Didn't watch the Democratic debates. I've kinda decided there's no point in me deciding which candidate I want to see become the Democratic nominee. By the time I vote in the California primary — March 3rd, 139 days from now — the field will be different, the issues will be different, what we know about the candidates will be different…
I've received a whole batch of messages wanting to discuss the merits of privately-owned fire departments and/or the success rates of the times that's been tried. This isn't a debate that interests me a whole lot. I think capitalism is great when we have a Free Market at work — and I mean a real Free Market, not the faux kind that's called that but isn't. That includes the buyer being able to make a reasoned, researched selection with real options, which is not the case when your home's ablaze or you're on a gurney and the paramedics are taking your broken body to the closest emergency room.
And yes, I had lunch yesterday with the inestimable Frank Ferrante. Friends in Southern California keep asking me when, oh when can they see him do his oft-plugged-here An Evening With Groucho without driving to Iowa. An earlier date may appear but right now, his next appearance in the lower half of my state is April 13 and 14 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. I would point out that April 10-12 is when the next WonderCon Anaheim takes place and that the two events are but 72.8 miles apart. That will be of interest to a few friends of mine.