Absolutely Horrifying

Part and parcel of our current consternation over 20 kindergarten kids murdered in Connecticut is the 800 pound gorilla in the room: our healthcare system and its inability to adequately help our citizens suffering from mental illness in its various forms.   

This blog article by a mother of a teenager with serious mental health issues is horrifying and puts the spotlight on what may have happened in Connecticut.  Read "I am Adam Lanza's mother."

A Graphic That Says It All

I believe that Americans who are sick and tired of innocents being gunned down in public places, like movie theaters and schools, need to take control of the public dialogue from the National Rifle Association.  This graphic pretty much sums up the very least that we must do.

Another Tragedy

This time in Connecticut, where a gunman opened fire in an elementary school and killed 27 people, including, apparently, himself.  There will be lots of pundits pontificating on why and how it happened, and the NRA can be counted on to repeat it's tired "guns don't kill, people kill" mantra. 

There was a comment thread on the Democracy for America Facebook page that called for "serious dialogue about gun control."  My comment was: "We're way past time for "a serious dialogue about gun control." It's time to tell the NRA to get lost and enact serious control measures. We don't live in the late 18th century anymore. We have way too many people living in much more dense communities than 1789 and it's time to recognize that."

I'm dismayed that so many people on a liberal page like DFA were still mouthing NRA  platitudes and refusing to recognize that the Founders didn't do as great a job on the Second Amendment as they did on the rest of the Constitution.   Times have changed.   A lot.  

Back during the formation of our nation, we had essentially a foreign army on our soil (the British army and its hired mercenaries) and we were largely an agrarian society.  In that context, it may have made sense to guarantee "the right to bear arms" for the citizens who were largely on their own for defense.  And when the new country declared independence and needed to quickly pull together an army to drive out the "foreign" troops, the American recruits brought their own weapons with them.

Times have changed and the context has changed.  We have robust police departments at the local and state levels to protect us, but the odds are currently stacked against them.
 
Life is a lot more crowded these days.   US Population in 1790: 3.9 Million.  US Population in 2010: 308.7 Million. That's an increase of nearly 800% (although my math skills may not be up to par; correct me if my arithmetic is off).  Population density has also changed drastically.  In 1790, we had our population spread across about 865,000 square miles, or 4.5 persons per sq. mile.  In 2000, our population was spread across 3.5 million sq. miles, or about 80 persons per sq. mile.  We live much closer together and with the huge increase in sheer numbers, IMO there are simply a lot more unbalanced people out there.  

We can no longer justify the rationale that had merit 223 years ago.  The rest of the developed world has nowhere near our firearm murder rates and it's past time for us to grow up and pass serious, nationwide, gun control laws. 

Where's The Do Not Fly List When We Need It?

OK, it's Crazy News Day apparently.

So, a local software consultant has been convicted of "sexually groping" the thigh of a fellow passenger on a flight from Las Vegas to Chicago.   He was convicted by a Federal jury after a 3 day trial in Chicago.   But wait, there's more.

The guy was seated between a woman (in the window seat) and the woman's husband (aisle seat) for this flight.   The woman planned to sleep during the flight and woke up several times when feeling something on her leg.  The third time, she woke to discover the guy's hand up the leg of her shorts, at which point the woman "struck" the consultant and yelled at him.  Fellow passengers and flight attendants on the 2011 Southwest Airlines flight also testified.     But wait there's more.

It appears that the offender has been convicted twice before for virtually identical crimes.   In 2000, he pleaded guilty in Cook County Court to groping the breast of a passenger in the seat in front of him on a flight from Detroit to Chicago.  In 2002, he was convicted in Federal Court in Detroit for groping the breast of a fellow passenger on a flight from San Jose to Detroit.

So, we have a secret "No Fly List" in this country.  If your name gets on this list, you're banned from boarding flights, allegedly because you might be a terrorist and harm people.  So if we already have this list, why isn't this jerk, a serial sexual groper with three convictions on his record, banned from flying anywhere?   He's a clear and present danger to female passengers.  How many felony convictions are required before you get jail time?
 

I'm Going With Creepy

So the latest toy foisted on our kids is another baby doll, but this one apparently makes noisy suckling sounds when, and here's the critical point, the child dons a special halter top that has sensors embedded behind "petal appliques" located in the nipple area of the halter.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The AP story (Creepy or Groundbreaking?) is here.  

Bill O'Reilly has already come out against the dolls, which retail for $89 each.  While they have sold well in Europe, the manufacturer hasn't been able to market them through mainstream retailers in the U.S. due to the retailers' desire to "avoid controversy."  The manufacturer believes the controversy in this country is based on Americans' discomfort with breast-feeding.  Of course, the "petal appliques" do tend to conjure up images of strippers, but...

I can't speak for American toy retailers, and I generally think Bill O'Reilly is full of hot air, but I'm going with "creepy" on this one.   I'm perfectly OK with breast-feeding and I don't think anything about it sexualizes anything, but this doll does something else.   It would seem to be yet another pressure on our children to grow up too fast.   I mean, it's one thing to play at feeding a baby doll, but carrying a doll around pressed to an 8 year old's breast seems to be something other than play.  According to the manufacturer (Lewis):

Lewis considers Breast Milk Baby "very much less sexualized" than Barbie dolls or the sassy Bratz pack.

Small comfort.  Those toys are often just as creepy.  He may be right, but sexualization isn't my point; growing up too fast is.

Pat Boone Says What?

OK, so I think people should vote and be civically involved, but I'm nervous about all the promoting that "everyone" should vote.  I think those who vote should be at least minimally informed of who and what they're voting on.   If you don't care enough to learn at least something factual about the issues of the day, I say stay home.

I just got a robo-call from Pat Boone (I swear he said "Yes, that Pat Boone.  I'm still singing Love Letters In the Sand").  He was calling to "sing the praise of" and encourage us to vote for Joe Walsh, who is (IMO) the biggest tea party dipshit in Congress.  

Now, if encouraging "everyone" to vote means encouraging people who would be influenced by a recorded message from Pat Boone on who to vote for, then I'm against encouraging "everyone" to vote.   I mean, really, Pat Boone was considered to be a worthwhile influence for the Walsh campaign?  Really?  

I shudder to think about the type of person who would get this message and then say, "I'm no longer undecided, I'm gonna do what Pat Boone asked and vote for Walsh."

A Clash of Zealots

So the national chain "Hobby Lobby" has filed a lawsuit against part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is more often referred to as "Obamacare."   The retail chain, owned by the Green family, believes the ACA requirement for employers to provide health insurance which includes birth control is unconstitutional.   Specifically, they object to being required to cover the morning after pill and similar drugs.  Hobby Lobby describes itself as a "biblically founded business," whatever that means.

It was perhaps inevitable that a group would start an online petition demanding that Hobby Lobby back off this lawsuit.   After all, online petitions seem to be the weapon of choice lately for a wide range of political issues, especially in cases of corporate right-wing, political activism (such as Chick-fil-A).   Ultraviolet, an organization devoted to promoting women's rights, is promoting a petition which states:

"All women deserve affordable access to birth control and it's a woman's personal, medical decision on which form to use. I won’t be shopping at your store until you drop this suit, and I’ll be telling my friends to do the same."

Now, I have never shopped at Hobby Lobby, mostly because I object to their incessant, strident proselytizing.   I just don't get why some people feel it's necessary to be everyone else's face 24/7 about their religious views.  This retail chain's penchant for full-page newspaper religious treatises is too "in my face."  So, I concur that this company needs to join the rest of our society and follow the law passed by our elected representatives.

On the other hand, I think the petition against the Green family's lawsuit has a couple of problems.   First, it's a waste of time because I don't believe the company really cares what people think of the company.   That is, these people are so convinced that their religious views are the only correct views that no petition will change their collective minds.  

Second, there's no back up plan.  As might be expected, Ultraviolet has now reported that 

Hobby Lobby isn't backing down.

After 80,000 petition signatures, thousands of posts on Facebook, and hundreds of calls to their customer service center, Hobby Lobby is still holding firm in its lawsuit against covering certain forms of birth control.

And now the right wing is rallying around the lawsuit. Conservative media outlets are covering the story, while others are drowning Hobby Lobby's Facebook page in positive comments.

It's pretty much exactly what happened a couple months ago with Chick-Fil-A and the anti-gay marriage statements of its founder.  The right circled the wagons and promoted "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Days."  

So what's the plan?   Ultraviolet is now emailing people to post "reviews" on Yelp, reviews which are not really reviews but political rants:

Can you post a review of Hobby Lobby on Yelp today, and make sure all of its customers know about their anti-woman lawsuit? There are Hobby Lobby stores in 41 states, so there is probably one in your state. 

Suggested language for the "review?"

"I'm very disturbed by Hobby Lobby's lawsuit attempting to deny women access to some forms of birth control. I'm not shopping at Hobby Lobby until they drop this lawsuit, and I hope no one else will either. What kind of birth control a woman uses is definitely not her employer's business. No more Hobby Lobby for me!"

So when Hobby Lobby continues to ignore the outrage, we'll be left with a bunch of faux reviews on a food and entertainment website, and what?   Nothing.

I'm not inclined to post a faux review on Yelp, and while I signed the petition, I don't agree with the last part: "until you drop this suit."   Whether or not Hobby Lobby drops the lawsuit, I won't shop there, for the same reason I haven't shopped there up to now.   I prefer to not patronize a company that has incessant, strident, right-wing proselytizing as part of its business plan.

Technology and Early Adopters

To truly understand how much life has been changed by technology, consider this: my 17 month old grandson Nathaniel understands how to use an iPhone. He knows how to select apps, scroll through photos, and start videos. 

His small motor coordination isn't always quite able to do precisely what he wants, but he definitely knows how to do what he wants. At 17 months.  

This is frightening and inspiring at the same time!  I've been a computer user for more than 30 years, and I always knew that small humans were little sponges in terms of knowledge acquisition.  While there have been jokes around for years about the need for older people to seek assistance from teenagers when needing to program a video recorder (which no one even uses anymore), this latest realization just amazes me.

I recorded a video of Nathaniel playing hide and seek the other day, and he loves to watch stuff like this (starring him) over and over.   He wanted to see my iPhone and watch himself laughing and giggling in the 30 second clip.   And when the clip ended, he didn't hesitate to reach out and poke the tiny play icon to run it again.  Sometimes he hit the icon, sometimes he missed, but he sure knew how to get the video to play.

He seems to represent early adopters, or perhaps, more accurately, early adapters.

Two Very Funny Videos

This is a first: I'm posting links to a couple of very funny parody videos that make fun of a couple of REALLY big Internet companies.   

The first is a jab at Amazon, which is now promoting next day and same day delivery.  How could they top that?   Think about it.  Then watch the Youtube video.

The second one takes a shot at Google, that company that keeps coming up with all sorts of things we didn't know we needed until they came up with it.   Like the car that drives itself and that email system that doesn't ever throw any messages away even if you put them in the "Trash" and any number of other innovative products.   Here's another one: this video explains how Google will help you get rid of those clunky smart phone keyboards and really start multitasking. 

If you don't find these videos funny, I'd like to hear why not.

Placating Poppop

So I had sole custody of my #2 grandson for a few hours this afternoon and fortunately, he agreed to actually sleep through his nap time for part of the custodial period.  After the nap, we had a snack, told a few jokes, and turned him loose in the toy strewn family room for a while. 

During his subsequent ransacking of the family room, I offered to read Nathaniel a book.  I attempted to entice him with one of his least favorite books, "Jumbo."   It's not one of my favorites either, but it was just a prop, and I kept asking hm if he'd like me to read him a book.

"Do you want me to read you a story?   How about we read a book?   Don't you want me to read you a book?  C'mon, Nathaniel, let's read a book."

This went on for several minutes until he went over to one of the bins in the family room, rummaged around in it for a moment or two, and fished out a book.  He turned around and began to walk across the room toward me with a big grin on his face.  

Nathaniel handed me the book, turned around, and walked away to resume ransacking.  His message was clear and didn't involve speaking or sign-language: "Here you go Poppop.  Here's a book.   Knock yourself out." 

He apparently had more important things to do.  I will recognize that smile the next time I see it plastered across his face.
 

Bad Day For Individual Investors

Moxyvote.com has announced it's shutting down.  This web site provided a way for shareholders of corporations to sort of band together to vote on issues important to the shareholders, on topics covering anything that corporations do (or should do).   The people who run the site announced that despite working for 5+ years on regulatory change, they are shutting down because the needed changes haven't happened.  One change that was needed, is regulatory support that would enable shareholders to require their brokers to link proxy voting with Moxyvote.  Without that, the critical mass of shareholders that could band together on voting via Moxyvote is limited.

Beyond shareholders banding together to exercise proxy voting, there seems to be another unmet critical need (IMO): direct communication with other shareholders.   When we read of outrageous actions by corporate boards, such as the recent Duke Energy CEO contract from which the CEO "resigned" after one day, resulting in the CEO collecting up to $44 million, shareholders need a way to communicate with each other.   We can't act as a group if we can't consult with each other and formulate appropriate responses.   We now are limited to making proposals considered at annual meetings, but if shareholders could easily discuss issues with fellow shareholders, we wouldn't be limited to simply reacting to Board of Director controlled proxy ballots.  We could pressure corporate boards on timely issues, like CEO compensation.  Without a site like Moxyvote.com, there's little chance of that level of shareholder communication existing.  

There is a perception that corporate boards and top management, holding huge quantities of corporate stock, can act in their own best interest in "enhancing share value" and, therefore, their own monetary profit, over individual shareholders, who are largely reduced to merely being along for the ride.  One example is a board decision to pursue being bought by another company, thereby resulting in massive payouts to holders of large quantities of stock, as opposed to small individual shareholders who may be more interested in long-term growth than cashing out their holding.  Individual shareholders are essentially voiceless and have no leverage to substantially influence corporate board behavior.  

Provisions of Dodd-Frank, like "say on pay," are little more than window dressing.  In truth, individual shareholders are voiceless.

What Happened To The Future?

Americans have always had faith in the future, that it would be better than the present, and way better than the past.   That's been the foundation for generations of Americans who believed that if they worked hard and focused on a goal, they could improve their lot in life as well as secure their children's future.  This notion has been used as a way to distinguish America from "those other countries" where economic mobility was difficult, if not impossible, to improve.

Apparently, that's not actually the case, and it's questionable if it ever was.  As recently reported on Marketplace, according to research conducted by Pew's Economic Mobility Project:

(the project) has calculated that about 60 percent of Americans whose fathers’ incomes were in the top fifth, stay in the top two-fifths themselves. And the same is true at the bottom. About 65 percent of those from the bottom fifth don't make it past the bottom two-fifths by the time they're adults.

What's this mean?  It means that your economic future looks pretty much the same as your father's was.   Whether you started at the bottom or the top of the economic ladder, you'll probably stay there.  

What could be worse than that?  Another researcher has compared the economic mobility, the ability to change your economic status, of Americans and citizens of other developed countries.  Guess what?   Our belief that we're better off than others in our ability to move up the ladder is unfounded as well

Miles Corak is an economist at the University of Ottawa. He's compared the U.S. to other rich countries, and found that Americans have less mobility across generations than Canada, Australia, and most of Europe.

I find this research very disturbing, both from the standpoint that our children seem to be trapped in whatever economic rung of the ladder that their parents occupy (of course, it's not so much "trapped" if you're nearer the top rung), as well as the realization that the United States, land of opportunity, offers less economic opportunity than most of Europe.

Has our "future" changed or was it an illusion all along?

World's First Blonde Guy Joke?

A friend passed this one to me recently.   I got a good laugh from it!

    The very first ever Blonde GUY joke..... And well worth the wait !!!!

    An Irishman, a Mexican and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.

    They were eating lunch and the Irishman said,"Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building."

    The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed,"Burritos again! If I get Burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too."

    The blonde opened his lunch and said, "Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too."

    The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death.

    The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a Burrito, and jumped, too.

    The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well.

    At the funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping.She said, "If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!"

    The Mexican's wife also wept and said, "I could have given him tacos or enchiladas ! I didn't realize he hated Burritos so much."

    Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife. The blonde's wife said,

    "Don't look at me. He makes his own lunch"

   

MYOB Facebook

I'm a Facebook (FB) user, and have found it's a terrific way to keep in touch with friends and family.   Many people I worked with before retirement are on FB and since I no longer see them in person, it's nice to hear what they're up to these days.   For family and extended family, it's an easy way to keep in touch, share photos and videos, and see what's going on.

A lot of people also use a variety of FB apps, like games, quizzes, birthday reminders, and such.   The calendar apps remind you of friend's birthdays (which FB does automatically anyway) and enable you to send FB greeting cards.   I don't really know what the games give you, but apparently a lot of people spend a ton of time playing them. 

My disinterest in these apps is based on two concerns: 1) using them seems to be another way to suck up hours and hours of time, even more than basic FB use consumes, and 2) virtually all FB apps demand access to my personal data (essentially anything I've told FB, like religious preference, likes, dislikes, you name it).   I share information with friends and family, but I have no interest in sharing much of anything with companies doing business on FB.   The bottom line is that the companies want this information in order to monetize it; to collect data to sell it to someone else who wants to make money with it.

I get bombarded with marketing efforts as it is, via email, snail mail, and those infernal phone calls, so I have no interest in facilitating some marketing types to target their efforts on me even more precisely.   That's why I don't play FB games or use all those apps my friends periodically invite me to join.   FB doesn't offer an option to say "No thanks" with those apps, just  "Goto App" or "Cancel."   

I'm not ignoring anyone, I just would rather not fork over my personal data to some app developer.  Here's more about what sorts of data FB apps collect.

Follow The Money Again

So United Airlines has decided to do away with "family boarding" before regular boarding begins.   This has been used in order to get families with young kids onto a flight before everyone else, so that aisles are less clogged up and families can easily sit together.

Why on earth would United pursue such a change?   There must be money involved.   Oh right, if they ditch family boarding, they can sell families seats together for an extra charge.  Or simply tell families they have to upgrade from Coach.  For more money.

Nice consumer-friendly, customer service, United.   It's getting harder to decide which airline is worse, lately.

Riverboat Gambler On The Fed?

It's clear that investment banking is nothing more than riverboat gambling with suits.  We shouldn't have riverboat gamblers on the Fed.  

Here's a petition to demand Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase either resign or be removed from the New York Federal Reserve Board of Directors.

 

The Pirate

This is probably a pretty old joke, but a friend recently sent it to me and I think it's very funny.  My "joke of the week:"

A pirate walked into a bar and the bartender said, "Hey, I haven't seen you in awhile.  What happened?  You look terrible."

"What do you mean?" said the pirate, "I feel fine."

"What about the wooden leg?  You didn't have that before."

"Well, we were in a battle and I got hit with a cannon ball, but I'm fine now."

"Well, o.k., but what about that hook?  What happened to your hand?"

"We were in another battle. I boarded a ship and got into a sword fight. My hand was cut off.  I got fitted with a hook. I'm fine, really."

"What about that eye patch?"

"Oh, one day we were at sea and a flock of birds flew over.  I looked up and one of them shit in my eye."

"You're kidding," said the bartender, "you couldn't lose an eye just from some bird shit."

"It was my first day with the hook."

How Does A Proposal Fail 99-0?

I subscribe to "Megavote" emails from Congress.org that inform me periodically of how my Senate and House representatives have voted on legislation.  Most of the time, it's interesting to see how many Senate filibuster cloture votes have failed to end debate on bills the Republican minority oppose.  Recently, however, I came across an unusually peculiar item:

“Obama” Budget Resolution - Vote Rejected (0-99, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate unanimously rejected this budget resolution, which was the GOP’s interpretation of President Obama’s FY 13 budget proposal. It would set new FY 2013 budget authority at $2.982 trillion. This marks the second time Senate Republicans have introduced what they call the president’s budget for a floor vote, and the second time the proposal has failed to garner a single “yea” vote. This was the first of five budget resolutions the Senate voted on last week, each one a “messaging” vote since both chambers have already set spending levels for their respective FY 13 appropriations bills.

So I'm guessing that even the mope who submitted this bill didn't vote for it?  Why would "Senate Republicans" even introduce something so toxic for a floor vote? What possible political benefit is attributable to proposal that not a single Senator votes for?  What is the "message" the Republicants are sending?

We are truly in Alice's Wonderland.

On Ferengis and Deep Space 9

I started this post a while ago, and then didn't finish it.   At the time, I had been reminded (I now don't know what reminded me...) of the Ferengi Alliance, the fictional planetary government of the equally fictional planet Ferenginar from Star Trek.  Because of the pleasant feelings brought back by memories of the inhabitants of Deep Space 9 (DS9), I thought a blog post about it would be a nice break from talking about the lousy economy and politics. (This part hasn't changed since I started this post!)

Ferengis were motivated by the pursuit of profit and their fictional universe was a clever reflection of our own capitalist tendencies.  The Ferengi were my favorite species from all the Star Trek shows, especially DS9 (which ran from 1993-1999), and were one of the most creative parts of the entire ST universe (IMHO).   For reasons that have always escaped me, DS9 was NOT the most watched or popular of the Star Trek series.   I found the stories and characters on DS9 to be more engaging and thought-provoking than all but Star Trek: The Next Generation, but that intelligence could be why DS9 didn't generate as big a following.

Quark

The core and foundation of the Ferengi civilization were The Rules of Acquisition, which as it turns out, weren't rules as much as "guidelines."  On the other hand, the DS9 resident Ferengis, Quark (portrayed by Armin Shimerman) and his brother Rom, represented the full range of Ferengi behaviors and the pursuit of profit was generally right out there in front.   At the same time, Quark (pictured here in the year 2375) was known to take only minimal profit on occasion in order to help out someone who couldn't afford to pay his/her way unassisted.

Thanks to the Internet, there's what seems to be a never-ending supply of details and reminisces of all the Star Trek "realities."  I'm going to include several links below to a few web sites that bring a smile to my face, and maybe yours.   They contain a ridiculous amount of information on Quark and his compatriots.  And perhaps not surprisingly, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia has countless entries pertaining to Star Trek and all its components and characters.

Elim Garak

The seven years of DS9 stories were all entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking and it was one of the few television series that I would have been happy to continue watching forever.   I miss Commander Sisko, Jadzia Dax, Quark, Odo, and my favorite tailor, Garak (portrayed by Andrew Robinson).

There are a (ridiculously) enormous number of web sites that contain lists of the always entertaining Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.  If commerce was the religion of Ferengi, then the Rules were their Bible.   The Rules are both relentlessly capitalist as well as subtly amusing and I love reading them over from time to time.   There is a lot of wisdom buried in those Rules.   Some of my favorite Rules are at the end of this post.

The next few paragraphs are quotes from several relevant web sites and links to them. 

--------------

"The Rules of Acquisition, in the fictional Star Trek universe, are a set of guidelines intended to ensure the profitability of businesses owned by the ultra-capitalist alien race known as Ferengi. The first rule was made by Gint, the first Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance, a role with political, economic, and even quasi-religious duties. The title of "Rules of Acquisition" was chosen as a clever marketing ploy (since the rules are merely guidelines) and Gint numbered his first rule as #162, in order to create a demand for the other 161 Rules that had yet to be written. The Rules were said to be divinely inspired and sacred (thus furthering the original marketing ploy)."

--------------

"The Ferengi believe that the universe is held together by the Great Material Continuum, also known as the Great River. They believe that each part of the universe has too much of one thing, but not enough of another, and it is through the continual flow of the Great River that wants and needs can be fulfilled, if one navigates the River with sufficient entrepreneurial skill. By request and especially for Nicola, here are the complete Ferengi rules of acquisition.   "

--------------

"The Rules of Acquisition were a numbered series of aphorisms, guidelines, and principles that provided the foundation of business philosophy in Ferengi culture. They were first written ten thousand years ago by Gint, the first Grand Nagus. In the mid-22nd century there were 173 rules, but by the 24th century there were 285. Commentaries existed for the Rules. (ENT: "Acquisition", DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")

There was also a short-lived revised edition of the Rules written by Grand Nagus Zek after having his state of mind changed by the Bajoran Prophets. These rules were almost complete opposites of the original rules and promoted honesty and charity. After Zek recovered, he ordered all copies of the new rules to be destroyed. (DS9: "Prophet Motive")"

--------------
The Ferengi were quite honest about their interests.   To make money.   And then make more money.

The Rules are so extensive, I find it impossible to select a favorite, but here are a few I think are noteworthy.

50.  Never bluff a Klingon (because a Klingon will shoot first and ask questions later?)
76.  Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies
92.  Never confuse wisdom with luck (something our politicians should remember)
106.  There is no honor in poverty  (Reminds me of Tevye's line in "Fiddler On The Roof")
125.  A lie isn't a lie until someone else knows the truth (something our politicians seem to remember without being reminded)
208. Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.  
223.  Rich men don't come to buy; they come to take 

Bragging On My Grandson

So it's time to brag on my grandson.   He's in kindergarten and we're all interested in how he's adapting and learning new things.   One of the adaptations is he, like all the other kids, have been taking standardized tests throughout the year to gauge his progress.  Some of these tests adjust to how well the student is doing; if the kid is doing well, the questions get harder.  My daughter discovered he was taking some of these tests this week and has more next week, so she asked him how it was going.   After previous tests, he told her he was concerned because he was pretty sure he'd gotten some of the answers wrong.  His mother assured him that it was OK if he didn't know all the answers and just did his best on the test.   He did very well, but she figures, quite correctly, that at age 6 he doesn't need details about the results.  

Anyway, this time he told her that some of the reading test was hard and he again wasn't sure he got them all right.   In fact, he said, he had to alphabetize some words and he was pretty sure one of them was wrong, because all the words started with S.   As my daughter was contemplating how to respond about more complex alphabetizing, my grandson continued on with something like "I wasn't sure what to do, so I just guessed and went with the second letters..."

As his mother has pointed out on numerous occasions, her eldest son is a problem solver!  And that's another reason, since he's been in kindergarten, that I miss hanging out with him.  It's fascinating watching a young mind develop and grow!

And while I'm reflecting on schools and students, congratulations to Teacher of the Year Rebecca Mieliwocki, who was honored in Washington, D.C. today.   Her work is our future.

What's Wrong With Free Market Healthcare?

Epinephrine is a medicine used to treat severe allergic reactions, which may be life-threatening.   Analphylactic shock is an allergic reaction which can cause death within minutes.  People with allergies to certain substances, such as wasp venom, are supposed to carry an epinephrine pen with them whenever they are in environments in which they might be exposed to the substance.   These pens enable you to administer an emergency dose of the drug to counteract the allergen, after which you're supposed to get to an emergency room as quickly as possible.  The pens come with an expiration date, so if you haven't used them in a year, you have to throw the pen away and get a new one.   That's not so unusual with medicines and medical devices.  

A few years ago, I had a severe allergic response to two wasp stings within a couple weeks, and as a result, I have been getting allergy shots to desensitize me to the venom, and I'm supposed to carry an epinephrine pen with me when I might be exposed to wasps (like being outside anywhere). 

Having to carry an epinephrine pen around is bad enough, but I recently discovered that these pens (sold under the name Epipen) are made by one company (Dey Pharma) which apparently has found an effective way to pad their bottom line at consumer expense.  Sometime in the past 6 months or so, the company decided to only package these pens in two packs (at twice the cost, of course).  So now, patients who need to carry an Epipen have to buy a two-pack, both of which have the same expiration date.  If all goes well and I avoid any wasp stings, I have to throw away two Epipens, not just one.   Since I try to avoid sharing space with wasps, the odds of me having two severe allergic reactions within the next year are extremely slim.

The packaging/marketing of these devices by Dey Pharma results in waste of both consumer and health insurance resources.   I don't know if the FDA has the authority or even considers trying to halt horrible marketing decisions like this, but it would be nice if the Federal government and/or the insurance industry could do something productive.  I resent being forced to waste limited resources on guaranteed waste. 

This strikes me as an excellent example of what's wrong with our "free market" approach to health care and why we need a good single-payer insurance system (which could conceivably control skyrocketing costs).  

If you know someone who needs an Epipen, I'd be happy to sell him/her one of mine.

What's that smell?

Getting old is tough.   Lots of things you thought you knew turn out to be not quite true anymore and even your senses start misleading you...

Barbara Brotman writes for the Chicago Tribune and her columns are always engaging.  This one is engaging, humorous, and even educational.   Seems that baby boomers can't even trust their sense of smell these days...  That's not a skunk you smell, it's....a doobie?

Don't Want To Pay For Certain Government Spending? Too Bad.

Jon Stewart says it all so well it doesn't need elaboration.   Don't like paying for some part of government spending?   Quit whining and get used to it.

On his 3/5/2012 Daily Show, Stewart commented on "conservatives' reaction to Rush Limbaugh's incendiary remarks about Sandra Fluke and her congressional testimony on birth control coverage."  Another example of why Stewart's considered our "greatest public intellectual" by a Loyola University bioethicist.

It's about an insurance mandate from the government covering contraceptive medications as part of overall health care.  It's not your tax money that pays for it.  I'm not even going to get into your round-about argument about how somehow money is taken out of your pocket to pay for Georgetown's private insurance plan...

I'm just saying to the people who are upset about their hard-earned tax money going to things they don't like: Welcome to the $%&#* club.  Everyone pays for $%&#* they don't want to all the time.   You know what?  Reimburse me for the Iraq War and oil subsidies, and guess what, then diaphragms are on me.  Prophylactics are on the house.

Indeed.   We're not talking about tax dollars here, we're talking about health insurance.  Let me know when we all get to exclude various government activities and spending from our personal tax dollars.  I can put my list together pretty quickly, how about you?

Why We Hate Banks Part Deux

OK, so here's an addition to my 2/25/12 rant.  I criticize when criticism is warranted and whatever the opposite of criticism is when warranted.  In this case, it's not really 'kudos' but I don't know what it is.

The Regional bank I didn't name that charged for each iPhone processed deposit isn't the only bank in town.   The really huge bank with which we also do business, has an iPhone app which does check deposits.  Much to my surprise, this mega-Bank does not appear to charge for each transaction.   I'll believe it when I see my statement, but so far, there doesn't seem to be a fee for the "privilege." 

And this bank is way more evil than the Regional bank....  And famous for devising new fees...

Why We Hate Banks

So I decided the other day to try out an iPhone app for my bank, which would enable me to make a deposit into my account using the phone rather than traveling to a branch or ATM.   The bank had touted it as a time-saver, but I discovered a hitch half way through the process.

The app first had me take a photo of the front of the check and enter the amount of the deposit.  It was pretty much like using the iPhone to take any sort of photo; no big deal.  Then it was time to take a shot of the back of the check.   Those tasks completed, I was presented with a screen to either Cancel or Continue and oh, by the way, a notice that I would be charged $.50 to complete the deposit with the app.   

So my bank had found another fee based revenue source.  Why would I want to deposit a check for $10 and change via the iPhone and pay a $.50 fee?   Short answer: I would not.     I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since a couple decades ago, the banking industry offered free access to ATMs to get consumers used to the devices, and then tried to slap fees on when we used them.  Here the bank has the customer using his own equipment (iPhone) to process a deposit electronically into their system, and they think it's reasonable to charge me for the "privilege?"  But not to state up front that a fee would be incurred...

I think not.   A small example of why we hate our banks.

Further Evidence of Aging

As if I needed more evidence...

When you reach the age of social security awareness, strange things can happen.   As a retired Federal worker, I am not covered by social security, but my spouse is.   And she recently retired after 23 years at the same bank branch (although having worked for 5 or 6 banks during that time span).

So during the online application process, the Social Security Administration wanted proof of my wife's marriage in support of her (long-ago) name change.   We just celebrated our 40th anniversary and Nancy blithely sent me off to the safe deposit box to get the marriage certificate, license, or whatever it was.   Well, whatever it was, it wasn't there.   We'd just assumed we had it in amongst the passports, birth certificates, mortgage documents, and other records we haven't looked at in decades.  We quickly concluded that we apparently don't have our marriage record.  It got even sillier when I went online to see how to get a copy.   

We were married in Nancy's parent's home on Long Island.  Neither of us had any recollection of obtaining a marriage license, and according to the Nassau County web site, marriage licenses aren't issued by the County, but by three townships and a couple of cities in Nassau County.  My wife and I stared at each other blankly as neither of us knew in which township her parent's home was.  North Hempstead, Hempstead?  We could get a copy from the NYS Health Department, but it would cost us ($30 plus $15 for priority handling plus $7.25 for using a credit card and take 10 business days; without priority handling, it would take 2 to 4 weeks).  I made a wild guess and called the Hempstead Township Clerk's office and explained that we needed a 40 year old marriage certificate but didn't know what office had issued the certificate.   

I suspect that the Hempstead employee thought she had a doddering flower child on the phone who couldn't remember in what town he'd been married...  She asked if I was sure of the wedding date...

After faxing a request for them to find out if Hempstead had our record, we waited eagerly for a response.   In the meantime, the Social Security Administration web site was no longer requesting evidence of the name change.  My wife told me we should still get the copy if possible so she wouldn't have any "issues" if I drop dead.  

The next day, we received a phone message from Hempstead telling us they had our marriage record and how did we wish to pay for it?   In the spirit of elderly flower children everywhere, I gave her my credit card number and commented that Hempstead's price ($16) was much less than the NYS Health Department fee for the same record.  The clerk muttered something about Hempstead also being much faster.

The certificate will be mailed out on Tuesday (Monday being a holiday) and we'll have our record in a few days.   

Any time after that, it will be OK for me to play in traffic.  My wife will be so relieved.

Health and Politics-A Very Bad Mix

The scandal of the month appears to be the short-lived "non-political" decision by the Susan Komen Foundation to cut it's ties to Planned Parenthood, which has used Komen Foundation money to provide breast cancer screening and support to thousands of women.  The Foundation defended its decision because they have a "policy" that prohibits them from making grants to organizations "under investigation."   What investigation was targeting Planned Parenthood (PP)?  In case you hadn't heard, Republican Representative Cliff Stearns of Florida has launched a Congressional Investigation of PP.  That's not even close to a criminal investigation, which most of us might consider possibly valid rationale for a charity to guard its grant money.  Congressional investigations are a dime a dozen and signify nothing, beyond some political agenda.

In this case, Representative Stearns is an avowed opponent of PP and has vowed to find a way to cut off all federal funds the group receives.  PP is already prohibited from using those funds to provide abortion services, but that is apparently not good enough for Mr. Stearns.
What's even worse than the Congressional witch-hunt, is the lame and unbelievable defense that the Komen CEO presented for the Foundation's action.  When word spread that the Komen Foundation had succumbed to heavy pressure from abortion opponents to cut ties with PP, CEO Nancy Brinker maintained that the decision had nothing to do with her recent hiring of a former conservative Georgia gubernatorial candidate as Vice-President for Public Policy.  Karen Handel lost her race for nomination in 2010 after campaigning on an anti-Planned Parenthood platform.  Brinker announced that Handel "had nothing to do with" the Foundation decision to cut off PP funds, despite the fact that Brinker had already said the action was taken in conformance with a new Foundation "policy."  Who could possibly believe that the person in charge of public policy wasn't involved?  It's just plain ridiculous.


The good news is that Planned Parenthood raised nearly a million dollars in the few days after the Komen announcement, and the Internet was filled with angry people who vowed to never participate in another Komen "Race for the cure" fundraiser.  

Don't forget, this is the same foundation that filed lawsuits a year or so ago against other charities who they alleged were infringing on Komen's "trademark" of the words "for the cure."   Can you say charity acting like a corporation?
    

Fracking-NIMBY

You know all that controversy about fracking to retrieve oil and natural gas from shale deposits?   It's a process where drillers pump chemicals, water, and sand into underground deposits to break up the rock and force gas to the surface to be collected.

Fracking has come to suburbia.   This 12/27/11 Marketplace story explains that because many States have no laws either authorizing municipalities to regulate drilling within their boundaries or banning such regulation, companies are now installing drilling rigs in residential neighborhoods.  Suburban sub-divisions!

According to the story, "companies only need to maintain a set-back of 150 feet when putting up rigs near homes. It's the minimum clearance needed to avoid damage -- in case the rig tips over."   

I suspect that the rig tipping over is the least concern of most homeowners, considering the largely unknown side-effects of the chemicals used and the impact on the environment (e.g., underground water supplies).   How would you like a derrick 150 feet from your house?  That would probably be a great, big, NIMBY.