A few quick things
Here are a few quick things before heading into the office:
* What a terrible tragedy: ["Pro wrestler Chris Benoit, wife and son found dead"]. Yeah, I still watch wrestling sometimes, although I haven't seen it in weeks and never pay for it. If it is on TV, I'll watch it. Since downgrading my cable, however, I don't think I get many channels with wrestling anymore. Oh well. I was never into Benoit's vibe as a character but damn, this is so terrible.
Speaking of sports deaths, there was another one this week too: ["Former All-Star Rod Beck dead at 38"]. I think what makes this all the weirder is how close these guys are to my age. I mean, when you read about guys in their late 30s, early 40s, who seem to have it all, up and dying, you start to think about your own mortality a bit.
Update: Needless to say, I'm completely shocked about the situation with Benoit's family. What a huge, huge tragedy. I guess when President Bush was rambling on and on about steroid abuse and other things a few years back, we all should have thought more about it. Of course, there is an even more tragic war going on, so, we're all worried more about that. Still, this is such a shame.
* All eyes will be on "SiCKO" to see if it moves anyone like some of Moore's other films: ["'Sicko leaves top Democrat ill at ease"]. The fact is that Democrats can't keep running on just not being Republicans. They need to do some things or they need to move out of the way. They're falling into the same trap that they fell into after Clinton was elected in 1992 ... and that ushered in Republican control of Congress, where all the action is, for 14 years in 1994! Gosh, these guys are so pathetic.
FAIR, the liberal media watchdog group, has this action alert about CBS' spin on single-payer health care: ["CBS's 'Sicko' Spin"]. Personally, I've always supported single-payer because I believed it would be better than what we have now. But I don't know anymore. It isn't that I support what I have now or what anyone else has now. But I now question whether it will work or whether we will end up with tiered health care in the future, with those who can barely afford anything getting the least amount of coverage and the rich getting the Mercedes version. If we can't all get the Mercedes version for the Hyundai price, then there is a problem, in my mind. It should be regulated like electricity or some other utility. We all get the same electric, phone, cable, and Internet services, for the most part, with minor fluctuation in price. It should be the same with health care.
As well, if our government keeps letting millions and millions of illegals in, as well as unregulated refugees, who depress wages and raise the costs of social services, we are never going to get control of the problem.
And, lastly, I refuse to pay any more in taxes. I already pay enough and the government is wasting hundreds of billions of dollars killing people in foreign lands. I just won't pay any more. They need to figure out a way to get us to some sort of health care without a huge jump in taxes because those of us on the lower end of things already pay enough. So, I don't know how we fix the problems but I will know the answers when I see them.
* Finally one good thing the Democrats can do: Revive the Fairness Doctrine: ["Sens. Lott, Feinstein on 'FOX News Sunday'"]. I've never been a huge fan of Sen. Dianne Feinstein and I agree with conservatives who are trying to kill the immigration bill. But she is right on this one. There needs to be legislated balance on the publicly-owned airwaves. Satellite? They can do whatever they want. Newspapers and the Internet? Do whatever you want. There are no limits to what you can do with publishing and the Web. Don't like the newspaper? Start your own. But radio and TV have to have balance to them because there are limited numbers of stations and very few are accessible to the public. There are moves underway to fix that: ["Lower Power Radio gets new push"]. But those are long-shots, at best. Radio and TV stations don't currently have balance to them and it is clearly influencing people in a negative way.
* I like this column from this morning: ["Kelly Clarkson's dispute with Clive Davis made her music hard to hear"]. It's a fast read but it really does give you an open view of what is going on in the music industry right now, especially with all these acts who target young girls [I think they are called 'tweens or something, whatever]. I especially like the "fighting the man" line in it. Hah. I don't listen to Clarkson and I probably couldn't identify a song she performs except maybe that song with the line "since you been gone ..." But at some point, she should be given some creative control over her life, especially when she has already made a lot of money for the company. If she tanks her career, so be it, it's her life. She is a human being; not a product.
Here are a few quick things before heading into the office:
* What a terrible tragedy: ["Pro wrestler Chris Benoit, wife and son found dead"]. Yeah, I still watch wrestling sometimes, although I haven't seen it in weeks and never pay for it. If it is on TV, I'll watch it. Since downgrading my cable, however, I don't think I get many channels with wrestling anymore. Oh well. I was never into Benoit's vibe as a character but damn, this is so terrible.
Speaking of sports deaths, there was another one this week too: ["Former All-Star Rod Beck dead at 38"]. I think what makes this all the weirder is how close these guys are to my age. I mean, when you read about guys in their late 30s, early 40s, who seem to have it all, up and dying, you start to think about your own mortality a bit.
Update: Needless to say, I'm completely shocked about the situation with Benoit's family. What a huge, huge tragedy. I guess when President Bush was rambling on and on about steroid abuse and other things a few years back, we all should have thought more about it. Of course, there is an even more tragic war going on, so, we're all worried more about that. Still, this is such a shame.
* All eyes will be on "SiCKO" to see if it moves anyone like some of Moore's other films: ["'Sicko leaves top Democrat ill at ease"]. The fact is that Democrats can't keep running on just not being Republicans. They need to do some things or they need to move out of the way. They're falling into the same trap that they fell into after Clinton was elected in 1992 ... and that ushered in Republican control of Congress, where all the action is, for 14 years in 1994! Gosh, these guys are so pathetic.
FAIR, the liberal media watchdog group, has this action alert about CBS' spin on single-payer health care: ["CBS's 'Sicko' Spin"]. Personally, I've always supported single-payer because I believed it would be better than what we have now. But I don't know anymore. It isn't that I support what I have now or what anyone else has now. But I now question whether it will work or whether we will end up with tiered health care in the future, with those who can barely afford anything getting the least amount of coverage and the rich getting the Mercedes version. If we can't all get the Mercedes version for the Hyundai price, then there is a problem, in my mind. It should be regulated like electricity or some other utility. We all get the same electric, phone, cable, and Internet services, for the most part, with minor fluctuation in price. It should be the same with health care.
As well, if our government keeps letting millions and millions of illegals in, as well as unregulated refugees, who depress wages and raise the costs of social services, we are never going to get control of the problem.
And, lastly, I refuse to pay any more in taxes. I already pay enough and the government is wasting hundreds of billions of dollars killing people in foreign lands. I just won't pay any more. They need to figure out a way to get us to some sort of health care without a huge jump in taxes because those of us on the lower end of things already pay enough. So, I don't know how we fix the problems but I will know the answers when I see them.
* Finally one good thing the Democrats can do: Revive the Fairness Doctrine: ["Sens. Lott, Feinstein on 'FOX News Sunday'"]. I've never been a huge fan of Sen. Dianne Feinstein and I agree with conservatives who are trying to kill the immigration bill. But she is right on this one. There needs to be legislated balance on the publicly-owned airwaves. Satellite? They can do whatever they want. Newspapers and the Internet? Do whatever you want. There are no limits to what you can do with publishing and the Web. Don't like the newspaper? Start your own. But radio and TV have to have balance to them because there are limited numbers of stations and very few are accessible to the public. There are moves underway to fix that: ["Lower Power Radio gets new push"]. But those are long-shots, at best. Radio and TV stations don't currently have balance to them and it is clearly influencing people in a negative way.
* I like this column from this morning: ["Kelly Clarkson's dispute with Clive Davis made her music hard to hear"]. It's a fast read but it really does give you an open view of what is going on in the music industry right now, especially with all these acts who target young girls [I think they are called 'tweens or something, whatever]. I especially like the "fighting the man" line in it. Hah. I don't listen to Clarkson and I probably couldn't identify a song she performs except maybe that song with the line "since you been gone ..." But at some point, she should be given some creative control over her life, especially when she has already made a lot of money for the company. If she tanks her career, so be it, it's her life. She is a human being; not a product.
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