Stumptown Coffee

This is me just getting something off my chest…not particularly well thought out, but just wanted to get it out.

Last week a story broke in Willamette Week (WW) about the selling of Stumptown Coffee to TSG Consumer Partners.  TSG buys and sells companies to turn profit.  The founder of Stumptown Duane Sorenson made the case that he wasn’t selling the company but getting outside money for investment so he could grow the business.  According to WW that investment was to the tune of 90% of the company, yet Sorenson says he is still driving the ship so to speak.  I am finding it difficult to swallow this pill that he is still in control when he doesn’t own a majority share of the company.  Stumptowns popularity was based on its ability to produce a decent craft product (similar to the micro brew movement) that appealed to the local population and the fact that it was a local company.  The key here is local.  The people here were able to identify with it and took pride that once again Portland was in the forefront of another quality craft.  So when I heard OPB’s Think Out Loud today and they were discussing this situation they asked ”Does it matter that Stumptown sold out?” or something to that effect and I wasn’t able to get my two cents in (hence the short blog on it).  Yes it matters. You take something that the people take pride in and turn it over to a company that will turn it into a conglomerate of some sort then sell it off for profit.  That takes what was a small company which produced a product loved by the local people, took money from the local economy and then would turn that money back around into that local economy.  Sorenson went out of his way to make sure that the coffee he purchased was really great quality and would pay fair trade prices or more in some cases.  This will probably all change now because by selling to TSG Sorenson has only guaranteed money in his pocket in the short term until TSG feels that they are at the peak of Stumptown’s perfection and then sell it off once again…by then who knows where the coffee will come from or where it is roasted.  The money won’t be going back into the local economy and we just have another big coffee chain charging $3.00 for a latte.  I don’t begrudge Sorensen for selling a stake of his business.  It was of coarse his business to sell, but don’t come back and say that we’re just trying to grow the business and it will always be a local company and nothing is going to change…it changed when the payment changed hands.

Weinergate

I find it amazing that so many people so many people want Anthony Weiner to resign. So here is my two cents. Anthony Weiner tweeted some pics to women that some people would consider offensive. Im not sure about offensive but definitely poor taste. Now there are members of Congress and political junkies calling for him to resign, but I say hold on a second. These people didn’t vote him into office. The people in his district are the ones that hired him and put him into office. Those are the people who should be deciding if he stays or goes. Nanci Pelosi isn’t the moral decider nor s anyone else in Congress on either side of the asile. If what he did was so incredibly bad why didn’t the six women speak out before? I don’t condone what he did or trying to hide it. I do think he needs help and should be judged by the people of his district. This headhunt should stop. If he had preached against this his entire career and condemned others for it then I might feel differently. Just my two cents.

Healthcare Pt. 1

So is healthcare a privilege or a right?

Imhotep practiced fairly sophisticated medicine for his people thousands of years before Jesus came on the scene.  Hippocrates is said to have created the physicians oath of “Do no harm.”  Jesus said to heal the sick as part of his faith (the largest faith in this country). Every major civilized country on the planet has some real form of universal health coverage or program to ensure that it’s citizens are cared for.  Why is it that we don’t?  Why is it that we, in this modern era, still have this screwed up system that we do where huge corporations get to choose what kind of care we have and when we get it, and in many cases if we get it.

The opening statement of the US Constitution says “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”  There are two places in just this opening statement that would lend credence to healthcare should be a right.  First is insure domestic tranquility which obviously leans more towards domestic peace but I think could be argued that to maintain the domestic peace people must be in good health.  The second is promote general welfare.  This seems a bit more blatant in that ones general welfare can’t be good if they are in poor health.

We currently have approximately 1/6 of our nation without health insurance or extremely underinsured and in practice we do cover these people to some extent when they are ill.  There are some free clinics and random programs to help some of them.  Medicaid assists in covering others.  But basically people in these categories receive their care through emergency rooms.  Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) ensures that someone with a medical emergency are guaranteed to get stabilizing care for their ailment.  Those people who don’t have any coverage from their employer (for whatever reason) then come into the emergency room and get their medical care.  This is the most expensive way to get care and the costs are left up to the hospital to cover which then has to raise their rates to insurance companies and eventually the end consumer…us.

I’m not arguing that there aren’t any other reasons that prices are skyrocketing.  Those are discussions for another time.  I’m getting back to the point of why don’t we have comprehensive healthcare for all US citizens?  Why should insurance companies be allowed to make billions of dollars in profit on our people’s suffering?  When are we the people going to realize that the same kind of thinking that got us here isn’t going to get us out?  Greed and excessive profit should not be allowed to dictate the well being of our people.

If you do respond to this and want to argue against it then provide real reasoning and documentation as to why.  Provide links that back up your argument.

PaYim

Raped by cable services

I am so tired of being raped by my cable company.  My bill came in and it was $181.99.  This does include my HDTV, internet and phone services – their bundled package.  The only thing being bundled is my money and shipped off to some mega corp that really doesn’t give a shit about what I think or want for service.  I don’t mind paying for my service but I think that the basic package should be a little less expensive.  Ok a lot less expensive.  I’ve shopped around and finally decided to give up my bundle and split my service up.  I’m going with a competitor for my TV service and will continue my internet where it is until I can find some other mega corp that can offer the speed that I need.  I split the TV service because I felt that I only watched a select group of shows on a small number of channels (obviously you have to buy everything to get just the few you want). Why does Portland, Oregon only have one major cable service provider?  What gives?  I thought there was supposed to be good competition to create choice and to help keep prices low.  THIS ISN’T HAPPENING DAMMIT!!!  There isn’t any real competition.  This is more of an oligopoly coming really close to a monopoly and Portland is letting it happen.  WHY!?!?!  We have one cable company and then two satellite TV companies.  For true high speed internet (12mbps or higher) there is only one real player and that is the cable company.  This is ridiculous.  The prices just keep going up.  When I call to see about how to lower my bill I’m offered $20 dollar discounts or if I sign a 2 year agreement I can get $45 dollars off my bill for 6 months.  Never mind the fact that I’ve been a solid paying customer for the past several years.  Deregulation of these huge companies has done nothing to help the consumer.  All it has done is allowed big corporations to buy up smaller ones and control the medium sized ones creating less competition and more consolidation of wealth and power.  There has to be a better way.

Hello world!

Hello world…ready or not here I am. The following is just random stuff that I needed to get out of my head today.  Future posts will be more organized.

I figure if my wife can do this so can I.  I mean how hard could this really be coming up with whimsical statements and thought-provoking commentary.  Just look at everyone else doing it.  This might not be the best blog on the block but I’m hopeful that someone might find something I have to say interesting and who knows even provide feedback.

My plan is to post my thoughts and vents here.  My language is sometimes coarse but this is my blog and I get to set the rules.  I’m the decider here dammit.  Enough said about that.  I’m sometimes political.  To give you an idea of my politics I’m fiscally conservative and socially liberal.  I consider myself fully independant This means I know how to balance a finances and don’t give a shit who you live with.  Doesn’t mean that I agree with how someone does something or lives, but it’s not for me to pass judgement at that level.  The world is too messed up in so many other areas to worry about trivial issues like can a gay person fire a gun, dress a wound (who knows they might just do it more style) as long as the job is done and done well I don’t care.  Oh by the way I ramble.  Back to the fiscal part now.  Since I had to learn how to balance a checkbook and all of the corporate robber baron ICEHOLES expect me to make sure I can pay for the services I need to have, well then I expect those people that take my tax money to be able to do the same damn thing and be socially responsible at the same time.  More on this in some other posting.

Speaking of corporate crap…can I just say I am hating my cable company, power company right now.  I have to have power, but really why do you have to charge me extra fees to take a damn payment over the phone?  Why can’t you use a more up to date system for taking payments over the web…you charge me enough in rates and your last quarterly SEC filing shows you make enough money to cover this without affecting your overall profit margin.  And to the cable company WTF people…you really think that your services are worth hundreds of dollars a month and you get the monopoly in the city…you really put the FU back in fun.

Whew I’m feeling better…

PaYim