The economics and time-frame of climate change
The economics and time-frame of climate change
Do you remember the other climate change issue? Think “ozone hole.”
High altitude ozone (not ground level ozone) shields Earth from the suns ultraviolet radiation. Stratospheric ozone is nature’s sun-block and it was being depleted by man-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), with the DuPont trade name “Freon.”
In 1978 the United States banned the use of CFCs such as Freon in aerosol cans. This was the beginning of a long series of regulatory actions against their use. The critical DuPont manufacturing patent for Freon expired in 1979 and in 1986 DuPont, with patents for replacement products in hand, publicly condemned CFCs.
Argentine scientists recently announced, “This year the ozone hole season was much shorter than in earlier years,” and it was not as large.
The observations confirm the findings of the latest report on the issue by the United Nations published in 2010. The study concluded that CFC elimination was having an effect and the ozone hole was not growing – a sign of recovery.
However, an expert pointed out, “we have not yet returned to the radiation levels we had in 1980,” since the chemicals that destroy ozone take 10 years to reach the stratosphere, and then the ozone layer takes time to recover.
Be happy DuPont saw the government regulation of CFCs to give it a profitable competitive advantage.
Sources:
Al Jazeera - Hopes grow on shrinking ozone hole
Wikipedia – Chlorofluorocarbon
Electronic cigarette Internet scam update
Summary -
The free trial offer is not so free if you fail to jump through the invisible hoops, as outlined in my recent post, Anatomy of an Internet scam.
It is possible to telephone within the two week period after placing your order, and cancel the future automatic credit card charges you may have unknowingly agreed to (Is that really an agreement?) The number I called was 1-877-766-5306, but it may be a different number for you. Check the details in your first order confirmation email.
It’s not easy, so be persistent. The customer service operators are trained to give you a had sell. If you do not call, your credit card will be billed $99.67 for the electronic cigarette “starter kit.”
The fist thing they do is to offer to extend your free trial period from 14 days to 28 days.
Just say, “No. I wish to cancel the order and return the starter kit.”
Then they will offer to drop the price on the starter kit from $99.67 to $39.67.
Just say, “No. I wish to cancel the order and return the starter kit.”
Then they will offer, in addition, to drop the price on electronic cigarette refills from $31.95 to $21.95.
Just say, “No. I wish to cancel the order and return the starter kit.”
The final price is about in line with with other e-cigarettes cost from other companies. But, it is my advice that you do not do any business with this company, even at the reduced price. If they try to scam you once, they could easily try to scam you again.
Just say, “No. I wish to cancel the order and return the starter kit,” and then actually return it promptly. Keep your proof of mailing.
Anatomy of an Internet scam
I’m fairly careful when it come to taking the online bait. I like to read the fine print and I know if an offer sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true. But, sometimes I slip up and make a mistake.
Recently I’ve been looking at electronic cigarettes as an alternative to smoking, but I don’t know anyone personally who has any experience of them. Online testimonials from strangers don’t count much with me, but a free trial offer online did catch my eye. Trial offers are a standard marketing strategy for new products. The company is betting that you will like the product and buy it. This makes sense for consumable products like razor blades and electronic cigarettes. The razor blade doesn’t last long and if you like it, you have to buy more.
It’s the same way with electronic cigarettes that use consumable nicotine cartridges. The electronic cigarette is a smokeless nicotine delivery system, and as cigarette companies have known for a long time, nicotine addicts make good long-term customers. So, a free trial offer of an electronic cigarette starter kit seemed reasonable to me. The company might lose money on the starter kit, but they would make it up on the refill cartridges.
But it was a trick. It was a nasty little trick that more than a few fell for. The company website intentionally hid the full terms of the deal by linking through using black type on a black background. The nasty details were there, but they were literally invisible to casual inspection. Only by selecting the text and highlighting it is reverse color did the link to the full terms of agreement become visible.
As you can see at the bottom of this web page screen shot, indicated by the white arrow which I added, there is nothing but blackness. But, once I highlighted the text, voila!
The invisible becomes visible. There is a ”Terms Conditions and Refund Policy” that was intentionally hidden as dark type on a dark background. You are not supposed to see it.
The terms of the “Free Trial Offer” include:
“….In other words, upon enrollment in the Program, you authorize Company to charge your credit card $4.95 (USD). As a member in the Program, you have 14 days to try the Product (the .Trial Period.). Please note that delivery time is subtracted from your Trial Period, and will reduce the number of days allocated to your Trial Period. If the Product is not right for you, call 1-877-647-3625 during the Trial Period, as long as you return the product in accordance with the time limit described in Section 4, Company will not charge you another dollar. Otherwise, at the end of your Trial Period, as a member in the Program, your credit card will be charged $99.67 (USD) for the Product you already received. Then 30 days from your initial order of the Product (and every 30 days thereafter), you will be sent a new supply of the Product containing 4 packs of cartridges, (A total of 24 cartridges) and your credit card will be charged $79.62 (the .Monthly Fee.). Please note that Florida residents must add sales tax. “
The important point to notice:
1. The 14 day trial period starts from the order date and not form the date you receive the electronic cigarette starter kit.
2. To avoid further charges to your credit card, you must first telephone before the end of the 14 day period to get a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) , and as stated in Section 4 (which is actually Section 6) you must “return the starter kit with a Return Merchandise Authorization (a RMA) number within 30 days from the date you placed your order.”
More than a few have been deceived by this. Their first clue that the “Free Trial Offer” is not free is when their credit card gets hit with an unexpected $99.67 charge.
The company:
S. Krieger Enterprises LLC d/b/a No Flame E-Cigarette
info@ecigcustomerservice.com
ecigcustomerservice.com
promo.noflameecig.com
6538 Collins Avenue #95 (This is a UPS Store mail drop)
Miami Beach, FL 33141
1-877-766-5306
1-877-647-3625
6. CANCELLATION AND REFUND AND EXCHANGE POLICY
If you wish to cancel future deliveries of the Product or receive an RMA number, you must call 1-877-647-3625. If you cancel prior to the expiration of the Trial Period and would not like to be billed for the full amount of the Starter Kit you must return the starter kit with a return merchandise authorization (an .RMA.) number within 30 days from the date you placed your order. If you do cancel within the 14 day trial and do not want to be charged for the starter kit we must receive your starter kit with an RMA number 30 days from the date you placed your order otherwise you will be billed $99.67. If you fail to cancel prior to the expiration of the Trial Period or you fail to return the starter kit with an RMA number within the 30 days from when you placed your order, your credit card will be charged $99.67 for the Product that was shipped to you.
If you cancel after the expiration of the Trial Period, you may receive a refund, but only if the starter kit is received by us with an RMA number within 30 days from the date you placed your order. Refunds will not be given on packages marked .Return To Sender.. All Product returns must be sent to No Flame E-Cigarette. For purposes of calculating the 30 days for this refund/return policy, each Product that is shipped to you after the expiration of the Trial Period is deemed to have been ordered when such Product is billed to your credit card.
Buyer beware. Cavaet emptor. Don’t whine … COMPLAIN!
Federal Trade Cmmission Bureau of Consumer Protection - complaint form online
Southeast Florida Better Business Bureau
Florida Attorney General Economic Crimes Contact Form
The myth of Romney’s fundraising advantage – updated
Looking at the campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (www.fec.gov) through this morning for both Romney and Obama, and what I found was that President Obama has, without exception, out-performed Romney in fundraising since January of this year through September.
The Obama campaign ended September with $99 million cash compared to Romney’s $63 million. During the month of September alone, Obama out-fundraised Romney by $50 million. The amazing thing about it is the great number of small donors contributing to Obama’s campaign.
The original of this post, from September, is here.
Welfare to work update
A year ago in July I compiled the caseload number of adults participating in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. Blame it all on the 35 one-hundredths of one percent. The numbers showed a steady decline in adult participation in the program from 2000 to 2008. Not surprisingly, those numbers also showed an uptick in adult participation when folks lost their jobs or could not find work in 2009 – 2010 during the Great Recession. Now that the caseload numbers for 2011 are available, it is time to update the chart.
As you can see, by the end of CY 2011, the numbers have begun to decline again. There are only a bit more than one million adults (parents or guardians of minor children) who are participating in the TANF program. Don’t blame Federal budget problems on imaginary “welfare queens.”
U. S. Defense Spending and Income Tax Receipts
To put things into proper perspective, I gathered the annual data from the U.S. Department of Treasury, Financial Management Service, and graphed it. The easy and obvious conclusions are: (1) Defense and military spending has more than doubled during the period FY 1998 to FY 2011 (the most recent year with complete information), (2) Federal Income tax receipts have not increased nearly that fast, and (3) President Barack Obama has not reduced defense military spending during his first term, even though the rate of increase has slowed since the end of the Iraq war.
As you can see, as a percent of Federal Income Tax receipts, defense military spending has gone from about 30% to more than 60%, from 1998 to 2011.
A Third-party Story
A major party candidate doesn’t need 50% of the vote to win. Look at the success that 43% of the vote brought Bill Clinton in 1992. The reason was that Clinton won a plurality in a three way race. Sure, you say, but Ross Perot got almost 19% of the vote that year. He was a bona fide contender. Otherwise, as people keep telling me, third party candidates just don’t matter.But, it’s not true. They do matter.
This year there is the Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson on the ballot in 47 states for sure, with 3 more being disputed. Johnson will not draw as much as did Perot, but polls show him receiving between 3% and 7% of the vote. The question is, from which of the two major party candidates will Johnson take more of his votes? In a really close race, the answer to that question tells the tale and determines the outcome of the election. If between now and then Obama opens up a bigger lead, then Johnson will not make much difference. If the gap between Romney and Obama stays about 2% – 3%, Johnson could make a decisive difference.
There are only a few public polls that include Johnson, so far.
