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Murphy Martin Commentary
January 12, 2006

 "This Week in Review"

There are times while pondering subject-matter for this space, more than one subject seems worthy of discussing. This is such a week. What with tens of millions trying to choose and complete their new prescription drug plans, a Supreme Court nominee weathering a storm of questions from various Senators, Wall Street watching the DOW close above 1100, Advertisers paying astronomical amounts for Super Bowl spots, and Howard Stern vowing to clean up his language in his new un-controlled radio environment. This was a full week.

ACTIVATING NEW PRECRIPTION PLANS: My letter dated January 3,2006 said "Thank you for choosing Humana's prescription drug plan.

To make sure our records are correct, we would like you to check your personal information printed on the back of this letter......if you need to make changes or corrections please call us at_____!" For some unexplained reason they had left out my middle name (or initial) for the ID card they planned to send me. Well, this will take just a moment to correct I thought. I knew the ID card had to correspond with Medicare info, so I called the number Humana listed. What a surprise to learn after following their recorded directions as to what buttons to push before I finally reached the recording that said "due to an extremely heavy number of calls please call back tomorrow or after 8PM today."

Well for four days now I have called numerous times, sometimes holding on the line for an hour (with my wife's help) and I cannot get through to anyone at Humana except their sales department who tells me they have no contact with the people I need, they are in sales and cannot transfer my call. So here I sit with a letter of confirmation from an insurance carrier saying my new prescription drug plan will become effective on February first. Imagine the continued problems I will have if that plan gets into Medicare's computer and I have to try to get THAT corrected. By the way, I read and hear millions of prescription plan buyers are being placed on "hold" unable to complete their purchases and from ALL the companies offering the new plans. I am going to celebrate when I finally hear a "live" person at Humana say: "How may I help you!" I may slowly count to ten before I tell her ... or him!

SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: Samuel Alito seems considerably more reserved than John Roberts when he faced all the questioning minds in the U.S. Senate. Alito, from New Jersey portrayed himself as cautious, one who believes in a constitutional right to privacy, would not rubber stamp a president, respects congressional power. He had the usual demanding questions about abortion, domestic wiretapping
and his past decisions. Despite dogged efforts by some on the Senate
Judiciary Committee, it appears Samuel Alito will survive the sensitive questioning and will be approved for the Supreme Court vacancy.

SUPER BOWL ADVERTISING: Each year about this time some conversations turn to how much the network televising the next Super Bowl will charge for advertising. This year the game will be televised by ABC-TV with Al Michaels and John Madden doing their last telecast together. Early reports by the network say 85% of the spots for the February 5th telecast have been sold reportedly for $2.5-million per 30-second spot. Just five days after the Super Bowl, the Olympics will be on NBC-TV at $700-thousand per spot and will run for seventeen days.

McDonalds and Visa will not be seen on the Super Bowl as usual, they
opted out for the Olympics. Burger King wasted little time in grabbing the Super Bowl spot vacated by McDonalds.

SPEAKING OF MEDIA: Howard Stern, who opted out of the FCC controlled radio environment for Sirius, the newest Satellite Radio outlet, began his new work this week. And guess what? Stern "vowed" to clean up his act. Less crude, foul language. No use of the "f" word which led to huge fines from the Federal Communications Commission, for Stern and some of the affiliates, while Stern was under their control. Anyone taking bets how long Stern will keep his "vow"?

ROSE BOWL JUMP: How long does it take a 22-year old football player who was just voted Most Valuable Player in one of the most memorable games ever played, how long does it take that star to say he will forego the last remaining year of his eligibility at the University of Texas? Not long. Vince Young (200 yards rushing, 267 passing)after his appearance on the Jay Leno Show, returned to Houston, talked with his grandmothers, his mother, the quarterback of the Tennessee Titans and a couple of Uncles. Most of them then got into a stretch Limo and headed for Austin where he held a news conference. It should not surprise anyone, particularly one who had a tough childhood, to be the latest to yield to the dollar marks. The millions of dollar marks. Vince Young is exceptional. Hopefully he will continue his hard-earned rise to stardom in the National Football League. Now the Longhorns of Texas start looking for someone to fill his shoes. That will be a tough job.

WALL STREET CLIMBS: The DOW jumped above 1100 this week.
How long will it last? Is it a sign of things to come? Will it help the present administration? These questions will be answered in the next several weeks.

OXYMORONS FOR THIS WEEK:
Why is the third hand on a watch called the second hand?
If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected
expected?

Have a great week!


Murphy Martin

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Previous commentaries:
"New Year, New Challenges"
"The Party's Over"
"Merry Christmas Rules"
"Bush Unveils Plans"
"Border Security Now!!!"
"Stupidity Loses Financing"
"Crisis Christians"
"They Led the Way"
"Sadistic Saddam Hussein"
"Bourbon Street Bashing"
"Hurricane Aftermath"
"Standing Tall"
"Never a Dull Moment"
"Another Hero Laid to Rest"
"Blame Game"
"Senior Thoughts For the Young"
"Role Model Challenge"
August 18 - "Network News Anchors"
August 11 - "Now All Three Are Gone"
August 4 - "Trust in the Media"
July 28 - "Television Then and Now"
July 21 -  "The Mick"
July 14 - "Forty Years and Counting"