Taxpayer subsized Oil Security Costs

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John Robb makes an excellent point:

The US is negotiating to launch a coastal security program for Nigeria. Wants access to bases for training and rapid deployment in case of a crisis. More “free” protection for oil companies. We need to find a way to allocate these costs so that they are incorporated into the price of oil. Currently, we spend $4-5 in naval protection for every barrel that is shipped from the Persian Gulf. Nobody pays for it but the American tax payer.

We’re also subsidizing the Europeans and all other net oil importers.

Interesting Battle – Oconomowoc Hospitals

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Aurora Healthcare, the state’s largest private employer with 25,000 employees is attempting to build a new hospital in the Town of Summit. The Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital is minutes away from Aurora’s proposed site. Over 1,000 people attended a public hearing on the required land use changes before the Town’s Plan Commission. The proposed hospital would be built on 53 acres at the southwest corner of Interstate 94 and Hwy 67 in Waukesha County.
I remember someone saying (I wish I could recall the name) that when Madison approves new developments it’s “planned growth” while when nearby towns approve them it’s “urban sprawl”.
Meanwhile, Detroit automakers are fighting the proposed construction of two new hospitals in suburban Detroit, according to an article by Lee Hawkins, Jr.:

(more…)

Portland Aiport Gets Free WiFi

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Nigel Ballard of Personal Telco reports that Portland International Airport will have free Wi-Fi: Ballard told an audience at a meeting of the community wireless group this evening that the Port of Portland will turn on 25 access points by Oct. 1 to offer free service at gates and check-in areas. They’re committed to covering the cost of operation for the first year, and then re-evaluating whether fees would be added. Ballard is part of the Portland Telecommunications Steering Committee, and an active community networker and commercial infrastructure builder….
The Dane County Regional Airport, unfortunately, plans to (finally!) add WiFi. However, it will be rather unfriendly – users will have to pay via credit card to use the service (Editors note: I wonder if the cost to administer the paid service will be covered by the small amount of revenue that DCRA WiFi will generate. The airport is just not that big and frankly, flight delays are likely the only time most people will sign up). Send a note to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk if you’d like to see another approach. Albuquerque’s Sunport also takes an enlightened position: WiFi is free to all. The DCRA position makes no sense.

Tin Can Tourists or life on the road

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Dick Gordon:

Jack Kerouac wrote: “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”
His words are the creed of the RV set also known as Tin Can Tourists, Gypsies and Escapees. These ramblers whittle their lives down to the bare necessities, have a yard sale, sell the house, grab the kids, stuff themselves into a thirty foot home on wheels and hit the road.
Some move on every three days, some stay a month or more and work, some home-school the kids parked beside the Grand Canyon. Once they’ve tasted life like this, they don’t want it any other way

More on Media – ad rates & circulation

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Tribune owned Newsday is evidently offering reduced ad rates and a guaranteed circulation minimum (“rate base”). Any business/organization that is not evaluating/changing ad spending is operating at a competitive disadvantage.
Kevin Delaney writes that new media is increasingly challenging “old media” for effective ad dollars:

When executives at DaimlerChrysler AG’s Jeep division wanted to promote an extra-rugged version of their Wrangler brand last year, they commissioned a videogame that allowed players to drive a Wrangler Rubicon up steep inclines and across rivers. The game — “Jeep 4×4: Trail Of Life” — was relatively inexpensive to produce and the company gave it away online.
Within six months, 250,000 consumers had downloaded it and handed over their names and e-mail addresses to Jeep. Nearly 40% of them said they were considering buying one of its vehicles.

Another bit of evidence that things are indeed changing. I’ve subscribed to the New York Times fishwrap version since my days at the UW in the early 1980’s. This week, I cancelled my print subscription (I no longer subscribe to any print newspapers). I’ve found that the internet is far more useful and interesting from an international, national and increasingly local perspective.

Politics & Campaign Finance Reforms

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Micah Sifry and Nancy Watzman in the L.A. Times (op-ed page): After All, it’s a Multiparty System. A sample:

In a pay-to-play political system, Americans’ votes don’t matter nearly as much as cold, hard cash. That’s why we need comprehensive campaign finance reform, including full public financing, to actually change the rules of the game. Under such “clean elections” systems, which are already the law in Arizona and Maine, candidates who collect a large number of small contributions and agree to abide by spending limits receive a public grant to run their campaigns. In that way, public officials are freed from their direct dependence on private donors.
If somebody is going to own the politicians, it might as well be us.

via doc searls The need for reform is clear, after reading articles like this.

Strategic Biking: Tour de France

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Stephanie Tuel writes:

The 18th stage was an excellent example of game theory at work. Lance Armstrong and the peloton were a few minutes back of a breakaway group of 6 riders (none of whom were a threat to the top of the overall standings since all were over 1 hour behind). Reading the various news reports and between the lines it appears that Armstrong’s team, US Postal, was doing all the work at the front of the peloton and the team of the closest competitors, T-Mobile, were loafing. (The crucial strategic variable in bicycling appears to be the effect of wind resistance, especially on the flat and on downhills–whoever is at the front has to work harder, and whoever is following can choose to conserve energy or share the effort.)

Shrimp Bandages

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It was a couple of years ago, at least, that we first heard about bandages being developed out of chitosan and now it seems they’ve been put into service in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chitosan, derived from shrimp shells, carries a positive charge and bonds with a wound’s red blood cells (which are negatively charged) to form a clot in as short as 30 seconds. Made exclusively by HemCon, the bandages use shrimp shells from Iceland, are processed and freeze-dried in New Hampshire, assembled and packaged in Oregon, and sterilized in California. No word on when shrimp bandages will be available to consumers.

Via Gizmodo.