Saturday night

Walked down to Flanigan's for dinner. The place was mobbed. I got a seat at the bar after a short wait. Today was their 50th anniversary. Who knew? A little band marched through a couple of times -- trumpet, tuba, drums, cowbells and whatever. I think they were traveling from Flanigan's to Flanigan's. People were handing out t-shirts (got one) and Mardi Gras beads. Very festive. I felt drunk when I left, though I'd had no alcohol. Earlier they'd had a Papa Flanigan look-alike contest. I wish I'd brought my camera. I got a bottle of Sambucca at Big Daddy's before I left. (Haven't touched it yet.) I haven't had Sambucca in years but all that put me in the mood (plus I heard someone ordering it in the restaurant). Vacation started today. (Actually, in two weeks I go to Savannah.)

(This is the Flanigan's I go to. It's right across Arch Creek. Looks tacky but it's nice on the inside. The liquor store's in the front.)

Talked to my friend in Canada earlier. He's driving to Quebec City first thing in the a.m. so he couldn't talk long. In fact we talked about an hour and said pretty much everything that needed to be said. I hadn't talked to him since before B.'s BF called up here. (B. and I had visited him in Canada, which has excellent healthcare, by the way.)

The toilet is working again

Hallelujah. ("Small favors.") All this past week there's been a plumber truck in front of the building. Obviously when there are fluctuations in the water pressure, it affects the function of the toilets, etc. That's a big issue in this building. And they just got a new pump.

Around the time they installed the new pump, the pressure blew out the refrigerator water line and also the water heater connection, which caused serious flooding. (My neighbor was up to her knees in water.) I'd bought a new water heater last fall and had it installed by a professional plumber. Meanwhile the maintenance people in this building, who are not professional plumbers, have been tinkering with the water pressure and causing all kinds of problems.

Saturday morning

It's rare that you'll see me posting on Saturday morning, esp. this early. Someone woke me up, calling on the cell phone for B. An old friend from Canada. I was more than happy to give him B.'s new cell number. (He already knows where B. works.) So I'm up, for a little while at least. I think a Bloody Mary is in order. I'll make it with rum and V-8, which is all I have. Plus Worcestershire and celery salt.

Friday night

Didn't get much of a nap or go to the gym. ( Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all that Pork Romano.) I can go to the gym this weekend.

Here's where the Obama family will be spending their vacation.

See here too. Google map here.

TGIF

Just had a quick dinner. I sliced one of those leftover boneless inch-thick pork chops in half horizontally to make two half-inch pork chops. Then topped with sliced ham, basil and oregano, leftover spaghetti sauce, grated Peccorino Romano cheese, and two mozzarella string cheese snacks, also sliced in half length-wise. Heated it up in the microwave till hot and the mozzarella was melted. Delicious. "Pork Romano." I'll make that again. For lunch today I had the pork tenderloin cutlets I'd fried up last night, with a chilled can of beets.

Guess I'll go to the gym tonight. I'll get a nap now, tho' I did doze on the bus.

Thursday night

Almost TGIF. Whew. Two more weeks till my vacation. Meanwhile I'm taking care of my neighbor's cat across the hall for a few days while he's out of town. [I know there's lots wrong with that sentence.]

So Tom Ridge (former Homeland Security director) is saying (or implying) that the Bush administration was using the color-coded terrorist threat alert system for political purposes. I knew that!

Today I treated my supervisor to her birthday lunch (her birthday was last Friday and I'd given her an IOU on a free lunch). She had chicken quesadillas (excellent choice). She just turned 50.

Tonight I fried up some of those pork sirloin cutlets and will take to work. Came out great. I now always use a digital thermometer to test for doneness so I don't overcook meat. (Pork has to cook to 160 F., or well done.) My pork now turns out juicier than it used to. (It's still juicy at 160 F.) I think Leviticus also says you aren't supposed to eat pork, either. So should I be stoned in the public square or burned to death in a private family gathering?

One of my great-uncles was a pig farmer in Tampa and ended up selling his business to Lykes Bros. We stayed at the pig farm once when I was a kid. (He also had monkeys and maybe some other exotic animals.) My great-uncle cooked up pig slop every day for the pigs (smelled really good). It was made out of food waste (fresh daily) from restaurants in Tampa. The stuff was cooked for hours in an enormous vat and I'm sure was sanitary by the time it was done, at which point it was released into a long trough -- still steaming -- and the pigs all ran up to eat it, squealing with delight.

Letter to Dr. Laura

I thought this was funny. It came from a former co-worker (he's half-Jewish, half-Catholic).

On her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them:

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/ polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D.
Professor Emeritus Dept. of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education
University of Virginia

New SurveyUSA Poll Shows Support For Public Option Hasn't Dipped

From Brian Beutler at TPM here.

After months of public jousting and smears--and an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showing support for the public option had tanked--a new SurveyUSA poll shows that the public option still remains broadly popular.

Commissioned by MoveON, the survey asked 1200 adults how important they feel it is "to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance?"

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said "extremely important." Nineteen said "quite important": a total of 77 percent. The rest of respondents said the choice of a public option was not important or weren't sure.

The NBC/WSJ poll asked "Would you favor or oppose creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies?" Forty-three percent favored, 48 opposed.

The proper conclusion to draw? Perhaps that Americans like the word choice more than they like the government creating things. Or perhaps that they don't follow policy very closely. After all, despite broad support for the choice of a public option in the new SurveyUSA poll, 42 percent said they thought a public option would help ensure that all Americans receive coverage while 46 percent thought it was more likely that the public option would limit patients' access to doctors.

Unsurprisingly, the poll also found that opinions about health care reform are intensely polarized. Though 51 percent said they favored Obama's plan while 43 opposed, the supporters were extremely supportive, while the opponents were more extremely opposed. Seventy-nine percent of supporters "strongly favor" reform, while 86 percent of opponents "strongly oppose" it.

See here too.

Health insurance companies out to gouge you (& it's only going to get worse)

Later

I have to say, I've been in some turmoil ever since B.'s BF called me Sunday before last, saying B. was now "homeless." But that's all starting to sink in now, and I'm OK with everything (and B.'s not homeless). As I'd said, my offer to rescue B. from his situation was not accepted (just as well, but I'd felt compelled to do it since I'd made a commitment to him and hope someday -- maybe after I'm dead -- he remembers that). (He'd also made a commitment to me, which apparently he forgot or was not in a capacity to make in the first place.) I also gave him the number of a gay men's domestic abuse hotline and recommended he talk to his doctor.

I would not have accepted B. back here unconditionally. The proviso was that I would have to be able to trust him. Under the present circumstances, I really can't, especially not with the BF in the picture. Which is fine since he's not considering coming back here anyway. (Before B. left, he was letting the BF into the apartment behind my back, and an Amazon credit card, which I only use at home, went missing, and there was a charge made on it I didn't make, etc.)

So everything's back in a steady state right now, and the air has been cleared somewhat. I know where I stand. It's a relief.

Wednesday night

Was at gym tonight.

Here's a Photoshop restoration project. The original was a total wreck. The restoration is still rough but I've fixed the tears and restored the tops of the kids' heads (with some guesswork). I may touch it up a bit more but this is basically it. It retains its "antique" character. (The child in the center is the father--now elderly--of a friend and former co-worker.) (Click on image to enlarge.)

Majority Supports Obama Health Plan

From Jonathan Singer at MyDD here.

Well isn't this surprising. While the good folks at MSNBC's First Read don't mention it in their "First Thoughts," which kick off their day's coverage, the NBC News poll (.pdf) released yesterday indicates that a majority of the country supports the President's healthcare plan.

Now I am going to tell you more about the health care plan that President Obama supports and please tell me whether you would favor or oppose it.

The plan requires that health insurance companies cover people with pre-existing medical conditions. It also requires all but the smallest employers to provide health coverage for their employees, or pay a percentage of their payroll to help fund coverage for the uninsured. Families and individuals with lower- and middle- incomes would receive tax credits to help them afford insurance coverage. Some of the funding for this plan would come from raising taxes on wealthier Americans.

Do you favor or oppose this plan? And do you strongly or only somewhat (favor/oppose) this plan?

Favor: 53 percent (35 percent strongly + 18 percent somewhat)
Oppose: 43 percent (29 percent strongly + 14 percent somewhat)

Might it be worth a mention that when the public hears about President Obama's plan in language crafted by one Democratic pollster (Hart Research Associates) and one Republican pollster (Public Opinion Strategies), they support it by a fairly healthy margin?

Tuesday night

Watching "Real Estate Intervention," one of my new favorite shows. This is supposed to be a new one but I've seen it already.

This week there was a lot of pork on sale at Publix. Tonight I bought inch-thick boneless pork chops and sirloin cutlets. Baked the pork chops with Shake 'n' Bake (Original Pork). Came out excellent. Really juicy.

Little things are breaking down here, right before my vacation. (I'll address these after the vacation.) Last night the ice machine broke. That may be under warranty (I'll have to check). Buying ice is no big deal, but still... Also, the handle that regulates the hot and cold water for the bathtub (where I was showering) is broken. (It's hot water only now.) So I've been showering in the shower stall back in the other bathroom. And I already told you about the toilet.

I can't put up with Chris Matthews tonight. Also, I don't like the term "liberal Democrat." I prefer "true Democrat" or "Patriot."

Democrats Seem Set to Go Alone on a Health Bill

The Republicans weren't going to go along with anything anyway. New York Times story here.

WASHINGTON — Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority’s cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans’ purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month’s Congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair.

The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said of Republican lawmakers, “Only a handful seem interested in the type of comprehensive reform that so many people believe is necessary to ensure the principles and the goals that the president has laid out.” . . .

The White House, carefully following [Ohio Sen. Charles] Grassley’s activities, presumed he was no longer interested in negotiating with Democrats after he initially made no effort to debunk misinformation that the legislation could lead to “death panels” empowered to judge who would receive care. . . .

In an interview on Tuesday, Mr. Grassley said he had simply been repeating earlier comments that he would not support a measure that did not have significant Republican support. He said that raucous town-hall-style meetings might have made the job of reaching a compromise harder, but that he had not given up. . . .

The American people, fed up with business as usual, have elected 60 Democratic Senators--a 60% majority (almost unheard of). Why should a healthcare bill have "significant Republican support"? Again, who won? This is how the American democratic system works. The Republicans had their chance to get with the program and have refused.

Here's something they've added to the article since I first read it:

Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said the heated opposition was evidence that Republicans had made a political calculation to draw a line against any health care changes, the latest in a string of major administration proposals that Republicans have opposed.

“The Republican leadership,” Mr. Emanuel said, “has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama’s health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face every day.”

Amen.

Monday night

Taking a break from the public option. Watching a new Anthony Bourdain (in Thailand). It's hilarious.

Lucky loves this rug. It's like a macro terry (gives you a foot massage). It's not new but washed and relocated to the bathroom adjoining the "computer room."

Now back to Rachel Maddow.

I just think the public option is a good idea. Insurance companies don't like people like me (even though I have good group coverage where I work). I have a chronic medical condition. The drugs for that condition alone (not including doctor's visits, lab work, other drugs and procedures, etc.) cost $27,000 a year. (I pay $90 a month in co-pays for those drugs alone.) And, for some mysterious reason, the price continues to rise. In January, the annualized cost was a mere $25,000 a year.*

If I found myself out of work, what would happen to me?

My father was in the insurance business. I think I know the mindset.

You can vote out your politicians if you don't like your public option. But you can't vote out the people running your insurance company, who are in the business solely to make money off you.

Why shouldn't everyone have a safety net like Medicare and Medicaid? All advanced (and some less advanced) societies have this. It's doable.

By the way, health industry stock prices soared today (in an otherwise bad market) on the news of Obama's perceived softening on the public option.

____________________
*The pricing of drugs in this country is a whole other story (and immoral).

Monday evening

This morning there was a plumbing truck out front, and the maintenance guys here were talking to who appeared to be the plumber. So something did happen last night.

I didn't receive any word today from the Democrats about cancelling my $1/day donations to the healthcare campaign, nor anything from the White House. As Robert Reich wrote today:

I urge you to make it absolutely clear to everyone you know, everyone who cares about universal healthcare and what it will mean to our country, that the bill must contain a real public option. Tell that to your representatives in Congress. Tell that to the White House. If you are receiving piles of e-mails from the Obama e-mail system asking you to click in favor of healthcare, do not do so unless or until you know it has a clear public option. Do not send money unless or until the White House makes clear its support for a public option. . . .

Howard Dean was waxing sanguine about the public option tonight on Keith Olbermann.

Sunday night II

Watching "Design Star" now.

[Later] I think they kicked off the right person. Too bad, because he originally showed a lot of promise. He wanted to show off his furniture-building capabilities, which only bogged the whole project down. And the furniture wasn't that great--after all that. It looked OK but wasn't practical. The team could have bought something that would have worked better and not eaten up so much time for labor. Ultimately they needed the time for something else--to put a desk together, which didn't get put together. Plus, they totally screwed up the drapes. Overall, a lousy job by that team.

The other team did well, despite their squabbles over tan and brown and caramel.

Got a lot done today. Laundry, some cleaning, etc. Also made spaghetti sauce with chicken livers. Will take that to work tomorrow. That came out excellent.

No strange calls tonight from B.'s BF.

I have one toilet that was working fine last week, and now all of a sudden it's all screwed up. (I told you about the WD-40.) Tonight I replaced a rubber thing that goes over the hole in the bottom of the tank. At least the toilet works and is not wasting water. But it's not flushing right. I'm not going to worry about it until after my vacation.

So looking forward to my little vacation in Savannah next month. My neighbor across the hall will be looking after the cats. I emailed him to say I'd have his favorite liquor here if he'd like to come over and have a cocktail with the cats, since they'll be lonely. (Haven't heard back from him on that, though I know he enjoys a cocktail.)

I think it's good to have (at least) a yearly vacation, for mental health reasons. I read an essay in college by (I think) Bertrand Russell about the deleterious psychological effects of a lack of holidays. (I could try to look it up on the Internet right now but I'm TIRED.) The cats will have to fend for themselves without my company (but they'll have plenty of food, of course, and extra cat litter). I do hope my neighbor will take me up on my offer and spend some time with them.* But even if he doesn't, the cats will survive (I hope and trust). I'm mainly worried about Lucky. Bootsy has been through this before (vacations). Lucy went through it, also, but hated it. I hope Lucky will be OK. He's a tough cat.

P.S. There is some weird stuff going on with the water in the building tonight. A lot of noises, and now hardly any water pressure. I didn't do it!

_______________
*I would have asked B. to come over here and spend time with the cats (one of which belongs to him), but I wouldn't want the BF in here. I don't trust him at all.

Sunday night

I almost blew my stack when I heard about this ("White House Appears Ready to Drop 'Public Option'"). See here.

Hurray! Now all the Teabaggers will go home and tons of Republicans will get on board with health care reform, right? . . .

So Obama campaigns for 2 years with the public option as the centerpiece of his health care reform. He's elected by the largest majority in 20 years, and the public gives him 60 Democratic seats in the Senate and 256 Democratic seats in the House. Obama then publicly lobbies for said public option after he takes office.

Then Kent Conrad, who represents like 7 people, and a handful of corrupt Blue Dogs say "No way." And Obama caves.

Big victory! . . .

See here too ("Shorter Sebelius: We surrender").

So with a 60/40 Senate, the White House is willing to give corporate interests, three conservative Democrats, two conservative Republicans and a moderate Republican total control over the health care reform bill.

And in an update to that:

Ian Welsh is right: an individual mandate to buy private insurance with no public option is "a regressive tax which will rise faster than wages or inflation."

I was so pissed that I immediately cancelled my $1/day donation "till healthcare passes" to the Democrats. I then contacted the White House and told them.

What's wrong in California?

Good article by Peter Schrag in the September Harper's Magazine (which I can't paste quotes from). Typing from the article:

California's problems date back at least to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, which cut local property taxes by nearly 60 percent, restricted all future tax increases, and badly confounded state and local authority. Proposition 13 was followed by a series of voter initiatives that capped or eliminated other taxes, limited spending, and imposed legislative term limits while at the same time approving popular spending measures and spending mandates without the revenues to pay for them. . . .

In the 1950s and 1960s, California was celebrated for its progressive political institutions, its public university system, its ambitious water projects, its freeways and parks, and, most important, its sense of optimism. But over the past three decades, the state has been transformed into a spectacle of undisciplined plebiscitary excess and democratic failure. . . .

At bottom lies the paradox implicit in the hyper-democracy of an initiative process beloved by the voters and the antidemocratic constitutional restrictions that they have voted in. The most stringent, which dates back to the Great Depression, requires a two-thirds majority in each house of the legislature to approve a budget or, indeed, any spending measure. Today's voters can't be blamed for this law, but they can be blamed for refusing to change it. Proposition 13 even added a provision requiring two-thirds majorities for tax increases (but not, it should be noted, for tax cuts). No other state requires legislative super-majorities for both budgets and tax increases. It is hyper-democracy set against non-democracy.

The super-majority requirements have allowed California's "starve-the-beast" Republicans, despite their being a minority in the legislature, to exercise de facto veto power over any spending plan. . . .

American healthcare is in truth already rationed

"Growing up sick in the US, and being treated by a humane NHS here, has shown me that Britain's system is far better" (Complete Guardian story by Bee Lavender here)

I grew up in the US with a series of mysterious health problems, not least two different kinds of cancer. Everything in my life – education, choice of career, job mobility, decisions to marry or divorce, where I lived, who I knew, what I wrote or talked about – all of it – was determined by the paramount need to maintain health insurance.

In the United States there is no basic protection for working people. My fully employed, doubly insured parents were pushed to the brink of bankruptcy four times before my 15th birthday. I exceeded the "lifetime maximum" coverage before I was old enough to vote. My family paid huge sums for insurance, then 20% of the cost for treatments, without assistance from any public entity. . . .

My most significant childhood memory is knowing exactly how much I cost, and regretting the expense. . . .

The truth is, healthcare is already rationed in the states – by individuals struggling to afford even basic cover, by companies negotiating (or refusing) benefits, by government agencies trying to balance budgets. . . . But since it is America, you can shop around. Just across the border in a different state, the legislature decreed that pre-existing conditions could not be excluded or made the subject of increased charges under insurance plans, leading me and many others to migrate a few miles to get a better deal.

This underscores the inherent problem – that there is no consistent federal policy, and therefore no protection for the most vulnerable citizens. Or, if you pause to think about it, for anyone. . . .

Medical bills are a leading cause of bankruptcy. It is common to engage in fundraisers for adults diagnosed with something treatable but expensive, children who need wheelchairs, or in the worst cases, someone who has died, leaving behind huge bills their family cannot afford. In the US, the greatest restriction on personal freedom that I have ever encountered in my own life, or witnessed in the lives of friends, all comes down to health insurance. Creative, innovative, talented people are unable to change jobs because they need the insurance. Small companies collapse because they cannot afford employee insurance. People die because they do not have insurance. . . .

In the US I devoted a huge amount of time to chasing appointments, finding specialists, fighting with insurance companies. With the National Health Service I have never had any trouble getting referrals, nor have I ever had criticism of the services rendered. If anything, I have felt spoiled – especially at the start of the recent flu crisis, when men in hazmat suits showed up in the middle of the night to take my temperature. In fact, though I have private top-up insurance here in the UK, I've never had cause to invoke it.

The current proposal for US healthcare reforms has fallen victim to a misinformation campaign causing needless confusion and controversy. The plan is neither radical nor far-reaching, offering a bandage instead of a cure. It isn't enough, but it is necessary.