Petey's
Pipeline E-zine
Issue #14
September 5, 2005
Contents
Business
First Editorial Petey Makes a
Comeback
Random Ramblings and Miscellaneous Musings
Lessons Learned
Write Thinking Sound-alike
Words
Business
First (Editorial)
Petey
Makes a Comeback
Notices
for the last issue of Petey's Pipeline E-zine (#13) went out
on December 27th, 2003. In January of 2004, as part of an overall
business plan review, I decided it was time to reevaluate my
whole approach to doing business on-line, make some badly needed
course corrections and map out my business strategy for the
future. Since then, the better part of two years has flown by
faster than a busted stoner can gobble a roach.
That
Petey's Pipeline E-zine was an early casualty is not surprising.
As Petey's primary author, beleaguered editor and less-than-punctual
publisher, I'd begun to realize that Petey's Pipeline, as it
existed then, was a juggling act that had spun out of control.
The Herculean effort of putting out two issues every month made
unacceptable demands on my time and energy, and adversely affected
other aspects of my business.
Still,
publishing Petey's Pipeline was something I enjoyed doing (which
is more than I can say for many of the tasks associated with
running an Internet business), so I decided to keep my options
open. Now, with spam filters and government regulations forcing
the issue, it's time for Petey's Pipeline E-zine to stage a
comeback.
This
time, however, I'm going to work smarter, not harder. The new
and improved Petey's Pipeline E-zine is a leaner,
meaner version of the original. From now on, there'll be more
emphasis on Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings and
less emphasis on everything else.
What
can you expect to find in Petey's Pipeline E-zine?
Editorial commentary on Internet business trends is part of
the package, as are tips to help you improve the quality of
your Web page text or other on-line writing. This time around,
though, the main focus of my writing concentrates on Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings, where controversial subjects
and thought-provoking ideas rule. It's not for the faint-hearted,
or the politically correct.
Some
of the topics I'll write about in future issues include a tongue-in-cheek
approach to curbing spam, a pressing need for election law reform,
how to keep kids safe from on-line porn and why higher gasoline
prices would be a good thing. I'm also planning a series of
articles to present compelling reasons why the government should
reverse its ban on cannabis hemp. Anything that pertains to
politics, the environment, the economy or other social issues
is fair game for Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings.
Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
Lessons
Learned
by Phil Hanson
When
bitch-on-the-rampage Katrina slammed the daylights out of the
gulf coast last week, she left death and destruction in her
wake. The final numbers aren't in, yet, but early estimates
call for a million people homeless and, perhaps, 10 thousand
people dead. Expect the numbers to change, on a daily basis,
over the next few weeks.
FEMA
(Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency) really bungled
the Hurricane Katrina disaster. What were they thinking? What
are they thinking? No one could be this incompetent by accident.
Oh, wait! FEMA is now part of the Department of Homeland Security.
That explains a lot.
Mike
Brown, FEMA's top dog, on Friday told reporters that he didn't
have a sense of what was coming (in other words, he's clueless).
Evidently, Mike lives in a bubble in which he's denied access
to television, telephones, newspapers, radios, and the communications
network within his own agency. (Of course, just because an agency
has a communications network doesn't necessarily mean that people
within the agency actually communicate.)
According
to a spokesman, members of Northwest Medical Teams, based in
Portland, Oregon, were ready to deploy to the area affected
by Hurricane Katrina on Monday—the day of the storm. A FEMA
mismanager intervened, telling them not to self-deploy, to wait
for FEMA to coordinate relief efforts. On Friday afternoon,
four days after the storm abated, Northwest Medical Teams finally
got the go-ahead. In the interim, hundreds died.
Michael
Chertoff, Lord of the Ring of idiots who call themselves the
Department of Homeland Security, says not to point any fingers,
that there's blame enough to go around. He's absolutely right,
and he should help himself to some of it before passing the
plate on to President Bush. Chertoff is so focused on terrorism
that other forms of disaster don't even register as blips on
his radar screen. So much for preparedness.
Where
was the National Guard while the Katrina disaster unfolded?
A significant percentage of the Louisiana National Guard (a.k.a.
the Louisiana National Assault Force) was deployed in Iraq,
along with most of their unit's equipment. The remaining guard
members didn't have the gear they needed to respond to a local
emergency. Besides, who would have thought that the New Orleans
Police Department and other local law enforcement officials
and emergency responders would fold so quickly?
A
spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, an agency of the
federal government, explained how the Corps did a cost/benefit
analysis regarding design and maintenance of the levees that
protect New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi
River. At the end of the study, they decided that it wasn't
cost-effective to build the levees any stronger than was necessary
to withstand a category 3 hurricane. Brilliant reasoning, absolutely
brilliant.
For
less than Duhbya spends in a week to destroy infrastructure
that Iraqis depend on, the Army Corps of Engineers could have
preserved infrastructure that Americans depend on, and saved
enough money to fund Duhbya's ill-conceived war for an entire
year. Whoever would have thought . . .? Never mind! Obviously,
no one in government.
What
is it with these people in government? From the Commander 'n'
Thief on down, our elected and appointed public officials seem
to have enough brains among them to make . . . to make . . .
to make Forrest Gump look like a genius.
Regarding
the disaster, Duhbya said he was satisfied with the government's
response to Katrina, but not with the results. I say, "Bullshit!"
I'm satisfied that the results are exactly what could have been
predicted, given the response. Or, rather, the lack of one.
Copyright © 2005 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Sound-alike
Words
The
English language has an abundance of sound-alike words as part
of its lexicon. Sometimes, sound-alike words are spelled alike,
although they have very different meanings. More often, sound-alike
words are spelled with minor differences in letters or letter
arrangement. My favorite examples? Try peak, peek and pique.
They all sound alike, but none of them mean the same thing.
As a writer, editor or publisher, it's your responsibility to
know the meaning and proper spelling of words before you use
them. Give your readers a brake . . . er, break!
Copyright
© 2005 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer
The articles
appearing in Petey's Pipeline E-zine are based on information
believed to be true at the time of publication.
Neither Perfecttext.com, Petey's Pipeline E-zine nor their publisher
assume any liability or responsibility as to the accuracy or
efficacy of any information, products or services that are submitted,
advertised or rendered by contributors to Petey's Pipeline E-zine.
While we make every effort to screen out scam artists and bogus
offers, you should still do your homework. Caveat emptor!
