Via SayAnythingBlog and their continuing Bite Sized Wisdom series, a nugget of wisdom from Thomas Sowell:
The welfare state is the oldest con game in the world. First you take the people’s money quietly and then you give some of it back to them flamboyantly.
– Thomas Sowell, Jewish World Review, May 11th 1998
BC - 34
Clemson - 19
That is per the Sporting Gnomes who have concocted some mathematical model puported to predict outcomes. Further information:
BC Rush: 187 yds
BC Pass: 222 yds
BC Tot.: 409 ydsCU Rush: 55 yds
CU Pass: 261 yds
CU Tot.: 316 yds
I caught this one today from, as is often the case, Fark. The Fark headline read, “Banks saw their chance and snuck in a five cent per gallon gas price increase while everybody was busy blaming oil companies”. It caught my attention, and I investigated.
Gas-station advocate: ‘Banks are making a killing’
BOSTON — Service-station owner Paul O’Connell has gotten an earful from angry customers filling up at his gas pumps. [snip]
But O’Connell said big corporations, such as credit-card and oil companies, “not
small, individually owned gas stations” are making millions off high gas prices.
From my understanding, owning a gas station isn’t necessarily a greatly profitable venture. You get a pretty standard mark up per gallon. That’s why so many stations are intent on having mini-grocery stores. They can sell more items with higher mark-ups.
“The banks are making a killing,” said O’Connell, who is also executive director of the Billerica-based New England Service Station and Automotive Repair Association.
O’Connell spoke to legislators yesterday during a hearing about gasoline prices for the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.
He said credit-card companies have increased fees for gas stations that allow customers to use credit cards to pay for gasoline.
O’Connell said when gasoline cost $1.50, credit-card companies charged roughly 4[.]5 cents per gallon. But companies have pushed that fee up to 9 cents for every gallon sold.
What a maroon! Standard credit card usage rates are 3% of each dollar — not a set fee per gallon. Check the math. $1.50/gallon gas creates a 4.5 cent fee. $3.00/gallon gas creates a 9 cent fee. Congratulations, you, me, and everyone else who reads this (and can read in general) understands that.
“Now more people are using credit cards (to pay for gas) because they don’t carry around that kind of cash (to pay for high prices),” O’Connell said. “The banks are overcharging us, but gouging is a strong word.”
Paul breaks out the “G” word. Look Paul, you all accepted a product at a price (3 cents per dollar). You weren’t being overcharged before. Neither the product nor price has changed (although likely the product has improved). What’s the problem? If you don’t like the product, don’t use it.
Here’s a suggestion, develop a business plan that encourages people to pay with cash. For example, charge a few cents less per gallon for people who pay with cash. Who knows, inside the store they may even buy a 20 oz. Coke (which retails for $7.62/gallon and is much less useful than a gallon of gasoline), coffee, or something else which will increase your margins. Of course, this will likely increase your labor costs, and also increase pump turnover times… costs that made you start accepting credit cards to begin with.
Actually, do local news stations count as MSM? Sure they aren’t bloggers or anything, but are they really mainstream?
Because I’m a fucking idiot, I spent the better part of the last half-hour watching the Fox 5 News. Now I am left to assume that I’m an even bigger fucking idiot because I’ve managed to pay attention.
Is this Rovian conspiracy in the works? Is this channel trying to make the Average Joe seem so stupid that those with a few fuctioning brain cells should decide that removing them from the voting process (if not the gene pool) would be a wonderful idea? Or are they simply selling the idea that the nanny state is best?
The lead story is about Hurricane Rita. The thought of a new major hurricane and “at least 10,000 dead” seems to give these folks sexual gratification.
One story is about some crime near DC I guess. Yada yada yada and then the interview with Citizen B1 that went like this:
We don’t feel safe. The city needs to put in more lights and trim back the trees. Some of us have even trimmed our own trees, but things are getting better now
yada yada the ‘Skins beat the Cowboys last night. It is rather difficult to screw up a sports report about the underdog hometown team claiming a come-from-behind victory.
Local gas prices have gone up down in the last couple weeks. News Anchor A introduces the segment by saying that “gas prices are high enough.” The clear insinuation was that they ought to be lower, however the statement was literally true. The prices are set to maximize gains from trade on both sides. Move on to Citizen A who thinks prices are too high and blames “the war.” It is easily argued to be a contributing factor. Citizen B comments that he’ll patiently wait for prices to decrease, which he believes they will, as previous capacity returns and new capacity is created. Finally we have Citizen C. Citizen C puts $50 of premium into his SUV then blames the government for not bringing prices down.
The thud you just heard was the sound of my palm striking my forehead in disbelief.
Then we got to the “Fox 5 Investigates” portion of the show (a clear indication of investigational lacking for the rest of the show?). Apparently a new study links global warming to increased hurricane strength and activity. The government experts (not shown on camera) apparently tried to explain that linking a phenomenon to something that’s not even understood is a bad idea. The non-government expert pleaded for substantially increased money from the government for better computers.
So much for waiting to read crazy things on the internet. I shall only watch the local news for further motivation.
BTW, when did used car salesmen switch to broadcasting?
Roughly 2/3rds of what I read on Slate is from Christopher Hitchens. The remaining third is generally of slightly more value than the swill fed to pigs. Fortunately, that swill has some value. It leads to delicious bacon.
Moving along, the published a story that helps make up for the remainder.
Lamecocks
Steve Spurrier—just another coach who can’t revive South Carolina football.
By Andrew RiceIf you happened to tune in to a South Carolina football game this year, you might get the impression that the sport is less a competition between helmet-wearing giants than a traveling exhibition of facial contortions. [. . .]
Perhaps the Union army sowed our football fields with salt so that no decent team would ever grow again.
That should be amended, as we all know football was invented after the Civil War, and to suggest that a football team ever grew decently in Columbia is more than a stretch.
Since World War II, no South Carolina head coach has gone on to another head coaching job after leaving the school. Ever. Anywhere. [. . .]
In a recent online poll conducted by the local newspaper, fans voted [Joe Morrison] the team’s best-ever coach. (Spurrier, before coaching a single game, was running second.) [. . . ]
“It was sad to watch,” the coach conceded after [the Alabama game]. It certainly was torture, at least for those who stuck around. By the fourth quarter, the team was playing in front of thousands of empty seats. So much for belief.
Heh.
