Perusing and thinking about the news… a few observations, while the tea cools off:
- From the “Something Odd about the Porting Job” Department: I’ve been following the bru-ha-ha about the UAE and the ports with a little bit of interest. But an odd question has popped into my head related to this: The issue is a UAE company purchasing port operations from a British company, and how this didn’t approval from congress first. But consider this further: If this get rejected, what happens? Who would take over the ports if not the UAE? Or, to put it more bluntly…
Why aren’t there any American companies stepping up to the plate to take over port operations?
I mean, this seems like a prime opportunity to award a contract to Halliburton, Schlumberg, or a major trucking or railroad company. Why aren’t these companies offering to take over the operations? I think this is a key question: there’s something about these operations that is not being said, some reason why an American company doesn’t want to do it. Profit is not the reason, I believe, unless it is the government controlling the rates… and even then, the UAE wouldn’t be wanting to do it if there was no profit. Something hasn’t come out yet.
- From the “They Paved Paradise and Put in a Parking Lot” Department: The Transportation Corridor Agencies in Orange County has approved a route for the Route 241 Toll Road. This route would slice through San Onofre State Beach Park. It would also pass through the Donna O’Neill Land Conservancy, a 1,200-acre open-space preserve created by Rancho Mission Viejo, one of the largest landholders in southern Orange County. Park officials feel it is a slippery slope leading to more roads in parks; Tollway officials note the highway is needed to relieve congestion on I-5, whose traffic is projected to increase 60% by 2025. Estimated to cost $875 million, the tollway would begin at Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita and connect with I-5 at Basilone Road south of San Clemente. Having followed the issue, I don’t see a lot of good choices either way. Traffic is increasing, and there is never a good place to build.
Related to this, Los Angeles officials are trying to buy a 4-6 M$ plot of land above the “H” in the Hollywood(land) sign, before a developer builds houses there. The 1,820-foot Cahuenga Peak is where Howard Hughes once planned to build a love nest for actress Ginger Rogers. Authorities say that Hughes acquired the land in the 1930s, drove Rogers up the mountainside, and pledged to construct her a house there, saying “Sweetheart, see the city below you? I’m going to build a house here for you”. Rogers reaction? “”I knew what he wanted from me. He wanted to take me and lock me up in a hilltop house and never let me see anyone. That’s exactly what he did to Jean Peters. He locked her up. I could tell how resentful he was of anyone coming close to us in conversation.” It just goes to show that you can never trust eccentric heads of defense contractors. As to whether they can build on the lot, Hollywood-area City Councilman Tom LaBonge says “With modern engineering techniques, there’s no such thing as an un-buildable lot”. Seems to me they are confusing “can” and “should”.
- From the “Women Love Pink” Department: Vendors at a local Golf Trade Show are trying to market golf to women. How are they doing this? Covington, Ga.-based Precept, Bridgestone Golf has introduced the Lady SIII line of golf balls, available in pink, yellow, baby blue and white, and featuring a softer core intended to produce greater distance for slower swingers. Nickent Golf has introduced the Goddess Collection of lighter clubs for women. Again, something strikes me as odd here.
- From the “Three’s a Crowd” Department: HBO is introducing a new series, Big Love, about a polygamous family: The father, Bill, is a genial home improvement chain store owner in Salt Lake City who lives with three wives and seven children, in three adjacent homes in the suburbs. An article about the show brings up some interesting discussion points. For example, in one episode, the main character explains to fictional Los Angeles Times reporters that if courts recognize privacy rights for homosexuals, it’s time they do the same for polygamists. I still have to decide if I’ll watch this. It all depends on the when the new season of Weeds starts, and when Liza with a Z is on.
