PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

 A penny for your thoughts.....as we’re nickeled and dimed…..dollared, too?  Reminds me…..

You may have guessed what has prompted this topic -- a fast food restaurant employee, then the manager on another occasion deliberately withheld a penny I was owed in change.  The employee said they were deliberately doing so to eliminate dispensing loose pennies.   When I called each of them on the error, at least the employee appeared chagrined, but another time when the manager shortchanged me, I didn’t even get an apology, just a silly grin, even after I said I lived on a fixed income and every penny counted.   I figure if he gets away with cheating me on a penny he might just decide to escalate the amount to see how much more he can get away with doing. 

This restaurant has since closed for remodeling, has remained so for months now since the Covid-19 virus emerged, so I’ll have to wait a while to see how they conduct their business when they reopen. 

First they would take our pennies – rounding off to the higher number i.e. $6.00 if actual cost is $5.99 – then, could nickels be next, followed by dimes, etc., I wondered?   This called for a Google search which led me to discover pennies were phased out in Canada beginning in 2013.   And…an economist there has said the nickel could be next.

Coin elimination discussion has been occurring periodically, prompting pro and con responses you can access by clicking on either of these nation links: United Kingdom, U.S.A. (https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/02/two-senators-announce-plan-to-eliminate-penny-replace-dollar-bi/22022666/ )

But could the paper dollar be turned into a coin as was proposed in recent years?  Really?  Remember the Susan B. Anthony dollar?

Actually the United Kingdom has decided to keep pennies in circulation even as we move toward a cashless society. 

As for eliminating our paper dollar the view on doing this has flipped since discovering over the last decade the dollar bill is actually lasting twice as long as it did so no reason to change now.

Whatever your point of view, this minor insignificant coin issue does serve as a slight momentary distraction from all the other world matters boggling our minds. 

Now, it seems we have an actual coin shortage in the U.S.   Actually, officials describe the issue as simply a supply and demand problem, that there is no real shortage.

“The coin shortage could renew the debate about the fate of the penny, which has faced calls for abolition because its purchasing power has fallen and its cost of production has eclipsed its value.”

Eliminating the penny in the U.S. has not yet occurred.  Until it does, then I expect exact change when I make a purchase, and that includes receiving even one penny if that’s what I’m due.  If a business wants to keep that penny, then they need to ask my permission to do so or raise the price of their product to eliminate needing to give me a penny in change. 

Meanwhile, I’ll continue to count my pennies, pick one up from the sidewalk as I did when a child, since finding one is considered to be a good luck sign, even though I claim to not be superstitious.  

Pennies From Heaven

This youtube video is from the 1981 movie of the same title starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, Christopher Walken.  The original movie starred Bing Crosby in 1936.  This 1981 movie version is an unappreciated musical showcasing Steve Martin’s talents beyond being just a crazy comedian as he was known at the time.

There are some additional videos of music, dance scenes you can view including Christopher Walken in his prime dancing “Let’s Misbehave” – a male striptease act bar none.

NET NEUTRALITY RESURRECTED -- SHORT CHANGED

Net Neutrality may be resurrected in California as our House Assembly will be voting any day now on SB 822 and SB 460.  

  

California voters reading here, and readers who have resident family or friends contact them -- you and they are urged to call your California Assemblymember requesting they vote for these two bills as a necessary step to save net neutrality.     

Net Neutrality preserved in California could have significant future implications for similar provisions being instituted in other states, or eventually, maybe even nationally.  Time is of the essence with phone calls needing to be made now since voting is expected any day.

How California's net neutrality was sabotaged earlier this year is not a pretty picture.

California has been one of several states writing legislative bills to protect citizens from broadband providers being able “… to throttle some applications, or charge websites or services for “fast lane” access on their networks” after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) undid such rules as described in this Wired story here.  

Expectations of passage for a first-in-the-nation such bill were unexpectedly dashed in May.               Democrat Miguel Santiago, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Communications and Conveyance eviscerated those bills earlier this year by introducing and getting a vote on amendments weakening their provisions as reported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world). 

Democracy was manipulated by bipartisan corrupters -- both Republican and Democrat …..

Those amendments were introduced at 10 P.M. the night before the hearing and before the bill’s sponsor could argue for them the next morning.  This was after the Chairman the night before had refused a move to join the bills so there would be only one net neutrality bill.  These amendments were passed by the Chairman and seven Republicans and Democrats votes. 

“Democratic Chairman Assemblyman Miguel Santiago [had] stripped the bill of any teeth during the committee process, drawing rebukes from interest groups, and accusations that Santiago was being swayed by sizeable donations from the telecoms industry.”

Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, a bill sponsor, has subsequently reached an agreement with Assemblyman Santiago to put the weakening provisions back in these two bills “paving the way for California to pass the nation’s most robust net neutrality legislation” Chris Mills reports at BGR here (features news and commentary on mobile and consumer electronic markets.)

“If the bill makes it all the way through both houses and is signed into law, it’s likely to face a complicated legal battle from telecoms providers. Under normal circumstances, FCC rules surrounding net neutrality would pre-empt any state law, making the California bill toothless. However, the mechanism that the FCC used to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order didn’t just remove the net neutrality rules; it stripped the FCC of its own enforcement power, meaning that states may be able to write their own net neutrality legislation." (underlined emphasis mine)

*   * . *  * . *

A penny for your thoughts.....as we’re nickeled and dimed…..dollared, too?  Reminds me…..

You can easily see what has prompted this next topic -- a fast food restaurant employee, then the manager on another occasion, deliberately withheld a penny I was owed in change.  When I called each of them on the error, at least the employee appeared chagrined, but the next time when the manager shortchanged me, I didn’t even get an apology, just a silly grin -- even after I said I lived on a fixed income and every penny counted.   I figure if he gets away with cheating me on a penny he might just decide to escalate the amount to see how much more he can get away with doing.

First they would take our pennies – rounding off to the higher number i.e. $6.00 if actual cost is $5.99 – then, could nickels be next, followed by dimes up to dollars, etc., I wondered.  This called for a Google search which led me to discover pennies are being phased out in Canada.  And…an economist there as reported in Global News has said the nickel could be next.  My concerns about escalation are not unfounded.

Coin elimination discussion has been occurring periodically, prompting pro and con responses you can access by clicking on either of these nation links: Great Britain,  U.S.  But could the paper dollar be turned into a coin?   Really?  Remember the Susan B. Anthony dollar?

Whatever your point of view, this minor insignificant coin issue does serve as a slight momentary distraction from all the other world matters boggling our minds. 

Eliminating the penny in the U.S. has not yet occurred.  Until it does, then I expect exact change when I make a purchase, and that includes receiving even one penny if that’s what I’m due.  If a business wants to keep that penny, then they need to ask my permission to do so or raise the price of their product to eliminate needing to give me a penny in change. 

Meanwhile, I’ll continue to count my pennies, pick one up from the sidewalk as I did when I was young, since finding a penny is considered to be a good luck sign.   

Now, I'm going to relax with some strictly instrumental jazz, without a vocalist's distracting lyrics -- Pennies From Heaven  -- Memories for me of Oscar Peterson at a Cleveland Club 

Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977
A tune from CD entitled “The Pablo All-Stars Jam” 

·       Bass – Niels Pedersen*

·       Drums – Bobby Durham

·       Flugelhorn – Clark Terry

·       Guitar – Joe Pass

·       Piano – Oscar Peterson

·       Producer – Norman Granz

·       Tenor Saxophone – Ronnie Scott

·       Trumpet – Clark Terry

·       Vibraphone – Milt Jackson