Newton Canyon and Sandstone Peak Malibu

I've now decided this will be my outdoor blog. I will have another blog, not yet live, for healthcare. I just want to separate my passions so they won't get jealous.

On Saturday, Downward dog Dom and I woke early (OK, he drove and picked me up, and I was barely awake), and we headed to the Santa Monica hills. We did a quick jaunt up Newton Canyon. Long in miles, 9, weak in elevation gain, 1,000. But the view,

and the time, we returned to the car by noon, inspired us to hit another peak, the Sandstone Peak, which is the highest peak in the Santa Monica Mountains, at 3,111. The elevation gain, we took the short route rather than the Mishe Mokwa trail, which would have been a 6 mile trail hike, was about 1,200'.

We hit the summit, with about 1,000 visiting Japanese tourists, about 2 p.m. (I signed my first registry. Wooo-hooo!)

At the bottom at Neptune's waited my reward. (The one thing learned, remember landmarks for the return trip. We hit a wooden bridge on the way back that neither one of us remembered, and thought we took a wrong turn. I'm still not sure we didn't and missed a switchback.)

New Health Care Law Doesn't Help Emergency Care

You wonder if anyone really thought any of this through:

"Conditions in emergency rooms may be worsened by the new health care law, several experts said. The law will expand eligibility for Medicaid, the government health plan for the poor. Often beneficiaries turn to emergency rooms for care, because many physicians do not accept Medicaid payments, said Dr. Sandra M. Schneider, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Emergency rooms are required by law to provide treatment regardless of ability to pay. “People will have coverage, but there’s a concern that there will be nowhere for them to go,” Dr. Schneider said."

Uninsured Nursing Home Employees

A pretaxed $25 monthly premium, even if it is poor coverage, doesn't really seem all that great of a burden. But having no health insurance options is a scandal.

"The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit group that studies the industry, says that 26 percent of front-line workers in nursing homes and 37 percent of those employed by home care agencies are uninsured."

Was Standard & Poor’s Playing Politics Today?

The Standard & Poor’s rating firm cut the long-term United States debt rating to negative from stable today. Inexplicably, stocks took a nosedive, though everyone has known about the longterm debt problem. So why now?

Some say that S&P are playing politics, according to Steven Blitz, a senior economist for ITG Investment Research:

"S.&P. and all the rating agencies are still under a lot of pressure to reform and this action could help them by helping the White House scare the Republicans to engage in responsible political negotiation to reach some reasonable deal on deficit reduction and raise the debt ceiling rather than have the talks take on the aura of a hostage negotiation."

This, of course, is the same rating firm, along with others, that failed miserably before the financial crisis:

"The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released findings from a two-year study this week, saying "inaccurate triple-A credit ratings" from Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service introduced risk into the financial system and "constituted a key cause of the financial crisis."

Abuse of Government Power, Small and Large

Two stories caught my eye this past weekend, both dealing with financial shenanigans. The large implication, G.E. avoiding millions in taxes, and the small one, a borrower jailed for lying about his income level, will most likely be ignored.

But deep within both were stunning examples of abuse of power, by the I.R.S. and Charlie Rangel:

"...Robert W. Nordlander, a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service. As Mr. Nordlander later told the grand jury, “Being the special agent that I am, I was wondering, how does a guy train for this because most people have to work from nine to five and it’s very difficult to train for this part-time.” (He also told the grand jurors that sometimes, when he sees somebody driving a Ferrari, he’ll check to see if they make enough money to afford it."

Nordander decided to go after a man, not because of any complaint or evidence, but because he wonders how a guy made his money.

The other:

"[Charlie] Rangel and Mr. Immelt stood together at St. Nicholas Park in Harlem as G.E. announced that its foundation had awarded $30 million to New York City schools, including $11 million to benefit various schools in Mr. Rangel’s district. Joel I. Klein, then the schools chancellor, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who presided, said it was the largest gift ever to the city’s schools."

This was after Rangel, who was at the time chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, had been deciding if a tax break that G.E. was exploiting should continue. He was against it and then he was for it.

So one man goes to jail for doing something that he might not even have done, lying about income to borrow money, and Rangel stays and Immelt becomes an Obama advisor.

New York Politics

The New York Times scored on confidential state budget negotiations. The back room deal is usually kept secret until finished, then lawmakers 'vote' on what has already been decided. But the Times gives a glimpse.

New York might get a federal health care law waiver. Which (suckers) states are actually following the law?

New York City wins and upstate loses on congressional seats.

Rep. Anthony Weiner will overshadow anyone running for mayor of New York City, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Controller John Liu, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

New chief for Housing Preservation and Development, which supervises affordable housing projects.

And lastly, why does anyone care about what Donald Trump says? Birther, philanderer, etc. It's all about creating controversy. He's not running.

First day of classes

Why would a student ride a bike to Brooklyn College on a snow day? I have no idea. But here is the result.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry