Rational Spice

I just got back from George and Susan Allen’s event at the Omni downtown.

There was an amazing incident at the end, as George was leaving the room to talk to the press. Some guy, obviously a Webb staffer, started shouting questions at George about his divorce. George ignored him, so the Webb guy got belligerent, trying to push his way towards George. I guess he didn’t like when people pushed back, because as he went through the door into the hallway, I saw him throw a mis-aimed punch into the crowd.

I didn’t see what happened next, but by the time I made it out into the hallway, he was being escorted out by George’s supporters. TV crews got a pretty good chunk of footage.

It’ll be interesting to see what makes the news. I can personally report that the Webb guy seemed to be intentionally starting an incident, and that he decided to get violent in doing it. Simply, he threw the first punch. In my view, that makes him a thug.

No doubt, the Webb machine will try to spin this as George’s fault. The reality is different.

If Jim Webb has even a shred of Honor left, he’ll fire this thug, after making him apologise in public. Somehow, I doubt that’s going to happen.

UPDATE: Waldo writes to say that the thug is UVa law student and blogger, Mike Stark, not a staffer. Frankly, the whole thing smelled — and still smells — like a setup, and until I see clear evidence that there wasn’t coordination with the Webb campaign, I’m still going with “staffer”.

Waldo’s also going with the story that “Channel 29 got the whole thing on tape”. Stark threw his punches on the way out of the ballroom, out of view of their cameras. I saw what I saw.

UPDATE 2: According to The Hook, Dan Allen reports that he was “slammed… against the door” by Stark as he was leaving the ballroom. That’s the same place that I reported Stark throwing a punch. Looks like Stark was even more aggressive at that point than I thought.

Saturday, I posted a link to an article on Carl Zimmer’s “The Loom” about the E. coli outbreak. Monday, there were several media reports about a woman from the West Coast who’s already filed a lawsuit.

Just now, this Google Ad appeared on my blog:

E. coli Infection Lawsuit
Bagged Spinach Linked to E. coli
Free Lawsuit Case Consultation

Beyond the issue of sleazy class-action lawyers using Google to troll for clients (and no doubt signing up plenty of people looking for a jackpot), is the issue of what these guys will make. If it’s like most class-action suits I’ve seen in the technology biz, the attorneys will nail down a payday of between six and ten million dollars, and the members of the class will end up with coupons for a couple of bags of spinach.

This is exactly why there’s a need for tort reform: the real winners are the lawyers, and the little guy ends up with a whole lot of “not much”. It’s just wrong.

If you’re reading this via rss, come on by, and if the ad’s still running, see for yourself what these sleazebags are saying.

I think this country would be far better off if we found some reporters who didn’t think that food comes from the store.

It seems that ABC News “Investigative” Reporter Brian Ross went shopping for some fertilizer the other day. In the blink of a word-processor, 20 bags of crushed rock became:

a half ton of one of the world’s most dangerous bomb-making materials

Rubbish. While it is true that ammonium nitrate can be used as part of an explosive mixture, the story makes as much sense as putting on dark glasses (to get that “undercover” effect), filling up both tanks of a tractor-trailer with diesel fuel (the other part of an explosive mixture), driving into DC, then running a story about purchasing 200 gallons of “one of the world’s most dangerous bomb-making materials” and positioning it “within miles” of the U.S. Capitol.

What’s clear is that ABC News is using the 9/11 anniversary to a) hysterically whip up ratings (which is shameful) and b) shill for a proposal in Congress that will be expensive, obtrusive, burden American farmers who actually grow the food we eat, and not add one whit of extra security to our lives. The bill, H.R. 3197, and a similar version in the Senate, would require you to register with Department of Homeland Security if you feel like planting a garden and feeding your tomatoes. How stupid is that?

When I fly, my first choice is always to fly in and out of Charlottesville. I’ve never understood making a three-ish hour drive to avoid a 45 minute connection. (Yeah, you can get to Dulles or Reagan faster, but have you driven through Gainesville in the morning lately? Brutal.) Add to that: finding parking, waiting for a shuttle, lines at curbside check in, lines at check in, lines at security, and “show up an hour early” being a rule, not a guideline. Really, who needs the hassle?

Bottom line: Flying from Dulles, Reagan National, or Richmond is just plain flat-out a pain in the ass.

Financially, unless there’s a significant differential, driving to fly makes even less sense. Parking at, say, Dulles is going to run between 9 and 30 bucks a day. The workaround, if you’re going somewhere for a while (and have an early morning flight), is to spend the night at an airport hotel (for a C-note) and leave the car there for free.

And frankly, tickets out of Charlottesville are often a pretty good deal. In July, when I flew to London, Ontario, to play at the World Lacrosse Championships, it was less expensive for me to fly from CHO to Toronto and take ViaRail to London than it was to fly from Dulles to London. Charlottesville to Toronto was even less expensive than Dulles to Toronto.

So, how is the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport promoting itself? By attacking low-fare airlines. Last night I went to the airport’s web site and the first thing I saw was this “skip intro”:

Other than being a reasonably funny use of stock photography, there’s not a lot to like. None of the reasons you’d actually want to fly from Charlottesville are there. Instead, the Charlottesville-Albemarle airport is shilling for expensive, bloated, old carriers.

Here’s the problem: by and large, people LIKE the new, low-fare airlines better than the airlines we grew up with. Before they went out of business, ValuJet was enjoyable to fly. With leather seats and a zillion channels of live TV, I’ve never heard anyone bad-mouth their experience on Jet Blue. Southwest is consistently rated pretty highly by the people who fly Southwest.

So, CHO wants people to fly from CHO because they can’t fly on the airlines that they like. Brilliant.

But wait! There’s more!

The other problem is that the old-style, “incumbent” carriers, aren’t particularly well-liked. Ever try to check a bag that’s 2 pounds overweight? That’s 50 bucks, thanks. Get tied up in traffic on the way to the airport? Some airlines will cancel your reservation, with no refund possible. Want that whole can of club soda? Welcome to the world of “service with a glare”.

While I don’t want to tar all the incumbents with the same brush — Quantas and USAir are my two current favorite airlines — but most incumbents carriers suck. Other than my first flight ever in 1978, I’ve never had a good experience on American Airlines. Ever. Ever, Ever.

So, CHO wants people to fly from CHO because they have to to fly the airlines that they hate. Brilliant.

The bottom line is this: if the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport wants to continue to increase the number of people who use it, they need to come up with a message that’s actually, well, true. (Or, at least one that people might believe.) Because at this point, the people whose minds CHO needs to change — customers of Jet Blue and AirTran and SouthWest, et al — are going to stop listening before they even enter CHO’s web site.