Got this poorly timed postcard in the mail today:

Poorly timed because my Blue Cross Blue Shield benefits don’t cover a whole year’s worth of brand name medication, which means I’m in the part of year when I’m paying $300+ per month for prescriptions, on top of the nearly $500/month that I pay for insurance premiums.
I [...]

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In this article by Maureen Dowd, she lists earmarks that John McCain is opposing in the latest spending bill. His objections include this line item:
$650,000 for beaver management in North Carolina and Mississippi.
Perhaps beavers are more manageable in Arizona, but we’ve had issues with unruly beavers right here in our neighborhood. It was through our [...]

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Dear Mrs. Crone,
As a responsible lender we have reviewed your account and noticed that you have only been using a small portion of your available credit. Therefore, we have adjusted your revolving credit line to [an amount that accounts for about 2/3 of my 2008 net income].
Signed,
A major bank in the process of being bailed [...]

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Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world’s poor
Head of GSK shocks industry with challenge to other ‘big pharma’ companies
Maybe this will turn out to be one of those P.R. stunts that look good until it’s discovered, weeks later, to be nothing but a way of dumping unused inventory or undermining the competition. Time will [...]

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Definitions of “bipartisanship“:
Citizens: Working together to find a compromise solution that works for most
Democrats: Denying your principles and betraying your base
Republicans: Do it our way. We call the shots. Bend over.
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Top economic advisers to President Obama adamantly opposed the pay restrictions, according to Congressional officials, warning lawmakers behind closed doors that they went too far and would cause a brain drain in the financial industry during an acute crisis…the restrictions could unleash unintended consequences, like encouraging banks to increase salaries to make up for diminished [...]

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Calling the Republican’s parrot call to lower taxes an “alternative stimulus package” is like calling Kenny Chesney alternative rock.
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This illustrated article in the NY Times is just so beautiful. It expresses the hope and joy people feel about the new administration.
The very notion of using the term “hope and joy” in a political context strikes me as odd.
On a personal level, I love and admire the illustrations. One of my creative blocks is [...]

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Caught this tidbit in an article on Salon:
Some of the items in the Democratic draft, if taken out of context, are easily mocked. Like, for example, the $200 million to re-sod the National Mall, or the $44 million to renovate the exterior of the Agriculture Department building in Washington.
Umm…wouldn’t lawn maintenance of a heavily-used, urban [...]

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So the last week was pretty amazing on a number of counts. (1) Barack Obama was inaugurated. (2) Barry and I were in DC with a few million other people for the occasion. (3) I met a whole bunch of cousins that I’d never met before.
We arrived on Saturday after a lovely drive up Route [...]

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