Healthcare and Weekly RATS. We are now officially part of the way there.

Having recently returned from a vacation, without television or regular news, I need to get back into the swing of things.

Sunday brought us a good way towards some rational national health insurance system. The rest of the world laughs at us: “How can you have small business women and men making jobs when their jobs come with crappy pay and no healthcare”.

As much as the conservative insist the end is nigh, and socialism is run amok, this country needs some social purchases. As rugged independent individuals, we have been unable to build a system that cares for the sick, aged and dying. To build a good system for that, we will act together, much like Medicare and Social Security. yes it will take taxes, but we are among the least taxed people in the world and we get what we pay for.

Any way, the world as we know it is not coming to an end, and we will explore health insurance for at least a generation before we get it right.

Here comes “Weekly Rats”.  All is not good on Main Street in my town. A local roadside motel is advertising "weekly rats".

I can’t be sure if that’s a benefit, or an offer to reduce rates to meet the lousy prospects on our Main Street.

I can tell you, on our main street , jobs are still being lost, wages are being reduced and we are resetting how we go about living the “good life”

Fashion Week Sept 10-17. Lots of jersey knit, cheesecloth and Snuggies.

I am clearly not fashion minded, I shop discount on line, my wife and I do however enjoy watching any show with Tim Gunn, one of the last gentleman left in any kind of media.

Following the fashion business gives me a good idea how really smart young people (my sister calls them "painfully hip")  in New York, Paris and Milan, think about the rest of us. Forget the fashion, think the business! Be prepared to hit the links in this post, because I believe seeing is believing.

Fashion week NY ain’t like it used to be.

The Spring 2010 fashions were rolled out this week at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

The economic malaise hung over the week like a storm cloud. Few shopping bags, nearly nonexistent swag bags and not even a C-list celebrity poet to close the G-Star Raw runway show (past seasons have included Dennis Hopper and Benicio Del Toro). From: LA Times

Fashion week used to be for the designers and the buyers, but over the past few years it’s about the celebrity and the wannabe celebrities and for the fashionistas to be seen. In recent years there has not been as much buying. This year has seen a return to the past. The question is:, What can we sell and at what price?

If you want to see what’s up, NY Fashion on-line helps a lot.

Check out the Subversive Jewelry line where you can buy a semi-mass produced Galileo Pendant Necklace for $960. My guess next week, its knock-off on e-bay China for $29.99. I noticed that you can shop direct and skip the middle man’s mark-up. Or are you paying the extra vig to the clothing line owners and cutting out your local business woman/man?

Lots of old stand-by (and inexpensive) materials were seen on the runway. Jersey and even cheesecloth.

Final proof that we are entering a post-consumer economy. Snuggies at fashion week on display 5 Million sold so far.