Despite forecast, it’s is 100% overcast here in southeast PA.

Good time for food pantry donations, and our local chain grocery stores have big markdowns on turkeys.

Thanks for the reminder, and it’s clear here in N.TX., but no meteors broke loose in showers while I was watching.

Crystal clear skies for me. I’m pretty sure I saw a faint streaker to the west. Didn’t see anything else in 15 minutes. Maybe tomorrow.

In other news from the skies, an angel told me Glenn Beck and Obama both work for the same ruling class, and ObamaRahma enjoy and benefit from the distraction that is Beck and the rest of the crazies.

Let’s not forget who’s president while 90% of black kids are on food stamps.

Recovery is on the march.

all cloudy in southeast NY. rats.

I could go out and star-gaze for a bit, but I don’t think it’s strong enough medicine to make me forget. I haven’t had a job in nearly two years, have had cancer and been dropped by the good folks at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. Yet I am one of the lucky ones, I am not “food insecure”. Thank You Bill Clinton for NAFTA, and Blue Dog Democrats for voting with Republicans during the Bush years; thus contributing to our current state of affairs that allows for 1% of the population to control 95% of the wealth. And Thanks to this current crop of do-nothings for raising my hopes only to leave me with one of the biggest let downs of my life. This situation calls for a jug of rum and some Xanax.

Jason DeParle of the New York Times, in order to provide a “he said – she said” fair and balanced perspective, twirled the magic Rolodex which never disappoints:

“Very few of these people are hungry,” said Robert Rector, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “When they lose jobs, they constrain the kind of food they buy. That is regrettable, but it’s a far cry from a hunger crisis.”

Almost a quarter of all households with kids, 37% of single mother families. Yeah, let them die and decrese the surplus population, jerk.

And you, young DeParle; we shall watch your career with great interest.

(Solid cloud cover, windy and rather cold in Chicago, Mrs. Pillow is very disappointed.)

Went out and star starred for a while. No moving stars. But, it was peaceful. Thanks for the suggestion.

Barack Hussein Hoover.

Jason Rosenbaum (The Seminal/fdl) for HCAN is in Chicago today, to deliver petitions to AHIP and Ignani.

see; http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/14983

It’s the richest 1% piggish greed as the base for all this. The ! % are the corproratists, or the corporations. The law serves them, we serve them the sold the means of production they stole from their workers efforts.
Only the French have figured out how to deal with this suffocating scum or we accept the fact the 1% “owns ” over half the country.

Did anyone see The Big Bang Theory last night? The nerds went out to see the shower in the desert and some 50 something hippie mama’s slipped them brownies. They ended up with extreme munchies and finished sitting staring into the fire forgetting the shower raging behind them.

I’m pretty sure I saw a faint streaker to the west

That was Levi.

Same here in Central Iowa.

Pretty much a 90% likelihood in the Midwest whenever there’s a celestial event.

I’m sure it will clear off just as the sun comes up.

edit: Just checked again, the sun is coming up and it’s 90% clear.

Morning all. Clear here. Temp. – mid teens; ground – snow & ice covered. Think I’ll pass on the star gazing.

Good morning, pups. It’s Brooks, Cohen and Herbert today. Bobo gives us “The Nation of Futurity” in which he says it would be nice if Americans regained their faith in the future. China seems to possess the optimism that once defined the U.S. Mr. Cohen addresses “A Mideast Truce” and says peace between Israelis and Palestinians is unattainable. The wounds of the past decade are too deep. Bob Herbert considers “What the Future May Hold” and says for future generations, we need to remember that infrastructure is linked to the health of the economy, the environment and the viability of the nation as a whole.

Here they are.

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got a selection of bagels with cream cheese. I’ve been outside to feed the porch cats in the fog, so no meteors were seen here. It’s not a real pea-souper since I can see the house across the street clearly, but the sky is solid gray. Maybe next year… Have a great day.

On the other hand it’s often clear in the Winter when there’s something going on.

Clear and about -15 before windchill is considered.

Looks like the wingers are returning to those medieval walled city fortresses, instead of infrastructure, to keep out those furriners.

Maybe sooner or later they’ll realize that those walls are — gasp — infrastructure…

More than one in seven American households struggled to put enough food on the table in 2008,

Meanwhile Oh Bummer** is in China lecturing the Chinese about human rights while 17%, or more, of Americans are starving, thousands of people are dying every week because they have no access to health care, millions are homeless, millions are without jobs, and the rich get richer while the elite live in palaces, fly in their own jets and vacation on their private islands.

**My new bumper sticker that is free to copy and use.

so, does anyone think barak is getting bush type of advise concerning his effectiveness?

I remember bush was detached from his policy vs effectivness till the end of his second term

I am thinking they are actually telling barak he is effective and “keep it up”

Crystal clear here in central Texas. Much ambient light makes it about 2 visable meteors every 5 minutes. Still very cool.

StonyPillow,
The Heritage maggot is very far from correct, as you so rightly point out. We here at casa CBL have reduced our food spending by 50% over the last 3 years.

Unfortunately that is only part of the story. There are no talking heads willing to discuss the utter stupidity of 3 decades of reducing real income for the fast majority of Americans in a countrry that counts a full 70+% of GDP as consumer spending. How the fuck was that supposed to be sustainable?

For us household income is down by more than half in the last 5 years. Both of us are under-employed and now, because of age, that is irreversible. Health insurance costs forced a choice late this year and now one of us is uninsured. Both of us are well and have between us seen a doctor only 3 times in the last 2 years. Insurance declined to pay for the office visits because the provider billed the clinic as a hospital. So inspite of being payed over $26,000.00 over the 2.5 years of the policy they would not pay the only $400.00 ever submitted for payment. Great system.

The bottom line is this; a once solid middle class family is on the brink of ruin as a result of economic mismanagement begun under reagan and relentlessy carried on by every administration since. The saddest and most disturbing thing is, we are not an anomaly. We are average.

gotta go – everyone have a good day

No, not an anomaly, a universal tragedy.

Unfortunately that is only part of the story. There are no talking heads willing to discuss the utter stupidity of 3 decades of reducing real income for the fast majority of Americans in a countrry that counts a full 70+% of GDP as consumer spending. How the fuck was that supposed to be sustainable?

oldnslow, that’s a great post, if they were to address the 3 decades of declinging income they would have to point out who the culprit was

it’s funny, at the time everyone knew it was reagan, this isn’t some kind of epiphane, everyone knew even into his first term he was destroying the middle class

but now they are afraid to say it, simply because that informs everyone that everything they’ve said is not only wrong but they were clearly lying

Oh! I saw two shooting somethings!! I’m in a rural area of N. San Diego County. Bet the folks at Palomar Observatory are having fun! And I discovered my daughter sleeping outside. Sound asleep.

Shocking news , which no one could have predicted:

MVP Health Care, the Rochester region’s second-largest health insurer, is notifying local employers that next year’s premiums for its community-rated plans will rise on average between 12 percent and 25 percent.

We’re the young girl saying ‘no, no, help me,’ and the insurance companies are Amon Goeth.

Yup. Reagan busting the air traffic control union was his first victory that I remember.

good morning Attaturk and Firedogs,

this is the first time in our 6 years in TX that it wasn’t clouded over for a celestial event. several big ones and tons of what I call ‘smudgies’ – barely discernible little ones – beautiful.

did that come before he made believe he was cutting taxes?

of cource he never lowered taxes even before he raised them more then any peacetime president in istory, what he really did was raise taxes on the local level, made believe he lowered taxes over all but of course he gave back far less then the services attached to those taxes cost, then he took those stolen assets and giving them to the wealthiest people on the planet

but did that strike come before or after his tax raising expedition?

MVP Health Care, the Rochester region’s second-largest health insurer, is notifying local employers that next year’s premiums for its community-rated plans will rise on average between 12 percent and 25 percent.

read that to mean 25 or more percent for just about everyone, 12 percent or less for the wealthy

no kidding, that’s not snark, that’s what the translation is

jeep jeep

cept for the downfall of carter.

Mornin’, pups -

Hope y’all will get a grin from this Stanley Fish blog entry:

http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/words-you-hate-to-hear/

Can I Put You On Hold?

There is a class of utterances that, when encountered, produce irritation, distress and, in some cases, the desire to kill. You hear or read one of these and your heart sinks. ……

I don’t know.

Kind of a stupid time for health insurance companies to be raising rates though, no?

Gotta pay all those lobbyists and can’t have them dip into profits.

it does seem self destructive, no?

I am really wondering what’s up with this marketing strategy they’ve come up with, it seems like they are making our point for us

yup, those lobbyists are gonna be at the low end of the belle curve

why I bet their rates are actually lowered not raised

True.

of cource he never lowered taxes even before he raised them more then any peacetime president in istory,

Peacetime? You jest of course

There are certain events in history that have made certain industries realize how much pricing power they have. For example, in 1974 sugar prices rocketed, causeing one Wall St. analyst of the soft drink industry to throw himself out the window in dispair over his stock recommendation. However, the soft drink mfgrs raised their prices, not just enough to account for the higher sugar prices, but found, since no one drank any less, that they could raise their prices much more. They simply hadn’t realized how price inelastic their product was previously.

Ditto phrma in response to Waxman’s generic drug legislation in 1981. Prior to that, drug prices had risen less rapidly than inflation, but ever after drug prices have risen much more than inflation.

Today’s medical insurance behavior is much like the 1981 situation. They think their pricing behavior might be constrained in the future, so they are getting as much in advance as they can. In the process, they discover that they can get away with it, which just engenders more price increases. So it’s a great time for them to be raising prices, since they know there will be nothing from the govt except empty rhetoric.

Ya think they’re going to be going hungry?

I heard on NPR a couple of weeks ago an interview with a member of a United Nations group that was here in America studying our housing situation. Lots of homeless, etc. It was shocking. I think of UN Groups going to Bangladesh, not the USA.

They are raising the rates now because they can. They also know full well that health care “reform” is going nowhere so their rates will stay in effect and the good time profits will roll.

What a tragedy.

One thing which is not bullshit! Energy and its true “”cost”" to our society has been mitigated. There is a direct correlation between Liberty and energy cost. The escalating cost of energy over decades has exacted a tremendous price from America. Vast fortunes have been “”wasted”" and continue to be “wasted” by a “conditioned” America to perpetuate the business interests of a few, to the detriment of the many! Jefferson warned of moral hazards and irresponsible aristocrats. We now live the consequences of myopic selfishness, where the corporate interest operating in voids of law, like the institution of slavery, consumes life and liberty leaving only death.

Yeah…but I’m not convinced congress will do nothing. This raising of rates when folks are going broke will certainly make people support the public option and maybe even call their congress critter.

The tea baggers need to be harnessed by someone other than Dick Armey.

Kind of a stupid time for health insurance companies to be raising rates though, no?

I’d call it a big fat middle finger salute to the American public and the worthless politicians we’ve elected telling everyone “Nobody’s gonna control US!”

We’ll see on the political front. The prices increases are one reason I’d like to see the medical legislation delayed. There is some chance that the price increases will call out enough of an outcry to pressure pols into a stronger plan. However, I don’t hold out much hope.

The female talking heads on CNN are talking about the various ways people try to control their drug costs and basically giving the drug makers a free pass……yeah, cut yer meds in half; beg for freebies from the drug companies and yer docs and yer pharmacy……..that’s just the ticket to solving all our pill ills. GAK!

early, early for you – you okay ?

you and Ms Loo Hoo are close enough to what is the best spot for star gazing in Cali – Mt Pinos – depending on the day of the event, you probably need to make it an overnighter – so gorgeous

plus they still have a dozen Condors to be seen (just follow the geeky birder types) and we always used to take the road to the dam on the other side of I-5 to take in a glimpse of San Juaquin Kit Foxes to be found at the end of that road

How are you??? I’m just in weird sleep patterns.

Here in AZ sky is clear and not much action from Leo, Saturn and Mars are shining bright. Fry’s and Safeway are not going out on strike so at least those who have money won’t have to shop at non-union stores for what food they can still buy. Local builders are putting up signs like it is 2004 again, wonder who is going to buy?

Swim is up top

democracynow is gonna do a segment on U.S. food problems.

we’re good. youngest coming home from college this week – starting to get excited. plus, I asked oldnslow to wake me if the sky was clear – very worth it

I knew about you being up and and about early, not used to seeing Demi at this hour :D

Link for Palomar Web Cam nothing right now, but page says it can be spectactular to check in during the day or at twilight

Got up at 3:55 am ET to view Leonids this morning; was crystal clear here, although some suburban light pollution surely cut into viewing. Saw 2 meteors per 5 minutes, like oldnslow above. Not bad for the locale.

Will have to put on the calendar for next year and plan ahead to drive further out in the country to view if the skies are clear.

Was on an Amtrak train a couple of weeks ago. Had to make several unscheduled stops because there isn’t a dedicated line and one stop was for a bridge inspection! 190 mile trip took almost 6 hours. Was on the French TGV in June. It covered the same distance in about 1 1/2 hours. The U.S. is woefully behind and is slipping even further because most Americans do not believe in the government playing an active role in the life and infrastructure of the country. Now is a good time to begin learning Chinese.

They are raising the rates now because they can. They also know full well that health care “reform” is going nowhere so their rates will stay in effect and the good time profits will roll.

Also they’re probably hoping for, at worst, some “trigger” provisions that provide “if health care premiums get this [%] much higher from now, then ‘reform’ will go into effect.” They’re raising the premium “base” to ensure they’ll always have that, despite any “reforms,” and that they can coast along at these higher rates, not raising them enough to “trigger” anything that’s bad for them.

I was watching Olbermann last night on the Free Clinic held in New Orleans on Saturday. I wish he’d do a story on how much money the drug & insurance companies are spending daily/weekly on lobbying, and how far that $$$ would go to support free clinics.

He also managed to not cover the “42 whores singing from the same sheet music” story. I was disappointed.

Yes, but that’s the deal. They just don’t care anymore. Like the NRA they have demonstrated that they are all-powerful and legislators won’t DARE oppose them. So they do whatever they damn well please and to everybody else? Suck it up.