Is this real, or just a lucky sample size?

(Getty Images)

So when my son walks into my office and sees me in front of my computer watching an animated short film, I can’t expect him to believe me when I say, "Really honey, mommy's working."

Animated stories of the FREEWAY PATROL

In fact, I was working, watching this You Tube video sent to me by a gentleman in Texas who found himself in practically this same situation, the latest victim of an epidemic of overuse of medical helicopters.  

In the video, a young driver is hit from behind and when she gets out of her car there descends upon her a virtual army of first responders insisting she’s seriously injured and in need of medical attention. No amount of eye rolling or shoulder shrugging can change their minds, and so whiplash collar firmly around her neck, and safely secured to a stretcher, the driver is airlifted from the highway to the hospital -- across the street from the accident site. 

“What’s this going to cost me?” she asks the ambulance attendant. 

“Let me ask you this” he answers, “wouldn't you say your life is worth a mere $17,000?” 

As the credits roll, I’m not laughing and my son, Joseph, asks why not.  “Because it too true,” I tell him, right down to the budget-breaking price tag. 

I’m sometimes told that questioning the use of EMS helicopters is on par with encouraging people to play Russian roulette.  “Wouldn't you say your life is worth a mere $17,000?” 

But who, faced with an expensive medical procedure they will pay for from their own pocket, doesn’t want to know “How much will it cost?” and “Do I really need it?” 

There are too many instances where medical helicopters are called for people who are not critically injured or do not have time-sensitive medical need. (Read my previous posts on this here  and here.) They will be shocked when the bill arrives. If you’ve got a few minutes, I urge you to watch this excellent investigative report by Amy Davis of KPRC in Houston exposing the unethical arrangement between EMS provider PHI and a Houston-area fire house.

According to her report, PHI made a deal with a local emergency service provider in 2008 in which PHI would build a helipad and crew lounge, provide a helicopter, pilots, a mechanic and pay $77,000 per month to the Harris County rescue district. In exchange, PHI would have the exclusive right to carry patients and bill for its services. 

Davis interviews Jason Boatswain - one of the patients transported by the PHI helicopter under the new agreement. Like a character out of a YouTube video, Boatswain, injured in an auto accident, was loaded into a helicopter for the hospital, even though he was not seriously injured. The bill he received for his short ride by air was $12,400. A ground ambulance would have cost less than $700. 

The year prior to the partnership between PHI and the county, the rescue unit moved 12 people by air, according to Davis’ report. With the PHI contract in effect, it moved 106.

I wouldn’t be rehashing a scandal from 2009, if I hadn’t heard of two eerily similar stories, one just a few months ago, also in Texas, about which more later.

The Association of Air Medical Services will hold its 2010 Air Medical Transport Conference in Ft. Lauderdale in a few weeks. Between viewing the product displays, whooping it up at the MASH BASH banquet and enjoying the MedEvac Foundation Charity Golf Classic, let’s hope attendees spend some time trying to figure out how to rein in an industry eager to know “Recovery Marketing after an Air Medical Accident” (Tuesday session 9:45) and intent on “increasing flight volume” (Monday session 11:00) whether patients need those flights or not.

By TWW friend Eric

The McNabb returning to Philly commentary has reached a breaking point. What I mean is that I want to break my television and the face of each idiot commenting on it. Am I bothered by those speaking on McNabb’s legacy and the upcoming game? Not at all.  It’s the idiots who are using retard-strength crystal balls to predict fan reaction to his introduction that really grinds my gears.

After the jump, I'll call out a few of these clowns by name and continue to spit hot fire on them.


Let's start with Trent Dilfer.  He predicted fans will boo and it will be “pathetic.” Well, Trent Dilfer, you’re pathetic. You just insulted an entire fan base for something that they haven’t done yet. You won a Super Bowl on a team led by a player that killed a guy. Your self deprecating humor is annoying, and your condescending tone indicates that you’re totally a dick in real life. I’d rather watch Merril Hoge - and I really hate Merril Hoge.

Jemele Hill did the same thing. I was actually a little upset to read her article, because I usually like what she writes. Let me paraphrase: Eagles fans are classless and will boo McNabb, which in-turn makes them more classless. Well Jemele, you are Trent Dilfer -- shut uppa yo face. Oh, and the crap about booing him at the draft needs to stop.  That was like 15-20 dudes ELEVEN YEARS AGO.  How the hell does that represent the entire fan base????

Herm Edwards had the best comments I've heard so far.  You know why?  Because he gets it. He played here and he knows the fans. He said that he expects mostly cheers, and the fans will boo their team when they aren’t playing well, because…wait for it…they care!!! Holy shit a fan base that voices displeasure in their team?!?! Somebody call Jemele Hill: I need commentary!!

Go ask Allen Iverson how he was received when he came back to Philly. AI had just as many haters as McNabb, but the cheers he got rivaled anything I've heard at a sporting event. Did Iverson win a title? Nope. Was he much more balla than McNabb? In every way imaginable. But the main difference between Iverson and McNabb: McNabb never embraced the fans and always played the victim, while Iverson did the exact opposite. Iverson's attitude was always that many people loved him and a few hated him. He knew that the city just wanted to see someone leave everything out on the court/field every single game. McNabb never understood that a huge portion of the fan base loved him.  There is a small group (the overly vocal idiots that call into talk radio) who don't like anybody and are kinda racist. McNabb never embraced Philly fans because of that small group.  If Sunday comes and he gets booed, then he gets booed.  But I for one will be standing and applauding, and I’m willing to bet that most fans will do the same.

By the way -  Brett Favre got the shit booed out of him in Green Bay. That actually happened, but didn’t receive this kind of commentary.  God, I hate Trent Dilfer. 

Cruise pollutants?

There's good news and there's bad news in Flying Lessons today. First the bad news. The very smart folks over at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have just released the results of a study that seems to suggest that unregulated airliner pollutants cause as many as eight thousand cardiovascular, respiratory and cancer deaths each year.

Examining how airplane emissions travel through the jet stream, Steven Barrett, a professor at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics discovered that nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides in jet emissions are responsible for these deaths and that the impact of the pollution is not only not restricted to the countries where airliner traffic is heaviest, countries with low levels of airliner activity are disproportionately affected.

The study, funded by British transportation agencies and some assistance from the U.S. Department of Transportation and published in the science journal, Environmental Science and Technology (read the report here) claims India and China which contribute just 10% of the aviation fuel burned worldwide, experience about half of the related deaths. These countries are particularly affected because of the interaction of the aviation-pollutants with the ammonia generated by agriculture in those countries. 

At present, regulation of airplane emissions focuses only on jet fuel emissions generated at takeoff and landing. As a result of his study Barrett says governments should consider the health effects of cruise-level flights as well.

Airplane emissions are the hot topic at the International Civil Aviation Organization 37^th Assembly going on in Montreal. Folks there are doing their share to heat up the atmosphere by arguing over aviation emissions trading scenarios. Read Aviation Week’s take on it and fill me in if you understand it, okay?

Bradley International Airport

My story in The New York Times last month about an American Airlines airliner using the first commercially-produced, publicly available RNP (GPS guided) approach at Bradley International Airport, was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. After all the hoopla - television crews recorded the B737's departure from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and newspaper photographers greeted the flight in Hartford - Capt. Brian Will was unable to actually land using the approach. Blame tail winds, Capt.Will said.

But last minute surprises from Mother Nature aside, there's something truly spectacular about the digitization of air navigation. Somebody stop me, I think I've drunk the Kool-aid!  


Re-reading the transcript of my interview that day with Steve Fulton, the Alaska Airlines pilot-turned-daddy of RNP, I am once again struck by the potential in this technology. Here's a list of some of the benefits we can expect in the next decade as more airlines make the investment and equip their planes to fly more precise routes. 

Fuel savings (estimated at 6% by Southwest Airlines in a 2009 article for the Times, read it here)

Shorter flight times  

Fewer ground delays

Reduced air traffic control workload 

Diminished ground noise 

Safer transit through challenging terrain  

Acting on the assumption that gear-heads and techno-philes, may find it fascinating to read how Steve Fulton turned the solution to a troublesome approach route in Juneau, Alaska to create a global revolution in aviation, I've uploaded the entire transcript from our conversation last month in Hartford. Click here to see a video prepared by Naverus.

This afternoon, our boy Trevor Laws was rightfully credited his second sack from Sunday's beating of the Jaguars.  Many congrats to Law's as these were sack numbers 1 and 2 in his career.  It's no secret we here at TheWizWit are big fans.  In fact, this blog operates with a weekly Trevor Laws quota. 

In all seriousness, Trevor Laws has been fantastic for the Birds this year and is seemingly putting everything together in his third NFL season.  He had great preseason showing vast improvements from 2009 which in turn, earned him more playing time.  He was one of the most active players on the field Sunday, and filled up the stat sheet.  He finished the day with 2 sacks, 6 tackles (2 for a loss), and knocked down two balls as he clogged the passing lanes.  Keep up the great play, Mr. Laws.  Well done. 

And to the Elias Sports Bureau - don't let another mistake like this happen again.  Yall know Trevor won't let this shit slide twice.  OBEY THE LAWS!

I bet you didn’t. Or you forgot. Or you've been suppressing the memories of a terrible 2009 campaign deep into the recesses of your mind. But check it, this year’s team really can’t be any worse – or more importantly – any more frustrating to watch as the Eddie Jordan-led Sixers.

Yesterday Sixers training camp began and Kate Fagan wrote a great article on Philly.com. Using her words as inspiration, we've taken a few of the best parts from the article and added a little of TheWizWit commentary you've become accustomed to.  After the jump, we touch on a few players, a little philosophy, and cap it off with a very telling quote by world-renowned scholar and philanthropist Marreese Speights.

All of Kate Fagan's words (and quote's she received) are in bold.  Our uninformed commentary follows.

Collins was running through some 5-on-0 drills and he initially used a "starting" lineup of PG Jrue Holiday, SG Iguodala, SF Thaddeus Young, PF Elton Brand, and C Spencer Hawes. His second unit was PG Lou Williams, SG Evan Turner, SF Jodie Meeks, PF Trent Plaisted, C Marreese Speights.

Only surprise here is that Turner wasn’t running with the starters. Don’t get too upset though, I seriously doubt this will be the starting 5 in January. Oh, and no way Trent Plaisted makes this team.

"You can talk a lot of basketball with him, which is a lot of fun. I had a conversation with him about how the defense will be playing me and how he can make certain passes from the elbow. He has a lot of input so we can relate a whole lot, we can adjust. He's kind of like Peyton Manning. He's able to do some of the same things as far as being a big man who can deliver passes ... really had a great practice with Spencer and I can tell we're going to be connecting a whole lot." -Andre Iguodala on new Center Spencer Hawes

Spencer Hawes = Peyton Manning? Probably the worst comparison ever. But don’t be too hard on Iggy -- TheWizWit’s very own Maurice has confirmed that this is probably just black people code for “white athlete that doesn't play defense”. Either way this is good news because Sammy D couldn’t do any of the things Iguodala mentioned in the quote.

Collins feels Young and Nocioni are two of the team's better players, he said it wouldn't make sense for the team to have both players on the bench at the start of the game.


“I hope [Nocioni] becomes a 20-minute a night guy for us," Collins said. "I told him today, 'We’re building.'

Well this makes me sad. If this team is ‘building’ wouldn’t you play more of the younger guys? I don’t really want to see Nocioni on the court very much. If he’s getting chunks of minutes, then Collins is trying to squeeze out wins now. That’s fine if that is what he wants to do, but the team would be better served growing slowly with the core group of young guys that will be here for a while.  Collins wants to win games, he just has to make sure he's not impeding the teams' progression to do so.

“Darius [Songaila] is very hard-nosed player," Collins said.

This is coach speak for “offers no real, tangible contributions to a basketball team”. Also see: gritty, tough, David Eckstein.

"He’s a facilitator, right now. He’s a guy who loves to get other guys involved. And that’s what I want him to be right now. And as he goes along, I want him and Jrue and Dre and those guys to play together and all of a sudden he gets more of a scoring mentality." -Doug Collins on Evan Turner

Makes sense. Collins will build Turner’s confidence in a facilitator role with the second team of guys (LouWill, Speights, Nocioni, etc) and that should lead to a natural progression of him more comfortably moving into a scorer’s role. Again, even if Turner isn’t starting when the 2010 season begins, he’s going to get big minutes and will be on the court with Jrue and Iggy Dre plenty. Which reminds me – I really wish Iguodala would embrace the Iggy nickname but he insists he be called Dre. Can you really give yourself a nickname? This did not work well for George Costanza and T-Bone. Just sayin'.

"Nobody had a role out there last year. We were just out there playing Princeton. It was a disaster last year, so we’re not going to talk about that." -Marreese Speights

This one line couldn’t sum up the 2009 Sixers any better. They were a turd sandwich wrapped in a poopy diaper.  And that diaper was probably made of recycled poopy diapers.  Just a fantastic quote by Speights. Here’s to changing the culture and making strides towards putting a competitive squad on the floor.

Go Sixers.

(By American Zen's Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari Goldstein.)

"People need to shake off this lethargy. People need to buck up. Bringing about change is hard — that's what I said during the campaign. It has been hard, and we've got some lumps to show for it. But if people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks weren't serious in the first place. If you're serious, now's exactly the time that people have to step up." - President Barack Obama

When I informed the missus yesterday that my next article would be a slam on the Democrats, she said, "That's like shooting fish in a barrel." I responded, "No. Fish have spines."

These days, Daddy Warbucks Barack is doing the same exact thing as George W. Bush four years ago: Hitting the campaign trail for his party in a non-election cycle while he ought to be running the nation. In both cases, their respective parties were expected to lose big in the midterms. Here's the one crucial difference: George W. Bush had the sense not to insult the party's base while trying to get votes for the Republicans. Obama, while he's slapping us on the backs with one hand is slapping us in the face with the other.

During an interview in Rolling Stone and a stumping stop in Wisconsin, Obama chided Democratic, liberal and independent voters under the guise of rallying them. Scared that he'll be faced with an even more hostile Congress than the one with which he's had to deal for the past 20+ months, Obama has made the huge mistake of talking down to the liberal/progressive base that had gotten him elected, treating justifiably disaffected voters as if they're petulant children who want their candy now, as if we have poor impulse control.

That's a characterization that's more befitting Republican/Tea Bagger voters. While the liberal/progressive base that elevated then-Senator Obama from a mere dark horse to the presidency of the United States may feel disenfranchised, at least we never made an issue of his religion, his birthplace or questioned his patriotism or political or ideological allegiances. Understandably, Obama has given up on the Tea Bagger/Fox "News" demographic.

But there are a lot of voters on both sides of the Great Ideological Divide that are deeply unhappy with the 44th administration. Many are going to be voting Republican. Many will be voting ultra Republican. And those voters who actually have their facts straight will be sitting at home on Super Tuesday. Those are the ones who realize two things: #1 That Obama's presidency is not (directly) at stake. And #2, it doesn't really matter which party they vote for. The only difference between the Democrats and Republicans is that the Democrats usually use lubrication and give us a sloppy reacharound.

Let's take stock of the Democrats' proud accomplishments of late:

In the biggest no brainer of the decade, a fat, slow-swinging piñata sans the blindfold, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, the Democrats, while tokenly insisting on keeping them for the middle class, caved and put off a final vote because they know they'll cave in the face of the Republican minority yet again and extend them for their fellow Haves and Have Mores.

In another no brainer, the Democrats allowed the minority Republicans to scuttle the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Larry Summers is leaving his post as the head of the National Economic Council so he can spend more time insulting women at Harvard and the rumors are flying that Obama will appoint a Wall Street tycoon to fill his post to dispel any lingering right wing impressions that he's "anti-business."

Stephen Colbert, the faux conservative and darling of the liberal base was openly insulted by John Conyers and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer after the comedian testified before Congress on the plight of immigrant migrant workers, thereby making them sound exactly like the Republicans. In fact, Conyers asked Colbert to leave and to submit his statement to Congress even before he had the chance to speak despite the fact that Mr. Colbert was there at the personal invitation of Conyers' subcommittee chairwoman Zoe Lofgren.

And Harry Reid recently tried to suck up to an unwinnable right wing base by wishing the Cordoba Cultural Center would be built elsewhere.

It's been 20+ months. Unemployment has not gotten any better since right before Bush left office, the deficit has grown, our national debt has grown. Anyone who honestly thought this hobbling by the Bush administration would be magically healed in 20 months deserves to get bitch-slapped by the President.

But the Obama administration, in many ways, is like that computer program that looked so great in the demo at the computer store than, once you install it, it crashes your system.

Not only did Obama install Ken Salazar, a man who never saw an oil cartel he didn't like, as Interior Secretary, he also put in charge of protecting the Interior a man overseeing a Minerals Management Service that allowed BP to pollute the entire Gulf Coast by not making them file environmental impact reports, to allow them to drill without adequate (and inexpensive) backup measures and to submit a laughable oil spill response plan that included dead men, non-working phone numbers and even a Japanese home shopping network. The health care bill is a joke and merely resulting in higher and higher premiums. Yet the only funny thing Obama saw during a recent $30,000 fundraiser were querulous liberals who couldn't get over the fact that Obama championed a public option during his campaign yet swept it from the table when the minority Republicans began grumbling about it.

Granted, it would be grossly unfair to blame Obama for all the ills that he'd inherited just as it would be grossly unfair to blame Bush for the same problems. Many of our problems began under Reagan and, in some cases, Nixon. But Ronald Reagan is dead and we're not feeling too good, ourselves.


Meanwhile, Gitmo is still open despite campaign promises to the contrary, pictures and videos of us torturing innocent people are closed to public scrutiny despite campaign promises to the contrary, Afghanistan has been ramped up to unprecedented levels, the illegal war in Iraq is still being fought only with less US troops, the number of contractors between Iraq and Afghanistan has literally swelled to 2-1 and bailed out corporate executives are paying themselves bigger bonuses than ever.

And, in probably the most egregious example of wet-legged Democratic cowardice, the Obama administration won't even address a UN Human Rights Council's finding that Israeli commandos murdered a US citizen execution-style.

It seems, for many reasons that seem pressing and unavoidable to him, Obama is bound and determined to continue kowtowig to the Chinese even while they're racheting up the trade imbalance and don't seem to care that their products are killing us, sucking up to the Saudis and practically lying prostrate before Israel despite their terrorist activities that are killing US citizens and innocent Palestinians and Lebanese.

This is a trend that began decades ago and, thanks to Obama, the once-proud and independent United States remains the Sick Man of North America. So why shouldn't we call in sick on Election Day?

Michael Vick is heartless, dog-drowning sociopath...if by "heartless, dog-drowning sociopath" you mean the GREATEST QUARTERBACK IN THE WORLD.

Holy shit just look at my dude bein' all menacing and awesome. McNabb? He's a Chunky soup-slurpin', interception-smirking punaniface. Kolb? He sucks. But Michael, oh Michael...you're the one. You're the shit like 50 I'm-the-shit-like similes from Lil' Wayne.

Oh, what's that? You're one of those Eagles fans that could never let MV7 turn the page on his conviction? You're that guy who could never come to grips with the fact that your favorite football team is now being led by Ookie so you openly rooted  for his failure? Well I'm here to tell you it's okay -- but I know how you feel:

So what did we learn this week? Well, The Jaguars are Really Really Bad, MV7 for MVP, Save Him for Later, OBEY THE LAWS, DeSean's First Dougie, StewBrad to the Rescue, and Silence for the Dead.

The Jaguars are Really Really Bad - Yes indeedy.  While I'm as excited for the possibilities of what Vick can accomplish as the next delusional Eagles fan, I understand that we really must temper our feelings in this case.  The Jaguars are a bad football team.  The Football Outsiders agree.  I could sit here and Google a bunch of facts about how they're 29th in the league at this and last in the league in that, but that would be wasting your valuable time with Jaguars statistics.  You're probably at work...reading Jacksonville Jaguars stats is like giving your company the finger.

MV7 for MVP -

Save Him For Later - "Fourth and 1 and you run a sweep to Mike Bell?!"  Yes, I thought the same thing...but there's a reason for Andy and Marty sparingly using their second-year burgeoning star RB: it's a long season.  There was a point last year where LeSean McCoy hit "the wall" and could no longer produce as he did earlier in the season.  Why wear him out too early in a game against the Jaguars?  I mean, their uniforms and logo look like the pattern a gay 12-year old would have on their pajamas.  Save Shady's legs now and keep him strong heading into the playoffs.  Yeah bitch I said playoffs.

OBEY THE LAWS - That's my dude.  Trevor Laws -- the first Eagles player to link this blog -- had a ridiculous game yesterday showcasing power, tenacity, and a raggity-ass-awesome beard.  Six tackles, a sack, and two defensed passes.  OBEY THE LAWS!

DeSean's First Dougie - Check it out here.  Sadly, the camera pans away before DeSean can really get into intricate add-your-own-flava steps of the Dougie, but at least he gave us the end zone dance move we've been asking for. No, really, we've been asking for this. Although DJack didn't answer us via Twitter, I don't think I'm stepping my bounds by assuming that TheWizWit was his sole source of inspiration and that the dance was simply a physical way of showcasing how much he cares about this blog. You're welcome, Mr. Jackson.

StewBrad to the Rescue - Total points scored against the Eagles while Stewart Bradley is playing - 6.  With a deep D-line rotation and several similarly-mediocre CBs (after Asante), Stew might be the most valuable part of this defense.  As I've said before: Omar Gaither suuuucks.

Silence for the Dead - Donovan F. McNabb makes his way back to Philadelphia this Sunday.  I think all of us over the past several years have at some point envisioned what this game would look like.  Who would McSoup be playing for? Who would be the Eagles quarterback?  What did we trade him for?  After now understanding the answers to all of these questions, the situation doesn't seem any less strange.

There are books that can (and probably will) be written about McNabb's time in Philly.  I'll save you the emotional paintings and nostalgia, but it will be important how we as Philly fans react to Donovan's return nonetheless.  The national spotlight will be on us, the fans of Philadelphia, for those few moments as he runs onto the field.  This is our chance to finally dispel those tired and trite depictions of us as Booers of Santa Claus.  Sure, we like to run onto the field of Citizens Bank Park every once and again and sometimes throw up on the daughters of police...but those things are few and far between.  We know who we really are: passionate, fun, knowledgeable, demanding, and we show phenomenal poise in the pocket. WE'RE GREAT FANS.  So I say fuck their stereotypes.

Let's have a moment of silence when Donovan runs onto Lincoln Financial at 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon.  One part respect for what he's accomplished in our uniform, one part intolerance for his decade-long nonchalant and frustratingly casual attitude, and one part "you were wrong about us, America".  Booing would be too predictable and applause would be too boring. Silence would be a surreal moment for Mac-5 and Eagles fans alike.  I say let's do it.

Go Birds.


Main photo By: Doug Benc/Getty Images Other Photo By: D. Hallowell for PhiladelphiaEagles.com

I swear, in my 51+ years, I've never seen things get this bad. To get a glimpse of a worse state, you'd have to ask people in their 70's or 80's what it was like in the Great Depression. The two epochs, our and theirs, compare favorably if "favorably" can be used in that context.

Our own government, the non-partisan Census Bureau, told us this month that about 44,000,000 of us are living at or below the poverty line. The Dept. of Labor said early this month that unemployment climbed to 9.6% with no end in sight. We're hearing from other organizations that the top executives of the 50 companies that shed the most jobs took home bigger salaries and bonus packages than ever. And continuing the Bush tax cuts for these same people is half the GOP's campaign platform.

It could be plausibly said that the only thing that keeps us from rioting on Wall Street and Pennsylvania Ave. is hunger and distracted desperation to find any work.

Mrs. JP and I are just two people who fell through the cracks. We're both skilled, hard-working people who'd much rather make our own way the way we're expected to. Yet the system's not cooperating. The MA DET's official website has been either down or slowed considerably since yesterday and I'm not getting the final check from my 12 week federal extension. Even with both of us drawing unemployment, we were pulling in less than $300 a week, which is insufficient for rent, food, car insurance, internet, gas, electricity, gasoline and whatever comes up.

Anything you guys could do would literally make all the difference this month. We're still about $300 short just for the rent that's due on Friday, which is the $300- we should have gotten by tomorrow. We're doing everything we can. Last Friday, we drove as far out as Concord, about 20 miles east of us, looking for work to no avail. Temp agencies call me for my resume, I give it to them then they don't call me back. Either people aren't hiring or the 9.6% unemployment rate gives them an excuse to shrink their strike zone down to the size of a molecule.

We really do want to be self-sufficient and to start paying it forward. We could cut down on our living expenses by going to the local food banks. But we've avoided them out of both pride and the realization there are other others who are hurting worse than us. But this is the closest we've come to facing actual eviction and there aren't even any homeless shelters in the area.

How much did Southwest Airlines covet access to the traffic-rich airports in Atlanta and New York? Enough to offer AirTran Airways more than $7 a share for stock selling at $4.5, that's how much.

In an offer with an estimated  price of $1.4 billion, Southwest Airlines will acquire AirTran, the heads of both airlines announced Monday morning.

"This is an industry that's fraught with risk,"  AirTran boss Robert Fornaro said, explaining why he thought AirTran shareholders were likely to accept the proposal. Fornaro characterized the Southwest offer as a rare "sure thing" in the industry.

We're a pretty scrappy company and we've done a lot with very little in a lot of ways," he said, describing his Orlando-based airline and its fleet of 138 Boeing 717s as having played the game hard. "Its not just staying in the game, you want to win," Fornaro said. By accepting Southwest's offer, "this company would be in a better position and eight thousand people would get the benefit."

Fornaro's poignant comments were a small part of the news conference. The announcement was dominated by Southwest C.E.O. Gary Kelly who could barely contain his glee.  He has reason to be delighted. The acquisition will increase the size of the low-cost-carrier by 25%, adding 37 destinations to Southwest's route map including the desirable Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

But perhaps the sexiest aspect of the deal is that it will elevate Southwest to the status of international carrier, with AirTran's destinations in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Aruba. While in New York to speak to the Wings Club last year Kelly spoke to me of his desire to make the airline more cosmopolitan.  At that time, he would have accomplished those flights with code-share arrangements. Assuming the deal with AirTran is approved, Southwest can fly the routes with AirTran's international operating certificate.

So its no wonder that Gary Kelly is grinnin' like a country bear.  "Near international service is number one and a natural evolution from the service we've developed," he told reporters.

Lest anyone accuse Southwest of blindly following the lead of Delta/Northwest and United/Continental by proposing to marry AirTran, Kelly explains, "its a brutally competitive industry. To the extent that we have competition that is getting better or getting bigger, we have to think about that and think about how we respond. We both know we can create a stronger company by combining than we can as independent companies."

"I don't know where else in the United States Southwest could have grown," said Robert Herbst, who follows airline finances at www.Airlinefinancials.com. Bob says the purchase of AirTran is great news for the industry and great news for Atlanta where he expects Southwest will start giving Delta Air Lines some competition.

"Southwest will go into Atlanta with a lot more destinations and a lot more gates. Southwest has the money and the balance sheet to go into a fight," he told me.

"I've got to give Gary credit for seeing what was happening here," Bob said explaining  that in getting AirTran, Southwest has eliminated a potent low-cost competitor.  When it comes to ticket prices, "AirTran is considerably lower than Southwest. Looking into the future AirTran was really going to create financial problems for Southwest."

Bob Herbst is among those who believe the rock-bottom airfares so popular with air travelers are the shoals on which the industry is capsizing, which is why he's enthusiastic about the deal while predicting it will create higher priced airline tickets.

In the meantime, Kelly is assuring his customers that the airline still plans to offer free checked bags and one-class cabins while AirTran's 717s will be incorporated into Southwest's all B737 fleet.

This blog is going down as of right now. The real articles have been been posted at Give Us This Day Our Daily Dread. Adjust your bookmarks accordingly.

Sorry girls, when Marreese is out and about yall better tuck your muffin tops away.  According to his Twitter last night, Speights encountered quite a few of you.  He's blaming it on your constant consumption of cheesesteaks, scrapple, and grease-shakes. 

As you can see from this earlier tweet, this was a problem he encountered all night long. You can start the tweet-delete countdown now.

Whatever.  Anyway, Speights shouldn't be worrying about our Philly girls, and instead concentrate on the upcoming season.  Especially considering he's a guy who hasn't exactly had the best conditioning himself.  Just sayin'.

The Shark had a dream the other night. Some of the details are foggy, but I remember Xena the Warrior Princess was there and she was riding me. She was riding me and I was made of SOLID SILVER.  It was awesome - I was as smooth as Dave Chappelle's balls. Things were going tremendously until I found myself smack-dab in the midst of a sneak-attack nightmare. Xena began turning into Troy Polamalu from the Head and Shoulders commercial, and I think a seagull pooped right in my eye. They say getting pooped on is good luck, but I say that's GULLSHIT. Good thing I woke up before things got too horrifying.

The lesson I learned from this dream: finish up my standard mascot picture so I won't have to make up terrible dream sequences. We can't have this weekly feature... jumping the shark. Hi-yo! Sigh... I hate myself.

Alright enough nonsense. The Shark went 9-6-1 last week. That’s a record of 16-13-3 for the year. Winning record equals money in your pockets. We wouldn't steer you wrong. So without further ado, your Week 3 picks coming right up after the jump.

Home teams are in CAPS.  Someday I won't remind you of that.

Titans (+3) over GIANTS
Both of these teams are coming off losses where they looked pretty awful.  I think the Titans will have an easier time recovering.  Everything went wrong from the opening kickoff for Tennessee last week and they never really got going. 

PATRIOTS (-14.5) over Bills
Pats are at home and coming off a loss - they're going to take their aggression out on the poor Bills (who are switching to Ryan Fitzpatrick this week.)  The Bills offense (and season) is in shambles.  This has 34-10 written all over it.

RAVENS (-11) over Browns
Common knowledge tells you the Browns are a cursed franchise and will lose this game.  The question is by how much.  Some bettors stats to consider: Browns are 0-4 against the spread (ATS) in the last four meetings, are 2-5 ATS in the last seven meetings, and the favorite is 4-1 ATS in this matchup since 2007.

Steelers (-3) over BUCCANEERS
Is it me, or does this line look curiously low?  Sure, the Bucs are at home, but have you seen the Steelers defense this year?  They easily have the best D in the league right now and well... the Bucs don't have a good offense.  Charlie Batch will manage the game, Tampa will commit turnovers, and the Steelers will win by 7 in a close game.

PANTHERS (+3.5) over Bengals
I swear, I'm like an abused woman and the Panthers are my baby's daddy.  I've bet on them each of the first two weeks, got slapped around, and now I'm back.  Sigh.  What is wrong with me?  As I mentioned in last week's post, I was in Delaware Park for legal parlay betting last week.  Guess which team screwed me out of winning money on Super Teaser?  That's right, the one with Matt Moore's stupid face.  So why bet on them here?  The Bengals are the overwhelming favorite by the public to cover this week.  I'd be breaking Rule #1 if I didn't go with the Panthers.  (FYI - I went against my own rule last week with the Patriots and I got burned.  Serves me right.)

Falcons (+4) over SAINTS
The Falcons are going to keep this one close.  I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled off an outright win, and here's why: The Saints are coming off a short week having played the Niners in a tough game on Monday night.  They lost their spark plug, Reggie Bush, to a broken leg.  And finally, Atlanta possesses one of the absolute best rushing offenses in the league.  The Saints struggled mightily against Frank Gore, and Michael Turner will pick up right where he left off.

49ers (-3) over CHIEFS
I can't bet on the Chiefs.  Can't do it; won't do it.  I don't care how many times they cover.  Let's put aside the fact their head coach is a dipshit and their quarterback shouldn't have a job.  Old man Thomas "3.7 yards a carry" Jones is getting TWICE AS MANY CARRIES as Jamaal Charles.  Are you shitting me?  Charles is a very special player with a threat to score anytime he touches the ball.  But no, you're the Chiefs, so you can't possibly do something so logically. 

VIKINGS (-11) over Lions
The Lions are a publicly backed underdog this week with over 60% of bettors siding with them.  That's a little scary.  Remember, they're the Lions and they don't have their franchise quarterback on the field.  I know what you're saying, "But the Vikings have been booty, son!".  Yes, that's true, but did you see what Shady McCoy did to the Lions on the ground last week?  Adrian Peterson is going to get 35 carries and run for 200 yards on Sunday.  I only speak the truth.

Cowboys (+3) over TEXANS
The Shark is feeling pretty good on this one.  Dallas absolutely cannot go to 0-3.  It's not going to happen.  Sooner or later, Wade Phillips is going to put the Chili's menu down and realize they need to run the ball.  I'm guessing that happens this week.  The Texans embarrassed Dallas during the pre-season on national TV and I'm sure ole Double J hasn't forgotten.  If Dallas loses this game, I fully expect Jerry Jones to force Wade Phillips to eat a shit sandwich.  After Phillips licks his lips and asks for seconds, Jerry will fire him.

Redskins (-4) over RAMS
The Rams seem like they've been a 4 point dog in each game this year.  This could be a trap game for the Skins but I'm going to assume they'll take care of biznazz.  Either way, I don't care about this game - I'm lucky enough to have no Rams or Redskins in fantasy this year.  It's going to be a boring 17-10 type game where Chris Cooley scores a 40 yard TD to win it with a couple minutes to go.

Eagles (-3) over JAGUARS
Okay, so the Eagles have screwed me over two weeks in a row.  Last week's pick against Detroit was the right play, but we fell victim to a backdoor cover.  Shit like that happens.  Fast forward to this week, and I noticed something kind of odd.  This game opened up at Eagles -3 when everyone thought Kolb was starting.  With the announcement that Vick won the job, the line didn't move.  I'm not sure how that's possible.  I was expecting a line of -5 or -6 here, but I'm running with the bargain.  So anyway, can you name one player on the Jaguars defense?  Did you say Aaron Kampman?  Ok, try naming a player with working knees,  I'll wait..... Times up, of course you can't think of anything - the Jaguars are terrible.  Andy Reid wouldn't have made this switch if he didn't think Vick was going to propel this team to convincing wins.  I don't know about you, but I'm a believer.  You know who isn't ready to buy in?  Bill Simmons, who picked the Jaguars to cover this game.  I'll properly re-phrase Simmons' paraphrase of Winston Wolf explaining why he's so low on the Birds- "I'm not ready to suck Mike Vicks' dick just yet".  Well guess what, the Shark's down with sucking Michael's Vick and will embrace our new starting QB with open fins and an open mouth!  Ahem...no homo.

Colts (-6) over BRONCOS
I don't have any stats or facts as to why I think the Colts will cover this game.  I just know that the Colts are a very good team and the Broncos aren't.  A lot of how this game turns out will hinge on how much Denver can get up for the game after the suicide of a teammate earlier this week.  I'd bet on them being naturally sluggish.

SEAHAWKS (+6) over Chargers
The Seahawks are a team that really uses their homefield to their advantage.  It's a very tough place to play even though no one really thinks about it in that light.  The Chargers pooped all over the Jaguars last week, but most of that was because of the shit-ton of turnovers they committed.  After seeing how uncomfortable this Charger team looked against the Chiefs in Week 1, I'm not convinced they should be favored by as much as they are.  After all, San Diego seems to be inconsistent every September.  They don't decide to turn it on till the calendar turns to October.

Raiders (+4.5) over CARDINALS
Bruce Gradkowski is taking over the starting QB duties from Jason Campbell this week.  Brucey isn't that great of QB by any means, but he does seem to win games and this Raiders team does rally around him.  The Raiders are currently among the league leaders in rushing offense while the Cardinals are one of the worst teams stopping the run.  Sounds like a recipe for success to me.  Now I just have to hope Gradkowski doesn't revert back to his Tulane-point-shaving self.

DOLPHINS (-1.5) over Jets
This game is essentially a pick em.  We're going to go with the home team and assume Mark Sanchez can't put two competent games together in a row.  Here's better logic - don't bet this game, it's gonna be down to the wire and you really don't want to sweat it out, do you?

BEARS (+3) over Packers
We're going for the Monday night upset here.  The Bears will have a completely bonkers home crowd behind them on Monday Night Football.  The Bears run defense has been great so far this year and their passing offense is one of the best in the league.  It seems like Cutler has put it all together and will be in a throwing match against Aaron Rogers.  This will definitely be a close game, and I'm pretty sure whoever wins will do so by only a field goal.

And now I will leave you with this.  You have that stupid cat saying "hang in there" on your cubicle wall?  Well this is what keeps the Shark motivated, sucka.

Good luck, and enjoy the games everyone!

These videos have probably by now made the rounds all over the liberal blogosphere but Stephen Colbert's 5 minute-long performance/testimony on migrant workers before Congress is too good not to help disseminate.

This was the closest Colbert ever came to stepping out of character, when he told Congresswoman Chu, "I like talking about people who don't have any power...I feel the need to speak for those who can't speak for themselves....We ask them to come and work, and then we ask them to leave again. They suffer, and have no rights."


We unknowns in the blogosphere point out that contradiction every day and no one listens to us. Perhaps Colbert's celebrity will get them to thinking about that despicable contradiction.

I'm unlikely to ever win a Nobel Prize, but today I have something in common with the 1997 winner of the prize for Physics, Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Like me, Dr. Chu believes Flying Lessons can and should be applied elsewhere, starting with the oil industry.
"We have over the last half century developed procedures which are different from what I've seen in this industry," Dr. Chu said on Wednesday while suggesting oil could learn a lot about safety from aviation. "One doesn't have to reinvent a lot of things."

You've got that right Dr. Chu. I'm preparing to be interviewed for a Discovery Channel series on aviation disasters tomorrow, and as I review my notes on various airplane accidents, I'm reminded of just how much progress has been made in the design of the machinery and the practices that seek to optimize human performance.

Why oh why haven't these lessons been applied outside aviation? Well, I've speculated about that in previous blogs which you can read here and here. So let's take a look at some of the weaknesses in offshore oil drilling cited by Secretary Chu, as reported in today's Miami Herald. I promise, you don't need to be a physicist to follow along.

Absence of Government Oversight

The buzz phrase "absence of government oversight", has of course been tossed around since the April 20, 2010 explosion on the Deep Water Horizon drilling platform that killed 11 workers and began the spill of nearly 5 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

But Tom Anthony of the Viterbi School of Engineering at University of Southern California says that's not a completely accurate characterization. (Read his paper on the subject here.)

"I don't think there was a absence of government oversight but there was inadequate oversight. The oversight was inadequate for the level of hazards being encountered in this environment."

Thomas Anthony  Director Aviation Safety USC

The Federal Aviation Administration is a $9 billion dollar agency with aerospace safety its top priority. Say what you will about how well it does its job - some days better than others - but more than a decade ago, the agency shed its role as a  promoter of aviation because of the inherent conflict.

But at the Department of the Interior which oversees domestic oil production, the promotion of offshore oil drilling remains part of the mission.

Less than one month before the Deep Water Horizon explosion, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was talking about "expanded development" and oil production in new areas, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

I don't know if the separation of these conflicting roles is necessary, but one thing's for sure, analyzing the risks, hazards and necessary safety systems cannot be done by the oil industry alone.

Tom Anthony is director of the Aviation Safety Program at USC. He saw the disconnect between the oil industry and aviation on the subject of safety from the start. There's a direct correlation between oil development and aviation, he told me. "They are both operating in a hazard-rich environment." More than new regulations will be needed to bring oil up to the safety standards of aviation.  

"What needs to be in place is a formalized process whereby those people in position of authority can analyse the facts, the hazards and costs and make a reasoned, responsible judgment on what is acceptable and what isn't." That's what Tom calls the second wheel. What's the first? A comprehensive effort to identify and quantify hazards.

Its only by taking this top down aproach that the other items on Dr. Chu's list can be addressed.  For example, the secretary cited BP's faulty industry response plans, a lack of redundant systems and a challenging operating environment. But to me, these items are too grainular. The kind of safety managment system airlines are required to have take into account those nettlesome issues and more.

But Dr. Chu has had an ah-ha moment and aviation safety specialists are cheering him on. Let's hope he, Salazar and everyone else on the guest list to develop an oil industry safety strategy for the future turn to aviation to get the lesson right.