Alan Siegel is my hero.
Tax forms, credit agreements, healthcare legislation: They’re crammed with gobbledygook, says Alan Siegel, and incomprehensibly long. He calls for a simple, sensible redesign — and plain English — to make legal paperwork intelligible to the rest of us.
I’ve just arrived back in the U.S.A. after several weeks not following the insanely convoluted American political process on that debate.
… A USA Today/Gallup poll showed a plurality now favored the new law — yes, favored. After months of Republicans saying Democrats were going against the will of the people, a plurality — 49 to 40 percent — said passing the bill was “a good thing,” …
NY Times Opinion piece – House of Anger
The people have spoken. A small majority think that the Health Care legislation is an improvement.
That’s democracy.
Suck it up, buttercup.
Why are opponents so ungracious in defeat?
As Colbert would say, “WHY DO YOU REPUBLICANS HATE DEMOCRACY“?
I respect the opinions of those against the Bill. But I have no tolerance for anyone who breaks the law in frustration over losing the vote.
Lock ’em up.
So says Craig Jones, executive director of the John Howard Society regarding the Canadian prison system.
Why is the Harper government taking millions more dollars out of our pockets in times of massive deficit?
… expenditures for the coming fiscal year will increase 43 per cent, to $329.4 million in 2010-2011, from $230.8 million in 2009-2010 …
If the Americans have taught us anything, it’s that longer prison sentences don’t work in reducing crime.
The best moment in the movie Sicko was the scene showing that the vile terrorists get better Health Care in Guantanamo Bay than survivors of the American families victimized. The health personnel-to-detainee ratio is 1 to 4 there.
Perhaps Harper should look more closely at the Mexican prison system. In Mexico prisoners are expected to pay for their own cost of incarceration. Work camps are a far better deterrent than free dental.
prp
Sarah Palin was lobbed a softball question at the right wing Tea Party Convention Q&A session, February 6, 2010.
Just to make sure she could remember all 3 talking points, Sarah double-checked the notes scrawled on her hand.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Even a co-worker on her employer’s network, FOX news, poked fun at Palin’s palm notes.
Republicans, you’re going to let this creampuff debate Obama?
Find a better candidate.
Sadly, this photo of Sarah Palin is a fake.
Sad because it’s quite representative of her.
I’m reading that Palin is leading other potential Republican candidates for the 2012 election. Are the Republicans really that hard up?
She would be a disastrous President. An international embarrassment.
Yet the U.S.A. just might elect this unqualified woman. They elected an incoherent named Scott Brown recently, in a protest vote.
BBC poses another good question about Americans: Why do people vote against their own interests?
… it is striking that the people who most dislike the whole idea of healthcare reform- the ones who think it is socialist, godless, a step on the road to a police state – are often the ones it seems designed to help.
In Texas, where barely two-thirds of the population have full health insurance and over a fifth of all children have no cover at all, opposition to the legislation is currently running at 87%. …
I can understand a Texan voting against Obama. But I can’t understand what they see in Palin.
It’s not just me. I traveled for months in Europe and Asia last year. Not one non-American I spoke with liked Bush, McCain or Palin. Why do Americans vote for these people?
Enlighten me in a comment.
On Wednesday two major news stories dropped the same day:
1) the unveiling of the Apple iPad and
2) President Obama’s State of the Union speech
We wondered: what would people talk about more? Was the announcement of Apple’s Tablet Steve Jobs potentially more captivating than Obama’s first State of the Union speech?
UPDATE: It looks like the claims in this post are false. See details in the COMMENTS.
Here’s the response we got back from Canada Post:
Over the holidays, a customer contacted us by email to ask us why private sector partners would be allowed to charge more for the same service provided by corporate offices. The reply they received contained misinformation and we would like our customers to know the facts – rates are the same at all Canada Post establishments both corporate and private sector partner locations.
It is very important to us that your customer experience is the same no matter where you choose to shop.
In fact, the agreement that Canada Post has with its private sector partners specifies that the maximum postal rates that they can charge are the Canada Post published rates. If a postal outlet charges prices that are over the Canada Post published rates, they are in violation of their contract. You should also know that the equipment used by private sector postal outlets is programmed with Canada Post’s published rates. Therefore, the rates should be the same no matter where you choose to get postal services.
We are very disappointed to hear of this experience and we are investigating the matter. If you have any questions or concerns about our rates, contact us at http://canadapost.ca/contactus
AND another response by email:
It is very important to us that the customer experience is the same no matter where our customers choose to shop.
With respect to the rates, all of our 6,000 automated post offices, corporate or dealer use the same Retail point-of-sale system software and corporate rating engine. Therefore they all charge the same rate for the same identical service.
Dealers cannot charge a higher rate for a postal service, as the system will not permit it and contractually they would be in default.
We will further investigate the matter that you brought to our attention.
Regards,
Pam Larose
Customer Service
Canada Post
==== original post from Jan 13th:
Postal rates in the Great White North were increased Jan. 11th.
I think we should avoid using Canada Post as much as possible. The pricing system they use is silly.
Not that prices are too high. My complaint is that there is no fairness to the pricing.
For example, in 2006 David Grant compared mailing costs for the same package:
Vancouver to Florida $6.65 Small Packet USA Surface
Vancouver to Florida $7.90 Small Packet USA Air
FedEx Ground Vancouver to Toronto $12.Vancouver to Toronto via Canada Post Regular Parcel is $10.34
Do those rates seem sensible to you? Who comes up with these pricing formulas?
More recently, a blogger mailed two identical packages via Canada Post, one week apart.
From a Canada Post postal outlet, cost was $11.74. Next week … a clerk at a Canada Post office said the $11.74 on the second package was not enough. He’d have to buy $6 more in postage.
WHAT!?
That story came in by email from George. It’s posted in the comments.
Veronika Strofski, Customer Service Canada Post, explains:
Only Canada Post Depots and Corporate Post Offices are obligated to follow the price of stamps and postal products that are legislated by Canada Post. Any commercial and private establishment (e.g. convenience store or pharmacy) may charge extra fees as a convenience to their customers. It is at their discretion to apply additional service fees to products that they sell. We suggest visiting a Corporate Post Office in order to avoid paying additional service charges ….
Why haven’t I ever heard about these extra charges?
Seems those extra charges do not exist.
I’ll forward these complaints to Canada Post’s current Ombudsman: Ms. Nicole Goodfellow.
As at most bogus organizations, there’s no email contact. Only phone. Or mail. She really doesn’t want to hear from Canadians.
… On another page I found the address: ombud@ombudsman.postescanadapost.ca
I’ve still not heard back from the Ombudswoman. Who’s the Ombudsman for Ombudsmen?
Bottom line: In Canada, avoid snail mail. Do as much as possible online. Or by FAX.
Thanks Dana.
On Sunday, January 10th, 60 Minutes did an interview with John McCain’s campaign strategist Steve Schmidt:
Sarah Palin comes off very, very badly.
Schmidt says it would be a disaster to elect her President in 2012.
Click PLAY or watch her Greatest Hits on YouTube.
Happily, Dana just let me know that Palin’s gone to work for Fox News TV, the bastion of those who actually still believe anything she says.
How appropriate.
You know driving is dangerous, but you still drive a car.
Getting killed by a terrorist is not in the top 10. Not in the top 1000 causes of death.
Why are we spending so much money and effort to stop the odd goofball trying to light his genitals on fire?
In 2002 the TSA had 13 employees. Today, 60,000 employees. Do you feel safer?
TSA and Homeland Security spending is obcenely wasteful.
From an excellent opinion piece by DAVID BROOKS:
… In a mature nation, President Obama could go on TV and say, “Listen, we’re doing the best we can, but some terrorists are bound to get through.” But this is apparently a country that must be spoken to in childish ways. The original line out of the White House was that the system worked. Don’t worry, little Johnny.
When that didn’t work the official line went to the other extreme. “I consider that totally unacceptable,” Obama said. I’m really mad, Johnny. But don’t worry, I’ll make it all better.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration has to be seen doing something, so it added another layer to its stage play, “Security Theater” — more baggage regulations, more in-flight restrictions.
At some point, it’s worth pointing out that it wasn’t the centralized system that stopped terrorism in this instance. As with the shoe bomber, as with the plane that went down in Shanksville, Pa., it was decentralized citizen action. The plot was foiled by nonexpert civilians who had the advantage of the concrete information right in front of them — and the spirit to take the initiative. …
Body scanners wouldn’t have caught Northwest bomber. Airport pat-downs are an exercise in futility.
How long before we in North America finally adopt Israeli security?
… Immediately after the first bomb goes off in the entrance of the airport. Before you take your shoes off.
Rick McCharles 