Today, I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it. Thanks Mario Kart. MLIA.
newyearskiss: beautifulsorta: amandariot: (via papertissue)
October 2009
White House To Fox News, "YOU LIE"
…the White House blog has published a comparison of Fox News “rhetoric” versus “reality” on the issue of President Obama’s support for Chicago’s Olympic bid.
The statement went so far as to use the expression “Fox lies.”
“Last night Fox News continued its disregard for the facts in an attempt to smear the Administration’s efforts to win the Olympics for the United States,”
…“In the past, hosting the Olympics has been a source of pride and unity for the country, but once again Fox News’ Glenn Beck program has shown that nothing is worthy of respect if it can be used as part of a partisan attack to boost ratings.”
The statement concludes: “For even more Fox lies, check out the latest ‘Truth-O-Meter’ feature from Politifact that debunks a false claim about a White House staffer that continues to be repeated by Glenn Beck and others on the network.”
…“We figured Fox would rather show So You Think You Can Dance than broadcast an honest discussion about health insurance reform,” a White House deputy press secretary said. “Fox is an ideological outlet where the president has been interviewed before and will likely be interviewed again; not that the whining particularly strengthens their case for participation any time soon.”
continue reading…rawstory
September 2009
Play
An Overview of the Olympic cities →
online.wsj.com
My guess is that it will come down to Chicago and Rio di Janiero. Japan and Spain have both recently had Olympics games. While that is also obviously true of the United States, the US has more money, more people, more athletes, and more sway in these elections.
I think Rio has a good chance, in a geopolitical sense, but I don’t know anything about the infrastructure issues. It would be the first South American games and only the second games in the Southern hemisphere (Sidney). It would follow Brazil hosting the World Cup in 2014, so they would be able to work out many of the kinks.
But, really, I think it comes down to having President Obama, two months before his successor is elected (if he wins a second term) open up the games in his adopted hometown. It’s too powerful of a symbol.
(If Chicago doesn’t win 2016 - I’ve always thought that St. Louis would make a great host city. Whoever is in charge of that stuff should start applying for 2020).
I think you hit it on the head with the Obama factor.
So Friday will be the day I will find out if I’ll need to start trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to get into Chicago at the same time the rest of the world is…Wife is an Olympics nut and we live only 3 hours away.
“President Obama has an idea to make our country smarter: he wants to shorten summer vacation and extend the school year. And I don’t want to be cynical, but clearly this is a backdoor deal for the powerful Tater Tot lobby.
I miss our old President, who worked for more recess for children, not more school. Instead, we elected the kid who reminds the teacher that she forgot to give the class homework.” —
I miss our old President, who worked for more recess for children, not more school. Instead, we elected the kid who reminds the teacher that she forgot to give the class homework.” —
JIMMY KIMMEL, Jimmy Kimmel Live
(via the NY Times)
(via inothernews)
I want the public option now →
federaltimes.com
The premiums for the average health insurance package for government employees will increase 8% in 2010. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Self-only plan (my plan) will increase 15% next year.
The 8% average increase this year follows a 7% average increase last year. Looks like I will have to wade through the mess of selecting an insurance company again for open enrollment. Ugh!
(and to think, I am one of the lucky people who has the opportunity to switch to a different provider).
Adopt a Liberal →
lc.org
If this is what they think will help….whatever…(via azspot)
*siiiiiiiiiiiigh*
A 20 minute phone call just saved me over $700
Most of you know that cable companies lure you into packages with promotional rates and then hike up the costs once the promotion ends. But did you know that your bill is negotiable.
My cable/internet is through Comcast, who I generally despise. The last couple of times I have dealt with them, however, have been surprisingly fruitful. For reference, I get broadband internet, all cable channels except premium movie channels, 2 DVRs, HD Channels, OnDemand, and a sports package I need to be sure to get all the college football games (I will dump this in December). For the last 6 months, all of this has cost me $100/month.
My promotion ends on Saturday, which was going to send my monthly bill to $165.21. I called customer service and asked for a new promotion. They will generally be able to give you a deal. I could keep all my services for $145 a month, or reduce my services for $110. I wasn’t happy, so I asked to speak to the retention office. The retention office is where they send you before they will let you cancel your service.
The retention office is where the real money can be saved. The customer service reps are very friendly. English is their first language. They can offer super promos. I told Josh what I wanted (same service for under $100/month, or an even lower price for less service). Five minutes later, he came back with a deal for everything I have, plus faster internet, for $99.93 (before taxes and fees). Once my roommate moves out, I can reduce it an additional $9.99 by returning the DVR box. I am pretty sure if I had said I wanted to pay $75 for everything, I could have gotten that (but no need to be greedy).
So, if you are not paying a promotional price for your cable and internet, call and haggle. Don’t take their first offer - they will offer better. Ask to speak to the retention person or a supervisor. Threaten to switch to satellite and DSL (but you don’t want to cause you like cable). Make price an issue and they will reduce price.
Your combination of products with Comcast sound similar to what I used to have with Mediacom (Cable, Internet, Phone) for a similar price. Same deal, signed up for a promo deal (all three services for $100/month) which went up to $165 after the promo ended. Is this a permanent deal you got or a 6-12 month deal?
I called to haggle with with Mediacom for about three years and they would do some adjusting but only for periods of like 3-6 months (though I never asked to be transferred to the retention department so I’ll keep that in mind for future negotiations).
I had been threatening to move to Qwest/DirecTV for awhile. At one point, I even played the loyalty card saying I had been with the Mediacom for almost 4 years (at the time of cancellation) and that I couldn’t believe that they weren’t interested in keeping such a long-term customer (especially for the cable industry). The final time they said that they had given me the last retention promo they could give me on my account and refused to adjust my price any more…at which point i told them to take a hike and moved the services.
We’re still with Qwest/DTV, but who knows for how long since the promo there is ending soon. We’d be a “new” customer with Mediacom again, so we’d be eligible for whatever promo they have again, but we’d be back to haggling once that ended.
I don’t understand the business model that screws over existing customers for new customers. I thought the conventional wisdom was it’s cheaper to keep a customer than it is to get a new one. Do they really expect existing customers just stick with a 60%+ jump in the bill when they can get it somewhere else? I suppose it’s gambling on the fact that most probably don’t want to 1.) deal with changing services over or 2.) negotiating/haggling with the provider for a better rate.
I guess cable companies don’t subscribe to that thinking…or maybe it’s just Mediacom. Sad thing is that I really prefer Mediacom over Qwest, especially for Internet. The DSL available to me is much slower than cable internet.
A Senatorial vacuum
As I become more and more frustrated with reading about the bullshit going on in the Finance committee, I began to wonder if Obama’s Cabinet isn’t partly to blame. Three of the biggest proponents (and most well-known Senators) of health care from one year ago are no longer in the Senate. Obama moved to the Presidency, Hillary Clinton moved to the Cabinet, and Teddy Kennedy died. Biden also had a bigger name than most Senators.
All this has left a vacuum of rampant Senatorial support for health care. The focus has been on too many of the wavering Dems, like Baucus and Conrad. That has shaped the story. With the big names no longer in the upper chamber, they have lost some of their ability shape the story within the legislative process.
