Author Archive
Entering the lightest season volume wise for produce loads, it’s not uncommon for multiple pick ups and drops to fill out the trailer. Pick ups starting in southern California may extend to the California desert, Yuma and perhaps even Nogales. Changes for the better are occuring at the Arizona, Mexico border that should improve produce crossings in the USA and reduce delays for loadings at the many Nogales warehouses.
The Mariposa port was built in the 1970s, designed to handled 400 trucks crossing into Arizona daily. Over the years changes have increased the truck count to around 1600 to 1800 a day. In the past an estimated 25 percent of the trucks crossing the border into Arizona were delayed because of gridlock on the Mariposa Road (State Route 189), which connects the port to I-19. Numerous stop lights on the state route often contribute to the delays.
In 2009 a $220 million expansion of the port was started and is scheduled for completion in 2014. This should increase traffic capabilities to 4,000 to 5,000 trucks a day crossing the border in Nogales.
Meanwhile, there is light volume of watermelon, honeydew, squash, bell peppers, tomatoes and other items crossing the border from Mexico, it will be another month of so before the volume really improves.
Nogales produce is grossing about $3400 to Chicago, about $5800 to New York.
Fresh fruit and vegetable retail prices in 2012 were generally lower, according to a recently released government report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service reports lower fruit and vegetable prices resulting in overall retail prices for food being kept in line through October this year.
From January through October , average food-at-home prices have been flat because deflation in the fresh fruit and vegetable arena and lower prices for milk and pork, the USDA ERS said in a food price outlook report issued in late November. By contrast, beef, veal, poultry, fat and oil prices have been higher.
The inflation forecast for both all food and food-at-home prices in 2012 is 2.5 to 3.5 percent. Lower prices were particularly pronounced for vegetables in 2012, according to the USDA ERS.
The fresh vegetable consumer price index increased 0.6 percent, however it has dropped about every month in 2012. Compared with 2011 year ago, fresh vegetable prices are down 3.2 percent on average, due primarily by a 10.9 percent drop in potato prices, a 4.1 oercent decline in lettuce and a 1.7 percent slide in tomato prices. Other fresh vegetable prices were down 0.7 percent.
Warmer weather and favorable growing conditions in 2012 combined to increase yield and lower prices compared with year-ago levels.
An expected seasonal increase in prices during the second half of 2012 has been less than predicted, and because of that the USDA now expects fresh vegetable prices to fall 4 percent to 5 percent in 2012. The fresh fruit price index is up 2.1 percent from October 2011, and the USDA projected fresh fruit prices for 2012 are now projected to fall between 1 percent and 2 percent.
Compared with October 2011, the USDA said retail apple prices are up 6.4 percent, with banana prices 1.4 percent lower, citrus prices 0.1 percent higher and other fresh fruit commodities up 1.3 percent in retail price.
Prices increases overall of 3 to 4 percent for fresh produce is projected in 2013 by the USDA. The agency sees an increase of 3 to to 4 percent for fresh fruit and 4 to 5 percent for fresh vegetables.
Overall food price inflation for 2013 is projected between 3 and 4 percent. Prices for food served away from home are projected to increase 2.5 to 3.5 percent in 2013, while prices for food served at home are expected to increase 3 to 4 percent.
More exciting news from Bully Dog; the Sensor Docking Station Products (#40383, #40384 and #40387) have been incorporated into the Heavy Duty GT and Heavy Duty WatchDog.
What does this mean? In a nutshell you can easily add additional gauges that the OEM did not equip on your truck with your Heavy Duty WatchDog or Heavy Duty GT.
What gauges are we talking about? Pretty much the skies the limit – Boost, Pyrometer, Water, Tranny, Rear-end, Ambient Air, etc, etc. If the gauge has a 5 volt sensor, it can be displayed digitally inside the cab. Warning levels can be set on many of these gauges to warn you when max levels, that you have set, have been exceeded so you can take action to prevent damage to your rig.
More detailed information can be found at bigrig.bullydog.com
Strawberry shipments from the Plant City, FL area have been underway for more than a month, but only in very light volume. This is changing as available loads will show significant increases by December 10, and be in big volume around December 15-20. Central Florida also has very light volume with cherry, grape, roma and green tomatoes. The area also is shipping variety of vegetables. However, this overall is seasonally a very light volume period for Florida. Expect multiple pickups to involved with most loads.
You may even have to fill out the trailer from those Florida pick ups with a few pallets of cabbage, greens or broccoli from Southern Georgia. In fact, the whole Eastern seaboard extending into the Northeast and New England doesn’t hold a lot of volume, but sometimes something is better than nothing.
In eastern growing areas of North Carolina, the biggest volume is with sweet potatoes, not necessarily known for paying the best freight rates…..In upstate New York, Orange County is shipping storage onions, while central and western areas are loading cabbage. New York apples were hit pretty hard by freezing weather earlier this year, especially from western and central shipping points. Even the Hudson Valley did not escape the freeze, although it came out better than the rest of the state.
In northern Maine, Aroostoock County is shipping around 150 truck loads of potatoes a week.
Maine potatoes – grossing about $1700 to New York City.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $1500 to Atlanta.
Florida vegetables and strawberries – about $2600 to Boston.
Recently Commerical Carrier Journal provided some pointers for truckers to use to save fuel while on the road. Some are common sense, some might not occur to you.
Check out some tips that are obvious. will other may not be so obvious.
Turn off the engine. Drivers should avoid excessive warm-up times when starting the truck, even for a short time. Look for other times when drivers have a habit of idling.
Use shore power when it’s available. Many inverters and auxiliary power units come with a plug-in option that converts incoming current to DC to charge the batteries, using AC to power climate-control units and/or in-cab accessories. The truckstop electrification movement to help eliminate idling has gained steam in the last year, with plug-in options available at many more parking spaces.
Avoid revving the engine between shifts. Ease into each new gear, and don’t be in a hurry to climb through them.
Run in your engine’s sweet spot. Once you reach cruising speed, operating in the peak torque zone gives you optimum horsepower so that the engine runs most efficiently. It takes only about 200 horsepower to maintain 65 mph.
Minimize air-conditioning use. Running the A/C delivers a 2/10- to 4/10-mpg hit.
Anticipate traffic lights. If you can approach slowly and avoid a complete stop, it saves fuel and reduces equipment wear.
Maintain an extended following distance. It helps to prevent unnecessary acceleration due to frequent braking.
Lower your average highway speed. Every mph over 55 equals a 0.1-mpg drop in fuel economy.
Don’t punch the throttle. Gradually put your foot into it, pretending there’s an egg between the pedal and the floorboard. Use smooth, steady accelerator inputs to avoid fuel burn spikes.
Read more at http://cdllife.com/2012/driving-jobs/checklist-how-truck-drivers-can-save-fuel/#8YfdU4yqK7HK6gkr.99
Christmas is only three weeks away and produce holiday shipments have already started with some items.
The last of fresh cranberry loads are now moving to USA markets, but primarily from Central Wisconsin. While Massachusetts often promises Christmas shipments, it has a checkered history of actually delivering, primarily due to quality issues and the demand from the processing marketing.
Probably the most reliable is The Cranberry Network LLC, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., which markets fruit grown by Tomah, WI-based Habelman Bros. Co., the nation’s largest fresh cranberry grower. It plans on packing and shipping fresh-market cranberries through mid-December.
In Texas, the Winter Garden District located just south of San Antonio is gearing up with cabbage, broccoli and onion shipments. Further south in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, there are grapefruit and orange loads available, as well as a variety of vegetables, not only from the valley, but crossing the border from Mexico.
California
California has a big clementine crop this season coming out of the San Joaquin Valley. The valley continues to ship a record setting table grape crop, which will be winding down in coming weeks.
In the desert areas of California (Imperial Valley) and Arizona (Yuma), volume is increasing on vegetables. Last winter was very mild and unlike many past winters, picks and loads were not significantly disrupted by weather factors. Odds are this won’t happen in two consecutive years, but we’ll find out in the weeks and months ahead.
Imports
Imported Spanish clementines arriving on the East Coast are expected to be 25-30 percent lower than last season.
Importers of Peruvian and Chilean onions expect good movement and good quality with winter approaching. Arrivals are taking place now with onions from Peru, while onions from Chile will start arriving anytime, a 20 percent drop is seen.
Imperial Valley vegetables – grossing about $3800 to Chicago.
An estimated 5,000 truckers haved been shut down at ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach from a clerical workers strikethat started last week.
The Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Associations are continuing negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit. Other ILWU have refused to cross OCU picket lines, which had idled cargo from moving.
The dispute is over job security and outsourcing, according to the union. The LA/LB HEA is a not-for-profit organization representing the region’s shipping agencies and terminal operators which assists in administration of labor contracts.
Sometimes you just have to wonder on what some people’s brain functions. In the 60’s most of us knew it was pot or some new form of LSD. What is it today that makes people ignore reality and be so willing to accept the “spin doctors’ dribble? I personally think some people just can’t deal with reality, so they fabricate a new fictional version of reality that satisfies them emotionally.
The economic collapse was spun as a failure of “capitalism.” The reality is that it was a failure of a government socialistic attempt to manipulate the lending practices of banks and savings and loan institutions. As a result of the huge amount of subprime loans that were being made, the demand for homes rose. This increase in demand destabilized the market and sent the price of homes to ever higher and higher prices. You know… the law of supply and demand.
Then the first signs of a deep recession started to occur, and more and more subprime borrowers began to default on their loans as the economy worsened. Many banks and mortgage insurance corporations such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG were unable to survive due to the record number of subprime defaults.
This was forecasted as early as February of 2007. This should be no surprise to anyone that the subprime market started the loan defaults. After all, these are the same people who have a record of poor financial management, or else they would not have had a low credit score in the first place. And it should be no surprise that the unintended consequences of subprime lending such as loan derivatives, CDO’s, credit default swaps, hedge funds, massive housing speculation, risky home equity loans, overstated appraisals, zero down loans, and greedy bankers and politicians surfaced.
To make matters worse, it all could have been avoided if the government had kept it’s hands off of trying to social engineer our society. Now we have those same bleeding heart socialists trying to spin it as a fault of capitalism. Are there greedy people in banking and on Wall Street? Duh!
There are greedy people anywhere there is money and power, but even China requires 30% down on all home mortgage loans, and guess what? They don’t have a mortgage problem. In the wise words of Bill Shakespeare, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry”, Hamlet Act 1, scene 3. Don’t swallow what you hear like a fish rising to the bait.
Stop and think. Life is much easier when you do, and thus, many of life’s pitfalls can be avoided. The global warming claims by alarmists like Al Gore, and countless others, are another good example of this human phenomenon. For years we have been listening to “Brother Al” and his fish tell us that rich nations like the United States are the cause of the Earth’s “global warming.” And if we don’t tax our energy consumption and give the taxes to some poor country so they won’t cut down their trees, then we are all doomed.
And most of the same gullible people who swallow every word from these “Brother Al” types bought into it. Those of us with common sense know that the Earth has undergone a lot of climate changes. Just ask any geologist. And the Earth’s climate will undoubtedly continue to change regardless of what mankind does. To help settle the issue Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States put together a drilling project in Antarctica to determine what the Earth’s past climate changes were like, and possibly how fast the changes were.
The project is called “Andrill.” (www.andrill.org/news/sms1). What they have found is that the Earth has undergone multiple warming and cooling periods, and that the change can be very rapid. The Earth was so warm during these periods that Antarctica had abundant plant and warm water sea life with no ice covered glaciers. This has happened many times in Earth’s history. This has shocked many scientists who had swallowed Brother Al’s line of pseudoscience and expected a stable Antarctic climate until now.
Why, I’m shocked, aren’t you? I’m shocked that these scientists would jump to conclusions first, and then look for evidence to back up what they want to believe. We should never take ourselves too seriously. We have very little effect on the Universe and we really aren’t very important in the grand scheme of things. When we get so arrogant that we think we as humans rule the
World’s climate we need to get a grip. I think we watch too many science fiction movies. Changes in the economy, global climate, and almost every aspect of your life will occur.
Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, said the only think constant is change. What is important is that you don’t panic and swallow some spin doctor’s fish bait. Relax, and take your big SUV for a Sunday drive around the lake. One good thing out of this is the fun we will have watching all of these left wing bozos eat crow. — Larry Oscar
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.
-
- “The Ambrosia apple variety has a creamy flesh and wonderful taste …right up there with Royal Gala and Braeburn. This apple doesn’t oxidize or turn brown quickly so it’s a nice ingredient for your favourite fruit salad!” sa
ys Pete Luckett, host of the Food Network’s show The Food Hunter.
- Although Ambrosia is a sweet apple, official taste comparisons have proved that even the most ardent fans of tart apples will be won over by its juiciness and crunchy texture.
Ambrosia is a low-acid apple, which makes it easier for kids and older people to digest.
- Once you have purchased Ambrosia apples, you should store them in the refrigerator crisper to ensure that they retain their flavor and texture.
- Three medium Ambrosia apples equal about 450g (1lb). One medium apple yields about 175ml (3/4 cup) of sliced apples.
- In an article written for the Vancouver Province newspaper, Stephen Wong, a leading Vancouver food consultant and chef, rated the Ambrosia 9 out of 10 for texture, juiciness, flavour, and general attributes.
- Ambrosia apples are now being grown by farmers in North America, Europe, Chile and New Zealand, and are available to purchase in stores around the world.
- In order to extend their availability beyond harvest time, Ambrosia apples are “put to sleep” in Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage. CA storage takes cold storage a step further by lowering the temperature and the oxygen levels, so fruit can be stored for six months or more and remain harvest fresh.
- Ambrosias, like other apples, are loaded with health giving properties such as pectin, a cholesterol-lowering soluble fibre, and anti-oxidants, which are good for preventing heart disease.
- The original Ambrosia apple tree was grown from a chance seedling. Commercially viable chance seedlings are extremely rare; less than a dozen of these chance seedlings have found their way to market in the past 50 years.
- Ambrosia means “food of the gods” as depicted in ancient Greek mythology. The name was chosen by Wilfrid Mennell, who, with his wife Sally, discovered the original Ambrosia apple tree in their orchard in the Similkameen Valley of British Columbia.
- When first introduced to the public at the annual Apple Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ambrosia met with instant acclaim and has been a favourite of the Festival ever since.
Bully Dog is thrilled to announce that the Paccar MX® engine has been added to the group of engines that are available within Bully Dog’s Heavy Duty WatchDog and Heavy Duty GT. Here is a testimonial from one of our customers about the benefits of using the HDGT on a truck with the Paccar engine.
“I bought my truck new. It’s a T-660 with the 455 Paccar MX motor. Right now it has 165,000 miles on it. I pull a reefer from the Midwest to the East coast so we are loaded going both ways. It’s pretty flat until you get to PA and get into those hills, but there are some good pulls. Previously I had been running Cat C-15s so this was quite a letdown in performance. The stupid thing gets 7.5 MPG so you have to figure if you want to put that money in your back pocket or be the first one to the top of the hill.
Before installing the HDGT, the truck wouldn’t get out of its own way. Now that I installed the Bully Dog, it’s a lot more aggressive. When you call for power it’s there. I would say it’s a 90% improvement over what I had, because you always want more horsepower. The truck is what I would call snotty. It has an attitude that was completely missing before and it doesn’t quit on you anytime it sees a hill. It has been a big improvement in performance and I would recommend the HDGT to drivers that are using the Paccar motor.”
Jeff, South Dakota
More detailed information can be found at bigrig.bullydog.com
Entering the lightest season volume wise for produce loads, it’s not uncommon for multiple pick ups and drops to fill out the trailer. Pick ups starting in southern California may extend to the California desert, Yuma and perhaps even Nogales. Changes for the better are occuring at the Arizona, Mexico border that should improve produce crossings in the USA and reduce delays for loadings at the many Nogales warehouses.
The Mariposa port was built in the 1970s, designed to handled 400 trucks crossing into Arizona daily. Over the years changes have increased the truck count to around 1600 to 1800 a day. In the past an estimated 25 percent of the trucks crossing the border into Arizona were delayed because of gridlock on the Mariposa Road (State Route 189), which connects the port to I-19. Numerous stop lights on the state route often contribute to the delays.
In 2009 a $220 million expansion of the port was started and is scheduled for completion in 2014. This should increase traffic capabilities to 4,000 to 5,000 trucks a day crossing the border in Nogales.
Meanwhile, there is light volume of watermelon, honeydew, squash, bell peppers, tomatoes and other items crossing the border from Mexico, it will be another month of so before the volume really improves.
Nogales produce is grossing about $3400 to Chicago, about $5800 to New York.
Fresh fruit and vegetable retail prices in 2012 were generally lower, according to a recently released government report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service reports lower fruit and vegetable prices resulting in overall retail prices for food being kept in line through October this year.
From January through October , average food-at-home prices have been flat because deflation in the fresh fruit and vegetable arena and lower prices for milk and pork, the USDA ERS said in a food price outlook report issued in late November. By contrast, beef, veal, poultry, fat and oil prices have been higher.
The inflation forecast for both all food and food-at-home prices in 2012 is 2.5 to 3.5 percent. Lower prices were particularly pronounced for vegetables in 2012, according to the USDA ERS.
The fresh vegetable consumer price index increased 0.6 percent, however it has dropped about every month in 2012. Compared with 2011 year ago, fresh vegetable prices are down 3.2 percent on average, due primarily by a 10.9 percent drop in potato prices, a 4.1 oercent decline in lettuce and a 1.7 percent slide in tomato prices. Other fresh vegetable prices were down 0.7 percent.
Warmer weather and favorable growing conditions in 2012 combined to increase yield and lower prices compared with year-ago levels.
An expected seasonal increase in prices during the second half of 2012 has been less than predicted, and because of that the USDA now expects fresh vegetable prices to fall 4 percent to 5 percent in 2012. The fresh fruit price index is up 2.1 percent from October 2011, and the USDA projected fresh fruit prices for 2012 are now projected to fall between 1 percent and 2 percent.
Compared with October 2011, the USDA said retail apple prices are up 6.4 percent, with banana prices 1.4 percent lower, citrus prices 0.1 percent higher and other fresh fruit commodities up 1.3 percent in retail price.
Prices increases overall of 3 to 4 percent for fresh produce is projected in 2013 by the USDA. The agency sees an increase of 3 to to 4 percent for fresh fruit and 4 to 5 percent for fresh vegetables.
Overall food price inflation for 2013 is projected between 3 and 4 percent. Prices for food served away from home are projected to increase 2.5 to 3.5 percent in 2013, while prices for food served at home are expected to increase 3 to 4 percent.
More exciting news from Bully Dog; the Sensor Docking Station Products (#40383, #40384 and #40387) have been incorporated into the Heavy Duty GT and Heavy Duty WatchDog.
What does this mean? In a nutshell you can easily add additional gauges that the OEM did not equip on your truck with your Heavy Duty WatchDog or Heavy Duty GT.
What gauges are we talking about? Pretty much the skies the limit – Boost, Pyrometer, Water, Tranny, Rear-end, Ambient Air, etc, etc. If the gauge has a 5 volt sensor, it can be displayed digitally inside the cab. Warning levels can be set on many of these gauges to warn you when max levels, that you have set, have been exceeded so you can take action to prevent damage to your rig.
More detailed information can be found at bigrig.bullydog.com
Strawberry shipments from the Plant City, FL area have been underway for more than a month, but only in very light volume. This is changing as available loads will show significant increases by December 10, and be in big volume around December 15-20. Central Florida also has very light volume with cherry, grape, roma and green tomatoes. The area also is shipping variety of vegetables. However, this overall is seasonally a very light volume period for Florida. Expect multiple pickups to involved with most loads.
You may even have to fill out the trailer from those Florida pick ups with a few pallets of cabbage, greens or broccoli from Southern Georgia. In fact, the whole Eastern seaboard extending into the Northeast and New England doesn’t hold a lot of volume, but sometimes something is better than nothing.
In eastern growing areas of North Carolina, the biggest volume is with sweet potatoes, not necessarily known for paying the best freight rates…..In upstate New York, Orange County is shipping storage onions, while central and western areas are loading cabbage. New York apples were hit pretty hard by freezing weather earlier this year, especially from western and central shipping points. Even the Hudson Valley did not escape the freeze, although it came out better than the rest of the state.
In northern Maine, Aroostoock County is shipping around 150 truck loads of potatoes a week.
Maine potatoes – grossing about $1700 to New York City.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $1500 to Atlanta.
Florida vegetables and strawberries – about $2600 to Boston.
Recently Commerical Carrier Journal provided some pointers for truckers to use to save fuel while on the road. Some are common sense, some might not occur to you.
Check out some tips that are obvious. will other may not be so obvious.
Turn off the engine. Drivers should avoid excessive warm-up times when starting the truck, even for a short time. Look for other times when drivers have a habit of idling.
Use shore power when it’s available. Many inverters and auxiliary power units come with a plug-in option that converts incoming current to DC to charge the batteries, using AC to power climate-control units and/or in-cab accessories. The truckstop electrification movement to help eliminate idling has gained steam in the last year, with plug-in options available at many more parking spaces.
Avoid revving the engine between shifts. Ease into each new gear, and don’t be in a hurry to climb through them.
Run in your engine’s sweet spot. Once you reach cruising speed, operating in the peak torque zone gives you optimum horsepower so that the engine runs most efficiently. It takes only about 200 horsepower to maintain 65 mph.
Minimize air-conditioning use. Running the A/C delivers a 2/10- to 4/10-mpg hit.
Anticipate traffic lights. If you can approach slowly and avoid a complete stop, it saves fuel and reduces equipment wear.
Maintain an extended following distance. It helps to prevent unnecessary acceleration due to frequent braking.
Lower your average highway speed. Every mph over 55 equals a 0.1-mpg drop in fuel economy.
Don’t punch the throttle. Gradually put your foot into it, pretending there’s an egg between the pedal and the floorboard. Use smooth, steady accelerator inputs to avoid fuel burn spikes.
Read more at http://cdllife.com/2012/driving-jobs/checklist-how-truck-drivers-can-save-fuel/#8YfdU4yqK7HK6gkr.99
Christmas is only three weeks away and produce holiday shipments have already started with some items.
The last of fresh cranberry loads are now moving to USA markets, but primarily from Central Wisconsin. While Massachusetts often promises Christmas shipments, it has a checkered history of actually delivering, primarily due to quality issues and the demand from the processing marketing.
Probably the most reliable is The Cranberry Network LLC, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., which markets fruit grown by Tomah, WI-based Habelman Bros. Co., the nation’s largest fresh cranberry grower. It plans on packing and shipping fresh-market cranberries through mid-December.
In Texas, the Winter Garden District located just south of San Antonio is gearing up with cabbage, broccoli and onion shipments. Further south in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, there are grapefruit and orange loads available, as well as a variety of vegetables, not only from the valley, but crossing the border from Mexico.
California
California has a big clementine crop this season coming out of the San Joaquin Valley. The valley continues to ship a record setting table grape crop, which will be winding down in coming weeks.
In the desert areas of California (Imperial Valley) and Arizona (Yuma), volume is increasing on vegetables. Last winter was very mild and unlike many past winters, picks and loads were not significantly disrupted by weather factors. Odds are this won’t happen in two consecutive years, but we’ll find out in the weeks and months ahead.
Imports
Imported Spanish clementines arriving on the East Coast are expected to be 25-30 percent lower than last season.
Importers of Peruvian and Chilean onions expect good movement and good quality with winter approaching. Arrivals are taking place now with onions from Peru, while onions from Chile will start arriving anytime, a 20 percent drop is seen.
Imperial Valley vegetables – grossing about $3800 to Chicago.
An estimated 5,000 truckers haved been shut down at ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach from a clerical workers strikethat started last week.
The Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Associations are continuing negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit. Other ILWU have refused to cross OCU picket lines, which had idled cargo from moving.
The dispute is over job security and outsourcing, according to the union. The LA/LB HEA is a not-for-profit organization representing the region’s shipping agencies and terminal operators which assists in administration of labor contracts.
Sometimes you just have to wonder on what some people’s brain functions. In the 60’s most of us knew it was pot or some new form of LSD. What is it today that makes people ignore reality and be so willing to accept the “spin doctors’ dribble? I personally think some people just can’t deal with reality, so they fabricate a new fictional version of reality that satisfies them emotionally.
The economic collapse was spun as a failure of “capitalism.” The reality is that it was a failure of a government socialistic attempt to manipulate the lending practices of banks and savings and loan institutions. As a result of the huge amount of subprime loans that were being made, the demand for homes rose. This increase in demand destabilized the market and sent the price of homes to ever higher and higher prices. You know… the law of supply and demand.
Then the first signs of a deep recession started to occur, and more and more subprime borrowers began to default on their loans as the economy worsened. Many banks and mortgage insurance corporations such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG were unable to survive due to the record number of subprime defaults.
This was forecasted as early as February of 2007. This should be no surprise to anyone that the subprime market started the loan defaults. After all, these are the same people who have a record of poor financial management, or else they would not have had a low credit score in the first place. And it should be no surprise that the unintended consequences of subprime lending such as loan derivatives, CDO’s, credit default swaps, hedge funds, massive housing speculation, risky home equity loans, overstated appraisals, zero down loans, and greedy bankers and politicians surfaced.
To make matters worse, it all could have been avoided if the government had kept it’s hands off of trying to social engineer our society. Now we have those same bleeding heart socialists trying to spin it as a fault of capitalism. Are there greedy people in banking and on Wall Street? Duh!
There are greedy people anywhere there is money and power, but even China requires 30% down on all home mortgage loans, and guess what? They don’t have a mortgage problem. In the wise words of Bill Shakespeare, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry”, Hamlet Act 1, scene 3. Don’t swallow what you hear like a fish rising to the bait.
Stop and think. Life is much easier when you do, and thus, many of life’s pitfalls can be avoided. The global warming claims by alarmists like Al Gore, and countless others, are another good example of this human phenomenon. For years we have been listening to “Brother Al” and his fish tell us that rich nations like the United States are the cause of the Earth’s “global warming.” And if we don’t tax our energy consumption and give the taxes to some poor country so they won’t cut down their trees, then we are all doomed.
And most of the same gullible people who swallow every word from these “Brother Al” types bought into it. Those of us with common sense know that the Earth has undergone a lot of climate changes. Just ask any geologist. And the Earth’s climate will undoubtedly continue to change regardless of what mankind does. To help settle the issue Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States put together a drilling project in Antarctica to determine what the Earth’s past climate changes were like, and possibly how fast the changes were.
The project is called “Andrill.” (www.andrill.org/news/sms1). What they have found is that the Earth has undergone multiple warming and cooling periods, and that the change can be very rapid. The Earth was so warm during these periods that Antarctica had abundant plant and warm water sea life with no ice covered glaciers. This has happened many times in Earth’s history. This has shocked many scientists who had swallowed Brother Al’s line of pseudoscience and expected a stable Antarctic climate until now.
Why, I’m shocked, aren’t you? I’m shocked that these scientists would jump to conclusions first, and then look for evidence to back up what they want to believe. We should never take ourselves too seriously. We have very little effect on the Universe and we really aren’t very important in the grand scheme of things. When we get so arrogant that we think we as humans rule the
World’s climate we need to get a grip. I think we watch too many science fiction movies. Changes in the economy, global climate, and almost every aspect of your life will occur.
Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, said the only think constant is change. What is important is that you don’t panic and swallow some spin doctor’s fish bait. Relax, and take your big SUV for a Sunday drive around the lake. One good thing out of this is the fun we will have watching all of these left wing bozos eat crow. — Larry Oscar
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.
-
- “The Ambrosia apple variety has a creamy flesh and wonderful taste …right up there with Royal Gala and Braeburn. This apple doesn’t oxidize or turn brown quickly so it’s a nice ingredient for your favourite fruit salad!” says Pete Luckett, host of the Food Network’s show The Food Hunter.
- Although Ambrosia is a sweet apple, official taste comparisons have proved that even the most ardent fans of tart apples will be won over by its juiciness and crunchy texture.
- “The Ambrosia apple variety has a creamy flesh and wonderful taste …right up there with Royal Gala and Braeburn. This apple doesn’t oxidize or turn brown quickly so it’s a nice ingredient for your favourite fruit salad!” sa
Ambrosia is a low-acid apple, which makes it easier for kids and older people to digest.
- Once you have purchased Ambrosia apples, you should store them in the refrigerator crisper to ensure that they retain their flavor and texture.
- Three medium Ambrosia apples equal about 450g (1lb). One medium apple yields about 175ml (3/4 cup) of sliced apples.
- In an article written for the Vancouver Province newspaper, Stephen Wong, a leading Vancouver food consultant and chef, rated the Ambrosia 9 out of 10 for texture, juiciness, flavour, and general attributes.
- Ambrosia apples are now being grown by farmers in North America, Europe, Chile and New Zealand, and are available to purchase in stores around the world.
- In order to extend their availability beyond harvest time, Ambrosia apples are “put to sleep” in Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage. CA storage takes cold storage a step further by lowering the temperature and the oxygen levels, so fruit can be stored for six months or more and remain harvest fresh.
- Ambrosias, like other apples, are loaded with health giving properties such as pectin, a cholesterol-lowering soluble fibre, and anti-oxidants, which are good for preventing heart disease.
- The original Ambrosia apple tree was grown from a chance seedling. Commercially viable chance seedlings are extremely rare; less than a dozen of these chance seedlings have found their way to market in the past 50 years.
- Ambrosia means “food of the gods” as depicted in ancient Greek mythology. The name was chosen by Wilfrid Mennell, who, with his wife Sally, discovered the original Ambrosia apple tree in their orchard in the Similkameen Valley of British Columbia.
- When first introduced to the public at the annual Apple Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ambrosia met with instant acclaim and has been a favourite of the Festival ever since.
Bully Dog is thrilled to announce that the Paccar MX® engine has been added to the group of engines that are available within Bully Dog’s Heavy Duty WatchDog and Heavy Duty GT. Here is a testimonial from one of our customers about the benefits of using the HDGT on a truck with the Paccar engine.
“I bought my truck new. It’s a T-660 with the 455 Paccar MX motor. Right now it has 165,000 miles on it. I pull a reefer from the Midwest to the East coast so we are loaded going both ways. It’s pretty flat until you get to PA and get into those hills, but there are some good pulls. Previously I had been running Cat C-15s so this was quite a letdown in performance. The stupid thing gets 7.5 MPG so you have to figure if you want to put that money in your back pocket or be the first one to the top of the hill.
Before installing the HDGT, the truck wouldn’t get out of its own way. Now that I installed the Bully Dog, it’s a lot more aggressive. When you call for power it’s there. I would say it’s a 90% improvement over what I had, because you always want more horsepower. The truck is what I would call snotty. It has an attitude that was completely missing before and it doesn’t quit on you anytime it sees a hill. It has been a big improvement in performance and I would recommend the HDGT to drivers that are using the Paccar motor.”
Jeff, South Dakota
More detailed information can be found at bigrig.bullydog.com