Jim Bunning to Laid Off Workers:"Tough Shit!"

Last night one Republican Senator from Kentucky, Jim Bunning, in spite of bipartisan support, stopped legislation which would have prevented 1.2 million laid off workers from prematurely losing their unemployment benefits and health care on Monday, February 28. When Senator Ron Wyden (D - Oregon) begged him to allow it to pass for the benefit of those laid off workers and their families, he said: "Tough shit." And as debate continued later into the evening, he had the arrogance to complain that he was missing the Kentucky/South Carolina basketball game.

As he admitted, Mr. Bunning was really not opposed to the extension, he simply wanted the money to come from another source. Since he was not going to get his way, the laid off workers were not going to get the extension. Does that remind you of someone? Perhaps Alabama's Republican Senator, Shelby, who was holding up over 70 administration appointments because he was not receiving the pork barrel earmarks that he wanted.

Senator Bunning readily cashes his government check of $174,000 a year, and accepts his government sponsored health care and retirement without questioning where the money is coming from; but God forbid that the 10.7% unemployed Kentuckians and their families should receive a 30 day unemployment extension.

And let this be a lesson to the Senate. Do not, I repeat, do not force Jim Bunning to stay at his desk on the Senate floor when the University of Kentucky's men basketball team is playing.

And then we wonder why others around the world question our democracy when one senator can prevent a bipartisan majority from acting in the interests of the people.

The system is broken. Senators Bunning and Shelby have graphically demonstrated that fact.

Headlines

Headlines sometimes force one to scratch her head and ask, "What were they thinking?"

This headline is one of many on HuffingtonPost.com (2010/02/24). Title: "The Funniest Headline Fails Of All Times"

NBC Hates Hockey

Sunday, I spent most of the evening watching the Winter Olympics on NBC presuming that eventually they would show the U.S vs. Canada hockey game, perhaps on tape. And then after watching curling, ice dancing, and innumerable commercials, Bob Costas interrupts the bobsled event (probably on tape) to bring us the last 30 seconds of the USA's surprise victory over Canada.

The next day I realize I could have watched the hockey on MSNBC (apparently, 8.22 million Americans did so) or on Canadian Broadcasting from Windsor ("the most watched sports program ever shown on Canadian television"-- 10.6 million viewers). Although I must fault myself for not seeing it, I do fault NBC for not even running a crawl keeping us up to date since they never intended to show it or by directing hockey fans to MSNBC or CNBC.

This afternoon, Wednesday, I watched most of the USA hockey team's victory over Switzerland, and it occurred to me that NBC will never show hockey in prime time. The reason is that hockey is continuous action and cannot be interrupted for commercials after every two minutes. On the other hand, NBC will feature ice dancing, an event that can only be considered a sport in the most liberal sense, because the network can chop it up into two-minute intervals as they can with skiing, skating, bobsledding etc. These short intervals of competition permit NBC to air another whole series of ads between each performance.

Granted NBC has invested heavily in the Winter Olympics and is presumably losing money, they do have a responsibility to the viewers since they possess exclusive rights in the US. If they are losing financially, it is because of their business model or they choose to lose in exchange for ratings.

On the other hand, I guess we should be thankful that it is NBC; they do make events available to MSNBC, CBC, and USA networks.

London's CCTV Folly

Many defenders of privacy and civil liberties were dismayed when the city of London installed CCTV--a network of 10 thousand television cameras designed to monitor activity on almost every street in the city. The reason for this large Orwellian expenditure was that the cameras would deter crime and assist in apprehending criminals.

The results are in; a recent government study found that only 3% of street robberies are solved and crime rates on the streets of London are soaring. Apparently the criminals do not even attempt to hide from the cameras; they just wear disguises or masks. One would think that the authorities would have foreseen this possibility. Or maybe the authorities just enjoy voyeuristic spying on ordinary citizens.

Perhaps, "authorities" in other locations will not repeat London's folly.

The Health Insurance Leviathan

Consumers Union reports: " In the last 10 years, your family's health insurance bill has more than doubled."

Have our salaries and wages doubled in the last 10 years? Has your retirement account or 401 K doubled? For most of us, the answer is a resounding NO. The exceptions, of course, are the health insurance/pharmaceutical and Wall Street Oligarchs.

In an effort to break this pattern, the leading health reform bill would put an end to this cycle. It would require some common-sense measures that are now lacking:

1) insurance companies would have to spend 85% of our premiums on health care. (This hardly seems revolutionary.)

2) health insurance companies would have to compete against each other based on price and level of care. ( They would no longer enjoy their monopoly status.)

3) they would be required to clearly list their charges and coverage allowing the consumer to shop for the plan that best serves his interests.

Can we afford to allow the present health care leviathan to double its costs every 10 years and hold our economy and potential growth hostage?

Adam Dempsey at Toledo Zoo 2/19/2010

Winter at the Toledo Zoo is usually highlighted by "Lights Before Christmas" -- always spectacular, and "Frozentoesen" in February, but even on an ordinary drab winter day, a four-year old Adam Dempsey will be able to entertain himself.

Friends at Toledo Zoo

Some friends (real and fake) that I met at the Toledo Zoo in February, 2010.

Reagan, Bush Tax Cuts & Unfunded Expenditures

Just for the record: the Reagan and Bush administrations cut taxes for the wealthy from 70% to 30%--an effective rate of 17%. The top 5% of the population make 95% of the discretionary income beyond that needed to survive, but they pay less than 50% of the taxes. In addition, we have two wars that were not paid for, the big pharmaceutical giveaway that was not paid for, and all the Homeland Security expenditures that were not paid for. If one cuts taxes and spends without funding, s/he has a problem.

Dick Francis Rides Over the Horizon

Many of us who were fans of Dick Francis and his popular steeplechase racing thrillers were saddened today to learn that he died over the weekend at age 89. With the help of his wife, Mary, he offered us a thriller a year for forty years. Even after Mary's death when he did not think he would write again, he recently brought back Sid Halley, an ex-steeplechase jockey turned detective. Mr. Francis, thanks for taking us along for the ride.

"The Last Night in Twisted River" by John Irving

American literature has been blessed with a plethora of good storytellers, and that tradition continues today with John Irving. He spins a yarn with the best of them.

Having just finished "The Last Night in Twisted River," I was pleased to see that Irving has returned to his unique type of story, a story in the tradition of "The World according to Garp," "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and "Cider House Rules." This newest novel weaves several story lines together, but the basic story is that Domonic's 12 year old son, Danny, mistakenly kills the Constable's girlfriend with the result that Dominic and Danny have to sneak out of Twisted River (a violent and troubled environment) and go underground in various places throughout the United States and Canada with the Constable in pursuit.

As with other Irving works, the cast of characters is an interesting group of troubled misfits, each of whom is carrying too much baggage. Perhaps the only two characters that seem to have a chance of achieving some sort of happiness are Danny and Lady Sky. Even the animals, particularly a dog named Hero, seem to have a set of psychological problems. A Paul Bunyon-like, Libertarian logger, Ketchum, who because of a bizarre situation in Twisted River, assumes the role of protector for Danny and his father, is perhaps the most memorable. Several of the female characters, Carmella, Injun Jane, Six-Pack Pam, and Lady Sky, although not normal, are each interesting in their own way.

Since Dominic is a cook, there is a generous amount of culinary detail. And, once again, the main character, Danny, is a successful, novelist and this results in an abundance of autobiographical detail. But much of the charm of reading Irving is the detail.

What appears to me to be a departure from earlier works is the inclusion of political comment. Ketchum and later, Danny, taking a dim view of "the scoundrel" George Bush, the stolen election, and the stupidity of the Invasion of Iraq, refers to the U.S. as "an empire in decline, and a "Lost Nation," and is fond of quoting Samuel Johnson, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

John Irving's novels usually have a line or lines that permanently embed themselves in my memory, and in this one, it is the line: "Doesn't something have to happen to you before you jump naked out of an airplane?" (p.449)

Another piece of trivia for those who remember the Vietnam War is the reference to "Kennedy Fathers." Those too young to remember will understand when they read the novel.

Irving fans and those reading him for the first time, will thoroughly enjoy the elaborate detail, the twisted characters, and the various stories that he weaves together in another successful literary novel.