Alice's Bucket List

Alice's Bucket List is a blog by a fifteen year old girl suffering from terminal cancer.  She lit up Twitter yesterday and prompted me to fulfill one of her wishes: I signed up to be a bone marrow donor.

It's quick and easy, you can do it online.  Just go here to get started.  The process doesn't involve anything more invasive than swabbing the inside of your mouth and you don't even have to show up to get it done.  They'll mail you the kit.  They couldn't make it simpler.

I don't know about the rest of you, but for me signing up for something like this is one of those things I think about doing whenever I hear of someone in need of a donor, but never get around to actually doing.  Well, it's done.  Just like that.

After I signed up I left this comment on Alice's blog:

Consider yourself responsible for one more bone marrow donor than there was yesterday. I signed up online today after hearing about you on Twitter. God bless you and I wish you all the best. You are making great things happen.

I hope Alice gets a miracle, she certainly deserves it.  If not, she's going to make more of an impact in her short life than most people who live to be ninety.

Some people never learn

When last we saw employees of Southern California's major grocery chains returning to work after being on strike for five months, the results were less than impressive.  Almost half a year's wages lost and the issues they had struck for largely waived in order to reach a settlement so they could get back to work.  But apparently those lessons (assuming any were learned) have been forgotten: Grocery worker strike looms.

Since the last strike, a lot of changes have occurred.  This strike now would be a boon to Fresh & Easy, which wasn't even a glint in the Southland's eye during the last strike.  Self-checking lanes have come into existence and become a normal and acceptable option for shoppers.  This has to have reduced the number of union jobs available and with that in mind it seems logical that if there are fewer jobs available, it's an employer's market and maybe you should just be glad you have a decent job with decent benefits at a time when too many people don't have either.

Speaking of those benefits, that's apparently the issue that has the union threatening a strike.  Let's take a look at those, shall we?

Employees are now having to "pay deductibles, premiums, and all the things that have caused the fact the employers are not paying their fair share in the health and welfare benefits," he said...

A proposal sent to the union calls for employees to pay health care costs of either a $9 a week for individual coverage or $23 a week for full family coverage, according to the flyer. Employees would qualify for a health care plan by working between 16 to 24 hours per week depending on their position...

Ralph's said it would increase its contribution to the health care fund from $234 million from the last three years to $365 million over the next three years, the flyer said.

Based on what I know about benefits (having worked in the medical insurance industry and human resources) these people have got it good.  Most employers have historically paid premiums only for the employees themselves and contributed little or nothing toward dependent benefits.  $23 a week for full family coverage is a steal.  If everyone could get medical insurance for $9 - $23 per week, there would be no healthcare crisis.  Also, 16-24 hours per week is only part-time employment and most employers do not offer benefits at all to employees who work so few hours.  I don't know what the hell they're complaining about.

Oh, and making a statement about "heartless shopping" in an economy where a significant amount of the population are barely able to purchase the minimum they need to survive?  Just a plain stupid comment.  Whoever came up with that needs to be permanently barred from any occupation that involves any type of public speaking.  This whole situation is a perfect example of how out-of-touch the unions and their members are with life in the real world, and why many people feel that unions have outlived their purposes and usefulness.

Great moments in bad publicity - Delta Airlines

Delta Airlines charges returning troops $2800 in extra baggage fees.

According to the story Delta changed its baggage policy because of this story, but it took two of the soldiers making a vid and posting it to YouTube (and the resulting outrage) to shame the airline into adhering to the policy as is was communicated to the Army and troops.  But bad publicity is bad publicity and the damage is done.  I know I'd think twice about booking a flight on Delta just because of this incident.  It's not like there aren't other options when taking to the unfriendly skies.

You would think that if there was company policy that Delta would make sure their employees were up on, it would be anything and everything to do with accommodating our troops.  I have a feeling someone is out of a job - or at least "reassigned" - at Delta today.

Newsflash: Dumb politician cheats on wife, behaves inappropriately, lies about it, gets busted anyway

Weinergate erupts.

Idiot.  I don't know how anyone in the public eye these days thinks they can do this kind of stupid crap and not get busted, and history has proven time and time again that getting busted and trying to cover it up never works and in fact makes it significantly worse.  Now we're in the "ok I did it but I'm not resigning" phase.  Next up: resignation and a divorce.

Also, the hacking story?  Weak.  Easily disproved.  I have to say that this is a massive disappointment.  I count on our elected leaders to be much better liars than this.

Only upside I can think of is that now the mainstream media has to address Weinergate as a legitimate story of wrongdoing and not as a non-story fueled by crackpot right-wing extremists.  So thank you for that, Rep. Weiner.

6/7/11 Update: Just when I thought this story couldn't get any better...Weiner's wedding was officiated by Bill Clinton.  Seriously.  Who in their right mind has one of history's most notorious philanderers marry them?

Is Deseret News the real life Onion?

Screen shot from today's online version of the Deseret News homepage:

First, the most popular story of the day: Man embarrasses son with waves.  Am I the only one who read that as "Area man embarrasses son with waves"?  The Onion's whole "area man" thing always cracks me up.

Next up, and even better is the number two most popular story in the Deseret, Utah area: Police cite man paying with pennies.

VERNAL — A Vernal man has been charged with disorderly conduct after police say he caused alarm when he paid for a disputed medical bill in pennies.

On May 27, Jason West went to Basin Clinic prepared to dispute an outstanding bill, according to Assistant Vernal Police Chief Keith Campbell. West, 38, apparently did not believe he owed the clinic the $25 it said he did.

“After asking if they accepted cash, West dumped 2,500 pennies onto the counter and demanded that they count it,” Campbell said. “The pennies were strewn about the counter and the floor.”

The incident upset clinic staff, said Campbell, adding that West's behavior served "no legitimate purpose."

Clinic staff told West they were calling police and he left the office. Officers caught up with West later and issued him a citation for disorderly conduct, an infraction, which carries a potential fine of $140.

The case will be heard in Vernal City Justice Court.

Potential $140 fine (plus, I assume, cost of a lawyer) in return for making a disruptive statement over $25?  Forget Vernal PD, this guy was busted by the Karma Kops.

I'm not familiar with the Deseret News and I wouldn't be surprised if someone informs me that it is in fact just a local version of The Onion.  Either way - legit or Onionish - I don't care, today's issue was entertaining as hell.

H/T Sami_Shamieh on Twitter for linking to the pennies from hell story.

Welcome back to the NHL, Winnipeg!

And RIP Atlanta Thrashers: Thrashers sold to Winnipeg group.  Well done, True North Sports and Entertainment!

For a while it looked like the Phoenix Coyotes - the original Winnipeg Jets  - would return to their Manitoba roots, but that was circumvented when the Glendale (AZ) City Council ponied up the necessary support to keep the Dogs in the Desert for at least one more season.

As much as everyone would love to see the team adopt the old Jets name, the rights to it (along with franchise records) may be held by the Coyotes organization.  It would be wonderful for Winnipeg fans if the name could return.

From Rich Hammond (L.A. Kings Insider):

The rumors were finally put to rest this morning when the group known as True North Sports and Entertainment announced that is has purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and intends to move the organ-eye-zation to Winnipeg...

As for Atlanta, well, it’s difficult to be surprised. I only made it down there for one NHL game, in 2009, and I’ll always remember going to a nearby sports bar with the broadcast crew the night before the game. The Thrashers were playing in New York that night, and we asked the waiter if he would turn on the hockey game. His response? “Which game?”

I always feel awful for the fans when a team leaves town, but if this is in any way indicative of Atlanta's non-enthusiasm for the Thrashers, then they needed to move.  And this isn't even Atlanta's first NHL team to bolt town - the Calgary Flames began life as the Atlanta Flames.  Some cities just aren't hockey towns and Atlanta is definitely not a hockey town.  It is also apparently a very inept hockey town: The Thrashers were still selling season tickets for 2011-12 a mere hour before the Winnipeg announcement.

So welcome back Winnipeg fans!  Our only question now is does the huge, hideous portrait of the Queen also make a return?  Don't laugh, it may happen!  Which would be awesome, really seriously awesome.

Because a cat's the only cat who knows where it's at :)

Ultimate cool cat Brian Setzer and his Orchestra do The Aristocats:

And the original:

>

Phil Harris and Scatman Crothers people.  Phil Harris AND Scatman Crothers people!!!

On this Memorial Day (and every day) a big thank you to those who have served their country in the greatest way possible

Rock on.

Can you say, "Ripped From the Headlines"? Of course you can.

CSI, NCIS and L&O franchise writers must be totally bummed that this happened while they were on hiatus: Woman found dead in Hollywood Hills following alleged suicide pact.

According to a bulletin from the Hollywood Heights Association, Gutierrez made a pact with a man she met on a suicide website. The man passed out on the street and after regaining consciousness and seeing Gutierrez dead, he called 911

Maybe Dexter can do something with it.

Government Financial Follies of 2011

The government wasting money on ridiculous crap?  Broken political promises?  Obama getting a pass from the mainstream media?  YOU DON'T SAY!!!

On Drudge, a picture tells a thousand words.  The accompanying headlines tell a few thousand more.

<Obama voice>AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!</Obama voice>

Shrimp on treadmills?  Gelatin wrestling in Antarctica?  No wonder Hollywood loves these guys, at least they come up with original ideas.  Unlike some people we know.  As for "helping" five year olds sit still...not sure where they're going with that.  Horse tranquilizers, maybe?

The only way this could get any better is if Obama is confronted with the line-by-line thing and responds by looking confused and protesting, "But I did go line by line to make sure we're not spending unwisely.  What?"

AMPAS Screening Series: "Summer of Silents"

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences presents Summer of Silents, a series of Photoplay Award winning films.

June 13 - Humoresque (1920)
June 20 - Tol'able David (1921)
June 27 - Robin Hood (1922)
July 4 - No screening
July 11 - The Covered Wagon (1923) with a surviving fragment of Abraham Lincoln (1924)
July 18 - The Big Parade (1925)
July 20 - COMEDY BONUS – The General (1927)
July 25 - Beau Geste (1926)
August 1 - 7th Heaven (1927)
August 8 - Four Sons (1928)

As usual, screenings at the Academy are more than just seeing a movie:

The nine evenings will feature the best available prints, music performed and composed by a variety of accompanists specializing in the period, a comedy short featuring a different silent screen comedian each week, and surviving fragments of lost films from the era, introduced by film historians including recent honorary Oscar recipient Kevin Brownlow. 

The Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor was a Best Picture award that predated the Oscars and was voted on not by members of the industry, but by the public.

Beginning in 1920, Photoplay gave out what is considered the first significant annual movie award, the Photoplay Medal of Honor (later Gold Medal). An actual medallion produced by Tiffany & Co., it was voted on by the readers of the magazine and given to the producer of the year's best film, chosen with an emphasis on (according to Quirk) "the ideals and motives governing its production... the worth of its dramatic message." Though Photoplay only gave the single award for best film, its intentions and standards were influential on the Academy Awards founded later in the decade, and they overlap on Best Picture choices to some extent, though increasingly in the 1930s Photoplay's choices reflected its primarily female audience. By 1939 the Medal of Honor had declined in importance and the award was discontinued that year.

Tickets go on sale June 1.

As much as I hate the idea of being one of those people who juggle multiple blogs...

I'm thinking I need this blog for personal and creative stuff and a new one for politics that needs to be called "If A Republican/Conservative Did This He/She Would Be Raked Over The Coals" or something to that effect.  The wealth of material for a project like that has been overwhelming lately and has completely taken over my writing and my blog.

Or, in this case, "If A Straight Republican/ Conservative Did This He/She Would Be Raked Over The Coals": U.S. Rep Barney Frank admits he helped then-lover get lucrative government post.  Raise your hand if you already knew this, because it wasn't exactly a state secret.  Keep raising your hand if you're a Dem/lib and conveniently ignored it because it was one of your own and not one of those filthy Rethug/Conservative/Christian hypocrites.  Yeah, all of you.  I know you arm is getting tired, but that's your punishment for being PC and biased as opposed to honest.  It's more punishment than Frank is likely to get for his blatant and unapologetic lack of ethics.

Some choice quotes from Representative Frank (bold mine):

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank admitted he helped his ex-lover land a lucrative post with Fannie Mae in the early 1990s while the Newton Democrat was on a committee that regulated the lending giant — but he called questions of a potential ethical conflict “nonsense.”

“If it is (a conflict of interest), then much of Washington is involved (in conflicts),” Frank told the Herald last night. 

Actually, as stupid as those comments are in the real world where the rest of us live, to a privileged career pol like Frank it makes perfect sense.  Move along folks, nothing to see here, despite the fact that he is clearly guilty of using his influence to benefit his boyfriend, possibly to the detriment of a more qualified individual.  Not to mention that if this story was about a Republican representative, Frank and his fellow Dems - with a big assist to their enablers in the mainstream media - would probably hound the offending individual out of office.  Two wrongs only make a right when certain people are caught misbehaving and besides, rules are only for little people, not him.  Add in the additional PC protected class of him being gay and he's pretty much untouchable.

Maybe it's just coincidence that when Frank and the boyfriend split up, the boyfriend left the job Frank had helped him land. (bold mine again):

Moses, who lived with Frank in Washington at the time, worked for Fannie until 1998, when he left the mortgage behemoth. Moses, who could not be reached for comment, and Frank split up that year...

Frank was a junior member on the House Financial Services Committee at the time he helped Moses land the job and served on the committee, which regulates lenders, for the duration of their relationship...

In an interview Tuesday on WBUR’s “Fresh Air,” Morgensen said Frank “was very aggressive and really tough on those who were testifying in Congress about reining in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac” during hearings after Moses was hired. She said Fannie Mae “rolled out the red carpet” for Moses as part of a strategy to curry favor with Frank and other members of the Financial Services Committee.

Morgensen also noted that members of the committee raked in tens of thousands in campaign donations from Fannie and Freddie execs, including Frank, who received $42,000 in contributions from 1989 through 2008.

Nope, no conflict of interest at all.  But you just know if a Republican had pulled this shit he'd be in deep shit, and rightly so.  Since Frank is a Dem and gay to boot, I have a feeling this will be conveniently swept under the carpet and I think that's a shame.  It's not just Frank; I'd like to see the same standards applied to unethical and criminal politicians regardless of their party.  I'm a big fan of fair play and I'm also a big fan of seeing people get what they've earned and deserve, whether it's good or bad.  Plus, we're never going to have partisanship or the ability to truly work for the common good in our government if we have double standards for one party versus the other.  The sooner we hold all pols accountable, the sooner they remember who they really work for.

Maybe I'll call the new political blog "Double Standard" instead.  Says the same thing, but would be a lot easier to fit on the banner.