Did you know that since 2002 the availability of LSD in the United States has dropped by a whopping 95%? You can't buy the stuff anymore because it is just not out there. This drop has been attributed to the arrest and conviction of TWO people by the DEA. They were busted in Kansas, where they had a LSD lab in an old Atlas nuclear missile silo they owned. They were in the process of moving the lab with a rent-a-truck when they were pulled over by the Kansas Highway Patrol.
The DEA is now convinced that these two guys were making 95% of the LSD consumed in the US, and a large amount of Europe's demand. Amazing, eh? The two guys are William Leonard Pickard and Clyde Apperson. It is estimated that every 5 weeks, they would produce 2.2 pounds of LSD.
2.2 pounds of any drug doesn't sound like very much. It is one kilogram. The average LSD "hit" is between 20 to 80 micrograms. That means that 1kg offers between 12.5 to 50 million doses. Made for about 1 cent a dose, and sold at $5 a dose, 1kg of LSD can yield $62 to $240 millions dollars in profit.
No self respecting criminal organization is going to allow $100 million in profits a month to go unclaimed for long. The problem is that LSD can not be easily made as other more common narcotics are. The production is very specialized. On the other hand, it can be pretty easy to hide 1kg of anything to smuggle.
Personally, I think that eventually North Korea is going to end up being the world's producer of LSD. It makes perfect sense. North Korea has already demonstrated that they are in the heroin smuggling business. They are doing this to raise the hard cash they need to prop up the current regime. How hard would it be for North Korea to make and smuggle 1 Kg a month of LSD into Europe and the US? Not hard at all.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Perth's Gay Pride Parade
I was invited to the Gay Pride Parade Saturday night here in Perth. Peter, a gay man at Loretta's office, invited her and her friends. Loretta's workmate Liz also opted to come along with her three children for some wholesome family entertainment.
The newspaper had predicted a crowd of about 7000 people. I don't think it was that many. But it was still a pretty solid turnout. I got the impression that most people were not there to support gay causes. They were there simply because they were bored and wanted to see something different. Hence, spectators like Liz and her kids.
Peter is a flaming, outrageous homo. He is about 48 years old, if I had to guess. 6'-4", hair bleached blonde with tussled spikes, and a big pot belly. He walks around like a girl, limp wristed and everything. He was married to a woman for 12 years before he came out of the closet. And boy did he come out! I get the impression that he is making up for a lost youth. Personally, I think he is kinda of pathetic. He isn't some cute 20 year old gay boy anymore. He is a late 40's, middle age, has been. Still, he is funny and outrageous has hell.
Peter had managed to secure an excellent viewing spot in Northbridge. He had booked and outside table at one of the restaurants in Northbridge along the parade route. So he and his friends could sit there and drink and smoke and watch all floats go by. So we all joined him there.
I don't know why he was not in the parade. Perhaps he wasn't invited. I don't know. I didn't ask.
I was baffled as to why the parade is being held in late October. Here in Australia, Madri Gras seems have been take over by the gay community. The Sydney Mardi Gras Parade is renowed for being THE gay event on the planet. It held in February or March. I asked Peter why in Perth they are holding this Parade this weekend. Were they attempting to take over Halloween and turn it into a gay pride event too?
No. Peter explained that October is Gay Pride month (who knew?), and this parade is held on the last Saturday of the October to celebrate the end of this month. The fact that it land on or about Halloween is coincidence. They don't celebrate Halloween in Australia anyways, so no one really cares. As he explained it, come November 1st, he has to drop his "pride" and revert to his normal slutty self.
Overall, I thought the whole parade was pretty lame. It started with Dykes On Bikes, Harly-Davidson riding lesbians and their girlfriends perched on the passenger seat. Boring.... next!
They had a float gay men and women dressed as sexy construction workers under the banner "Working for a better community". Then there was a flat of old gay men called "Pink & Gray". There were some other bizarre groups. One was a group of gay men dressed in black leather like wannabe bikers. There was a group called "Teddy Bears", I have no idea what the hell that was about.
Once the freaks who want to share their particular sexual fetish came through, the more mainstream groups came through. These are groups or normal people who are looking to keep their sexual orientation as a non-issue in their own chosen profession. To protect themselves, they form unions such as The Gay/Lesbian teachers, the gay policemen group, etc. They don't go around trying to shock people, or demonstrate how twisted they are.
There was a group from the Australian Labour Party that came marching through carry posters with John Howard's face crossed out. Now this has me totally baffled. What on earth has John Howard, or more specifically, opposition to John Howard, have to do with being gay?
The ALP is similar the the US Democratic Party. John Howard is the leader of the opposition, The Liberal Party. The Liberals are like the US Republicans. John Howard doesn't have anything against gays. So what was that all about?
Then came The Greens Party. They are a fringe party, even more left than the Labour party. What I did not see was a group of gay Liberal Party members make a stand. I wonder why?
I do not understand why being gay means that one has to automatically associate ones self with leftist causes. Why does being gay mean that you support high taxes, bigger government, more welfare, and a weak foreign and military policy? Why can't I be gay, and also support what are normally Republican ideas?
Perhaps it is knee-jerk reaction to the religious right's hijacking of the American Republican Party. Perhaps the gays reckoned they should hijack the other party. Doesn't make any sense to me. I strongly disagree with a lot of the "policies" put forward by the Australian Labour Party, and I can't imagine for one second why who I sleep with would make me change my mind on any of these points.
Further... why would the Labour Party even allow themselves to be associated with this parade? If they are trying to appeal to the average working Joe, how does embracing travesties in skimpy outfits going to help? It just seems to say "We are the party of trivial and non-mainstream freaks".
There was one float I liked. It was sponsored by a local topless bar and featured beautiful girls pole dancing on the float. Loretta and I had an argument about the girls. She felt they were lesbians. I told her that they were not, but they were professional strippers who work there and were probably straight. Why would a topless gentlemans club that caters to heterosexual businessmen be in a gay-pride parade? I dunno. But I liked it. And the nice part... Their girls looked like girls. They didn't look like the tattooed, crew cut, butch "manly" girls that the parade had featured.
There was a smattering of cross-dressing transvestite in the parade. Most were simply dreadful, ugly men looking like ugly women. But there were two that were very good. They were tall, 6'-4" tall men in real life, and about 7 foot with their high heels on. Their dresses were beautiful, and they put a lot of effort into their outfits. They reminded me of the Phillipino transvestite hookers that I met in Hong Kong last year.
The Asian tourist were eating it up. The poor transvestite couldn't walk 2 feet without being stopped by another gaggle of camera laden tourist for photo ops. They were very gracious, and the little Asian women that posed with them were thrilled to death.
That was it. I will give it a miss next year, unless Peter offers to buy me beer while I sit there.
The newspaper had predicted a crowd of about 7000 people. I don't think it was that many. But it was still a pretty solid turnout. I got the impression that most people were not there to support gay causes. They were there simply because they were bored and wanted to see something different. Hence, spectators like Liz and her kids.
Peter is a flaming, outrageous homo. He is about 48 years old, if I had to guess. 6'-4", hair bleached blonde with tussled spikes, and a big pot belly. He walks around like a girl, limp wristed and everything. He was married to a woman for 12 years before he came out of the closet. And boy did he come out! I get the impression that he is making up for a lost youth. Personally, I think he is kinda of pathetic. He isn't some cute 20 year old gay boy anymore. He is a late 40's, middle age, has been. Still, he is funny and outrageous has hell.
Peter had managed to secure an excellent viewing spot in Northbridge. He had booked and outside table at one of the restaurants in Northbridge along the parade route. So he and his friends could sit there and drink and smoke and watch all floats go by. So we all joined him there.
I don't know why he was not in the parade. Perhaps he wasn't invited. I don't know. I didn't ask.
I was baffled as to why the parade is being held in late October. Here in Australia, Madri Gras seems have been take over by the gay community. The Sydney Mardi Gras Parade is renowed for being THE gay event on the planet. It held in February or March. I asked Peter why in Perth they are holding this Parade this weekend. Were they attempting to take over Halloween and turn it into a gay pride event too?
No. Peter explained that October is Gay Pride month (who knew?), and this parade is held on the last Saturday of the October to celebrate the end of this month. The fact that it land on or about Halloween is coincidence. They don't celebrate Halloween in Australia anyways, so no one really cares. As he explained it, come November 1st, he has to drop his "pride" and revert to his normal slutty self.
Overall, I thought the whole parade was pretty lame. It started with Dykes On Bikes, Harly-Davidson riding lesbians and their girlfriends perched on the passenger seat. Boring.... next!
They had a float gay men and women dressed as sexy construction workers under the banner "Working for a better community". Then there was a flat of old gay men called "Pink & Gray". There were some other bizarre groups. One was a group of gay men dressed in black leather like wannabe bikers. There was a group called "Teddy Bears", I have no idea what the hell that was about.
Once the freaks who want to share their particular sexual fetish came through, the more mainstream groups came through. These are groups or normal people who are looking to keep their sexual orientation as a non-issue in their own chosen profession. To protect themselves, they form unions such as The Gay/Lesbian teachers, the gay policemen group, etc. They don't go around trying to shock people, or demonstrate how twisted they are.
There was a group from the Australian Labour Party that came marching through carry posters with John Howard's face crossed out. Now this has me totally baffled. What on earth has John Howard, or more specifically, opposition to John Howard, have to do with being gay?
The ALP is similar the the US Democratic Party. John Howard is the leader of the opposition, The Liberal Party. The Liberals are like the US Republicans. John Howard doesn't have anything against gays. So what was that all about?
Then came The Greens Party. They are a fringe party, even more left than the Labour party. What I did not see was a group of gay Liberal Party members make a stand. I wonder why?
I do not understand why being gay means that one has to automatically associate ones self with leftist causes. Why does being gay mean that you support high taxes, bigger government, more welfare, and a weak foreign and military policy? Why can't I be gay, and also support what are normally Republican ideas?
Perhaps it is knee-jerk reaction to the religious right's hijacking of the American Republican Party. Perhaps the gays reckoned they should hijack the other party. Doesn't make any sense to me. I strongly disagree with a lot of the "policies" put forward by the Australian Labour Party, and I can't imagine for one second why who I sleep with would make me change my mind on any of these points.
Further... why would the Labour Party even allow themselves to be associated with this parade? If they are trying to appeal to the average working Joe, how does embracing travesties in skimpy outfits going to help? It just seems to say "We are the party of trivial and non-mainstream freaks".
There was one float I liked. It was sponsored by a local topless bar and featured beautiful girls pole dancing on the float. Loretta and I had an argument about the girls. She felt they were lesbians. I told her that they were not, but they were professional strippers who work there and were probably straight. Why would a topless gentlemans club that caters to heterosexual businessmen be in a gay-pride parade? I dunno. But I liked it. And the nice part... Their girls looked like girls. They didn't look like the tattooed, crew cut, butch "manly" girls that the parade had featured.
There was a smattering of cross-dressing transvestite in the parade. Most were simply dreadful, ugly men looking like ugly women. But there were two that were very good. They were tall, 6'-4" tall men in real life, and about 7 foot with their high heels on. Their dresses were beautiful, and they put a lot of effort into their outfits. They reminded me of the Phillipino transvestite hookers that I met in Hong Kong last year.
The Asian tourist were eating it up. The poor transvestite couldn't walk 2 feet without being stopped by another gaggle of camera laden tourist for photo ops. They were very gracious, and the little Asian women that posed with them were thrilled to death.
That was it. I will give it a miss next year, unless Peter offers to buy me beer while I sit there.
Iranian solution to stock exchange problems
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| Mahmoud Ahmadinejad |
Capital is fleeing Iran. The Iranian stock market has plunged 20% in the last four months. Threatening to kill people for investing in Iran is not the way to attract the capital needed to grow the economy. Iran's population is booming. The vast majority of the citizens are under the age of 30. Without the capital needed for business to grow, how are these people going to get jobs? You need both labor AND capital, Bozo.
Sad. On this path, Iran is going to become another Pakistan or Bangladesh, full of angry, dirt poor, unemployed people. A handful of well-connected familes will become rich. Everyone else will starve.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Redneck Hurricane Survival Checklist
| Toilet Paper........................................ | check |
| Bud Light............................................ | check |
| Keystone Ice....................................... | check |
| Budweiser........................................... | check |
| Red Dog............................................. | check |
| Misc. alcohol...................................... | check |
| Door to float your old lady and booze ... | check |
P.C. is gonna kill us in Australia
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| Sister. Your husband beats you because you displease him. Now shut up and take your deserved punishment. |
WTF!?! The Imans are the ones telling the husbands that it is proper to beat your wife if she doesn't act like a good Muslim wife should. They tell fathers it is OK to kill your "wayward" daughter for bringing shame on the family by thinking for herself. They tell brothers that it is OK to murder your sisters because your dad said so.
This is bullshit. If a man wants to live in a place where it is OK to beat your wife, then move to Pakistan. You are in Australia now where there are laws against this shit. The excuse, "It's OK. We beat our women all the time back in the hellhole I came from." should never work here!
Do they really think that the Iman and his goons are going to help her? Hello no! How naive are these people? The Mosque is going to tell her shut up and take her "punishment" like a good Muslim woman should. They will tell her that she must have brought it on herself by doing something that displeased her husband. It will be her fault.
What the police should do it take the wife-beating husband out back and beat the living shit out of him with night sticks. Better yet. They should let the wife get some licks in too. That should give him a taste of how wonderful it feels to be abused. Then throw his pathetic ass in prison for 6 months followed by deportation.
Harriet Miers commits hara-kiri
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| Harriet Miers |
I just love how attorney-client privledge was used to prevent people from getting answers for tough questions. This wouldn't be an issue, Bush, if you didn't put your own attorney up for the job. Man. Do you really think that Congress, and the American public, is that stupid?
It is not without precedence. His own father give an under-qualified imbecile an important job in government when he gave Dan Quail the job of VP back in 1989. He got away with it. (Although I can't help but think that Bush Sr. viewed Quail as a life insurance policy. In other words, "I'm the only thing standing between Quail and the Big-Red-Button... so you better not get rid of me.")
Now there is one thing I know about Bush. He will exact punishment for this fiasco on someone, or someones, rather than himself or his own office. He will go after those in his own party who said "WTF?" rather than "Yes Sir! How high?" when he threw his personal lawyer out there for the job. I wonder who's heads are gonna roll?
Good. Now that is over with, on to the real battle, with real contendors. No more amuture hour please!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Iran to Israel... Please bomb us!
Well if this doesn't make Iran's position about its relationship with Israel clear, then I don't know what will. Iran's president claimed in a speech yesterday "Israel is a 'disgraceful blot' that should be "wiped off the map'."
Gee. Combine this with the fact that Iran is hell bent on getting nuclear reactors fired up. They claim it is for their "energy crisis". Yea right. Iran has the 3rd or 4th largest oil and gas reserves on the planet. They don't have a large energy-consuming industrial base. If you believe that reason, then I have bridge in New York to sell you.
Israel blew Iraq's nuclear weapon ambitions to smithereens back in 1981 when they bombed Iraq's brand new, French built, nuclear reactor at Osirak. Israel didn't ask for anyone's permission. They just sent some F-16's over one day with some heavy duty weapons and put an end to Saddam's nuclear progress. Despite all the resulting diplomatic saber rattling that resulted from the pre-emptive attack, it did result in keeping Saddam out of the nuclear club.
Now based on what is going on in Iran this week, and these clear statements from Iran's new president, I think another bombing run is in order. A crystal clear threat has been made. And there is no doubt that Iran, with Pakistan's help, is rushing to get nukes as soon as possible.
So don't be surprised is Israel acts in the next few weeks.
Gee. Combine this with the fact that Iran is hell bent on getting nuclear reactors fired up. They claim it is for their "energy crisis". Yea right. Iran has the 3rd or 4th largest oil and gas reserves on the planet. They don't have a large energy-consuming industrial base. If you believe that reason, then I have bridge in New York to sell you.
Israel blew Iraq's nuclear weapon ambitions to smithereens back in 1981 when they bombed Iraq's brand new, French built, nuclear reactor at Osirak. Israel didn't ask for anyone's permission. They just sent some F-16's over one day with some heavy duty weapons and put an end to Saddam's nuclear progress. Despite all the resulting diplomatic saber rattling that resulted from the pre-emptive attack, it did result in keeping Saddam out of the nuclear club.
Now based on what is going on in Iran this week, and these clear statements from Iran's new president, I think another bombing run is in order. A crystal clear threat has been made. And there is no doubt that Iran, with Pakistan's help, is rushing to get nukes as soon as possible.
So don't be surprised is Israel acts in the next few weeks.
A restroom for men to feel inadequate in
" One guy said it was a bit disconcerting to be 'going about his business' and to have so many pairs of eyes watching him, a bit like the Mona Lisa effect. "
Saw this in the news today. A new hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand has "enhanced" their men's room by putting full sized photos of women on the wall above each urinal. The women are laughing at the men's "equipment" while they take care of business.I love the fact that a modeling agency in Auckland turned down the job and they used local models for the job. I can't wait to see what they decide to do for the ladies restroom.
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| The men's room at the Queenstown, NZ Sofitel Hotel |
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| Another view |
David Hicks
Oh this pissed me off today! Grrrrr.
I went to lunch downtown. On the busy corner there was a group of looney-leftist holding their usual protest. The group, Women In Black, stand there dressed in black, protesting war, Iraq, etc, etc. Fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I ignore them.
David Hicks is an Australian who was captured by US forces while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan back in 2001. He is currently being held in Guantanamo. What pissed me off was the photo they used of David Hicks. They opted to use the nice choir-boy image of him wearing a nice colorful sweater and looking as harmless as a hamster.
The reality is different. David Hicks was a looser mercenary who fought with Islamic extremists in Kosovo, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. He wanted to kill people, and found the places on earth where he could fulfill is "Rambo" fanstasy. Here is a photo of him with a grenade laucher.
He has become the poster boy of the Australian left. They hold him up as an example of how mean and unfair the US and Australia are. I just LOVE how they decided to a nice pleasant photo of him instead of showing the reality. Gee. Why don't you just go ahead and photoshop a halo around his head while you are at it?
They are bitching about his rights, and how he has become suicidal while beinging held in Guantanamo. Oh poor baby. I'm sure he granted all his victims their "rights" before having fun killing them. The groups of Islamic fanatics he fought with are well known for their complete lack of respect for anyones rights. He has gotten what he deserves.
"Oh... but he is Australian. He is different. He is entitled to his Australia rights."
Cry me a river lady. The idiot took up with a bunch of terrorist running around killing people so he could get his rocks off. He is hanging around and fighting for people who want to destroy everything Australia stands for. Now that he is caught, he wants to wave his Aussie passport around like it is some sort of "get-out-of-jail-free" card.
Perhaps he should have read the fine print on the al-Qaeda recruitment brochure...
I went to lunch downtown. On the busy corner there was a group of looney-leftist holding their usual protest. The group, Women In Black, stand there dressed in black, protesting war, Iraq, etc, etc. Fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I ignore them.
« Attention Australians!
Your passport is NOT a Get-Out-Of-Jail card! »
However, today they decided to take it a step further. Today they made up little signs and taped them to the cross walk buttons so you have to lift their little sign to press the button. Their sign featured a picture of David Hicks, and some gobblygook about how he is being denied his rights, blah, blah, blah.Your passport is NOT a Get-Out-Of-Jail card! »
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| David Hicks looking innocent |
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| David Hicks... the reality |
He has become the poster boy of the Australian left. They hold him up as an example of how mean and unfair the US and Australia are. I just LOVE how they decided to a nice pleasant photo of him instead of showing the reality. Gee. Why don't you just go ahead and photoshop a halo around his head while you are at it?
They are bitching about his rights, and how he has become suicidal while beinging held in Guantanamo. Oh poor baby. I'm sure he granted all his victims their "rights" before having fun killing them. The groups of Islamic fanatics he fought with are well known for their complete lack of respect for anyones rights. He has gotten what he deserves.
"Oh... but he is Australian. He is different. He is entitled to his Australia rights."
Cry me a river lady. The idiot took up with a bunch of terrorist running around killing people so he could get his rocks off. He is hanging around and fighting for people who want to destroy everything Australia stands for. Now that he is caught, he wants to wave his Aussie passport around like it is some sort of "get-out-of-jail-free" card.
Perhaps he should have read the fine print on the al-Qaeda recruitment brochure...
People who run off to third-world hell holes to join murdering groups of fanatics who enjoy terrorizing and killing people run the very real risk of having some bad shit happen to them. In particular, you could be killed, maimed, tortured, and/or jailed for the rest of your life.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Saudi Arabian Nutters
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| Illegal in Saudi Arabia! |
Here is a sample from the article:
Recently, a newspaper photographer was detained by the mutawwa (religious police) for photographing a row of trees uprooted during a sand storm in Riyadh. The reason given for his detention was that trees are God’s creation and that by photographing fallen trees, the photographer was making fun of God’s creation.
« if one wants to draw a falcon, he draws only the body without the head. Alternatively, he could draw a line between the body and the neck. Drawing a complete bird is not permissible in Islam. »
Ninth grade children are being taught that it is OK to assult photographers in order to defend Islam. Also, in Saudia Arabia, a child (or anyone else for that matter) is not allowed to draw an animal! So you will never see a child's drawings of the family on the kitchen fridge in KSA. The little kids's drawing show here is not allowed in KSA.Sad & pathetic... isn't it?
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
What to do with extra ketchup packets
Take two ketchup packs. Rip them open just a little bit. Or use a knife and punch a small hole on the top. Then place them on the toilet rim of a sit-down toilet. Place them on the rim where the inner-lid's little feet come to rest when the lid is down. Point them so that the open end is pointed inwards towards the center of the toilet.
Then gently lower the lid and leave.
The next person who comes in to use the toilet will become the victim. As soon as they sit on inner lid, their weight will cause the lid to press on the ketchup packet, which will then burst and splatter ketchup all over their bottom.
You won't be able to witness the fun... but it could cause some extra long restroom breaks at work.
Gawd I love America!!!
Talk like a pirate day
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Must have been one hell of a night!
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| Rob McCormick CEO of Savvis Comm. |
A quarter of a million dollars in one night at a topless bar? The article mentions that they tip $10,000 for a lap dance. Good for her. If the guy has that much money to blow.
Now it seems to me he can't get the company to pay the tab as part of the cost of doing business, then it must have been for "personal" use. Was this expensive night at Scores used land a big client that will earn them millions in profit? If it was, then being CEO, he certainly could have simply approved the expense to be paid. So he must not be able to convince the company (or his wife) that the expense is legit.
Remind me to never buy stock on Savvis if it is run by a CEO stupid enough to blow 1/4 $million of the company's money for one night of personal entertainment and too much of a pussy to admit it and pay it.
It turns out he is not the only one with more money than brains. The husband of a junior diplomat atBangladesh’s mission to the United Nations has sued Scores for $130k credit card charge on his card. His wife was recalled to Bangladesh because of his spending at strip clubs. Read this excellent story in New York Magazine about him and his freespending ways at Scores.
And here the American CFO of a large Swiss insurance company sued because of his $28k night.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Normandy 4-Jun-1944: D-Day as reported by today's media
I saw this brilliant satire by Spainard Fernando Díaz Villanueva. It blows me away about how accurate it is when comparing the efforts to topple Saddam to the efforts to topple Hitler.
According to sources in the improvised hospital in the town of Saint Mere Eglise, the slaughter was worse than French and Germans anticipated. “We are dropping like flies” said an eye witness who preferred to remain anonymous. “The Americans came in killing like mad men, I never thought I would say this, but life was better with Adolf Hitler.”Go read it...
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Sharks off my beach
Damn! There have been shark sighting almost every day at my beach in the last few days. Some young Great Whites have been nosing around close to shore, bumping into kayakers. So the lifeguards have been kicking the swimmers and surfers out of the water when the sharks show up.
Spring is here!
Finally, spring has arrived! The weather is perfect, getting a little warmer each day. The allergy season is in full bloom. The flys are starting to show up (I hate them!).
One weird thing about living in Perth is how it seems like all of a sudden the sun starts coming up at 4 am. It seems to have happened last week. I really wish that Western Australia would use Daylight Savings Time. They use it in other Australian states. Just not here! In the summer, the sun comes up at 4 am and goes down around 7. It is such as waste of daylight. Plus I hate the fact that when I wake up it looks like noon outside.
One weird thing about living in Perth is how it seems like all of a sudden the sun starts coming up at 4 am. It seems to have happened last week. I really wish that Western Australia would use Daylight Savings Time. They use it in other Australian states. Just not here! In the summer, the sun comes up at 4 am and goes down around 7. It is such as waste of daylight. Plus I hate the fact that when I wake up it looks like noon outside.
Sleep Apnea
This weekend the husband of a co-worker of mine died in his sleep from Sleep Apnea. They had 3 kids. She is devestated and trying to keep it together for the sake of the kids. He was only 52 years old.
It is sad. The fact that I personally know two people who suffer from this, and now one that died, it seems to be a common problem. My mom recently was diagnosed with it. She was lucky. She lives alone, so no one is there to notice irregular sleep breathing. Loretta's brother also suffers from it. His wife noticed it.
They treat it with a ventilator that helps regulate the breathing during sleep. Sounds very uncomfotable. Untreated, the apnea causes stress on the heart during sleep.
Well. I makes you rethink the cases where someone dies "in their sleep" of seemingly natural causes. My ex-wife's grandmother died that way, alone, in her sleep, of a heart attack or failure in the middle of the night. She was found late then next day by one of her daughters when she failed to show up for a lunch appointment. I can't help think that this is what actually did her in.
It is sad. The fact that I personally know two people who suffer from this, and now one that died, it seems to be a common problem. My mom recently was diagnosed with it. She was lucky. She lives alone, so no one is there to notice irregular sleep breathing. Loretta's brother also suffers from it. His wife noticed it.
They treat it with a ventilator that helps regulate the breathing during sleep. Sounds very uncomfotable. Untreated, the apnea causes stress on the heart during sleep.
Well. I makes you rethink the cases where someone dies "in their sleep" of seemingly natural causes. My ex-wife's grandmother died that way, alone, in her sleep, of a heart attack or failure in the middle of the night. She was found late then next day by one of her daughters when she failed to show up for a lunch appointment. I can't help think that this is what actually did her in.
Film: The 40 Year Old Virgin
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Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Big Brother is tracking you through your mobile phone
People are worried that the technique of mapping the physical location of a phone as it moves about can be abused by the government. The information can be used to find your location. Over time, the information will yield your travel patterns. It can be used to find out of you are speeding. It can be used to find out where you are staying, where you work, and the locations you frequent.
Well guess what? The genie is out of the bottle on this one. It has been since the birth of the cellular telephone system. The cellular service provider has to know where your phone is in order to be able to route telephone calls to it. As you move around, the service provider has to be able to seamlessly hand your call off from tower to tower. There is nothing magic about it. Click here to learn how this is done.
Enhanced 911:
Now just because a cell tower has detected your phone and established a link to it does
« Location tracking systems were required by law E-911 »
not mean that the phone company knows exactly where you are. All they know is that you are within the transmission radius of the tower, usually around 10 miles. But that has changed in the last few years. Location tracking systems were required by law (E-911) so that calls to 911 from a mobile phone could be pinpointed to a physical location. The growth of the cellular industry means that your phone can often be detected by more than one tower at a time. Using simple triangulation computations, the service provider can pinpoint the location of your phone to within yards, if not feet. This is the same technique used by GPS receivers. So, in the name of public safety, your cell phone information and your best estimated location are tracked and forwarded to emergency services during 911 calls.Location Based Services:
Since the cellular companies have to implement E-911, it doesn't take a lot to also to also use that same information for commercial purposes. The cellular service providers know this. They plan to use this for the upcoming Location Based Services. They want to be able to provide you with information about merchants near you, such as a restaurant or hotel.
Cell Network Load Analysis:
The monitoring of mobile phone traffic is nothing new either. The cellular service providers do this all the time. They have to. They log the information being collected at their cell towers. They use this information to figure out where to put their towers, and how much capacity each tower needs to be able to handle. They measure the trends of the demands for service on their towers so they can decided where they need to upgrade capacity.
Only by keeping detailed logs of what each receiver on each tower does can they determine patterns and measure the flow of users. They don't care about an individual user, but they care about how that user fits into the aggregate workload for each receiver. So, buried deep in the databases maintained by the cellular service companies, at least for a while, is a record of every connection between your phone and a cell tower receiver.
Law Enforcement Uses:
The ability to track a phone as it moves about has been demonstrated as an effective law-enforcement tool. For example, the police were able to use phone tracking records to convict Alejandro Avila for the abduction, rape, and murder of 5 year old Samantha Runnion in Orange County, California in 2002 . He claimed he was miles away at the time of the murder, shopping in Ontario, California. The cell phone records not only discredited his alibi, but they placed his phone at the location where the abduction took place, and where her body was later found, at the time the crimes occurred.
Intelligence Uses:
Although it is not publicized, and will probably be denied, one can only assume that intelligence and law enforcement agencies, such as the NSA, CIA, and FBI subscribe to the collected cellular records to monitor the movement of individuals they are interested in.
Road Traffic Analysis:
This is the crux of the CNN article. Traffic engineers have figured out that measuring the movement and density of cellular phones is an excellent way to monitor road conditions. It is a cheap and highly effective way to collect data for this purpose.
The Solution:
So the problem is that people are concerned that the data released to transportation planners from the cell tower records for road traffic analysis can be used by other government agencies who are more interested in targeted individual people. It is a valid concern, and one that can not be dismissed.
As mentioned before, that data is already there, and available to government agencies. They simply have to go to the cellular companies to get it. One hopes that they have a warrant.
" data provided to any vendor must be scrubbed clean of distinguishing information "
The solution is simple. Any data provided to any vendor must be scrubbed clean of distinguishing information. The identification numbers that tie a particular phone to an account must be replaced with a meaningless substitute number. This will allow the user of the data to still perform all the analysis, but they can not use the information to figure out exactly who owns each phone.The substitute number can have a life of 24 hours. After that, it can be reused for another account. With this restriction, the vendor can not determine the movements of the same phone beyond a 24 hour window.
The assignment and lookup table of substitute numbers must be destroyed after 24 hours and a new one built of randomly assigned numbers. Without this table, the substitute numbers can not be matched back to real accounts.
With these procedures in place, the information given to a vendor is meaningless except for traffic analysis.
Dumb & Dumber
Yes, these two idiots are the models of well run nations. Under Robert Mugabe's rule, Zimbabwe was transformed from the bread-basket of Africa and a major exporter of agriculture products, into a basket case of a nation that can no longer even feed itself. Robert Mugabe is doing to Zimbabwe what Pol Pot did to Cambodia. We all know how well that turned out.
Under Hugo Chavez rule, Venezuela has slid backwards into a 1960's style Latin American communist state. It appears that he wants to turn Venezuela into the next Cuba. It is back to the future. He has apparently failed to learn the lessons of the last 50 years that communism doesn't work. Centrally planned agriculture doesn't work. Nations all over the world that have tried it learned the hard way. China, Russia, Vietnam, Egypt, Cuba. The list is endless.
It is pathetic that the UN allowed one of their agencies to become a bully pulpit for these two loosers. It is even more pathetic that the FAO allowed the meeting to be packed with fans of these two morons. To me, this is evidence that the UN has allowed itself to be infected and hijacked by anti-American zealots who wish to use the money, utilties, and authority of the UN to spread their own propaganda.
It is time for some serious house cleaning at the UN. They need to focus on their mission and not become a vehical for rabid little dictators around the world to spread their hatred.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Offal Meat
It made me laugh. I can't help but think it means "Awful" meat, as in "Our meat is awful!".
It turns out that I am not far from the truth. I looked it up in the dictionary. It defines it as a noun meaning
Learn something new every day!
- Waste parts, especially of a butchered animal.
- Refuse; rubbish.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction
I just read the most bizarre article in The Australian.
Here is deal. This freakazoid from Sydney was busted for raping rabbits. Apparently what started out as a fetish turned into a violent rampage involving the deaths of 17 to 50 rabbits. He showed up in court on Thursday and was ordered report to a psychiatrist, and to stay away from pet shops and rural areas.
He was caught out because ".. he had visible small scratches to both hands and his face.", and his bank records showed him making purchases of bunnies from pet stores all over Sydney.
Just when you thought things could not get any more twisted, this nutter named Lara Nettle showed up at the court hearing. She is the president of The Australian Companion Rabbit Society. What the hell is that organization? Sounds like an bunny version of NAMBLA to me. Jeeze. They are all creeping me out.
She gets up and goes on this rant about how bunnies represent female sexuality, they love sex, prostitutes used to be known as "bunnies", and the connection between sexual women and bunnies is obvious because of Playboy Bunnies.
Wow... she is definitely a couple of sandwiches short of picnic there.
Now as a red-blooded American male, I can say without a doubt that I love Playboy Bunnies. But I swear I have never looked at a real rabbit as anything but a fur covered varmit. Her connection between having sex with rabbits and reading Playboy magazine is very weak.
Here is another twist. The bunny-rapist guy is from New Zealand. I thought Kiwi's preferred sheep. Perhaps that is why he moved over to Australia?
You can't make this stuff up.
Here is deal. This freakazoid from Sydney was busted for raping rabbits. Apparently what started out as a fetish turned into a violent rampage involving the deaths of 17 to 50 rabbits. He showed up in court on Thursday and was ordered report to a psychiatrist, and to stay away from pet shops and rural areas.
He was caught out because ".. he had visible small scratches to both hands and his face.", and his bank records showed him making purchases of bunnies from pet stores all over Sydney.
Just when you thought things could not get any more twisted, this nutter named Lara Nettle showed up at the court hearing. She is the president of The Australian Companion Rabbit Society. What the hell is that organization? Sounds like an bunny version of NAMBLA to me. Jeeze. They are all creeping me out.
She gets up and goes on this rant about how bunnies represent female sexuality, they love sex, prostitutes used to be known as "bunnies", and the connection between sexual women and bunnies is obvious because of Playboy Bunnies.
Wow... she is definitely a couple of sandwiches short of picnic there.
Now as a red-blooded American male, I can say without a doubt that I love Playboy Bunnies. But I swear I have never looked at a real rabbit as anything but a fur covered varmit. Her connection between having sex with rabbits and reading Playboy magazine is very weak.
Here is another twist. The bunny-rapist guy is from New Zealand. I thought Kiwi's preferred sheep. Perhaps that is why he moved over to Australia?
You can't make this stuff up.
Books on MP3...
Project Gutenberg has 16,000 public domain titles free to download. Within their online library, they also have a large number of Audio eBooks, most of which are narrated by humans. Some are read by computer. I have not listed to the computer generated audio books, so I can't vouch for their quality.
So you can download books that you have always meant to read, but never had the time. Then either burn them to CD in CDA format (for old fashioned dumber CD players in cars), or in MP3 format (for newer smarter CD players). Apple's free iTunes software can burn the CD for you in the format you need.
If you have an Apple iPod MP3 player, then a good solution it to simply load the books to that and play that through your car's FM radio. There are some good after-market solutions that do this. I use the Griffen iTrip. There is also the newer Griffen Roadtrip which works with the new iPod Nano. Another option is to pump the audio through your car's cassete player with the Griffen SmartDeck.
Once you get your car's audio system set up to listen to MP3s on your iPod, then you can also expand your listening library to other subjects, such as education, self-help, news, etc.
Podcast - A directory of Podcasts on the net.
LibriVox - Free public domain books in audio format for download.
NPR Podcasts - A list of National Public Radio's Podcast Files from their shows.
Podcasting News Directory - A directory of podcasts by subject.
Podiobooks - Serials in Podcast form.
Easy Come. Easy Go.
In local news, a Perth family living on unemployment won $800,000 (tax free) in the lottery. Seven weeks later, they are broke, and facing jail for welfare fraud.
* Centrelink, for those who don't know, is the Australian welfare office (aka The Dole).
* Centrelink, for those who don't know, is the Australian welfare office (aka The Dole).
Lotto nightmare: Relatives clean out dole duo's fortune
By PAUL LAMPATHAKIS
02oct05
A PERTH couple who won nearly $800,000 on Lotto have told how they were left penniless just seven weeks later.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, pregnant mother of five Donna Lynden described how she and partner Allan Taylor were pressured to give away much of their winnings to relatives after buying a house and cars for themselves.She said their money quickly ran out and they continued to illegally claim welfare payments to survive, despite hitting a $793,151.87 Lotto jackpot in June 2003.
"It was a nightmare right away," she said.
"When my partner told my mum we had won Lotto, she was on the phone ringing all of her side of the family.
"Then they were all ringing me up saying things like, `I want 20 grand, I've got bills'.
"And I said, `Look, this is for me and my kids and the first thing I'm doing is buying a house for my kids'."
The couple may now have to sell the house they bought in Endeavour Court, Thornlie, to pay their Centrelink bill.
They pleaded guilty last week to charges related to receiving about $29,000 in payments.
In the kitchen of the four-bedroom home, surrounded by photographs of family members, Ms Lynden told how celebrations after the massive win were short-lived.
Soon after the windfall, the couple bought the house for $310,000, plus a luxury new V8 station wagon and V8 sedan, together worth about $120,000, which they sold last year.
But then they started doling out cash to relatives.
"I gave my mum $50,000, my sister $20,000 and $10,000 to my other sister," Ms Lynden said.
"Allan gave $50,000 to one of his brothers, then $10,000 to another, $15,000 to another and then a bit more and a bit more. He's got 12 brothers and sisters.
"People kept coming around and pestering him for more money.
"I had to get the phone disconnected because it was just ringing all the time. It just got out of hand."
Ms Lynden said the couple could not refuse relatives' cries for help.
"We had to help them out, being an Aboriginal family," she said. "In our culture you've got to help each other out."
But the money ran out in seven weeks and the couple continued collecting Centrelink unemployment payments.
From June 2003 to October 2004, Mr Taylor, 33, who now works as a welder, received $14,247 from Centrelink and Ms Lynden, 35, accepted $14,864.
Ms Lynden has repaid some of the money, but owes about $11,000.
"When we won the money, I said, `We'll both go to Centrelink together to tell them about the money'," Ms Lynden said. "And Allan just left it and kept leaving it, and then we just left it because his side of the family just kept coming back for more money, and he kept giving money out.
"We didn't have money after a while and we needed the Centrelink payments to live because the money only lasted for about seven weeks."
Ms Lynden said a partner of a relative had tipped off Centrelink because of jealousy, landing the couple in court.
She said she did not want to sell the home, the first she had owned, because she wanted to give something to her children, aged between 10 and 16.
Ms Lynden and Mr Taylor will be sentenced in Perth Magistrate's Court next month.
"I just hope Allan doesn't go to jail because him going to jail and me out here with the kids, with a newborn baby, is going to be hard," she said.
The chutzpah award of the week goes to...
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Clever water saving idea!
Makes perfect sense! Why waste the water you used when washing your hands? Let it do double duty as water to flush the toilet too.
The lamest song... ever
I hate when this happens! I'm driving last night with the radio on. It is a beautiful night. The sky is clear.. the air nice and cool and refreshing. I have the window down and breeze blowing in my face. They are playing some decent tunes on the radio. It couldn't be better.
Then it happens. Some idiot, somewhere, calls a radio station and asks them to play the lamest song ever written. And some stupid DJ decides to honor the request. Out of my speakers comes the dreaded lyrics, sang in a nasally whining soprano voice...
The is something about that song "Back For Good", written by the band "Take That", that I detest. The whole song sucks. It is lame. But what kills me is the line "Whatever I said. Whatever I did. I didn't mean it. I just want you back for good." Isn't that the wimpiest, lamest, sorry-ass line you have every heard uttered from someone's mouth?
Dude! If you don't know what it was she is pissed off at you about, then why are you apologizing? Grow some balls for Christ's sake. Where the hell is your backbone? You should be telling her "I meant what I said. And if you can't handle it, then tough shit." No wonder she left your sorry ass. Telling her crap like that is just giving her more proof that she did the right thing by leaving some wimp who can't even back up his own words.
Oh man. This song makes my want to go hunt down the guy who wrote it and kick his ass. Who could even THINK of something so lame? Why didn't he name the song "I am am worthless and pathetic LOOSER with no self-esteem"?
It gets worse. As I sit here writing this rant that damn song is going through my head and I can't shut it off. Arrrrrrgh. Excuse me while I go find a gun and shoot myself in the brains.
Then it happens. Some idiot, somewhere, calls a radio station and asks them to play the lamest song ever written. And some stupid DJ decides to honor the request. Out of my speakers comes the dreaded lyrics, sang in a nasally whining soprano voice...
Whatever I said. Whatever I did. I didn't mean it. I just want you back for good.Arrrrrrgrrrh! It is all I can do to resist kicking the shit out of my radio and ripping the speakers out of the dash with my bare hands. I can't turn off the radio fast enough. I check to make sure my ears aren't bleeding from this horrible song. If I crash my car into a bus full of nuns and orphans and cute puppies and make it explode, it wasn't my fault. The song made me do it.
The is something about that song "Back For Good", written by the band "Take That", that I detest. The whole song sucks. It is lame. But what kills me is the line "Whatever I said. Whatever I did. I didn't mean it. I just want you back for good." Isn't that the wimpiest, lamest, sorry-ass line you have every heard uttered from someone's mouth?
Dude! If you don't know what it was she is pissed off at you about, then why are you apologizing? Grow some balls for Christ's sake. Where the hell is your backbone? You should be telling her "I meant what I said. And if you can't handle it, then tough shit." No wonder she left your sorry ass. Telling her crap like that is just giving her more proof that she did the right thing by leaving some wimp who can't even back up his own words.
Oh man. This song makes my want to go hunt down the guy who wrote it and kick his ass. Who could even THINK of something so lame? Why didn't he name the song "I am am worthless and pathetic LOOSER with no self-esteem"?
It gets worse. As I sit here writing this rant that damn song is going through my head and I can't shut it off. Arrrrrrgh. Excuse me while I go find a gun and shoot myself in the brains.
Monday, October 10, 2005
I know what I want for Xmas!
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Hurricane Katrina... God's Wrath
In the weeks since the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, and to a lesser extent by Hurricane Rita, religous nuts around the world have been spouting off about how it was punishment for the United States because of one thing or another.
I can't help but wonder of if the earthquake in Pakistan, that model of clean muslim living, will also be held up by these same idiots as God's divine punishment? Of course not. They will instead blame the US and the CIA for somehow causing it.
- US homophobes claim that Katrina was punishment for gays celebrating Madi Gras.
- Christian nut Pat Roberton claims that Katrina was punishment for legal abortions in the US.
- Jewish nuts claims that Katrina was punishment for the Israeli withdrawl from the Gaza settlements.
- Muslim nuts claim that Katrina was punishment for the US invasion of Iraq and Afganistan.
I can't help but wonder of if the earthquake in Pakistan, that model of clean muslim living, will also be held up by these same idiots as God's divine punishment? Of course not. They will instead blame the US and the CIA for somehow causing it.
Film "Cinderella Man"
I got some free tickets to go see the film "Cinderella Man". Interesting film... a "feel good" movie that wasn't too bad to sit through. Two thoughts struck me while watching.#1 I'm watching "Gladiator" again, except they moved it 1930's United States.
#2 Jim Braddock may have been courageous. But he was dumb as a brick.
I feel terrible about bagging the guy. But honestly, I was unimpressed. The choices he made were reckless. He was lucky. Perhaps they simply failed to show some of the actions he took in order to make him more sympathetic.
One the things that bothered me was his inability to provide food for his family. I know it was the depression. I know that they had no money. I know that he could not find work. But, he had options. He was not caught in a natural disaster that prevented him from exercising his options. I could not help but ask myself what I would have done if I were in his shoes.
He mentioned in the film that they had sold everything in order to survive. If I were in the situation where I found myself having to sell everything to raise money to survive, then I would be damn sure that I invested in the minimum equipment I would need to eat after the money and assets ran out. I'd buy a good rifle, ammo, an axe, fishing gear, and good boots. He lived in New Jersey. That means there was the Atlantic Ocean near by. That means there is salt water fish he could catch. Going north and west there is the Hudson River, the Delaware River, and hundreds of smaller rivers and lakes. That means fresh water fish, even in the dead of winter. Also in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, there is plenty of game hunting. He could have gone deer hunting, duck hunting, and possibly even gone up to Canada for moose hunting.
I couldn't help but think that if I found my self in a situation where I knew the chances of finding work was bad, and I have a family to feed, I would invest time in hunting and fishing for meat to stockpile for later. I would have taken the oldest boy and spend a weekend deep sea fishing off the Jersey shore, or ice fishing on the Hudson in the middle of winter.
Also, why didn't they buy 5 or 6 hens? Where they lived there was a large open area where the kids played. They could have build a coop and fed the hens scraps and let them find worms and stuff. Then the would have had a regular supply of eggs, which contain protein. They also could have ate the hens when push came to shove.
The scene where his wife pleads with the man from the electric company to not turn off their electricity "because of the children" got me so mad. Why were they wasting money on electricity when the kids didn't have food? What exactly did they have to have electricity for? Their place had a wood burning stove for heat. They could have burned kerosene lamps or candles for light.
And the scene where one of their children suffering from a cold. I couldn't help but ask myself, why in the hell are you not out in the woods chopping wood to bring home to heat the place? Why are you sitting around freezing your asses off and feeling sorry for yourself? Why have you not stacked up a pile of firewood before winter set in? Why have you allowed your situation to deteriorate to this point?
In bad times, I can't help but think to myself "What would my ancestors have done?" How did they not only survive, but thrive in the New World before electricity and cars and grocery stores all the modern luxuries of life? How did they survive the cold New England winters? How did the pioneers do it?
Here is an example of another dumb, but courageous person that I DO NOT respect.
Aron Ralston, who in 2003 got his arm stuck while rock climbing in a remote part of Utah, cut his own arm off in order to survive. He wrote a book about the experience, and has a web site about it too. I don't respect him because he failed to take precautions that would have prevented him from having no choice but to do what he had to do. Because he did not climb with a partner, nor did he tell anyone where he was climbing and when to expect him back, he did not have any alert system in place. So when disaster struck, he was screwed.
Another example. In Santa Barbara in 1990, the Painted Cave Fire roared down the mountain into the San Antonio Creek neighborhood destroying hundreds of homes. In the local paper the next day there was one photograph that stood out. It was a picture taken of an old man on the roof of his house armed with only a water hose. The flames were behind him, and he had a bandana over his mouth for the smoke. He was battling to save his house. What was striking about the picture was the look of fierce determination and grit on his face. I've tried to find the photo on the Internet, but can't find it.
He managed to save his house. All the houses around him were destroyed.
Two years later the same reporter who snapped the picture went back to the neighborhood. All the neighbors who had lost their homes had rebuilt. The new houses were much nicer than that houses that used to be there. The reported tracked down the old man and talked about his story and what happened since that photograph was taken. It turns out that man was a tough-as-nails retired WWII navy veteran. When asked about that day, he said that he regrets doing what he did. If he had to do it gain, he would have fled and let his house burn down like his neighbors did.
24 months later, all his neighbors ended up with new, larger, nicer, and safer houses with fire resistant tile roofs. He still had the old 1940's tract home with the dangerous wood-shake roof. His house also suffered from water damage the winter after the fire because of leaks in his roof. His insurance company would not cover the water damage because it was caused by his own running around up there with the hose during the fire. And the worst part was the damage to his lungs from the smoke and heat during the fire. He used to be healthy, but now had to use an oxygen tank to breath.
See... Dumb, but brave.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Do you have hairy nads?
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Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Google Maps in Blogger: Advanced Subjects
This is part of my tutorial on how to use Google Maps into Google's Blogger service. This section teaches advanced techniques and debugging tips.
Blogger's Big Gotcha!
What makes Google Maps so difficult to install into a blog from Blogger is the fact that all line feeds in a post are converted to <br /> tags. So when you insert the required Javascript into your blog posting, <br /> tags are inserted in there. That causes the Javascript interpreter to fail in the user's browser.
The solution is to make sure that there are no line feeds in any javascript in your blog post. Everything between the <script> and the </script> tags must be one long line.
Common Problems
The most common problem I have encountered are Javascript errors.
Some are introduced by a <br /> getting slipped into the logic from a linefeed. If your map is not showing up, then view the source code that is presented to your browser. Look closely at the Javascript from your post. See if there were any changes introduced from what you thought you had coded.
Another common problem is the dropping of the semi-colon after a Javascript statement. In the Embed method tutorial I document how to change map attributes by updating variables. Look closely and you will see that each variable assignment statement is terminate with a semicolon. If you accidently removed a semicolon, it will cause the javascript interpreter to fail in the user's browser.
Another problem that might bite you is switching longitude and latitude. It is easy to forget and getting them backwards. It is a good idea to know roughly what the latitude and longitude of your target so you will recognize them at a glance.
A Helpful Tool
A good text editor will help you prepare your code for Google Blogger. It will make it easy to strip out the line feeds to prevent Blogger from inserting statements. I use EditPadLite. After I write the HTML version of the post, I use the editor's find and replace to remove all of the line feeds. With one command, it converts the post to one long line of HTML.
The International Date Line:
I've discovered a problem, or bug, with Google Maps that impacts my brother's blog. The polyline showing the voyage path can not cross the International Date Line from east to west. Instead, it joins the point on the west side of the line by going east across the planet.
To get around this problem for now, I've broke the line into to parts, one on each side of the line. So there is a tiny gap across the line now. I will work on seeing if I can get a better solution to this problem.
Putting the map in the blog's info column
You don't have to put a map in a post. You can also stick it in a side column so that it always shows up. To do this, you have to take all the code you inserted into the blog post and instead insert into the appropriate place in your blog's template.
You should also reduce the map size from 400 down to 200 or so pixels, since the info column tends to be narrower.
In your blog's template, the area where the info column contents are defined is pretty easy to find.
Multiple Maps
I've created a chapter to demonstrate how to implement multiple maps into Blogger.
Internet Explorer Quirks
Internet Explorer seems to have more "problems" with the Maps-API than Firefox does. I put problems in quotes because it may not be a problem as much as a stricter interpretation of the rules. The above technique is designed to get around these limitations.
In the stuff you added to the template was a specification for VML. This is needed to support the GPolyLine object in IE. The need for this is buried in the API documention.
Blogger's Big Gotcha!
What makes Google Maps so difficult to install into a blog from Blogger is the fact that all line feeds in a post are converted to <br /> tags. So when you insert the required Javascript into your blog posting, <br /> tags are inserted in there. That causes the Javascript interpreter to fail in the user's browser.
The solution is to make sure that there are no line feeds in any javascript in your blog post. Everything between the <script> and the </script> tags must be one long line.
Common Problems
The most common problem I have encountered are Javascript errors.
Some are introduced by a <br /> getting slipped into the logic from a linefeed. If your map is not showing up, then view the source code that is presented to your browser. Look closely at the Javascript from your post. See if there were any changes introduced from what you thought you had coded.
Another common problem is the dropping of the semi-colon after a Javascript statement. In the Embed method tutorial I document how to change map attributes by updating variables. Look closely and you will see that each variable assignment statement is terminate with a semicolon. If you accidently removed a semicolon, it will cause the javascript interpreter to fail in the user's browser.
Another problem that might bite you is switching longitude and latitude. It is easy to forget and getting them backwards. It is a good idea to know roughly what the latitude and longitude of your target so you will recognize them at a glance.
A Helpful Tool
A good text editor will help you prepare your code for Google Blogger. It will make it easy to strip out the line feeds to prevent Blogger from inserting statements. I use EditPadLite. After I write the HTML version of the post, I use the editor's find and replace to remove all of the line feeds. With one command, it converts the post to one long line of HTML.
The International Date Line:
I've discovered a problem, or bug, with Google Maps that impacts my brother's blog. The polyline showing the voyage path can not cross the International Date Line from east to west. Instead, it joins the point on the west side of the line by going east across the planet.
To get around this problem for now, I've broke the line into to parts, one on each side of the line. So there is a tiny gap across the line now. I will work on seeing if I can get a better solution to this problem.
Putting the map in the blog's info column
You don't have to put a map in a post. You can also stick it in a side column so that it always shows up. To do this, you have to take all the code you inserted into the blog post and instead insert into the appropriate place in your blog's template.
You should also reduce the map size from 400 down to 200 or so pixels, since the info column tends to be narrower.
In your blog's template, the area where the info column contents are defined is pretty easy to find.
Multiple Maps
I've created a chapter to demonstrate how to implement multiple maps into Blogger.
Internet Explorer Quirks
Internet Explorer seems to have more "problems" with the Maps-API than Firefox does. I put problems in quotes because it may not be a problem as much as a stricter interpretation of the rules. The above technique is designed to get around these limitations.
In the stuff you added to the template was a specification for VML. This is needed to support the GPolyLine object in IE. The need for this is buried in the API documention.
Google Maps within Google's Blogger
Welcome to my tutorial on how to use Google Maps within your Blogger blog. There are some tricks you have to do to get it work, which I will show here.
There are two approaches you can take. Either a use a simple link to an external map. Or use the API to embed internally. It depends on what you want to do with the map that will determine which you will use.
If you simply want to offer a map of a location, and do not care to have the map itself in your blog, then use the link method.
If you want the map to show up on your blog, then use the embed method. The embed method is more difficult. A little knowledge of HTML and Javascript is helpful. It is very powerful and allows you a great amount of control over what is displayed on the map. But if you follow the instructions carefully, you should be up and running in about 30 minutes.
Let's get started!
I maintain my brother's Blogger blog for him. I've used Google's mapping service extensively to track his voyage. I use three methods on his blog site.
In the case of my brother's blog, I created an Excel spreadsheet that generates all of the code I need for all of the maps. I simply create add a row, enter the name, date, and coordinates. Then I just cut-n-paste the code it creates and drop it into the Blogger post for Google Map, and the KML file for Google Earth. It takes me about 4 minutes to add and updates the maps on his site everytime he adds a post.
Feedback
I appreciate any feedback, good or bad. I have tested these methods out in Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2. Please let me know if you find any problems. Thank you.
Thanks!
A hat tip to Bosco at BossBlog who taught me how to use the new My Maps service with Blogger. He has a tutorial based on my original version from 2005 to demonstrate how to do this too. But his is in Spanish.
Also, thanks to the geeks at Google Maps API Discussion Board.
Have fun!
There are two approaches you can take. Either a use a simple link to an external map. Or use the API to embed internally. It depends on what you want to do with the map that will determine which you will use.
If you simply want to offer a map of a location, and do not care to have the map itself in your blog, then use the link method.
If you want the map to show up on your blog, then use the embed method. The embed method is more difficult. A little knowledge of HTML and Javascript is helpful. It is very powerful and allows you a great amount of control over what is displayed on the map. But if you follow the instructions carefully, you should be up and running in about 30 minutes.
Let's get started!
- Chapter 1: Geocaching - Getting the coordinates of your target
- Chapter 2: Embed Method - Quick n' easy instructions on getting a map inside your blog.
- Chapter 3: Link Method - Instructions how to to link to maps from your blog.
- Chapter 4: Advanced Subjects - Tips on debugging, tools, and doing advanced things with your maps in Blogger.
- Chapter 5: Multiple Maps - How to implement more than one map in your blog.
- Chapter 6: Page Element - How to implement a small page element map.
I maintain my brother's Blogger blog for him. I've used Google's mapping service extensively to track his voyage. I use three methods on his blog site.
- I have hard-coded links on each blog post that use Google Map to show where he was when that post was written.
- I have a post that I update that uses Google Map to show not only where he is, but where he was, and a line showing the voyage. Pretty cool!
- Lastly, I use Google Earth for more fun.
In the case of my brother's blog, I created an Excel spreadsheet that generates all of the code I need for all of the maps. I simply create add a row, enter the name, date, and coordinates. Then I just cut-n-paste the code it creates and drop it into the Blogger post for Google Map, and the KML file for Google Earth. It takes me about 4 minutes to add and updates the maps on his site everytime he adds a post.
Feedback
I appreciate any feedback, good or bad. I have tested these methods out in Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2. Please let me know if you find any problems. Thank you.
Thanks!
A hat tip to Bosco at BossBlog who taught me how to use the new My Maps service with Blogger. He has a tutorial based on my original version from 2005 to demonstrate how to do this too. But his is in Spanish.
Also, thanks to the geeks at Google Maps API Discussion Board.
Have fun!
Google Maps in Blogger: Map as Page Element
This is part of my tutorial on how to use Google Maps into Google's Blogger service. This section teaches how to implement a "I Am Here" map widget.
First, go to my brother's blog to see an example of of this working. Look on the left column for the element "Current Location". It displays a small Google Map with one place mark of his current location, zoomed out far enough for a person to recognize the area of earth they are looking at.
The way I created this was...
Step 1 - Prep your blog for Google Maps:
Go to the chapter on how to embed a map. Perform steps 1 and 2 from there in order to prime your blog to handle Google Maps.
Step 2 - Resolve any conflicting map names:
The logic you installed into the blog template on step 1 above will create a map named 'google_map_01'. If you only intend to have this little map as a page element, you can keep that name and not make any further changes.
If you intend to later add more maps to your blog, then you need to make sure that you don't name them 'google_map_01'. You can read the chapter on how to install multiple maps in your blog. The bottom line is that each map must have a unique name, and each must be explicitly called in the "load" and "unload" routines in order to show up.
So if you already have a 'google_map_01' in your blog somewhere, then you need to give this small map a different name. In my brother's blog, I named this map "google_map_02'. In his case, I updated the page element Javascript and HTML to reflect this name. I also added google_map_02" to the load and unload routines in the blog template.
Step 3 - Add The Page Element:
Go into the blog's layout and added a page element. insert the following code into the element.
Step 4 - Update the coordinates:
You need to update the latitude and longitude of that you wish to have marked and centered on the map. You can update this easily by editing the element.
Notes:
First, go to my brother's blog to see an example of of this working. Look on the left column for the element "Current Location". It displays a small Google Map with one place mark of his current location, zoomed out far enough for a person to recognize the area of earth they are looking at.
The way I created this was...
Step 1 - Prep your blog for Google Maps:
Go to the chapter on how to embed a map. Perform steps 1 and 2 from there in order to prime your blog to handle Google Maps.
Step 2 - Resolve any conflicting map names:
The logic you installed into the blog template on step 1 above will create a map named 'google_map_01'. If you only intend to have this little map as a page element, you can keep that name and not make any further changes.
If you intend to later add more maps to your blog, then you need to make sure that you don't name them 'google_map_01'. You can read the chapter on how to install multiple maps in your blog. The bottom line is that each map must have a unique name, and each must be explicitly called in the "load" and "unload" routines in order to show up.
So if you already have a 'google_map_01' in your blog somewhere, then you need to give this small map a different name. In my brother's blog, I named this map "google_map_02'. In his case, I updated the page element Javascript and HTML to reflect this name. I also added google_map_02" to the load and unload routines in the blog template.
Step 3 - Add The Page Element:
Go into the blog's layout and added a page element. insert the following code into the element.
Step 4 - Update the coordinates:
You need to update the latitude and longitude of that you wish to have marked and centered on the map. You can update this easily by editing the element.
Notes:
- The initial zoom is set to 3, which I found to be a nice place to start since you can recognize the continent and countries at that level.
- I've set this map to type "MAP" because it is too small for a satellite image to be useful.
Google Maps in Blogger: Geocaching
This is part of my tutorial on how to use Google Maps from Google's Blogger service. It explains Geocoding. Geocoding is the art of getting the latitude and longitude of a location. You will need to use latitude and longitude coordinates in decimal format for many of the Google Map services. There are a number of techniques to do this.
Use Google Maps
You can have Google Maps return to you the latitude and longitude of any location on earth. Simply double-click on any spot on the map. This will center the map on the location you clicked. Then click the "Link to this page" command and the URL will be updated with the "LL" argument containing the latitude and longitude of the point clicked.
For example, to find the coordinates of 101 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, first find the spot using the traditional Google Map tools. Enter the address you want into the search box. For example. I enter "101 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA" into the search box. Google Map returns a map with a marker at the location. I click "Link to this page" and the URL is updated and contains the following:
Now I double click on the map close to, but not, the marker. The map shifts slighty to center on the point I clicked. Now I click "Link to this page" again and the URL is update to
Notice this time it has the "LL" and "SPN" arguments. These are your latitude/longitude coordinates and the scale being displayed.
Use Geocoder.us
If the address you want is in the United States, then you can use the free Geocoder.us service. You only need to enter the address and it will attempt to return the coordinates.
However, it is not perfect. I have found that it has problems getting the right location. So be sure to use another service to verify the coordinates. For example, search for the same location in Google Maps and verify that it too returns the same location.
Convert To Decimal
If you have been given coordinates in a traditional hour/minute/second format, or a GPS format, you can convert it to decimal form with this web site. It is very flexible and easy to use.
Use Google Maps
For example, to find the coordinates of 101 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, first find the spot using the traditional Google Map tools. Enter the address you want into the search box. For example. I enter "101 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA" into the search box. Google Map returns a map with a marker at the location. I click "Link to this page" and the URL is updated and contains the following:
Now I double click on the map close to, but not, the marker. The map shifts slighty to center on the point I clicked. Now I click "Link to this page" again and the URL is update to
Notice this time it has the "LL" and "SPN" arguments. These are your latitude/longitude coordinates and the scale being displayed.
Use Geocoder.us
However, it is not perfect. I have found that it has problems getting the right location. So be sure to use another service to verify the coordinates. For example, search for the same location in Google Maps and verify that it too returns the same location.
Convert To Decimal
Google Maps in Blogger: Multiple Maps
This is part of my tutorial on how to use Google Maps into Google's Blogger service. This section teaches how to embedded multiple maps into your blog.
Step 1 - Build 1 map:
It is not difficult. First, get one map up and running in your blog, based on the the chapter for embedded maps. Then it is simply a matter of adding a little additional content.
Step 2 - Update the template:
You need to modify the startup and shutdown javascript routine to check for every map in your blog. I've named each map in my blog "google_map_xx" where xx is 01 for the first map, 02 for the second, and so on. Take a look at the startup logic for this blog.
Step 3 - Build a post with a map
Then build a blog posting that contains a map. A single post can contains multiple maps, like this one. Each post that contains 1 or maps must start with the following HTML
Then for each map, insert the following HTML into the post where you want the map to show up. Repleace each occurance of "google_map_xx" with the map number you are building, such as "google_map_02".
Step 4: That's it!
This post contains two maps. The first is a map of monterey
Here is map of London, England.
Step 1 - Build 1 map:
It is not difficult. First, get one map up and running in your blog, based on the the chapter for embedded maps. Then it is simply a matter of adding a little additional content.
Step 2 - Update the template:
You need to modify the startup and shutdown javascript routine to check for every map in your blog. I've named each map in my blog "google_map_xx" where xx is 01 for the first map, 02 for the second, and so on. Take a look at the startup logic for this blog.
Step 3 - Build a post with a map
Then build a blog posting that contains a map. A single post can contains multiple maps, like this one. Each post that contains 1 or maps must start with the following HTML
Then for each map, insert the following HTML into the post where you want the map to show up. Repleace each occurance of "google_map_xx" with the map number you are building, such as "google_map_02".
Step 4: That's it!
This post contains two maps. The first is a map of monterey
Here is map of London, England.
Google Maps in Blogger: Link Method
This is part of my tutorial on how to use Google Maps from Google's Blogger service. This is called The Link Method and is the fastest and simplest way to use Google Maps with your blog.
This method is nothing more than a custom coded link in your post to Google Maps. Arguments in the URL in the link control what is displayed on the map. The downside of this method is that the map is outside of the your blog in a different browser window.
Simple Link Method
The quickest and easiest way to get the URL you need is to simply have Google Map give it you, which it will do gladly! Here is how to do it...
Open a new browser window to http://maps.google.com. Find the map location and scale you desire. Once you are happy with what you see, click the 'Link To This Page' command. That will update the URL on the address bar of the browser with the URL needed to reproduce the image you are seeing. Then copy the URL from the address bar and use it in your blog post. Simple as that.
Then when the user viewing the blog clicks the link, they will be taken to Google Map and shown the same map that you saw. For example: Copy this URL into a browser and see what it pulls up.
It should pull up a hybrid image of Santa Barbara at a scale of 500 feet/200 meters, and with a marker at 101 State Street.
Advanced Link Method
With this method, you code the arguments in the URL to control what is displayed. There are many arguments that Google Maps can use. But we will only concentrate on a small number of critical ones that will get your started. These arguments are as follows:
?ll=latitude,longitude. In decimal format. Anything over 6 decimal places is overkill.
You can use latitude and longitude to specify the map location. This is handy for when you do not have an address, especially outside of the US. All you need to do is pass the argument "LL" with the latitude and longitude as decimal values. Example "ll=36.605451,-121.892195".
&q=address string. Instead of a lat/long, you can use an address. Each word of the address must be separated by a plus (+) sign. It also creates a marker balloon pointing to your address. Example "q=101+State+St,+Santa+Barbara,+CA"
The ll and q arguments are mutually exclusive. The q argument will be ignored if you have the ll argument.
&z=zoom. The zoom value as integer ranging from 0 to about 20. A value of 0 shows the whole earth. 20 seems to be about as close as you can zoom in. I use 15 as a good value to start with. Example "z=15".
&t=type. Controls what type of map is displayed. Value is "m" for map, "k" for satellite , or "h" for hybrid. The default is "m".
&om=0 or 1. Controls the small map in the lower right corner. 0=hide, 1=show.
The arguments can appear in any order on the URL. But I recommend that you always start with LL. The first argument is always proceeded by a "?", and all following arguments are delineated with an ampersand (&). Hence, the reason I have the arguments coded as "?ll", "&z", and so on.
Example: The following URL uses the LL argument to focus on Monterey, California at the highest zoom scale, which is 1000 feet/200 meters. Monterey is at latitude 37' 30.1" North and longitude 122' 29.0" West. A simple minute/second conversion to decimal values translate those coordinates to latitude 36.605451 and longitude -121.892195 decimal values. It is a hybrid map (t=h) with the small map in the corner closed (om=0).
Better Map Window Control
When a reader clicks on a link in your blog, their web browser is normally goes to the new page. So a simple link to Google Maps will have them leave your blog and go to the Google map page. When they are done looking at the map, they can normally hit the browser's back button to get back to where they were on your blog. Try it by clicking this link, then come back. Below is the HTML for the link.
Open maps in a separate window: You might want to consider a smoother method of showing the maps to the user. Rather than leave the blog page, it would be better to open the Google Map page in a separate browser window. This is easily done by adding the keyword "target" to the link HTML. By adding target="_new" to the tag it will instruct the browser to open the link in a new window. Try it by clicking this link. Notice that every time you click it, a new browser window is created. Here the HTML for this link.
Open all maps in a designated window: However, If you have multiple links, each with "target =_new" keyword in the tag, the each link will open a new window. This will leave the user with a lot of open windows hanging around that they will later have to manually close. A better method is to open all the maps into one designated window, separate from the blog's window. This is easily done by coding a window name into the target argument of the link tag. In this case, I've named the designated window "googlemaps".
Try it by clicking the following links: Monterey Harbor, Santa Barbara Harbor. Notice that no matter how many times you click either link, only one new browser window was created, but its content keeps changing. Here is the HTML for these links:
Bring The Map Window Into Focus:
The problem with the above technique is that when the user clicks on the link, the content of the Google Map window is updated, but the user may see or notice it. The best way to correct this is to instruct the browser to switch the focus to the map window when the user clicks on a link.
I use little javascript to make it easy. With this method, the map is opened in a different browser window, and the user focus is automatically switched to the map window. Also, every time the user clicks on the map link in your blog, they are sent to the same map window, which prevents the user from having multiple windows pop open in their computer.
To do this, put this javascript procedure in your Blogger template. Insert it right after the <head> tag near the top.
Then update your blog's template.
Next, within your blog post, code your links to Google Map with the javascript event tag "onclick" to call the above procedure that you have embedded in the template. For example:
The argument passed to the procedure Google_Map is the URL of the map you which to display. In this example, the URL asks for maps to 3 different harbors. The HREF points to a null value so the browser ignores it. Go ahead and try it
Below is the HTML for the above links:
This method is nothing more than a custom coded link in your post to Google Maps. Arguments in the URL in the link control what is displayed on the map. The downside of this method is that the map is outside of the your blog in a different browser window.
Simple Link Method
Open a new browser window to http://maps.google.com. Find the map location and scale you desire. Once you are happy with what you see, click the 'Link To This Page' command. That will update the URL on the address bar of the browser with the URL needed to reproduce the image you are seeing. Then copy the URL from the address bar and use it in your blog post. Simple as that.
Then when the user viewing the blog clicks the link, they will be taken to Google Map and shown the same map that you saw. For example: Copy this URL into a browser and see what it pulls up.
It should pull up a hybrid image of Santa Barbara at a scale of 500 feet/200 meters, and with a marker at 101 State Street.
Advanced Link Method
?ll=latitude,longitude. In decimal format. Anything over 6 decimal places is overkill.
You can use latitude and longitude to specify the map location. This is handy for when you do not have an address, especially outside of the US. All you need to do is pass the argument "LL" with the latitude and longitude as decimal values. Example "ll=36.605451,-121.892195".
&q=address string. Instead of a lat/long, you can use an address. Each word of the address must be separated by a plus (+) sign. It also creates a marker balloon pointing to your address. Example "q=101+State+St,+Santa+Barbara,+CA"
The ll and q arguments are mutually exclusive. The q argument will be ignored if you have the ll argument.
&z=zoom. The zoom value as integer ranging from 0 to about 20. A value of 0 shows the whole earth. 20 seems to be about as close as you can zoom in. I use 15 as a good value to start with. Example "z=15".
&t=type. Controls what type of map is displayed. Value is "m" for map, "k" for satellite , or "h" for hybrid. The default is "m".
&om=0 or 1. Controls the small map in the lower right corner. 0=hide, 1=show.
The arguments can appear in any order on the URL. But I recommend that you always start with LL. The first argument is always proceeded by a "?", and all following arguments are delineated with an ampersand (&). Hence, the reason I have the arguments coded as "?ll", "&z", and so on.
Example: The following URL uses the LL argument to focus on Monterey, California at the highest zoom scale, which is 1000 feet/200 meters. Monterey is at latitude 37' 30.1" North and longitude 122' 29.0" West. A simple minute/second conversion to decimal values translate those coordinates to latitude 36.605451 and longitude -121.892195 decimal values. It is a hybrid map (t=h) with the small map in the corner closed (om=0).
Better Map Window Control
Open maps in a separate window: You might want to consider a smoother method of showing the maps to the user. Rather than leave the blog page, it would be better to open the Google Map page in a separate browser window. This is easily done by adding the keyword "target" to the link HTML. By adding target="_new" to the tag it will instruct the browser to open the link in a new window. Try it by clicking this link. Notice that every time you click it, a new browser window is created. Here the HTML for this link.
Open all maps in a designated window: However, If you have multiple links, each with "target =_new" keyword in the tag, the each link will open a new window. This will leave the user with a lot of open windows hanging around that they will later have to manually close. A better method is to open all the maps into one designated window, separate from the blog's window. This is easily done by coding a window name into the target argument of the link tag. In this case, I've named the designated window "googlemaps".
Try it by clicking the following links: Monterey Harbor, Santa Barbara Harbor. Notice that no matter how many times you click either link, only one new browser window was created, but its content keeps changing. Here is the HTML for these links:
Bring The Map Window Into Focus:
The problem with the above technique is that when the user clicks on the link, the content of the Google Map window is updated, but the user may see or notice it. The best way to correct this is to instruct the browser to switch the focus to the map window when the user clicks on a link.
I use little javascript to make it easy. With this method, the map is opened in a different browser window, and the user focus is automatically switched to the map window. Also, every time the user clicks on the map link in your blog, they are sent to the same map window, which prevents the user from having multiple windows pop open in their computer.
To do this, put this javascript procedure in your Blogger template. Insert it right after the <head> tag near the top.
Then update your blog's template.
Next, within your blog post, code your links to Google Map with the javascript event tag "onclick" to call the above procedure that you have embedded in the template. For example:
The argument passed to the procedure Google_Map is the URL of the map you which to display. In this example, the URL asks for maps to 3 different harbors. The HREF points to a null value so the browser ignores it. Go ahead and try it
Below is the HTML for the above links:
Babes in the Woods - When Aussies visit the US
I discovered something a little scary about Australians during my last trip to the US in August. It illustrates some of the vast differences between our cultures.
It concerns the subject of insurance coverage for driving a car in the US. What I found out is that Australians are not aware that they are not covered by insurance when they drive in the US. What is worse is that they do not even know to ask about it. So they drive around blissfully unaware of what could happen should they be involved in an accident. Here is why...
In Australia, all cars are insured for medical liability by the state. When you pay your annual registration fee for your car, you also pay an insurance premium (called "rego" here), which provides coverage for any injuries substained to anyone injured as a result of operation of that vehicle. It is a no-fault system. If you get hurt by a car, you submit a claim to the state, and they cover the expenses.
This "rego" premium does not provide comprehensive coverage for property or your car. If you want to protect yourself against being sued for property damage, or against theft and damage to your car, you can buy private insurance coverage for that. They are separate from the medical liability.
As for medical coverage for your own injuries, you are covered by your existing medical coverage. The fact that you were injured in your own car does not matter. If you need medical care, then your medical insurance should cover you. All Australian citizens are covered by the national health care system, so there is a minimal level or coverage on your head.
Here is the problem. Growing up and living in such an environment where there is no need to think about any medical liability for yourself or others, Australians can not conceive of any first-world country not offering such protection. But as we know, in the US, there is no such thing.
This all came up when I started investigating my insurance coverage for when I go home to the US. I have an account with a US insurance company. I pay them an annual premium and they provide me with liability coverage when I rent a car in the US.
My contract with my visa sponsor here in Australia requires me to have private medical insurance coverage when I am outside of Australia. This is because my Australian medical insurance company will not cover me overseas. So I end up buying travel insurance that has a decent medical element to it. It is simply the easiest and cheapest way to get the coverage I need.
Travel insurance also covers things other than medical care. They cover trip cancellations, lost or stolen luggage, etc, etc. Their policy also covers personal liability, up to $2 million or so. This sounds like a duplication of coverage to me. If my travel insurance covers my liabilities, and my medical care, why do I also need to pay my US insurance company for additional auto insurance?
These matters were on my mind when I went shopping for travel insurance for trip. I asked the travel agent who was selling a policy if this provides me total coverage in the event I cause an accident while driving a rental car in the US. She looked at me with a blank stare for a while, and answered "Of course it does. Why wouldn't it?"
I pointed out to her the fine print on the policy that stated "We will not provide coverage for any claims that arise from the operation of any motorized vehicle."
"Wouldn't a rental car be considered a 'motorized vehicle'?", I asked.
She read the contract again. A puzzled look came over her. She said she didn't know and suggested that I call the company that issues the policy, AIG in Sydney, and ask them. So I did. AIG transferred me to a claims specialist, to whom I posed the same question I has asked the travel agent.
The exact same thing happened with the claims specialist. She too was surprised to read that exception. But she told me not to worry about it.
"Are you kidding?!? That is a huge loophole for you. I can't purchase such a policy with such holes in it."
I called my local RAC office. The RAC is the Aussie equivalent to AAA in the US. I get my comprehensive insurance through RAC. Like the AAA, the RAC also specializes in travel for their members. I asked them about the coverage for any accidents caused by me driving a rental car. Like AIG, they "thought" it was covered, but as I pointed out, it was not. I asked them if they sold any overseas automobile insurance that I can add to my existing policy. Nope. They do not. They had not considered it.
I eventually ended up at the office of an insurance broker here in town. I always end up with him. He seems to be able to get me the best deals, no matter how hard I shop around for alternatives. I should stop wasting my time and simply go straight to him every time. I brought up my concerns to him about my liability for any claims resulting from an automobile accident in the US.
Like the claims agent in Sydney, he too was shocked to see this loophole embedded in the fine print. He had no idea that the travel insurance policy he was selling would not protect people from claims in the US if they drive a car. The reason he didn't know was because like other Australians, he simply can not conceive of a state that will allow a car on a road that doesn't have a minimum amount of coverage from somewhere.
True, in California, a minimum level of insurance is required by law. But that does not mean that every car on the road has it. Some owners cancel their policies right after satisfying the DMV that they have coverage to get their registration. In fact there is a whole market for insurance companies that sell 24-hour policies that last just long enough to register the car. There is an underground market for fake proof-of-insurance documents if you can't be bothered to get the real thing.
Now getting back to Australians. The average Aussie has no idea about this stuff. They have been protected from such ugly things, so much so that they simply don't know what they don't know. They fly to the US, rent a car and drive to Disneyland. If they cause an accident, they find that they are not covered. Of course they could flee back to Australia. But that doesn't make the problem go away. I suppose it is possible for the damage claims to be pursued against them in Australia. But more realistically, what if the Australian wants or needs to come back to the US? What if they need to come over once in a while for their job?
So what to do? I asked the insurance broker this question. He said that I had no choice. I had to buy a separate policy from a US insurance company to cover this liability. He did not sell any such product. Nor did he even know any company that did.
I got on the web and started digging around. I found a handful of companies that offer specialized world-wide travel insurance that does offer this coverage, but they were frightfully expensive.
So I ended up back at my US insurance company. I paid my annual premium for their minimal level of protection when driving a rental car. But I'm lucky. Being a US citizen with a US address, I can do this. The average Aussie on vacation does not have this luxury.
I asked around the office what they do when they travel to the US. They didn't know. Either they don't rent a car, or if they must, then it is strictly for business, and is therefore covered under IBM's insurance. In a nutshell, they are all too afraid of the US to drive there on personal vacation.
Now there is an option the Aussies can exercise. The car rental companies offer insurance coverage when you rent the car. But it is a rip-off. It is expensive, and the insurance you buy is designed to protect the car-rental company, not YOU. Being pressured into buying a policy from a car-rental agent who uses scare tactics is not a good way to made insurance decisions. Every consumer review I have ever read has claimed that the coverage offered is joke, is redundant if you already own an insured car at home (in the US), it is biased, and are overpriced.
I can't help but wonder how many Aussies decline the optional insurance offered by the rental company and drive off, oblivious to the liability they have.
It concerns the subject of insurance coverage for driving a car in the US. What I found out is that Australians are not aware that they are not covered by insurance when they drive in the US. What is worse is that they do not even know to ask about it. So they drive around blissfully unaware of what could happen should they be involved in an accident. Here is why...
In Australia, all cars are insured for medical liability by the state. When you pay your annual registration fee for your car, you also pay an insurance premium (called "rego" here), which provides coverage for any injuries substained to anyone injured as a result of operation of that vehicle. It is a no-fault system. If you get hurt by a car, you submit a claim to the state, and they cover the expenses.
This "rego" premium does not provide comprehensive coverage for property or your car. If you want to protect yourself against being sued for property damage, or against theft and damage to your car, you can buy private insurance coverage for that. They are separate from the medical liability.
As for medical coverage for your own injuries, you are covered by your existing medical coverage. The fact that you were injured in your own car does not matter. If you need medical care, then your medical insurance should cover you. All Australian citizens are covered by the national health care system, so there is a minimal level or coverage on your head.
Here is the problem. Growing up and living in such an environment where there is no need to think about any medical liability for yourself or others, Australians can not conceive of any first-world country not offering such protection. But as we know, in the US, there is no such thing.
This all came up when I started investigating my insurance coverage for when I go home to the US. I have an account with a US insurance company. I pay them an annual premium and they provide me with liability coverage when I rent a car in the US.
My contract with my visa sponsor here in Australia requires me to have private medical insurance coverage when I am outside of Australia. This is because my Australian medical insurance company will not cover me overseas. So I end up buying travel insurance that has a decent medical element to it. It is simply the easiest and cheapest way to get the coverage I need.
Travel insurance also covers things other than medical care. They cover trip cancellations, lost or stolen luggage, etc, etc. Their policy also covers personal liability, up to $2 million or so. This sounds like a duplication of coverage to me. If my travel insurance covers my liabilities, and my medical care, why do I also need to pay my US insurance company for additional auto insurance?
These matters were on my mind when I went shopping for travel insurance for trip. I asked the travel agent who was selling a policy if this provides me total coverage in the event I cause an accident while driving a rental car in the US. She looked at me with a blank stare for a while, and answered "Of course it does. Why wouldn't it?"
I pointed out to her the fine print on the policy that stated "We will not provide coverage for any claims that arise from the operation of any motorized vehicle."
"Wouldn't a rental car be considered a 'motorized vehicle'?", I asked.
She read the contract again. A puzzled look came over her. She said she didn't know and suggested that I call the company that issues the policy, AIG in Sydney, and ask them. So I did. AIG transferred me to a claims specialist, to whom I posed the same question I has asked the travel agent.
The exact same thing happened with the claims specialist. She too was surprised to read that exception. But she told me not to worry about it.
"Are you kidding?!? That is a huge loophole for you. I can't purchase such a policy with such holes in it."
I called my local RAC office. The RAC is the Aussie equivalent to AAA in the US. I get my comprehensive insurance through RAC. Like the AAA, the RAC also specializes in travel for their members. I asked them about the coverage for any accidents caused by me driving a rental car. Like AIG, they "thought" it was covered, but as I pointed out, it was not. I asked them if they sold any overseas automobile insurance that I can add to my existing policy. Nope. They do not. They had not considered it.
I eventually ended up at the office of an insurance broker here in town. I always end up with him. He seems to be able to get me the best deals, no matter how hard I shop around for alternatives. I should stop wasting my time and simply go straight to him every time. I brought up my concerns to him about my liability for any claims resulting from an automobile accident in the US.
Like the claims agent in Sydney, he too was shocked to see this loophole embedded in the fine print. He had no idea that the travel insurance policy he was selling would not protect people from claims in the US if they drive a car. The reason he didn't know was because like other Australians, he simply can not conceive of a state that will allow a car on a road that doesn't have a minimum amount of coverage from somewhere.
True, in California, a minimum level of insurance is required by law. But that does not mean that every car on the road has it. Some owners cancel their policies right after satisfying the DMV that they have coverage to get their registration. In fact there is a whole market for insurance companies that sell 24-hour policies that last just long enough to register the car. There is an underground market for fake proof-of-insurance documents if you can't be bothered to get the real thing.
Now getting back to Australians. The average Aussie has no idea about this stuff. They have been protected from such ugly things, so much so that they simply don't know what they don't know. They fly to the US, rent a car and drive to Disneyland. If they cause an accident, they find that they are not covered. Of course they could flee back to Australia. But that doesn't make the problem go away. I suppose it is possible for the damage claims to be pursued against them in Australia. But more realistically, what if the Australian wants or needs to come back to the US? What if they need to come over once in a while for their job?
So what to do? I asked the insurance broker this question. He said that I had no choice. I had to buy a separate policy from a US insurance company to cover this liability. He did not sell any such product. Nor did he even know any company that did.
I got on the web and started digging around. I found a handful of companies that offer specialized world-wide travel insurance that does offer this coverage, but they were frightfully expensive.
So I ended up back at my US insurance company. I paid my annual premium for their minimal level of protection when driving a rental car. But I'm lucky. Being a US citizen with a US address, I can do this. The average Aussie on vacation does not have this luxury.
I asked around the office what they do when they travel to the US. They didn't know. Either they don't rent a car, or if they must, then it is strictly for business, and is therefore covered under IBM's insurance. In a nutshell, they are all too afraid of the US to drive there on personal vacation.
Now there is an option the Aussies can exercise. The car rental companies offer insurance coverage when you rent the car. But it is a rip-off. It is expensive, and the insurance you buy is designed to protect the car-rental company, not YOU. Being pressured into buying a policy from a car-rental agent who uses scare tactics is not a good way to made insurance decisions. Every consumer review I have ever read has claimed that the coverage offered is joke, is redundant if you already own an insured car at home (in the US), it is biased, and are overpriced.
I can't help but wonder how many Aussies decline the optional insurance offered by the rental company and drive off, oblivious to the liability they have.
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