Time To Go

I have a very large Oak in the back of my property. Every year for the last decade or so I have been entertained by a family of nesting Blue Jays. This year, I count four nests in the tree, not all Blue Jays I am sure. This weekend I spent part of Saturday at home cleaning a bit and the afternoon in the pool. My resident Blue Jays were all the twitter, moving this years hatchlings out of the nest and on their way. The adults were most insistent and soon the young, three of them, were enticed to a nearby power wire, then a slightly more distant tree and then apparently gone.

My own resident feathered companion, Jeepers, a 25 year old Blue and Gold Macaw watched the whole proceeding with tacit approval but without much comment. Also odd because she has something to say about almost everything. It seemed a bit early in the summer to be moving the family out on their own. As of late Saturday afternoon none had returned.

Our faithful oak has been a reliable home for nesting birds and squirrels for many years, but perhaps moving on a bit early this year is the prudent thing for wise mother bird to do. It set me to thinking that maybe the Blue Jays know something about the upcoming hurricane season that I had missed. I grabbed the laptop checked the hurricane forecast and pulled up my hurricane check list and started making some changes. Probably time, the last up date was in 2009. You might want to check yours.

The Blue Jays may just know something.

Parrot Heads, Palm Harbor and a Slice of Paradise

I have been a ParrotHead since the very first Jimmy Buffet song I heard. From live performances in Key West to the Trop, when it was called the Thunder Dome, I have been a die hard Buffet fan. I could not pass this weekends' Palm Harbor ParrotHead party. I dusted off the Harley grabbed a Buffet T-Shirt some flip flops and headed up US 19. A scant 30 minutes or so later Thresea and I were in "Down Town Palm Harbor" which has a very genuine Key West type feel. We passed on the Cheese Burgers in Paradise and instead dropped by Molly Goodheads for some great fish and stuffed mushrooms. Then on to the party. The crowd was big, older and the Buffet tribute band, The Caribbean Chillers, was great!

Jimmy Buffet has been the troubadour to at least three generations. Problem is the crowd is getting older and the newest "constant on" generation doesn't relate well to the laid back, disconnected lifestyle Buffets' songs and books espouse. The Caribbean Chillers lead singer had just turned 60 and from his comments he was still trying to adjust to the challenges of his newest decade. It was fascinating to watch the crowd switch from looking at their cell phones to singing along with their favorite Buffet tune.

It's still too early to determine who will be the alternative life style leader of the new I-Phone, I-Pad, Droid, Kindel always connected generation, but I doubt it will Buffet. A picture of a Parrot on a Droid, no matter how the high resolution, just can't equal that same Parrot sitting on your shoulder at a bar with your mind totally disconnected or laying for hours under a palm tree with a pitcher of margaritas staring pointlessly at the ocean. Sooner or later every generation, so far, has tired of the pressures they self inflict on them selves and look for a way out. This one is no different; they are just waiting for the right song from the right person. Let's hope they find it soon. Palm Harbor throws a great party.

The Battle Over Credit/Debit Card Swipe Fees

The path between your credit card transaction at your favorite store and the bank or credit card issuer is significantly more complex than most people think. VISA and MASTERCARD , for example, as business entities that you do business with directly do not really exist. Seriously, try to find a VISA or MASTERCARD Office. You always end up at an issuing bank. That's because VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX DISCOVER are really service providers. They supply the network that processes your transaction. There are a multiplicity of hands in your credit card transaction all taking a penny here, a few cents there all referred to as the "discount rate". When you make a one hundred dollar purchase at store and use your debit or credit card if the merchant has a 5% discount rate he only gets $95. The five bucks is divided among a number of service providers from the regional clearing house, card issuer and others. Think about the number of credit/debit card purchases daily and you begin to get a picture of the enormous amounts of money being funneled off to the credit card industry. They are like a leech on the money flow.

In December, the Federal Reserve issued a rule that would cap the fee at 12 cents per transaction. The new rule was added to the reform bill as an amendment by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Thus begun an intense battle between the banks, credit card issuers, service providers and the retail industry who would like to hold on to this money instead of giving it to the banks. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has proposed legislation that would delay its implementation by two years. Want to guess where his campaign contributions will be coming from?

The credit card issuers, banks and service provides have gotten fat on this unregulated flow of money and are now fighting to hang on to the only thing better than an oil well when it comes to making easy money. The retail industry wants to keep the discount fees to "lower consumer costs". Don't hold your breath on that one. A better bet is any savings they reap will go right to the bottom line as profit. Finally, the banks are threatening to raise fees and every other charge including card interest rate if they loose this revenue flow.

Most likely outcome if the bill passes: Banks will use it as an excuse to raise fees on small account holders, retailers will keep the money, prices will not go down and card issuing may become more restrictive.

See a win in there for the consumer? Me neither.

 

Debt Ceiling and Disaster

Dr. E. Eugene Webb

You are hearing a lot of noise about the US Debt ceiling. Most of the politicians and financial people are predicting disaster if Congress doesn't vote to raise the debt limit. Those crying the loudest are social reformers who think we can spend our way out of the current mess, and the financial/investment people who live off the interest paid on the US debt while contributing nothing in return. But recently some new voices are starting to be heard. They are pointing out that the US will not default on the debt but start moving funds around to make its debt payments. The real problem is all of those political sacred cows that won't be funded while we pay off our obligations. The liberal left, who never saw a dollar that they didn't want to spend two of, are concerned that their source of funding, borrowed money, for social boondoggles will dry up. Actually, not raising the debt limit might be good for the government. It would cause a refocusing of priorities and start to bring some reason to government spending. We've tried everything else. Its time to cut up the Federal Government credit card. Let's take a shot at fiscal responsibility. The global economy will not fail regardless of what all those mournful faces on the money talk shows say.

 

Doc.

Politicians, Public Servants, Religious Leaders and Easter

Dr. E. Eugene Webb

A little over 2,011 years ago a guy who many of us believe arrived on this earth via a miraculous birth began speaking out to the people. At the time he was just about 30 years old. At first dismissed by religious leaders as a flash in the pan, his popularity began to grow. For the next three years he would push the limits of civil and religious law. Soon, he was on the radar of not only the right wing religious leaders but also the politicians. His inner circle of twelve were not the most sophisticated of their time, but they had a charismatic feel about them.

As he moved about the countryside the number of his followers began to grow. The crowds were bigger and more fervent. The religious leaders were in a frenzy as he questioned their law and their motives. The political establishment, while reluctant to enter into what appeared to be a religious dispute, were becoming concerned. The people were uneasy and a revolt might threaten the political establishment. The religious leaders on the far right began to pressure the political elite for swift action. They wanted their old laws preserved and this perceived threat eliminated. The politicians handed the problem to a dutiful public servant who carefully reviewed the facts. Being politically correct, he found no reasons for pursuing the religious leader's desire of putting their problem to death. When the public servant offered to release him, the religious right flew into a rage chose instead a thief. The public servant, weary of the fray, released Jesus to the religious leaders who took it upon themselves to put him to death in a most insidious way. Then there were the circumstances of his resurrection. An empty tomb, reported sightings and resurgence of his movement and a promise to return.

For the next two millennia no single individual would have the effect on government, politics, religion and life itself as this one person. 2000 years later religious leaders still pressure for their way, politicians maneuver and public servants to often wash their hands of the problems. One can only image he must wonder if we have learned anything from Easter.

Who is Really Failing our Students? The Teachers or the System?

My family's experience with the Pinellas County school system, a number of years ago, left several indelible feelings with me, all negative. I had no idea the impact it had on my daughter.

It was several years after my daughter received her master's degree. She was expecting her second child, the first, a son was three, pushing four, and nearing preschool age. She called from her office in Atlanta and started the conversation with a sentence that no parent likes to hear, "I've got something I need to talk to you about". Taking a deep breath I mumbled the typical response "What's that"?

She proceeded to tell me she was giving up the career and going home to be a stay at home mom and raise her children. Pure relief on my part, but then there was this. She said "I have decided to home school my kids". "Why home school?". I Asked. I'll never forget the response. She said. "My experience in the public school system there in St. Petersburg was so bad and left such a deeply negative impression on me about school and public education, that I will never take that chance with my children."

We chatted a bit more about the socialization issue and isolation of home schoolers and the conversation ended. I remember I sat there stunned. I never had thought about how the consequences of the educational process, the business of education, might affect the student's long term view of public education. It occurred to me that this school system was failing many of its students on a number of levels. Looking at FCAT scores, dropout rates and graduation percentages it would appear not much has changed.

There are now four children in my daughter's household. Two in college, another soon to follow and the youngest well on her way. All totally home schooled. Realizing the problems with home schooling, she developed an outside the home program that now serves over 150 home schooled children providing that needed socialization and academic access to arts, music and science programs that are often difficult for home schoolers to provide. I am not particularly an advocate of home schooling. I think it can bring children as many problems as it solves. My daughter and I have had many discussions about the subject.

What happens to others who are turned off by school system? Could it be today's dropout rate is influenced as much by the parent's perception of the school system as it is the attitude of the student? The point is if the public school system in this County is so poorly run that it inspires this kind of reaction why hasn't it been fixed? How many students have dropped out or been turned off on education by what goes on as opposed to what is taught?

Those were the questions almost 30 years ago and they persist today. Why has the Pinellas County school system found it so difficult to get on track and stay there ?

Some final thoughts Sunday.