not done much to improve it's identity.

What you see above is Shanghai and the Bund area below the river and Pudong above the river. Once Shanghai and the Bund were considered one of the top cities in the world with New York, London and Paris. Pudong was just an industrial area on the other side of the river. Now when you look at pictures of Shanghai you usually are looking at Pudong from the Shanghai side like below.

How did they do it? First you need and iconic structure. They did it with the Pearl Tower you see above. The tower is mainly a television transmission tower but it also has an observation deck and tours of the tower. Next they developed the waterfront and added architecture with a wow factor. You need to do this by stealing business from the Sacramento side. Sacramento is slow to act. Take this opportunity to improve your waterfront and grab business.

Why not talk to Pudong and learn from them. Now is the time.

Happy Erikson Day, or Happy Columbus Day, or Whatever

 

Leif Erikson

“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”. Most Americans know this saying as it is taught in grade school. Most Americans also know when Columbus Day is as it is a holiday. And most Americans understand that Columbus discovered America.

This Monday, Oct. 14^th, is Columbus Day. Last Wednesday, Oct. 9^th, was Leif Erikson Day. What, who is Leif Erikson? Well, Leif Erikson actually was the first European to set foot in North America almost 500 years before Columbus.

It doesn’t matter to Pops who gets credit as Pops is both Danish and Italian. Either way Pops can say his ancestors discovered America.

Pops has a few ideas –

1.     Let them share the honor. In the modern era of hyphenated names why not have an Erikson-Columbus Day.

2.     Since Erikson landed in Newfoundland let him have Canada and Columbus the USA.

3.     Pops has been to Limon, Costa Rica and saw a statue of Columbus lauding the fact that he landed in Central America on one of his voyages. Give Columbus Central America and Erikson North America.

4.     Or, better yet, give the honor to the explorer and immigrant that was brave enough to walk across the frozen sea between Russia and Alaska to first step foot on North America.

But then, what would we call it …

Pops may not always have all the answers but Pops wants you to ponder the question.