If you like your candy - you can keep it!

Happy Halloween everyone!

In today's blog, we feature a political cartoon that highlights what has become perhaps the most famous quote by President Obama - (no, not "hope and change" - that's a distant memory)… it's "If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan. Period."  

Unfortunately, for the President, this seems to be a lie - as millions of Americans are finding out that their health plans in the individual market are notifying them that their coverage is being terminated unless much higher premiums get paid.

This has triggered another chapter of craziness on the US political scene.

The Republicans are on the attack - demanding the President to "walk back" that comment since it's not true.

The Democrats are spinning like a top - trying to find (often very amusing) ways to defend this statement as "Oh, he really didn't mean it to be policy"…. "it was taken out of context", etc.

The problem when you go back in time and examine this statement you learn that it was not a slip of the tongue, it was repeated dozens of times - and the "PERIOD" at the end seems to disqualify the President from the excuses being put forth by those trying to defend him. 

Even the left-leaning Washington Post gave this statement "four Pinocchios" - the worst rating ever - basically reserved for "whoppers" that politicians say….hence, the inspiration for today's political cartoon!

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Is It Time to Abolish the Canadian Senate?

Non-stops scandals have been rocking the US Presidency this year, but Canada has had its own fair share of political scandals too!

As all Canadian residents know, a number of senators have been implicated in a scandal revolving around their expense reports and housing allowances.

It's remarkable that as the US turns from one scandal to the next - the Canadian senate expense scandal just won't go away. 

It is noteworthy that the Canadian senate is not an elected one - Senators are appointed for life (until age 75) and though they have veto power over the laws passed in the House of Commons - they rarely execute this power. 

Many in Canada are calling for a "triple E" senate - elected, equal, and effective. 

But, many others want to see the Senate abolished - many Canadians see this as nothing more than a "plum job with a great salary and perks without any real mandate".

This scandal will only serve to amplify the call to abolish - and that's my point of view too!

The McDonald's and Heinz Break-up

Did you hear about the latest company break-up….which looks more like a jealous lover is in play in a relationship versus your typical corporate news. 

McDonald's is severing its 40 year relationship with Heinz ketchup because the new CEO of Heinz was a former CEO of Burger King!

This appears to be all there is to the story….

This news item may upset a few folks - given the dominance of Heinz in the ketchup market…..who's #2?  Hunts? Del Monte? 

….but you shouldn't fret too much about it….unless maybe you live in Europe!

Apparently, McDonald's USA uses Heinz ketchup now ONLY in its Pittsburgh (hometown of Heinz of course) and Minneapolis (not sure of the connection here to Heinz) restaurants….all of the other McDonald's restaurants in the US use private label. 

I can't confirm where McDonald's Canada sources its ketchup from - itmay be more from Heinz than anywhere else - as there is a large ketchup plant in Leamington, Ontario (near Detroit) 

Is ketchup a distinguishable food or a commodity? 

Can people taste the difference between name brand ketchup and private label? 

Ketchup is one of those products where I'm not even sure if I know the difference or would be able to detect a difference - I happen to buy only Heinz in the grocery store - but often consume ketchup outside the home, say on a  hot dog at a ball park, for example - in that situation - who can focus on critiquing ketchup? 

It will be interesting to see the fall-out from this - for example, will Burger King now ONLY use Heinz ketchup in "retaliation"? 

Only time will tell. 

Train Wreck, Meltdown, or Disaster - How Do You Describe ObamaCare?

Now it's being called the single biggest internet disaster of all time - the Obamacare website launch.

Here's what you need to know, apart from it taking 3.5 years to build and anywhere from $400-670 Million of US taxpayer money

• It basically doesn't work! (that's all really there is to say about it - Consumer Reports is advising all users to stay away indefinitely until it is fixed)
• It seemingly was built using 10 year old technology (?) 
• Was this not tested properly? If not, why not? 
• The US division of the Canadian firm that was selected by the Obama administration to build it was FIRED by the Ontario, Canada government for failing to deliver on building a health care registry in Canada! 
• The President is steering people to using a 800 number to register for ObamaCare! (what's next, smoke signals?) 
• The 800 number allegedly sends you to the website - and vice versa - talk about a runaround 
• Tech experts are saying that there are deep flaws with the site infrastructure - I don't know much about tech stuff - but that sounds difficult to easily fix, doesn't it? 
• We have not heard the President or the Health & Human Services Secretary explain what is wrong, what is being down to fix it, how many users have signed up, or when it will be fixed!!

Here comes the irony… (with a capital I)… the Republicans helped force the government shutdown when they passed a bill to DELAY this thing for a year - but the President and Democrats said NO - and the govt shutdown ensued.

Had the President simply said "YES, you know, truthfully, we're not ready to launch this thing - we need more time….."  there wouldn't have been a shutdown in the first place!!!

We'll have more on the ObamaCare fiasco in future blogs - I welcome your comments!

It's a nutty world we live in, but stay buckled up and try to enjoy the ride!!

Kevin 

Restoring Faith in Humanity

Hello all,

Here is one of those stories that makes you feel good -and helps to restore one's faith in humanity. 

It's pretty self-explanatory - so just read and enjoy.

And be on the look out in your own life for the chance to do something similar!!

Til next time,

Kevin 

The US Govt Shutdown and ObamaCare - The Great Irony Of It All

One of the interesting things about the US govt shutdown (now over as of the evening of 10/16/13) is also incredibly ironic, here's the point ….

*  the Republicans passed a bill that would fully fund the government but defund ObamaCare, the President refused to negotiate and Senate Democrats refused to pass it 

*  the Republicans then passed a bill that would fully fund the government, but delay ObamaCare for ONE YEAR (a great idea since the enrollment website doesn't seem to be working!) - the President refused to negotiate and Senate Democrats refused to pass it 

*  the Republicans then passed a bill that would fully fund the government but said that we all be equal under ObamaCare - no special waivers for Congress and big unions - the President refused to negotiate and Senate Democrats refused to pass it 

So therein lies the irony - Obamacare may be the reason for the government shutdown, but ONLY because the President and Democrats don't want to have it for themselves - just for the rest of the country.

They gave themselves a special waiver to NOT HAVE TO BE COVERED under Obamacare.

If Obamacare is such a good thing, why do so many want no part of it? 

It doesn't get more ironic than that!!

Til next time,

Kevin 

Burger King's Latest Innovation - SatisFRIES - Do They Live Up To The Name?

Hello everyone - have you tried the latest Burger King innovation - french fries with 30% less fat and calories - the much advertised SatisFRIES!

I had a chance to try them recently - the verdict?  

"It's always nice to have options when dining, but I must give this product a THUMBS DOWN for actual taste and "mouth-feel" (as the dieticians would say)"

I found they seemed plumper than the average french fry - so you feel that you're eating more of a french-fry/mashed potato mix.

The taste seemed to be missing something however - and unfortunately, I found myself dousing these fries with MORE SALT AND KETCHUP than would normally be used by me. 

It'll be interesting to see if this product takes off or not.

It reminded me of a leaner-than-usual burger that McDonald's launched about 10-15 years ago - the McLean Deluxe.

I actually liked that burger - but it was a market failure and disappeared soon after launch - maybe it was ahead of its time, however, as fast food firms seem to be scrambling to get healthier choices on their menus.

Back to BK and on the bright side, I think Burger King has the best fish sandwich on the market - the former Big Fish now renamed Alaskan Big Fish is terrific.

but when it comes to french fries - McDonald's still reigns supreme!

Let us know what you think of the new SatisFRIES from Burger King!

Til next time,

Kevin 

Less Government Please (If It Does Stuff Like This)

As we all know, there is a partial government shut-down going on in the US. 

Regardless of who may think is responsible for the shutdown (and to me, both sides share plenty of blame in this) - there are some things going on that are downright nutty.

Example - the Vietnam War Memorial is an open air monument - anyone can visit anytime, night or day, there is no admission fee, no turnstiles, no nothing - there are no security guards routinely posted to this memorial.

But in this government shutdown period, the White House ordered barricades to be put up to BLOCK ACCESS to this open air memorial, not to mention Park Rangers who were newly posted there to keep visitors OUT. 

Good for the visiting Vietnam Vets (who arrived by the busload over the weekend to visit THEIR memorial) and who very calmly removed the barricades, stepped past the Rangers and conducted their visit. 

Things got a little heated in some cases and a Republican congressman showed up to tell the Rangers that they should ashamed of what they're doing - only to have VP Joe Biden call them later in the day and tell the Rangers he's proud of them. 

What seems to be going on is the Democrats want to inflict as much pain on the American public in this shutdown, and blame Republicans for it. 

That seems to be the strategy in play - and to some degree, it is working - it helps to have the media overwhelmingly on your side to pin the blame on the Republicans. 

The Republicans have called for an inquiry in how this came about - a shut down is going on - so presumably no money available - yet ADDITIONAL STAFF and RESOURCES goes into ensuring NO ONE can enjoy an OPEN AIR monument that took no resources to operate in the first place???

I think this type of gamesmanship only goes so far with the public. 

Nutty isn't it? 

Early Reviews of "GRAVITY" Indicate "FLOATING AWE"

Hi everyone,

A much anticipated movie opens today, GRAVITY, with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. 

A quick review of the reviewers' first take at this movie indicates that this is a real winner - here are some notable quotes that will help set the stage to help you decide when (not if) you'll go see it!!

• "Gravity" exerts cosmic pull" 
• "This film pretty much stole the show at the Toronto Film Festival this year"
• "There's NEVER been a movie like this before" 
• "You've never seen Sandra Bullock like this" 
• The filmmakers initially thought this movie would be a piece of cake to make - 2 characters in space? (wire and green screens?) …..think again, it took 4.5 YEARS to complete"
• "There's a sense that everything happens spontaneously - surreal freedom plus a fearful randomness that unleashes the debris storms (which puts the characters in danger)" 
• "The premise of the movie is that this is the ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE in space"
• "You'll want the 3-D glasses and an IMAX theatre for this one" 
• James Cameron (Director, "Titanic") calls it "The best space movie ever done"
• One scene, the opening 13-minute sequence is being called a visual game-changer - this is one of the longest "tracking shots" in Hollywood history 
• Even real astronauts have accolades - Leroy Chiao (4 space missions to his credit) said this "Space is so beautiful - thanks for making this film - it took me right back there, both in the visuals and the sounds"

Let me know what YOU think of the movie - and ENJOY!!!

Til next time,

Kevin 

Jenny McCarthy, are you happy now? 10 babies dead in California due to Whooping Cough Outbreak

Hello all,

Here's some sad, but inevitable news.

Whooping cough, aka pertussis, is a highly contagious disease.

A vaccine was developed for it in the 1940s - the disease became totally controlled.

Recently, the number of parents who voluntarily rejected having their babies vaccinated rose to 2%in California.

In 2010, an outbreak of whooping cough affected 9,120 people.

Babies are exceptionally vulnerable to this disease - from this outbreak we have 10 dead babies from this outbreak. 

The latest issue of the medical journal Pediatrics, has published this review. 

Why are parents voluntarily rejecting vaccinations?

Ignorance?

Doubtful - 9 of the 10 families who lost their child are college-educated!

Seems like the headlines stemming from the junk science, which claims that vaccinations cause autism and therefore should be avoided (hello Jenny McCarthy!) are likely to blame. 

Amazing. 

Til next time,

Kevin 

http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?&pageType=health&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2F8301-204_162-57605357%2F2010-calif-whooping-cough-outbreak-linked-to-vaccine-averse-parents%2F&catid=57605357&nb_splitPage=0