The Weekly Poll
Results
The "A little better all the time (It can't get no worse)" Edition
How would you rate the particulars of your personal financial/material situation compared to 6 months ago?
1.) Better
2.) Worse
3.) About the same
1.) Better
rdmcd (with no comments)
The Chief reports...
As a Washington State government employee, six months ago I learned that our Democratic Governor canceled our just signed union contract that would have given us less than 2% pay raise this year and in 2010 because of the budget crisis's. So I would have voted 2.) Worse, but I am a retired Chief Petty Officer in the Navy Reserves who just turned sixty and received my first Navy retirement check along with the military medical called Tricare. So now I would have to say "Better".
If you ask this question six months from now or a year from now I might answer different. I keep getting emails from officer friends, most officers have swallowed the Republican Kool Aid poison, saying that Obama and congress are out to destroy Tricare to help pay for National Health care for all. We will see.
2.) Worse
joe laments...
It just seems to get worse my lousy health ins. is going up again, even though I have never used it. No raises since the stolen 2000 election and my dental ended plus my benevolent boss quit contributing to my 401K when Bush took over, plus my life ins. policy. The misery index just gets worse and I feel that all the crap the repubs. are pulling is not going to work, we are the majority now!!!
SallyP(al) does too...
I will have to check off the second box, as my particulars are in decline, thank you very much :)
But, like most older folks, I live on a semi fixed income, and the cost-of-living is certainly on the rise. Ever the entrepreneur, I do some sewing alterations, and work at the local garden nursery for holidays now and again. That used to support my ventures with the grandkids, but not so anymore. And, I also suspect that I am cutting back in anticipation of ever harder times to come. I think that is just human nature. I have two friends coming to visit this fall, and will be taking some short vacation-type trips in lieu of longer ones because they too are cutting back expenses. I also took any investment monies out of funds, and bought an FDIC-insured CD so that I don't have to watch the debacle in the market. Less interest by far, but the bucks are insured - for now...
Of course, if we have to listen to the Obama hate mongers filling to airways, screaming about how bad EVERYTHING is going for the Obama administration, and how he is making the sky fall - and the sheep continue to scream down everything they attempt, and DEMAND instance prosperity (even though they willingly gave Bush carte blanche) we may soon become the Third World country they all fear... Now THAT'S depressing!
And that's all she wrote, but thanks for asking,
3.) About the same
Adam in NoHo said...
It's 3/2 compared to 2008, and 2 compared to 2007. Despite 2009 being similar work-wise for me to 2008, I still feel like I'm only just keeping my head above water. I'm not sure what's going on.
postlwkr (wit no comments)
4.) Other
That Mad Cat, JD considers the 'Big Picture'...
I'M NOT DEAD AND I'M NOT IN JAIL SO I GUESS I'M DOING OK.
As for me, well, Poll-fans, I abstain. I don't have to compete in the commercial world and am compensated extremely well as a DAV. My health is problematic, but I receive all the best the VA has to give. The VA hospital I go to is rated in the top ten of all VA facilities and is superb. I am very grateful and humbled by it all. Sometimes, I feel guilty when I read about people that lack health care and what they have to needlessly endure. The same when I read about the long lines at food give-aways. That's not a world I have to live in, but it is a world that saddens and angers me because there is no excuse for it other than the avarice of a few. I support BHO and his efforts and hold out hope for a better future for everyone... Hang in there, ya hear?
Thanks and never forget, Yer the Best!
BadToTheBoneBob
New Question
The 'Mercy, Me' Edition
Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten, sentenced to Life in prison for her role in the LaBianca murders, is eligible to apply for parole later this month. She has been denied parole 17 times. Many people, including film maker John Waters (
John Waters: Leslie Van Houten: A Friendship, Part 1 of 5 ), are advocating for her release. She reportedly has been a model prisoner completing all available prison programs and assisting other inmates with these programs. She has earned two college degrees and has maintained a clean disciplinary record. She has accepted full responsibility for her actions...
Should Van Houten be paroled?
Send your response to
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Averting the Worst (nytimes.com)
The economy has backed up from the edge of the abyss, with the government's stabilizing role preventing a replay of the Great Depression.
Susan Estrich: Chief Bratton (creators.com)
Last month, when reports surfaced that Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton and his wife, Rikki Klieman, were putting their house on the market, people in L.A. started getting nervous. The chief is in the second year of his second five-year term. It is the first time in the 20-plus years I've lived here that no one was trying to show him the door.
Kelli Skye Fadroski: Andy Dick may be clean and sober, but he's still odd as ever (The Orange County Register)
Andy Dick is no stranger to the bizarre.
Question time: Frank Skinner (guardian.co.uk)
Frank Skinner tells Hannah Pool why he's no misogynist, whatever his critics say.
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Q&A: Chrissie Hynde" (guardian.co.uk)
The veteran rocker on the shame of working in a steakhouse at 17 and the pleasures of sex - a couple of times a year.
Steve Martin brings it all home with his banjo (guardian.co.uk)
Steve Martin first used a banjo to pad out his act. Now he's holding his own with the giants of bluegrass, writes Dave Itzkoff.
Jordan Levin: "Classics rock on: Why golden-age oldies dominate concert scene" (McClatchy Newspapers)
They say rock 'n' roll will never die. Neither, apparently, will the careers of many rockers, at least to judge by the concert scene.
Brian McCollum: Dean Fertita moves to the front lines with the Dead Weather (Detroit Free Press)
This time, the tall, cool character playing guitar in Jack White's band isn't Jack White.
David Medsker: A Chat with Paul Livingston, Trashcan Sinatras drummer (bullz-eye.com)
The problem with that is that we're selling our records to the same people. You need someone with a bit of clout, and money, to reach other people that have never heard us before.
DREW FORTUNE: "Feel It: An Interview With Kim Deal of the Pixies and the Breeders" (popmatters.com)
If it seems like Deal has too much going on right now, that just means you're not keeping up. The 48-year-old Deal has been lugging gear for a long time, and her work with the hugely influential Pixies and indie icons the Breeders and the Amps has made her a legend.
MICHAELANGELO MATOS: How Long Has This Been Going On? (thestranger.com)
The Incredible Shrinking Decade Brings Back the 45-Minute Album
ALY COMINGOR: No Doubt Return in Search of Their Muse (independent.com)
It was over dinner sometime last November that the seeds for No Doubt's current comeback tour were first planted.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Now With Working Link!
Bill Clinton's Secret Gift for Kim Jung-il
Only the zEN mAN is rumored to have the provocative photos?
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Some Guy
Reader Suggestion
American Time Use Survey
The American Time Use Survey asks thousands of American residents to recall every minute of a day. Here is how people over age 15 spent their time in 2008.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The kid is sick and the ftp/computer is still acting up.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Austin City Limits
Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello - they're among the legions of music legends who have graced the stage of the famed Austin City Limits television music show.
That storied history and the show's lengthy run of 35 years propelled the program to a new honor Monday as an official historic site designated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
"It just seemed natural that we try to do something down here in Austin around the longest-running musical series in the history of television. What this program has done in trying to create this incredible archive of material of both iconic and emerging, cutting-edge artists is remarkable," said Terry Stewart, president and chief executive of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.
The Texas-based music show studio will join nine other designated rock and roll landmarks across the country. Among them are the Whisky a-Go-Go in Los Angeles where the Doors were regulars; Brooklyn High School in the Cleveland area, where Elvis Presley played his first concert north of the Mason-Dixon line; and WJW Radio also in Cleveland, where disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with popularizing the term "rock and roll."
Austin City Limits
Group To Renovate Hotel
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts are claiming victory in their effort to restore the architect's last standing hotel, a northern Iowa landmark that has fallen apart over the past few decades.
The Park Inn Hotel in Mason City, designed by Wright and completed in 1910, has been used as a hotel, apartments and even a strip club. It fell further into neglect while city officials searched unsuccessfully for a way to maintain the historic structure. Now, a private group has taken over the effort.
"It certainly has been an eyesore, it has had a very, very checkered history over past 40 to 50 years," said Ann MacGregor, executive director of Wright on the Park Inc., the group behind a planned $18 million restoration.
The hotel is last remaining of six designed by Wright after the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo was demolished in 1968. The Park Inn Hotel will have 20 suites when it reopens to the public in early 2011, MacGregor said.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Rupert TV's Finest Hours
`Octomom'
The Fox network said Monday it will air a two-hour special on the life of "Octomom" Nadya Suleman, based on footage bought from an online company that paid for access to her life.
Called "Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage," Fox has scheduled the show for Aug. 19.
Suleman, already a single mother of six, gave birth to octuplets Jan. 26. Curiosity about Suleman turned to some outrage after it became clear that the single, unemployed mother had been using student loans and Social Security disability payments to help pay for her children's care.
`Octomom'
Examining Broadcasters Blacklist
FCC
U.S. regulators have launched an inquiry into whether certain broadcasters are refusing to air the music of artists who demand to be paid when their songs are played on the radio.
The Federal Communications Commission reviewed a June petition by a music coalition that accuses radio stations of skipping songs of artists who support legislation aimed at paying royalties to artists.
According to an official notice dated on Friday, the agency is seeking public comment on the petition until September 23. The FCC customarily seeks comment on proposals for new or amended rules, but petitions received on a wide variety of subjects are also published for public comment.
The coalition, called musicFIRST, also said in the petition that some broadcasters are refusing to run advertisements that support the legislation.
FCC
D - I - V - O - R - C - E
Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn says they're done.
The best-selling country duo posted a message on its Web site Monday saying they've agreed to "call it a day" after 20 years of making music together.
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn thanked their fans and said it was "just time" to part.
Brooks & Dunn will release a greatest hits album on Sept. 8 and tour one last time in 2010.
Brooks & Dunn
Protest Marriage Incentive
Widows
About 200 women marched through the Nepali capital Monday to denounce a government scheme to pay cash incentives to men for marrying widows, witnesses said.
Nepal's center-left coalition announced a plan last month to pay men the equivalent of $650 for marrying widows, angering the widows.
The government says the scheme seeks to help widows who face social and cultural barriers in a majority-Hindu society.
But Durga Neupane, an organizer and a widow, said it would only add to their woes as men would marry widows for money and later abandon them. Widows, she said, should instead be given jobs, better health care and education.
Widows
Rings to Disappear Tuesday
Saturn
In a celestial feat any magician would appreciate, Saturn will make its wide but thin ring system disappear from our view Aug. 11.
Saturn's rings, loaded with ice and mud, boulders and tiny moons, is 170,000 miles wide. But the shimmering setup is only about 30 feet thick. The rings harbor 35 trillion-trillion tons of ice, dust and rock, scientists estimate.
The rings shine because they reflect sunlight. But every 15 years, the rings turn edge-on to the sun and reflect almost no sunlight.
While Earth goes around the sun once every 365 days or so, Saturn's annual orbit takes 29.7 years. So every 15 years, the attitude shift puts the gas giant planet's equator, and its ring plane, directly in line with sunlight. Scientists call it an equinox, and this one marks the arrival of spring to the giant planet's northern hemisphere. (On Earth, equinoxes occur in March and September.)
Saturn
In Memory
Mike Seeger
Mike Seeger, who helped revive traditional American folk music, has died at age 75.
Seeger's wife, Alexia Smith, said Monday that Seeger died of cancer Friday night at their home in Lexington, Va.
Seeger was born in New York City and raised near Washington, D.C., in a musical family. Two of his siblings became key figures in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s: his half brother, Pete, and sister Peggy.
Mike Seeger associated with traditional musicians such as Maybelle Carter and Dock Boggs.
He sang and played a number of instruments, including banjo, fiddle and guitar, and helped form the traditional music group The New Lost City Ramblers in 1958. He recorded more than 40 albums solo and with others, and received six Grammy Award nominations.
Mike Seeger
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