Good Morning, Everyone. I have had a nice quiet weekend. Haven't done much but play on my computer and read. Or complaining about the lack of TV programing. Or complaining about the lack of news carried by our mainstream news shows.

That last complaint is echoed by the author of this first blog--a guest on Tomdispatch, Chip Ward. I have also followed what news I can gather on such topics as 'drought,' 'dust storms,' 'food shortages,' and others by way of Google alerts gathering both blogs and news stories. I started following these topics last year during Australia's heatwave and drought. And during the drought that almost dried up Atlanta's reservoir which still has the governments of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida tied up in court fighting for the water. But isn't it wonderful how we get every scrap of 'information' about Kanye West's bad manners at that music awards show, or Serena Williams melt down at that tennis tournament, or the scheduled interview with O.J.'s former girlfriend. And, yes--I am being very sarcastic.

For another take on water problems take a look at this article I found by way of the Oil Drum.

Good Morning, All. It is a good morning but not because of anything on the political scene. I did watch the Presidents address last night and the Republican non-response. I say 'non-response' because I didn't hear anything specific in it--just more of the same from the party that talks about bipartisanship but doesn't walk the walk. They yell about wanting to be heard but what they really want is to dictate the policy as if they won last year's election. They didn't but can't get over the fact.

On the whole, I thought the speech was good. There are aspects I am not enthusiastic about--like imposing fines for not having insurance is someone else thinks you should be able to afford it. I don't really see how an 'exchange' system would work to increase the bargaining power of individuals. But I will withhold judgment until the details come out. If they ever do, given the continued obstructive attitude of the minority party.

I said yesterday that fear seems to be a driving force in this country--and has been since 9/11. This story on MSNBC backs up that perception. Why do some of us think that spying on everyone 24/7 will make us more secure? And more secure from whom?? I remember a number of news stories over the last couple of years about shootings in Chicago near blue light cameras where the cameras were totally useless--because the cameras had been disabled. I am also very leery of shifting the costs for public safety onto private civilian groups. There is an old saying that 'he who pays the piper calls the tune.' Public safety should be a public matter decided and paid for by the public. This is a cheapskate tactic and cheapskate tactics rarely work out as intended.

In a health related note--a segment of the local nightly news noted that Americans could improve their health by cutting down on the salt in their diets. This is in line with the other prescriptions that have appeared with increasing frequency over the last few years. Cut down on sugars, fats, salt, calories, etc. This is one of the few stories that noted a major difficulty consumers face in trying to follow that advice. Most of the salt and sugar and fat in our diets are not there because WE put them there. Manufacturers have put them into the processed foods and mixes we buy. Has anyone taken a look at the amount of salt in nice healthy canned vegetables? We did. And didn't like what we saw.

And Helen at Margaret and Helen has a few very choice, no-nonsense words on the health care debate and about Republicans acting badly--of which we have had a large number recently.

M.J. Rosenberg at TPMCafe puts in print some of my thoughts listening to President Obama's speech last night. As the President mentioned the passage of Social Security over opposition complaints of 'socialism' I remembered that it was a Democratic President, FDR, who faced Republican opposition to get the job done. And when he mentioned Medicare, I remembered that it was a Democratic President, LBJ, who confronted the Republican opposition led by Barry Goldwater to get that job done. But then, I have two degrees and am fairly well read in history. Glossing over who did what to whom and for whom doesn't really help in this situation. I think our Democratic President should not only call out the opposition for its lies and misrepresentations (lesser falsehoods) but should be reminding people of the specifics of this historical process.

Hi, Everyone. I will not say 'good morning' because this little item on MSNBC was the first thing I read today. As you can guess, it raised my blood pressure mightily. I am not terribly surprised at who is the author of this obscenity--that good ole blue dog boy, Max Baucus. I will make a couple of points and then move on. First, comparing health insurance to auto insurance (which the article rightly pointed out is mandatory in all states) is a farce of the first magnitude. You can CHOOSE not to own a car. You can't choose not to live unless, of course, they are trying to encourage suicide and I have no intention of obliging them. Second, the proposed fines are a joke on two counts. They are so low, compared to the current cost of premiums, that even the well-heeled would make out financially by simply paying the fine. And, third, what do they plan to do to those who refuse to pay (or cannot afford) the fines? Are they going to revoke your life as they can you driver's license? Third, I see this as an absolute gift to the insurance companies. Do I, at age 60, really represent a quintupled risk over a 20 year old? Fourth, this plan does nothing to encourage the insurance companies to cut costs which, if I read all of the propaganda right, is a major goal in this reform process. Even the so-called triggers I have read about are so absurdly set that even the most insignificant cost saving achieved by the most absurd calculations will prevent any public option from taking effect. If this goes through we will be giving the health insurance industry an early Christmas present.

And for the next little farce--next year Utah seniors who draw social security and work may find that they will lose any rights to unemployment benefits if they are laid off through no fault of their own. Evidently a donnybrook is brewing over whether to extend the current break which allows them to draw at least 50% of the normal unemployment payments. Utah is one of four states, according to AARP, that still has this provision. But, if the law is allowed to lapse, that will go from 50% to 0%. Read all about it here.

Ronni Bennett has a link to Bill Moyers Journal in which he makes some very good points. She does too and has followed the health care issue (and others affecting older Americans) for some years now.

As a child of the mid-to-late 20th century film often speaks my mind well. In the Return of the King, the orc general standing with his army before Minas Tirith sniffs the air and says 'Fear--the city is rank with it.' The same thing can be said of our country. I have watched the coverage of the so-called town hall meetings turned hate-filled donnybrooks and the 'tea-bag express' with total disbelief. How did so many people's thinking apparatuses get turned off?? The local news on Sunday night showed the stop the 'tea-bag express' made in a southern Chicago suburb before heading off to Washington for their big rally. They featured two well off women (one past my age) spouting off about how they are losing their 'freedoms' because of the Obama Administration. Mom and I looked at each other and said "What freedoms???" The reporter thought to ask that very question. I wish they had shown the results but the reporter merely noted that one woman could not even cite a freedom she had lost. The other said she lost the 'freedom to call this a Christian country.' As the youngsters say--WTF???

Each side of the debate on health care is driven by fear. Fear of the economic costs of health coverage lost or soon to be lost. You can smell the fear. It is pervasive.

There is something else as well--a search for scapegoats, a search for blame. That came through in one reporter's coverage of a town hall meeting where a wheelchair bound woman expressed her fear that her insurance coverage would be cancelled leaving her with a bill for $600+ every two weeks for 2 drugs that make her medical condition manageable and the fear that those costs will cost her her home. Somebody from the back shouted that it was 'her fault.' Her fault?? I was reminded of something else; not a movie this time but a biography. During Stalin's purges of the 1930's the writers, artists and others who saw their friends and colleagues disappear into the Gulag tried desperately to figure out why those particular people were taken. If one could just figure out what those people did one could escape their fate by simply not doing that same thing. The poet Anna Akhmatova told her friends that they had to realize that they were on a fools errand because they could be imprisoned for nothing, nothing at all. It was entirely out of their hands. Those of us who are still well off, still have our jobs and homes, still have health insurance seem to be on a similar quest. If they can find the sin others have committed they can simply not commit that sin and thereby escape the consequences. Unfortunately for them, all too often there was no sin. And they may find themselves on the receiving end of the came cosmic joke. They are just a job away or an illness away from disaster. And they have already shredded their own safety net.

Now that I have caught up on my ranting, I will go have breakfast. See y'all.

Good Morning, again, everyone. We expect sun and temps in the mid 80s today. It has been a very pleasant week. Just warm enough during the day to be comfortable and nights just cool enough to make for good sleeping. We spent the day out yesterday: an appointment followed by a visit to my sister followed by a hamburger and shake on the way home. We haven't gone out to eat very much this summer. That has been a trend for the last three or four years. We have watched the price go up and the enjoyment go down so we just haven't gone out as much. This year has been so cool that any kind of ice cream hasn't provided any real temptation.

I found a refreshing link this morning on Frump Gazette. The reporter says most of what I have been thinking (and saying) for a long time and many other bloggers as well. We have reached a point in our political life where facts don't seem to matter, where reasoned arguments don't matter, and where common sense doesn't matter. All that matters is how high they can ramp the volume and rudeness so that the other side and any centrist voices can't be heard over the cacophony.

Archcrone at the Crone Speaks makes similar points on this new 'debate' concerning Obama's planned speech to school children on the value of education and staying in school. I remember thinking that the critics had to stretch their arguments to the breaking point to find fault with the comments. But, if the samples Archcrone features are any indication, they have no real arguments. All they have is character assassination, prejudice, and bile.

Erica Barnett at shakesville has this take on the 'good news' lately trumpeted in the mainstream press: women have lost fewer jobs than men overall. My take: so what??? Women are greatly over represented in low paid jobs, often part time, and for wages that don't even cover marginal living arrangements much less adequate ones. My response to the stories that the workforce is not only more feminine but grayer is the same. And seeing the very select older women who were interviewed did not encourage me. Not many of us are hospital administrators or other such professionals.

Helen at Margaret and Helen make similar points. And in case any one is wondering, I raised my hand in favor of calling bullshit by name. And there is a hell of a lot of it going around.

As I noted at the beginning, we spent the day out yesterday. We hadn't traveled the route we took for about a year and it was interesting to note the changes. The last time, about a year ago, we saw all kinds of signs for 'business condos.' Strip mall builders or owners were trying to sell the spaces just like builders of residential condos did (and, I assume, still do). This year I saw only one similar sign telling potential buyers that there are only three spaces left. The implication is, of course, that they are going fast and you had better cash in. They probably hope that not many would wonder, as I did, why there are three left after a year on the market. We saw a lot of empty retail space and I DO mean a lot. Several of the strip malls (new and old) were almost empty. We saw empty store fronts in malls that had never been empty before. Only one of the car dealerships was closed. It had been stripped of even the sign. We don't remember what was there. I always take the economic and financial news with a large grain of salt. Too often it seems the mainstream news is at a wide variance with my experience. What we saw on the drive does not reveal an economy on the verge of recovery or likely to see a swift recovery.

Good Morning, All. Just as I was thinking I hand nothing to share with y'all this morning I came across this. Steve Clemons posted this on TPMCafe. It is interesting if for not other reason than to illustrate the lengths to which some Republicans will go to interfere with the Obama Administration. If this is all true, I have to wonder how many other appointments are being similarly held up. It seems to me that Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy's spirit is alive and well. Can't we have an exorcism, Please!!!

A small bit of the news last night announced that Obama will address a joint session of Congress to try to regain control over the health care reform debate. And he will provide some details of his plan. I hope he does. I also hope that it signals a recognition that the Republicans don't really want bipartisanship on any matter. That has been evident to most of us from the beginning. They talk a good game and then totally fail to deliver. Their definition of bipartisan ship is 'my way or the highway.' It is time to boot them in their collective asses (and the blue dog Democrats with them) and tell them to grow up.

Ronni Bennett at Time Goes By has a good post this morning on the health care issue. She links to a new web site set up by NCPSSM which provides a lot of good information about Social Security and Medicare. Two points she makes should be emphasized to the maximum. If health care reform fails the next option to bring health care costs under control will be cuts in funds. All of those dear protesters who have been shouting that their representatives should 'keep government hands of my Medicare' should note this well. And those who are most strenuously resisting reform and who would lead the charge to cut or even dismantle Medicare are the intellectual children of the 'economic royalists' who tried to kill Social Security and those who opposed Medicare from the beginning. (For those who don't know--economic royalist is the term FDR used to describe those who opposed his economic programs. Make no mistake--they are still with us. Maybe another exorcism??)

Good Morning, Everyone. It is beautifully sunny even if a bit cool. I got my gardening section of the shed cleaned out yesterday. I have come to the conclusion that I really don't need any more of the plastic cottage cheese containers or styrofoam egg cartons. I regret that because I really hate throwing those things away. We don't have any easy recycling and on our budget can't afford what the city would charge use for the service. We stopped getting our margarine and cream cheese in the plastic tubs and thereby eliminated about a third of the plastic coming in. But we don't have any alternatives for sour cream and cottage cheese. Oh, well. When we think of other uses for those containers we will keep them again. Next project--organizing the candle wax and candle making supplies.

I found a new Tomdispatch in my e-mail this morning. Tom Englehardt always has interesting comments and interesting guest bloggers. Today David Swanson writes on a theme that has recently started to permeate both news and commentary--the more things change the more they stay the same. Swanson deals with the foreign policy carry-overs from the Bush Administration. I have read several bloggers who deal with economics say the same. I am not surprised. When the news readers, a week ago or so, made a big deal about the slippage in Obama's poll numbers, I wondered where the slippage had occurred. I think it is among those who expected a lot of change quickly. The right-wing critics are not the problem. They never supported him anyway. The problem is among the people who expected immediate action on gay marriage, immigration reform, race relations, etc. I, on the other hand, never expected a sharp break from the past. I did not see any sharp break with very centrist notions and myths and I saw far too many people who have been deeply in the political and economic power structures under both Democrats and Republicans for the last forty years. That is a recipe for tweaking not for significant change.

In a related notion, I noticed last night that the news cited a growing disenchantment among Americans for the Afghanistan adventure. Not long ago, it had overwhelming support but now less than half of Americans (according to whatever poll they were using) still support it. I remember when we first went in there. Al Qaida had been fairly well tied to 9/11 and the Taliban supported and protected Al Qaida. That was reasonable justification. But when Bush took us into Iraq, my first reaction was 'WHAT???' and then 'What is he THINKING??? We will lose everything we hope to gain in Afghanistan AND in Iraq as well!!!' I always thought the shifting rationales for going into Iraq were extremely thin. And I think my first reaction has proven right on. But we seem to be locked in to this insane situation and no one has any notion of how to get us out of it.

Well, it is a cool (bordering on cold) morning here. Not a record but still very near it. The weatherman yesterday said that August was the fifth coldest in the last 40 years. Can't make comparisons before that because that was when the Weather Service moved the official weather station away from Lake Michigan. He also remarked that the temperatures are more like those we expect for early to mid-October. Nothing seems to be happening in season this year. When we went on our weekly grocery shopping rounds yesterday I saw trees already starting to turn and some have even lost a lot of their leaves. I am already staging the garden clean ups--which plants will be pulled and when. And we are already thinking about cold weather meals--soups, chili and casseroles. I remember when late August and early September brought some of the hottest weather of the year. Not lately.

I tripped on this little item on MSNBC this morning. We faced something similar a while back when we started paying most of our bills on line. Some of the companies had arrangements with our bank to accept electronic transfers with no charge to us. Others wanted us to set up things so they could automatically transfer payments from our accounts and they wanted to charge us for their convenience. Well we went with the first ones and set up things so that our bank sends paper checks through the mail to the others (which they will do for free because we both have a senior checking account which includes free checks). We resent the notion that we should 1) pay for the convenience these companies want to enjoy and 2) that they should enjoy the freedom to play around in our accounts. Too many things can go wrong and then there is a hell of a mess to clean up. As the old saying goes: to err is human but to really f###k things up you need a computer.

The story also contains the kernel of another issue and it is one that makes me very ambivalent about the moves to reduce mail delivery because of the massive deficit the Postal Service has racked up. There are people who depend on that service. One of the people interviewed in the story did not have internet service at home so he needs to be able to both get his bills via snail mail and to pay his bills that way. It seems that we are creating a new 'disadvantaged' class--those who have neither internet service and limited mail service. And going to a public computer at a library (if your local library is connected) may not be a viable option. Every time we change anything about our on-line service we have to reconfigure our system so that the bank's computers can recognize the computer. If we go in through a different browser or if we go in through a different computer, it doesn't matter. We have to reconfigure the whole thing. It is part of the security system.