MONDAY, MAY 28, 2007
Tuesday Edition: It's a Gas, Gas, Gas
When gasoline
prices rise, people get creative about filling their tanks with your money.
Just take the
audit report from Richmond,
Va., for example. The
auditors found that someone charged almost 45 gallons
of gasoline for a car with a 16-gallon tank.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch says:
That's just one of 645 instances in which someone pumped more gas
at public expense than the vehicle could hold, according to a detailed audit of
Richmond's
$22-million-a-year system for buying, maintaining and operating city vehicles.
The audit, released [...] by City Auditor Umesh Dalal, also found more
than 160 instances during the budget year that ended June 30 in which the same
vehicle card was used for fueling multiple times in the same day. In one case
more than a year ago, the card for a vehicle was used eight times in less than
six hours to pump 124 gallons of gasoline.
If it is happening there, it most likely is happening
elsewhere. Happy hunting -- and send me links to what you find.
Hurricane Season Begins
Friday
The
U.S. Census Bureau has a data collection to help you report population trends
and hurricane history.
Here is the National
Hurricane Center page, and here is a bunch of stuff on being prepared.
Want to follow a particular historic storm's track or see
how many storms hit a particular area over the decades? Use this mapping tool.
Last week, experts at the NOAA
Climate Prediction Center projected a 75 percent
chance that the Atlantic Hurricane Season will be above normal this
year, continuing the ongoing active-hurricane era.
Beware of Foreclosure 'Rescue' Companies
The
South Florida Sun-Sentinel found
desperate homeowners who wished they knew then what they know now.
Rejected at the Docks
How on earth could tainted pet food ingredients make it from China to the United States?
This segment will give you a clue.
I read a ton of government documents, but I have never read
anything quite as descriptive or disturbing as the notices of rejection called "refusal reports" that the Food and Drug Administration files when it finds stuff that somebody is
trying to ship into the U.S.
that should not come. As you read over these April 2007 refusal reports from docks in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle,
Baltimore and elsewhere, keep in mind that only a tiny percentage of
shipments get inspected -- so what is slipping through? The reports describe unsafe electronics,
filthy food and more.
The
Washington Post says that in just the last month, the FDA rejected 107
shipments from China
alone.
Long Customs Lines
USA
Today reports that
there is a national shortage of U.S. Customs agents, and people flying into some
airports are waiting up to three hours to clear inspections. Some flights are
holding international passengers on their planes for 30 minutes. All of this
with the summer traveling season just beginning and airlines increasing
international flights.
Al's Morning Multimedia: Making Home Prices Interactive
How could you use the power of the Internet to show the roller coaster effect of home prices (adjusted for
inflation) from 1890 until now? Well,
you might use a roller coaster to plot the ups and downs. Don't miss
this one. Watch for the years to pop up in the blue margin at the bottom of
the window.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Posted at 11:48:10 PM
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