The McCain Healthcare Plan ... Sucks!
Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 An Op-Ed in today's New York Times describes something that no one seems to be paying attention to... McCain's awful heathcare plan. See if you can pull yourself away from 'lipstick on a pig' talk for just a second to check it out...
McCain's Radical Agenda By Bob Herbert
For starters, the McCain health plan would treat employer-paid health benefits as income that employees would have to pay taxes on.
"It means your employer is going to have to make an estimate on how much the employer is paying for health insurance on your behalf, and you are going to have to pay taxes on that money," said Sherry Glied, an economist who chairs the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
Ms. Glied is one of the four scholars who have just completed an independent joint study of the plan. Their findings are being published on the Web site of the policy journal, Health Affairs.
According to the study: "The McCain plan will force millions of Americans into the weakest segment of the private insurance system - the nongroup market - where cost-sharing is high, covered services are limited and people will lose access to benefits they have now."
The net effect of the plan, the study said, "almost certainly will be to increase family costs for medical care."
Under the McCain plan (now the McCain-Palin plan) employees who continue to receive employer-paid health benefits would look at their pay stubs each week or each month and find that additional money had been withheld to cover the taxes on the value of their benefits.
While there might be less money in the paycheck, that would not be anything to worry about, according to Senator McCain. That's because the government would be offering all taxpayers a refundable tax credit - $2,500 for a single worker and $5,000 per family - to be used "to help pay for your health care."
"Boner-Shrinker"
Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2008
Last night, Saturday Night Live premiered for the millionth time. As expected, Tina Fey returned to portray her Alaskan hick doppelganger, Sarah Palin. Below is the opening (and high point) of the show, was actually pretty funny. Yes, also as expected, the rest of the 90 minutes was crap.
Project: Mouse Removal
Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008
Okay ... now this is getting ridiculous. At 4:00am I was awoken by a carcass that was being thrown around my room. Said carcass? A small mouse. Said thrower? The evil murderess Spring. This is the third mouse in ten days.
After a long night of tossing a carcass around my bedroom, why not take a nap? Oh, I have an idea ... why not use the dead mouse as a pillow?!
Okay. Now it's time for the big guns. I took a trip to Home Depot and Stop-n-Shop today and bought a variety of no-kill mouse traps. Behold my arsenal:
Yes. This is how a vegetarian rids his house of mice. But really, all I ask is for the luxury of sleeping through a night without having to remove a dead animal from my room. Is that really too much to ask for? Wish me luck...
Terrorism At Home
Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008
Another mouse! Where am I living? When I lived at a house that looked like it could tumble down at any second, I never had mice. I move into this nice place, and this is mouse #2. Oi.
Spring decided to terrorize this one for a bit. As a vegetarian, earth-loving hippie, i was unable to let her continue running around the house with a squeaking mouse in her mouth all evening ... so I rescued this one. Shortly after this photo was taken, Spring's fun was abruptly halted, and I let the mouse go outside. I told it to tell its friends what atrocities it had seen in my house. "Don't come back!" I yelled, as it scurried off into the darkness. As my words echoed into the night, I realized that mice probably don't understand English. And now my neighbors probably think I'm crazy. Oh well...
"I get stuck in my own traffic"
Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008
At least this one seems a little more amusing. Though, I wouldn't really call it 'funny.' In this one, Gates and Seinfeld continue to "connect with real people" ... I guess?
Big Top points?
Posted on Sunday, September 07, 2008
The first Bill Gates & Jerry Seinfeld ad doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's not particularly funny, and doesn't really push Microsoft at all. The viewer is left asking, 'Jerry Seinfeld made $10 million, for this??'
Besides the slick and probably expensive editing designed to make Jerry Seinfeld look like the more awkward of the pair, there's not a whole lot of special effects in this clip. In fact, there's not really a whole lot of anything, including laughs, information or pimping of Vista. It's kinda like Seinfeld's really long, really rambling Superman ad for Amex he did a few years back. We hope the rest of the campaign is better.
They did get Bill Gates to use his mug shot somewhere in the spot (not spoiling it by saying where), but other than that we're underwhelmed. Here's what we took away from it: Bill Gates's jiggling ass is moist and tasty. Don't ask us now, watch the clip and you'll see.
Just in case you're living under a rock...
Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Caught on tape From MoveOn.org
It's funny what Republican pundits say when they think nobody's watching. Today, John McCain's former campaign chief Mike Murphy and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan were caught on tape after an NBC interview. They shared their real thoughts on McCain's judgment in selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Noonan asked, "The most qualified? No." She called the selection of Palin "political bullshit." Murphy called McCain's selection gimmicky and cynical. The video and transcript are below. This is a breaking story today—it's on many top blogs and is climbing the YouTube charts.
The transcript's below.
-Marika & the MoveOn Facebook team
TRANSCRIPT:
Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want to (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it's not gonna work.
Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: It's over.
Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.
NBC's Chuck Todd: Don't you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible)
Noonan: I saw Kay this morning.
Murphy: They're all bummed out.
Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?
Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture.
Murphy: I totally agree.
Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it.
Murphy: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical.
Proud Killer.
Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008
I was awoken at 5:30 this morning to the sounds of happy playing. I assumed that Spring had gotten her paws on an Obama bracelet again ... so I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. But after minutes of bouncing, loud purring, and darting around in the dark, I decided to investigate. Leaning my head over the edge of the bed, I peered into the darkness of my room. On the floor I could make out a small dark mass, which I assumed was one of her many toys that had suddenly became incredibly fun to play with at 5:30 in the morning. As I reached for it, I suddenly had a second thought. I grabbed a flashlight from the side table ... and well, you can see what I found.
A few minutes later (after some petting, a quick photo shoot, some crunchy Friskies treats and a lot of Lysol) this poor creature found its way to an outdoor garbage bag. As I paused on the sidewalk and squinted at the new sun rising over Flemington, I came to the realization that the my darling little girl is actually a cold-hearted murderess. I guess it's a good thing that she's on my side ... at least most of the time.
Rest In Peace, Don LaFontaine
Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Voice-over king LaFontaine dead at 68
Don LaFontaine, who voiced more than 5,000 movie trailers during a career that saw him dubbed "The King of Voiceovers," has died in Los Angeles, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 68.
LaFontaine died in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre on Monday from complications caused by an ongoing lung-related illness after being admitted to the facility in late August.
The voice actor was best known for his catchphrase used on several trailers that began with the words "In a world where..."
Among movies that LaFontaine provided the voice for were "The Elephant Man," "Batman Returns," "The Terminator" and "Dr Strangelove."
As well as his trailer work, LaFontaine is believed to have voiced hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including advertisements for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonald's and Coke.
LaFontaine is survived by his wife and three children.
You Can Help.
Posted on Monday, September 01, 2008 Today, the thoughts of the world are with those in the path of Hurricane Gustav. Although it seems that the damage of Gustav's angry hand will not be as great as the tragedy three years ago, there will still be damage. In this time of tragedy, it is important that you support organizations like the American Red Cross. If you can't afford to donate money, at least you can spread the word to those who can. Tell your friends, family, coworkers ... and make a difference.
Adam & Kevin's 2008 Road Trip
Posted on Monday, September 01, 2008 August 24-30th, 2008
Over seven days, my brother and I hit the entire northeast; traveling through New Jersey, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. We climbed Mt. Washington, explored the White Mountains, ate breakfast in Vermont, checked out Mt. Desert Island and Bar Harbor, spent a few minutes in the shopping mecca that is Freeport, Maine, and then moved southward to Plymouth, Massachusetts and Mystic, Connecticut, toured the Nautilus Submarine, stopped by Foxwoods Casino, and then trekked back to NJ. We had a great time, and some fantastic weather ... I hope you enjoy the photos!
