Category Archives: Politics & News

“We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Not Bait. Definitely Switched

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I went to Walgreens to cash in my 4,050 points against the two gallons of $4.19 milk I bought yesterday. They wouldn’t let me.

“Plenty of points. In plenty of places,” the Walgreens ads trumpet. The store’s “Balance Rewards” appear on featured items in the store fliers and online each week. They promote buying “more for healthy behavior.”

Walgreens, at the corner of Happy and Healthy chocolate barsThis week, the flier offers 1,000 points on Lindt Chocolates, 1,000 points on Schweppes seltzer water, 1,000 points on Planters winter spice or brittle nut medley, and 1,000 points on Hallmark greeting cards. Yep, healthy choices all.

“Oh, we have a policy not to redeem those points on dairy,” the manager said.

Turns out the fine print does say that points are “good on next purchase. Points are not earned if Store Credit or Redemption Dollars are used in a transaction and cannot be redeemed on some items. Complete details at Walgreens.com/Balance.”

I wondered about the policy that sells healthy chocolate and soda and nuts and greeting cards but won’t redeem them on milk, so I turned to the Interwebs.

“Due to state and federal laws, points cannot be earned on some items. Points will not be awarded to anyone who currently is or was at any time in the 6 months prior to purchasing Pharmacy Items covered by Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare or any other government-funded healthcare program. Pharmacy Items must be purchased at participating Walgreens Drugstore, Rxpress, Duane Reade, or Walgreens Pharmacy locations (“Participating Stores”) to earn points. Excludes Pharmacy Items purchased from AR, NJ or NY pharmacies and prescriptions transferred to a Participating Store located in AL, MS, OR or PR. See Balance Rewards terms and conditions for full details.” [Emphasis added]

The Terms and Conditions of the loyalty program offered by Walgreen Co. to its customers (also referred to as “the Program”) (I presume the loyalty program is referred to as “the Program,” not the customers) runs to five dense, single spaced pages of legalese. Buried near the bottom of page 3, I found this:

“Redemption Dollars may not be used for the purchase of the following: dairy; alcohol; tobacco; stamps; phone/pre-paid/gift cards; money order/transfers; transportation passes; charitable donations; prescriptions; pseudoephedrine or ephedrine products; immunizations, health tests or other healthcare items or services; Prescription Savings Club membership fee; clinic services.”

Walgreens may, of course, at any time and without notice, change, eliminate, or terminate the Point earning and redemption procedures and offerings.

I can understand that a drug store might not want to encourage discounts on booze and tobacco and would “lose” money on cash stuff like stamps, cash cards, and money order and the like. I don’t understand why a drug store “at the corner of happy and healthy” would discourage discounts on prescription, immunizations, health tests, items and services.

CVS annoys me, too, but I really wish they hadn’t left town.

“I dislike CVS,” Liz Arden said, “simply because they refuse Google Wallet and Apple Pay forms of payment. I like Walgreens because they accept Google Wallet.”

There is that, of course.

As far as I know, Walgreens does not sell bait. I feel happier and healthier already.

 

Schooled

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Time for a little readin’  ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that 15-year old U.S. high-school students “made no progress on recent international achievement exams and fell further in the rankings, reviving a debate about America’s ability to compete in a global economy.” Results of the survey can be found at oecd.org.

Classroom ChalkboardOur teens slipped from 25th to 31st in math in just three years, from 20th to 24th in science; and from 11th to 21st in reading.

The U.S. used to turn out the best students. Then we grew complacent. Then political correctness and inertia overcame the search for knowledge and growth.

Back when I was in high school (heh), we learned readin’,  ‘ritin’, ‘rithmetic, and ‘terpretation. Frank Wright (<== his real name) taught us history and social studies, and critical thinking long before “educators” made it a buzz word instead of an orderly process. Mr. Wright wasn’t an “educator”; Mr. Wright was a teacher. Oh, he did worship FDR (making him the most liberal man I had ever met) but he was bright and caring and good at his job. And the only politics that got in the way of teaching us history and life were the ones we freely argued about in the classroom.

Mr. Wright, my parents, and many of our public servants of that time were all life-members of what Tom Brokaw aptly called the “Greatest Generation.” They didn’t just grow up in the Great Depression. They didn’t just win World War II. They didn’t just teach. They learned. The 15-year old U.S. high-school students they once were could read, could write, could do arithmetic, could think critically.

Each succeeding class of 15-year old U.S. high-school students has dropped a little in what they could read, what they could write, what arithmetic they could do, how well they could think critically.

Look where that has brought us.

Today the average 15-year old U.S. high-school student can’t be bothered. That’s not because the average 15-year old U.S. high-school student doesn’t want to be bothered; that’s because our schools aren’t bothering them enough.

Today, our “public servants” (current, past, and would be) are still too busy to fix it. In fact, they are so busy telling you how much you should hate the other guy, they aren’t even telling you how they will pretend to fix it.

I see a tie-in between the failing school results and the failing electoral results.

Here in South Puffin in the vast expanse of Florida sunshine, we’ve learned from Tom Steyer that Gov. Rick Scott is “too shady for the sunshine state.” And the Brothers Koch tell us that former-Gov. Charlie Crist is a “slick politician, lousy governor.”

Up in North Puffin in the People’s Democratic Republic of Vermont, we find (pretty accurate) attack ads against incumbent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ everyday hypocrisy when he isn’t even on the ballot.

Boy, howdy, I feel better informed already.

I know so much bad stuff I don’t have time to worry about life getting better.

My friend Chris Bohjalian wrote yesterday that the dump was once a part of the stump. It’s a good read if your schooling was above average.

Vermonters are not voting for a president or either senator tomorrow, “and the race for our lone congressional representative is not exactly a nail-biter,” he wrote.

Every elective office is important. Even the Mosquito Control Board. And the High Bailiff. The Mosquito Control Board here in the Keys has a $15.51 million budget and a significant air force. The High Bailiff and perhaps only the High Bailiff can arrest the Sheriff.

My rules haven’t changed. If you’re an incumbent, find a new job. If you’re vying and trying and lying for our vote, find a new job. And if your ads even mention the other guy? Find a new job because I ain’t gonna vote for you.

Make tomorrow a nail biter. Don’t send the same Vermonter back to Congress. Don’t send your other scoundrel back to the Senate. Write in someone you know from the dump. He simply can’t do any worse.

 

Hit the Road, Jack

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We go to the polls in just eight days. I’m on the road today, dodging politicians. They all want a piece of my wallet.

Let’s take a look at where we are now, thanks to the crowd in Washington, in Montpelier, in Sacramento, in Tallahassee, and in a capitol near you:

Fun
• I’ve been talking to people in the grocery aisles. “I hate my cow-orkers,” one woman said. “I still couldn’t refinance my mortgage.” “We wanted to go to Hilton Head this year but we couldn’t afford the gas.” People are more negative than ever.
• The Financial Times’ has this depressing air travel story: “Once upon a time, flying was fun. Most of you won’t remember.”
• From trust in airlines to trust in cable companies to trust in food producers to trust in government, doing business isn’t fun anymore. That’s not a political issue but it does contribute to the overall negative vibe. OK, trust in government is political. You know what to do.

Health
• California’s doctor networks will stay limited in 2015. Health Net is dumping its PPO network there and switching to a plan with 54% fewer doctors and no out-of-network coverage. Health Net said its cutbacks were necessary to avoid even steeper rate hikes in California. Obamacare where “if we like our doc, we can keep our doc!”
• Dropped or delayed or pooch-screwed coverage for about 30,000 Californians! The LA Times reported that Californians face enrollment delays, dropped coverage and more, thanks to the Unaffordable Care Act. “If you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance!”
• In the People’s Republic of Vermont, another seriously blue state with a broken Health Exchange built by the same company the Feds used, premiums went up and coverage went down. Costs will go down, right?
• Staying in the People’s Republic of Vermont, the state’s largest employer (that would be state government) told workers that their health insurance premiums will rise 17.9% in 2015.
• News from the Veterans Administration to the CDC is of people dying, not people thriving while the agencies from Texas to Arizona “follow protocols.” Government care makes us healthier, right?

Money
• 46.5 million people now live in poverty up, up from when Mr. Bush was president, despite 6 years of “doing better.” Obamapologists keep trying to show how much better we treat our poor. Or to blame Mr. Bush.
• The national debt of $17.76 trillion is up more than a trillion dollars every year this Administration has remained in office, despite 6 years of “doing better.” Obamapologists keep trying to spin that into a smaller number. Or to blame Mr. Bush.
• Median household income fell again, down from when Mr. Bush was president despite 6 years of “doing better,” despite 6 years of inflation. Obamapologists can’t spin that.
• Premium increases for Obamacare policies and Medicare Part B won’t be released until after the election. Obamapologists can’t spin that, either.

Safety
• A man who posed as a congressman was allowed backstage at when Mr. Obama appeared at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner, making us wonder, Who would fake being a congressman?
• Mr. Obama has doubled the number of Border Patrol agents and says “border security is stronger than it has ever been” making us wonder, How do so many millions of illegal aliens get in?
• D.C. Spirit killed his daughter, her six children, and then himself. They had had repeated interactions with the Florida Department of Children and Families. In Hardwick, Vermont, Isaac Robitille was 5 when he got a puppy from Make-A-Wish. The Vermont Department of Children and Families confirms that they’ve tracked Isaac’s problems at least seven years. The state removed Isaac from home in 2007 but a DCF expert sent him back in 2008. They “handled” a new complaint in May. His mom and her boyfriend are charged with his murder. Police say they put vodka in Isaac’s IV. Doesn’t that make you wonder?

Every politician in office today ran on a platform of change. Every politician running for re-election is running on a promise that they “know how to fix it.”

If they know how, why didn’t they?

Tell me again why you want to re-elect any of the liars who brought you to this?

 

Used Food

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Pugnaciously parsimonious.

Regular readers will remember that Rufus says I am a “c-h-e-a-p   b-a-h-s-t-i-d” so I also think long about what most things cost before buying.

I’m not the first in the fambly to have that trait. My great grandfather was a Quaker farmer who never threw anything away which largely explains the size of the moving van we needed when we moved to North Puffin. I really believe in reduce, reuse, and eventually, recycle.

My mom coined the term “used food” when the grocery store would mark down the day old meats in the refrigerated meat case. We’ve expanded its meaning.

Dented CanI see an upside down cake in my future.

SWMBO and I keep our own grocery bills as low as we can by shopping the used food store for dented cans. That emporium is a liquidation center that clears out “zoins” — the pallets of rejected non-perishables from grocery stores. My mom always worried that the dent could damage the can coating and at the very least change the taste of the contents. We’ve never had a problem.

There are some rules to follow with used food.

Bulging or bloated can?
What? Are you nuts? Cans bulge and bloat when bacteria outgasses.

Push on the top and bottom of the can
If the lid moves or pops, throw it out.

Rusted cans
Rust weakens the floor of Vermont cars and lets bad stuff in. Does the same for cans, doncha know.

The can sprays when you open it
A can ought not spray or explode when you open the lid with a can opener or screwdriver or Swiss Army knife. Safe dented cans will open the same as non dented cans.

Foods that have abnormal odors should not be eaten.

Lots of new laws went into effect in Vermont this summer.

I hadn’t realized just how just stupid Vermont lawmakers are. All food scraps must be recycled back into consumption by 2020. The best of my food scraps, after sitting on my summer porch, will help feed people, lawmakers say. Oh it’s good to be poor in Vermont.

Oh yeah, bags of trash cost an extra 25 cents to toss now, and bulk trash an extra $10 per ton. Canceling the fees for recycling is just the first step in an effort to keep everything that can be recycled or composted out of Vermont landfills by 2020, the goal of the state’s Universal Recycling law, Act 148. Mandated recyclables. (Sounds really good, except the trash haulers still pay for recyclables by weight.) Otter stuff. And this.

It is the policy of the state that food residuals collected under the requirements of this chapter shall be managed according to the following order of priority uses:
(1) Reduction of the amount generated at the source;
(2) Diversion for food consumption by humans;
(3) Diversion for agricultural use, including consumption by animals;
(4) Composting, land application, and digestion; and
(5) Energy recovery.

Back to the food on my porch. Our trash hauler retired (he didn’t want to buy a new truck to split recyclables) so we make a “dump run” every couple of weeks. In that time we fill two or three barrels with mixed recyclables and one large bag with household garbage. Uncooked chicken trimmins. The bones and skin of that small mouth bass. And the mouse I caught last Monday. Mmmm. Smells soooooo fine. Oh, my.

I good with #1. We do need to cut down on the amount of food we throw away. This is Vermont, for heaven’s sake. Thrifty farmers. Make do folk. And #3, #4, and #5 are great.

I may have to rethink this whole “used food” idea, though.

 

Can You Sell That?

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Mr. Obama says the country is doing better. I guess if he says it, it must be true.

“Can you sell that?” Steve Kroft asked on 60 Minutes.

Good question.

Mr. Obama says he doesn’t have to sell it because the data proves it.

Yeppers. Here’s the data:

  • Median household income fell again.
  • 46.5 million people now live in poverty.
  • Oh, yeah. And the national debt approaches $17.76 trillion.

Remember Little Mikey?

Mikey was the young boy in a television commercial for the breakfast cereal, Life. The popular commercial first aired in 1972 and stayed on the air for more than twelve years, ending up as one of the longest continuously running commercial campaigns ever aired.

Little Mikey would eat anything.

Quaker Oats ran the commercial to change kids’ perception that something they thought would be bad would taste good. Mikey liked it.

Let’s look at the data that proves we’re doing better.

Median household income fell again, but only slightly in a change the Census Bureau does not consider statistically significant.

Heh. I have a statistically insignificant smaller number of bucks in my wallet but everything I bought last week cost more than the week before. Yeppers, I’m doing better. The data proves it.

Of course, Mr. Obama’s federal government also says the US inflation rate is low, something anyone who has shopped for ground beef (up from to $1.99/pound six years ago to $4.79/pound today), or home heating oil ($2.21/gallon on January 16, 2009, $2.56 by that November, and $3.869/gallon today), chocolate chips (on sale at 99 cents in 2008 but $2.50 today), or a basic Internet connection (I paid !@#$%^Comcast $41.81/month for spotty Internet service six years ago and $61.14/month for it this month) might question. Could it be that the Consumer Price Index doesn’t track what real consumers “pay at the pump”?

46.5 million — that’s one out of every seven people in the USA — now live in poverty. That’s also the largest number in the 54 years the Census has measured poverty. (Worthy of note is the fact that the percentage of people in poverty has declined as the actual number has risen because the overall population has also climbed.) Yeppers, they’re doing better. The data proves it.

Oh, yeah. And the national debt to pay for social programs to eliminate poverty and other stuff is about $17.76 Trillion (the national debt stood at about $10.7 Trillion on this date in 2008). Yeppers, we’re all doing better. The data proves it.

There’s plenty more. The NYTimes reports today on ER costs skyrocketing in spite of Obamacare. The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that ATM fees keep climbing despite government banking watchdogs. The Chicago Tribune reports today that Americans are stepping up spending, but the home market is weakening, despite federal programs. Doing better.

The True Believers like it.

“Can you sell that?” Steve Kroft asked.

Of course he can. He can sell it to Mikey. Mikey will eat anything! The data proves it.