Monthly archives: October, 2009

Roseanne Rosanadana on Smoking and The Hasty Heart

October 17, 2009
ChicagolandHumor
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A little blast from the past. I always liked Gilda Radner.

I actually dropped over at the SNL site because I was looking for, "If it isn’t Scottish, it’s crap!" But I couldn’t find it there. I just came from an awesome performance of The Hasty Heart at Marian Catholic High School. Honestly, these kids were awesome. I was expecting over-acting or melodrama. Sorry, call that my prejudice with high school performances.

Instead, I found acting.

This performance was particularly awesome. Really gripping. And, if you see it at the Sunday matinee, you’ll understand my very weak allusion to that old SNL skit.

The kids are going to compete with this performance, and I look forward to hearing good things.

I was particularly impressed.

At any rate, enjoy Gilda. I really loved Gilda.

Felony? Really? Woman Faces 15 Years in Prison For Cutting Line At Walmart

October 15, 2009
Civil RightsLegal
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Released to her parents 45 minutes after being arrested to get medical treatment?

Misdemeanor charges dismissed, but felony charges stand?

Yes, there are more than two sides here. Listed carefully.

Olbermann: Insurer Ends Health Program, Calls High-Cost Patients “Dogs”

October 15, 2009
AmericaHealth CareLegalPhilosophical
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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here’s the beginning of the story from the Washington Times:

Ian Pearl has fought for his life every day of his 37 years. Confined to a wheelchair and hooked to a breathing tube, the muscular dystrophy victim refuses to give up.

But his insurance company already has.

Legally barred from discriminating against individuals who submit large claims, the New York-based insurer simply canceled lines of coverage altogether in entire states to avoid paying high-cost claims like Mr. Pearl’s.

In an e-mail, one Guardian Life Insurance Co. executive called high-cost patients such as Mr. Pearl "dogs" that the company could "get rid of."

A federal court quickly ruled that the company’s actions were legal, so on Dec. 1, barring an order by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Pearl will lose his benefits.

His medical treatment costs $1 million a year.

Most of that is for ’round the clock, in-home nursing care – for operation of his ventilator, hourly breathing treatments and continuous intravenous medication.

(Corrected paragraph:) A Guardian spokesman said policies such as Mr. Pearl’s – which offered unlimited home nursing – had simply become too expensive for new small-business customers to buy, and that even Medicaid and Medicare do not cover 24-hour home nursing. His parents, Warren and Susan Pearl of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said their health insurance premiums had risen over the years to $3,700 a month.

You can contact Guardian Life Insurance Company here.

And now for your moment of Zen…

President & CEO Dennis J. Manning touts Guardian Life’s financial strength on the company’s Web site:

Two Rating Upgrades 
Guardian earned upgrades from two major credit rating organizations in 2008, a distinction that no other major life insurer can claim. We were one of only five life insurers upgraded by Standard & Poor’s, which raised our rating to AA+ (Very Strong). Additionally, noting Guardian’s “superior capitalization,” “successful execution of key strategic initiatives,” and our “comprehensive risk management strategy,” A.M. Best Company awarded us its highest rating, A++ (Superior). Only six other life insurers received ratings upgrades from A.M. Best last year.

Operating on Firm Financial Footing 
Guardian generated good financial results last year, in spite of challenging economic conditions. Pre-tax statutory income – the primary way we build capital and surplus – was $267 million. Capital, which serves to cushion potential adverse events and functions as a source of continuing future income, was $4.3 billion at year end. And our capitalization ratio, a standard industry measure of capital strength, was 14.7%. We believe this ratio is among the highest in the life insurance industry.

Record Dividend Payout
Guardian’s solid financial results, supported by a prudent investment strategy, allowed us to avoid many of the losses suffered by so many other companies and put us in a strong competitive position, which we leveraged to benefit policyholders. We declared the largest ever dividend payout in our 149-year history, paying a record $723 million dividend to policyholders in 2009, $60 million more than we did in 2008.

Good for them.

Remember 37-year-old Ian Pearl on December 1, 2009,

Ramiro Guevara, 17, Shot and Killed in Chicago Club

October 15, 2009
ChicagoChicagolandViolence
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Sad news out of Chicago.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A 17-year-old boy was shot to death this morning in a Logan Square neighborhood nightclub, police said.

Police were notified about the shooting at about 2 a.m. inside the V Live night club at 2047 N. Milwaukee Avenue, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.

Ramiro Guevara got into an argument with another man inside the nightclub, and the other man pulled out a handgun and started firing, Alfaro said. Alfaro said Guevara was shot in the head, but a police source said Guevara was shot in the back.

The shooter fled the nightclub, and no one was in custody this morning, Alfaro said.

As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim. If anyone knows anything, please step up and contact the Chicago Police Department. You can also use your cellphone to TEXT a crime TIP.

Read more.

Senator Roland Burris Definitively Favors Government Health Plan

October 15, 2009
Barack ObamaCivil RightsCongressConstitutionDemocratic NewsEconomyEthicsHealth CareHomelessnessLegalRepublicansWhite House
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Washington, D.C.– United States Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) wants health care reform with a government health insurance plan and he’s willing to fight for it, says the Wall Street Journal.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Wall Street Journal named him as one of six senators to watch in the coming days as the Senate’s no-public-option bill is merged with the House’s public-option bill.

The other five senators are Republicans and conservative Democrats averse to a public option. Burris, the Journal says, is the one senator out of 100 most insistent that the final bill have a public option:

"The Wild Card: Illinois Democratic Sen. Roland Burris. Mr. Burris has announced his intention to oppose any bill without a public option. . . . Because he isn’t standing for re-election, Mr. Burris has little to lose," the article states.

And from the Wall Street Journal:

The Wild Card: Illinois Democratic Sen. Roland Burris. Mr. Burris has announced his intention to oppose any bill without a public option, and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and John Rockefeller (D., W.Va.), among others, have also voiced a strong desire for a public option. The message: Democrats at their peril shift to the right to court centrists and Republicans. Because he isn’t standing for re-election, Mr. Burris has little to lose. Democrats hope liberals will support a health overhaul in the end, but they have scant margin for error.

‘Shagged by a Rare Parrot,’ BBC Two

October 14, 2009
Humor
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Hilarious. Enjoy the video. And the shagging.

Limbaugh to be Dropped from St. Louis Rams Bid

October 14, 2009
Sports
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From ESPN:

Rush Limbaugh is expected to be dropped from a group bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams, according to three NFL sources.

Dave Checketts, chairman of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and the point man in the Limbaugh group attempting to buy the Rams, realizes he must remove the controversial conservative radio host from his potential role as a minority member in the group in order to get approval from other NFL owners, the sources said.

Three-quarters of the league’s 32 owners would have to approve any sale to Limbaugh and his group. Earlier this week, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay predicted that Limbaugh’s potential bid would be met by significant opposition. Several players have also voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh’s potential ownership position, and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, who is black, urged players to speak out against Limbaugh’s bid.

Ultimately, the sources said, Checketts must reconfigure his group and find another investor to make his bid more viable.

Read more here.

Oh. And, "Ha. Ha."

(Tip of the hat to Raine Koch on Facebook for this.)

CTA Cutting Service, Raising Fares

October 13, 2009
ChicagoChicagoland
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From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The CTA’s plan to cut service dramatically and raise fares as high as $3 for express bus and rapid transit service is “very, very ugly,” but so is the 30 percent drop-off in local tax revenue that created the crisis, Mayor Daley said Tuesday.

Although the plan to erase a $300 million shortfall was crafted by the mayor’s handpicked CTA president, Daley stopped short of giving it his blessing in an apparent attempt to avoid taking the blame.

“No. This is only proposed. And like anything else, that’s the last resort. No one wants to see fare increases or service cuts. But they are in a very difficult position,” the mayor said.

“When you raise fares, it drives people away. You know that. That’s why they’re coming up with every form of cost savings . . . to keep the CTA reasonable and fair to everyone….You have to analyze everything and try to come up with some new solutions, if it’s possible.”

A $300 million shortfall is unconscionable.

The Great Recession.

Everything must change.

Read more from the Sun-Times here.

Christopher Columbus and The Myth of ‘America’

October 13, 2009
AmericaPhilosophicalRace
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From ENEWSPF:

To mark Columbus Day In 2004, the Medieval and Renaissance Center in UCLA published the final volume of a compendium of Columbus-era documents. Its general editor, Geoffrey Symcox, leaves little room for ambivalence when he says, “This is not your grandfather’s Columbus…. While giving the brilliant mariner his due, the collection portrays Columbus as an unrelenting social climber and self-promoter who stopped at nothing – not even exploitation, slavery, or twisting biblical scripture – to advance his ambitions…. Many of the unflattering documents have been known for the last century or more, but nobody paid much attention to them until recently. The fact that Columbus brought slavery, enormous exploitation or devastating diseases to the Americas used to be seen as a minor detail – if it was recognized at all – in light of his role as the great bringer of white man’s civilization to the benighted idolatrous American continent. But to historians today this information is very important. It changes our whole view of the enterprise.”

But does it?

I don’t want to jump on the annual “bash Christoper Columbus” bandwagon.  But this article is worth your consideration.

Read more here.

GOP’s Olympia Snowe On Board for Democratic Health Care Reform Bill

October 13, 2009
AmericaBarack ObamaCivil RightsCongressConstitutionDemocratic NewsEconomyHealth CareJohn McCainWhite House
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Already referenced here, t his one deserves its own headline.

From WTAE Pittsburgh:

Washington– Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe broke with her party Tuesday and said she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, handing President Barack Obama a much-sought boost in his quest to expand access to medical coverage to all Americans.

Approval of the legislation by the Senate Finance Committee was a foregone conclusion going into Tuesday’s vote, since Democrats outnumber Republicans 13-10 on the panel. But Snowe’s decision gave the vote a significance that transcends partisan divisions. For months, congressional Republicans have been virtually unanimous in denouncing the Democratic bills as an unwarranted expansion of government influence.

The Maine senator kept virtually all of Washington guessing about how she would vote until she announced it late in the Senate Finance Committee debate Tuesday. She told her colleagues she has misgivings about the bill, but "when history calls, history calls."

Perhaps the ice is thawing between Democrats and Republicans. It would be nice to have Senator John McCain on board too. That would be good for the country.

Read more.