Good Morning, again, everyone. I don't know if the public option health care scheme is dead but I am fairly sure that the so-called co-ops won't make an iota of difference for most of us. I read one item yesterday which indicated that the start up cost would be about twice the projected cost of the public option. Here is an article in the Washington Post this morning that gives some of the particulars of the problem. One big one is simply a matter of scale. As a saying that I have seen often of late 'quantity has a quality all its own.' These co-ops simply won't have the size to make an impact on a market dominated by giants. Another niggling concern, given how many of the protesters at the town hall meetings screamed their fear of losing beloved doctors, is that the co-ops will, very likely, work more like HMOs in that they will contract with specific doctors, clinics and hospitals for services. Will consumers be able to keep doctors who refuse to go along with the co-op? By the way, yesterday's stock market seemed to give an indication of how much the health insurance industry liked the turn of political events. On a day when the market as a whole was very down, at mid-day (when I checked) the ONLY advancing stocks were in that industry. Business as usual--profits above the public good. And, if one of the primary aims of reform is, as has been stated repeatedly, to hold down sky-rocketing costs, history indicates that co-ops won't do the job. Again, take a look at the article for specifics.

Dean Baker at TPMCafe makes the same point. And notes the hypocrisy of the so-called fiscal conservatives willing to throw tons of money into a program that cannot work just to insure the profits of companies that make their money by gouging the electorate.

I will further note that this whole debate has been marked by an incredible level of right-wing hypocrisy. On the one hand they don't want a (government) bureaucrat to deny them medical care but they are fine with the notion of a (private industry) bureaucrat denying medical care. As far as I am concerned a bureaucrat is a bureaucrat is a bureaucrat (with thanks to Gertrude Stein).

Joe Sudbay at Americablog has a link to a story that indicates that the debate may not be as over as the mainstream media has portrayed. I saw a bare mention on the nightly news last night of this. I think the progressives who are insisting that there will be no health care bill stick to their guns. I am also half-way afraid that this will play right into the hands of the right-wing idiots 'scorched earth' notions. They will be very happy if nothing at all gets passed since that preserves the status quo and the industry's profits. I just don't know when the something we get is indistinguishable from nothing. And I can always hope that the blue dogs and Democrats-in-name-only get a dose of a different reality from constituents ticked off by their stonewalling.

Danielle at FrumpGazette has a number of choice comments to make especially on the character (or, more accurately, lack of character) of the minions of the right. It is amazing what some 'judicious' editing can do. She makes some other points as well. Enjoy!!

Morning, All. I would say 'good morning' but, frankly, it isn't. Unless something is going on behind the scenes that we don't know about (and I sincerely hope there is) the drug companies and medical insurance industry has won the health care non-debate. As I listen to the 'compromise' proposals I wonder, yet again, when will we realize that, sometimes, something is really nothing. Over and over, as the stories of workers who accepted drastic wage and hour cuts along with cancellation of their benefits packages, I asked that question when the sound bites featured workers sadly commenting that at least they still had jobs. I am asking it again as the health care package appears to be shrinking. No public option plan any more. Instead we will have non-profit co-ops that can, theoretically, bargain on the price of health care. So, instead of dealing with for-profit insurance companies we will have not-for-profit entities whose only advantage is that they will only have to meet their operating costs. I said they can, theoretically, bargain on the price of health care but that is rather like saying that an individual worker can, theoretically, bargain with a steel company or a mining company. This is a case where size matters. Unless they get big enough, they won't have any bargaining. And are they going to be required to accept all members who want to join? Sick and healthy with or without pre-existing conditions? If so, then the insurance industry can do what it is doing now--cherry pick. Keep the healthy, prune the ones who get sick and refuse to cover the ones with health problems. They reap the profits and we get shafted. AGAIN. Will we get any legislation that will prevent that if we have an 'option' that provides for the co-ops? The more this goes on the more I am convinced that we no longer have a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." We have a government that gives the illusion that people have choice and power while the corporations run things for their own benefit. By the way, for an idea of how cost effective these proposed non-profit co-ops might be run, take a look at the large majority of non-profits operations. Do we really want 70+% of the funds going to overhead, including executive salaries?

Any one else out there depressed and pissed?

Good Morning, everyone. It has been hot and humid here for the last three days. Only the second week all summer containing any days over 90 degrees. We have had to put the air on more because of the humidity than the heat.

I found this little item posted by John Aravosis on Americablog this morning. Wonderfully ironic and so right on.

Good Morning, again. I started this Monday and didn't get back to it. We do our shopping on Monday and, sometimes, I just don't finish off what I started before hand. Luckily nothing I do has to be done immediately. So now it is Thursday. I have spent a good part of that time trying to rescue my broccoli and brussels sprouts from cabbage worms. Damned little things just suddenly appeared and did considerable damage before I realized they were there. With the heat, which has now moderated a bit, I only went out early in the morning to water and inspect the gardens. Everything was fine Monday morning. Tuesday several of the plants were half eaten. The culprits are now decomposing in my compost bin. I am reluctant to spray. I don't want anything that will hurt the bees, which are finally showing up. I may get some acorn squash yet this year.

I found an interesting little blog by Michael Freedman this morning at Newsweek by way of MSNBC. It reflects a few ideas that have been rattling around my brain for a good many years. We like to boast "We're Number One!!" But we have to be very careful of that boast. In what way are we number one? Obviously not when it comes to life expectancy (we are well behind other industrialized countries). Nor when it comes to infant and maternal health (here we are even behind some supposedly underdeveloped countries). Nor when it comes to industrial production (we won't even go here). And then we have the right wing talking idiots telling us to be afraid that Obama is going to turn us into Europe??? As the kids say 'WTF???'.

In line with the above is the post from Margaret And Helen (written by Helen this time). File it under either the 'be careful what you wish for' or the 'my god what do these people think with' categories. How many have not seen that clip on the coverage of the 'town hall meetings that degenerated into screaming mobs' of the man yelling that elected officials should keep their 'government hands off' his medicare? I don't wish for an America where women visited the beauty parlor weekly. They never could do anything with my hair. I do wish for an America where people could read what they criticize. From what I hear of the health care non-debate, most of them can't. They rely on Palin, Limbaugh, Hannity and Co. to do both their reading and their non-thinking.

Good Morning, All. The warmer weather has been nice. It still feels a bit out of sync though. These temps should have been here a month ago. And geese have come back on their way south. I expect to see (and hear) them later this month. Nothing seems to be coming in its expected time. The garden is doing well and seems to be reveling in the warmth. I do have to watch the water though. Things are drying out so quickly even though all my containers and pots outside are plastic. The nice thing about doing containers is that, at least for me, there isn't as much work once it is all set up. I have caught the weeds before they became a problem. I only found three caterpillars all of which were quickly dispatched to my compost tub. Yesterday I spent more time than usual because I had a new crop of lettuce to transplant from the egg carton starter cups to the garden and I transplanted the lavender out of a large container into its own smaller pot. I hope I can salvage it but the petunias and portulaca just about drove it out. I didn't expect them to spread so.

Tuesday Mom fixed zucchini boats from the one mature zucchini. It was very tasty. The globe shape lends itself to the boats very nicely. We have also used a small Mexibell pepper which had a bit more kick than we expected and a couple of the False Alarm peppers (taken green) which were as advertised--mild with only a hint of heat. I think I will try to save some seeds from the Mexibell a see if they will grow next year.

I found this little item on MSNBC as I scanned the headlines on my way to e-mail. I am, as I so often find myself, of divided mind about this. My first thought was of Bernie Madoff who, I admit frankly, I would not mind seeing in a bread line or public shelter. I would not mind one bit if a large number of the other white collar criminals who have plagued us of recent years joined him. But then I also thought of the majority of criminal cases that have made the new and realized that most of the inmates don't have the resources to pay such fees. I also don't believe that prison inmates should be served substandard or spoiled food, or charged for toilet paper. As one of the people interviewed noted, it doesn't make much sense to release a convict with a bus ticket and a debt of $40k or more. It is hard enough for most convicts to make an honest living when released without that kind of millstone around their necks. And I wonder how much is window dressing--sanctimonious idiots trying to appear tough on crime without doing anything truly constructive about the problem. But the thought that comes most uncomfortably to mind is 'DEBT SLAVERY.'

Time for breakfast, a turn among the garden containers, and some piecing. Bye for now.

Good Morning, Everyone. So far so good on the weather front. We are getting warmer temps. I really hope the garden responds. Yesterday I harvested the first (and only, to date) zucchini, the first of the pole beans and peppers, and another two tomatoes. The first of the acorn squash did not set. But I have hope. I see several developing female flowers and the bees have recently become more active and plentiful.

Speaking of hope--I had several other thoughts about that story I linked to yesterday and all of those thoughts center on hope. More specifically hopes raised and hopes dashed (or cheated, or misplaced or (chose your modifier). Or perhaps I should say 'expectations' that simply don't pan out for whatever reason. Many years ago, I worked as a teaching assistant at one of the institutions of higher learning I have been associated with over the course of my adult life. I taught discussion sections for the Western Civ classes. It is one of those courses that students should take as either a freshman or a sophomore but I often had juniors and seniors who had put off taking it hoping they could somehow persuade the powers that be to let them skate since it wasn't in any way related to their major. That never happened. Hope number 1 failed. Usually those students came into the course with one of two attitudes: 'D for diploma' or they could skate through and get an A or B because history couldn't possibly be as hard as their major courses were. The first ones usually got exactly what they wanted. The other group however often found out that history could be a very hard indeed at the post-secondary level. These students often had their hopes dashed. I tutored one Chemistry Major who had come in with that expectation and who had the sense to ask for help. Most didn't. Chemistry Major remarked that he never thought history could be as hard a chemistry. I did manage to help him get a C in the course (after he had failed the first of three major tests.)

We absorb our expectations from various sources: parents and other family members, friends, advertising. Take a look at any of the ads for the various schools that have sprung up on the airwaves like toadstools after a rain. They make promises--explicit promises. Go through their courses and you will succeed. You will get a good job and be able to afford a comfortable (even luxuriant) life style. Graduate from their program and they will provide all of the career support and advice you need to get that good job. It is a bunch of hooey, of course. Like all other advertising. But desperation can make fools of any of us and these ad campaigns are designed to catch the desperate (or the inexperienced, or both).

Sometimes we base our expectations on predictions, often from (usually) reliable sources, that simply don't materialize. Twice I went into programs expecting to find stable work at the end and both times those expectations were thwarted by circumstances no one expected. I was old enough and experienced enough that I hadn't taken the 'promises' very seriously. But those were very serious blows to the old ego. I knew I was smart. I knew I had succeeded very well in the programs. But in the end, I failed at the final goal. In both cases these were (supposedly) expanding fields with plenty of opportunity. The opportunities vanished. In one case there were signs of the impending implosion but I was trapped in a box and couldn't see my way out. In the other case it happened overnight without warning.

Along the way, I learned several lessons. 1) Smart, hardworking, and accomplished people can still fail. 2) That failure isn't necessarily anyone's fault. 3) Luck plays a bigger part in success than we like to realize. These aren't comfortable thoughts for most of us. We like to think that this is a meritocracy. Sometimes it is but often it isn't. We like to think that hard work is always rewarded. Sometimes it is but often it isn't. We like to think that failure is always someone's fault. Some of us blame ourselves; some of us find others to blame. We don't like to think that sometimes 'shit happens' and no one is really to blame. Oh, I almost forgot lesson #4: don't believe the promises.

Good Morning, again, on a cool, overcast Monday. We are supposed to have a roller-coaster set of temperatures this week, at least some of which will be at or above normal. We hope. What a year!!

On my way into my e-mail I found this item on MSNBC. I am somewhat amused by the notion of suing the college when the job you trained for fails to materialize. But beneath the amusement, I also feel a growing sense that maybe we should rethink the whole notion of higher education. Many years ago I read a small book (I may still have it!!) titled "The Case Against College" (or something like that, as I said it has been many years since I even looked at the book). At the time I still bought into the myth that education was the Royal Road to advancement. Why don't I believe that anymore? 1) a nephew who has certifications in his field that only, maybe, 300 people in the WORLD have and, during a period of unemployment earlier this year, thought about getting a (worthless, to him) bachelor's degree so his resume would not be automatically rejected because that little block wasn't checked off. 2) A relative by marriage who had to go back to school to get certified in a job she was already doing very well in order to keep that job. 3) Various people I met along the way who went from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree to what ever other degree hoping to get a stable job in the field the loved. Most didn't. Too often the degree is simply a way for lazy employers to weed out the field. The degree does not provide information, knowledge, or skills that are truly required for the holder to do the job. Most of it is a waste of money. And yet what to we hear from the Obama Administration, or the various colleges wanting to recruit students (most of whom will pay for their 'education' with loans)? Exactly the same old song. The road to a satisfying and high paying career leads through some college or other to some degree or other. No one asks why we really need those degrees to do those jobs--let alone those service jobs that our economy generates in such large numbers. Most of us will end up working in jobs (not careers!!) for which a high school graduate would be over qualified. Which is the other educational trap for those of us in the higher age groups.

Good Morning, All. We have a nice sunny Sunday on tap today. Temps are supposed to reach low-to-mid 80s for the whole week. The numbers are in and, according to the weather people, July was one of the coolest on record. For the first time since records have been kept, the temperature did NOT exceed 86 degrees ALL month. July 2007 was the 7th coolest on record. Numbers 1 through 7, you ask? All in the 1880s. If memory serves, and it does because I just looked it up, that just after Krakatoa blew its top causing some cooler than normal years.

Another entry in the 'Why We Need Universal, Public Option Health Care NOW' file: My younger sister got a motor bike for her birthday. She rode the bike for the first time when her partner took her to dinner last week. She got distracted for a moment and crashed the bike. She broke her ankle in something like 6 places, in addition to other variously less serious injuries. The EMTs took her to the hospital where, after she told them she didn't have insurance, they told her, according to both versions I heard, either "I hope you have a lot of money because this is going to be expensive" or "How much money do you have? This is going to cost a lot." Either one, given they had a patient in considerable pain and bleeding all over the emergency room, is pretty damned callous. They seemed to be much more concerned about doing a 'wallet-ectomy' than treating her broken ankle. By the way, Younger Sister doesn't have insurance because she works for a small social service agency that can't afford to provide health insurance if it wants to stay in business and she can't afford the premiums herself even if insurance were available for her, which it isn't because she has 'pre-existing' conditions.

A recurring theme in Chicago news for the last few years has been the struggle Wal-Mart has waged to get a foot hold in Chicago. Zoning ordinances in Chicago proper have to day kept it in the suburbs. So has the objections of Aldermen to Wal-Mart's labor practices. The argument is heating up again with some Aldermen who represent minority districts faced with high unemployment pushing to allow Wal-Mart in to redevelop blighted areas and provide jobs. Perhaps they should read this item I found on MSNBC this morning. I imagine it won't change any minds. The Aldermen who have provided sound bits either want jobs now and hang the future, or they want jobs here and hang anywhere else, or both. The article makes it rather clear that jobs at Wal-mart mean a net loss of jobs both in neighboring areas and over time.