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Subject: Rita Posted by: biliruben - Leader [589301110] Wed, Sep 21, 2005, 16:22  | |||||||
| 82 | Boldwin ID: 49626249 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 10:02 | Um...because the stadium environment is a monopoly controlled by a trust with an exemption from congress from laws that would effect any other business situation. Further breaking it away from real world economics is the fact that popularity allows the trust to pass on all the price gouging demands of the world's greediest union. | ||||||
| 83 | The Treasonists ID: 57225913 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 10:22 | All I know is that I'm paying $6 for something that should cost $1. That's pretty much the defenition of price gouging. I don't really care who is paying rent to who. There is one simple solution to stop people who are trying to price gouge you though.....DON'T BUY IT. | ||||||
| 84 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 10:30 |
What the? The effect on prices in a stadium is very simple. It has nothing to do with some kind of lawlessness or Congressional exemption. It's the same reason that prices in New York (for example) are so much higher than elsewhere: Rent. When the vendor pays very high rental fees they have to charge more for their product. A vendor ourside the stadium may have to pay $2000/month for a small storefront and can sell Cokes for a buck. A vendor inside the stadium might have to pay $2000/game (or more). Guess how they make it up? | ||||||
| 85 | biliruben ID: 531202411 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 12:06 |
I got reverse-gouged! Went to by the cheap stuff at Shell, and they were all out. Instead they were charging cheap-stuff prices ($2.84/g) for the extra-special Valve-Hummer 94 octane, or whatever. Buy Shell. | ||||||
| 86 | sarge33rd ID: 670916 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 13:24 |
All I know is that I'm paying $6 for something that should cost $1. Therein lies the probem with your cited allegation/claim/example. You have NO idea what the product should cost, because you have no idea of the vendors cost of doing business. If my raw product cost is $.25 and mt per piece fixed costs break down to $.25, I can sell that product for $1 and all is well. When however, my raw product cost is $.25 and my fixed costs climb to $2.75, the adjusted price of $6 represents an identical profit margin. Same reason a $1 burger is $7.50 at the airport. Sq ft space at an airport for retail is obscene high. Thus, the cost of the goods sold there is likewaise obscene high. Further, the consumer voluntary places him/herself within that monopolostic environment. "Let the buyer beware". You know the price structure prior to entering the facility. In the hurricane scenario, you aren't entering a facility, you are fleeing death. To further illustrate the obscenity of your position, lets use the vehicular evacuation of Houston, the resulting traffic jams and assume that gas stations along the way had raised their proices to $10/gal so as to not "run out" of gas (as many did.) Now, you've created a climate where the avg folks in their 92 Luminas, cannot evacuate. Only the wealthy can. Explain how that is "good" for the market? | ||||||
| 87 | The Treasonists ID: 57225913 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 14:03 |
If the average folks in this country drive a 1992 Lumina, we're all in trouble. If one is fleeing death as you claim, I imagine they would pay for gas at any price. It seems to me a prudent person would save some money for a rainy day. Or in this case, a really, really, rainy day. The problem is that supply cannot keep up with the sudden increase in demand. Some of that demand used to be met by hoarders and profiteers who would buy it cheap and wait around for a disaster and then sell it at a big profit. The well-intentioned crack down on so-called price-gougers has eliminated this much-needed source of supply. I'm not really talking about gas here, but ice and batteries and bottled water. | ||||||
| 88 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 14:11 |
Cracking down on price gougers makes supply more equitably distributed. Rainy day savings be damned. When you've got no banks and someone wants $200 cash for you to fill up your car you're screwed. | ||||||
| 89 | The Treasonists ID: 57225913 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 15:18 | If those Houston people didn't have to pay an extra $5 for stuff at the Astro's games, they might have money left to pay for $10 per gallon gas. lq | ||||||
| 90 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Tue, Sep 27, 2005, 15:35 |
Heh. True dat. Of course, if Houston (and other cities) hadn't gotten conned into paying for their stadia and upkeep in the first place, their citizens might be able to save up that rainy day fund. | ||||||
| 91 | sarge33rd ID: 148422311 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 10:06 | 6 mill people live in HOuston are. I dont believe the stadium will seat them all. Thus, your argument is moot, your position is weak, your contention is flse. Your refusal to see this, shows your inflexibility and blindness to reality. I'm assuming then, you carry your lifetime membership with the RNC daily? | ||||||
| 92 | The Treasonists ID: 57225913 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 13:56 | Maybe, but at least I can spell. | ||||||
| 93 | sarge33rd ID: 148422311 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 13:59 | sew kan eye. ittts mie keebored haz da trubble. | ||||||
| 94 | The Treasonists ID: 57225913 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 14:02 | Perhaps you should replace that Ebonics keyboard with an English one. | ||||||
| 95 | Razor ID: 128461621 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 14:03 | Maybe, but you need to brush up on the rules for forming possessives. | ||||||
| 96 | sarge33rd ID: 148422311 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 14:05 |
sorry T, here I thought you maybe wanted to intelligently discuss a topic, not rail against typos by one who types while at work and between other tasks. Since you refuse to address the issue, I assume you have nothing further to say. | ||||||
| 97 | Sludge ID: 27751510 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 14:18 |
sarge - sorry T, here I thought you maybe wanted to intelligently discuss a topic Also sarge - I'm assuming then, you carry your lifetime membership with the RNC daily? (Unprovoked as far as I can tell, I might add.) From time-to-time, I see or hear a discussion of our persistent misunderstanding of exactly what qualifies as "ironic" or as "irony". I can understand this misunderstanding because there are many shades of grey as to what, exactly, is "ironic". (A fun example is the song "Isn't it Ironic" by Alanis Morissette, where she doesn't include a single ironic thing in the whole song. Of course, that in and of itself makes the whole thing ironic. Don'tcha think? So she's either a genius or clueless. But I digress.) I wonder if the above quotes, taken together and in their proper time-sequence and context, would qualify as irony? | ||||||
| 98 | sarge33rd ID: 148422311 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 14:39 |
more like frustration. Treasonists raised a question (the validity of which I doubted and I was called to task for that, by you no less.) I then responded with the precise "why" which he asked for. He hassince then, derided every explanation and continue to counter with the example ofa voluntary monopolistic market which has no comparative vlue or validity. When those facts are pointed out to him, he ignores them, and instead attacks my typing. (More accurately, my lack of proofing before hitting the "post" button.) It is that derisive evasiveness, which causes me to pretty much "dismiss" him as unworth my further time. | ||||||
| 99 | sarge33rd ID: 670916 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 15:06 |
to finish my last now, IOW, if there is irony, it is to be found in the fact that my original impression was correct, though only born out after trying to do things "your way". | ||||||
| 100 | chode ID: 316142013 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 15:30 |
Unintelligible as always. Cheers! | ||||||
| 101 | The Treasonists ID: 57225913 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 17:58 |
Sorry, Sarge, I had a vast right-wing conspiracy meeting. We have some good stuff coming up. I don't see the point in arguing anymore. You think $6 is a reasonable price for a coke at an Astro's game and I don't. You think that cracking down on so-called price-gougers has no effect on supply and I do. You think that Post 89 is serious and I don't. I even wrote lq. | ||||||
| 102 | Toral ID: 10858715 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 18:11 |
Course the $8 hot dog is only possible because the team/stadium only allows approved vendors in there and makes big money in the process. Won't search for the piece, but Bill James once argued, seriously I think, for a federal law that would require stadia to allow anybody in to sell food, allowing market forces to work. The argument was contained in a dialogue between an interviewer and an imaginary Senator, but I suspect James would seriously advocate it, altho you can't always tell; he's not usually an advocate of government intervention. Without looking it up, I don't remember what he said about stadia's rights to part of the take, which is a key part of the equation. Toral | ||||||
| 103 | sarge33rd ID: 148422311 Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 18:31 | Actually T, I dont think any price is reasonable at an Astros game. You see, thats baseball, and I havent bought a baseball ticket since the strike of '93. I avoid the stadiums, I avoid the $6 hot dogs and $7.50 cokes, I have no complaint. If however fleeing from a hurricane and my vehicle runs low on fuel, I have no choice. That is the essential difference. The one is optional, the other is forced upon you. | ||||||
| 104 | Sludge ID: 27751510 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 11:45 |
My sister posted the pictures I alluded to in the Katrina thread: Rita damage in Lake Charles and environs | ||||||
| 105 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 12:07 |
Great and stunning pics, Sludge. What happened to the dogs in the runs? | ||||||
| 106 | Sludge ID: 27751510 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 12:37 |
What happened to the dogs in the runs? Are you referring to the dog kennels in the back of my grandfather's yard? This one? | ||||||
| 107 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 12:52 | Yeah. Any pups? | ||||||
| 108 | Sludge ID: 27751510 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 13:06 | My grandfather used to raise bird dogs years and years ago, which is the reason for the permanent dog kennels. They now have two: a chocolate lab named June Bug and a mutt named... well... Mutt. There is little doubt that the dogs went with them when they evacuated to Arkansas. | ||||||
| 109 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 13:24 |
Good to hear. My wife is spending many hours a day doing work for PetFinder.com, trying to match people who have lost pets (or were forced to leave them behind) with organizations and individuals who have rescued them. It's heart-breaking work. | ||||||
| 110 | sarge33rd ID: 148422311 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 13:38 |
my pc here at work, is having a real hard time with trying to load/run the pics ina slideshow. will have to wit until this evening to look them all over. Some of the scenes (4-8 IIRC???) remind me of Iowa in the '93 floods. Of course, we didnt get the 100+ mph winds along with it, so no comparison in overall damage/destruction. They just looked eerily familiar. Its "awesome" (not in a good way obviously), the raw power that nature is able to unleash from time to time. (any physics major types care to compute and define in laymans terms, the amount of energy required to move a 20' wall of water, 50 miles at 40 mph???) | ||||||
| 111 | Tree Sustainer ID: 599393013 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 13:45 |
all the money i gave went to groups helping with the animals. our dog passed away in June, and we're still reeling from it. in the past month we thought about adopting a Katrina dog, but we've got a couple vacations scheduled between now and the end of the end of the year and didn't think it would be fair. we're probably going to wait until January... | ||||||
| 112 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 14:04 |
When you're ready, Tree, check out Petfinder. We have a couple of dogs from the NYC animal shelter, BTW. | ||||||
| 113 | biliruben Leader ID: 589301110 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 14:54 |
I friend of mine returned after a week's rescue work in New Orleans with a very cute and sweet, if malnourished, pit-boxer cross. That's could be one way to spend your vacation, Tree. Hand pick one while helping some others. | ||||||
| 114 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 15:07 |
bili, Lots of people got some nice animals down there, but I'm crossing my fingers that your sister checked to make sure that no one is still looking for the animal. Many people who went down there brought back animals that are being searched for by the families who lost them. I'm sure your sister wouldn't want to have taken a pet that might have a family trying to find it. | ||||||
| 115 | biliruben Leader ID: 589301110 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 15:17 |
Yeah, she's (it's not my sister) technically fostering. It was at Posado for two weeks before she brought it north. No tags. No chip. No name. Just poor little A31. Had a huge tumor on it's leg, bad skin condition, and it's ribs were evident through it's skin even 3 weeks after getting 2 squares a day. It had obviously not been taken care of. If it had owners that survived, there was no way to locate them. She left all her info in case someone did show up looking for a dog by that description, but I think that possibiity is remote at best. | ||||||
| 116 | Perm Dude Dude ID: 030792616 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 15:29 |
It's very hard to find the owners (still) since many of them are not back, and ones that are (who even had internet service) are not back online. We're getting people from other states (California, for instance) who have fostered dogs & cats and now want to adopt them out "because Katrina was two months ago." Grrrr. If you don't mind, would you ask (as a favor to a stranger) for her to enter what little information she knows about the dog into the Petfinder Found A Pet database? I probably wouldn't care much either way (given the very small chance of matching up any animals with their families) but the stories are heartbreaking, and there have been enough successes to know that the more the central databases are used, the better the chances of a match (and, I know from some, that it helps ease the mind of people who want to adopt the animal permanently, knowing that everything was done to try to locate the family). | ||||||
| 117 | biliruben Leader ID: 589301110 Mon, Oct 10, 2005, 15:33 |
She's been haunting Petfinder for a couple years looking for a dog, so I would guess she has already entered Ruby in the database (she was also very concerned about these issues), but I'll pass along your concerns just the same. If she did have owners, they were pretty uncaring owners by the physical evidence, however, and Ruby is now in a significantly more loving environment. | ||||||
| 118 | biliruben Leader ID: 589301110 Mon, Oct 17, 2005, 21:28 |
WIIIILLLLMMMMAAAA! Our floater in the top thread has shifted to Fred's little hottie. It's just getting rolling, so hard to predict how big it will get or where it's heading. She ties a record. | ||||||
| 119 | biliruben ID: 531202411 Tue, Oct 18, 2005, 10:06 | 70 mph and climbing. The models currently have her building in the gulf, then hooking east into Miami, though it's too early to get very accurate, I think. | ||||||
| 120 | Seward Norse ID: 587262710 Tue, Oct 18, 2005, 10:34 | Gas prices are already reported to be rising. Fuel up! | ||||||
| 121 | smallwhirled ID: 37929121 Tue, Oct 18, 2005, 22:45 |
Update: 11PM, 110MPH, 945 MB Wilma has been undergoing rapid intensification pretty much all day now. There are VERY cold cloud tops. Colder than Katrina and Rita. NHC still has it as a 4 at max intensity, but this thing has at least a 50-50 shot of getting to a 5 during the day tommorrow. Once it gets picked up by the westerlies, it will be sheared, some, but if it is moving as quickly as anticipated it there will be major wind damage cutting across the entire state around the path of the eye. We'll know more tommorrow, but Tampa to the Keys is what it looks like as a major hurricane, AGAIN! | ||||||
| 122 | R9 Leader ID: 02624472 Wed, Oct 19, 2005, 07:01 | Already a catagory 5, with the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded. | ||||||
| 123 | smallwhirled ID: 37929121 Wed, Oct 19, 2005, 07:46 | I wrote that last night, but didn't think I'd wake up to this. Just unbelievable how fast this thing strengthened. | ||||||
| 124 | smallwhirled ID: 37929121 Wed, Oct 19, 2005, 07:53 | We'll see what happens now. It was an 85 mb drop in 12 hours. That is pretty ridiculous right there. It did this with only a 2-4 nautical mile pinhole eye and the hurricane windfield is very small. I think the windfield will begin to spread now that it's reached such a low pressure. It's the dark colors on the IR that is what is so unbelievable, it was like that all day yesterday and only a matter of time before this type of strengthening happened. What a feat, I am speechless. | ||||||
| 125 | biliruben ID: 531202411 Wed, Oct 19, 2005, 09:58 | Yikes. | ||||||
| 126 | biliruben ID: 531202411 Thu, Oct 20, 2005, 11:29 | NOAA | ||||||
| 127 | biliruben ID: 531202411 Thu, Oct 20, 2005, 11:31 |
AT 800 AM EDT...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE WILMA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 18.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 85.2 WEST...OR ABOUT 485 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF KEY WEST. HURRICANE WILMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 7 MPH. A TURN TO THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NOW NEAR 145 MPH... WITH HIGHER GUSTS. WILMA IS A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR SIMPSON SCALE. SOME RE-STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE WAS REPORTED AT 910 MB...OR 26.87 INCHES OF MERCURY. | ||||||
| 128 | biliruben Leader ID: 589301110 Fri, Oct 21, 2005, 18:35 |
Landfall in Cancun. "Uh, dear? Next honeymoon check the weather channel, would ya?" | ||||||
| 129 | Boldwin ID: 49626249 Fri, Oct 21, 2005, 19:17 | I heard some weather commentator on NPR? call it 'almost like a large tornado more than a hurricane, with the center being so compact'. | ||||||
| 130 | biliruben ID: 38751812 Wed, Aug 27, 2008, 15:27 |
 Meet Gustav... | ||||||
| 131 | Building 7 ID: 174591519 Thu, Aug 28, 2008, 08:32 | Looks like I won't have to water my lawn for awhile. | ||||||
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