Al's Morning Meeting

In case you didn't pay attention last month when Alan Greenspan warned the House Energy and Commerce Committee about rising natural gas prices, he is going back to the Hill to say it again Thursday to a Senate Committee.

Everyone from homeowners to businesses are seeing shocking gas price hikes this summer. See story from the Indy Star.

It will get worse this winter.

Business First of Columbus (Ohio) reports, "Energy experts say indicators point to a volatile winter gas-pricing season that likely will spell higher residential gas bills by several hundred dollars this winter.

"Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, economists, and the natural gas industry are making consumers and suppliers nervous. 'Gas in storage is 32 percent below last year's level and 22 percent below the previous five-year average,' Abraham said last month at the National Petroleum Council Summit on Natural Gas in Washington, D.C. 'If gas prices this winter are as high as some predict, the average residential winter heating bill for a typical Midwest consumer is expected to be $915, a 19 percent increase over last year's bill.'"

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Television Week reports, "In a jarring about-face, the National Association of Broadcasters has decided to oppose all pending legislation that would roll back the Federal Communications Commission's recently enacted rules changes that relaxed media ownership limits. The NAB has also reached out to the major networks to join with it in its new position, apparently seeking to head off the formation of a competing trade group that would represent network interests."

The flip-flop is a surprise, given what NAB has said in the past about the 45 percent rule.

On June 19, NAB's website posted this statement: "NAB is pleased the Senate Commerce Committee voted to roll back the national television ownership cap to 35 percent. However, the bill also adopts provisions that reinstate the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban and require radio companies to divest legally acquired stations. Consequently, NAB will strongly oppose this legislation."

On April 23, NAB's President Edward Fritts said, "...Nor do we seek changes in the rule barring a single broadcaster from owning television stations that reach more than 35 percent of U.S. homes. In our view, the 35 percent TV cap has been good for localism and diversity. It has helped preserve the network/affiliate relationship."

Next Wednesday the House Appropriations Committee is slated to consider an FCC appropriations bill. Television Week says "Sources expect the committee to consider a rider that could roll back much of the deregulation the FCC voted to adopt on June 2."

In other words, the committee might vote to override the FCC and keep the 35 percent rule.

Most Popular Drugs Rise 3x Inflation Rate

A study just out from Families USA says, "The prices of the 50 most-prescribed drugs to senior citizens rose, on average, nearly three-and-one-half times the rate of inflation last year, according to a new report released today by Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers.

"Among the top 50 drugs sold to seniors, more than half (27) rose in price at least three times the rate of inflation from January 2002 to January 2003, according to the report. Nearly three-quarters (37 out of 50) of the drugs rose in price at least one-and-one-half times the rate of inflation. The drugs that experienced the fastest-growing price increases in the past year were:

• Claritin, an antihistamine, rose nearly 12 times the rate of inflation.
• Klor-Con 10, a potassium replacement, rose more than 11 times the rate of inflation.
• Miacalcin, an osteoporosis treatment, rose more than 10 times the rate of inflation.
• Premarin, an estrogen replacement, rose nearly 10 times the rate of inflation.
• Atenolol, a generic beta-blocker, rose more than 9 times the rate of inflation.
• Toprol XL, a beta blocker, rose more than 9 times the rate of inflation."

Rust Costs Military $10-$20 Billion

A GAO audit released this month says rust is costing billions of dollars worth of wear and tear on Defense Department gear and it is even affecting military readiness. The study also says the DoD does not have a good plan to deal with the problem.

The report says, "In 2001, a government-sponsored study estimated the costs of corrosion for military systems and infrastructure at about $20 billion annually and found corrosion to be one of the largest components of life-cycle costs for weapon systems. Corrosion also reduces readiness because the need to repair or replace corrosion damage increases the downtime of critical military assets. For example, a recent study concluded that corrective maintenance of corrosion-related faults has degraded the readiness of all of the Army's approximately 2,450 force modernization helicopters. Finally, a number of serious safety concerns have also been associated with corrosion, including Navy F-14 and F-18 landing gear failures during carrier operations and crashes of several Air Force F-16 aircraft to the corrosion of electrical contacts that control fuel valves."
 

Chronic Daily Headaches: 8 Million Children and Teens Live With Pain

At least one child in 10 suffers chronic headaches that stunt their emotional lives and hurt school performance as much as illnesses such as cancer, researchers said on Monday.

Reuters reported, "A study of 572 headache sufferers aged 2 to 18 at the Cincinnati Children's Headache Center in Ohio concluded that the unpredictable, sometimes daily, attacks diminished quality of life as much as cancer or other diseases.

"'We found that children with migraines reported a similar pattern of disability as children with rheumatoid disease or cancer,' lead researcher Scott Powers wrote in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics."

The Washington Post has a fascinating article about teens and headaches. I think this story would be especially attractive to parents and younger viewers and readers. The story says: "Lots of teenagers get major-league headaches, particularly girls who have begun menstruating. Doctors speculate that fluctuations in estrogen affect levels of serotonin, a powerful chemical messenger that regulates blood flow to the brain. A report on migraines published in the late 1990s by the American Medical Association estimated that migraine headaches -- usually marked by severe throbbing pain and nausea -- affect 8 million children and teens and cause 1 million missed school days each year.

"The headache picture for teens has grown more complex as pediatricians and neurologists have become increasingly aware of chronic daily headaches (CDH), which is marked by a pain that's more persistent and more difficult to define than that of standard headaches."

The chronic problems seem to be increasing, experts say. The Post story quotes headache specialists who say one factor in some adolescent CDH may be the overuse of headache medication, both over-the-counter pain relievers and prescription drugs. Taking acetaminophen or ibuprofen more than two or three times a week can set the stage for rebound headaches. But analgesic overuse is less common among teens and youngsters with CDH than it is among adults.

Kids and headaches resource page

City Credit Cards

How are your government workers using government issued credit cards? In most states all of those expenditures would be subject to open records.

In D.C., they suspended the use of city cards. The Washington Post said, "The D.C. Council voted (Tuesday) to suspend a program that allows hundreds of city employees to use government-issued credit cards to make purchases, saying the program has been abused and mismanaged.

"Some council members said they were unsatisfied with high-ranking city officials' assurances in recent weeks that the government would implement strict controls to curb the problems that were uncovered by reporters and a city audit.

"Employees have circumvented a limit of $2,500 per purchase, run up interest fees, and charged questionable expenses such as restaurant meals, hotel stays, balloons, and candy, according to reviews of city records."

Tax Dollars Pay for News Coverage

The Honolulu Advertiser says, "Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau is covering the airfare and hotel bills of the television reporting team that is accompanying Gov. Linda Lingle to Japan.

"The HVCB, which receives about 90 percent of its money from state taxpayers, has budgeted $200,000 for the trip, including travel expenses for a reporter and cameraman from KITV-4, the ABC affiliate."

28 percent of Bridges Need Repairs (Bridge Conditions State-by-State)

The Associated Press reports, "Summer is the season for bridge inspection and repairs. More than a quarter of all U.S. highway bridges are considered deficient, a high number but a marked improvement after a decade of increased government spending.

"The number of bridges considered deficient -- they need repairs, cannot adequately handle traffic loads or do not meet safety standards -- declined 18 percent from 1992 to 2002, from 199,090 to 163,010, according to an Associated Press computer analysis of Federal Highway Administration data. That new total still amounts to 28 percent of bridges."

TripNet, using U.S. DOT data, says, "32 percent of America's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, 27 percent of America's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete."
 
Here's a state-by-state list of deficient and obsolete bridges (as of 2002).
Here's a list of the 100 most deficient bridges in the U.S. (as of 2002).

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