If I had any eBay stock, I would be selling it right now. I am a devoted eBay fan and have bought many items there, and sold a few. A few weeks ago, I tried to sell some things I wanted to get rid of. Unfortunately, nobody wanted them so I didn’t make a sale. I did however, get billed for placing the items, something I had never had to do before. Oops, forgot to read the fine print in the latest “terms and conditions.”

Now eBay has announced that it wants to do away with the auction format, and go more for the fixed price model, hoping to compete with Amazon. I think that is a huge mistake. I shop eBay looking for good deals and bargains. If I wanted to pay fixed price, I would simply go to Amazon, which in fact, is exactly what I already do.

I’ve been a fan of eBay since their earliest days and told a lot of people about it long before they went public. But if they turn to a fixed price format, then they have just lost a good customer. I’d much rather go with Amazon, who has always had good prices, great shipping practices, and dependability. But I am sure going to miss those bargains.

According to the Associated Press, court-appointed receiver Clark Keslo is asking a judge to seize $8 billion from California’s treasury, at a time when California is already $15.2 billion in debt and facing additional cuts to services and potential higher taxes.

What does Mr. Keslo want the money for? So that he can “with a sense of firm conviction,” obtain funding mandated by the Federal government to improve the healthcare facilities of prisons! Yes, that bad place where they send bad people. We can’t even provide health care for the good people of California, yet this jerk wants to provide better health care for prisoners who already receive better healthcare than many of the state’s population. If a prisoner needs health care that cannot be provided at the prison’s facilities, the prisoner is transferred to a local hospital for treatment. While there, deputies are paid overtime to stand guard over the prisoner, even if they are too ill to go anywhere.

If the prison system is over-crowded and under-funded, fine. Take drastic measures like paroling (not just setting free) non-violent offenders. Make violators of the law pay higher fines and penalties. But don’t break the piggy bank just to hand it to the bad guys!

I’m disgusted.

The title of this post seems plastered all over the news today. I don’t really know what to think about all of it. On the one hand, the U.S. made Georgia into an ally, and allies are supposed to protect each other. On the other hand, I would hate to see us involved in yet another war, with a much stronger opponent.

Refugees and exhausted troops from Georgia have been reportedly shot while trying to escape the fighting. So far, the only thing that President Bush has done is issue a “firm warning.”  The best answer I can come up with is for U.N. peace keeping forces to form a “line in the sand” and force diplomatic discussions before leaving. But I’m not even sure the U.N. has the power to do that anymore.

It’s a frightening scenario and I have to wonder where this is going to lead.