So the Mighty Fierce Eagle Cats or whatever they’re called in Congress are all jacked up about doing “co-operative” plans instead of a public option on healthcare reform. I heard an interview on NPR this morning in which the interviewer actually asked a lot of tough, important questions. But then he kept letting the Eagle Cat he was interviewing get away with referencing “prominent actuaries” who supported the co-op plan. Just like that, though. He didn’t say the names of these prominent actuaries. He literally said the plan was supported by “prominent actuaries.” Which, if you can’t even give a name of who these people are, then you are clearly making it up.

But my question is, why is a co-op plan worse than a public option? Wouldn’t it be like a credit union for health? And wouldn’t that still be a superior option than what we have now?

Or maybe it would be exactly like credit unions, which are a superior option in terms of interest rates and customer service, but do not have anywhere near the level of worldwide accessibility you would get at, say, Chase.

Anyone want to straighten me out?

Robert Reich, who has steadily become one of my heroes, has a great piece on Salon today about how the “economic recovery” is all smoke and mirrors. I am 100% in agreement and think we are headed for even worse times than we have already seen. I know absolutely nothing about economics. I never even took a basic econ class. But it just seems like common sense that if we are losing more jobs than we are gaining, then we are not recovering. Right? Reich says:

What’s pushing the stock market upward? Mainly, unexpectedly positive second-quarter corporate profits. But those profits aren’t being powered by consumers who have suddenly found themselves with a lot more money in their pockets. The profits are coming from dramatic cost-cutting — including, most notably, payroll cuts. …

The problem here is twofold. First, such profits can’t be maintained. There’s a limit to how much can be cut without a business eventually disappearing — becoming, in effect, a balance sheet in space. Secondly, when businesses slash payrolls to show profits, consumers end up with even less money in their pockets to buy the things businesses produce. Even if they hold on to their jobs, they’re likely to fear that they won’t have the jobs for long, which causes them to retreat even further from the malls.

I think we have a tendency as humans to find ways of complicating issues that are actually pretty basic. The economy is one of those things. It’s like any conspiracy theory: the deeper you get into it, the less reality seems to matter. I’ve seen multiple experiments in which monkeys are able to make better stock picks than trained stock brokers. When Wall Street sees those studies, they don’t say, “hmm, maybe we are engaged in a non-scientific pursuit.” They say, “hire that monkey!”

(Courtesy of Sarah!)

Glenn Greenwald has been busting Chuck Todd’s chops lately over some comments he made on Morning Joe about how investigating the Bush administration over torture accusations is a bad idea, because it would turn into a political frightmare. I agree that it would turn ugly, because the Republican party is filled with nattering morons who can take someone as universally beloved and respected and impartial as Sonia Sotomayor and turn her into a baby-killing liberal ideologue. But I wholeheartedly agree with Glenn Greenwald, that fear of idiotic political reactions is not a very good reason to excuse someone from committing a crime. Yesterday, Chuck Todd was man enough to come on Greenwald’s podcast and get a little truth shoved down his throat. I have rarely heard someone get as flustered as quickly as Todd does in this discussion. A must listen for anyone interested in hearing the media squirm. Well done, Glenny!

Did I mention that I’m BEST TWITTER FRIENDS EVER with Katy Perry? She tweets me at least 20 times a day. It’s a little obsessive.

But the point is that she just won at the game of life, because I just found out that her cat’s name is Kitty Purry. Man. I can’t really top that.

I like this because this girl is super pretty. I can’t tell if the lyrics are awesome or terrible. A fine line between stupid and clever, indeed.

Answer: he forsakes making money.

Just cross-linking to a couple of things on Awkward Press that I think are worth reading. Yes, I wrote them, so maybe that isn’t cool. Or “scoop,” as the kids are saying.

Anyway, I have to actually work today, so this may be the last time you hear from me. So let Awkward entertain you for now. And also check out the hilarious posts by my partners!*

*Please note: my partners are not writing anything. They have, like, “social lives” or something.

Links:
The Awkward Movie Challenge: Ishtar
#sadpartyideas

I do not know. But they officially rule.

(Thanks, Sarah!)

(Update: The original video I posted was removed, so Stampin’ Libby found it on YouTube! My page no longer looks ugly and uninviting! Thanks, Libby!)

Badger Gets Drunk Off Cherries And Disrupts Traffic

Weird.

A Manhattan skyscraper in one of the most security-conscious parts of the city has become the scene of an unlikely missing persons mystery.

Police are trying to figure out what happened to a cleaning woman who vanished midway through her shift Tuesday evening at an office tower a few hundred feet from the World Trade Center reconstruction site.

Eridania Rodriguez, 46, punched in for work at 2 Rector Street around 5 p.m. She donned her blue uniform, chatted with other after-hours employees and was last seen on security cameras around 7 p.m., according to police and her family.

Then, she disappeared.

The building’s cameras never recorded her leaving the skyscraper. She didn’t meet up with co-workers for her regular subway ride home to Manhattan’s Washington Heights section. Her purse and street clothes remained in her locker. Her cleaning cart was found abandoned on the eighth floor, a space recently vacated by the city’s transportation department.