Strike in New York

Today is the second day public transit workers in New York City strike, illegally. Taking a lesson from the French they have decided to strike - you got it- during the busiest time in the city. Amazingly, the union leader that is firing the "misled" masses isn't even US born and in this age this quite old fashioned individual has extreme left tendencies. Ah, the beauty of living in a democracy.

-Does this so called "leader" realize that his actions are causing more grievances than he is worth and that, like most stubborn managers, his union is being penalized $1 million per day not to mention that labor will be fined 2 days wages for everyday they are not back on the job ?

Maybe he doesn't care. As Andy Warhol said, everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame. In today's fast paced world it could very well be 15 seconds.

Latin American Elections

COUNTRY & DATE
Honduras - Nov 2005
Chile - Dec 2005
Bolivia - Dec 2005
Haiti - Jan 2006
Costa Rica - Feb 2006
Peru - Apr 2006
Colombia - May 2006
Mexico - Jul 2006
Brazil - Oct 2006
Ecuador - Oct 2006
Nicaragua - Nov 2006
Venezuela -Nov/Dec 2006

News from around the world

Argentina - David Nalbandian wins the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, defeating top ranked Swiss Roger Federer in a 4 hour and 33 minute match. Two other Argentine tennis players, Guillermo Coria and Gastón Gaudio also fared quite well and are now ranked among the top ten tennis players in the world. Tennis fans will also remember Argentine Guillermo Vilas, who won 62 career singles from 1973 to 1986.

China - Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his Chilean counterpart Ricardo Lagos on November 18 to attend the signing ceremony of a free trade agreement between the two countries. Chile will enjoy immediate duty free access to China for its exports of copper, some agricultural products and some wood products. Among the Chinese exports expected to benefit from the FTA are machinery, computers, cars, cell phones, DVD's and printers.

USA - The world's largest carmaker, General Motors, has announced that it will cut 30,000 jobs in an effort to save $2.5 billion a year. Are they right focusing on efforts to "save" or should GM be focusing on ways to improve their business and market share ?

Mexico - Incumbent President Vicente Fox continues to spar with Venezuela President Hugo Chavez over free trade efforts in the Americas. While Chile, Colombia, Peru and Panama support free trade with the USA, Chavez opposes it and is doing his best to defeat all efforts in lieu of his own trade agreement. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay are opposed to free trade with the USA but are not convinced that Chavez' plans are the best. Should free trade exist ?

Media and the News

Are television news networks reporting news or are they turning events into "sensationalism" in order to generate more viewers ?

Paris Day 15

CNN reports that Australia, Austria, Britain, Germany and Hungary have advised their citizens to exercise care in France, joining the United States and Russia in warning tourists to stay away from violence-hit areas in Paris, France and other cities in that country.

"It seems that young rioters are using blog messages to incite violence and cell phones to organize attacks in guerrilla-like tactics they have copied from anti-globalization protesters, security experts say."

In its 15th day of rioting, fires, looting and burning cars......in their own neighborhhoods. How sad that this happens in one of the most beautiful cities ever.

FEMA - Interesting

This is very interesting, [former FEMA Director] Brown, apparently fired for incompetence and slow response to Katrina, is staying on FEMA's payroll for one more month (AP) at his $148,000 annual salary. Supposedly to advise the agency on his experience with Katrina.

Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Mississippi., whose coastal district was among the hardest hit by Katrina, said the contract extension is an insult to taxpayers, particularly those Gulf Coast residents "whose lives were in danger in the aftermath of that storm because of Mike Brown's incompetence."

"I've got tens of thousands of people living in two-man igloo tents tonight, and less than a quarter of the people who have asked for FEMA travel trailers have gotten them," Taylor said. "And at the same time they can find $140,000 a year to pay this incompetent son of a gun; that's ridiculous."

Wilma

Wilma cut a path through Florida and while it didn't leave as much destruction as Katrina did in Louisiana, the damage was extensive. Flood waters and strong winds borught South Florida to a halt.

Florida Power & Light reported that 3.2 million of its business and residential customers were without power and likely to remain without power for 2 or 3 weeks ! They also brought in crews form other states to help repair the damages. In total there are over 6 million [in Southern Florida] without power.

The situation in Miami-Dade and Broward counties is still bearable. There are very long lines to get gasoline, water and ice, and some phones don't work. Several supermarkets are open and continue to sell non-perishable foods.

About oil speculators

Is the price of oil going back up ? It was $59.90 last night in London, actually down from previous highs earlier in the week and in September. The question however remains if there's a reason for prices to continue to hold, will they go higher and if they do is this attributable to actual shortages i.e. supply and demand or speculation by a small group (oil companies too) of greedy traders watching the weather channel? Open for discussion.

I had two good wines this past week (reds of course).

The first a Biltmore Estate Cardinal's Crest Red Table Wine from North Carolina (USA). Earthy with a wood flavor at end.

The second, a gift from a very good friend, a Grand Vin 2002 Chateau Lavergne-Dulong (France) Bordeaux Superieur bottle No. 061338. Superb, rich and well balanced.

World News

Colombia - the Constitutional Court has approved the reelection process clearing the way for incumbent President Alvaro Uribe to seek a second term in 2006.

Mexico - Hurricane Wilma clobbering vacation resorts Cozumel and Cancun, one good thing, most homes and buildings are concrete, brick and mortar hence less damage than wood sstructures.

USA - Florida preparing for Hurricane Wilma. Most homes built of wood. Huff and puff more floods and damaged homes.


Brazil - state owned oil company Petrobras will invest 732 million US dollars in 96 potential new oil fields, 55% of the fields could probably be good producers of natural gas, a priority product for Petrobras.

Wilma

Newly formed Hurricane Wilma, a Category 5 storm, threatens Mexico, Cuba and Florida. The path is unpredicatable and the damage will be enormous, not only from the winds and water but from huge wave surges.

Animal News

Chile - the huemule (Hippocamelus bisulcus) is a rare deer that lives only in Argentina and Chile. It is believed that there are less than 2,000 left in both countries and efforts are underway to reintroduce these rare animals to protected park lands.

One Tall Bridge

The 21st century bridge !
This amazing construction in Southern France's route A75.


Viaduc de Millau

The World on Saturday

Pakistan - hundreds die in India and Pakistan following a 7.6 (Richter scale) earthquake, this follows last week's jolt in Peru and an underwater quake off the Pacific coast of Central America. The aftershocks still going on. At least 18,000 are expected to have died.

USA

• Delphi the largest auto parts maker in the USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for itself and 38 U.S. units. Wow what is wrong with US car makers ?
• the Yankees lost ! Shocker, they lost at home to LA Angels and are down 2-1. Today's game has been postponed on account of rain.

Russia - A satellite, launched by the European Space Agency on a converted ballistic missile blew up in flight. The satellite was going to be used to collect data on polar ice.

Guatemala - damages caused by rising flood waters following Hurricane Stan include mayor landslides and loss of life. Authorities expect over 1,000 may have perished.

Brazil - water levels in the Amazon region have fallen to a 30-year low, creating difficulties for river transport - in many cases the only way of moving people and goods. Experts are blaming climate cycles, not global warming, for the drought, which has also led to enormous fires.

Hurricane Stan

Hurricane Stan kills 125 in Central America. Mudslides, flooding and 4 days of torrential rains pounded local mountain villages and urban shanty towns across poor areas in Mexico, Nicaragua and Honduras. The death toll nearly doubled yesterday when rivers burst their banks in southern Mexico and emergency teams found another 42 people buried under several feet of mud in remote Guatemalan towns. Fifty people have now been killed in both El Salvador and Guatemala, including the latest deaths, and another 25 total in Mexico, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Annular Solar Eclipse of 2005 October 03

On the other side of the world and not seen since 1764 (there have been other similar eclipses in other parts of the world) residents in Madrid, Spain got to see something very special, an annular solar eclipse. This must have been awesome !

An annular eclipse happens when the Moon appears too small to completely cover the Sun and as a result, the Moon is surrounded by a bright ring or annulus formed by the uneclipsed outer perimeter of the Sun's disk.

Fly me to the Moon......

Concerning Mr. Bennett's "F"

What's worse, Bennett's "F" or his follow up ?

On September 30th, former Secretary of Education and radio talk show host (I-wonder-for-how long ?) Bill Bennett said on live radio that if "you wanted to reduce crime ... if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett conceded that aborting all African-American babies "would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do," then added again, "but the crime rate would go down."...

Later in the day when he [Bennett] was asked if he owed people an apology, he replied, "I don't think I do. I think people who misrepresented my view owe me an apology." his arrogance has spoken,...all yield.

Bennett's "Morning in America" airs (or is that aired?) on approximately 115 radio stations with an estimated weekly audience of 1.25 million listeners.

Of Wines and .........

I read recently that, generally speaking, food and the wine to go with it should come from the same region, compatibility and all that, which is like saying that red wines are only to be enjoyed with certain foods and white wines with others. I suspect the writer has an interest in promoting his native region's products.

All very well, however the truth is that wines are made to be enjoyed whenever, with whatever foods or alone. The choice of red, white or rose (not my favorite, not even on a hot summer day) is very personal and varies from person to person. There are days when a Malbec tastes a lot better than a Shiraz and several Beaujolais are most wonderful on the palate. It all depends on the time of day, the company, the ambience, and if you must insist, on the food.

There is an old saying that goes "water was created by God, and alcohol was made by man." Where alcohol originated no one is quite sure, legend and mythology tell us that in Egypt, Isis' husband Osiris taught the god of grain how to make beer. In Greek and German mythology the blame falls on Bachus or Dionysus, also known as the god of sex and intoxication (the god of mystery for the more prudish). In the Old Testament, Noah was the first to make alcohol and in ancient China, princess Weechok takes the credit for making the first alcohol, while in Korea historical records mention a king that used alcohol to seduce a woman and get her pregnant. Wine itself seems to have its origins sometime in the Neolithic period around 8500-4000 B.C., -I wonder what a chateau of that vintage would have tasted like.

Juan Valdez # 1 Favorite Icon

Juan Valdez, the Candidate with Great Taste, Elected to Advertising Walk of Fame

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 PRNewswire-In a hotly contested race that pitted a mustached man and his mule against a trio of animated elves, a battery- operated bunny and a handful of dancing raisins, to name a few, America's coffee lovers voted with their taste buds, choosing substance over style and authenticity over snap, crackle and pop, to elect Juan Valdez, the front man for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, as their Favorite Advertising Icon in the 2005 Advertising Week poll. Juan Valdez received the most votes of the 26 icons up for election, making the win the icing on a sweet week for the Federation as it also celebrates the first anniversary of the first Juan Valdez Café in the United States (at 140 East 57th Street in New York City) and unveils a giant billboard of Juan and his trusty mule Conchita in Times Square.

NEW YORK CNN-Money- Coffee farmer Juan Valdez and a spirited gecko representing Geico Insurance were crowned America's favorite advertising icons Tuesday in a contest as part of Advertising Week 2005.

Hurricane Political

A congressional committee yesterday blasted former FEMA director Michael Brown for essentially messing up with hurricane Katrina. Everyone deserves the benefit of doubt and had he acted on time perhaps he would be a hero and cashing in on multiple accolades. (CNN: Brown testified he had been "tired and misspoke" when he told television interviewers September 1 that he learned of the convention center situation only that day, saying that he actually had learned of it one day earlier.)

The damage caused by hurricane Katrina and later by Rita could not have been avoided, hurricane winds and water are not something that can be controlled. Katrina tore up a beautiful city and a wonderful lifestyle. Regardless of who gets fired, canned or praised in the end it will be the people of New Orleans who will rebuild.

The world on Monday

Peru - a 7.0 (Richter Scale) earthquake jolted the Peruvian Amazon Sunday at 8:58 pm. 10 casualties reported allegedly after a rustic jungle bar collapsed on them.

Chile - 30 years ago today foreign investment totaled US$222 million, by 1990 this had grown to US$1.3 billion.

USA - President Bush urged US motorists to conserve fuel in the wake of Hurricane Rita and hinted that he was considering appointing someone to oversee recontruction of the hurricane-hit area.

China - About 600,000 people die of lung cancer in China on an annual basis, representing the largest number of malignant tumor victims in the country. Sun Yan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering,said lung cancer deaths ranked top among all the deaths caused by malignant tumors in 40 cities like Beijing and Shanghai and that the number of victims is growing.

UK - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday he had not set an "arbitrary date" for pulling British soldiers out of Iraq. Any exit strategy "depends on the job being done," Blair told the BBC.

Oil post Rita

So, 11 refineries were shut down because of hurricane Rita, how soon will they be up and running and should oil companies keep the billions they will make from higher retail prices resulting from gasoline shortages (real or otherwise) ?

Rita CAT 5

From NOAA
Tropical Storm RITA Public Advisory
Home Public Adv Fcst/Adv Discussion Strike Probs Wind Probs Maps/Charts Archive US Watch/Warning

Dollar weakens against the Euro

Tougher times ahead, at US$1.22 per Euro and $1.80 per Bristish pound, not only will travel be affected but also the cost of durable goods and imports from Europe. There is some talk that Federal Reserve rates -increased yesterday to 3.75% will once again have to be adjusted, upwards of course, and very quickly to sustain an adequate balance. Add hurricanes, $67 crude oil and uncertainity........

Are we seeing a slowdown?

Rodin's Gates of Hell or Dante's Divine Comedy

Drawing for the Gates, 1880.
An amazing masterpiece 20 years in the making.


Musée Rodin de Paris

Hagar

Are insurance companies gouging ?

Doctors' fees keep getting higher, is it inflation, greed or does the fault lie with corporate profit taking by insurance companies ?

A US Government report indicated that “Premiums in 2003 increased by 9.2 percent for single coverage, 10 percent for employee-plus one coverage, and 9.2 percent for family coverage over the prior year, continuing a trend of increasing premiums observed each year since the start of the survey in 1996.” Ouch !

The bird has flown

FEMA has a new boss, 2 in fact. A seasoned fire fighter from Miami and a vice admiral from the Coast Guard, can they clean New Orleans?

FEMA, resumes and friends

FEMA's top dog was canned Thursday night, oh sure he is still Director of something or another but he will no longer have any responsibility for Katrina recovery efforts, and about time as he failed to manage (the "M" in FEMA does stand for Management). Ironically he was not canned for being a pompus failure but for padding his resume.

Either way someone finally did the right thing.

Katrina's Children Day 11

Through it all, I see the photos of the children and have asked myself how to help make things easier for them and I think that a Katrina Toy Drive would be nice.

How hard can it be ? Simple: Collect new or in-good-condition toys, unwrapped, sort by age group, ship and distribute.

Ah, but the problems have just begun, I have contacted several organizations for ideas or suggestions and wouldn't you guess it, unless its cash (of course they keep a portion) they are not interested - this was so disappointing ! Even one very commendable nationwide organization has indicated they can't help as it could take away from a "later-in-the-year" event.

Regarding tennis

The US Open is in full swing and so I thought a note (from internet sources) about how it came to be might be useful.

Court tennis an ancestor of most of today's racket games, originated in 14th century France. The word 'tennis" comes from the French "tenez" which means "Get ready, I'm going to serve" and the first serve is said to have been delivered by a servant. "Rackett" comes from the Arabic word "rahat" which means "the palm of the hand." The early name for the game played in France was "Jeu de paum."

A Bristish Major tired to patent the game in England and was told that while he might have taken it to Great Britain, tennis was already played all around the world. (Sounds familiar ?). To make things more interesting, tennis did not come to USA until March 20, 1874 and it was Mary Outerbridge who brought it back to New York, from Bermuda. Tennis was considered 'unladylike" so Mary played with her brothers, their men friends thought it was a "girlie" game until they saw how much skill was needed. (So why are men paid more than women?)

Although tennis historians aren't sure exactly how the term "love" came to mean zero in tennis, the most plausible assumption seems to be that it's based on the French word "l'oeuf." Pronounced correctly "l'oeuf" sounds similar to "love." And the egg or l'oeuf, unquestionably looks like a zero, and could have been used to describe a zero written on a scoreboard. Some romantics say it comes from the idea of playing for love, rather than money--the implication being that one who scores zero consistently can only be motivated by a true love for the game; (pero si l'oeuf es huevo en frances, el amor vale .........?). I like the first explanation better.

And regarding tennis scoring, very complicated and requiring advanced math education, some tennis historian claims that tennis scoring has its origin in medieval numerology. The number 60 was considered to be a "good" or "complete" number back then, in about the same way you'd consider 100 to be a nice round figure today. The medieval version of tennis, therefore, was based on 60--the four points when 15, 30, 45 (which was abbreviated to 40 or someone didnot know advanced math) and 60, or "game".

and the price of gasoline is....

From the New York Times 9/04/05:
"The effect of the damage to oil rigs and refineries in the gulf is the greatest uncertainty. But contrary to early fears, the nation's transportation network has not become overwhelmed so far, and despite spot shortages drivers have generally been able to buy gasoline. The price of crude oil fell 2 percent on Friday - to $67.57, up only $1 from a week ago - as a large importing terminal off the coast of Louisiana reopened and the International Energy Agency announced that it would release emergency oil supplies."

Why then has the price of gasoline at the pump risen over 20% this week? Today I saw BP posted for regular 87 unleaded at $3.32 per gallon, Gulf $3.49, Citgo $2.99, Getty $2.97, Exxon $3.99!

Interestingly prices appear to have gone up before inventories were replaced, so what gives? Will we see third quarter corporate profits rise ?

Mayor Ray Nagin

Way to go boss !

New Orleans: When did we become "mañana" ?

New Orleans is suffering and no one is helping. For sure help will be on its way "mañana" and one day we will again see that beautiful city revive but for now........

It is so sad that we cannot supply water and and basic foods to children and elderly who after 5 days are now starving.

Oil, Hurricanes and Gasoline

Will Katrina result in higher prices at the pump? Should prices go up because of the hurricane?

Newsweek & the Runaway Bride

Lets see, if the state of Georgia is considering pressing charges and billing the "Runaway Bride" to recover expenses by local law enforcement in her search, shouldn't Newsweek reimburse the State Department for expenses incurred in trying to fix the mess they (Newsweek) just created ?