The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Helping Out The Man' Edition
I think I can safely say that we all support President Obama's efforts to enact an effective, comprehensive Health Care Reform Bill... Right? Right!
Well then, have you contacted your congressional representatives and senators and asked them to support his plan?
If not, here's your opportunity to do just that! Then you can answer yes and become a member of my Badtothebone for Barack club. How cool is that, eh?
Details of the plan are included in the link for your perusal...
Do the right thing, I'm sayin'! Walk the walk!
Adam in NoHo wrote with a caveat...
Well, I wrote the White House and told them I refuse to buy private insurance., and that they won't see a 2nd term if I have to. The Baucus plan is shite and the GOP played him for a chump on it. Time to go back to the drawing board.
SallyP(al) said yes and has gone 'above and beyond' besides...
For this Poll you ask: "Have you contacted your congressional representatives and senators and asked them to support his (Obama's) plan?"
And, my reply is that of course I have, and have, and have... I did, however, sign the group letters suggested by your link - I thought maybe it would be more powerful as a group effort... (One can only hope)
Here in New Jersey, we have 2 Democratic Senators, and for my congressional district, 1 Republican Congressman. The first Senator is, the newly elected, and first NJ Hispanic Senator, Robert Menendez.
Upon his election a few years back, I immediately sent him an email of congratulations! I probably contact his office either by telephone or email at least once a month about various issues, both locally and nationally - including the Health Care agenda. I have yet to receive even ONE response from he or his staff.
Our second senator is a really old man, Senator Frank Lautenberg (who is about 85 years old) and I have real concerns about his ability to perform actively in his position. I contact him about 6-times a year (Menendez is supposed to be in my district). I get an occasional form letter reply - usually including a request for a donation!
Since they are both Dems, and usually vote as would I (when there) the politics are not such a problem for me. Their inattention to their constituent most certainly is!!
My congressman for Jersey's 5th congressional district is Scott Garrett, and as stated, a Republican.
Scott ALWAYS answers my correspondence, and/or requests or concerns. The response may not always be to my agreement, but they are always polite and respectful. I wish he'd give some lessons on manners to the two senatorial jerks... (Ironic, isn't it?)
Our Governor, Jon Corzine is also a Democrat, but totally not a "people person," and I see him losing big time this election to a Republican Bush-man, who is running against him! The previous governor, Jim McGreevey was wonderful, and I have a file of responses from him - but his personal life did him in. (Why the truly talented do this to themselves is a whole other subject for another day.)
Finally, on three occasions, I embarked on an actual letter-writing campaign, paying postage, and mailing letters to the two senators - receiving form reply's months later!!
You can't win for trying, I guess... As I've said before, I sometimes feel as if I'm pissing in the wind in trying to contact the people in power. Hoping other readers have been more successful,
(Good on you, Pally, fer yer efforts, but, remember, no good deed goes unpunished, and that's a fact!)
DanD ever the cynic (But, that's OK with me) answered...
So, you want me to help a guy who advertised himself as the anti-war candidate, you know, somebody who was going to bring a sense of honor back to the Oval Office ... didn't I hear something like this somewhere before?
Furthermore, even if Obama does include a "Public" option, as it stands, the fucker is still letting the health-care corporations write the public-option legislation.
I can't help but think that we're (once again) being sold a pig-in-a-poke. (Maybe so, maybe no... It's a crap shoot at this point, I'm thinkin'...)
Now, if'n the "Man" hada' presented a piece of legislation already written and defined and asked for my support, contingent upon my actually believing in the legislation, yeah, I'd endorse it. But there are just too many "non-birther" experts describing Obama's plan as a pig-in-a-poke.
And this has absolutely nothing to do with the "racism" canard being used to indict ALL opposition to the "Man's" plan. (Amen, brother, Amen)
I don't trust him simply because his administration has gotten to looking a little to similar to a Bush third term. (I'm not sure I'd go that far, but, ya gotta call'em as ya see'em, I always say)
Charlie, the good trooper that he is, reported...
I did my small part. My House Representative Betty Sutton and Senator Sherrod Brown are, I think, already on the right side here. I'm not sure where Senator Voinovich stands, but he's not usually quite as
hopeless as most Republicans. Brown was the Representative from my district before he made the Senate, and he was in the Progressive Caucus at the time, but I did note that he shifted a bit to the right when he
was running for the Senate in 2006. Note also that Kucinich is from the district just east of here.
(Thanks, Charlie. A smart salute from me to you)
Well, then, Poll-fans, that's it. I was hoping fer more, but ya gots ta settle fer what ya gets...
My earnest wish is that everyone will be covered as well as I am (The VA, dontcha know).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, the VA has had its issues, but I have received nothing but exceptional care. Particularly at the Ann Arbor VAMC which works hand-in-glove with the University of Michigan Medical Center. That's no small thing. Here's an interesting anecdote fer ya! I'm currently undergoing some physical therapy and I asked the therapist and her assistant (both twenty-somethings) how they liked working for the VA. They both answered in the positive and when I asked why, they both answered the same. They don't have to worry about the insurance companies dictating treatment parameters! Ya need it, ya get it. No bean-counters to deal with when it comes to the quality of care... So, there it is... Thanks to all!
BadToTheBoneBob
New Question
The '2009 Season Premier' Edition
This week starts the premiers of new prime time programs as well as programs retained from last year.
What programs, if any, are you planning to watch during this 'premier' season?
Send your response to
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
President Obama Changed My Life for the Better (youtube.com)
Positive energy galore (and President Bush did something good, too).
Dr. Mark H. Shapiro: Charter Schools - A Choice but not Necessarily a Great Choice (irascibleprofessor.com)
For a long time now the American public schools have had their critics.
Paul Krugman: Reform or Bust (nytimes.com/)
Putting limitations on how bankers are compensated is a populist idea, but it is also good politics and good economics.
Froma Harrop: 'Heads I Win, Tails I'm Bailed Out' (creators.com)
President Obama was on Wall Street, calling for a new regulatory regime to prevent a financial panic like the one set off a year ago. "We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this crisis," he said.
MAUREEN DOWD: Blue Is the New Black (nytimes.com)
Studies show women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women?
Duane Well: Levi Kreis Finds Where He Belongs (advocate.com)
He's gone with God, successfully refused to be "repaired" by the Christian community, and now, after two albums of therapy, singer-songwriter Levi Kreis has finally found where he belongs.
Andrew O'Hagan: The Powers of Dr. Johnson (nybooks.com)
Samuel Johnson could never have been described as nice. He lacked good manners, an easy disposition, a sunny outlook, a helpful quality, an open spirit, a selfless gene, a handsome gait, or a general willingness to put his best foot forward in greeting others. If niceness was the only category known to posterity, we would long since have lost Johnson to the scrofulous regions of inky squalor, for he could be alarmingly rude.
Book Excerpt: Retail Hell (advocate.com)
In Freeman Hall's new tome, 'Retail Hell,' the author illustrates just a couple of trials and tribulations of explaining his gig.
"Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of 'Fitzcarraldo'" by Werner Herzog: A review by Giles Harvey
Conquest of the Useless, the altogether appropriate title given to the journals Werner Herzog kept while making his most famous film in the Peruvian rainforest, weighs in at just over three hundred pages. Dense with the soakage of the jungle -- "Nothing ever gets properly dry here, shoes, clothing. Anything made of leather gets mildewed, and electric clocks stop" -- the pages of Conquest seem to weigh more than the pages of most books.
Roger Ebert: And so then I saw...
I always try to find at least one film at Toronto that's way off the beaten track. I rarely stray further afield than I did Tuesday night, when I found myself watching "Wake in Fright," a film made in Australia in 1971 and almost lost forever. It's not dated. It is powerful, genuinely shocking, and rather amazing. It comes billed as a "horror film," and contains a great deal of horror, but all of the horror is human and brutally realistic.
Marilynn Preston: "You're the Principal: Start the Semester with a New Playbook" (creators.com)
"Few people realize this, but brain cancer has surpassed leukemia as the number one cancer killer in children, and many scientists believe this is directly linked to the exponential increase in cell phone use and other wireless devices." - Dr. Joseph Mercola. For startling details, see www.mercola.com.
Mikhaela Reid: "Commentoon: JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR"
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warm.
Another Endangered NPR Station
WLIU-FM
Imagine the Hamptons without the ocean.
Residents of one of the world's best known playground for the haves and have-mores use the dramatic comparison when talking about a public radio station that has been a beacon for community groups, artists and entertainers.
Actor Alec Baldwin, comedian Joy Behar, publisher Jann Wenner are among the celebrities who are pushing to keep afloat the National Public Radio affiliate WLIU-FM, which is up for sale this week.
Despite ready access to cash from deep-pocketed supporters, many fear they may be outbid by well-financed religious broadcasters, who might scrap the region's only public radio station.
In the past five years, between 50 and 100 nonprofit stations have been sold annually, most transactions involving religious broadcasters, said Marc Hand, managing director of Public Radio Capital, which is helping to broker the sale for the university.
WLIU-FM
CBS Fails To End Suit
Dan Rather
A New York judge on Monday rejected CBS Corp's bid to dismiss former TV news anchor Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit claiming he was fired over a controversial election-year report on former President George W. Bush's Vietnam War-era military service.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Ira Gammerman set a December 22 hearing in the case and directed that testimony be taken from witnesses including Sumner Redstone, the 86-year-old chairman of Viacom Inc, which once controlled CBS.
Rather, 77, sued CBS in 2007 and has filed a separate fraud case against CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward over his firing from the network, his home for more than four decades.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Rather said the case puts "an important principle" at stake: "Are we going to let big corporations and big government decide what we hear and see on the news?"
He accused CBS of having "buried an important story to curry favor with and protect the powerful politicians who regulate them. That's a big part of this lawsuit."
Dan Rather
Multicultural Mozart
Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio
An Italian orchestra mainly composed of migrants brings a multicultural version of Mozart's The Magic Flute to Rome on Wednesday to open the city's arts festival amid a debate over a crackdown on illegal migration.
The Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio will kick off the 24th edition of the Romaeuropa arts festival with an explosive version of Mozart's 1791 opera about a lost prince on a quest to win love in a magical realm.
From a Cuban trumpeter to Tunisian vocalists, an American violinist to Senegalese drummers, the 20-nation orchestra blends musical styles from reggae to jazz to create a modern version of the opera classic, mingling fairytales, popular melodies, languages, rhythms and sounds.
Moves by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government to tighten laws on illegal migrants and send migrants intercepted at sea back to Libya have sparked an angry public debate in the Italy. The Catholic church compared those ignoring migrant suffering to those who ignored the Holocaust in World War II.
Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio
Vancouver's Cultural Olympiad
Neil Young
Troubadour Steve Earle, a Ugandan dance troupe and an all-star tribute to Neil Young are among the additions to the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.
More than 70 arts projects have been added to the Winter Games festivities next year, including an all-star tribute to Young led by Broken Social Scene and including Ron Sexsmith and Iron and Wine.
Other musical additions include shows by Earle with supporting act Joel Plaskett and performances by Stars, the Hilario Duran Latin Jazz Band, K'Naan and Tinariwen.
Previously announced shows include theatre production "The Blue Dragon," by Robert Lepage; "Delusions" by Laurie Anderson, and "Tundra Songs" by the Kronos Quartet featuring Tanya Tagaq.
Neil Young
Renault Scandal
Formula One
Nelson Piquet Jr. wishes every day he had refused orders to deliberately crash at a race.
The fallout from that incident hit Monday, when Formula One spared his former team severe punishment but indefinitely banned the disgraced official who called for the crash.
Renault received a suspended ban; the team would be permanently disqualified from the sport if it breaks the FIA's rules within the next two years. Flavio Briatore, who quit as team principal last week, was banned indefinitely from F1 activities by the World Motor Sport Council. Engineering executive director Pat Symonds, who also left Renault last week, was banned for five years after expressing his "eternal regret and shame" that he participated in the conspiracy.
Piquet, who received immunity from FIA, was ordered to crash at last year's Singapore Grand Prix to help teammate Fernando Alonso win.
Formula One
Public Gets To Vote
National Book Awards
The National Book Awards would like your vote.
Organizers of the prestigious literary prize are asking the public to choose the best fiction winner in the awards' 60-year history.
The six finalists, announced Monday by the National Book Foundation, are: "The Stories of John Cheever," Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," William Faulkner's "Collected Stories," "The Complete Stories" of Flannery O'Connor, Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity Rainbow" and "The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty."
Starting Monday, through Oct. 21, votes can be cast through the Web site www.nbafictionpoll.org. The winner will be announced Nov. 18.
National Book Awards
Life After Death?
'Pushing Daisies'
For a show about resurrecting dead people with a touch, ABC's "Pushing Daisies" saved a little magic for its own afterlife on Sunday.
Touched by the Emmys, the canceled series came to life to collect four statuettes, including one for Kristin Chenoweth as best supporting actress in a comedy.
The irony wasn't lost on series creator Bryan Fuller.
"It's a tremendous honor to see 'Daisies' win in so many categories -- and in the spirit of the show, win posthumously," he said. "Now can we please make the 'Pushing Daisies' movie?"
Just how big was "Daisies'" feat? With Chenoweth's victory on Sunday night and three other wins at the September 12 Creative Arts Emmys, the show, canceled in November, ranked fourth among all programs. It wound up with one fewer Emmy than reigning comedy champ "30 Rock" and tied with TV's top-rated "American Idol" and the Academy Awards.
'Pushing Daisies'
Was Michael Jackson's
Ferris Wheel
A liquidation sale scattered many of Jackson's rides from his ranch in the oak-studded hills 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Now the Ferris wheel that offered glimpses of Jackson's incredible wealth is quietly touring the Midwest in the hands of a Missouri amusement company that bought it only because it needed another one for its stable of rides.
"We ourselves really didn't advertise it," said Theresa Noerper, co-owner of Archway Amusements Corp. "When he died, it kind of blew up. There's no keeping secrets then."
The ride offers no reference of Jackson to casual passers-by; a metal stamp shows it was made by the Eli Bridge Co. of Jacksonville, Ill. However, metal molding around the seats remains a very specific color, supposedly specified by Jackson when he ordered it from the manufacturer - pinot noir red.
Archway Amusements doesn't go out of its way to publicize the Ferris wheel's ties to Jackson; it leaves it up to local fair organizers to decide whether to make them known. But word of mouth has gotten to some hardcore Jackson fans.
Ferris Wheel
Goes Hi-Def For 70th Anniversary
'The Wizard of Oz'
When "The Wizard of Oz" first hit theaters in August 1939, flying monkeys were the least of America's worries.
The Depression, already almost a decade long, continued to grind away, and Germany stood on the verge of invading Poland, igniting a global conflagration that would envelop the United States just two years later.
Moviegoers needed escape. And along came Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale, a Kansas farm girl whose ruby slippers stepped out of the dreary present and into a Technicolor future, a magical Oz populated by talking scarecrows, Munchkins, bubble-riding witches and a con man of a wizard who showed that all we ever needed was within ourselves.
Seventy years after its first screening, "The Wizard of Oz" is headed back to theaters nationwide Sept. 23 for one night as Warner Bros. unveils a technologically updated and improved version ahead of its release on Blu-ray Hi-Def.
'The Wizard of Oz'
In Memory
Art Ferrante
Pianist Art Ferrante, who teamed with Lou Teicher to record a series of 1960s easy-listening hits based on movie theme songs, has died at his South Florida home. He was 88.
Along with Teicher, Ferrante recorded versions of themes from movies including "Exodus," "The Apartment," "Lawrence of Arabia," and "Cleopatra." They also recorded "Tonight," from "West Side Story" and the theme from "Midnight Cowboy.""
Ferrante and Teicher, known as "The Movie Theme Team," performed together for 40 years after meeting as children at the Juilliard School in New York.
They recorded more than 150 albums and dozens of singles, selling more than 88 million records worldwide and earning 22 gold and platinum records. They also made more than 200 television appearances, some with personalities including Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark and Johnny Carson. They were White House guests of Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Ferrante is survived by his wife, daughter and twin granddaughters.
Art Ferrante
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