Oops!

If you're hoping for meaningful health care reform, you've got to like this story.  Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina recently sent out a mailer to voters in the state urging them to send an enclosed pre-printed, postage-paid card to Senator Kay Hagen asking her to oppose any government-run health care program that would compete with private insurers.  The punch line?  They sent out this mailer at the same time that they sent out a notice to customers that their premiums would be increased by an average of 11% next year.

The Raleigh News and Observer picks up the story...

Indignant Blue Cross customers have rebelled against the insurer's message, complaining that their premium dollars have funded such a campaign.

They've hit the Internet in a flurry of e-mails to friends and neighbors throughout the state. They've called Hagan's office to voice support for a public option. They've marked through the Blue Cross message on their postcards to instead vouch support, then dropped them in the mail -- in at least one case taped to a brick -- to be paid on Blue Cross' dime. Or dimes...

Lew Borman, a Blue Cross spokesman, said he wasn't sure how many people got the flier urging them to contact Hagan, but he said the mailing relied on voter registration records, not a customer list.

Since the company controls more than half of the state's health insurance market, there was unavoidable overlap.

Borman declined to reveal how much money the insurer paid for the mailing. Blue Cross is a nonprofit, so its finances are not as open as public companies.

He acknowledged the timing was unfortunate, coming as the firm typically sends its annual notices about rate increases. But he said the two mailings were coincidental, hinged to current events in Washington.

"We said from the beginning we were going to be involved and would tell North Carolinians what kind of impact the health-care proposals would have, and that's what we've been doing," Borman said.

Jenny Warburg, a freelance photojournalist in Durham, said she wishes she could switch insurance carriers over the issue, but no other company will cover her.

So she's stuck, and that makes her even madder.

"You're over a barrel," she said. "You have no choice."

And that, she said, is exactly what Blue Cross is eager to protect.

Cross-posted at The Blue Voice

The Latest Local Brouhaha

Just up the street from where I live, actually just on the other side of Missionary Ridge, Friday night football has turned into a weekly old time tent revival, and it's getting to be that every Friday night another national news organization makes a stop to check out the little local controversy. This week it was the NY Times. Their story of what's going on in Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia appeared on their website Monday. ABC News was here a few weeks ago and got quite a bit of mileage out of the story -- about the same time as the Associated Press.  It's always a treat when the folks in the big cities take notice of what's happening down here in the sticks.  I think the last time the national media showed such an interest was when someone found a bunch of bodies lying around a local crematorium. This time around the story is church and state. 

After the 9/11 attacks, the cheerleaders at Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe High School, who make the big banners the football team runs through to get out on the field, decided that they would start putting Bible verses on said banners. This has been going on ever since -- for nine straight football seasons, long enough for it to become a tradition.

Finally, this season, word came down from the school board -- no more religious messages on the football field. There are still a lot of people who think the whole Bible verse ban came about as the result of a complaint. But no. The Times reporter got it right. The ban came about from a concerned citizen realizing that "Hey, we might get sued for this." The school board consulted some lawyers who agreed. Yes, Bible verses promulgated by a public school-sponsored club at a public school-sponsored event could be grounds for a suit.  Now, in protest of the ban, the messages are gone from the field, but are ubiquitous throughout the stands.

I might have commented on this earlier, but I just don't care that much.  As a godless heathen (or atheist or realist or freethinker),  I'm not driven to get the word out for these folks.  They're doing just fine on their own with their T-shirts and their Facebook page and their national media attention.

Also, as a son of the South, I'm pretty used to this sort of thing.  I could be offended or try to explain why that wall between church and state is necessary, but it's easier just to ignore it until the day it all blows up and/or blows away.

Also, this particular high school was the biggest rival of the high school I attended a few decades ago, and is the biggest rival of the high school that replaced the one I attended.  I could be petty and say that their Bible verses didn't help them while they were getting beat 34-0, but I won't.

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Coming Soon to a Chain E-Mail Near You!

You've got to love the lunatics that have taken over the asylum that is today's conservative movement -- for the entertainment value they provide, if nothing else.  The latest meme, that was picked up by Rush and the "talent" (their word, not mine) at Fox Nation and is coming to you soon in the form of a chain e-mail, concerns President Obama's college thesis -- the one that trashes the constitution and capitalism.  The money quote that had the lunatics up in arms...

"The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."

Michael Ledeen at PajamasMedia was the first to pick up on this with a blog post.  Quoting (and linking) to Brian Lancaster at the Jumping in Pools blog, Ledeen was almost hysterical...

That’s quite an indictment, even for an Ivy League undergraduate. I wonder if the prof–and I’d like to know who the prof was–made an appropriate marginal comment, something about historical context, about the Constitution’s revolutionary status in the history of freedom, and about the separation of powers in order to make the creation of any “shackles” as difficult as possible.

Maybe instead of fuming about words that Rush Limbaugh never uttered, the paladins of the free press might ask the president about words that he did write. Maybe he’d like to parse “the so-called Founders,” for example. I’d like to know what he thinks of those words today. And what about the rest of the thesis?

According the story on the Jumping in Pools blog entitled "Obama College Thesis: 'Constitution Inherently Flawed'," Time Magazine "reporter" Joe Klein was looking into Obama's academic records for an upcoming article when he ran across the thesis entitled "Aristocracy Reborn."  He was only allowed to see the first ten pages of the 44-page thesis.  The first inkling most people had that the story might not be true was when Joe Klein (JokeLine to most of us) said, "Huh?" (That might not be an exact quote, but is close enough.)

The Jumping in Pools blog is written by one Matthew Avitabile, whom PolitiFact describes as a "22-year-old grad student in upstate New York."  Occasionally, he practices a journalistic technique commonly known as "making shit up," which is becoming more and more popular on the right.  He puts together a fake news story and runs with it with only the tag "satire" to indicate that the story might not be on the up-and-up.  I don't think this is a malicious thing.  I think he's trying to emulate The Onion or Andy Borowitz, but doesn't quite have the humor thing down yet on a consistent basis.  Although his story "Kanye West: I Had a Gluten Overdose" was fairly humorous.  Some other recent "satire" tagged stories are "HHS to Vaccinate All Schoolchildren for Swine Flu," "Obama Considering Turning Off Flame at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for New 'Green' Initiative," and "Nine-Year-Old Forcefully Removed from Town Hall Meeting after Question."  So guess which other story on his blog also has the "satire" tag.  That's right.  The one about the Obama thesis.

Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times-Free Press

Quotable

“As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.”

-- Anita Dunn, White House communications director, on Fox News

The Buckets by Greg Cravens

FlashForward

I'm a sucker for the quirky and the weird in most forms of entertainment, so I find myself mesmerized by "FlashForward."  I haven't seen much of the new network TV fall offerings, but this is my favorite show so far.  I've noticed a few plot holes (or things that haven't been adequately explained away) and I'm pretty sure I know who one of the bad guys is, but this is good stuff so far.

I think ABC is trying to market the show as the new "Lost," but it's still way too early for that -- even though "Lost" castmates Sonya Walger and Dominic Monaghan are both on "FlashForward."  Like "Lost," "FlashForward" also has an official website to allow fans to delve deeper (and plenty of unofficial sites as well).  It also has the "Lost" penchant for easter eggs, the little hidden goodies to look for along the way, like an "Oceanic Airlines" billboard in the background early during the first episode.

The show's premise was quirky and weird enough to get me to tune in for the first episode.  At exactly the same moment, everyone on the planet passes out at the same time for two minutes and seventeen seconds.  As you might guess, mayhem ensues.  But if that weren't weird enough, almost everyone's consciousness jumps forward about six months to April 29, 2010.  It's not like a dream; it's like they are actually experiencing what's happening.  From there the show mostly focuses on a team of FBI agents who begin investigating the mystery.

They need to tighten the plot up a bit and flesh the characters out some, but this looks good so far.

I haven't seen much of anything else, just a couple of episodes of "Community" (yawn) and "Modern Family" (pretty decent).  Am I missing anything worth seeing?

I am surprised at how little I watch TV anymore.  Other than live sporting events (mainly NASCAR and college football) and the occasional movie, I seem to be watching almost everything else later, on my own schedule, On Demand or on the Internet.  Since "FlashForward" comes on Thursday nights when I'm at work, I usually watch it a day or two later on Hulu.  If you've missed the first couple of episodes and want to get caught up, or if you're caught up and want to see interviews, behind-the-scenes stuff, and scenes from upcoming episodes, Hulu is where you need to go too.

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Candorville by Darrin Bell

A look at what happens when a tea-bagger, complete with a scythe representing "death panels" and a birth certificate marking him as a "birther," throws his back out...

NASCAR Tracks: Kansas Speedway

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Kansas Speedway is one of the newest tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule, opening in May 2001 in Kansas City, Kansas.  It's one of several 1.5-mile, D-shaped "cookie cutter" tri-ovals.  You've seen the same design in various sizes at Las Vegas, California, Michigan, Atlanta, Texas, and other tracks.

Kansas Speedway is considered a sister track to Chicagoland Speedway, which was built around the same time and is also owned by the France family's International Speedway Corporation.  Kansas is very similar to Chicagoland except that Kansas is a little flatter with 15° of banking in the turns, 10.4° in the front stretch and 5° on the back straightaway. Chicagoland is also one continuous turn with a noticeable bend in the back stretch whereas Kansas has a straight 2207-feet back stretch.

Kansas Speedway was pretty boring when it first opened.  Drivers could only run in one groove, making passing almost impossible.  That has changed as the racing surface has aged.  Now it's a multi-groove track and it's a bit easier to pass there.

There have only been ten Sprint Cup races held at Kansas.  Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle are the only drivers to have won twice.  Gordon won in 2001 and 2002.  Stewart won in 2006 and 2009.  Biffle won in 2007 and 2010.  Matt Kenseth holds the track qualifying record, 29.858 secs. (180.856 mph) set in 2005.

There were plans to build a Hard Rock Hotel and Casino overlooking Turn Two.  Kansas Speedway was also planning to add a road course.  Those plans have been put on hold since the bottom dropped out of the economy.

Kansas Speedway hosts one race from each NASCAR national series per year.  The Sprint Cup race, the Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods, takes place in October.  It is the third race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  The Nationwide Series runs at Kansas on the same weekend.  The Camping World Truck Series races have been held at various times ranging from April to June.

In 2010, NASCAR made several changes to their Sprint Cup schedule that take effect in 2011.  Atlanta and Fontana each lost one of their two races.  Kentucky Speedway was awarded a race.  Kansas Speedway will add a second race to be held in June.

NASCAR tracks index page
Sprint Cup race winners