Quick Hit

80 percent of registered Democrats, want universal, single-payer not-for-profit health care for all Americans.

Source: Reform or Rip-Off?

If Obama doesn't deliver it is easy to predict what will happen in the mid-term elections, since it will be deja vu all over again.

Strange juxtaposition

Legislators handed billions of taxpayer dollars over to the auto industry to fund a cash-for-clunkers program and it turns out that the company that profited the most by it was Japanese automaker Toyota.

How did they show us the love?

By shutting a car plant in California.

The storyline is this: Americans are going broke propping up the Japanese economy, and the Japanese response is to remove jobs from our economy.

That sounds like a lose-lose situation to me, unless you own a Japanese car company.

A Lion Sleeps Tonight

A disappointment for Senator Ted Kennedy on his deathbed surely had to be the lackluster efforts of president Barak Obama and his fellow democrats to pass a public healthcare plan. Even as his death became imminent Senator Kennedy struggled everyday just to work, and what he worked on was Medicare for all.

I wish there were more people like him today, that is, people that were born into privilege but feel the call to serve the public interest.

Sometimes I feel it is a generational trait that is being lost. It is hard to sacrifice for something as ambiguous as "future generations", but men like Kennedy seemed motivated by that very thing when morality was a factor.

When it comes to president Barak Obama, YouTube shows the type of pledge he gives:



If anything good comes of Ted Kennedy's death, I hope it will be an awakening in the breast of Barak Obama to take up where Ted left off, to finish his good work so he can face the voters with honor.

Quick Hit

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 29 percent of premium dollars in the individual insurance market go toward administrative costs; the average policyholder spends roughly $300 more on administrative costs each year than if he or she purchased coverage through a group policy.

Source: Dean at TPM Cafe

No isms?

Michael Moore has a new movie on the way about Wall Street corruption. Here is the trailer:




Slavery was a systemic problem in America, so much so that it was difficult for decent people to avoid using the system in their daily lives. The simple act of buying pants became a moral act.

I wonder if Michael Moore is asking whether or not capitalism exhibits such a systemic problem.

People have wondered this before. For instance, Teddy Roosevelt said, "I am for honest business, big or little, and against dishonest business, big or little".

Capitalism has become such a holy idea in America that I wonder if people can draw a distinction between honest and dishonest corporate conduct.

Clown-school

Here is yet more evidence that Barney Frank should be speaker of the House:



Republicans have become Republicants.

Quick Hit

Removing the "public option" from a public bill paid for by public money is not in the public interest.


- Congressman Dennis Kucinich -

An easy prediction to make

Here is an easy prediction to make:

If Democratic leadership drops the public option from the healthcare bill they will get nothing in return from republicans.

Here is another:

Should the demoratic leadership blame republican opposition at a time they are in control of the House, Senate, and executive branch, they will be regarded as ineffective weaklings.

I have noticed that people like to associate themselves with winners.

Mr. Woofles Takes a Nap

Once, after listening to a live recording of George Gershwin playing "Rhapsody in Blue" I wrote...

Listening to George Gershwin play piano is a lot like looking up at the stars on a moonless night. Each shimmering note reminds me that I am small.
I am nothing.


In this video below Craig Ventresco bedazzles and bewitches with a humble Ukulele, while Mr. Woofles strikes a content pose.




Cliff Edwards, or Ukulele Ike, was the voice of Disney's Jimminy Cricket. He also sang the tune, "When You Wish Upon a Star".

How can an instrument so small trigger thoughts so large?