Friday, November 28, 2014

STUPIDITY: ANOTHER STORM, ANOTHER OUTAGE!



28 NOVEMBER 2014, Vol.1, No.81 > STUPIDITY: ANOTHER STORM, ANOTHER OUTAGE!

The POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2
[New Email address: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com]


STUPIDITY: ANOTHER STORM, ANOTHER OUTAGE!

They say that “Stupidity is doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result!” – well that definition fits a lot of things WRONG in West Virginia, and especially in Pocahontas County!  Within the last six-years or so every time the wind blows stronger than 10 mph, or a heavy rain occurs, or any kind of ‘snow storm’ – WHAT HAPPENS?  There is some kind of POWER OUTAGE and it lasts for hours or days – this time for close to forty (40+) hours and on THANKSGIVING DAY!  Just how many folks & families were effected most likely will never be known, but the FACT THAT IT OCCURRED – that is now well-known and could have been avoided – IF ALL MAJOR POWER LINES WERE BURIED as the smart folks do in Europe & elsewhere!

Now it’s a fact that burying power lines costs about six-eight times as much as putting power lines on poles – but NOT when you consider the total loss of power several times a year, year by year, as is now occurring under the MONOPOLY of Alleghany Power / Mon-Power!  So why is the problem not being addressed or corrected but just piecemealed together incident after incident?  IT’S CALLED CORPORATE STUPIDITY & GREED!  If Mon-Power were a PUBLIC CORPORATION instead of a private-for-profit corporation, then SOMEONE could and would be held responsible and the ‘buck-would-stop-on’ the desk of some public official who could easily be replaced!  During the ‘Eisenhower-Era’ all utilities were Public Corporations and constantly held responsible to service the public at all times – and when water & sewage, electricity & (natural) gas, or other public services were disrupted, such as buses & trains, etc. – those who worked for those services were on the clock 24/7 until the problem was fixed – they didn’t take off to have their ‘Thanksgiving Turkey’ while their neighbors were without service! 

The same applied to BELL TELEPHONE, although a private-corporate-monopoly at the time, Bell was REGULATED as if it were a public corporation and if & when telephone lines went down for any reason, the men on the poles never came down until the problems were fixed!  BUT NOT SO nowadays, now the monopoly services cut every corner they can find, and let the public suffer the losses & inconveniences!  IT’S PROFITS BEFORE PEOPLE!  And since the breakup of Bell, the local Frontier Telecommunications is perhaps the worse of them all! 

But for those that are not individually ‘stupid’, stop & think for a moment: Doesn’t Alleghany Power rake in MILLIONS & BILLIONS from all its customers?  Hasn’t it ripped us all off  from its ‘ESTIMATED RATES’ month after month for who knows how many years, let alone add insult to injury OUTAGE after OUTAGE?  The Public Service Commission (PSC) received so many continuous complaints that it now requires an ACTUAL MONTHLY READING of every electric meter on every building – AND WHAT HAPPENED?  All electric billing fell 50% or more when actual usage was read compared to the ESTIMATED-BILLING done by the power company sitting in their offices!  Then WHAT HAPPENED?  The private-electric company simply went back to the PSC and asked for a RATE-INCREASE!  So while the monthly billing under the ESTIMATED-RATE-USAGE raised every monthly billing per/household to from $100 - $160 per/month, and while the ACTUAL-RATE-USAGE cut every monthly billing to $30 - $70 per/month, the NEW-RATE-INCREASE has again brought every monthly billing back again to between $110 - $185 per/month – yet we are still getting the same lousy service every time the wind blows, it rains or it snows!

And don’t you find it strange that the ‘business-community’ along the main roads seem to always have their electric power, or are the first to have it restored after a ‘storm’ – while the rest of the community sits in darkness?  What does it take to get on THAT TRUNK LINE?  So why don’t we have our power lines UNDERGROUND so they won’t ‘fall down’ in any kind of storm and service everyone equally?  Anyone ever watch the ‘Tour de France’ in July each year?  Ever see any ‘wires-on-poles’ as we see everywhere here in America?  Nope, and you won’t since most European countries BURY THEIR WIRES for safety, convenience, aesthetic, and other common sense reasons!  Perhaps that’s one of the reasons most Europeans believe Americans are ‘stupid’ – along with a host of other economic, social, political, domestic and foreign-policy reasons!  And perhaps that’s also why many states, like California (by leading the way), has taken back control of public utilities and made them again Public Corporations, always accountable to the Citizens!  California also BURIES its main electric power lines – but then again, like the Europeans, California uses renewable WIND TURBINES for electric power instead of toxic-coal-fired power plants that spread asthma & cancer to ‘stupid people’ who tolerate it – or just don’t know any better!

BUT THE PROBLEM DOESN’T JUST STOP THERE!

Take the WV Department of Highways (WVDOH) and its ‘stupid’ idea of placing stone/gravel along all our roadways INSTEAD OF FULL PAVEMENT or BLACKTOP from side to side as is done in the more intelligent states!  Other than the ‘stupid’ excuse that the placing of stone/gravel along all our roadways causes traffic jams & delays in the Spring & Fall, and KEEPS NEPOTISM in place whereby one person actually uses a shovel while nine others lean on their shovel and watch the one working – what real purpose does having six-twelve-to-eighteen inches of stone serve along our roadways?

WOULDN’T IT MAKE A LOT MORE SENSE TO PAVE THE ROADWAY COMPLETELY FROM SIDE TO SIDE AND PROVIDE A BIKE PATH ON EACH SIDE OF THE ROAD – INSTEAD OF THE NONSENSE SIGNS SAYING ‘SHARE THE ROAD’ WITH A SINGLE OR GROUP OF CYCLISTS COMING AROUND A CURVE IN THE ACTUAL ROADWAY ITSELF?

And then we wonder just why the foreign media, the domestic corporate media, Hollywood comic celebrities, late night talk shows & such all say, ‘AMERICANS ARE STUPID’!  It isn’t getting any better as now 4 of 10 (40% or more) Americans CANNOT tell you the names of the 50 States or where they are located, and over 1/3 of all Americans CANNOT tell you the three-branches of government!  In this county, asking that question would require you to tell the listener what species of TREE the three-branches are on!  If you don’t believe us, consider that in this election year, in both the primary & general elections –

THE VOTERS OF THIS COUNTY ELECTED THE LEAST EDUCATED COUNTY COMMISSION IN THE HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY –
set to take office 01 January 2015 !

Of the nine candidates that ran for county commission – and lost – all but three were college educated with COLLEGE DEGREES – and two of the three without College Degrees won over those that were college educated!  WHAT DOES THAT SAY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTY!  Well it could mean that they are ‘too stupid’ to know the difference!  That ‘stupid does as stupid is’!  That the Voters are ‘too stupid’ to know the difference between living under their current FEUDAL-SYSTEM compared to living in a DEMOCRACY!  That the majority of those that voted are afraid of CHANGE & PROGRESS since they favor their current Poverty & Pauperism because they know they lack the education or willpower to improve themselves!  There are probably lots of other reasons as well, such as the ‘Priests of Baal’ & ‘Daughters of Isis’ usually vote as a block for ‘one of their own’ election after election.  But suffice it to say – Stupidity is doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result!” – so sooner or later…    

WE WILL REAP WHAT WE HAVE SOWN
… & then some!

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The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens
of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’ tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense Alternatives for
THE GREATER COMMON GOOD BEFORE SELF…
or any Special Interests! 
We fight for Social Justice on all fronts and are an integral part of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of  The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal Fires of WV, & Rolling Thunder in association with Echoes from the Holl’r.  

Email comments & suggestions to: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com  

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