Rasta Rants

Well, well we have a swarm of media and debate about the quotes from Duck Dynasty star Robertson. I wish I could say I am surprised about this but I am not. Here is my take on it: What do you expect from a show like Duck Dynasty? How did this even become popular? A bunch of rednecks who make duck callers? That is entertaining? How? Sadly it is a serious commentary on our society the lack of intelligence and focus on the weird, awkward and strange. Just silly but sadly is our new reality.  So based on that and the shows personalities we are now surprised and outraged about one of the stars comments about social issues? Why? This was predictable all along. Whether you agree with his thoughts or not there should be no surprise that he said these things. He is a professed conservative and religious fanatic. Actually, his comments are probably in line with his beliefs and are not at all shocking. If you disagree with his beliefs and point of view (as most probably do) let the market ta

The deadline for 1/1/14 enrollment is now past. The administration reports that over one million have enrolled in PPACA. The states are all trying to compile their actual figures and everyone has questions. The law will start imposing many changes in a few days and most will drive up the cost as we go through 2014. So what now? Well there are a number of things we can expect and that are predictable but more importantly there are few things that probably will happen and are not being talked about much. I won't review all the expected changes the law will bring because those have been discussed and shared a million times. We all know those changes are going to happen and as stated above many will drive up premiums in 2014. So what is not being talked about much? Enrollment stats are not yet being discussed much. Specifically, how many are actually paying not just enrolling; how many are canceling; how many are being subsidized and what the age distribution looks like. Why is t

In most generations we do not see too many real heroes. In this generation we have been blessed with a real hero - Nelson Mandela. Much has been said about him and his life and truthfully there is little I can add. He was inspirational, humble and charismatic. While these are not the three qualities we see in most modern leaders today these are not what made Mandela so impressive. What made him impressive was his self sacrifice and his ability to reason above his emotions. 27 years in prison on Roben Island. In the US 27 years served is considered life in prison. Actually, at the rate we are releasing prisoners today that maybe more than a life sentence. In that time any normal man would change and most for the worst. Somehow Mandela changed but for the better. He managed to see past his anger, sorrow and regret. He rose above his emotions for the good of his country. He defeated his own ego and defied his instincts for the greater good. He came out stronger, compassionate with a

The press has been on fire over Obamacare. I feel so sorry for all the millions of folks out there that do not understand insurance. I guess this is one time I can say I am blessed to have been in the health insurance business for 35 years. (we in the industry are usually running for cover as we are criticized constantly). Let me try clarify a few things about Obamacare. First there is all this noise about the President lying to America by saying we could keep the coverage we had. So what - this isn't his first lie. You got to keep what you had till essential benefits were decided in each state and then the insurance companies were forced to change your policy to comply or terminate it. If you had a limited benefit plan at a lower costs, chances are you are going to get a cancelation notice. Here is why. Insurers based the price of a policy on many factors but the biggest is the plan design. If a policy limits what it pays then it will be cheaper. Since Obamacare forced essenti

Okay I admit at my age it is not hard for me to be confused, a fact my wife and kids remind me of regularly. I tell them that my brain is like a glass and after 56 years it is very full so when I am given more information to add to it I have to be selective. Accordingly anything trivial or irrelevant to my days priorities gets dumped. This explains why I never remember social engagements, stories about other people's life's, shopping or sports that I don't like. Despite this malty I am actually in full control of all my faculties and relatively acute. So it concerns me when I become confused. This whole government shut and debt ceiling debate has done just that. So help me understand less I become fed up and dump it from my already full glass - as I suspect most Americans have done already. If you believe the apathetic polling results. So the Republicans won't fund the government (the 17% that is shut down) because they want to defund Obamacare. I think I got that r

As I watched the news last night I had an epiphany that I thought I would share. Everyone is mad at the Congress for the "shutdown" of the US Government. The Democrats and President blame the Republicans and the Republicans blame the President and the Democrats. There was so much rhetoric and finger pointing -  so much hatred and anger. It made me sad and disappointed in us as a country. Then it hit me. We are a Democracy (or a Democratic Republic as the conservatives would say) and as such our elected officials are a reflection of us. We elect them - we choose them and we drive them to some extent. So is it any wonder that we have such a divided Congress? After all we have a very divided country. In my 35 years of living here I have never seen such a divided America. Sure we have had differences before and to a great extent those opposing views have kept us balanced and strong. The juxtaposition of the two parties created national debate and compromise. Not any more! Sur

Introduction Exchanges are the centerpiece of the new ACA legislation and are due to cover millions in January 2014. Unfortunately, there are many flaws in the concept and roll out that may just cause the program to fail. That said the definition of success and failure will be significantly different based on the two political factions. My definition of failure would be enrollment less than projected, covering less currently uninsured than projected and the financial failure or withdrawal of more than 5 plans nationwide after the first year. Based on this definition here are some of the reasons I think the exchanges could fail. Exchanges The concept is simple – offer preset plans from many different insurance carriers for small groups and individuals at competitive rates with no pre-existing limitations. The initial foray will be offered to groups fewer than 50 and individuals. Anyone under 400% of the FPL will be eligible for subsidies. Also to help prod enrollment amo

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. I have heard from many of you about how much you missed me! Ha! well I have been busy trying to make a living since I can't do it driving cars :( I am sure you have all seen the ads for the new F Type Jaguar. It has been getting a lot of press as well. For over 30 years Jag has been effectively out of the sports car market. The last E Type was produced in 1974. Over 70,000 of these beauties were sold in its 13 year run and today is still considered one of the most beautiful cars ever made. I remember my first experience with an E Type. My parents decided I needed to grow up a bit so they shipped me off for a summer to a camp in Europe. Actually it was a traveling camp and we went all over Europe that summer. I was the ripe age of 14 and was accompanied by my best friend from Jamaica and approximately 40 girls from all over the US. It was a "tough" summer! We were in the south of France for about a week and you

For those that have never had the joy of owning or driving a Ferrari let me share that all the hype is true. In my mind most of them are close to perfect cars. Now before I get attacked by loving Porsche and Lambo owners let me explain. Ferrari's are clearly designed to be driven and if you have a passion for driving they come close to perfection. Sure there are many other great cars and I take nothing away from them, but as a marque Ferrari is at the top in my book. Additionally, there is no way I can cover all the history or cars from this significant marque in this blog entry, so I will merely touch on some interesting highlights. Let me break Ferrari's into four distinct categories - race cars, classic cars, modern era cars and of course super cars. Naturally Enzo was a racer and that is what drove the man to build cars in the first place. Everyone that knows the marque knows Enzo only built street cars to finance his racing programs. So Ferrari is obviously a great m

Cable is a great invention and most of us are blessed with having access to over 200 channels. I am still in awe of this as I grew up in Jamaica and never saw TV in my country till I was 9. When it came we had one channel and it was only on about 6 hours a day. With time it was on all day till midnight but we did not have any color just good old black and white. I know many in US in my age category remember only a few channels, no 24 hour coverage and color TV as a luxury. Like cars, TV has changed so much. In Jamaica today, they have cable very similar to the US and tons of channels to watch. As a gear head and racer I naturally check out anything automotive. Over the years the auto content on TV has improved a great deal. Actually, there is so much auto content it is hard to figure out what to watch. Well I am here to help. Before I dive in let me say that TV shows are very personal choices and you may hate mine. I just share as a service so that you know what to expect should yo

Before I start I must declare that I am a Ferrari owner, racer and lover. As such Porsche is normally an arch enemy. Most of the faithful from each camp very rarely see eye to eye and often avoid each other like the plague. So for me to write this piece on Porsche is a stretch and proves once and for all, above all I am just a true lover of all cars! Porsche has to be respected for their longevity, their racing prowess and their myopic market focus. Porsche's have been racing and winning for as long as I can remember and while they are not a Ferrari their racing pedigree is remarkable. Initially their claim to fame was the basic 911. This is still their bread and butter car and over the decades has been improved markedly. But I am not going to focus on the 911, the Panamera or Cayenne. Today I want to discuss the smaller, younger cousins - the Cayman and the Boxster. These two "entry level" Porsches are worth writing about. Porsche first made the Boxster in 1997 in an

My wife and I are thrilled that we will graduate the 3rd of our 4 boys with a college degree next week. This is a mammoth undertaking and we are blessed we have been able to accomplish this. Less than 17% of the US population has a four year degree and with the current rising costs of a college degree we worry this figure will get worse. A four year degree is critical to compete in the ever more competitive world economy but it is getting much harder to get. This combined with the tremendous debt that students are accumulating to get a degree, should be a huge national concern. Here are some current education statistics that should frighten all of us: Between 1982 and 2007 US family income grew by 147% and college costs went up 440% According to Bloomberg research, college tuition has gone up over 1120% in the last 30 years. Healthcare only rose 601% in the same time frame and we all consider that an outrage. AP reports that just between 2008 and 2010 tuition went up over 15% T

Well I have learned a very interesting lesson over the last month. Based on my blog stats it is obvious that my readers are much more interested in what I have to share about cars than current events of the day. Shocking as this may sound the views of my car posts is averaging nearly 5 times that of my regular business/political commentary. So who am I to argue - give the people what they want! To that end I have had many of my younger readers ask me about cool cars below $25,000. They liked my piece on Best Cars under $30K but they want "cool". Well since  I  am no longer young or cool I am thrilled that they would ask for  my opinion. I am blessed with four sons who are all cool and love cars so I have some guidance. With that disclaimer here goes. The List is in order of what I think are the coolest. These are my Top Ten Cool Cars Under $25,000: The Scion FRS This is the first true sports car under $30K since the Mazda Miata came out 25 years ago. This is a great loo

This title is hard to say let alone accept but here we are. Earth Day is April 22 and I thought we should take a look at Green Cars. Perhaps it is better to say Greener Cars. As there are many one off and experimental autos out there that I will not address. I mean production cars that pro port to be "green". I find the whole green thing to be very interesting and sometimes hilarious. For example 48 cities in California have banned plastic bags in grocery stores and more are joining daily. (all this in the last few months). I know plastic is very hard to dispose of and I understand the desire to limit its use. I guess my only question is what about recycling? I thought we paid large sanitation bills and segregated all our waste so that plastic could be recycled? In principal I have no issue with doing away with plastic bags in grocery stores but I get pissed when I hear that along with them paper is going too. Yes, LA's new law says after six months plastic is banned an

I just got back from a week out of the country so there is lots to catch up on. I will address many items but in no particular order. What a week it has been! Boston My thoughts and prayers are with all the families of victims of this horrid tragedy. I can't say I am surprised as I have felt since 9/11 that a sporting event would be a target for these cowardly terrorists. This however stoops to a new low even for these idiots. Creating a bomb that intentionally maimes people by attacking their lower extremities? How vile can you get? A sporting event for the most part never has any lawmakers or government officials that are not heavily guarded so clearly this was aimed at hurting innocent civilians. You know I understand that in the field of war sometimes innocent citizens are killed or injured. I also know that our military does everything it can to avoid this. proof is in the billions we have spent developing systems that allow us to target the enemy specifically. I don