Officially Shipping

For all those who experienced the Super Bowl for thousands of dollars I got the same experience for substantially less.

The Cheap Seats: I sat in my shower and listened to the radio.
Owners Box: I sat in the Jacuzzi and listened to the radio.
Sideline Seats: I jumped into the swimming pool for that total immersion feeling.

Ok, I admit that I live in San Diego and that the temperature was 81 with a lot of sun. But those geniuses at the NFL could have scheduled the game for San Diego, Phoenix, LA or even the Bay Area for better weather.

Why not schedule the Super Bowl in Chicago. There Chicagoans could re-enact the March of the Penguins or that penguin in Happy Feet who chants: “When others leave, we remain.” Come to think of it, Seaworld in San Diego has Penguin World so that I could have experienced that too without needing the sub-freezing temperature of the Windy City.

The big lie in travel is that the internet sites have the lowest prices. There are many times when they do not. Specifically airfares to Asia and Europe are almost always hundreds of dollars lower via CONSOLIDATORS. In order to access a consolidator you must have an IATA number which is what your travel agent has. Your travel agent can then contact one of the 15 major consolidators to provide you with tickets and seat assignments.

Another benefit of using a travel agent is that if your flight is delayed the travel agent can assist you. Try getting assistance from an on line cyberspace ticketing operation.

Further certain adds by Travelocity argue that you get a free night if you book a trip to Hawaii for a certain number of days. The extra night free has been around for over 20 years. It is not a unique benefit. You can get the same deal from any travel agent.

Is the online agency biased? Sometimes it is. Sabre owns Travelocity and was created by American Airlines. Given a choice between flying on Hawaiian Airlines and American Airlines to Hawaii guess which airline you may end up on even if Hawaiian has a non-stop flight.

Have you even been bumped? You may avoid ever being bumped by asking the airline agent to show you their priority boarding list. Ralph Nader asked that question to Allegheny Airlines. Later, in Nader v. Allegheny Airlines, Nader was awarded $25,000 for being bumped. When a flight is oversold the airlines will give free tickets and cash to save the cost of $25,000 per person. Here in California under Weaver v. Pasadena Tournament of Roses, you can file a class action suit. And with California’s unique application of collateral Estoppel you will almost always win. Perhaps that is why the airlines want you to sue in their home state of Illinois, Georgia, etc. But you can always find a good attorney who can circumvent the airlines boilerplate and win for you.

If you have anymore ideas on travel related issues let me know so that we can compare experiences.

Some of you may have heard the rhyme, ” I have never seen a purple cow. I never hope to see one. But I can tell you anyhow. I’d rather see than be one.” The author of that rhyme died last week. And the building where I first read it, Isalys in Youngstown, Ohio has gone away too.

In 1950 the population of Youngstown was 168,330. Today it is less than half that with a huge problem with drug and alcohol addiction, and of course almost no future.
Before Ford rang up it disastrous losses, the Packard Motor Company outside Youngstown had closed. Indeed, the city which during the Second World War was the second largest steel producing city in the world produces less steel today than Charlotte , N.C. It appears that the Hegelian Zeitgeist has departed from North Eastern Ohio.

Sic gloria transit. But there is one way out. Football. Here the state religion is football. The people are American Gothic. And the local flower is a steel ingot. Down the road is a beauty contest where the winner is called MSS PIGIRON PULL. The luck lady gets to push an ore cart as part of her rising to her queenship.

And wait. The local university Youngstown U. has as its mascot, THE PENGUINS. March of the Penguin, Happy Feet and other penguin prodigies might give the plush penguin industry a boost. Actually this is about as realistic as having the Reverend IKE blast forth his maxim: “The more you use your mind, the less you have to use you behind.”

True former Youngstown Congressman , Jim Trafficante announced to president of the U. S. in 2004. But he was doing 12 years in a federal prison at the time. Maybe it is time to get real to abandon those cities which have all but been abandoned like Camden, NJ. If we can call assassination of a king regicide, then why not create CITYCIDE.
Send me your candidates for citycide.

Once again the Super Bowl is with us. And according to some sources Super Bowl Sunday will be again the second largest drunk-driving arrest day of the year. Yet it is the tax payer who will pay the law enforcement persons to incarcerate the drunks, and arrest those guilty of crimes caused by intoxication such as domestic violence, shooting of police and the ever popular bar fight.

Under the dram laws of the state of Maryland, the owner of the bar can be prosecuted for serving those who are drunk. Why not move the idea that the NFL gets to pay for the costs of arresting drunk drivers on Super Bowl Day. The huge spike in arrests is the direct result of all those beer commercials such as having one company as the official beer of the NFL.

Why should the tax payers support WELFARE FOR THE BILLIONAIRES which many NFL owners are. Let the NFL owners pay the costs of the booze bonanza.

If you have never heard of Congressman Duncan Hunter (R – El Cajon) join the club. If you have never heard of El Cajon, it is a Spanish word meaning “the coffin” which is where most political scientists believe his presidential campaign is going.

This morning a unique article appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune indicating that Hunter is leading Senator John McCain in the Phoenix area of Arizona. Sounds like the Republican Party may be in the peyote again. Hunter’s erstwhile best friend in the Congress, Duke Cunningham, is currently doing double digits in federal prison for bribery. But Hunter is hopeful that Kansas Senator Brownback, another announced candidate for president, might be persuaded to endorse Hunter. Imagine a Phoenix, El Cajon and Kansas axis spearheading a charge to the White House.

Realistically, Hunter has a better chance of making the grade than former Ohio Congressman Trafficante. He launched his campaign from a federal prison where was doing 12 years for bribery.

This blog shall boldly go where even PBS fears to tread in trying to discern what gives with Duncan Hunter – even if it is a tale signifying nothing.