Alan Grayson is a freshman congressman from Orlando, Florida, and he's offering a 4-page alternative to the 2000+ page health care reform bill that Republicans are unable to wade through, that Congress has been debating for a year.

H.R. 4789 is pretty simple, as you would expect a four-page bill would be. If you're under 65 and you are a permanent resident (not necessarily a citizen) of the United States, you can simply buy your way into Medicare. It's a solution for those who can't buy insurance from (or don't trust) commercial insurance companies.

Think Of It As A Jobs Bill

I've been teasing Blondie this afternoon, and I think I just got on her last nerve, so I'm hiding out in the office.

I tease her about being a Main Line girl. I tease her about being a Lutheran American Princess. This afternoon, though, I've been teasing her about a blonde-haired, blue-eyed women who calls herself "Jihad Jane". Blondie isn't from the Main Line; she's from Montgomery County, and she doesn't know Jihad Jane is from Pennboro. I've been teasing her Jihad Jane comes from the same small town that she comes from, even though Pennboro is way on the other end of Montgomery county.

There are a lot of wacky blondes from Montgomery County, I've been telling her. Dangerous women, and I'm being deliberately vague about the phrase "dangerous women", as it normally means something different than political terrorism, more of a sexual terrorism.

Everything comes and goes,
Marked by lovers and styles of clothes.
Things that you held high,
And told yourself were true,
Lost or changing as the days come down to you.
Down to you,

As I sat in the parking lot at Costco, I pondered upon the imponderables. Like, for instance, the ideal shape for a beverage cup.

There was one in my cup-holder, having just been through the drive-thru at Burger King. I'd been craving Subway for a week, but there is no Subway near Cabbage Hill, and in dropping a package at the Bausman post office, I realized that my blood sugar was low, so I recalled an ad that Burger King is running on television right now.

Their new sandwich, the Steak House XT, appears to be a response to McDonald's Angus Burgers. The Angus Burger is a good sandwich, if properly dressed; the deluxe is nice, some of the others are pretty crappy. I can't remember the exact wording of the TV ad, but the gist is that it's an Angus Burger, only 33% larger, and dressed like a Whopper, for the same $3.99 price.

I would advise against the Steak House XT. It tastes like it was drenched in liquid smoke. If you're a petro-flavor freak, it'd be OK, but there's just not much beef taste to it.

OK, So "Big Gulp" Is A Trademark

I guess the pantsuits weren't all that bad, after all.