The pot calling the kettle black! Bloomberg stars as the pot.

Read today that Bloomberg called Bill De Blasio a racist.  Apparently, it's now considered racist to use your family in your campaigns.  Of course, Bloomberg was always at a disadvantage in that area.  Having his "dressage" daughter advertising "my father is a mensch" would hardly attract the majority of New York voters.  Shades of Romney.  Rather he used money--lots and lots of money, to defeat Thompson in the last mayoral race.  A race, I should add, that should never have happened since Bloomberg was all for term limits until it came to his turn.

De Blasio has a black wife, formerly and perhaps now a bi-sexual woman, and their children are mixed race and appear with him on the campaign trail.  This is racist to Bloomberg since some African-Americans may vote for De Blasio because of his black wife and multi-race children. And his wife's bi-sexuality may draw away some of Quinn's audience--Bloomberg's favorite. Oh, that De Blasio is so racist! It's so obvious he must have planned his life for this moment.

Instead of apologizing for his racist policies--stop and frisk being the most obvious, Bloomberg blames DeBlasio for disagreeing with him.  I have no idea who will win the race or even who will win the Democrat primary, the only thing I do know is that Bloomberg is gone.  Finally, at last, Hallelujah!

All politics are local! All things are political!

Don't remember who said the first part of my title but the second part reflects my view. Even ordering a jacket online has its political element, as noted below in the letter I just wrote to Ideeli, a woman's fashion website:

Dear Ideeli,

I finally got a resolution of my issue by speaking to someone by telephone earlier today. A jacket I ordered to wear in Maine in September, which was due to arrive between August 8 and 10, has not yet shipped. I wrote an email to cancel the order as I won't be home (and can't refuse as I don't have a doorman). No, I was told, "you can't cancel," so I tried Live Chat, also told "no, can't be cancelled," even though not yet shipped. The resolution by Ideeli, finally after a week of emailing and telephoning, is if it arrives (who knows when, where, and if ever) I get to keep it without paying. Ok, that's one for me, but that doesn't solve Ideeli's problem.

I used Ideeli over other sites, like Gilt and Haute because its delivery was so wonderful. The shipping dates and arrival dates were always accurate. Everything arrived on time and the prices were great. Loved it! Now after getting a dress a week after I had planned to wear it (waited at home two days for delivery) and not getting the jacket that's been pending shipment for weeks now (and nobody seems to know where it is) I am no longer a fan of Ideeli and won't order from you again.

So, why this email. Just to let you know that you had a great thing going and you screwed up. Why? I can take a reasonable guess. You wanted to save on wages so moved your operation to South Carolina from New Jersey. To pay some workers a minimal wage that they can barely get by on, you lost this customer and probably many more. I intend to write about this on my political blog and also to let those to whom I recommended Ideeli know that you are no longer reliable, and all to save money on workers' wages. I live in the northeast where most of my friends believe in decent wages for a decent day's work, and we also like good products, good prices, and accurate delivery dates.

I won't wish you good luck in South Carolina. You should have stayed in New Jersey. But thanks for the jacket, if it ever arrives.

Grace Brophy

Money, Money, Money, Money!

I have written about the American medical system many times on this blog and also have mentioned how vastly inferior it is to other medical models in Western countries (last time I checked we were rated 37 in quality of care. I will write about it again.

When I was in Paris, riding on the metro towards the airport for my trip to Spain, I fell walking up the Metro steps.  The handrail broke and threw me to the ground.  I rolled to the bottom of the steps with my suitcase on top and within a few minutes had a huge hematoma on my forehead and was bruised from shoulder to calf on my left side.  I didn't have time to go to the hospital as Miguel's family was waiting to pick me up at the airport in Spain.  I had a lovely black eye for the five days I was in Spain, and on my return to France some dizzy spells prompted me to go to a Paris ER.

My treatment was very typical of what I've had in New York--a triage nurse first determined how serious the injury.  When I was admitted to an examining room, two residents went over my medical history very carefully (about an hour) and then a doctor also examined me.  The latter determined that I should have a CT scan as I was traveling by plane in two days to Venice and if I had internal bleeding the trip would be dangerous. (Not important to this discussion but the scan was clean.)

I have no medical insurance in France so gave my  home address and asked that the bill be sent to New York.  When I arrived home, my bill was there before me:  154 euros, or converted to dollars about $200.  My sister who had something very similar happen to her in May, in New York, received a bill for $20,000, fortunately paid by insurance.  She stayed overnight unlike me, so perhaps the $19,800 difference was for the room!  (She could have travelled to Europe on the Queen Mary 2, and stayed at the Hotel Gritti Palace in Venice for a few weeks for less.) Let me not forget to mention that the 154 euro bill came from France, which is rated number one in the world for its quality of medical care.  Obama care won't fix the problem.  It won't even come close.

The reason for our ridiculously expensive health care system---money, money, money, and more money (the title of Maureen Dowd's column on the Clinton's).  Health care and education are two areas in any culture that should be not-for-profit, and in most countries and cultures this is the case, except for the United States.  The irony for me is that I read recently that the United States is one of the more religious countries in the world, particularly in the Western World, yet in Biblical terms we would have been kicked out of the temple by Jesus.

Today I saw an eye doctor (Renee Richards, the tennis player of days gone-by) who specializes in strabismus (crossed eyes to the uninitiated).  My co-pay for seeing a specialist is $35.00.  When I finished with Dr. Richards (who said my eye glasses are the wrong strength and is responsible for some of my recent vision problems) I was told I owed $85.00.  I protested since my co-pay is $35.00 and was told I had to pay $50.00 for the eye glass prescription.  I felt like doing an Elaine and yelling "Get out."  Instead I calmly told the office manager I would pay $35.00 and no more. She then insisted that I return the prescription, which I did.  I have filed a complaint with United Health Care and the Superintendent of Insurance of New York.  As I wrote above, Money, Money, Money, Money!  It's all about Money!

Say goodnight, Maureen!

I sent the following to the Letters Editor of the New York Times re Maureen Dowd, but, of course, it won't be printed:

"The Irish are infamous for holding grudges (says this proud holder of an Irish passport) but Maureen Dowd has raised it to an art form, of the Jeff Koons variety."

They did not publish my comment today to Dowd's column (now lost in cyberspace), mainly I'm sure because I criticized the Times for keeping her on.  She is an absolute bore with her hatred of the Clintons, and the thought of another 2-3 years of columns hating the Clintons is really unbearable.  It surprises me that the Times would even publish a column that blames the Clintons for Anthony Weiner's behavior and for every other ill in this world.  I try to imagine at times what led to this hatred and I can only assume from the size of Dowd's ego that one or the other, or both, of the Clintons didn't give her a seat on Air Force One or didn't invite her to some party that she thought was her due.  It's ironic that she writes of the Clintons wanting their due when it's so apparent that this is Dowd's problem.

I'm happy to note, however, that most of the comments that were published call Dowd a mean, vindictive woman, and a few, as I have noted in the past, suggest that Dowd is a closeted Republican.  Here's a link to the column.  Be careful in reading, the poison drips off the page.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/opinion/sunday/dowd-money-money-money-money-money.html?hp

Religious Belief and Intelligence!

Article on intelligence and religious belief, link below.  Interesting how the writer tries hard to not sound superior.  In one way I agree, after all none of us are responsible for our basic intelligence conferred by genes, but the evidence is the evidence, or as Jack Webb might have said, "Just the facts, Ma'am."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-brooks/atheists-smarter-than-believers_b_3751796.html

The un-liberal, liberal New York Times

I wrote the comment at the end of this post to send to the Times today after reading Thomas Friedman's opinion piece.  I am posting a link to Friedman's article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/opinion/friedman-obama-snowden-and-putin.html?

My Comment:

Really!  Snowden should return to the U.S. as the American people will treat him fairly.  Hard to believe I just read this in the New York Times and that the Opinion Page editor permitted it to be published.  We finally get Maureen Dowd' to leave Entertainment Weekly and write a serious political column on Larry Summers and then we get this from you! Let me point out Mr. Friedman, as even your own paper acknowledges, that if other western countries weren't so afraid of the United States and its bullying, Snowden wouldn't be forced to seek asylum in Russia. 

Even those who could care less about the entire issue (most Americans) know that Snowden is a whistle blower not a traitor, but if he returns he'll spend the remainder of his life in prison. He blew the whistle on traitors, the Obama administration and those that came before, Bush, et al., traitors to the Constitution and to humanity. Without doubt, this is the worst column I've read in the Times in years and I'm including all the columns in the Times, including Friedman's, that supported our destruction of Iraq based on lies. This is something I would expect of the Fox network. I wish the Times would get serious in its selection of political columnists.  


The above did not get submitted as the Times website went down right after I wrote it, but I doubt the Times would have printed it anyway.  It's very protective of its editorial staff particularly when called out about its involvement in the Iraq war.  But I am still amazed that the Times would have published this.  Friedman knows full well that Snowden would never get a fair trial in this country and would spent the rest of his life in prison, where I would gladly put Friedman for writing such crap. 

One other important note.  Many people who agree with Obama and condemn Snowden point out that he had signed a contract that he would keep the government's secrets before he took the job.  Since Snowden could not have known what he would find after he took the job until he had signed the contract, I believe in Contract Law at least he would not be held to the contract if he determined that what he was involved in was illegal, as he did.  And Prism under current U.S. law is acting illegally in its collection of private records.  If you don't believe this, you should read more.

More important, at the Nuremburg trials the defense that one was under orders did not hold sway, and the United States supported the thesis that there's no defense for following orders when one is asked to do something illegal, and worse, immoral or inhumane.  On all counts Snowden is guilty of nothing beyond his belief in human decency and the ascendancy of the United States Constitution.

Aging eyes and Bloomberg!

What do the two have to do with each other?  Not much, but I can always turn something minor into a political observation.  Today, I was on the 5th Avenue bus on my way to Trader Joe's.  We stopped at a red light and attached to the light was a Times Square type rolling advertisement for pizza and calzones. My first reaction was how tacky, my second was that it was a diversion that could easily cause an accident, my third what will Bloomberg do next for money, probably advertise his radio program on Grant's tomb.  As the bus pulled away, I realized that the sign was actually on a store immediately behind the red light and I offered a silent apology to Bloomberg.  A few blocks later we passed one of the new city bicycle stands (with about 25 bikes available for rent).  I took back my apology immediately as I contemplated another 25 bike riders mowing me down as they go through red lights, stop signs, ride on one-way streets the wrong way, on sidewalks and, in general, cause mayhem, mainly on older New Yorkers but also on pedestrians of all ages.  I am hoping that our next mayor decides to impose licenses on bike riders in New York City.  It's the only way to eliminate their reckless behavior without eliminating bikes.  But the latter might not be a bad idea.

Some Good News!

Often there's not much to write about that's not negative.  But today some good news:

Russia has given Snowdon a one-year temporary visa.  I don't think if I were Snowden I'd want to live in Russia as opposed to a country in South America, but in one respect Russia is more capable of protecting Snowdon from the United States.  Anyway, good for him and thanks for letting us know how every one of my emails, telephone calls, and blog posts are being viewed by NSA.  Not that I didn't know that already but it's good to have confirmation.

And if anyone doesn't believe that Snowdon did some good the Obama administration released some (but not all) records of what the NSA has been collecting and the records that authorized it, also not all. The public is now aware of how much its privacy has been impacted, not that many of them care.  But I do and I'm grateful to Snowdon.

Uruguay legalized marijuana yesterday to the extent that its citizens can grow up to six plants each or get it from a pharmacy.  At least some countries have their heads ( or legislators) screwed on properly.  I've never smoked the stuff, mainly because I preferred cigarettes (no longer) and alcohol (still), but it is a benign drug compared to both tobacco and alcohol, both of which are legal in most of the world.  Found out when Miguel was dying and we needed marijuana for medical purposes that my oldest friend from high school (very very politically conservative) smokes it every day.  Who knew?  But then I always had a bit of the Polyanna in me.

And a late addendum:  Berlusconi lost his appeal against his tax fraud conviction.  Anyway, that's the good news.  He still has to appeal his "sex with minor" conviction.  Bad news in this case is he won't be going to jail.  A year of house arrest in one of his mansions.  Italy lets anyone over 70 serve their sentences under house arrest.  Humane, yes, but not when someone like Berlusconi is involved.  He'll make as much mischief as he can during that year.  Hope as one columnist wrote, his light is finally fading.  What bothers me most is that it makes Italians, who vote for him repeatedly, appear to be buffoons.  The economy has lost 15% in the last few years and car manufacturing is down 40%, yet still some vote for him.  Ah, Italy--such good food, such bad judgment.

Since I'm always denigrating bad decisions, I've decided to celebrate the good ones when they happen.

Good for Uruguay and Snowdon and the judiciary in Italy.

Where are all the celebrity liberals?

Just finished reading an article in today's Times about a Japanese sushi restaurant that charges approximately $1,000 per couple to eat in its restaurant but abuses immigrant labor to an extreme degree.  A short bit from the article:

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — One of the country’s most renowned sushi restaurants, Urasawa, sits in a small alcove above Rodeo Drive here. A typical bill for two people easily tops $1,000. Over an evening that can stretch to three hours, diners are served dishes dotted with caviar and 24-karat gold flakes (for the iron, the chef notes).

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Julie Platner for The New York Times

Heriberto Zamora, left, is suing for back pay. His lawyer, Kevin Kish, right, said, “We see this happen all the time, across all industries, all parts of the city and all kinds of businesses.”

But workers in the back kitchen are routinely denied overtime pay and forbidden from taking breaks, according to former employees and a California Labor Department investigation. Now, the chef and owner, Hiroyuki Urasawa, is battling state and civil claims that he withheld tens of thousands of dollars in wages and overtime from workers. One former employee who left the restaurant last year said he resorted to urinating in the sink meant for cleaning mops after being told the men’s restroom was for customers only during business hours.

Each night, Mr. Urasawa stands behind a pristine sushi bar serving more than a dozen dishes, each with an elaborate description of the provenance of the ingredients, mostly imported from Japan. With an affable smile, he happily accepts sake from diners, who can spend hundreds of dollars on a bottle.

“It was always about the customers, making sure that they were happy,” said Heriberto Zamora, 26, who worked at the restaurant for more than five years and has filed a civil suit for back pay. “None of the employees were treated very well. We knew people were paying a lot to eat there, but for us it was no different.”

After immigrating from Oaxaca, Mexico, as a teenager, Mr. Zamora found a job at Urasawa through a friend. He worked his way up, starting as a dishwasher and eventually cleaning and preparing the fish and arranging precisely cut vegetables. After a promotion, while he was earning about $9 an hour, Mr. Urasawa forced him to buy his own $700 set of knives — each meant to touch only certain ingredients, Mr. Zamora said. Eventually, he was working nearly 60 hours a week for $11.50 an hour.

One day last June, nine hours into his shift, Mr. Zamora was coughing and asked to go home, complaining of a fever, he said. Mr. Urasawa fired him on the spot, he said.

Mr. Urasawa and his lawyer declined to comment for this article. But he has appealed a ruling issued by the state last month fining him $55,000 for failing to pay overtime and give breaks to Mr. Zamora and three other employees.

Mr. Urasawa is not the first high-end chef to face charges from workers. Mario Batali and his partners ultimately reached a $1.5 million settlement last year with a group of employees at several of his restaurants in New York.

The Urasawa case has become something of a battle cry among the overwhelmingly immigrant work force in hundreds of kitchens here. Labor and immigrant advocates say Mr. Zamora’s experience is typical for thousands of workers in restaurants, regardless of how much customers might be paying to eat there.

The problem is particularly acute in businesses that rely on cash to pay workers, as many restaurants do. A 2009 study by the Labor Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that there was an average of $26 million worth of wage violations each week in Los Angeles.

“There are countless examples in which workers are taking home less than they’ve earned,” said Julie Su, the state labor commissioner, who has made cracking down on wage violations a focus of her office. In the case of Urasawa and dozens of other restaurants, investigators wait outside watching workers come and go, comparing what they see to the time records kept on employers’ books. “It’s a perversion of the concept of minimum wage — it goes from being some kind of floor to instead being some kind of ceiling,” Ms. Su said.

Ms. Su has investigated hundreds of wage violation cases this year, using individual complaints as starting points for many of the investigations. In countless cases, she said, owners rely on paying the same rate over 12 hours, though such practices violate labor laws created a century ago in part to ensure that employers hire a sufficient number of people, rather than rely on one worker for many hours.

“We see this happen all the time, across all industries, all parts of the city and all kinds of businesses,” said Kevin Kish, a lawyer for Bet Tzedek, a nonprofit legal group that has taken on Mr. Zamora’s case. “The only thing that is remarkable about this case is that people might expect paying so much means that workers are getting paid fairly.”

After Mr. Zamora was fired, a friend told him to go to the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, which helps many workers file wage violation complaints. This spring, the organization held a daytime protest in front of Urasawa, which garnered some attention in the local news media.

You can read the full article in the NY Times today.  Apparently Mario Batali has been accused of similar ugly practices.  So, here's the challenge.  Do your liberal leanings overcome your food choices, which apparently for celebrities is to be seen in the right places?  I hate sushi and I never go to the West Coast, but I have gone to Batali's Eately off Fifth Avenue on a few occasions and even purchased one of Mario Batali's pots.  Never again.  What's more I intend to bad mouth him whenever the opportunity arises.  These people are monsters.  They make fortunes for themselves and can't even pay their employees a decent wage.  I'm thinking--perhaps a picket line outside Eately.  Yes, he and his partners did settle after being found out.  But . . . 

That he needed to be found out is the problem; it indicates that he's a monster and doesn't deserve anyone's patronage.  Come on all you celebrities that said you'd leave the U.S. if Bush got elected and then hung around to make fortunes.  Yes, I'm speaking to you Streisand and Baldwin.  Do something for immigrant workers to make up for all your previous hyperpole.  Join the picket line.

I'm back and she's back!

In case you haven't read any of my previous posts, the "she" is Maureen Dowd, the supposed political columnist for the New York Times--and supposedly with a leftist viewpoint.  Hah!

Dowd has returned to her Marilyn and Clint Eastwood type columns with her latest offering on the president of France's companion.  Why do we, or would we, want to know if Valérie Trierweiler is catty or arrogant, or trying too hard to overcome her reputation for meanness?  Has the New York Times become a surrogate for Entertainment Weekly?  I keep asking but without answer as to when the Times will drop Dowd and get itself an actual political columnist?

Perhaps I'm just crabby because I'm on the Dukan diet, starting today, with no more Venetian Spritz's for at least a week.  What women will do to lose ten pounds!

When in Venice I had a few every day:  three or four ice cubes, one third prosecco, one third Aperol, and one third club soda, with a orange or lemon slice.  In Venice 2.50 euros; in New York $17.00.  And to think people say Venice is expensive--must be someone who's never visited New York.