Grunts, Traffic Control, MJ and Insurance

Did you get to watch the amazing final round of Wimbledon this year? Or were you too scared to hear hours of guttural noises as tiny felt balls were pummeled across the court at very high speeds? Either way you should check out this HILARIOUS video courtesy of ABC News: The Unstoppable Tennis Grunt

After yesterday's big build up to the scary traffic drama surrounding MJ's funeral I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the LAPD and their ability to contain the chaos. It was almost eerily empty in South Park yesterday (that's the area by Staples towards USC for those of you who are not LA neighborhood savvy). I even managed to order a Fatburger and have it in my possession in less than 10 minutes, which is typically a near impossible feat. And because there was so few bystanders, the LAPD was able to send a bunch of cops home and save the city some overtime money. Considering the budget situation these days, a huge congrats is in order to Chief Bratton and Co.

I listened to most of the memorial on KCRW and was surprised at how touching it was to hear Brooke Shields, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson pay their respects. I am especially sad for those kids who have lived such unimaginable lives thus far and now are being thrown into what must seem like an even stranger world. If it turns out that MJ's death was caused by abuse of prescription drugs, I can only hope it means we'll actually get a real debate on what's going on at the pharmacy. We've turned from the illegal street drugs of the 80s and 90s to the legal, but very dangerous pain and anxiety pills of the 21st century.

Which leads to me my last topic of discussion, the need for healthcare reform in this country and the hope that this Congress will actually make some headway in making this a reality. It seems that my favorite economist and those busy bean counters at the Congressional Budget Office have added up the costs of the most recent Senate Healthcare Plan and it's a) not that expensive and b) the money we would spend is a drop in the bucket in comparison to what we spend annually on healthcare already. The current system is certainly not benefiting many besides the insurance companies, so isn't it about time we spend money on helping everyone else out as well?