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chile quake and other weekend stuff…

27 Feb 2010 by admin

wow…things have just been crazy in the last couple of weeks; both man made and natural occurrences.

early this morning there was an 8.8 earthquake in chile and a week or so ago a 6.9 quake off of japan.

we saw a professor in alabama shoot and kill 3 professors and wound 3 others and a man shoot and wound two middle school children in littleton, colorado .

natural disasters, while horrific, are just that – natural.  it is the way of the earth and you cannot stop them.  countries prepare as best as they can.  unlike haiti, apparently chile has rather strict building codes because they are in an earthquake zone.  they have already said that any building found not to be built to code would result in the owner or builder being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

the shootings on the other hand are horrific and entirely preventable.  i am constantly amazed at our lax gun laws within the united states.  i understand that our constitution rather ambiguously talks about gun ownership.  i have no doubt in my mind that if the founding fathers were alive today, they would not have intended for the the constitution to be interpreted in this way.

the nra would like for you to believe that more guns are a better thing.  if everyone is armed no one will hurt anyone else.  i think it’s bullshit.  absolute bullshit.  unless you are a hunter, law enforcement or military you have no need for a weapon.  me having a gun in my house would NOT make me safer.  as a matter of fact, i would be less safe.  there is the possibility that my child could be hurt by the gun or if there ever was an intruder, that they gun would be turned on me.

i heard the nra say repeatedly, after the virginia tech shooting rampage, that if the students and teachers had been allowed to carry weapons on campus that they would have been safer since they could have taken out the shooter.  that’s a huge maybe there.  who knows if they could have gotten to the shooter.  how would they have known who it was if everyone around them is armed…it could have been anyone.  and once you begin shooting…why should the guy next to you trust your word now?  it would be absolute chaos.

i think the whole gun thing has gotten out of hand.  and now that obama is in office, the crazies have come out of the wood work.  americans are flocking to buy guns and stock up on ammunition.  i say with a totally strait face…these people are crazy!  if these people honestly believe that obama is leading us to a fascist, socialist state they are cuckoo.  there are plenty of laws in place and certainly many people within the government that would stop that from happening.  though i guess it is questionable when you think about the fact that most of those people stood aside and let bush/cheney rape and pillage the laws of our land.

i won’t go on any longer…you get my point.  i’m a gun safety person rather than a gun rights person.  that’s it…it won’t change.

the day seems to have been wasted really.  my husband and i did our chiropractor this morning after breakfast at ihop.  he then had to go to work (he’s still there 7 hours later!) and i headed home.

a friend was supposed to come down from LA and deliver the girl scout cookies i ordered from his daughter.  i waited until around 11.30 to text and find out if he was still coming.  he said he was.  i waited until 12.50 and then headed over to the spectrum where would we be meeting.  i assumed that was enough time.  turns out he wasn’t even walking out the door until then.  bummer.  i had already told the boys we would do something this afternoon after i was done meeting him.  so, he turned around and went back home.  that’s why i like plans a bit more concrete….

that’s saturday so far.  we’ll see what happens this evening!

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bipartisanship…

25 Feb 2010 by admin

i’ve realized this morning after watching this supposed health care summit, i don’t want bipartisanship.  generally that means leaving the things that matter the most on the cutting room floor…neutering the bill if you will.

when i listen to assholes such as john cornyn and mike pence and john mccain and their vitriol, i stop caring about what it is they want.  they can fuck off for all i care.  they are doing NOTHING to help me.  fuckers!

these men care more about scoring political jabs while being televised.  i heard from one reporter that the republicans are winning the day during this summit.  why?  because they are not speaking about genuine ways that they can come together.  they’re reading their talking points and trying to insult the democrats.  there are a couple – kyl and coburn – who tried to put some actual ideas out there.  for the most part, though, it’s republican showmanship…the giant senate bills and the 11 page proposal by obama.  props and talking points…no substance.

jon stewart had a wonderful monologue on the republican whining about putting a bill out then the bill not being comprehensive enough…take a look at huffington post:

jon stewart: summit’s eve

i’m frustrated…republicans don’t represent what my family needs and democrats don’t seem be strong enough to fight for what we need.  i wish i spoke swedish….

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health savings accounts and more…

25 Feb 2010 by admin

fucking ridiculous.  this is rep. bill cassidy’s plan to help solve health care issues-health savings accounts.   my family can barely pay the daily bills that we have to take care of let alone set a large portion aside for medical savings.  as democrats have said, these accounts are great for upper middle and high income families.  we’re middle income and it’s not feasible for us.

what i’ve noticed over and over again in the republican ideas are that they cater to the wealthy.  they favor business over consumer.  it’s hard to stomach.  it’s also hard to stomach the fact that republicans have spent years ignoring the problems with health care….and besides that even actively trying to do away with medicare and medicaid.  why should i believe that they will help me?  they’ve given me nothing in the way of proof to show that they would.

my family is full of preexisting conditions.  we’re fucked if my husband loses his job…absolutely fucked.  my husband and i dream of owning our own business.  we have, what we think, is a great idea and one that we talk about often.  we couldn’t ever do it though….due to preexisting conditions.

here how’s it shakes out in my family:

my husband: colon cancer, high cholesterol, osteopenia, compression fracture of vertebrae with repair
myself: bi-polar, asthma, migraines, hashimoto’s thyroiditis
kaitlyn: occasional thyroid issues but relatively healthy thank goodness
thomas: asthma but relatively healthy
tyler: pectorus carinatum but relatively healthy

so were does that leave us?  only tyler could get coverage for asthma, as long as he doesn’t develop it in middle school like i did.  kaitlyn and i can’t get coverage for thyroid issues.  my husband will most likely be denied coverage altogether.

i’m just so tired of worrying about this.  we keep talking about how america is the greatest country in the world.  it’s not anymore.  we’re delusional.  our health care is 37th in the world.  our education is far behind in all aspects.  our green policies lag far behind.  our public transportation system is non existent in most parts of the country.  our civil rights are starting to lag. we’re in two wars which are not going well.  our relations with nations around the world were damaged severely by the cowboy nature of the last regime.

i’ve never been so pessimistic about the future of america.  this is due squarely to the destruction wreaked between 2001 through 2008 and the above issues further harmed by bush/cheney.

why is it NOW that all these teabaggers want to remember life and liberty?  why NOW do they feel we need to reform government?  it’s disgusting.

watching the summit…getting more and more disgusted.  boehner, blackburn, mccain and mcconnell just seem interested in scoring political points.  kyl and coburn did have a bit more in the way of ideas but seem unwilling to meet half way.

as obama has said over and over, the democrats have included many republican ideas but that doesn’t mean that they will be added word for word.  that’s the idea of compromise….you don’t get your way entirely and we don’t get ours.

the repubs keep talking about the percentage of americans who are against these bills as put forward.  that masks the facts.  i’m against the bills as put forward…not because they’re bad but because they don’t go far enough!  i think a decent percentage of those people are like me.

argh!  enough for now…

Category: congress, family, healthcare, kaitlyn, medical, michael, opinions and thoughts, politics, repugs, senate, shannon, thomas, tyler  Tags: , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

skewed political health care stories…

21 Feb 2010 by admin

ok…a good riesling to start the rant…and off we go!

this is one thing that drives me crazy and i’m sure i’ve ranted about it before.  taking information that on it’s face value seems to support your point but which is really taken out of it’s context and true meaning.

there is a story about a poll that was analyzed.  it says that 70% of americans are behind the health care reform. that’s health care reform as a whole.  i can believe that.

republicans however keep trotting out the stale, tired statement that the overwhelming majority of the public is against health care reform.  if you look at certain poll numbers it looks that way.

however, this is different than the 70% above although they would seem to be conflicting.  it seems as if you cannot have the two side by side; either they’re for it or they’re against it.  right?

WRONG…if you look at the number of americans against health care reform right now, they form two distinct groups.  one group is opposed to it on it’s face.  they think health care in the US is fine…nothing broken…let us keep the status quo.  the other group believes the system is broken…our premiums are going up…our amount of care is going down…we need change.

so…what does this mean?

simply this, if you look at the path that this recent health care debate has taken it has taken the path to piss off the most people possible:

if you’re a conservative, you’re mad it started in the first place; after all, you hadn’t done anything in the previous 8 years to fix it and you wouldn’t be doing anything now if you were in charge.  you think that each state can handle it on their own.  you think that businesses need to be protected even at the cost of their employees.  overall, you think we should hold steady at our current place or even go backward; remove medicare entirely.  you’ve argued that insurance be able to be sold across state lines; a good idea.  but you are unwilling to allow there to be any central oversight; a bad idea.  you wish to include tort reform; a good idea.  but you think this is a central policy which it’s not.  tort reform has overwhelmingly been shown to be such a small portion of overall costs that this is like swatting at flies!  what are your other ideas…i’m not sure.  i haven’t been able to get any coherent list of conservative ideas that make any sense.  conservatives seem to be hinging it all on those two things.

now if you’re a liberal, you’re mad now that everything you thought was worth fighting for has been stripped from the bills presented.  i, as a liberal, would like to see one public option; one national health care system.  i think this best cares for the population as a whole.  that was dashed against the rocks very quickly.  ok…onto the public option.  this seems fantastic…the best of all worlds.  those that already have insurance through employers will stay with those policies.  those that can afford to purchase their own will keep those but for those who are such severe risks or financially incapable of buying their own insurance would be able to have government support.  awesome!  no…that wasn’t acceptable either.  ok, what next, here is where i’m unclear.  liberals want everyone to be covered.  we want preexisting condition policies off of the table (i’m a victim of that one).  we want straight forward care with no games.  but what have we gotten in the end?  i’m not sure, to be honest.  the final bill was so laden with holes that i can’t figure out what it would have done for me.

so with all of that being said, look at the poll numbers.  if you were to go deeper into what the majority means, you would find people on both sides.  it’s not that the overwhelming majority of americans are against health care reform.  it’s that the numbers are  split.  one portion doesn’t want reform at all and the other thinks the reform should be tougher.  i would like to see the pollsters cover this completely and fairly for once.  one number cannot be taken on face value.

so yes, i believe that 70% of americans want health care reform.  do i believe that a majority are against it…again, yes i do but that’s split into the gone to far and not far enough groups.

whew….i need another drink!

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my saturday…

30 Jan 2010 by admin

i love the idea of listing those things that i’m grateful for but i don’t want to make it an everyday thing. first of all it will be hard to be original and secondly it would probably get boring for the 2 other people that look at my blog. so i’ll add some of those things now and then amongst my other ravings.

today…i’m grateful for my mom who sews and who made me an awesome apron for christmas. (it came a bit late but that’s ok.) i’m a messy cook…a really really messy cook. i probably splash or splatter on myself everytime i cook. maybe that just means i’m really involved in it but none the less…i’m always a mess. the apron covers me enough that i don’t have to worry. i love the pockets too. i keep my blackberry in the pocket and usually a towel since it never stays on my shoulder.

what was the rest of my saturday like?

i have been down lately. california living can be stressful. it’s ridiculously expensive here. even groceries are more expensive. taxes are outrageous. home prices are outrageous. some days i just don’t know if sunshine and warm weather is enough to make up for the constant gouging of our budget.

finding out that jersey shore was renewed for another season didn’t help my mood. this show is pure trash as are the people on it. do they aspire to new lows? i’m a self-confessed tv addict. i watch often and i watch a variety of shows. but this…garbage…is disgusting. i rather be subjected to bill o’leilly than have to watch this stuff. people who know me know that that is saying something. i won’t say anymore as anything else would just be further insults to these sub-humans.

i was cheered up after watching a rerun of obama’s crushing of republicans friday. for republicans to say that they won this debate in anyway is a joke. they spent the meeting, for the most part, trying to score points. as the president said to jeb hensarling, his “question” was basically a soliloquy of talking points. few of the questions posed to the president seemed to be actual questions. they seemed to be framed as talking points which would score points with the base and then any answer after that didn’t really matter. i wish that the president’s message would resonate, especially with the average voter at home but i’m afraid with the 24 hour news cycle that is afraid to call a spade a spade, it won’t.

speaking of the news cycles…i’m so frustrated with the trend of the last decade or even two decades. this incessant need to be “fair”. this isn’t a bad idea…just watch fox and their supposed fair and balanced reporting. but fair doesn’t mean that both sides are correct. if a news organization truly wanted to be fair you should look at the issue and report the truth. don’t give both sides a fair shake if it isn’t warranted. if one side has lied or bent the truth or don’t something wrong, you don’t need to give them a fair shake. they were wrong…say that they’re wrong! don’t try and find something wrong on the other side to compare. just report the news. argh!

michael and i saw ‘legion’ today. i love paul bettany and he was in top physical form for this movie. wow! however, the movie itself was a let down. the trailers made it seems as if it was a high action movie but in reality there was very little. the story line could have been good but it was disappointing. i think they left it open for some sort of sequel too. we’ll see.

i’ve been feeling dizzy lately…maybe it’s an inner ear thing. i’m not sure. i was just sitting on the couch watching tv and all of the sudden…i was feeling dizzy. i think if i had been standing i would have starting listing to the right. it happens quiet a bit. the dr. told me on wednesday that this crazy ear thing that i keep having (swelling and pain of the whole ear and sometimes right side of my head) my be relapsing polychondritis and after looking that up, it says that it could affect the inner ear.

Category: california, house, michael, movies, politics, repugs, shannon, television  Tags: , , , , , ,  2 Comments
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