This comes under the category of “Actions have consequences.”

January 3, 2013 6:40 AM

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (KMOX) – Belleville police chief Bill Clay is ordering his officers to get their pancakes from anywhere but Denny’s, calling the restaurant “political stupidness.”

The new orders come after a New Year’s Day clash between five detectives and one Denny’s manager.

The department says the detectives were out of uniform but wearing their badges, when manager David Rice asked them to either leave or put their guns in their vehicle.

Rice, told the detectives that one of their weapons, specifically a female detective’s gun, was making another diner feel uncomfortable.

As the officers were leaving, without their food, General Manager Michael Van walked up and corrected the manager and said it was fine for them to stay, but the officers said it would be too awkward and they left.

Denny’s corporate office has released an apology saying, “Denny’s policy permits law enforcement officials to carry their firearms in the restaurant and we regret any misunderstanding.”

An employee at the Belleville Denny’s didn’t want to talk about the confrontation to KMOX, but some Denny’s customers said the presence of police and their guns was not an issue.

My wife grew up in a small town not far from Belleville, IL. Belleville is next to crime-ridden East St. Louis and has much of the same problems as does East St. Louis. I suspect the local manager may have had issues with the police and used their guns as an excuse to cause problems.

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With little public notice the November unemployment rate was quietly raised one-tenth of a point to 7.8. Initially the rate was widely published as proof the unemployment rate was falling. Nope, another administration lie. The initial rate for December 2012 is flat—maintaining that 7.8% level. The administration’s usual practice means that percentage rate will be revised upward later this month.

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Due to outcries of rage from downstate and across the country, Illinois dems pull their gun control bills that would ban semi-automatic rifles, pistols, shotguns, pump-shotguns and magazines holding more than 10 rounds.

The Illinois Senate pulled the plug on legislation to ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammo clips late Thursday, a stinging rebuke to Democrats and a wake-up call to the president and his supporters who think the Newtown, Conn. school child slayings will make it easy to pass gun control. — The Washington Examiner.

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This article may be a portent of things to come. We received our Comcast bill yesterday for the month of January 2013. It had gone up $50. We have bundled service including cable, internet and land-line telephone service. If I analyzed the bill correctly, the bundle went up around $35 and rest in fees and taxes.  I didn’t see an Obamacare surcharge listed but I have no doubt it was there in some form.

Perhaps this is next.

January 4, 2013 9:33 AM

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – Heavy Internet users may see their prices rise as Time Warner and other cable providers continue testing a new business model that charges customers based upon the amount of data they use.

“Usage-based pricing” – which is similar to most wireless plans – is what cable companies are looking to use for all Internet due to congestion they claim is clogging up many networks. In a December report, the New America Foundation said caps on data would restrict customers who want to stream movies, television shows or take online classes.

As services like streaming video, cloud data storage, and videoconferencing have increased online, the amount of Internet data consumed by individuals has simultaneously increased. However, while new services and applications require more data, most major Internet service and mobile providers in the United States are moving in the opposite direction by discouraging Internet usage by implementing more restrictive and costly data caps.

I’m a moderate internet user. My usage isn’t due to streaming video or audio. Nor do I take on-line courses. I do own my own mail and web servers and a book search-engine for selected wannabe writers. So far I’m just a blip on the data usage monitor. That may change if this scheme comes to pass.

It’s ironic that telecom providers like AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and others have moved away from this concept in favor of flat fees and block usage. Sprint in particular has several very popular plans with unlimited voice and data usage. The telecom providers found that measured service restricted growth and revenue.

Cable providers are newcomers in the communication and data area and lack the experience that traditional telecom providers possess. I know some cable providers prefer to constrain usage instead of investing in network upgrades and expansion to allow more capacity and growth. 

Time will tell which scheme wins. Personally, I think the cable/internet providers are making a significant strategic error.