For people without healthcare insurance and need it or want it the answer to the question posed is very obvious.  To moral people the answer to that question is most obvious as well.  But what is that answer for Republicans and people who have insurance under non-group rates that do not care about anyone else.  Well for most Americans a recent MIT study answers that question.  The reason healthcare reform should be so important to the vast majority of working and middle class Americans is that it will result in lower premiums.  Keep in mind that the Senate bill is far less generous than the house bill and subsidies kick in later but the following chart shows how the majority of American families will save thousands on healthcare premiums.

Based on the last figures by the Census Bureau the mean family income in the country for a family of four is $67,000/year.  However because of income disparity the median income for a family of four is about $52,000/year (it went down about $600 in 2008 alone) so the bottom line for these families is that healthcare reform will take a huge bite out of economic pressure they are feeling.

The amazing part is that even with these subsidies based on healthcare savings and new taxes on gold plated healthcare policies paid by insurance companies the Senate bill does bend the curve and the CBO estimates it will reduce the deficit in 10 years.  This may sound counter intuitive but when you consider how rising healthcare costs have outpaced almost every other industrial sector it becomes more understandable.  Besides the moral imperative if there is not a more compelling reason to pass healthcare reform now I cannot think of one.

Hick-He-Be

What bitter, yet delicious irony.   Only a week after Hick-He-Be dissed Obama in comparison to Sarah451, on the grounds that only Governors have the executive experience necessary to be president (self-serving, anyone?) a violent felon who had been granted clemency by Hick-He-Be is apparently the murderer of four police officers.

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) — The political future of former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee could be damaged by his role in commuting the sentence of a man who is now suspected of killing four police officers in Washington state.

Huckabee, as governor of Arkansas in 2000, commuted a 95- year prison sentence for Maurice Clemmons. Huckabee cited Clemmons’ youth — he was 17 when he was convicted in 1989 of aggravated robbery — in commuting the sentence, the Associated Press reported. Clemmons was then paroled by the state board.

“If you pardon someone and they do something, it’s bad news,” said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist. “It can come back to haunt you.”

I wonder if Mike Dukakis (who I’ve met, and really would have been a fine president) is shaking his head.   I wonder if the Democrats have anyone vicious enough to use this to destroy Hick-He-Be.

Hick-He-Be has long been my nightmare candidate.   He can fake sincerity better than any of the other thugs.   He projects the whole EveryMan image in spades.   He is very much a contrast to our own Dijon preferring Constitutional Scholar president.   Of all those in the field at this time, it is Hick-He-Be that concerned me most.   He comes across as a nice guy.

But not for long.   Where is the Democratic Lee Atwater?  Hick-He-Be is going down, hard.  And good riddance to his bible thumping, creationist spouting, faux morally superior keister.   I want for him to suffer the absolute maximum political humiliation possible under the circumstances.   A tragedy that four police officers died, but that is a separate discussion.    It happened, and not thanks to anybody I know or respect.   Goodbye, Hick-He-Be!

I see fewer movies than ever in theaters. I’ve come to regard it as showing greater respect for a film to go through the hassle and expense of seeing it at a theater as opposed to seeing it on satellite or DVD.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy seeing films in theaters, I do, I just feel that too often I’m just encouraging McDonald’s to increase the amount of cereal in their “burgers” if I keep buying them at all or at full price.

In the old days, there was a more unified audience for films. Today, audiences are fractured into single-serving demographic packages.

Tyler Perry serves one demographic, Twilight movies serve another demographic, there are the “old guy buddy movies”, the “chick flicks”, Judd Apatow “nerds-get-hot-girls” bro-medies, etc.

Studios are run by corporate execs just as American Pork and Sausage Inc. is. And they both like assembly lines and product that tastes familiar and consistent.

Where are the great films?

There are good films that somehow get made despite the corporate and star obstacle course but great films…not so much anymore.

It shouldn’t be surprising that films that appeal to the lowest common denominator and are the least intellectual and emotionally challenging are the most popular and make the most money.

The biggest moneymaker to date this year?   Transformers 2, the Sarah Palin of movies. Flashy, superficial and wholly empty headed.

In fact, this summer, you had a choice between which movie based on a children’s toy you could choose to see (“Hmm…I did like playing with my Transformers but G.I. Joe’s Kung Fu Grip was cool!).

So, what shall it be this holiday season, movies based on toys, comic books, video games, pop culture books, old tv shows or older and better done movies?

The indie filmmaking community is now the only oasis for truly original and inspired storytelling and they’ve been hammered badly by the economy (scarce equity available now) and the changing film distribution business.

The corporate thinking of better technology being better for business has been smothering the humanity in filmmaking. There are now films, including the top grossing film of the year, which are only made to display animated computer graphics. Storytelling and humans just get in the way of using digital cartoons to cynically separate moviegoers from the money in their wallets.

I do like some movies that are mindless fun however, like desserts, on occasion. A diet of all desserts can make one addicted to and crave only sweet, empty calories.

From my perspective, that’s what most entertainment has been distilled down to in this era of corporate owned media (news for that matter as well), what used to be a sumptuous meal is now just the insubstantial instant gratification and lure of Double Stuff Oreos for the main course at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Internet age has raised the hopes of indie filmmakers that somehow it could result in creating an alternative path to making and distributing their films that doesn’t go through the narrow-minded corporate powers that be.

Until or unless this ever happens in a meaningful way, and like me, you want to support indie filmmaking, see them, rent them, go to film festivals and get the word out to friends if you see a really good one.

Now, as a reminder of the way things were and the way they are, here’s a select list of films from the last golden age of film, the 1970’s, when filmmakers had a lot more freedom to make films they were passionate about making.

Compare this list to this year’s crop of films…and please note how many of the following films were not inspired by Hasbro:

1. The Godfather – (1972)
2. The Godfather part II – (1974)
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – (1975)
4. Apocalypse Now – (1979)
5. Chinatown – (1974)
6. A Clockwork Orange – (1971)
7. Star Wars – (1977)
8. Jaws – (1975)
9. Taxi Driver – (1976)
10. The Deer Hunter – (1978)
11. Annie Hall – (1977)
12. Network – (1976)
13. Rocky – (1976)
14. Patton – (1970)
15. Heaven Can Wait – (1978)
16. M*A*S*H – (1970)
17. The Exorcist – (1973)
18. American Graffiti – (1973)
19. The French Connection – (1971)
20. Mean Streets – (1973)
21. Midnight Express – (1978)
22. Blazing Saddles – (1974)
23. Being There – (1979)
24. Monty Python and the Holy Grail – (1974)
25. Lenny – (1974)
26. Serpico – (1973)
27. The Man Who Would Be King – (1975)
28. Deliverance – (1972)
29. Barry Lyndon – (1975)
30. National Lampoon’s Animal House – (1978)
31. Alien – (1979)
32. The Candidate – (1972)
33. Dog Day Afternoon – (1975)
34. Five Easy Pieces – (1970)
35. The Last Picture Show – (1971)
36. Nashville – (1975)
37. All That Jazz – (1979)
38. Bound for Glory – (1976)
39. Saturday Night Fever – (1977)
40. Manhattan – (1979)
41. All the President’s Men – (1976)
42. Dirty Harry – (1971)
43. Cabaret – (1972)
44. Bananas – (1971)
45. Carrie – (1976)
46. Day for Night – (1973)
47. Amarcord – (1973)
48. Sleeper – (1973)
49. Shampoo – (1975)
50. The Last Detail – (1973)

A friend sent this to my inbox this morning and I thought I would like to share it with you. I think that we all need to laugh a little more, it’s good for us I hear.

It’s hard to read I know but when I tried the larger version, it took the whole page, so here it what it says.

Gonna be a bear.

“In this life I am a woman. In my next life I’d

like to come back as a bear. When you’re a

bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing

but sleep for six months, I could deal with

that.

Before you hibernate, you’re supposed to eat

yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.

When you are a girl bear, you birth your

children (who are the size of walnuts) while

you’re sleeping and wake up to partially grown,

cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with

that.

If you’re a mama bear, everyone knows you

mean business. You swat anyone who

bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of

line, you swat them too. I could deal with

that.

If you’re a bear, your mate EXPECTS  you to

wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you

will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup, gonna be a bear!”

Seeing as winter is coming on (even in Los Angeles, it’s all relative) I have a hankering for my favorite soups.

Cipollata is high on my list.   It is an Italian answer to French Onion Soup.

From “Easy Italian Cookery”, Grange Books, 1986.

3tbs olive oil

1/4lbs to 1/2 lbs pancetta

1 to 1 1/2 liter chicken stock.   Make it good.

14oz canned good quality Italian tomatoes, with juice

1 small chilli or chilli flakes.

black pepper

Basil

Goo Parmesan Cheese

Slices French bread, toasted.

Cloves of skinned garlic

Heat oil in large sauce pan or Dutch onion, fry sliced Pancetta for a few minutes, do not brown.

Slice onions into long thin slices, add to oil, turn to coat the oil, lower heat, and cook slowly for one hour until the onions are almost melted.   Mind that they do not burn.

Add chicken stock, tomatoes with juice, chilli (finely chopped, no seeds!), salt and pepper.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

To serve, add basil and Parmesan cheese, slice bread, toast, scrape with garlic.   Place one or two pieces of bread in a bowl, pour soup over, enjoy.

What does the cool weather make you crave?

It is that time of year.  Desserts and treats are desirous and acceptable.  So in honor of this tradition, dating back to the era of when we semi-hibernated, let us begin sharing with each others our favorite treats.  It can be cakes, pies, cookies, puddings, or any other kind of sinfully delicious and appealing foodstuff we wish to pass on to others.

From me, a delicious candy dessert my mother made.

Cathedral Windows

1-6 oz. pkg chocolate chips

2 Tbsp margarine

1 egg, beaten

Coconut

3 cups multicolored miniature marshmallows

½ cup chopped nuts

Melt chocolate chips and margarine in double boiler.  Add beaten egg, cook stirring constantly until thick and smooth.  Cool to room temperature.  Add marshmallows and nuts..  Roll into log 1 ½ inces in diameter.  Sprinkle or roll in coconut.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  Slice and serve.

I recommend buying enough chips and marshmallows to make at least 2 batches, as they will be consumed rapidly and with abandon.

More distressing news about our current President. Check out link for details:

http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2694

Meanwhile, on the Huff Post, the Main is about Tiger Woods being attacked by his wife.

Check out this New York Times article about how long we may be in Afghanistan:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/11/26/news/news-us-afghanistan-usa.html?_r=2

Disgusting. Change we can believe in.

Obama disappoints me again with this Shrub-like decision. Check out link for details:

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/25/ahead_of_key_global_conference_us

This and sending 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan really have me steamed. He won’t get my vote again in 2012. I will either vote third party or stay home.

Hi, my name is David and I have been posting on Huff Post for the last year as rabiddog6708.  A friend told me about this site and I thought I would drop by to check things out. I see several Huffington Post members here, which is nice because that site is becoming unbearable due to moderation and trolling.

This is what this post is all about – EARWORMS!

From Wikipedia:  Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm,^[1] is a portion of a song or other music that repeats compulsively within one’s mind, known colloquially as “music being stuck in one’s head”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm

For three days now, I have an earworm, which was planted into my ear by

Aura Dione – I Will Love You Monday

and which I am passing over to you now, too.

I hope, you enjoy it as much as I do!

What are YOUR most favorite earworms? Share them with us!

I mean: THANK GOD, IT’S FRIDAY!

I hope everyone enjoyed their fun and food food food yesterday!

Since Black Friday is traditionally a slow news day, I thought I’d post a few stories that might have been missed this week. These are some of my favorite items that didn’t get the royal treatment by our mainstream media.

The items themselves might be less important than the alternative view of the week that a reader might get if these stories were more prominent. We had a pretty good week—despite what our major outlets seem to want us to think.

Planetarians, here’s a thread where you can post your favorite underreported stories the rest of us might have missed!

Republicans look to old wire fraud case to fight new climate change bill
Senior Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are looking to a closed federal wire fraud conviction in California to bolster their argument against climate legislation.

Local food, Washington, Nov. 18, 2009
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that more than $5 million will be awarded to 16 organizations to increase access to healthy, affordable local foods.

United We Serve
Washington, Nov. 24, 2009
The Corporation for National and Community Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House joined together to launch the United We Serve: Feed A Neighbor initiative today to help combat hunger this winter. The new initiative raises awareness of hunger issues and equips American with the resources to mobilize against the hunger crisis.

Statement from Under Secretary Blank on New Home Sales in October 2009
The Commerce Department’s U.S. Bureau of the Census today released new home sales figures for October 2009. Sales of new single-family houses rose 6.2 percent in October, compared with private-sector expectations of 0.5 percent. Sales have risen 30.7 percent above their low in January of this year, and the supply of unsold homes relative to sales has fallen 46.0 percent below its peak in January.

Recovery Act funding will upgrade the electrical grid, save energy and create jobs
At an event in Columbus, Ohio this afternoon, Secretary Chu announced that the Department of Energy is awarding $620 million for projects around the country to demonstrate advanced Smart Grid technologies and integrated systems that will help build a smarter, more efficient, more resilient electrical grid.

Secretary Chu Announces $45 Million to Support Next Generation of Wind Turbine Designs
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the selection of Clemson University to receive up to $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a wind energy test facility that will enhance the performance, durability, and reliability of utility-scale wind turbines. This investment will support jobs and strengthen American leadership in wind energy technology by supporting the testing of next-generation wind turbine designs.

HHS Launches New Blog: Health IT Buzz
Dr. David Blumenthal, HHS’ National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, today announced the launch of Health IT Buzz, a new blog that will allow readers to learn more about health information technology (health IT) and provide a space for consumers, providers, policymakers, and technology experts to share their ideas and concerns regarding health IT. The blog is available at http://healthit.hhs.gov/blog/onc .

President Obama Establishes Interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force
Attorney General Eric Holder, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairwoman Mary Schapiro today announced that President Barack Obama has established by Executive Order an interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to strengthen efforts to combat financial crime. The Department of Justice will lead the task force and the Department of Treasury, HUD and the SEC will serve on the steering committee.

Liberal coalition buys ads, praises Lincoln for vote on healthcare bill
Health Care for America Now has launched new television ads praising the two Democratic senators from Arkansas and giving quiet support to Ben Nelson, the centrist Democrat from Nebraska.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Nov. 9 aimed at hiring more veterans to work in the federal government
A governmentwide Council on Veterans’ Employment will be chaired by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Kiddie Lit: Setting a Partisan Tone
When President Obama announced plans to give a speech to the nation’s schoolchildren in September, it set off a frenzy among conservative commentators who deemed it, in the words of Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer, an attempt to “indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda.”

For Bills in Congress, How Long is Long?
Long bills are written by both Democrats and Republicans. The second longest bill to appear in Congress over the past ten years was authored by Republican Rep. Don Young [R, AK-1]. It’s a mere 68 words shorter than the House health care bill. Of the 10 longest bills in the past ten years, five were written by Democrats and five were written by Republicans.

It is a tradition with our family that at Thanksgiving Dinner, we go around the table and each of us says what we’re thankful for. It occurred to me that many other people may do the same, especially those who should get stuffed along with their turkeys.

So, The Planet’s crack surveillance team…after being yelled at by me for only surveilling cracks, have used our high tech equipment to eavesdrop on a number of notable people at their Thanksgiving Dinner. And if they complain about invasion of privacy, we will deny it happened, because, as we all know, “A wiretap requires a court order”.

WHAT I’M THANKFUL FOR:

SARAH PALIN: I’m thankful for trailer parks, the Civil War, America’s failing educational system, winks, sexually repressed Republicans, tea bags and people reading books to me.

JOE LIEBERMAN: I’m thankful for Benedict Arnold, Droopy the Dog, how easily knives go into backs, warm squishy mud between my toes and my ears, war, war, war, war and George Bush’s kissable cheeks.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: I’m thankful for trolls, backflips, hedge funds, California’s community property laws, masquerades, Joseph Goebbels’ Home Propaganda Kit, 50 point font and Freedom of Repression.

MICHELLE BACHMAN: I’m thankful for the Prozac shortage, bats and belfries, loose screws, Bizarro Superman, the Earth being flat and the Fiction section in The House of Representatives.

GLENN BECK: I’m thankful for Kleenexes, that hair is combustible, Joseph McCarthy, panic buttons, mindless hysterical fear of black people, Vicks VapoRub eye shadow and the limited range of broadcast mikes along with the new whisper-quiet technology of vibrators.

A happy Thanksgiving to all of our amazing members and readers, we’re so thankful to have all of you here and the wealth of your knowledge, intelligence, concern and wit that you so generously share here on The Planet.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Reprinted from “DocStrangelove’s” message on the HadEnoughington Post…

“For what it’s worth, I just heard from my friend on the west coast known as “MrCreosot­­e” and it seems that he is NOT currently in limbo as originally thought.

He told me that his profile is now gone and it appears that he has been rendered an official “non person” on this site.

He was never warned of this impending action, nor has he had any communication from HP whatsoever. Just, “poof”, as he said to me.

He did tend to P.O. the powers that be here. Heck, I probably would as well if I came here as often, but I only post every once in a long while.

He asked to wish all of his fans here, and, in his own words, “even the dimwits”, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

He told me how disappointed he was and how sorry he was to see what had happened to this once vibrant place and that he probably won’t be back… deciding to go to another “Planet” where one can speak one’s mind without fear of institutionalized retribution.

Although he is a J.ewish Athiest (his words, not an oxymoron), he offered this missive from First Corinthians (13:11) as his swan song;

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

There, I done my duty.

_____

I imagine that we’ll have another contributor here soon.