Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich offers his opinion of  the rally here.

From The Big Picture blog.

“Is this bill all that I would want? Far from it. Is it all that it can be? No. But when history calls, history calls. And I happen to think that the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time.”

Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, on her Finance Committee vote supporting the health care bill

Just read this post on Seth Godin’s blog and thought it was worth putting here in its entirety:

The Washington Post recently laid off a columnist because his blog posts didn’t get enough web traffic.

Of course, in the old days, the newspaper had no real way to tell which columns got read and which ones didn’t. So journalists were lulled into the sense that it didn’t really matter. The Times quotes Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at NYU,  “It’s an unusual public rationale for serious newspaper people, that’s for sure.”

Wrong tense. It’s not going to be unusual for long.

In fact, in a digital world where everything can be measured, we all work on commission. And why not? If you do great work and it works, you should get rewarded. And if you don’t, it’s hard to see why a rational organization would keep you on.

You don’t have to like the coming era of hyper-measurement, but that doesn’t mean it’s not here.

“The biggest reward for a thing well done is to have done it.”

– Voltaire

From today’s New York Times Editorial:

President Obama and his family plan to visit Yellowstone National Park on Saturday and the Grand Canyon on Sunday. We hope this visit will inaugurate a new commitment to conserving the national park system and to the science on which sound conservation is based. We also hope that the visit will impress on the president the serious fiscal issues threatening the parks.

Since the first national park — Yellowstone — was created in 1872, the idea has spread around the world, including to Afghanistan, which opened its first national park in June. But this is not an idea that sustains itself easily anywhere. It requires conviction and leadership and, overseas, the continued, inspiring example of America’s national park system.

Read the entire editorial here.

“Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they only unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows us what we’ve become.”

– Brooke Foss Wescott

My last post below was May 11. It’s been a month of non-stop work and prepping for the big day. Didn’t even know the Lakers were playing in the NBA Finals until someone mentioned it last week at Pavillions at 9:30pm…after Game 3.

In Tokyo now; we arrived last night. We took ANA’s premium economy class for the first time; it was basically as roomy as business class with the same food. You can even order snacks in-between meals like udon, ramen and tonkatsu sandwiches. Highly recommended. A celebrity sat behind Harumi: the popular enka singer, Jero (ジェロ). It’s nice to see everyone here again.

Looking forward to seeing Mom, Pop, Carol, Michael, Sue and Deano here next week…and going to Bora Bora the following week!

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

A happy Mother’s Day to mom, and my future mother-in-law in Yokohama, Japan…and Carol, cousin Amy, Coco, Cheryl, Linda and all of our other friends!

Later today we’re taking mom to Torafuku for dinner…thanks Sue for making arrangements!

Will leave with this quote:

“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”

–Honore de Balzac, author

Biggest news story today was clearly Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension for using banned substances. I first heard about it afternoon on an elevator video screen in Century City. As expected, opinions varied, based on articles I read this evening:

“I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I’m sorry about this whole situation.” — Manny Ramirez

“Who hasn’t done something we wish we hadn’t done?” asked Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti. “Had he dismissed it or acted like it was somebody else’s fault, I’d have a hard time with it. He took ownership of what transpired. That speaks to the man. Admit your mistake in a public forum, that’s not easy to do.” — Ned Colleti, Dodgers GM

“You see that there’s no favorites being played. That shows you that baseball is serious about what they’re saying and doing. I’m happy that we’re heading in the right direction.” — San Diego Padres pitching ace Jake Peavy

“Hey Giant-fan! Why are you even on this chat board? Or are you here just to show us how to deal with PED using team members from all the experience you have.” — Fan comment, Dodgers.MLB.com article

“Now take some of that 8 million you just saved and spend it on a bullpen that can hold a 6 run lead.” — Another fan (Dodgers blew a 6-0 lead tonight, losing 11 – 9)

“We’ve had a chance to learn from him and it brought us confidence to be where we are right now. It’d be tough to say we won’t miss him in the lineup, but I feel we’ll find a way to get the job done.” — Andre Ethier, Dodger outfielder

“I’m turned off by players that try and test the system. It doesn’t make any sense.” — Larry Bowa, Dodgers 3rd base coach

“I must admit, when I first heard the news that Ramírez had tested positive for use of a banned substance, I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I was filled with a lot of I-told-ya’-so anger directed at the people in Los Angeles, most notably the fawning media that had bought into the whole Manny act and that had apparently decided that we Big Meanies in Boston had made it all up.” — Bob Ryan, Boston Globe sports columnist

There’s a good chance we already know how this whole thing is going to end, probably a Sunday game against the Giants in late September, 50,000 people on their feet screaming, ‘Manny, Manny.’” — T.J. Simers, L.A. Times sports columnist