This picture of a motorlife boat practicing in the surf at Bodega Bay was published in the October 5, edition of the Navy Times.  Yes, we do get some high surf around here at times.

The Insurance industry’s lobbying organization, America’s Health Insurance Plans, released a report that they purchased from PricewaterhouseCoopers that suggests that insurance premiums will increase over time if the current health care plan is passed.

AHIP apparently gave PricewaterhouseCoopers marching orders that ensured they got the numbers they needed to scare and upset people.

The report was immediately criticized as misleading by a number of individuals and organizations.

Karen Ignagni was unequivocal in her support for the PricewaterhouseCoopers conclusions. The company is “a world-class firm” with “a stellar reputation,” she said.

Would You Buy An Insurance Policy From This Woman?

This is a laughable assertion.  PricewaterhouseCoopers has been involved in a number of corrupt accounting scandals over the years.

Here’s a few that come up with just a few minutes with Google.

July 25, 2008: PwC slapped with a $10 million verdict guilty of negligent misrepresentation in old people’s Nursing Home case.

July 7, 2007: PwC agrees to pay $225M over a multibillion-dollar Tyco accounting fraud case

June, 21 2006: Carrefour SA brings $120 million dollar suit alleging PriceWaterhouseCoopers conspiracy to defraud

March, 29 2006: PwC settles dotcom fraud case

May 10, 2006: PWC Japan unit suspended over Kanebo fraud

Aug 22, 2005: Pricewaterhouse Ordered to Pay $120 Million in Suit

Jan 13,2005: PwC calls it error, Federal Ohio judge talks of fraud

May 2003: SEC fined PwC $1 million for permitting violations during the audit of SmallTalk TeleServices.

Oct 21, 2001: PWC pays $51 million in audit fraud MicroStrategy settlement.

Firms like PwC come up with reports that make their  clients happy.

From Tom Tomorrow……..

The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Alvarez holds that employees who work in meat and poultry processing plants must be paid for the time they spend walking between the place where they put on and take off protective equipment and the place where they process the meat or poultry.  The Court determined that donning and doffing gear[1] is a “principal activity” under the Portal to Portal Act, 29 U.S.C. 254, and thus time spent in those activities, as well as any walking and waiting time that occurs after the employee engages in his first principal activity and before he finishes his last principal activity, is part of a “continuous workday” and is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.  (IBP v. Alvarez, 126 S.Ct. 514 (2005))

So, what’s happened is that the attorneys that represent police officers have picked up on the fact that the poultry workers decision should also apply to police officers.

There’s a list of what the members of the Long Beach, California Police Department think they should be paid for.

Pre-Shift Activities

1. Academy – required physical training, checking homework, preparing uniform, reading policies
2. Arranging Surveillance Teams
3. As SWAT prep training sites vehicles and equipment
4. Be Sure All Necessary Equipment Is Accounted For
5. Bike/Motor/OPV Preparation
6. Charge Radio Flashlight
7. Check 24 Hour Hot Sheet
8. Check Cheat Sheets
9. Check Crime Board For Wanted Suspects
10. Check Court Calendar
11. Checking Out Equipment
12. Checking/ Maintaining Equipment
13. Checking/responding to pager messages
14. Check Department Email
15. Check Department Mailbox
16. Check Motorcycle – tires, leaks
17. Check Respond To Voice Messages, Pager Messages
18. Check Report Status For Info Re Current Day’s Activities
19. Charge H Held Radio Battery
20. Check Custody List
21. Check Taser
22. Clean Vehicle/ bike/ motorcycle
23. Coordination With Other Officers or Agencies
24. Dealing with personnel and scheduling issues
25. Discussions With Supervisors
26. Drive Time In and Out Of City
27. Drive to special event locations
28. File OT Card For On-Call Court Cases
29. Fill Out Assignment Sheets For Sickies
30. Fill Out Reports
31. Filling out Time Cards and OT Cards
32. FTO Duties (DOR’s, review reports, tests)
33. Gas/ Fuel Vehicle
34. Gathering/stocking up necessary paperwork/forms for shift
35. Informal Briefing Next Shift
36. Intel Gathering Prior To Start Of Roll Call
37. K9 Care – Get Dog From Kennel, Air Him (Go Potty), Make Sure Ac Alarm System Works Before Putting Dog In Car, Make Sure Water In Bowl In Car For Dog
38. Liaison with peers (informal briefing)
39. Line up prior to Academy inspections
40. Locate radar and battery – put in motorcycle
41. Log On To Computer
42. Locate mechanically sound vehicle
43. Log On To Vehicle
44. Marching Flag Detail At Academy
45. Pre Flight Inspections
46. Preparing Presentations for MET and CAT Programs
47. Preparing Quizzes for recruits
48. Prioritize Incoming Project Assignments
49. Replenish Gloves
50. Replenish report forms
51. Research and Review Crime Reports regarding Recent Crimes in Division
52. Responding to accidents or other traffic enforcement prior to start of shift
53. Schedule Officer’s Shifts
54. Shave (Noe Yanez)
55. Shine Badge & Boots
56. Speak With Supervisors Re Specific Locations
57. Staging gear and vehicles for SWAT training
58. Study Policies & Procedures
59. Travel time to duty assignments
60. Walk Into Squadroom For Briefing

Post-Shift
1. Academy Homework
2. Academy Meetings
3. Access Secure Parking Lot At Airport Grounds
4. Answer Employees’ Questions
5. Arrest Reports
6. Available To Officers With Questions Re Shift
7. Bicycle Maintenance
8. Booking Evidence
9. Briefings With Oncoming Shift
10. Briefings With Outgoing Shift
11. Calls From Informants
12. Calls From Victims/ Witnesses
13. Charge Flashlight
14. Charge radio Battery
15. Check, answer and respond to phone calls, e-mails, messages
16. Check Court Calendar
17. Check Narco Address Enroute Home
18. Check Shotgun
19. Check Websites To Gather Intelligence
20. Checking Dept Email
21. Checking Dept Mailbox
22. Checking In Equipment
23. Checking Narcotics Address en route Home
24. Chief’s Meeting
25. Citation Corrections
26. Cleaning The Vehicle
27. Cleaning Of Weapons For SWAT
28. Clean Personal Property Due to Exposure
29. Clear Desk, Emails, Issues
30. Completing Activity Logs
31. Completing/ Turning In Reports
32. Completing Training Evaluations
33. Correcting Recruits’ Reports
34. Counsel Officers On Handling Calls
35. Cover Motorcycle
36. Database Inputting
37. Discussions With Supervisors
38. Discussions With Crime Analyst
39. Distribute Proper Paperwork
40. Division Projects
41. Drive Back To Station
42. Driving Home With Co. Car (Kris Nelson)
43. Driving From Jail To Station For Late Arrest Or From Field
44. Driving Back From Supervisors
45. Dry Cleaning
46. Extended Shifts Due To Late Dispatches During Last Hour Of Shift
47. Feed Groom Dog
48. Filing Field/ Interview Cards Inputting Into Computer
49. FTO Duties
50. Getting Back From End Of Surveillance
51. Inspect The Station To Ensure All Officers Have Reason For Being There
52. Investigating Criminal Cases
53. K-9 Care
54. Let Dog Go To The Bathroom
55. Locking Academy
56. Logging Off Computer
57. Maintain “E” Dog Collar, Including Charge
58. Place Dog In His Kennel
59. Place Gear Bag In Locker
60. Place Radio In Charger
61. Post Flight Inspection (helicopter)
62. Preparing Deployment Sheets For Next Watch
63. Preparing For Court
64. Proof Reading Reports
65. Put Away Gear
66. Putting Away Bike
67. Put Safety Glasses Away
68. Put City Vehicle Behind Gate At Personal Home
69. Put Gun & Radio Into Back Pack
70. Remove Gloves
71. Request To Sign Evaluation After Hours
72. Responding to/Investigation Ongoing Crime, Accidents, or other traffic accidents
73. Responding to Last Minute time off Requests
74. Responding to Late Calls for Helicopter Support
75. Review Use Of Force Reports
76. Shining Boots
77. Stop For Traffic Accidents Or Other Emergency During Commute Home
78. Training Recruits
79. Turning In Field Interview Cards
80. Turn In Paperwork
81. Turn In Timecards
82. Turn In Tickets
83. Turning In Citations
84. UOF/ W-C Reviews
85. Unload Dog From Vehicle
86. Unlock Locker/ Safe
87. Waiting For Sgt To Check In Shotguns
88. Waiting For Sr. Officers To Go Home
89. Walking time from work areas, etc.
90. Watch Commander Logs
Other Claims
1. Assist With Explorer Program
2. Attended Mandatory Leadership Institute
3. Buying Equipment
4. Crime Prevention Meetings
5. EMT School Homework
6. Exercising
7. Extra Practice Shooting Training On Day Off
8. Grading Academy Papers
9. Haircut
10. Honor Guard Detail
11. Instructor – Develop Lesson Plans, Provide Materials At Own Expense
12. Koga Training
13. Lesson Plans For Community Presentations
14. Maintain Dept Race Car; Take To City Events
15. PAL Camping Trips – Outside Of City Limits
16. Police Cadet Coordinator – Onsite Inspections Or Counseling
17. Practice Trumpet To Perform Taps At Funerals, Etc
18. Preparing For Spanish Class Tests
19. Preparing For Meetings With Comm Staff
20. Preparing Info For Recruiters
21. Preparing For Training
22. Preparing Lesson Plans For Academy
23. Prepare Presentation For Instruction At AOTC
24. Presentations for MET and Negotiation Selection Process Teams
25. Project Assignments Memos Written At Home
26. Range Certification
27. Studying For Sgt Exam
28. Uniform fitting
29. Wellness Testing
30. Working Out

The Long Beach Press Telegram estimates that this could cost the city somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million dollars.

Look  what you can accomplish when government isn’t all over your back.

Heidi DeJong Barsuglia joined the California Retailers Association in June 2004 as Director of Government Affairs. In this position, she focuses on issues of importance to the CRA’s Chain Drug and Grocery Store members, including Medi-Cal pharmacy reimbursement, product recycling, workers’ compensation, and precursor regulations. Prior to joining the Retailers in 2004, Ms. Barsuglia acted as legal and legislative consultant to Democratic members of the California legislature.

Ms. Barsuglia has over 6 years of legislative experience and 4 years experience in the employment law field. Ms. Barsuglia was an employment law attorney with the law firm of Booth & Finch in Sacramento. While working in the employment law arena, Ms. Barsuglia authored an appellate brief to the California Supreme Court, resulting in legal precedent. Prior to law school, Ms. Barsuglia worked as Legislative Aide to then-Assemblyman Charles Poochigian and to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. While attending college, Ms. Barsuglia worked as a speechwriter for Governor Pete Wilson’s Office of Constituent Affairs.

Ms. Barsuglia graduated cum laude from California State University, Sacramento with a Bachelor of Arts degree combining a double major in Political Science and Persuasive Communications. She graduated with honors from University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law with a Juris Doctor.

More Here.

Heidi Dejong Barsuglia

This is what I received when I contacted Senator Diane Feinstein to request that she support President Obama’s health care reform with a public option.

Thank you for contacting me regarding health care reform and providing a public health care option. I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond.

I believe that there is much room for improvement in our nation’s healthcare system. However, I believe that health care reform should not increase the federal deficit. I am deeply concerned about the large number of individuals and families in our country who do not have access to quality healthcare. This is a problem that touches every community and must be addressed at many different levels, including the Federal, State and local government. This problem is especially acute in California, where nearly 7 million people are uninsured.

The escalating cost of some premiums continues to make obtaining health insurance difficult, if not impossible, for many Americans. I am working hard to remove existing barriers to health care so that all Americans have access to the services they require.

One of the many proposals being considered to reform our system is to create a health care plan that is publically operated. Please know that I am reviewing all health care reform options and I will keep your comments in mind as the Senate continues to work to improve health care for all Americans.

Again, thank you for writing. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Sincerely yours, Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

What can we do with these weasels?  How can we get them on the side of their constituents?  She represents a city that is providing health care to it’s uninsured citizens, and the polls show a majority of the American people support the President’s plan.

Perhaps we could use a Tom Delay-type “Hammer” on some of these Democrats that continually enable the Republican’s agenda with their lack of support for the Democratic program. Maybe senior senators who do not support the Democratic majority should find themselves on a much less desirable committee, if we had a more powerful majority leader.

We appear to be way short of the magic 60 votes in the Senate due to totally unreliable Democrats such as Diane Feinstein.

This is beyond frustrating.

]]> http://byteboy.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/diane-feinstein-and-health-care-reform/feed/ 0 The North Coast Curmudgeon http://byteboy.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/mendocino-county-taxes-pot/ http://byteboy.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/mendocino-county-taxes-pot/#comments Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:58:21 +0000 The North Coast Curmudgeon http://byteboy.wordpress.com/?p=1273 ]]>

On June 23, 2009, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors by unanimous vote added the voluntary medical marijuana zip tie fee of $25 per plant to the County’s master fee schedule.

More about this here.

Thank You, Robert Crumb

A Voice Silenced

I also know that Iran’s women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on. I’ve seen them get beaten and return to the fray. “Why are you sitting there?” one shouted at a couple of men perched on the sidewalk on Saturday. “Get up! Get up!”

(Roger Cohen, NY Times)

Update: It appears her name was Neda Agha Soltan (1983-2009).

It is said that “Neda” means “voice” or “Call” in Farsi.

Neda Soltan’s voice will not be heard again.