philly

The Enlisteds' Credit Woes

The N.Y. Times has this story on the problems soldiers are having with their creditors. Active-duty soldiers are protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. As I understand it, under this act, the interest rate on their pre-enlistment debts are to be capped at 6% if service in the military has cut into the family's income. Their houses cannot be foreclosed upon. Their material goods cannot be reposessed without a court order and a prerequisite for a court order would entail notifying said soldier. The soldier's spouse is also protected under this act.

Some companies just are not familiar with the act. And I'm sure some soldiers are not aware of the act as well; especially the reservists. Two of the companies named in this story are Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

And the act itself has many problems

Some problems that military personnel are confronting suggest that the new law may need more work by Congress. For example, although mandatory arbitration clauses are becoming increasingly common in credit agreements, arbitration is not even mentioned in the relief act.

But the biggest problem, both bankers and military lawyers say, is that the enforcement of the act rests initially on the shoulders of the service members themselves. They must notify their creditors or landlords of their military status to invoke their rights under the act. It is one more chore for a soldier getting ready for overseas duty, and it often does not get done properly.

And if a landlord or creditor, out of ignorance or intransigence, refuses to comply with the act, the service member may not have the time or money to fight back, said Capt. Kevin P. Flood, a retired Navy lawyer.

What are our men and women to do? What are our boys and girls supposed to do? What are their families supposed to do?

Maybe this story appearing in the N.Y. Times will help, but how many? How many will still be shit out of luck upon returning from this war? Will they even have anything to return to?

Left of the Dial on HBO

Just got finished reading this story from the L.A. Times summarizing the new HBO documentary Left of the Dial about the first year of Air America Radio the nation's first liberal talk radio network.

I've been listening to it since Day 1, March 31^st 2004, listening to it almost every single day. It makes me feel sane.

On Thursday night, it premieres at 8pm EST/PST. It tells the story of how the station almost met its end before it got off of its own ass. Alleged bounced checks, unpaid medical premiums, one host paying her staff out of her own pocket. It seemed crazy. The network's dirty laundry will be aired to millions. But so will the success story.

AAR is currently changing very quickly. People who have been on for the entire year have been let go or left. New talent and back office folks have moved in. I'm sure there will be more change. I just hope that the change is for the better and that it won't upset the chemistry.

Philly Easter Parade

Does anyone have any photos of the Easter Parade over in Old City? I wanted to go, but busy being lost on the way up to Warminster.

Easter Weekend Ruminations

I got up very late on Easter Sunday, but it didn't "matter" or anything. I'm not a religious person; I wasn't late for church or something. I couldn't go to sleep Saturday night. I stayed up and watched The Good, The Bad, The Ugly again. I've seen it many times on TV. Never really paid attention to it until watching it at 2am. I watched Unforgiven Saturday night while eating dinner. Never saw that before. I didn't really like it at all.

I went up to Warminster for some Easter late lunch at KT's house; she was in town from D.C. for the weekend. I got lost going up there and getting back. Getting lost isn't much fun. Unless it's with a bunch of friends. I had me some great kielbasa and kraut, ham, pineapple stuffing [that is some good stuff], macaroni salad and so much dessert. I polished it all off with some Capri-Sun. Oh sweet, sweet Capri-Sun. KT's grams scolded me for drinking the sweet stuff, but I didn't care a bit. I used to love drinking that crap when I was younger. All box drinks. If I didn't like them, I could always trade for another I did. It was that easy.

I finished off my weekend by watching Schindler's List. I bought the DVD about a month or so ago and hadn't had a chance to watch it until tonight. I don't remember exactly when I first saw it. I'm not sure if I saw it while it was in theeaters in 1993 or not. But it really hit me when I watched it this time. Ben Kingsley is such a wonderful actor. He morphs into every single role he has and I love watching it happen right before my eyes.

Walking Around Philly

I walked around Philly for about six hours on Saturday. From Spruce and 16^st Sts all the way over to Lancaster and 36^th Sts to see the photo exhibit which was fantastic. And then all the way back. Stopped off at Trader Joe's to pick up some groceries.

Then it was time to relax a bit, watch some TV and prepare my dinner: some mezzi rigatoni with Newman's vodka sauce with shredded parmesan reggiano and chicken. Had myself a nice salad: Romaine lettuce with shredded parmesan reggiano, Caesar croutons and bleu cheese. Mmmmm. It's making me hungry at 3.10a just thinking about it. Wait, I have leftovers!

And after dinner around 10.30p or so, I headed back out to walk from Spruce/16 over to Pine St and all the way to the Delaware River and then down to South St back to 19^th St and up to Chestnut, through Rittenhouse Square, to CVS where I got nothing. Then I headed back home as it started to drizzle. I wonder how many miles that was today.

I took almost 200 photos throughout the day, mostly of graffiti and stickerart, but "real" shots mixed in as well. I've posted most of the graff/stickerart on my Flickr. I'll post some others over at dragonballyee.com in a few days. Stay tuned.

Bike is Ready

Just filled up the tires on my bike again. I'm getting ready for a new biking season.

I can't wait until the gang starts playing ultimate again over in West Philly on Sundays. I like the bike ride over there and I usually go for a ride around town afterwards. Anyone out there play? We play every Sunday next to the train tracks around Chestnut and 31^st Sts. I think we'll start on April 2^nd.

Medical Hypocrisy

You learn something new everyday. Today, I learned that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is a family practice doctor. I already knew that he was a loon when he alleged that rampant middle school lesbianism in his state lead to only allowing one girl to go to the batrhoom at a time. Now that's a little too vivid an imagination. Or was he just confusing real life with his latest issue of Barely Legal magazine?

And I just saw Coburn's words on Daily Kos:

N.Y. Times 3.23.05

Among them was Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma and a family practice doctor, who said in an interview, 'I don't think you have to examine her. All you have to do is look at her on TV. Any doctor with any conscience can look at her and know that she does not have a terminal disease and know that she has some function.'

Tulsa World 7.20.98

[In] an interview after [Coburn]'s panel appearance, he conceded the issue of caring for a terminally ill patient brings with it complex questions and is not always simple. For example, under certain circumstances when there is no hope of recovery, he said physicians should have the option of withholding nutrients and water from a dying patient. Coburn said he has done that in the past. 'If somebody does not want a feeding tube, I won't put a feeding tube down,' he said.

Lovely, eh?

Cheap Electronics

If you're in the market to purchase some electronics, let me suggest heading over to Amazon. They're having a sale on almost all of their electronics, including those coveted iPods.

Right now, everything in Electronics offered by Amazon.com is on sale (restrictions apply). Shop for thousands of products, including select MP3 players, digital cameras, networking devices, camcorders, high-definition TVs, DVD players, PDAs, printers, monitors, and more.

Sale ends on the 28^th.

I think I'm finally going to jump on the iPod wagon and get a 4GB silver iPod mini. And what are they asking for it? $179.99. Correction: the old iPod mini is $179.99, the new ones [with an 18 hour battery] is still $199.99 and on backorder. Another correction: the silver new minis are $199.99, the green/blue/pink ones are $189.05 and are available now.

Supporting A Culture of Life

I can think of no better way to promote a Culture of Life than to sell many F-16 fighter jets to enemies India and Pakistan. What the hell do you think is going to happen now?

Cadbury Creme Eggs

I can't wait until Monday when all of the huge stockpiles of Cadbury Creme Eggs all around town are marked down. I like to get them at around three or four per $1. And then I eat them up... way too quickly.