websense

A few months ago I blogged about the Swine Flu, and how everyone was getting all excited over another new flu to the extent that folks were putting up websites to track the outbreaks.

Now, the latest web buzz is all the craziness over whether or not to get the vaccine. As with any new vaccine, there are those that are leary of getting it, and you can find any amount of information on the web to convince you that you never, ever want to get another flu shot, lest you end up with GBS or worse. Unless you are in the “get the shot” camp. Then you can search the internet and discover endless bounties of information and testimonials that prove that every single person absolutely must get the vaccine or we are all doomed.

You gotta love the fact that the web has taken the ‘conspiracy theory’ to a whole new level. Used to be that there were quiet groups or individuals that would put out flyers, newpaper articles, or whatever means they had available to them to warn folks of impending doom. Now that you can do it on the web, mostly for free, they are coming out of the woodwork, from all sides!

All kidding aside, the h1n1 is a flu, most people who get it will be fine. If you are sick, stay away from people! As for whether or not to get the vaccine, you decide…
Yikes! Keep that needle away from me!
I’ll never get another shot!
OR
Where’s my vaccine???!!!
I want my pig flu shot!

With all the talk about this new government run healthcare system, the townhall meetings and Conservatives who oppose the plan being labeled “angry mobs”, one lucky site owner is totally raking it in, or should I say “ranking” it in?

Talk about making the Web work for ya! This lady bought the domain http://www.AngryMobtshirts.com over a year ago, well before all the name calling began (And let’s give a shout out to Nancy Pelosi for that – she’s helping this site owner make piles of cash). She was just checking her stats one day, and was enormously surprised to see that the site was getting tons of traffic. She had previously used the site to sell Cafe Press merchandise, but quickly got to work throwing lots of Republican and Conservative bumper stickers, conservative t-shirts and other items together for sale on her newly popular site.

The owner, who would like to remain annonymous, cites the fact that most Republicans have a great sense of humor and are having a great time with the merchandise. “Republicans have a great sense of humor, contrary to what some people believe,” the owner laughs. She says the response to the merchandise has been fantastic. “Those so-called ‘angry mobs’ are the reason Obama is now stalling on the idea of a ‘public option’ in the proposed health care bill. Many Republicans feel the joke is now on Nancy Pelosi. Buying the merchandise gives them the guilty pleasure of rubbing it in.”

Because the owner feels as though she has won the “Google Lottery” in Search Traffic, she has pledged to donate 10% of the proceeds to the GOP. Pretty Cool! This folks, is the way capitalism, free enterprise and even charitable contributions should work. Finding a niche, and running with it in the U.S. can make or break you. The system is set up so that anyone with a little capital and a fantastic idea can go all the way. And if they fail, whether its because the idea was not that great, they didn’t work hard enough, or the market was not there for the product, then so be it. That leaves some room in the market for the next guy. I sure hope it stays that way. Hard work and ingenuity should be rewarded. If you start punishing folks for great ideas and making money, pretty soon folks will quit coming up with good ideas. Then where will we be?

If you would like to read more check out the article from PR Newswire.

Okay, hopefully this will be the end of this whole “Cash for Clunkers’ disaster put forth by the current administration. Tomorrow is the deadline for dealers to send in applications for the government rebates in the “CARS” program. There has been another little hiccup, however. The auto dealers began reporting on Friday that the computer system for reporting to the CARS program was slow and in some instances, crashing. If the dealers cannot get thier applications in by the end of Monday, they are sadly out of luck.

The NADA has asked the government to extend the deadline to enable the dealers to have adequate time to apply for ther refunds, since it is the government’s computers that are causing the problem. As you may have heard, dealers have been bailing out of the program since last week, due to many of thier applications for refunds being turned down. Now many more are suspending the program in thier dealerships so as not to lose any more money on this ill-conceived, poorly run government subsidy.

Aside from all the network issues, the NADA has suggested to dealers that they stick with submitting the deals already in place even though there may be time for new ‘clunkers’ deals, just in case they are not able to get the new deals submitted if the government reuses to extend the submission deadline.

Just a short update on the whole “CARS” program. As you can probably tell from my earlier post, I am somewhat underwhelmed by the government’s attempts to get Americans to drive the kinds of cars they want us to drive (All while redistributing a little wealth). Now it seems as though they are doing whatever they can bail on their end of the 3 billion dollar ‘bargain’.

As if they hadn’t messed with dealerships enough by closing so many of them with the government takeover of both GM and Chrysler, the bureaucrats overseeing this “CARS” program are now using their power to deny 4 out of 5 claims, mostly due to minor errors. That means the dealers are out the cash because they’ve already made the deal with the consumer. If you are gonna start a huge government program, with regular people and sales guys doing all the paperwork, I think you’re gonna need to be a little more flexible. But, of course they knew these little errors were going to happen, which means that they will need more people to help out with reviewing the claims, or they can turn it down all together because Larry the car salesman forgot to dot the I’s and cross the T’s.

If pushing car dealers out of business was part of the plan, they are well on their way.

Supposedly this was to help stimulate the economy as well as get folks into more fuel efficient vehicles. At least that was the line. The DOT has 255 people reviewing these claims from car dealers! 3 billion dollars spent on a nationwide program, and they have 255 people on it? Government spending at it’s best folks! Throw all kinds of too good to be true money (our tax dollars) at something, and then assign two guys to figure it all out, further clogging the system.

So, they have had a good measure of success in getting people to turn in their old cars, supposed gas guzzlers, and drive away in a shiny new one. Let’s not forget that they are selling mostly foreign cars by the way. The old cars are then destroyed on the spot, rather than allowing them (at least the ones that are safe and drivable) to be given to charities for folks that could really use a vehicle to get to work. Genius.

What a mess.

It’s almost as if certain people want to destroy our economy and the automotive industry is just an easy target.

I can’t wait ’til these guys are in charge of my health care.

With the trouble in the auto industry, the government take overs of Chrysler and GM, and all the incentives the government is putting out to get folks to “upgrade” to a more fuel efficient vehicle, there is bound to be some confusion. In an effort to alleviate some of the confusion, several blogs and websites are addressing the issue. Cars.com has a very helpful article that sorts through all the eligible cars, as well as detailing the type of car you can use for trade and how long it needs to be in your possession prior to trading it to receive the government freebie or your share in the redistribution of wealth.

Another site, actually titled Cash for Clunkers allows the user to search for a dealer that offers the program, as well as detailing for the consumer what regulations are in place to qualify.

The Cash for Clunkers, of CARS program is having some strange effects on dealers, and not all good. Dealers have been inundated with calls for the program, with many folks ready to buy a vehicle. Many dealers are expecting this window of opportunity to create a brisk business. However, because of the need for so called “clunkers” to use as a trade, the supply of used cars is low, driving the auction and selling prices up, and therefore making it very difficult for the folks that are actually in the market for these vehicles for their transportation needs.

The government site for the CARS program can be found at http://cars.gov.

Putting politics aside is difficult, so I guess it’s possible to say that this coercive effort to force feed more fuel efficient cars to the American public may have an upside, perhaps for the sake of just getting the economy moving a little, and that it may put some folks in cars nicer than they could ordinarily afford does have an up side. The down side being that we are using money we don’t have to give freebies to purchase cars using money borrowed from China to try and change the way Americans shop, drive and live.

In addition, we are moving people from American made cars to foreign made cars. So, who are we really helping?