WAR, HEALTH, ECONOMY, POLITICS AND THE 50TH YEAR OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

Yesterday I reported on those Israeli pager attacks of the Hezbollah in Lebanon.  A second wave followed.  First, 9 killed and 3,000 injured, and second, 25 deaths and 600 wounded.  As carrying a mobile phone incurs other risks, the Hezbollah must be stymied on how to communicate.  These Taiwanese pagers are fabricated in Budapest, Hungary.  Japanese walkie-talkie devices were apparently also triggered.  Like the Taiwanese, the Japanese-maker, Icom, said someone just copied their product.  

The Hezbollah will retaliate in some way.  And what about the Iranian revenge attack that has long been delayed?  The whole region is now a powder keg on the verge of exploding.  Our next two trips will totally avoid that region.

Last week I lamented the position of the USA on medical care and costs.  Well, a new report found that the U.S. ranks as the WORST performer among 10 developed nation in health care.  In preventing deaths or access or cost, Big Pharma and Extortionate Medicine both rule.

• While we pay nearly twice as much, our life expectancy is the lowest.
• Republicans think we are already spending too much on all things about life.  They are right, but reducing availability and coverage only will make it worse.  Their solution is to deregulate.  But that will only increase costs.
• We are compared with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
• There were five categories:  access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity and health outcomes.

• The top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands and the UK.
• The only category we ranked well was in care access.  These measures are things like preventive services:  mammograms and vaccinations.
• One problem underscored is that we had too many different insurers.
• Our lower-income residents were especially affected by our poor performance.  Essentially, medical care was out of reach of many.
• We have the most advanced medical process for the very rich only.
• We don't have a universal health care system, prevented by Big Pharma and medical insurers as effective lobbyists.
• This is not new.  We were last in previous reports.
• WE HAVE THE LOWEST LIFE EXPECTANCY.

The Federal Reserve yesterday cut the key interest rate by 0.5% to 4.8%, the first time since early 2020.  More reductions are expected into the future.  This means that inflation is being checked.

And the endorsements continue, for more than 111 Republican former national security and foreign policy officials yesterday said Donald Trump was UNFIT TO SERVE another term in the White House, and that their choice was Kamala Harris.  The letter said that: 

We believe that the president of the United States must be principled, serious, and a steady leader.  While we expect to disagree with Kamala Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues, we believe that she possesses the essential qualities to serve as president, and Donald Trump does not.  We therefore support her election to be president.

Included in the 100 were William Cohen, Chuck Hagel, William Webster and Michael Hayden.  They specifically the 6January2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and his susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by authoritarian leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.  Also his refusal to accept his loss to Biden in 2020.

Saturday Night Live 2024 premieres next Saturday night, September 28. 

• 
  Jean Smart (left) will host and Jelly Roll will be the musical act.  First time for both.  
• On October 5 will be Nate Bargatze (second from left) as host, and feature the music of Coldplay.
• Week three on October 12 will see Ariana Grande (third photo) as host and Fleetwood Mac Stevie Nicks.  She returns for the first time in 41 years.
• Then will come on October 19 Michael Keaton (right) of Beetlejuice and Billie Eilish.
• I can go on and on, but you read the whole article.

Do you remember the first show, 11October1975, nearly half a century ago?  

• Original title was NBC's Saturday Night.  The now Saturday Night Live came in 1977.
• A Lorne Michaels production.  First person hired for show.
• George Carling hosted.  Originally, the show thought it would have a rotating host system to also include Lily Tomlin and Richard Pryor, and perhaps also Steve Martin and Linda Ronstadt.  Concept was dropped  because Pryor's brand of comedy was not censor-friendly.
• There were two musical guests, Billy Preston and Janis Ian.
• 
  Not yet known by that name, the the Not Ready for Prime Time Players were Chevy Chase (actually hired as a writer, but became a cast member), John Belushi, Gilda Radner (second person hired) and Dan Aykroyd, who were joined in 1975 by Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris and Laraine Newman.  Each cast member was paid $750/episode, but could live in the TV studio area.  More recently.
• First-year members now get $7,000/episode.
• Second-year at $8,000 per show.
• Fifth-year at $15,000/show.
• Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong at $25,000/episode.
• Kenan Thompson started in 2003 and probably gets more than $100,000 per show.
• Hosts only are paid around $5000.
• Alec Baldwin said he saw $1400 for his Donald Trump appearances.
• Why so low?  It's an honor and enhances one's career.
• 
  There were problems in the first few years of cocaine, Radner suffering from bulimia, and everyone leaving in 1980.
• So what will be the cold opening on Saturday?  Probably Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris.  But who will play Tim Walz and JD Vance?  Speculations include Jim Gaffigan, Melissa McCarthy, Will Ferrel, Jason Sudeikis, Zach Galifianidis and John Hamm (going clockwise for top left).

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