The Public Option

Here is an e-mail that is making its rounds on the internet that deals with the public heath care option that Insurance lobbyists are spending millions to prevent....


With nearly 50 million Americans lacking health insurance, and premiums rapidly rising, it's time to address the health care crisis in our country.

All Americans deserve access to affordable, quality health care -- and today, nearly one-in-six of us don't have it.

This month, Congress is working on new reform legislation that will make quality health care available and affordable for all Americans.

In particular, Senators Dick Durbin, Patrick Leahy, and Chuck Schumer are working for a public health insurance option that would foster greater competition in the marketplace, create more choices for consumers, and lead to lower costs and better quality.

Please join me in supporting their work to pass strong health care reform legislation this year by signing the online petition at:
http://ga3.org/campaign/healthpetition?source=hc_taf


I could not agree more.

The military has government provided health care.

Congress and the Senate have government provided health care.

Why shouldn't it be an option for all Americans.

More Office Morale Boosters

Rick Reilly's column at ESPN about making the office more like sports generated some great suggestions from ESPN readers...

When everyone rolls in first thing in the morning the energy is always low. But suppose everyone stood outside the entryway at 7:59, and suddenly the lights went down, and the music came up … Annnnnd now, here they are, your office staff, at secretary, from Community College of Southern Nevada, Angela Harris. At paralegal, from DeVry, Stacy Neilsen, At Junior Partner, from Fordham, Derek Waldmann...

Employees should be required to wear black bands on their sleeves every time a copier or fax machine dies.

If your company has four good quarters, have your two biggest employees grab the water cooler and sneak up behind the CEO for a nice little Poland Spring Water Bath.

A mascot wouldn't hurt either.

Here is my original post on the topic: beyondtheheadline.blogspot.com/2009/07/improving-office-morale.html

GM & Social Media

From http://www.despair.com/...




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Most Visited Spots in the U.S.

Here are the answers...

1) Times Square, NY

2) Las Vegas Strip

3) National Mall and Memorial Parks, Washington DC

4) Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston

5) Disney World, Orlando

6) Disneyland, Anaheim

7) Golden Gate National Park, San Francisco

8) Niagara Falls, N.Y

9) Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

10) Navy Pier, Chicago

Biggest Surprise: Grand Canyon at #20!

US Tourist Spots

Every wondered what the most visited tourists sites are in America?

Post your guesses and the answers will be posted tomorrow.

Some of the places will surprise you.

No Cheating...

200th Post

I want to thank everyone for following this blog during the first 200 posts.

I have thoroughly enjoyed your comments and I appreciate all the suggestions.

In honor of 200 posts here is comedian Louis CK with a hilarious take on American culture:

"Everything is Amazing, Nobody is Happy"

NY Times

Printing the New York Times costs twice as much as sending every subscriber a free Kindle, the e-book reader from Amazon that provides digital subscriptions to books, magazines, and online content.

Don't believe me, check this out:

According to the Times's most recent financial statements, the company spends about $644 million per year on raw materials and wages/benefits related to delivery costs.

The Kindle retails for $359. In a recent letter, Times spokesperson Catherine Mathis wrote: "We have 830,000 loyal readers who have subscribed to The New York Times for more than two years."

Multiply those numbers together and you get $297 million -- a little less than half as much as $644 million.

From: http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/printing-the-nyt-costs-twice-as-much-as-sending-every-subscriber-a-free-kindle

Why Health Reform is Difficult...

The flow chart the Democrats created to help "explain" their plan for Health Care Reform:

(Click for Larger Version)

The Future of TV News????

A hilarious parody by "The Onion" on where TV news is heading...



New Live Poll Allows Pundits To Pander To Viewers In Real Time

Potter, Harry Potter

With the latest release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the young wizard's franchise is poised to surpass the Batman and James Bond movie franchises in all time revenue:

Here are the numbers prior to the latest Potter movie release:





Next up, Star Wars.

$23 Quadrillion

A New Hampshire man who swiped his debit card for fuel and a pack of cigarettes at a gas station got far more than he had bargained for.

When Josh Muszynski checked his account a few hours later he couldn't help noticing a $23 quadrillion charge.

To be precise, it showed he had spent $23,148,855,308,184,500 at the Mobil station.

Bank of America also tacked on a $15 overdraft charge.

Muszynski spoke with the bank for a couple of hours and the error was corrected the next day.

"I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card," he said.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8152278.stm

$23 quadrillion, come on Josh, you could have bought the entire solar system.

The Recession Gender Gap

This current recession is resulting in elevated levels of gender specific unemployment.

The zero line in the graph below represents equal unemployment levels for both men and women.

When the line dips below zero, as it did for 20 years between 1958 and 1978, it means that the female unemployment rate is higher than the male rate.

When it climbs above zero, the male unemployment rate is higher than the female rate.





So what is causing this rise in male unemployment. The decline in manufacturing jobs is certainly one thing.

Another is residential construction, which boomed during the early part of this decade, and has been demolished (no pun intended) ever since.

Nine out of ten construction workers are male, and seven out of ten manufacturing workers are men. Those sectors alone have lost more than 2.5 million jobs.

On the other hand, many women are in industries that aren't facing such devastating, and possibly permanent, upheaval such as the health and education sectors.

Hide and Seek Champion

A Pennsylvania toddler did such a remarkable job of hiding during a game of hide-and-seek that the family had to call police and firefighters to help find her.

Two-year-old Natalie Jasmer was playing the game with her siblings Tuesday in their Pymatuning Township home. When the family couldn't find her, parents Dennis and Michelle Jasmer called authorities.

Emergency crews and friends frantically searched the neighborhood about 70 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for about an hour.

The family's dog, Copper, finally sniffed her out. She had fallen asleep in a drawer underneath the family's washing machine.

The little girl told her family she was sorry. Hide-and-seek is now banned in the Jasmer household.

From: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hK2wD9SsyIy1xuGR56ve2CbHjTbAD99B6PMG0

Honest Abe

Before the $5 bill and even before the penny, Abraham Lincoln's face was a familiar one on U.S. Treasury-issued paper money.

In 1861, during his first year as president, his face was on a $10 demand note printed during the Civil War.

In 1869, the Treasury put him on the $100 legal tender note, and in 1882, he appeared on the $500 gold certificate.

According to the American Numismatic Association, Lincoln has been featured on more money than anyone in history except Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.

Improving Office Morale

From Rick Reilly at ESPN:

What offices need right now is a little bit of sports.

If there's one thing games teach us, it's to buck up, dig in and hold on. That's what we cherish about sports -- the faith that no matter how bad things suck, eventually you're going to win. How else do you explain Cubs fans?

For instance, what if -- like in hockey -- the boss picked the three stars of the day? And those three people came out of their cubicles and did a little spin around the main lobby carpet while the other employees banged their staplers on their desks in approval?

What if the office had chest bumps and shaving-cream pies and everybody slapping the Work Like a Champion Today sign over the door on the way in?

What if every accounting office came with cheerleaders?
Two, Four, Six, Eight!
What Do We Depreciate?

When a really great secretary hits 65 and has to go, why not retire her number?
Dolores Ginty, no one will ever use extension 3713 again. It's yours forever!

Tiger Woods wears red on Sundays for low numbers. Businesspeople need to start wearing green on Fridays for cash. And if they sign the big deal, let's watch it again on instant replay!

Ask each other for autographs.

From: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4299149

The Generation Gap

From cell phones and texting to religion and manners, younger and older Americans see the world differently, creating the largest generation gap since the tumultuous years of the 1960s and the culture clashes over Vietnam, civil rights, and women's liberation.

Almost eight in 10 people believe there is a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today according to a new study released by the Pew Research Center.

That is the highest spread since 1969, when about 74 percent reported major differences in an era of generational conflicts over the Vietnam War and civil and women's rights.

Asked to identify where older and younger people differ most, 47 percent said social values and morality. People age 18 to 29 were more likely to report disagreements over lifestyle, views on family, relationships and dating, while older people cited differences in a sense of entitlement.

The biggest point of disagreement: Religion...

Religion is a far bigger part of the lives of older adults. About two-thirds of people 65 and older said religion is very important to them, compared with just over half of those 30 to 49 and 44 percent of people 18 to 29.

From: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31608467

Staggering Sales

The week before his death:
48,000 Michael Jackson song downloads

The week after his death:
2,600,000 Michael Jackson song downloads

The most amazing part of this:
Before last week, no artist had EVER eclipsed 1 million song downloads in a week.

Eight Michael Jackson albums have found themselves in the top 10 bestseller list, and 25 of his songs are in the top 75-position Hot Digital Songs chart.

Michael's song "Thriller" was downloaded 167,000 times last week.

In the week before his death, there were 5,000 downloads of Thriller, which makes this week’s results an incredible 3,240% increase.

Sony Walkman

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Sony Walkman.

The Walkman changed music forever by allowing people to carry their own choice of music with them, wherever they went.

Sony has sold 385 million Walkman machines worldwide in 30 years as it evolved from playing cassettes to compact disks and finally digital files, where it significantly trails Apple's iPod.

Apple has sold more than 210 million iPod machines worldwide in eight years.

The Saturday Night Live Stress Tests

A hilarious take of the not so stressful tests: