I'm a woman. Granted, I'm an older woman who no longer has those 'parts' that get pregnant, but at one time I did. And three times I used 'em.
I really enjoyed getting pregnant, loved every minute of BEING pregnant, survived three natural childbirths (the last one at home), and was/am a passable mother. No one's in jail and everyone is normal-on-the-surface which is as much as you can ask.
So I'm past all that child-bearing mess, but still feel pretty strong kinship to those who are still 'in the trenches'. And those Sisterchicks are suffering.
Here's what we get from about the time we're three years old-
You can be anything you want to be
You are nothing unless you're pretty
Don't be stuck up
Don't be too easy
NO SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE
BOYS WILL BE BOYS
(That one always confused me- so who are the boys supposed to have sex with if girls have to remain virgins and homosexuality is wrong?)
If you get pregnant you MUST keep the baby
If you have an abortion, you are going to hell
Having a baby and being a mother is the highest and most blessed calling for a woman
DON'T ASK US FOR ANY HELP, YOU SLUT!
You're only worth 70% of what a man makes for doing the same job
WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING US FOR HELP?
Stay at home with your kids if you love them
GET BACK TO WORK!
You are not really happy unless you're married. And Christian. And not a lesbian.
You are nothing unless you're pretty.
And now we're dying. We're dying at a larger rate than women in Lithuania and Bosnia, ya'll. Not from Ebola, or cancer, or being struck by lightening- we're dying in childbirth or complications thereof. The most natural thing in the world for a woman to do- we're dying of it.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/apr/12/maternal-mortality-rates-millennium-development-goals
Why? Are we really 'the weaker sex'?
Not at all.
So what's the difference between American women and say...women in Serbia?
Access to health care.
Here in the Land of Profit and Free Market, women are penalized JUST FOR BEING WOMEN- we are walking, talking, menstruating and birthing pre-existing conditions.
We're unstable and must be controlled. For our own good, of course. And (surprise surprise) it's the Red counties where women are suffering the most from regressive and restrictive regulations on their bodies.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/15/republicans-are-killing-women-us-maternal-death-rate-climbs-female-deaths-rise-in-gop-counties/
But it's OK if it ends up killing us.
At least it's mostly not the pretty ones dying.
PS- My dog is destroying a plastic bottle. Methodically, intensely, turning it into a pile of unrecognizable shards. She is focused and serene. Biting hard is relaxing. I envy my dog.
photo
photo by Sheri Dixon
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Monday, January 19, 2015
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Forget the Turkey- Pass the Nog
Ahhhh...Thanksgiving Weekend.
The turkey's been picked over, the pies decimated, the side dishes are serving second duty as full lunches of themselves, and now I have a few minutes to give thanks...in my commie pinko socialist treehuggin' way.
I am thankful that Obama has finally managed to turn this nation into a cesspool of communistic socialism. The proof can be read by the crash of Wall St., the failure of the big banks and the loosened hold of the weakened and gutted power of the corporations.
Oh, wait. Wall St. has never been happier or had numbers quite so big, the big banks are bigger than ever with less regulation than ever and took home huge bonuses after taking home lots and lots of taxpayer dollars so they wouldn't fail, and corporations are still considered 'people'. Don't give me that, "Corporations ARE people, my friend" bullshit- corporations are man-made constructs set in place for one reason- to make money. Their existence remains no matter who is in charge: people die, my friend- corporations don't.
I am thankful that our blessed Muslim Kenyan leader has finally managed to enact a complete and total government takeover of the nation's healthcare and school systems. الحمد الله (That's "Praise Allah!" for you 'Old American' losers).
Oh, wait. The ACA (also known lovingly as Obamacare by those who spit after saying it- I'm sure the sweetness of the word just is too much for their delicate tastebuds)is not anything remotely resembling Universal Health Care, which would have been one health care program for all Americans no matter if they could afford it or not. The ACA isn't a health care program at all- it's a warehousing of private for-profit policies that people can choose from- before this you needed an insurance agent to do that. So the healthcare.gov website is really just a guy in a bad suit and gel in his hair. What the ACA does do is make it illegal for the for-profits to do things like deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and offer insurance policies that are dirt cheap and useless as tits on a boar hog. In order to do that, they did something that they borrowed from the insurance companies themselves-
See, the reason big companies like Blue Cross and Aetna can get away with paying hospitals $9,995 for something like a heart bypass surgery while people without insurance have to pay $250,000 is that they went to the hospitals and said, "Look- we're giving you VOLUME so you're going to cut us a deal". The ACA gives the insurance companies volume- a large amount of healthy people to help defray the cost of actually paying for the sick people who need health insurance. It's already working, and would be working a hell of a lot better if the states with Republican governors had actually accepted the free Medicaid expansion that includes all the people not poor enough for Medicaid now, and not rich enough to actually pay full price for a good policy that actually does shit. In Texas that's over a million people Rick Perry is fucking over 'on principle'.
And the schools? From what I've been reading, all this 'common core' hoo ha is trumped up bullshit. I know- shocking, right? Because far from a 'gubment takeover' of the school system, the standards give the desired outcome- what a student should know at each level- and give the states and even school districts (right down to the teachers themselves) full leeway on how to teach it- including what books to read and use as texts. It stresses 'teaching critical thinking skills' though, so I can see where that would be a very real threat to today's conservativebowel movement. Because every state's schools should be able to turn out students as illiterate as they choose as long as they don't teach EVILution.
Well, at least I can be thankful that Literally Hitler Barry Sotero has been able to completely disarm American citizens!
Oh, wait. In spite of the worst mass shootings in our history, in spite of a clear and very vocal majority of Americans wanting stricter gun purchasing and owning regulations (91%...including a majority of NRA members- no shit), the big scary government has done jack fucking shit about it. Jack. Fucking. Shit. But that doesn't stop the NRA and gun manufacturers from whipping their hapless, clueless followers into a frenzy every few months or so. Seriously, dudes- even a mentally challenged dog stops falling for the 'fake frisbee throw' after a while. We're going on six years of OH MY GAWD OBAMA'S COMING FOR OUR GUNS BUY UP ALL THE AMMO whenever the gun manufacturers want some extra dough and a good laugh at your expense (literally).
Hmmm...so I guess what it boils down to is that our president is actually the Worst Kenyan Muslim Commie Socialist Pinko Treehugging Dictator Hitler Ever.
Sigh. That's OK. I've still got almost a month of "THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS" and "JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON" ahead of me. There is clearly not enough rum in my nog.
The turkey's been picked over, the pies decimated, the side dishes are serving second duty as full lunches of themselves, and now I have a few minutes to give thanks...in my commie pinko socialist treehuggin' way.
I am thankful that Obama has finally managed to turn this nation into a cesspool of communistic socialism. The proof can be read by the crash of Wall St., the failure of the big banks and the loosened hold of the weakened and gutted power of the corporations.
Oh, wait. Wall St. has never been happier or had numbers quite so big, the big banks are bigger than ever with less regulation than ever and took home huge bonuses after taking home lots and lots of taxpayer dollars so they wouldn't fail, and corporations are still considered 'people'. Don't give me that, "Corporations ARE people, my friend" bullshit- corporations are man-made constructs set in place for one reason- to make money. Their existence remains no matter who is in charge: people die, my friend- corporations don't.
I am thankful that our blessed Muslim Kenyan leader has finally managed to enact a complete and total government takeover of the nation's healthcare and school systems. الحمد الله (That's "Praise Allah!" for you 'Old American' losers).
Oh, wait. The ACA (also known lovingly as Obamacare by those who spit after saying it- I'm sure the sweetness of the word just is too much for their delicate tastebuds)is not anything remotely resembling Universal Health Care, which would have been one health care program for all Americans no matter if they could afford it or not. The ACA isn't a health care program at all- it's a warehousing of private for-profit policies that people can choose from- before this you needed an insurance agent to do that. So the healthcare.gov website is really just a guy in a bad suit and gel in his hair. What the ACA does do is make it illegal for the for-profits to do things like deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and offer insurance policies that are dirt cheap and useless as tits on a boar hog. In order to do that, they did something that they borrowed from the insurance companies themselves-
See, the reason big companies like Blue Cross and Aetna can get away with paying hospitals $9,995 for something like a heart bypass surgery while people without insurance have to pay $250,000 is that they went to the hospitals and said, "Look- we're giving you VOLUME so you're going to cut us a deal". The ACA gives the insurance companies volume- a large amount of healthy people to help defray the cost of actually paying for the sick people who need health insurance. It's already working, and would be working a hell of a lot better if the states with Republican governors had actually accepted the free Medicaid expansion that includes all the people not poor enough for Medicaid now, and not rich enough to actually pay full price for a good policy that actually does shit. In Texas that's over a million people Rick Perry is fucking over 'on principle'.
And the schools? From what I've been reading, all this 'common core' hoo ha is trumped up bullshit. I know- shocking, right? Because far from a 'gubment takeover' of the school system, the standards give the desired outcome- what a student should know at each level- and give the states and even school districts (right down to the teachers themselves) full leeway on how to teach it- including what books to read and use as texts. It stresses 'teaching critical thinking skills' though, so I can see where that would be a very real threat to today's conservative
Well, at least I can be thankful that Literally Hitler Barry Sotero has been able to completely disarm American citizens!
Oh, wait. In spite of the worst mass shootings in our history, in spite of a clear and very vocal majority of Americans wanting stricter gun purchasing and owning regulations (91%...including a majority of NRA members- no shit), the big scary government has done jack fucking shit about it. Jack. Fucking. Shit. But that doesn't stop the NRA and gun manufacturers from whipping their hapless, clueless followers into a frenzy every few months or so. Seriously, dudes- even a mentally challenged dog stops falling for the 'fake frisbee throw' after a while. We're going on six years of OH MY GAWD OBAMA'S COMING FOR OUR GUNS BUY UP ALL THE AMMO whenever the gun manufacturers want some extra dough and a good laugh at your expense (literally).
Hmmm...so I guess what it boils down to is that our president is actually the Worst Kenyan Muslim Commie Socialist Pinko Treehugging Dictator Hitler Ever.
Sigh. That's OK. I've still got almost a month of "THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS" and "JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON" ahead of me. There is clearly not enough rum in my nog.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
What the Hell is Wrong With People?
So I was driving home today.
We'd just spent 4 of the last 5 days at MD Anderson for tests and appointments and whatnot. Not consecutively- because of how the appointments had to fall we had a few on Monday, and one on Thursday, so we drove down Sunday and came home late Monday and drove down again yesterday and home today. Because it was cheaper to drive it twice than pay for an additional 2 nights in the hotel.
Fiscally sensible, emotionally and physically suicidal.
Therefore, I wasfucking exhausted really tired when we left the hospital about 1pm today, so I turned on talk radio to keep me awake till we were halfway home and Ward and I would switch driving.
Now, we don't have any of that new-fangled satellite radio in the car, so we have to depend on AM stations.
There is no such thing as a liberal radio show on the AM stations. None. You gotcher Rush and yer Sean and yer Dr. Laura's and yer bible thumpers. That's the whole show.
Must be that Liberal-controlled media we're always hearing about...
Rush was on.
Now, I admit I listened to Rush years ago when I was a Republican, and even then Rush was ridiculous. My best friend and I would listen every day at work and it was basically a drinking game using whatever 'button-pushing' word he was into that week.
It was a very casual workplace.
Rush is still using 'button-pushing' words- today's was "Regime". As in "the Obama Regime". He used it a minimum of every five minutes. Just darling.
But that wasn't the highlight of the show.
The highlight was a caller who suggested that all the Dittoheads inundate the healthcare website and phone lines...just to mess them up even farther. Because it would be a complete hoot to make sure that no one who is really looking for health insurance options to get through...to prove that Obamacare is a clusterfuck that can't even get beyond the initial phase.
Well, Rush admitted that as fun as that would be, it was unnecessary because it's probably being messed up on purpose to deceive the American people about how awful Obamacare will really be, so that it'll be too late by the time we all realize it, blah blah blah de blah.
But I wasn't really listening to that part.
Oh, ya- because it was all bullshit and smoke and mirrors and the ever-dependable Rush et al ploy of stating the exact opposite of the truth and then saying "Trust me!" But that's not what really upset me- I'm used to all that crap.
Maybe it was because we'd just spent days in the bowels of the cancer hospital...again.
Maybe it was because we've had over a decade of American Healthcare dictating our family life.
But the idea that anyone would think it would be 'a hoot' and justifiable; nay- patriotic behavior to willfully gum up the lines when there are literally millions of Americans who NEED medical care in a very real life or death way?
That's incomprehensible and reprehensible to me.
This sort of thing proves that conservatives are absolutely becoming callous and heartless bastards.
If this were a one-time deal, it would be bad enough but something that could be excused as 'an isolated incident'.
But it's not. It's rampant and pervasive and horrifying.
When discussing healthcare in this country with conservatives over the last decade, the not-so-subtle and important difference is this- if anyone in their families were to need medical care, I'd be right there demanding that they get it- offering to pay for it through higher taxes if necessary. Because it's a human right.
But reverse the scenario? They are very sorry, but will regretfully stand by while my family dies.
That's not an America I'll settle for.
I guess I'm just a shitty patriot.
To read more about my family's decade-plus in the healthcare system- with insurance, without insurance and on Medicare- please read my journal, "Cancerdance- a love story", available signed from me, or on Kindle or Nook. Full of my sunny disposition and colorful language, it's got the best real-life hero ever born as the main character- my knight in shining armor, my strength, my anchor- my husband.
http://www.sheri-dixon.com/cancer.html
We'd just spent 4 of the last 5 days at MD Anderson for tests and appointments and whatnot. Not consecutively- because of how the appointments had to fall we had a few on Monday, and one on Thursday, so we drove down Sunday and came home late Monday and drove down again yesterday and home today. Because it was cheaper to drive it twice than pay for an additional 2 nights in the hotel.
Fiscally sensible, emotionally and physically suicidal.
Therefore, I was
Now, we don't have any of that new-fangled satellite radio in the car, so we have to depend on AM stations.
There is no such thing as a liberal radio show on the AM stations. None. You gotcher Rush and yer Sean and yer Dr. Laura's and yer bible thumpers. That's the whole show.
Must be that Liberal-controlled media we're always hearing about...
Rush was on.
Now, I admit I listened to Rush years ago when I was a Republican, and even then Rush was ridiculous. My best friend and I would listen every day at work and it was basically a drinking game using whatever 'button-pushing' word he was into that week.
It was a very casual workplace.
Rush is still using 'button-pushing' words- today's was "Regime". As in "the Obama Regime". He used it a minimum of every five minutes. Just darling.
But that wasn't the highlight of the show.
The highlight was a caller who suggested that all the Dittoheads inundate the healthcare website and phone lines...just to mess them up even farther. Because it would be a complete hoot to make sure that no one who is really looking for health insurance options to get through...to prove that Obamacare is a clusterfuck that can't even get beyond the initial phase.
Well, Rush admitted that as fun as that would be, it was unnecessary because it's probably being messed up on purpose to deceive the American people about how awful Obamacare will really be, so that it'll be too late by the time we all realize it, blah blah blah de blah.
But I wasn't really listening to that part.
Oh, ya- because it was all bullshit and smoke and mirrors and the ever-dependable Rush et al ploy of stating the exact opposite of the truth and then saying "Trust me!" But that's not what really upset me- I'm used to all that crap.
Maybe it was because we'd just spent days in the bowels of the cancer hospital...again.
Maybe it was because we've had over a decade of American Healthcare dictating our family life.
But the idea that anyone would think it would be 'a hoot' and justifiable; nay- patriotic behavior to willfully gum up the lines when there are literally millions of Americans who NEED medical care in a very real life or death way?
That's incomprehensible and reprehensible to me.
This sort of thing proves that conservatives are absolutely becoming callous and heartless bastards.
If this were a one-time deal, it would be bad enough but something that could be excused as 'an isolated incident'.
But it's not. It's rampant and pervasive and horrifying.
When discussing healthcare in this country with conservatives over the last decade, the not-so-subtle and important difference is this- if anyone in their families were to need medical care, I'd be right there demanding that they get it- offering to pay for it through higher taxes if necessary. Because it's a human right.
But reverse the scenario? They are very sorry, but will regretfully stand by while my family dies.
That's not an America I'll settle for.
I guess I'm just a shitty patriot.
To read more about my family's decade-plus in the healthcare system- with insurance, without insurance and on Medicare- please read my journal, "Cancerdance- a love story", available signed from me, or on Kindle or Nook. Full of my sunny disposition and colorful language, it's got the best real-life hero ever born as the main character- my knight in shining armor, my strength, my anchor- my husband.
http://www.sheri-dixon.com/cancer.html
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Pre-Coffee Persecusion
Lets just get this out of the way.
I'm never eating at Chik Filet again and I'm never shopping at Hobby Lobby again.
It's not really a big deal for me, a sacrifice- if you will, because the food at CF is really shitty (who the hell takes dry bread, a frozen-then-deep-fried chicken part and ONE PICKLE SLICE and bases an entire restaurant on that crap?)and anything I can get at Hobby Lobby I can get at any other hobby store...preferably a locally-owned one.
The Chik Filet debacle? Stupid. Ooooh, the Christians are marching en masse to eat crappy sammiches in support of Chik Filet's brave policies. "Clogging our arteries for Jesus". Whatever.
I've had it with the Hobby Lobby thing, tho.
They're willing to pay 1.3 million dollars A DAY in fines rather than supply their employees with ONE segment of health care? Coincidentally, since from what I've seen, Hobby Lobby employees tend to be under 50, lower middle class and WOMEN- it's the very thing they most need- help in deciding how big their family gets. How fucking Christian of them.
Let me do this so it's easy to understand and impossible to misunderstand-
HOBBY LOBBY IS THE CHURCH OF NOTHING. IT IS NOT A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION AND IT IS THEREFORE NOT EXEMPT FROM IMPLEMENTING ANY PART OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.
Is that clear?
The ACA does NOT say "Everybody MUST take birth control and have a minimum of three (3) abortions in their lifetime, men included", but you'd think it says exactly that to hear all the wailing, gnashing of teeth and rubbing of ashes onto clothes-rent heads.
Settle the fuck down.
Just because the President/Owner/King of Hobby Lobby thinks PERSONALLY that birth control is a bad thing, he cannot CANNOT make that decision for his employees.
On accounta Hobby Lobby is NOT a RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION.
But the entire "we're so persecuted" Christian Nation is gonna march on Hobby Lobby in a few days to SHOW US HEATHENS that they support the holiness that is...a fucking glorified five and dime store.
They're going to march in support of ONE MAN being able to essentially screw and persecute the living hell out of every female employee he has, who is not doing it because he can't AFFORD IT- since he's paying more in fines than if every one of his employees (men included) took the pill every day for the rest of their lives.
That, my friends, is the most unabashed bullshit I've ever heard in my entire life.
And the angels sang.
I'm never eating at Chik Filet again and I'm never shopping at Hobby Lobby again.
It's not really a big deal for me, a sacrifice- if you will, because the food at CF is really shitty (who the hell takes dry bread, a frozen-then-deep-fried chicken part and ONE PICKLE SLICE and bases an entire restaurant on that crap?)and anything I can get at Hobby Lobby I can get at any other hobby store...preferably a locally-owned one.
The Chik Filet debacle? Stupid. Ooooh, the Christians are marching en masse to eat crappy sammiches in support of Chik Filet's brave policies. "Clogging our arteries for Jesus". Whatever.
I've had it with the Hobby Lobby thing, tho.
They're willing to pay 1.3 million dollars A DAY in fines rather than supply their employees with ONE segment of health care? Coincidentally, since from what I've seen, Hobby Lobby employees tend to be under 50, lower middle class and WOMEN- it's the very thing they most need- help in deciding how big their family gets. How fucking Christian of them.
Let me do this so it's easy to understand and impossible to misunderstand-
HOBBY LOBBY IS THE CHURCH OF NOTHING. IT IS NOT A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION AND IT IS THEREFORE NOT EXEMPT FROM IMPLEMENTING ANY PART OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.
Is that clear?
The ACA does NOT say "Everybody MUST take birth control and have a minimum of three (3) abortions in their lifetime, men included", but you'd think it says exactly that to hear all the wailing, gnashing of teeth and rubbing of ashes onto clothes-rent heads.
Settle the fuck down.
Just because the President/Owner/King of Hobby Lobby thinks PERSONALLY that birth control is a bad thing, he cannot CANNOT make that decision for his employees.
On accounta Hobby Lobby is NOT a RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION.
But the entire "we're so persecuted" Christian Nation is gonna march on Hobby Lobby in a few days to SHOW US HEATHENS that they support the holiness that is...a fucking glorified five and dime store.
They're going to march in support of ONE MAN being able to essentially screw and persecute the living hell out of every female employee he has, who is not doing it because he can't AFFORD IT- since he's paying more in fines than if every one of his employees (men included) took the pill every day for the rest of their lives.
That, my friends, is the most unabashed bullshit I've ever heard in my entire life.
And the angels sang.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Why I'm a Liberal
I'm a Liberal. Treehugging, flaming, completely unapologetic Liberal.
Being a Liberal means, of course, that I'm totally squishy and want a world filled with flowers and unicorns farting rainbows...all viewed through my rose-colored glasses.
Being a Liberal means, of course, that I don't have the slightest idea of how the Real World is- being all starry-eyed and all I just have no concept of things like budgets, and statistics, and the seedier side of things.
Yep, I just float through life wishing and dreaming of a utopian Shangri La because I don't know the score, haven't been knocked around by reality, just cruising through on my blissful ignorance of how Things Really Work.
Except that's bullshit.
I keep hearing about 'shared sacrifices' when what is really being called for is no sacrifice at all for those who could afford to give just a bit more (or at all), and huge life-changing (or ending) demands for those who are already precariously on the edge of security.
Non-liberals cluck, and shake their heads and roll their eyeballs- clearly convinced that I'll never understand the Sensible Things because I live in a sheltered padded little fluff of a dream world- they and I are clearly not on The Same Page.
Really?
Lemme take a few minutes to explain exactly why I feel the way I do about things, and some of this is seeing light of day for the first time- but I'm sick of people thinking I'm a Liberal because I "just don't know anything about the Hard Facts of Life".
When I was 15, I took myself to Planned Parenthood and got on the Pill. Not because I was promiscuous and wanted to sleep around, but because I had suddenly and unexpectedly learned several things- adults who are in positions of teaching morality are not always trustworthy, and sexual assault has really nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with control and dominance. Also that shame is a wonderful tool for bullies, in fact it takes sometimes almost 40 years to overcome it.
Wow. Can you SEE the unicorns?
Planned Parenthood was also my only source for routine physical health care- not just "girlie stuff"- for years when I didn't have the luxury of spendy private insurance because I was working 2 minimum wage no-benifits-offered full time jobs just to afford my roach-filled rental mobile home in the drug-infested trailer park.
Hey, look- is that a rainbow?
Anyone who knows us even a little bit knows what our family has been through with the medical industry, specifically the cancer and heart disease facets. Because of that, we know firsthand how the system treats those with private insurance, those with Medicare and those without any insurance at all. We've seen it, lived it, survived it- our decade+ embroiled in this mess isn't just 'something we heard that our sister's husband's mechanic's mother had happen' and it boggles my mind that when we tell people who know us some of the things that have happened to us, they look at us skeptically, incredulously, suspiciously. Like we're lying to them and the talking heads on TV are not.
Things like if you don't have the money to pay for stuff, you will die. It happens to regular, educated, worthy people every single day and it's not a tragic fluke. It's literally the law of the land. If you can't pay, you can't play with the life-saving stuff, no hard feelings- just the rules. So yes- Death Panels are very real, but not in some far-off scary future if (fill in the blank with 'the other guy's' name) wins the election- Death Panels are the private insurance companies who own the hospitals that deny people care all the time...care that would let them live. Denied. Want to see the best doctor for whatever you have but he's not 'in your group'? Denied. Death Panels- here, and real, and we've seen 'em.
Oooooh....fluffy.
Recently, I discovered that if you are aged and can't live in your home by yourself anymore, moving into assisted living will cost you about $4,000 per month- no Medicare coverage- out of pocket. So, if you have money you've saved up your entire life- money you were probably hoping to leave to your grandchildren, perhaps- that's gone. That will be all used up well before you die and then they'll determine whether or not you even NEED to be there.
Yes, if you can go to the bathroom (mostly) by yourself and feed yourself without (mostly) setting anything on fire, they can kick you right out of the nursing home but HEY! you won't have any trouble finding an apartment with no savings and on what social security pays you every month. Eating and utilities are over-rated.
If you're very 'lucky' you'll qualify for Medicaid and be allowed to stay in a designated Medicaid facility. That's not squalor you smell- it's efficiency.
Here- borrow my rose-colored glasses, it'll all look better...
So, ya. I get a little worked up about things like women's rights and patient's rights and Seniors' rights- but not for the reasons generally thought of- not because I'm just looking for the Nanny State to take care of everyone.
Maybe I'm just sick of the Corporate State literally rolling over actual people, paving the path to the bank with the blood of the weakest members of Society- the elderly, the disabled, the young, the female- not because I'm a squishy Liberal, but because those categories define MY family, exactly, and it scares the hell out of me that the 'social safety net' is considered so expendable...that WE are considered so expendable.
Maybe I CAN'T get on 'the same page' (shit- same PAGE? Not even the same book, the same shelf, the same fucking LIBRARY) with people who declare, "I'm a Constitutionalist- anything not expressly called for in the Constitution has no business being run by the government", especially when those same people
- are women (Founding FATHERS, gals- it wasn't that long ago we couldn't even VOTE)
- cherry pick the Constitution so that the 1st Amendment only pertains to THEIR religion and the 2nd Amendment doesn't 'really' include the words REGULATED MILITIA
- are so goddamn selfish that they are a-OK with letting someone who really needs help DIE as long as one 'undeserving' person doesn't get some of THEIR hard-earned tax dollars
Maybe I'm a Liberal because I can't define a civilized society by how fiscally in order its finances are- by declaring that you've 'got to break a few eggs to make an omelet' when those eggs are living, breathing people. By declaring that the number one important thing is to balance the checkbook, no matter how desperate your citizens are, or how much worse your 'fiscal fix' will make their lives.
Guess I'm just a Definitionist-
civ·i·lized [siv-uh-lahyzd]
adjective
1.
having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc.
2.
polite; well-bred; refined.
3.
of or pertaining to civilized people: The civilized world must fight ignorance.
so·ci·e·ty [suh-sahy-i-tee] noun, plural so·ci·e·ties, adjective
noun
1.
an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.
2.
a body of individuals living as members of a community; community.
3.
the body of human beings generally, associated or viewed as members of a community: the evolution of human society.
4.
a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members: American society.
I am a Liberal, and I'm damn proud to be one.
I earned it- it's not just some ideal or rhetoric spewed by anyone- famous or powerful or otherwise.
It's woven into the timeline of my life experience by experience, each thread of fear, helplessness, worry, rejection strengthening the whole, giving me the voice and determination to say, "NO- this is NOT right. No one should go through this and be dismissed, trivialized, marginalized, ignored."
Don't dare tell me I don't know how the Real World Works, what the underbelly looks like, how the poorer half lives.
Don't dare tell me I'm a dreamer, a wishful-thinker, an idealist.
Come on into my head and heart- meet the terrified teenager, the battered woman, the full-time employee still so poor she's faced with living in her car, the wife fighting for her husband's care- all of them pissed as hell, baby.
Those aren't stars in my eyes.
That's fire.
Being a Liberal means, of course, that I'm totally squishy and want a world filled with flowers and unicorns farting rainbows...all viewed through my rose-colored glasses.
Being a Liberal means, of course, that I don't have the slightest idea of how the Real World is- being all starry-eyed and all I just have no concept of things like budgets, and statistics, and the seedier side of things.
Yep, I just float through life wishing and dreaming of a utopian Shangri La because I don't know the score, haven't been knocked around by reality, just cruising through on my blissful ignorance of how Things Really Work.
Except that's bullshit.
I keep hearing about 'shared sacrifices' when what is really being called for is no sacrifice at all for those who could afford to give just a bit more (or at all), and huge life-changing (or ending) demands for those who are already precariously on the edge of security.
Non-liberals cluck, and shake their heads and roll their eyeballs- clearly convinced that I'll never understand the Sensible Things because I live in a sheltered padded little fluff of a dream world- they and I are clearly not on The Same Page.
Really?
Lemme take a few minutes to explain exactly why I feel the way I do about things, and some of this is seeing light of day for the first time- but I'm sick of people thinking I'm a Liberal because I "just don't know anything about the Hard Facts of Life".
When I was 15, I took myself to Planned Parenthood and got on the Pill. Not because I was promiscuous and wanted to sleep around, but because I had suddenly and unexpectedly learned several things- adults who are in positions of teaching morality are not always trustworthy, and sexual assault has really nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with control and dominance. Also that shame is a wonderful tool for bullies, in fact it takes sometimes almost 40 years to overcome it.
Wow. Can you SEE the unicorns?
Planned Parenthood was also my only source for routine physical health care- not just "girlie stuff"- for years when I didn't have the luxury of spendy private insurance because I was working 2 minimum wage no-benifits-offered full time jobs just to afford my roach-filled rental mobile home in the drug-infested trailer park.
Hey, look- is that a rainbow?
Anyone who knows us even a little bit knows what our family has been through with the medical industry, specifically the cancer and heart disease facets. Because of that, we know firsthand how the system treats those with private insurance, those with Medicare and those without any insurance at all. We've seen it, lived it, survived it- our decade+ embroiled in this mess isn't just 'something we heard that our sister's husband's mechanic's mother had happen' and it boggles my mind that when we tell people who know us some of the things that have happened to us, they look at us skeptically, incredulously, suspiciously. Like we're lying to them and the talking heads on TV are not.
Things like if you don't have the money to pay for stuff, you will die. It happens to regular, educated, worthy people every single day and it's not a tragic fluke. It's literally the law of the land. If you can't pay, you can't play with the life-saving stuff, no hard feelings- just the rules. So yes- Death Panels are very real, but not in some far-off scary future if (fill in the blank with 'the other guy's' name) wins the election- Death Panels are the private insurance companies who own the hospitals that deny people care all the time...care that would let them live. Denied. Want to see the best doctor for whatever you have but he's not 'in your group'? Denied. Death Panels- here, and real, and we've seen 'em.
Oooooh....fluffy.
Recently, I discovered that if you are aged and can't live in your home by yourself anymore, moving into assisted living will cost you about $4,000 per month- no Medicare coverage- out of pocket. So, if you have money you've saved up your entire life- money you were probably hoping to leave to your grandchildren, perhaps- that's gone. That will be all used up well before you die and then they'll determine whether or not you even NEED to be there.
Yes, if you can go to the bathroom (mostly) by yourself and feed yourself without (mostly) setting anything on fire, they can kick you right out of the nursing home but HEY! you won't have any trouble finding an apartment with no savings and on what social security pays you every month. Eating and utilities are over-rated.
If you're very 'lucky' you'll qualify for Medicaid and be allowed to stay in a designated Medicaid facility. That's not squalor you smell- it's efficiency.
Here- borrow my rose-colored glasses, it'll all look better...
So, ya. I get a little worked up about things like women's rights and patient's rights and Seniors' rights- but not for the reasons generally thought of- not because I'm just looking for the Nanny State to take care of everyone.
Maybe I'm just sick of the Corporate State literally rolling over actual people, paving the path to the bank with the blood of the weakest members of Society- the elderly, the disabled, the young, the female- not because I'm a squishy Liberal, but because those categories define MY family, exactly, and it scares the hell out of me that the 'social safety net' is considered so expendable...that WE are considered so expendable.
Maybe I CAN'T get on 'the same page' (shit- same PAGE? Not even the same book, the same shelf, the same fucking LIBRARY) with people who declare, "I'm a Constitutionalist- anything not expressly called for in the Constitution has no business being run by the government", especially when those same people
- are women (Founding FATHERS, gals- it wasn't that long ago we couldn't even VOTE)
- cherry pick the Constitution so that the 1st Amendment only pertains to THEIR religion and the 2nd Amendment doesn't 'really' include the words REGULATED MILITIA
- are so goddamn selfish that they are a-OK with letting someone who really needs help DIE as long as one 'undeserving' person doesn't get some of THEIR hard-earned tax dollars
Maybe I'm a Liberal because I can't define a civilized society by how fiscally in order its finances are- by declaring that you've 'got to break a few eggs to make an omelet' when those eggs are living, breathing people. By declaring that the number one important thing is to balance the checkbook, no matter how desperate your citizens are, or how much worse your 'fiscal fix' will make their lives.
Guess I'm just a Definitionist-
civ·i·lized [siv-uh-lahyzd]
adjective
1.
having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc.
2.
polite; well-bred; refined.
3.
of or pertaining to civilized people: The civilized world must fight ignorance.
so·ci·e·ty [suh-sahy-i-tee] noun, plural so·ci·e·ties, adjective
noun
1.
an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.
2.
a body of individuals living as members of a community; community.
3.
the body of human beings generally, associated or viewed as members of a community: the evolution of human society.
4.
a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members: American society.
I am a Liberal, and I'm damn proud to be one.
I earned it- it's not just some ideal or rhetoric spewed by anyone- famous or powerful or otherwise.
It's woven into the timeline of my life experience by experience, each thread of fear, helplessness, worry, rejection strengthening the whole, giving me the voice and determination to say, "NO- this is NOT right. No one should go through this and be dismissed, trivialized, marginalized, ignored."
Don't dare tell me I don't know how the Real World Works, what the underbelly looks like, how the poorer half lives.
Don't dare tell me I'm a dreamer, a wishful-thinker, an idealist.
Come on into my head and heart- meet the terrified teenager, the battered woman, the full-time employee still so poor she's faced with living in her car, the wife fighting for her husband's care- all of them pissed as hell, baby.
Those aren't stars in my eyes.
That's fire.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
...And I'll Keep Repeating it Till You Understand it Or Your Head Explodes
If I hear, "Providing health care for everyone is a warm, fuzzy idea and a worthy goal, but we're drowning in debt- how EVER would we pay for it?" too many more times, I will (I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be pretty).
Once more.
And I'll try to use little words.
Right now in order to have health insurance in this country you can be a veteran, disabled, old, or a government employee and receive government health care.
OR
You must purchase health insurance from a private provider.
If you choose (and by "choose" I mean "can't afford private insurance and don't qualify for government coverage") to be un-insured in this country when (not if) you get sick or injured, you need to pay to use the medical system. You can always go to an emergency room, where by law they are required to keep you from dying- nothing more, in spite of "everyone" knowing that "those goddamn Mexicans just waltz into the emergency room and get whatever they need".
Right now, we're facing an "insurance mandate"- the scary part of the healthcare bill that the Supreme Court just voted on (and decided it was constitutional. I know you know that, I just like repeating it...)
That means everyone needs to get insurance. If you can't afford insurance, there are things in place to help you. If you really, absolutely, positively know in your heart of hearts that you'll never get sick or hurt and you really, truly don't WANT health insurance, you'll be imprisoned and put to death.
*just kidding*
Refusal to acquire health insurance will result in a PENALTY. A PENALTY of...under a Ben Franklin per year. OOOOOOOOH- SCARY! That penalty money will come in handy to help pay for the emergency room staff when your dumb ass does get sick or hurt.
So what do the crazy, treehugging liberals and progressives suggest?
What we suggest is Medicare for All- a Medicare part E- for Everyone.
I could go to the social security office and say, "I'd like Medicare E, please". I'd fill out the forms and for the cost of what Ward, Edna and Joe pay ('round about $100 per month), I'd have insurance.
Read it again. Medicare recipients are NOT getting "FREE healthcare"- their Medicare premiums are deducted from their checks every month. We also have a supplemental policy to cover what Medicare doesn't for Ward (another $150 per month, but in the FREE Market he's completely un-insurable for any cost).
Medicare E- Medicare for everyone, would be what is known as a "Single Payer Option".
That's the really important part that got left out of the original ACA (aka Obamacare, which is really just a way to remind people that no matter how many good things it does for millions of people, it's the bastard baby of that black man who sits in the Oval Office even though he's a Muslim Kenyan).
Single Payer Option.
It'd be run by the government, like Medicare, Medicaid and the VA- all run with extreme leanness and efficiency.
That's the "single payer" part.
It would also be Optional. As in, "Yes, I'd like it" or, "No thanks, I'll keep my Blue Cross". That's what "option" means. You don't HAVE to do it.
Medicare Part E would NOT be the end of the Free world and the beginning of the Mark of the Beast. It's an option. A choice. Like free people have. Choices.
Of course, the most dreamy-eyed of us Lefties would prefer Universal Health Care- paid for by TAXES. Yes, TAXES.
"But if I don't get sick or hurt, why should *I* pay for someone else?"
How about because it's the right thing to do- like we pay school taxes happily even though we home school. We pay school taxes, property taxes (that pay for things like roads and firemen and policemen and libraries and parks and whatnot), taxes that say, in effect, "HERE- we value the things that make a civilized society- good roads, safe schools, access to books and trees and HEALTH CARE".
I added up how much we pay JUST in premiums every year- $9,600 for the 3 of us.
We make just under $60,000 per year.
We pay 15% of our income to insurance premiums (not even counting the co-pays and deductibles).
PLEEEEEZE shut down every stinking for-profit insurance company, install a Universal Health Care program that covers everyone no matter what, and instead of paying 15% of our income to the insurance companies who are businesses and try very hard to DENY our usage of those policies, tax us 10% and cover everyone.
"It'll never work".
Yes. Yes, it will. It's up and working in every single civilized country in the world and it works magnificently.
For half a decade I've been preaching all of the above, and people listen to me, nod their heads, smile and ask, "Yes, dear- but how will we PAY for it?" even after I explain step by step and dollar for dollar EXACTLY HOW THE FUCK WE CAN PAY FOR IT.
Makes me just a little irritable, it does.
And yes, we are a country in debt. Wanna fix it?
-cut back on the military
-remove all corporate and finance loopholes
-tax the churches
*voila*
Once more.
And I'll try to use little words.
Right now in order to have health insurance in this country you can be a veteran, disabled, old, or a government employee and receive government health care.
OR
You must purchase health insurance from a private provider.
If you choose (and by "choose" I mean "can't afford private insurance and don't qualify for government coverage") to be un-insured in this country when (not if) you get sick or injured, you need to pay to use the medical system. You can always go to an emergency room, where by law they are required to keep you from dying- nothing more, in spite of "everyone" knowing that "those goddamn Mexicans just waltz into the emergency room and get whatever they need".
Right now, we're facing an "insurance mandate"- the scary part of the healthcare bill that the Supreme Court just voted on (and decided it was constitutional. I know you know that, I just like repeating it...)
That means everyone needs to get insurance. If you can't afford insurance, there are things in place to help you. If you really, absolutely, positively know in your heart of hearts that you'll never get sick or hurt and you really, truly don't WANT health insurance, you'll be imprisoned and put to death.
*just kidding*
Refusal to acquire health insurance will result in a PENALTY. A PENALTY of...under a Ben Franklin per year. OOOOOOOOH- SCARY! That penalty money will come in handy to help pay for the emergency room staff when your dumb ass does get sick or hurt.
So what do the crazy, treehugging liberals and progressives suggest?
What we suggest is Medicare for All- a Medicare part E- for Everyone.
I could go to the social security office and say, "I'd like Medicare E, please". I'd fill out the forms and for the cost of what Ward, Edna and Joe pay ('round about $100 per month), I'd have insurance.
Read it again. Medicare recipients are NOT getting "FREE healthcare"- their Medicare premiums are deducted from their checks every month. We also have a supplemental policy to cover what Medicare doesn't for Ward (another $150 per month, but in the FREE Market he's completely un-insurable for any cost).
Medicare E- Medicare for everyone, would be what is known as a "Single Payer Option".
That's the really important part that got left out of the original ACA (aka Obamacare, which is really just a way to remind people that no matter how many good things it does for millions of people, it's the bastard baby of that black man who sits in the Oval Office even though he's a Muslim Kenyan).
Single Payer Option.
It'd be run by the government, like Medicare, Medicaid and the VA- all run with extreme leanness and efficiency.
That's the "single payer" part.
It would also be Optional. As in, "Yes, I'd like it" or, "No thanks, I'll keep my Blue Cross". That's what "option" means. You don't HAVE to do it.
Medicare Part E would NOT be the end of the Free world and the beginning of the Mark of the Beast. It's an option. A choice. Like free people have. Choices.
Of course, the most dreamy-eyed of us Lefties would prefer Universal Health Care- paid for by TAXES. Yes, TAXES.
"But if I don't get sick or hurt, why should *I* pay for someone else?"
How about because it's the right thing to do- like we pay school taxes happily even though we home school. We pay school taxes, property taxes (that pay for things like roads and firemen and policemen and libraries and parks and whatnot), taxes that say, in effect, "HERE- we value the things that make a civilized society- good roads, safe schools, access to books and trees and HEALTH CARE".
I added up how much we pay JUST in premiums every year- $9,600 for the 3 of us.
We make just under $60,000 per year.
We pay 15% of our income to insurance premiums (not even counting the co-pays and deductibles).
PLEEEEEZE shut down every stinking for-profit insurance company, install a Universal Health Care program that covers everyone no matter what, and instead of paying 15% of our income to the insurance companies who are businesses and try very hard to DENY our usage of those policies, tax us 10% and cover everyone.
"It'll never work".
Yes. Yes, it will. It's up and working in every single civilized country in the world and it works magnificently.
For half a decade I've been preaching all of the above, and people listen to me, nod their heads, smile and ask, "Yes, dear- but how will we PAY for it?" even after I explain step by step and dollar for dollar EXACTLY HOW THE FUCK WE CAN PAY FOR IT.
Makes me just a little irritable, it does.
And yes, we are a country in debt. Wanna fix it?
-cut back on the military
-remove all corporate and finance loopholes
-tax the churches
*voila*
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Land of the Free, Home of the Belligerent
(Stupid Playlist no longer supports the playlist widgit. Till I figure out some other way to do this I'll link the blog-song here...if you wanna listen while you read)
http://www.playlist.com/g/#/home
I love America.
I'm an American, and I love America.
So it's discouraging to me when I question the status quo and point out ways that the same issues are being handled in other countries to hear the knee-jerk, spat-out response of, "If you think it's so great in France/the Netherlands/Australia/Canada/Cuba/etc./etc./etc. why don't you MOVE there???"
I don't want to move. I want THIS country to work the way it was intended to.
"We don't need no labor unions- buncha murderous, sleazy thugs. I work in a non-union shop for low wages, no benefits and long hours in dangerous conditions but DAMN IT- I don't pay no union dues. This is America- I should be FREE from the tyranny of unions".
"We don't WANT Socialized Government-run health care- tell us what doctors to see, who gets treated, that's bullshit. This is America- I'm FREE to be denied care from any little pencil pusher at the 800 number of the private insurance company I pay high premiums to every month. And when I retire, that Big Government Nanny State better keep it's paws offa MY Medicare".
"Oversight of banking and corporations? HELL, NO! This is Capitalist America, damn it- anyone who can hire lawyers and accountants has earned the right to cheat the rest of us- God blesses those who help themselves. If my family is hurt by those practices, well, we'd best get off our asses and work 80 hours a week instead of 60...if we can find an extra full-time job. But No-sir-ee, I ain't taking no government aid handouts like unemployment or food stamps so my family can eat and stay in our home- I'm FREE to determine my OWN fate."
"College? Sure it's expensive- and as useful as tits on a bull. Buncha sissified elitists think they know more than the rest of us- if they want to spend $50,000 on a degree in Underwater Basketweaving, I sure as hell ain't paying for it."
All the above seems absolutely cartoonish and stereotypical and yet...those exact stories are told and held up over and over again in answer to anything "Occupy" or "99%". The pride exuding from people who are (really) honest and hard-working yet somehow can't see that what they are doing- how many hours they HAVE to work just to survive is heartbreaking and way out of proportion to our counterparts in other nations, both in benefits and paid time off- and that to continue on the way we are is to doom our children to the same never-get-ahead debt slave existence most of us are now in. Don't we want BETTER for our kids?
How little schooling we in this country can afford for ALL learning- not just vocational, but exercising the (also very big) parts of our brains that revel in literature, and art, and music- those parts that differentiate us as humans from our animal friends who only worry about food and shelter and reproduction. Those parts are left to wither and die in most of today's lives- bodies that must spend so much time on the "animal basics" and brains that are being tricked into thinking that somehow "Survivor" and "Jersey Shore" is quality stimulating entertainment, when in other places it's a given that school is outstanding, diverse, and FREE up to and including a 4 year college. If you want to go farther, most times THAT is paid for as well (which answers the question of, "Medical school is so expensive- how can other countries afford to pay for medical care for all?")
Everyone likes to hold up The Founding Fathers as examples and that's great. The Founding Fathers were really pissed off at the old regimes in Europe- debtors' prisons, feudal societies, a decent way of life for only those who could afford it, at the expense of those who could not. Really. Pissed. Off.
So pissed off they up and started their own country- one that would be free.
Free of The Church imposing its morals and doctrine on all citizens no matter their own Faiths, free of the unfairness of Might Makes Right and Money Buys All.
See? They took all the things they wanted CHANGED about the old systems, and did it- changed it up to work better.
Because that's what you do if something changes and isn't working anymore. You change it so it DOES work again.
If my old eyes aren't working and even Dollar Store cheaters won't let me read, I (eventually) suck up my pride and go get bi-focals, I don't curse the tiny words on the page and the way every, single damn street sign has smudged letters.
If somehow the banks and corporations buy enough politicians to enact laws that favor them over everyone else, we're supposed to get pissed and change it back, not hold them up as role models and aspire to the same level of societal immorality.
What the hell happened?
Why are we content to stagnate and actually DEvolve into a pre-America America where the Fundamental Religious Right and the Corporations look very much like the Church and State of Medieval European times?
Are we just too tired? Too discouraged? Too trained to listen to bosses and politicians and preachers and anyone who says stubbornly and defiantly,
"We do NOT look elsewhere for direction and inspiration- This is America- we are the Best of the Best and fuck the rest".
Or is it because, as John Steinbeck said- “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
One in three bankruptcies in America is due to medical debt. The average American has NOTHING to retire on...at age 70. Our life expectancies are low and our infant mortality is high. We rank behind only Romania in percentage of children living in poverty. Our schoolchildren come out of school woefully behind most other nations.
How is it that even with the wonders of the interwebs people don't KNOW this? Or if they DO hear it, they assume it's propaganda and untrue and since most Americans never travel out of state, much less out of the country, they remain belligerently ignorant.
We've been so indoctrinated to fear ANYTHING with the word "Socialism" in it- "Well, fine- all those Europeans live longer, are happier, healthier, better educated and all that mess, but they ain't FREE and any minute now- maybe on one of their extended paid-time-off vacations- they'll realize just how sorry their existence under the thumb of Socialism really is! Ha. Poor bastards."
...yet these same people still believe in "trickle down" here in America...
I don't want to move. I want THIS country to work the way it was intended to.
Because honestly? Right now our Founding Fathers would be horrified and embarrassed- not by how close we are to being sucked into Commie Pinko Socialism Nanny Statedness, but by how we've allowed, and even encouraged the same entities they despised to overrun us and somehow train us to thank them for the indignity.
http://www.playlist.com/g/#/home
I love America.
I'm an American, and I love America.
So it's discouraging to me when I question the status quo and point out ways that the same issues are being handled in other countries to hear the knee-jerk, spat-out response of, "If you think it's so great in France/the Netherlands/Australia/Canada/Cuba/etc./etc./etc. why don't you MOVE there???"
I don't want to move. I want THIS country to work the way it was intended to.
"We don't need no labor unions- buncha murderous, sleazy thugs. I work in a non-union shop for low wages, no benefits and long hours in dangerous conditions but DAMN IT- I don't pay no union dues. This is America- I should be FREE from the tyranny of unions".
"We don't WANT Socialized Government-run health care- tell us what doctors to see, who gets treated, that's bullshit. This is America- I'm FREE to be denied care from any little pencil pusher at the 800 number of the private insurance company I pay high premiums to every month. And when I retire, that Big Government Nanny State better keep it's paws offa MY Medicare".
"Oversight of banking and corporations? HELL, NO! This is Capitalist America, damn it- anyone who can hire lawyers and accountants has earned the right to cheat the rest of us- God blesses those who help themselves. If my family is hurt by those practices, well, we'd best get off our asses and work 80 hours a week instead of 60...if we can find an extra full-time job. But No-sir-ee, I ain't taking no government aid handouts like unemployment or food stamps so my family can eat and stay in our home- I'm FREE to determine my OWN fate."
"College? Sure it's expensive- and as useful as tits on a bull. Buncha sissified elitists think they know more than the rest of us- if they want to spend $50,000 on a degree in Underwater Basketweaving, I sure as hell ain't paying for it."
All the above seems absolutely cartoonish and stereotypical and yet...those exact stories are told and held up over and over again in answer to anything "Occupy" or "99%". The pride exuding from people who are (really) honest and hard-working yet somehow can't see that what they are doing- how many hours they HAVE to work just to survive is heartbreaking and way out of proportion to our counterparts in other nations, both in benefits and paid time off- and that to continue on the way we are is to doom our children to the same never-get-ahead debt slave existence most of us are now in. Don't we want BETTER for our kids?
How little schooling we in this country can afford for ALL learning- not just vocational, but exercising the (also very big) parts of our brains that revel in literature, and art, and music- those parts that differentiate us as humans from our animal friends who only worry about food and shelter and reproduction. Those parts are left to wither and die in most of today's lives- bodies that must spend so much time on the "animal basics" and brains that are being tricked into thinking that somehow "Survivor" and "Jersey Shore" is quality stimulating entertainment, when in other places it's a given that school is outstanding, diverse, and FREE up to and including a 4 year college. If you want to go farther, most times THAT is paid for as well (which answers the question of, "Medical school is so expensive- how can other countries afford to pay for medical care for all?")
Everyone likes to hold up The Founding Fathers as examples and that's great. The Founding Fathers were really pissed off at the old regimes in Europe- debtors' prisons, feudal societies, a decent way of life for only those who could afford it, at the expense of those who could not. Really. Pissed. Off.
So pissed off they up and started their own country- one that would be free.
Free of The Church imposing its morals and doctrine on all citizens no matter their own Faiths, free of the unfairness of Might Makes Right and Money Buys All.
See? They took all the things they wanted CHANGED about the old systems, and did it- changed it up to work better.
Because that's what you do if something changes and isn't working anymore. You change it so it DOES work again.
If my old eyes aren't working and even Dollar Store cheaters won't let me read, I (eventually) suck up my pride and go get bi-focals, I don't curse the tiny words on the page and the way every, single damn street sign has smudged letters.
If somehow the banks and corporations buy enough politicians to enact laws that favor them over everyone else, we're supposed to get pissed and change it back, not hold them up as role models and aspire to the same level of societal immorality.
What the hell happened?
Why are we content to stagnate and actually DEvolve into a pre-America America where the Fundamental Religious Right and the Corporations look very much like the Church and State of Medieval European times?
Are we just too tired? Too discouraged? Too trained to listen to bosses and politicians and preachers and anyone who says stubbornly and defiantly,
"We do NOT look elsewhere for direction and inspiration- This is America- we are the Best of the Best and fuck the rest".
Or is it because, as John Steinbeck said- “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
One in three bankruptcies in America is due to medical debt. The average American has NOTHING to retire on...at age 70. Our life expectancies are low and our infant mortality is high. We rank behind only Romania in percentage of children living in poverty. Our schoolchildren come out of school woefully behind most other nations.
How is it that even with the wonders of the interwebs people don't KNOW this? Or if they DO hear it, they assume it's propaganda and untrue and since most Americans never travel out of state, much less out of the country, they remain belligerently ignorant.
We've been so indoctrinated to fear ANYTHING with the word "Socialism" in it- "Well, fine- all those Europeans live longer, are happier, healthier, better educated and all that mess, but they ain't FREE and any minute now- maybe on one of their extended paid-time-off vacations- they'll realize just how sorry their existence under the thumb of Socialism really is! Ha. Poor bastards."
...yet these same people still believe in "trickle down" here in America...
I don't want to move. I want THIS country to work the way it was intended to.
Because honestly? Right now our Founding Fathers would be horrified and embarrassed- not by how close we are to being sucked into Commie Pinko Socialism Nanny Statedness, but by how we've allowed, and even encouraged the same entities they despised to overrun us and somehow train us to thank them for the indignity.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
To Hell With the Goose- the Gander Needs His Viagra
So some folks think it's a good idea to allow employers- any employers, not just religious institutions- the freedom to ASK their female employees who request prescription coverage for hormones (also known as "the Pill")exactly what they intend to use those hormones for, and if it is, in fact contraception to be allowed to deny coverage because of an employer's real or imagined religious or moral beliefs (also known as "just not wanting to pay for shit").
This is in addition to the "humiliation via probe and ultrasound" bills already in play for any woman seeking a (still legal- sorry) abortion.
Aside from that first paragraph being a hella run-on sentence, all of the above makes me all kind of squidgy for all sorts of reasons.
And I'm not alone.
There are a number of matching tit for tat bills in the works requiring men who want Viagra or Cialis to watch graphic videos of the unfortunate side effects, or to have a digital prostate exam, or undergo cardiac stress tests.
Which is not as (totally) spiteful as it seems- other than the obvious "I want the blue pill as seen on TV and I don't care about the side effects" most guys think, I believe a little "lookit what could happen, Ace" would be a good idea. It would at least stop 'em (hopefully) from thinking "If 1 is good, 3 will be kick-ass!" and landing themselves in the emergency room. As for the prostate/heart exams- yep- both good ideas before chemically stressing the systems involved.
(I personally think that a written report from a man's wife to the effect that no, he really can't get it up along with dates and measurements is in order. If the man isn't married, it's an automatic NO- cuz that would be immoral).
So actually, a little more care and prudence is MORE warranted for guys wanting to get their Viagra on than a woman who frivolously wants her cystic ovaries to stop causing her intense pain or her monthly visitor to stop making her pass out from anemia.
Women are so shallow...
In addition to the above cautions for the menfolk, here's what I think.
I think that if employers are religiously and/or morally against hormones for contraception and against any abortion for any reason they must therefore be super pro-baby and pro-motherhood.
That's great! Because one of the most expensive types of health care coverage is maternity, and one of the biggest stressors on a new mother is maternity leave.
So obviously, those same employers who will deny hormonal contraceptives and abortions will be happily paying 100% of all OBGYN visits, pre-natal visits, the entire hospitalization (vaginal AND c-section deliveries), will be thrilled to pay at least 6 months full maternity leave AND will be offering no-charge in-office child care.
Wait. What?
That hasn't even come up?
Because they're too busy spinning the entire thing to make women look like party animal slutty prostitutes if they need to be on the Pill while insisting that the need for ED drugs is "a physical condition"?
Because the pastors in church are actually saying that contraception is BAD because it's denying the natural order of things (i.e. producing more church members) but Viagra is GOOD because it allows men to (see above about producing more church members)? Never mind that men can, in fact, ejaculate without having an erection- that's "science" and has no place in church.
So women are not allowed to have abortions, or at the very least must undergo humiliation and pain OTHER than what they've already been through to make that decision and will go through the rest of their lives. Gotcha.
Women may not have privacy in the workplace but must announce that they need hormonal medications to THEIR BOSS- whose business that is exactly ZERO percent. Outstanding.
Viagra and Cialis? Covered under most plans, no problem even though that shit is about a gazillion times more expensive than any hormone out there. Perfectly reasonable.
And yet most plans do NOT cover maternity care and haven't for years. One of those "only good business/nothing personal" decisions.
But no one is trying to control women through a dominant patriarchal forcible submission attitude permeating all of society while simultaneously feigning respect for the fairer sex.
Because this is America, and that would be wrong.
This is in addition to the "humiliation via probe and ultrasound" bills already in play for any woman seeking a (still legal- sorry) abortion.
Aside from that first paragraph being a hella run-on sentence, all of the above makes me all kind of squidgy for all sorts of reasons.
And I'm not alone.
There are a number of matching tit for tat bills in the works requiring men who want Viagra or Cialis to watch graphic videos of the unfortunate side effects, or to have a digital prostate exam, or undergo cardiac stress tests.
Which is not as (totally) spiteful as it seems- other than the obvious "I want the blue pill as seen on TV and I don't care about the side effects" most guys think, I believe a little "lookit what could happen, Ace" would be a good idea. It would at least stop 'em (hopefully) from thinking "If 1 is good, 3 will be kick-ass!" and landing themselves in the emergency room. As for the prostate/heart exams- yep- both good ideas before chemically stressing the systems involved.
(I personally think that a written report from a man's wife to the effect that no, he really can't get it up along with dates and measurements is in order. If the man isn't married, it's an automatic NO- cuz that would be immoral).
So actually, a little more care and prudence is MORE warranted for guys wanting to get their Viagra on than a woman who frivolously wants her cystic ovaries to stop causing her intense pain or her monthly visitor to stop making her pass out from anemia.
Women are so shallow...
In addition to the above cautions for the menfolk, here's what I think.
I think that if employers are religiously and/or morally against hormones for contraception and against any abortion for any reason they must therefore be super pro-baby and pro-motherhood.
That's great! Because one of the most expensive types of health care coverage is maternity, and one of the biggest stressors on a new mother is maternity leave.
So obviously, those same employers who will deny hormonal contraceptives and abortions will be happily paying 100% of all OBGYN visits, pre-natal visits, the entire hospitalization (vaginal AND c-section deliveries), will be thrilled to pay at least 6 months full maternity leave AND will be offering no-charge in-office child care.
Wait. What?
That hasn't even come up?
Because they're too busy spinning the entire thing to make women look like party animal slutty prostitutes if they need to be on the Pill while insisting that the need for ED drugs is "a physical condition"?
Because the pastors in church are actually saying that contraception is BAD because it's denying the natural order of things (i.e. producing more church members) but Viagra is GOOD because it allows men to (see above about producing more church members)? Never mind that men can, in fact, ejaculate without having an erection- that's "science" and has no place in church.
So women are not allowed to have abortions, or at the very least must undergo humiliation and pain OTHER than what they've already been through to make that decision and will go through the rest of their lives. Gotcha.
Women may not have privacy in the workplace but must announce that they need hormonal medications to THEIR BOSS- whose business that is exactly ZERO percent. Outstanding.
Viagra and Cialis? Covered under most plans, no problem even though that shit is about a gazillion times more expensive than any hormone out there. Perfectly reasonable.
And yet most plans do NOT cover maternity care and haven't for years. One of those "only good business/nothing personal" decisions.
But no one is trying to control women through a dominant patriarchal forcible submission attitude permeating all of society while simultaneously feigning respect for the fairer sex.
Because this is America, and that would be wrong.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Smoke, Mirrors and a Little Thing Called "War"
Yanno what makes me twitchy?
Well, that noise that sounds like the well pump running even though nothing has been turned on, left on or flushed and that keeps you awake till you get up to check all faucets and toilets only to realize it's the sound of the ceiling fan bouncing off the walls weird- THAT makes me twitchy.
But in addition to that.
People who don't understand the difference between "what someone said" as opposed to "what someone SAID someone said".
For example- there IS NO "War on Christianity" here in the US. There is a movement to get BACK TO separation of church and state, something that was melded together just recently- back in the '50's, as a way of differentiating us from the Godless Commies in Mother Russia. No one is saying burn the churches, shred the bibles, feed the Christians to the wolverbeasts. There IS a history of persecution in other countries that continues to this day and is horrifying and WRONG. But to say Christians in this country are being "persecuted" because they're being asked to take the Nativity Scene off the courthouse lawn and truck it to the church yard ACROSS THE STREET is not persecution and actually belittles and demeans those who are actually, yanno, getting killed and whatnot for their beliefs.
For example- there IS a "War on Women". From trying to roll back Roe v. Wade to defunding Planned Parenthood to slashing social safety net programs that are very important to a huge amount of women, the current "far right" trend is to take women back a few generations and put 'em in their place. I know this to be true not because I read it somewhere or got an alarming email with sketchy references that can be fact-checked in about 5 minutes to prove totally bogus, but because I'm watching politicians on TV utter words out of their mouths that tell me so. They want this. They want this so badly that they are putting forth all sorts of laws with the sole purpose of humiliating and demeaning women who they feel are not worthy of their respect (in a lot of cases that would be the entire gender). For the most part these laws never get passed, but who the hell offers up a law for a vote if they don't WANT it passed?
For example- there IS NO "War on the 2nd Amendment" by our current president. I looked this morning- really searched YouTube. Typed in "Obama on gun control" and got several hundred thousand videos but yanno what? 99% of them are scary music and floating "quotes" and "figures" drifting past a photo of Obama wearing his Scary Kenyan Muslim Face. I wanted to hear the words out of his mouth saying "Guns are bad, mmmkay?" All I could come up with was about 45 seconds of him stating that he supports the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans and he supports STATES RIGHTS to limit them as they feel necessary. (small aside- isn't STATES RIGHTS what the majority of the Small Government/Big Gun crowd wants???) Not nationally. Not a widespread weapons grab. He rated an "F" from the Brady Institute for crying out loud because among other things after Gabby Giffords got shot he did NOT call for the banning of handguns.
If the rabid "anti-Obama" crew can't come up with one stretch of video supporting their views, I will assume it ain't there. Just to double check, I looked here and got this-
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/feb/13/wayne-lapierre/nra-leader-says-barack-obama-endorsed-total-ban-ha/
because I haven't spent years steeped in the Gun Culture, as opposed to being raised up a Christian in America or being born a woman.
For example, there IS a "Class War" going on. The brilliance is that the way it's being spun is that "They" (the women, minorities, illegals and crack ho's) are after "Our" stuff and money. Lemme just put it this way- if you sit down and pay your own bills and if you ever once ask "How much does that cost?" you are NOT the 1%. No one is after your stuff and money. Except the actual 1%. Nifty, huh?
You get the idea. I try to always verify the truth to any claim from any side and the best way to do that is to hear the words coming from the party (no pun intended) in question regarding the topic at hand.
I do not agree with all the words that I have heard come from the mouth of our current president, but I do not believe he is the anti-christ or a Kenyan Muslim groomed and put into place to ensure "death to America".
The words I AM hearing from the current slate of GOP contenders' mouths continue to scare the crap outta me, especially when they're accompanied by cheers from the audience.
Have we really devolved to the point where it's OK for women to die rather than receive medical care they need but be forced to have medical procedures the AMA says are totally unnecessary just because we want to humiliate them? How much of a witch-hunt is charging a woman with murder if she has a miscarriage? These are real bills that are really being voted on, along with the promise of "privatizing" our social safety nets to be "fiscally responsible".
Has anyone else noticed that the rapidly-spreading grassfire rhetoric on the Wars on God and Guns seem to be having the gasoline of self-righteousness and division and suspicion poured on them as an effort to divert us away from the stuff that IS being taken from us boldly and right in front of God and our open-carry sidearms?
Trash the EPA- no safe food, water or air for US but damn the jobs created will be sweet and high paying. Of course you'll have to retire early because of health problems. Sorry. No health care for you.
Don't regulate the banks and corporations- they're the Job Creators. Seriously. This time we won't yank the football out of the way while you're kicking, Charlie Brown.
There's only one War going on, and it's fixin' to be fought, as always, by the people who didn't want it, aren't in charge of it, and who only have a vague idea of who the enemy is and why they have to be defeated.
When all the smoke has cleared, and the country and all the money is safe in the hands of those people-corporations who egged us into battle we won't have any food, water, clean air, health care, education, rights as human beings (unless we're middle aged filthy rich white guys), money, jobs or dignity.
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.
Well, that noise that sounds like the well pump running even though nothing has been turned on, left on or flushed and that keeps you awake till you get up to check all faucets and toilets only to realize it's the sound of the ceiling fan bouncing off the walls weird- THAT makes me twitchy.
But in addition to that.
People who don't understand the difference between "what someone said" as opposed to "what someone SAID someone said".
For example- there IS NO "War on Christianity" here in the US. There is a movement to get BACK TO separation of church and state, something that was melded together just recently- back in the '50's, as a way of differentiating us from the Godless Commies in Mother Russia. No one is saying burn the churches, shred the bibles, feed the Christians to the wolverbeasts. There IS a history of persecution in other countries that continues to this day and is horrifying and WRONG. But to say Christians in this country are being "persecuted" because they're being asked to take the Nativity Scene off the courthouse lawn and truck it to the church yard ACROSS THE STREET is not persecution and actually belittles and demeans those who are actually, yanno, getting killed and whatnot for their beliefs.
For example- there IS a "War on Women". From trying to roll back Roe v. Wade to defunding Planned Parenthood to slashing social safety net programs that are very important to a huge amount of women, the current "far right" trend is to take women back a few generations and put 'em in their place. I know this to be true not because I read it somewhere or got an alarming email with sketchy references that can be fact-checked in about 5 minutes to prove totally bogus, but because I'm watching politicians on TV utter words out of their mouths that tell me so. They want this. They want this so badly that they are putting forth all sorts of laws with the sole purpose of humiliating and demeaning women who they feel are not worthy of their respect (in a lot of cases that would be the entire gender). For the most part these laws never get passed, but who the hell offers up a law for a vote if they don't WANT it passed?
For example- there IS NO "War on the 2nd Amendment" by our current president. I looked this morning- really searched YouTube. Typed in "Obama on gun control" and got several hundred thousand videos but yanno what? 99% of them are scary music and floating "quotes" and "figures" drifting past a photo of Obama wearing his Scary Kenyan Muslim Face. I wanted to hear the words out of his mouth saying "Guns are bad, mmmkay?" All I could come up with was about 45 seconds of him stating that he supports the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans and he supports STATES RIGHTS to limit them as they feel necessary. (small aside- isn't STATES RIGHTS what the majority of the Small Government/Big Gun crowd wants???) Not nationally. Not a widespread weapons grab. He rated an "F" from the Brady Institute for crying out loud because among other things after Gabby Giffords got shot he did NOT call for the banning of handguns.
If the rabid "anti-Obama" crew can't come up with one stretch of video supporting their views, I will assume it ain't there. Just to double check, I looked here and got this-
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/feb/13/wayne-lapierre/nra-leader-says-barack-obama-endorsed-total-ban-ha/
because I haven't spent years steeped in the Gun Culture, as opposed to being raised up a Christian in America or being born a woman.
For example, there IS a "Class War" going on. The brilliance is that the way it's being spun is that "They" (the women, minorities, illegals and crack ho's) are after "Our" stuff and money. Lemme just put it this way- if you sit down and pay your own bills and if you ever once ask "How much does that cost?" you are NOT the 1%. No one is after your stuff and money. Except the actual 1%. Nifty, huh?
You get the idea. I try to always verify the truth to any claim from any side and the best way to do that is to hear the words coming from the party (no pun intended) in question regarding the topic at hand.
I do not agree with all the words that I have heard come from the mouth of our current president, but I do not believe he is the anti-christ or a Kenyan Muslim groomed and put into place to ensure "death to America".
The words I AM hearing from the current slate of GOP contenders' mouths continue to scare the crap outta me, especially when they're accompanied by cheers from the audience.
Have we really devolved to the point where it's OK for women to die rather than receive medical care they need but be forced to have medical procedures the AMA says are totally unnecessary just because we want to humiliate them? How much of a witch-hunt is charging a woman with murder if she has a miscarriage? These are real bills that are really being voted on, along with the promise of "privatizing" our social safety nets to be "fiscally responsible".
Has anyone else noticed that the rapidly-spreading grassfire rhetoric on the Wars on God and Guns seem to be having the gasoline of self-righteousness and division and suspicion poured on them as an effort to divert us away from the stuff that IS being taken from us boldly and right in front of God and our open-carry sidearms?
Trash the EPA- no safe food, water or air for US but damn the jobs created will be sweet and high paying. Of course you'll have to retire early because of health problems. Sorry. No health care for you.
Don't regulate the banks and corporations- they're the Job Creators. Seriously. This time we won't yank the football out of the way while you're kicking, Charlie Brown.
There's only one War going on, and it's fixin' to be fought, as always, by the people who didn't want it, aren't in charge of it, and who only have a vague idea of who the enemy is and why they have to be defeated.
When all the smoke has cleared, and the country and all the money is safe in the hands of those people-corporations who egged us into battle we won't have any food, water, clean air, health care, education, rights as human beings (unless we're middle aged filthy rich white guys), money, jobs or dignity.
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Hey, If I Don't Need It, Nobody Needs It
Disclaimer- my oldest female friend Cathy Sager is a devout Catholic. Actually my very first friend and neighbor Colleen Geraghty when I was just a wee toddler was Catholic. Oh, wait- and my best friend all through school Jodi Last was Catholic. So I got nuthin' against Catholics. Just sayin'...
So the Catholic church is pissed off because the big bad government is trying to FORCE them to offer employees of their churches and schools birth control- not on its own, not in little glass dishes on the desk of every teacher, not enclosed in the annual Christmas cards, but as one tiny part of coverage in health insurance policies. They're agin' it- even for those employees who are not Catholic.
This on the tail (the very very long and never-ending tail) of a group (not all) of Christians who violently oppose any abortion at any stage for any reason, any time- up to and including the morning after pill (or shot of estrogen administered by a doctor in say, the emergency room after a rape). Where it used to be "Abortion is wrong unless the woman was raped or in danger of losing her life by carrying a child to term", they've passed full throttle into the Crazytown of "Abortion for any reason is wrong- even if a woman/CHILD has been raped, even if they will die if they carry to term, wrong wrong wrong at any juncture.".
But, wait. There's more.
Laws are put up for votes saying that not only are embryos who are developed enough to survive outside the womb humans with human rights, but that every inhabitant of a womb on up from a fertilized egg is, too. Which makes the majority of birth control illegal.
There are laws pending saying that a woman who has a miscarriage must PROVE she didn't, yanno, drink a mugwort toddy or jump up and down or attack herself with a wire hanger.
Talk about a damn witch hunt.
Say all you want to about religious beliefs and following your conscience- this is still (I think) the United States of America- a country that is inhabited by a Christian majority (yes, I said that) but that is NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION. That is a very distinct and important difference.
Therefore- health insurance SHOULD include things like safe and affordable access to birth control, safe and affordable access to abortions, and safe and affordable access to vaccinations for children or safe and affordable surgery for those who need it.
What?
You think shots for kids and surgery if you need it are a good idea?
Wow. You must not be Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah's Witness or Amish.
If we're limiting access to health care based on religious preference, then I guess we need to not offer those things too.
So all you Catholics and other assorted fundamentalists who have children you'd rather not get chicken pox, or mumps, or tetanus or polio I guess you'll just have to suck it up and let 'em get sick and die. Because those other religions are vehemently opposed to vaccinations and it's an affront to them to offer them in any standard health insurance policy. Out of respect for their beliefs.
Same with surgeries for things like broken bones, appendicitis, cancer... Not allowed- sorry.
What?
Just because one segment of people doesn't approve of vaccinations and surgeries you should still be allowed access to protect your families and yourselves through health insurance? Those things are important to you regardless of their very personal and heartfelt and sincere religious beliefs? If they don't want to avail themselves of those things all they have to do is NOT USE THEM???
*Exactly*.
So the Catholic church is pissed off because the big bad government is trying to FORCE them to offer employees of their churches and schools birth control- not on its own, not in little glass dishes on the desk of every teacher, not enclosed in the annual Christmas cards, but as one tiny part of coverage in health insurance policies. They're agin' it- even for those employees who are not Catholic.
This on the tail (the very very long and never-ending tail) of a group (not all) of Christians who violently oppose any abortion at any stage for any reason, any time- up to and including the morning after pill (or shot of estrogen administered by a doctor in say, the emergency room after a rape). Where it used to be "Abortion is wrong unless the woman was raped or in danger of losing her life by carrying a child to term", they've passed full throttle into the Crazytown of "Abortion for any reason is wrong- even if a woman/CHILD has been raped, even if they will die if they carry to term, wrong wrong wrong at any juncture.".
But, wait. There's more.
Laws are put up for votes saying that not only are embryos who are developed enough to survive outside the womb humans with human rights, but that every inhabitant of a womb on up from a fertilized egg is, too. Which makes the majority of birth control illegal.
There are laws pending saying that a woman who has a miscarriage must PROVE she didn't, yanno, drink a mugwort toddy or jump up and down or attack herself with a wire hanger.
Talk about a damn witch hunt.
Say all you want to about religious beliefs and following your conscience- this is still (I think) the United States of America- a country that is inhabited by a Christian majority (yes, I said that) but that is NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION. That is a very distinct and important difference.
Therefore- health insurance SHOULD include things like safe and affordable access to birth control, safe and affordable access to abortions, and safe and affordable access to vaccinations for children or safe and affordable surgery for those who need it.
What?
You think shots for kids and surgery if you need it are a good idea?
Wow. You must not be Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah's Witness or Amish.
If we're limiting access to health care based on religious preference, then I guess we need to not offer those things too.
So all you Catholics and other assorted fundamentalists who have children you'd rather not get chicken pox, or mumps, or tetanus or polio I guess you'll just have to suck it up and let 'em get sick and die. Because those other religions are vehemently opposed to vaccinations and it's an affront to them to offer them in any standard health insurance policy. Out of respect for their beliefs.
Same with surgeries for things like broken bones, appendicitis, cancer... Not allowed- sorry.
What?
Just because one segment of people doesn't approve of vaccinations and surgeries you should still be allowed access to protect your families and yourselves through health insurance? Those things are important to you regardless of their very personal and heartfelt and sincere religious beliefs? If they don't want to avail themselves of those things all they have to do is NOT USE THEM???
*Exactly*.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Twelve Complex Questions, Twelve 10 Word Answers
The questions are valid and complex. The answers are purposely short to encourage thought, research and introspection without the trap of getting bogged down in party or social politics.
Because we're all supposed to be in this together- we all need to take care of each other, and leave our world better for our children and safer for our elders, even though and especially because in the end- not a one of us is getting out of here alive.
1) Why does Occupy want to turn us into a socialist nation?
It doesn't. We want capitalism that's accountable, regulated and moral.
2) Why don't those people grow up, go home and get a job?
Most Occupiers are over 40 and have homes and jobs.
3) So what the hell are they mad about?
OUR government being purchased to the detriment of the people.
4) Hey- if anyone in America really WANTS to work, all they have to do is go get a job.
Right. Over a million applied for 50,000 burger flipping positions.
5) If it's so bad here, why are illegals still flocking across the border?
They're not. Illegal immigration is at a 60 year low.
6) But we're in a tough economy- EVERYONE needs to sacrifice- share the burden.
Yes. Don't cut or eliminate ANY taxes- ESPECIALLY corporate taxes.
7) But those are the Job Creators- if we help them, they'll help us.
Seriously? When? In between moving the jobs and money overseas?
8) What's this "People Before Corporations" crap? Sounds communist.
Society is judged by how it treats its weakest members.
9) But this is America- home of the rugged individualist- survival of the fittest, gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet and all that jazz...
Tell it to your children and grandparents. Never get sick.
10) How can we have national universal health care? Who's going to pay for it? Through MORE taxes?
Taxes INSTEAD of your premiums. Do the math. It's horrifying.
11) Providing EVERYONE who needs and wants health care whether or not they deserve it? That just seems wrong and encourages sloth. I don't want MY money going to someone unworthy.
Who "deserves" highways, schools, police and fire protection, mail service?
12) My pumpkin pie recipe made more filling than I needed- what can I do with the extra filling?
Bread machine- 1 1/2c filling, 4c flour, 1 1/4tsp yeast. Pumpkin bread.
Because we're all supposed to be in this together- we all need to take care of each other, and leave our world better for our children and safer for our elders, even though and especially because in the end- not a one of us is getting out of here alive.
1) Why does Occupy want to turn us into a socialist nation?
It doesn't. We want capitalism that's accountable, regulated and moral.
2) Why don't those people grow up, go home and get a job?
Most Occupiers are over 40 and have homes and jobs.
3) So what the hell are they mad about?
OUR government being purchased to the detriment of the people.
4) Hey- if anyone in America really WANTS to work, all they have to do is go get a job.
Right. Over a million applied for 50,000 burger flipping positions.
5) If it's so bad here, why are illegals still flocking across the border?
They're not. Illegal immigration is at a 60 year low.
6) But we're in a tough economy- EVERYONE needs to sacrifice- share the burden.
Yes. Don't cut or eliminate ANY taxes- ESPECIALLY corporate taxes.
7) But those are the Job Creators- if we help them, they'll help us.
Seriously? When? In between moving the jobs and money overseas?
8) What's this "People Before Corporations" crap? Sounds communist.
Society is judged by how it treats its weakest members.
9) But this is America- home of the rugged individualist- survival of the fittest, gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet and all that jazz...
Tell it to your children and grandparents. Never get sick.
10) How can we have national universal health care? Who's going to pay for it? Through MORE taxes?
Taxes INSTEAD of your premiums. Do the math. It's horrifying.
11) Providing EVERYONE who needs and wants health care whether or not they deserve it? That just seems wrong and encourages sloth. I don't want MY money going to someone unworthy.
Who "deserves" highways, schools, police and fire protection, mail service?
12) My pumpkin pie recipe made more filling than I needed- what can I do with the extra filling?
Bread machine- 1 1/2c filling, 4c flour, 1 1/4tsp yeast. Pumpkin bread.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Don't Forget Your Milk Money
Today, bright and early, a whole lotta kids were poked and prodded out of bed, force fed cheerios or poptarts, swaddled in new and uncomfortable clothing and summarily delivered into the maws of the educational system.
We saw it coming from the frenzy at Walmart and Office Depot for pencils and paper and the right kinds of binders to Academy where pint sized quarterbacks (quarter-pints?) stood solidly and proudly while being fitted for all that plastic armor football players need to wear to keep from killing each other in the name of sportsmanship.
All this stuff costs a lot of money. Anyone with kids knows starting about July, the places that sell school supplies all have kiosks of lists- list after list of what parents need to buy to prepare their children for the school year.
So this morning I had another one of my (increasingly and disturbingly frequent) conversations with Ward that starts out "Remember when we were kids?"
"Remember when we were kids and there was the School Store? You lined up on the first day of school with the rest of the class and stood in line. The old lady (who was probably 30) served you from behind the dutch door. All your school supplies- pencils, erasers, crayons, ruler, notebooks- could be had for like $5.00 and we all got the same thing."
Once we got old enough for "gym suits" the gym teacher ordered them and they cost like $20.
None of this school supplies costing several hundred dollars crap.
Ya, I know that was a million years ago and considering the cost of living and all, that $25 my parents spent on school supplies...STILL doesn't = several hundred dollars so shut the hell up.
How hard is it for families to cough up that kind of money, especially in this economy?
This hard- the same day Ricky and his minions (about 30,000 of them) were having their big ol' hootinanny for god inside the air-conditioned Astrodome, the convention center about 10 minutes away was overrun by more than 100,000 people standing in line outside in the heat for...free school supplies, and they had to turn quite a few over that 100,000 mark away. By 10am.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/08/290973/prayer-rally-school-supplies/
Luckily, we don't have to worry about that. We home school.
Our son was still abed this morning when the school bus rumbled across the wooden bridges at the road. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's never even SEEN the school bus rumble across the wooden bridges at the road.
Sure we have to buy his curriculum and go on field trips and get him involved in sports and stuff, but we work our own hours, are free to vacation when we wish, and don't have to buy any school-appropriate clothing. We feel fortunate to get any clothing at all on the Feral Boy of Dedmon's Branch.
We also pay school taxes.
Happily.
Back when I was young (this won't be so bad- I promise) I'd hear my grandmother complain that they still had to pay school taxes even though there were no kids at home anymore. She said it wasn't fair to them and grandpa quietly but firmly interjected (the one and only time he ever did) that they had US- between my mom and my aunt there were 5 grandchildren. They were paying taxes for OUR schools. And she'd quit bitching about it. Till next time.
We don't have grandkids and all our nieces and nephews are out of the public school system, but we still pay our school tax. We have friends who say "You don't use the school system, doesn't it make you angry to pay the taxes for it?"
No. No it doesn't.
Because it matters. It matters that children whose parents can't (or don't want to) home school them have a safe place to be during the day. It matters that the schools are staffed with caring competent teachers who have enough supplies to do their jobs.
It matters very much that Rick Perry says there should be no such thing as public schools regulated nationally. That he's cut billions of dollars for schools and teachers in an apparent attempt to wrest the Trophy of Absolute Ignorance from Mississippi once and for all and proudly display it in his cabinet right next to the ones for "Most Teen Pregnancies" and "Highest number of minimum wage jobs" and right under the spotlight glowing on "Largest percentage of citizens without health insurance".
See, just like a health care tax would supply free care to everyone in the country via Universal Single Payer coverage- there would be no need for individual insurance with its accompanying premiums, but you could certainly buy it if you wanted to (like in Canada).
Paying school tax so all children can go to school is the right thing to do. Making truly good health care available FREE to citizens is the right thing to do.
At least I think so. Guess I'm just a terrible American.
We saw it coming from the frenzy at Walmart and Office Depot for pencils and paper and the right kinds of binders to Academy where pint sized quarterbacks (quarter-pints?) stood solidly and proudly while being fitted for all that plastic armor football players need to wear to keep from killing each other in the name of sportsmanship.
All this stuff costs a lot of money. Anyone with kids knows starting about July, the places that sell school supplies all have kiosks of lists- list after list of what parents need to buy to prepare their children for the school year.
So this morning I had another one of my (increasingly and disturbingly frequent) conversations with Ward that starts out "Remember when we were kids?"
"Remember when we were kids and there was the School Store? You lined up on the first day of school with the rest of the class and stood in line. The old lady (who was probably 30) served you from behind the dutch door. All your school supplies- pencils, erasers, crayons, ruler, notebooks- could be had for like $5.00 and we all got the same thing."
Once we got old enough for "gym suits" the gym teacher ordered them and they cost like $20.
None of this school supplies costing several hundred dollars crap.
Ya, I know that was a million years ago and considering the cost of living and all, that $25 my parents spent on school supplies...STILL doesn't = several hundred dollars so shut the hell up.
How hard is it for families to cough up that kind of money, especially in this economy?
This hard- the same day Ricky and his minions (about 30,000 of them) were having their big ol' hootinanny for god inside the air-conditioned Astrodome, the convention center about 10 minutes away was overrun by more than 100,000 people standing in line outside in the heat for...free school supplies, and they had to turn quite a few over that 100,000 mark away. By 10am.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/08/290973/prayer-rally-school-supplies/
Luckily, we don't have to worry about that. We home school.
Our son was still abed this morning when the school bus rumbled across the wooden bridges at the road. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's never even SEEN the school bus rumble across the wooden bridges at the road.
Sure we have to buy his curriculum and go on field trips and get him involved in sports and stuff, but we work our own hours, are free to vacation when we wish, and don't have to buy any school-appropriate clothing. We feel fortunate to get any clothing at all on the Feral Boy of Dedmon's Branch.
We also pay school taxes.
Happily.
Back when I was young (this won't be so bad- I promise) I'd hear my grandmother complain that they still had to pay school taxes even though there were no kids at home anymore. She said it wasn't fair to them and grandpa quietly but firmly interjected (the one and only time he ever did) that they had US- between my mom and my aunt there were 5 grandchildren. They were paying taxes for OUR schools. And she'd quit bitching about it. Till next time.
We don't have grandkids and all our nieces and nephews are out of the public school system, but we still pay our school tax. We have friends who say "You don't use the school system, doesn't it make you angry to pay the taxes for it?"
No. No it doesn't.
Because it matters. It matters that children whose parents can't (or don't want to) home school them have a safe place to be during the day. It matters that the schools are staffed with caring competent teachers who have enough supplies to do their jobs.
It matters very much that Rick Perry says there should be no such thing as public schools regulated nationally. That he's cut billions of dollars for schools and teachers in an apparent attempt to wrest the Trophy of Absolute Ignorance from Mississippi once and for all and proudly display it in his cabinet right next to the ones for "Most Teen Pregnancies" and "Highest number of minimum wage jobs" and right under the spotlight glowing on "Largest percentage of citizens without health insurance".
See, just like a health care tax would supply free care to everyone in the country via Universal Single Payer coverage- there would be no need for individual insurance with its accompanying premiums, but you could certainly buy it if you wanted to (like in Canada).
Paying school tax so all children can go to school is the right thing to do. Making truly good health care available FREE to citizens is the right thing to do.
At least I think so. Guess I'm just a terrible American.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Will They REALLY Appreciate Hearing From Me?
Hard to believe, I know, but I've never written a letter to an elected official...till today. But in the words of Popeye (who I really don't like, by the way) "I've taken all I can stands and I can't stands no more".
I've signed petitions, given (small) donations where I feel they'll be wisely spent, but after yet another "sign the petition and WRITE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL" email today hard on the heels of the passing of a bill in Congress that will force a woman to PROVE rape (like rape isn't degrading enough) the words formed deep somewhere in the region of my bowels, percolated their way up through what's left of my reproductive organs, gathered heat from my heart and push from my lungs and exploded en masse out of my fingertips.
What spattered all across my monitor is the following, and I'm actually pretty proud of it. I sent it to Louie Gohmert, Leo Berman, and Rick Perry- all "my" elected officials and every one a white male WAY-right Republican.
I highly recommend this type of political-overload cleansing, and would be tickled lavender if anyone thought enough of my efforts to use some or all of it in their own missives to their elected officials.
Mr. Gohmert,
As a Texan, and one of your constituents, I must tell you that you do NOT speak for me and my family exactly 100% of the time.
We vote, we pay taxes, and we are proud Americans.
Just in case you missed the memo- there is already a "no funding" policy for federal usage of monies given to Planned Parenthood for abortions. None. Please stop wasting MY taxpayer money frightening people with lies to push your personal bible-thumping agenda.
And about that. It sickened me to learn of the little Lufkin shindig attended by you, Leo and our Gov. Rick where ya'll chanted "NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE"
While we count many Christians among our friends and family, I respectfully submit to you the First Amendment. Unless my document is different from yours, it says that there is to be NO STATE RELIGION- that bit about "under God" in the pledge? In God We Trust on the money? Ten commandments pasted up in all the government buildings?
All added after the fact. Our founding fathers would have considered all those things a slap in the face of all the work they did to be sure this country stands not only on freedom OF religion, but freedom FROM religion.
Your zealous display of gleefully stomping on the First Amendment, along with the other elected officials at the Lufkin event, would've been considered by those noble men to be not only impeachable, but treasonous.
I am a woman who believes that women should not be treated as property- I am disgusted at your consistent efforts to simultaneously force women under the thumb of government while stripping away any safety net in place for the aftermath of those morally bankrupt laws hidden behind the cloak of Righteousness.
I am an Over 50 year old human who believes that in the greatest nation in the world access to quality health care is a RIGHT, not something to be earned, and have lived with the spectre of cancer in my beloved husband for almost a decade- with insurance, without insurance, and with Medicare. That we've had to go begging for help at times, something that is unheard of in all other first world, second world and most of the globe's third world countries is shameful.
I am a mother who home schools, partly because Texas is dismally behind the rest of the US and light years behind the rest of the planet in quality of education (light years is science- you'll have to look it up). My best friend is a public school principal, and I have friends who are teachers- it's not the people in the system at fault, it's the system itself. The current trend of our state school board and that pompous ignoramus David Barton is assuring future generations of Texans be ignorant and laughably behind...everyone.
I am a heterosexual who believes in the sanctity of marriage and family. I find the assumption that there is but one definition of both words narrow-minded and hateful. People who love and respect one another enough to desire legal marriage and family standing should be encouraged and honored, not vilified- for there is little enough love and respect in the world as it is.
I am an American who believes that the greatest terrorist threat comes from within our nation- from ANYONE who declares a Holy War on the tenets our nation was founded on- be they Muslim, or be they Christian.
I am a Texan.
And I'm sick and tired of having to apologize for you, and Leo, and Rick.
Sincerely,
Sheri Dixon
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition- there's an armed and pissed off liberal hippiechick mama in the East Texas woods...
I've signed petitions, given (small) donations where I feel they'll be wisely spent, but after yet another "sign the petition and WRITE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL" email today hard on the heels of the passing of a bill in Congress that will force a woman to PROVE rape (like rape isn't degrading enough) the words formed deep somewhere in the region of my bowels, percolated their way up through what's left of my reproductive organs, gathered heat from my heart and push from my lungs and exploded en masse out of my fingertips.
What spattered all across my monitor is the following, and I'm actually pretty proud of it. I sent it to Louie Gohmert, Leo Berman, and Rick Perry- all "my" elected officials and every one a white male WAY-right Republican.
I highly recommend this type of political-overload cleansing, and would be tickled lavender if anyone thought enough of my efforts to use some or all of it in their own missives to their elected officials.
Mr. Gohmert,
As a Texan, and one of your constituents, I must tell you that you do NOT speak for me and my family exactly 100% of the time.
We vote, we pay taxes, and we are proud Americans.
Just in case you missed the memo- there is already a "no funding" policy for federal usage of monies given to Planned Parenthood for abortions. None. Please stop wasting MY taxpayer money frightening people with lies to push your personal bible-thumping agenda.
And about that. It sickened me to learn of the little Lufkin shindig attended by you, Leo and our Gov. Rick where ya'll chanted "NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE"
While we count many Christians among our friends and family, I respectfully submit to you the First Amendment. Unless my document is different from yours, it says that there is to be NO STATE RELIGION- that bit about "under God" in the pledge? In God We Trust on the money? Ten commandments pasted up in all the government buildings?
All added after the fact. Our founding fathers would have considered all those things a slap in the face of all the work they did to be sure this country stands not only on freedom OF religion, but freedom FROM religion.
Your zealous display of gleefully stomping on the First Amendment, along with the other elected officials at the Lufkin event, would've been considered by those noble men to be not only impeachable, but treasonous.
I am a woman who believes that women should not be treated as property- I am disgusted at your consistent efforts to simultaneously force women under the thumb of government while stripping away any safety net in place for the aftermath of those morally bankrupt laws hidden behind the cloak of Righteousness.
I am an Over 50 year old human who believes that in the greatest nation in the world access to quality health care is a RIGHT, not something to be earned, and have lived with the spectre of cancer in my beloved husband for almost a decade- with insurance, without insurance, and with Medicare. That we've had to go begging for help at times, something that is unheard of in all other first world, second world and most of the globe's third world countries is shameful.
I am a mother who home schools, partly because Texas is dismally behind the rest of the US and light years behind the rest of the planet in quality of education (light years is science- you'll have to look it up). My best friend is a public school principal, and I have friends who are teachers- it's not the people in the system at fault, it's the system itself. The current trend of our state school board and that pompous ignoramus David Barton is assuring future generations of Texans be ignorant and laughably behind...everyone.
I am a heterosexual who believes in the sanctity of marriage and family. I find the assumption that there is but one definition of both words narrow-minded and hateful. People who love and respect one another enough to desire legal marriage and family standing should be encouraged and honored, not vilified- for there is little enough love and respect in the world as it is.
I am an American who believes that the greatest terrorist threat comes from within our nation- from ANYONE who declares a Holy War on the tenets our nation was founded on- be they Muslim, or be they Christian.
I am a Texan.
And I'm sick and tired of having to apologize for you, and Leo, and Rick.
Sincerely,
Sheri Dixon
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition- there's an armed and pissed off liberal hippiechick mama in the East Texas woods...
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Free Markets, Dogs Eating Dogs, and Hell In a Handbasket
So we as a nation have finally crawled out of the status of 4th world country and taken the first step towards a national health care system- something that's taken for granted in every other industrialized nation in the world plus most of the 2nd and 3rd world nations. The concept that how much money you have in your bank account should not = the kind of (or even if you receive) health care.
Not "emergency life-saving procedures"- for the most part those ARE treated in any emergency room.
The basic care and maintenance of the human body sort of care and those things that are serious but won't necessarily kill you...today. Things like cancer, and heart disease, and un-managed diabetes.
Now back in the day, when health care was herbs and likker and common sense and leeches, health care was taken care of at home or by crazy old women living in the woods. Same as everywhere else in the world.
Then came science and technology, and for the most part these things were shared, even here in the US of A- land of the Free Market Economy (which, no matter what the men in expensive suits tell us, seems to cost the end user more than a regulated market, has anyone else noticed this?)
I'll use as a case in point, MD Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston TX. It's huge. It's regularly rated one of the top TWO cancer hospitals in the world, not just the US. MD Anderson is a teaching hospital- it's part of the University of Texas- and as such, when it was first established, it was FREE to any Texas resident. Free. No charge. Our neighbor's dad was a patient there years and years ago and his lengthy treatment and hospital stays cost them NOTHING.
In nations with "socialized medicine" that's still the case. Everyone is covered, and all the really cool toys are available for everyone to use. But something happened here in the US, something that personally looked like this to our family-
Me- "Ward's graft is failing and he's not insured right now. He's had private insurance till a few months ago until it went so high we couldn't afford it, and he'll start Medicare in 4 months. He's been your patient for over 2 years so this is really continuing care of an existing and treated condition. Could we do a payment plan for the $3,000 scans we need to be sure his 'aggressive and problematic' cancer isn't back?"
Lady in MD Anderson business office- "Umm, sorry. No. Cash at time of service."
Me- "Are you freakin' kidding me? What part of 'current patient', 'always had insurance and are GUARANTEED to have it again' and 'aggressive and problematic cancer' are you not understanding?"
Lady in MD Anderson business office- "When did you say he'll get Medicare?"
Me- "November".
Lady in MD Anderson business office- "Well...he probably won't DIE before then, will he?"
Here's a really good, concise (albeit long) explanation of where we went all wonky-
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/thomasson.insurance.health.us
An excerpt from the above article-
"Although many European nations had adopted some form of compulsory, nationalized health insurance by 1920, proposals sponsored by the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) to enact compulsory health insurance in several states were never enacted".
So that puts the US roughly *90 years* behind most of Europe when it comes to caring for our citizens in a humane and equal manner.
I've already covered why putting our health in the hands of the Free Market is not a good idea here http://qotu-ncn.blogspot.com/2010/03/insurance-companies-are-not-bad-guys.html and here http://qotu-ncn.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-news-business-in-america-is.html.
I hate reading stuff that's nothing but link after link, and promise I'm done now, but also figured the article I first posted is so much better written than I could've done I'd be doing you a disservice not to post it and most of ya'll are already sick to death of listening to me grouse about the insurance companies so I'd just jog yer memories instead of going through the whole mess again.
Anyway, the upshot is that the health insurance industry is now very very powerful in the US today, much to the bewilderment of the entire rest of the planet and the detriment to our health.
Insurance companies are big business and quite easily buy all the politicians on both sides of the aisle they need to stay that way- with OUR premium payments- genius, hey? So while the health care reform was a "foot in the door" of real reform, somehow it tripped over the threshold and is sporting some pretty heinous compound fractures.
Instead of giving power back to the patient, insurance companies are now racking up their premiums to "cover those they are forced to take now". UNTRUE.
They are happily denying coverage to anyone they don't want to cover- like children unless a parent is also covered. According to my agent, there's not a company in America right now that will sell an individual policy for a child.
Pre-existings? No problem- the government says you cannot be denied, but it'll cost you, baby.
Speaking of baby- you thought it was difficult getting maternity/birth insurance before? (and it was- that flat blew me away when I got pregnant with my 3rd child 14 years after the 2nd and tried to get insurance for "the duration")
Effectively, despite all their whining to the contrary, the insurance companies are way MORE powerful than they were before.
So what the hell happened? And don't tell me "Obama happened- howz that changey hopey thing workin' for ya?", because I'm really not in the mood right now- if "the other side" had won we'd be in WAY worse shape in all ways than we are now, and deep in yer little conservative hearts you know it. Anyone who's tried to stop something in motion knows it takes twice as long to stop and reverse than to accelerate and go out of control.
What happened is this-
No Public Option.
We need a Public Option- a.k.a Medicare for All a.k.a. Evil Socialzed Medicine.
It works for other countries- and beautifully, no matter what the insurance company lackeys a.k.a. elected officials tell you.
"Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah blah you've told us all this a gabizillion before- tell us something new".
Nothing new- just something to think about. I mentioned in my last writing that what I'm hearing from the Republican commercials is creepily like what I heard from the other sides of abusive relationships.
And nowhere is it creepier than in what they're saying in their Pledge to America (that little love note that should be accompanied by flowers and maybe something sparkly to overcome our collective bruises from their 8 years of beating us "but never meaning to HURT us because they LOVE us") about repealing health care reform.
They want to REPEAL OBAMACARE, and they are saying they will wash it off, take out the bad chunks, and put EVERYTHING THEY VOTED AGAINST back into it and hand it to us- their beloved constituents- smelling of flowers and all sparkly.
Bullshit.
The current legislation needs fixed, but the people to do it are the ones who dropped the ball and morphed it away from what it should've been, not those who hated every bit of it in the first place.
IF we can get the current administration to grow a pair and actually DO what they set out to do FOR US- the people, we'll be ok.
And I think that's a way higher likelihood than giving the whole shebang back into the hands of those who not only voted NO for every line and word of it but had nothing to offer when asked for help with it- those are the ones who will take that shining start to being an actually civilized nation, smash it into little Repealed Shards and say
"Wow. Guess that can't be fixed- oh look- lets go fight another war to get your mind off of it- and I'm so very sorry but we'll have to lower minimum wage, privatize (read "destroy by giving it into the gaping maws of Wall Street) both Social Security and the VA to pay for it- you don't mind, do you?"
and laugh all the way to the bank. Again.
Not "emergency life-saving procedures"- for the most part those ARE treated in any emergency room.
The basic care and maintenance of the human body sort of care and those things that are serious but won't necessarily kill you...today. Things like cancer, and heart disease, and un-managed diabetes.
Now back in the day, when health care was herbs and likker and common sense and leeches, health care was taken care of at home or by crazy old women living in the woods. Same as everywhere else in the world.
Then came science and technology, and for the most part these things were shared, even here in the US of A- land of the Free Market Economy (which, no matter what the men in expensive suits tell us, seems to cost the end user more than a regulated market, has anyone else noticed this?)
I'll use as a case in point, MD Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston TX. It's huge. It's regularly rated one of the top TWO cancer hospitals in the world, not just the US. MD Anderson is a teaching hospital- it's part of the University of Texas- and as such, when it was first established, it was FREE to any Texas resident. Free. No charge. Our neighbor's dad was a patient there years and years ago and his lengthy treatment and hospital stays cost them NOTHING.
In nations with "socialized medicine" that's still the case. Everyone is covered, and all the really cool toys are available for everyone to use. But something happened here in the US, something that personally looked like this to our family-
Me- "Ward's graft is failing and he's not insured right now. He's had private insurance till a few months ago until it went so high we couldn't afford it, and he'll start Medicare in 4 months. He's been your patient for over 2 years so this is really continuing care of an existing and treated condition. Could we do a payment plan for the $3,000 scans we need to be sure his 'aggressive and problematic' cancer isn't back?"
Lady in MD Anderson business office- "Umm, sorry. No. Cash at time of service."
Me- "Are you freakin' kidding me? What part of 'current patient', 'always had insurance and are GUARANTEED to have it again' and 'aggressive and problematic cancer' are you not understanding?"
Lady in MD Anderson business office- "When did you say he'll get Medicare?"
Me- "November".
Lady in MD Anderson business office- "Well...he probably won't DIE before then, will he?"
Here's a really good, concise (albeit long) explanation of where we went all wonky-
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/thomasson.insurance.health.us
An excerpt from the above article-
"Although many European nations had adopted some form of compulsory, nationalized health insurance by 1920, proposals sponsored by the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) to enact compulsory health insurance in several states were never enacted".
So that puts the US roughly *90 years* behind most of Europe when it comes to caring for our citizens in a humane and equal manner.
I've already covered why putting our health in the hands of the Free Market is not a good idea here http://qotu-ncn.blogspot.com/2010/03/insurance-companies-are-not-bad-guys.html and here http://qotu-ncn.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-news-business-in-america-is.html.
I hate reading stuff that's nothing but link after link, and promise I'm done now, but also figured the article I first posted is so much better written than I could've done I'd be doing you a disservice not to post it and most of ya'll are already sick to death of listening to me grouse about the insurance companies so I'd just jog yer memories instead of going through the whole mess again.
Anyway, the upshot is that the health insurance industry is now very very powerful in the US today, much to the bewilderment of the entire rest of the planet and the detriment to our health.
Insurance companies are big business and quite easily buy all the politicians on both sides of the aisle they need to stay that way- with OUR premium payments- genius, hey? So while the health care reform was a "foot in the door" of real reform, somehow it tripped over the threshold and is sporting some pretty heinous compound fractures.
Instead of giving power back to the patient, insurance companies are now racking up their premiums to "cover those they are forced to take now". UNTRUE.
They are happily denying coverage to anyone they don't want to cover- like children unless a parent is also covered. According to my agent, there's not a company in America right now that will sell an individual policy for a child.
Pre-existings? No problem- the government says you cannot be denied, but it'll cost you, baby.
Speaking of baby- you thought it was difficult getting maternity/birth insurance before? (and it was- that flat blew me away when I got pregnant with my 3rd child 14 years after the 2nd and tried to get insurance for "the duration")
Effectively, despite all their whining to the contrary, the insurance companies are way MORE powerful than they were before.
So what the hell happened? And don't tell me "Obama happened- howz that changey hopey thing workin' for ya?", because I'm really not in the mood right now- if "the other side" had won we'd be in WAY worse shape in all ways than we are now, and deep in yer little conservative hearts you know it. Anyone who's tried to stop something in motion knows it takes twice as long to stop and reverse than to accelerate and go out of control.
What happened is this-
No Public Option.
We need a Public Option- a.k.a Medicare for All a.k.a. Evil Socialzed Medicine.
It works for other countries- and beautifully, no matter what the insurance company lackeys a.k.a. elected officials tell you.
"Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah blah you've told us all this a gabizillion before- tell us something new".
Nothing new- just something to think about. I mentioned in my last writing that what I'm hearing from the Republican commercials is creepily like what I heard from the other sides of abusive relationships.
And nowhere is it creepier than in what they're saying in their Pledge to America (that little love note that should be accompanied by flowers and maybe something sparkly to overcome our collective bruises from their 8 years of beating us "but never meaning to HURT us because they LOVE us") about repealing health care reform.
They want to REPEAL OBAMACARE, and they are saying they will wash it off, take out the bad chunks, and put EVERYTHING THEY VOTED AGAINST back into it and hand it to us- their beloved constituents- smelling of flowers and all sparkly.
Bullshit.
The current legislation needs fixed, but the people to do it are the ones who dropped the ball and morphed it away from what it should've been, not those who hated every bit of it in the first place.
IF we can get the current administration to grow a pair and actually DO what they set out to do FOR US- the people, we'll be ok.
And I think that's a way higher likelihood than giving the whole shebang back into the hands of those who not only voted NO for every line and word of it but had nothing to offer when asked for help with it- those are the ones who will take that shining start to being an actually civilized nation, smash it into little Repealed Shards and say
"Wow. Guess that can't be fixed- oh look- lets go fight another war to get your mind off of it- and I'm so very sorry but we'll have to lower minimum wage, privatize (read "destroy by giving it into the gaping maws of Wall Street) both Social Security and the VA to pay for it- you don't mind, do you?"
and laugh all the way to the bank. Again.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Inigo Montoya for President
Ya know what I consider the Best Movie Ever?
The Princess Bride.
I love it well enough that my family knows they'll be watching it twice a year- on Valentine's Day and my birthday- for the rest of their natural lives.
Oh, sure, I appreciate it for all the girly touchy feely happy ending stuff- True Love, Epic kissing, as well as the character building stuff it's good to teach children- noble causes,gallant heroes victorious over evil, never engaging in a land war in Asia (guess GW & Co. never saw the movie)...
But my favorite part?
The revenge of Inigo Montoya.
Witnessing the brutal and senseless killing of his father at the tender age of 10, the young Inigo tried immediate retaliation, only to be disfigured (but left alive) by the evil Count Rugen.
Inigo spends the next 25 years or so studying sword play and searching for the man who killed his father to extract revenge.
When he finally encounters him, his first order of business is to cause the same disfigurement he'd been carrying all these years.
With Count Rugen literally backed against the wall, the inevitable 'begging for his life' ensues. He promises to give Inigo anything- ANYTHING- if he just lets him live.
Now, considering it's a movie seen by children, there's a certain part of me that wants to say "Turn the other cheek", "Only the creator can judge", "Two wrongs don't make a right" and "Violence never solved anything".
However
The heart of the Sicilian Mama in me literally swells with joy and I actually tear up and speak along with my second favorite movie line ever
"I want my father back, you son of a bitch".
Thrust.Stab. No more Count Rugen.
and that's what we need. We need THAT sort of right/wrong conviction from our elected officials.
We DON'T need any more steamrollering over citizens' rights, safety and very lives so the corporations and billionaires can continue their decimation of our country ala the Repbublican agenda.
We DON'T need any more pandering to those same corporations and billionaires to the point of watering down important legislation to where it's damn near useless (or worse) ala the Democratic agenda.
Shall we vote out the Democrats and put back the Republicans- those folks who put us on this road to ruination? They've got that pretty little Pledge to America now and are telling us they can make it "all better"- PLEEEEEEZE give them another chance...
I don't think so. If they can make it better, why the HELL did they let things get so out of hand in the first place? And other than vague promises of "reining in spending and cutting useless programs (like Social Security and the VA)" they promise very little.
Shall we give the Democrats another go? Well, they're already there, and truth is, 2 years was not enough to "fix" everything that's gone so wrong- especially the way they've been going about it, yanno- the way that completely sucks donkey balls.
The Republicans want to repeal "Obamacare" and replace it with "something better". Where the hell were they when it was being written up? And so far, their "better" looks alot like letting the insurance companies (a.k.a. the Free Market) continue to let people die in the streets, only worse, because they also want to "privatize"and/or phase out Social Security, Medicare and the VA.
The Democrats promised we'd bring all our service men and women home from a war we never needed to be a part of (one of those things that was steamrolled through under the guise of "protecting freedom afar" a.k.a. "those weird little brown people are sitting on OUR oil"). What the hell happened to THAT?
I really think that the right people are in place, but for some reason, upon taking their oaths of office, all their testicles just magically shriveled up and fell off- rolling under the desks like so many dust bunnies.
We've got less than two months till mid-terms. You know what'd be great?
It'd be great if the Republicans could listen and LOOK at their constituents- unemployed, hungry, sick, scared so shitless they believe anything you say no matter how insanely retarded it may be- all those teeming masses who DON'T take them to lunch on spendy lobbyist expense accounts from Pfizer or Monsanto- and do the right thing. Those are the people you are sworn to protect. Their lives. Their health. Their liberties. Stop purposely dividing this nation with tales of phantom monsters who only look like our neighbors, but who really want to take all their money, their women, their lives.
It'd be great if FOX News could be seen for what it is- NOT news at all, but 24/7/365 paid for programming that feeds the above fears to the point of not only saturation, but frenzy.
And it'd be really, really great if the Democrats remembered their promises, and could go to work every day REMEMBERING that they have the majority now- we gave it to them to use.
That they've had eight years to practice their sword play, hone their skills for a just cause, and that NOW is when they cannot falter in their convictions, that NOW is the time to not waver but move forward with intent, and purpose, look the fear-mongering minority directly in the eyes and say
"We want our country back, you sons of bitches".
The Princess Bride.
I love it well enough that my family knows they'll be watching it twice a year- on Valentine's Day and my birthday- for the rest of their natural lives.
Oh, sure, I appreciate it for all the girly touchy feely happy ending stuff- True Love, Epic kissing, as well as the character building stuff it's good to teach children- noble causes,gallant heroes victorious over evil, never engaging in a land war in Asia (guess GW & Co. never saw the movie)...
But my favorite part?
The revenge of Inigo Montoya.
Witnessing the brutal and senseless killing of his father at the tender age of 10, the young Inigo tried immediate retaliation, only to be disfigured (but left alive) by the evil Count Rugen.
Inigo spends the next 25 years or so studying sword play and searching for the man who killed his father to extract revenge.
When he finally encounters him, his first order of business is to cause the same disfigurement he'd been carrying all these years.
With Count Rugen literally backed against the wall, the inevitable 'begging for his life' ensues. He promises to give Inigo anything- ANYTHING- if he just lets him live.
Now, considering it's a movie seen by children, there's a certain part of me that wants to say "Turn the other cheek", "Only the creator can judge", "Two wrongs don't make a right" and "Violence never solved anything".
However
The heart of the Sicilian Mama in me literally swells with joy and I actually tear up and speak along with my second favorite movie line ever
"I want my father back, you son of a bitch".
Thrust.Stab. No more Count Rugen.
and that's what we need. We need THAT sort of right/wrong conviction from our elected officials.
We DON'T need any more steamrollering over citizens' rights, safety and very lives so the corporations and billionaires can continue their decimation of our country ala the Repbublican agenda.
We DON'T need any more pandering to those same corporations and billionaires to the point of watering down important legislation to where it's damn near useless (or worse) ala the Democratic agenda.
Shall we vote out the Democrats and put back the Republicans- those folks who put us on this road to ruination? They've got that pretty little Pledge to America now and are telling us they can make it "all better"- PLEEEEEEZE give them another chance...
I don't think so. If they can make it better, why the HELL did they let things get so out of hand in the first place? And other than vague promises of "reining in spending and cutting useless programs (like Social Security and the VA)" they promise very little.
Shall we give the Democrats another go? Well, they're already there, and truth is, 2 years was not enough to "fix" everything that's gone so wrong- especially the way they've been going about it, yanno- the way that completely sucks donkey balls.
The Republicans want to repeal "Obamacare" and replace it with "something better". Where the hell were they when it was being written up? And so far, their "better" looks alot like letting the insurance companies (a.k.a. the Free Market) continue to let people die in the streets, only worse, because they also want to "privatize"and/or phase out Social Security, Medicare and the VA.
The Democrats promised we'd bring all our service men and women home from a war we never needed to be a part of (one of those things that was steamrolled through under the guise of "protecting freedom afar" a.k.a. "those weird little brown people are sitting on OUR oil"). What the hell happened to THAT?
I really think that the right people are in place, but for some reason, upon taking their oaths of office, all their testicles just magically shriveled up and fell off- rolling under the desks like so many dust bunnies.
We've got less than two months till mid-terms. You know what'd be great?
It'd be great if the Republicans could listen and LOOK at their constituents- unemployed, hungry, sick, scared so shitless they believe anything you say no matter how insanely retarded it may be- all those teeming masses who DON'T take them to lunch on spendy lobbyist expense accounts from Pfizer or Monsanto- and do the right thing. Those are the people you are sworn to protect. Their lives. Their health. Their liberties. Stop purposely dividing this nation with tales of phantom monsters who only look like our neighbors, but who really want to take all their money, their women, their lives.
It'd be great if FOX News could be seen for what it is- NOT news at all, but 24/7/365 paid for programming that feeds the above fears to the point of not only saturation, but frenzy.
And it'd be really, really great if the Democrats remembered their promises, and could go to work every day REMEMBERING that they have the majority now- we gave it to them to use.
That they've had eight years to practice their sword play, hone their skills for a just cause, and that NOW is when they cannot falter in their convictions, that NOW is the time to not waver but move forward with intent, and purpose, look the fear-mongering minority directly in the eyes and say
"We want our country back, you sons of bitches".
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Getting Away With Murder
If you've been following this blog for any length of time, or if you've known my family for any length of time, you know we've had a pretty rough 8 years or so with Ward's health. Particularly the last 4 years, and VERY particularly this past April and May.
If you're new here- take a look see at the postings from April and May (mostly April) so you know what the hell I'm talking about today. We'll wait right here.
(sound of Muskrat Love muzak while the rest of us are on blog-hold)
I know the worst of that whole Abysmal April was the time period after hearing the words "When we tried to wake him up from anesthesia he went into heart failure and stopped breathing". Most specifically the 12 hours or so after that- when they really didn't know if he'd ever wake up again. If they'd ever be able to turn off the machines breathing and beating for him without marking the time and covering him in a sheet.
People say something horrible is "like a nightmare", but when you're really truly wide awake living it you pray for a nightmare to give your life a little levity.
And during that time, four thoughts ran through my head over and over and over again without stopping- on a mental loop trying to lasso my sanity.
One- What will I tell Alec? Ward's his Hero.How can I raise him all by myself?
Two- Ward told me before this surgery that he'd be ok, he said "It'll be alright- I'm going to be fine- you and I have a lot we have to do yet". Ward has never lied to me in over 15 years, and I was by god going to hold him to this one.
Three- Please. As in a prayer. One word asking that I not have to...ever...not now, not ever... go to the computer, log in and type "I am a widow".
Four- Visuals of our friends Sunni and Jim, Sharlotte and Edward. Quiet, kind, patient Jim. Ornery, exasperating, kind Edward. Sunni and Sharlotte alone now- just in the past few months- having typed "I am a widow" into the blank of their lives that asks "marital status".
It was this last thought that was the most terrifying. There was basically nothing wrong with either Jim or Edward and they had nothing in common health-wise with Ward- Jim was younger and Edward older- except for one thing. They both (like Ward) went into the hospital with something fixable. But Jim and Edward never made it out again.
Jim went into the hospital following a mild stroke. He ended up contracting pneumonia and dying there.
Edward went into the hospital with intestinal problems that required some surgery. He ended up aspirating during a post-op MRI, contracted pneumonia and died.
Ward was much more fragile. Much less healthy BEFORE his "alarming event".
He'd entered the hospital after numerous infections and bleeding episodes but deemed well enough for the surgery to repair the failed graft that was the source of the infections and bleediness.
He went from a long complicated surgery
To a very bad drug reaction
To an emergency surgery
To his heart and lungs saying "That's it- I'm out".
To mechanical support in ICU
To pneumonia
To staph infections
And then, amazingly
To a slow, torturous, frustrating, frightening but hallelujah praise whoever's up there recovery.
Ward was lucky. Ward IS lucky. Alec and I are lucky.
And it so easily could've slipped quietly,quickly and fatally in the other direction. As it did for our friends. Not people in the news. Not abstract figures or names in the death notices. To our friends.
That's a few months behind us, and Ward's still making slow but sure recovery, so what in blue blazes am I doing re-hashing all this mess???
We've got a guinea pig show coming up and Sunni and Jim are guinea pig friends. We've stayed more than once at their home and cherished every minute we've ever had with them.
I talked to Sharlotte today- she lives just up the road from us and we buy hay from them. She and Edward have always been there for us for any reason and at any time.
So I had both couples on my mind lately. Couples that aren't anymore. Not because of natural causes or an accident or because they didn't make it to the hospital in time.
They died BECAUSE they were at the hospital. And not tiny little bohunk boonies hospitals- Sunni and Jim live in Austin and Edward went to our large regional hospital (clever hint given two paragraphs down). Just as Ward almost died directly BECAUSE of what was done or not done for him or to him at the hospital- MDAnderson Cancer Center- one of the premier hospitals in the world.
And it's not just some freak bad karma following my friends and me around zapping our menfolk- this shit happens every day in every hospital in this country.
Way back when we were just starting on our Cancer Family Adventure, I was waiting for Ward to get his hydro-therapy at our large regional hospital. Let's call it Trinity Mother Frances in Tyler Texas. To pass the time, I went to the cafeteria for a cuppa coffee.
On every table were little placards- colorful cardboard centerpieces to both inform and make dining more enjoyable. That was a very long time ago, but the gist of the placards was this-
Hospital Death Awareness Week (fill in the dates)
A week of educational seminars focusing on lessening the occurrence of death due to hospital-contracted conditions
(listing of educational seminars)
Trinity Mother Frances Hospital 20XX goal- LESS THAN 1,500
I re-read it a few times, in different light and at different angles because there was no way I could fathom
a) that this was something they'd put in the PUBLIC cafeteria for loved ones of patients to peruse and
b) that "Less than 1,500" was something to shoot for, death-wise.
And I guess, from the safety of this far away from our own near-death experience, I can breathe, close my eyes, and get truly and totally pissed off about a hospital that thinks "less than 1,500" is not only acceptable, but admirable.
That healthy people can go into a hospital in good faith and with no real concerns and not come out.
And that the hospitals are not accountable.
They may express concern. The individual players may grieve right with you, because I really believe that most of them ARE there to heal, to care for, to nurture other humans and the problem is that the environment they have to do it in is toxic and/or managed not by health professionals but by accountants and insurance companies and/or the systems used to keep records is ridiculously cumbersome and archaic.
But when you enter a hospital in America for any reason whatsoever, you must sign a little paper before a doctor will even come into the same room with you. That paper says that you give the hospital and its staff permission to treat you as they see fit. That the outcome of your visit may or may not be favorable to you, and may end in disfigurement, a worsening of your condition, the addition of new conditions or possibly death.
It's a permission slip.
It's a golden ticket.
For getting away with murder.
And I think of Jim and Edward and Sunni and Sharlotte. I look at Ward- the shadow of what he's been through hangs on him, dragging him down, and he fights his way through it every single day- for the last 3 months and for many months to come.
And people who've never skated that close to the edge shrug apologetically and say "Well, what can you do?"
And people who've tipped into that frigid bottomless pit go to the phone book and call a lawyer and see what they can do. And the answer is "Not much".
We actually saw a lawyer way back when we found out that Ward's surgeon here in Tyler was well aware that she did not get all the cancer when she enucleated his eye, even though she told us she did, and even though they radiated the snot out of the area (they told us) "just in case".
Although the lawyer was sympathetic, and he AND his medical advisor said she'd not done the right thing, he declined the case. He said the only cases he could afford to take were what he called "jaw-droppers"- something that a jury would just freakin' not believe- and that had ended in death.
And we told him that while money would sure be nice to pay off all the subsequent "this was caused by her actions/inactions" expenses that had already totaled into the tens of thousands of dollars, our main goal was to make her stop.
Make her stop and THINK before saying "Oh yes- I do these all the time".
And I believe that's all most people who bring lawsuits for medical negligence want- because no money on earth will fill the hole losing your spouse, your parent, your child leaves in your heart.
Just STOP and think before doing something, or before blowing something off.
Because you've got someone's life in your hands.
And even though we've signed the permission slip, you need to do everything in your power to not have to use it.
If you're new here- take a look see at the postings from April and May (mostly April) so you know what the hell I'm talking about today. We'll wait right here.
(sound of Muskrat Love muzak while the rest of us are on blog-hold)
I know the worst of that whole Abysmal April was the time period after hearing the words "When we tried to wake him up from anesthesia he went into heart failure and stopped breathing". Most specifically the 12 hours or so after that- when they really didn't know if he'd ever wake up again. If they'd ever be able to turn off the machines breathing and beating for him without marking the time and covering him in a sheet.
People say something horrible is "like a nightmare", but when you're really truly wide awake living it you pray for a nightmare to give your life a little levity.
And during that time, four thoughts ran through my head over and over and over again without stopping- on a mental loop trying to lasso my sanity.
One- What will I tell Alec? Ward's his Hero.How can I raise him all by myself?
Two- Ward told me before this surgery that he'd be ok, he said "It'll be alright- I'm going to be fine- you and I have a lot we have to do yet". Ward has never lied to me in over 15 years, and I was by god going to hold him to this one.
Three- Please. As in a prayer. One word asking that I not have to...ever...not now, not ever... go to the computer, log in and type "I am a widow".
Four- Visuals of our friends Sunni and Jim, Sharlotte and Edward. Quiet, kind, patient Jim. Ornery, exasperating, kind Edward. Sunni and Sharlotte alone now- just in the past few months- having typed "I am a widow" into the blank of their lives that asks "marital status".
It was this last thought that was the most terrifying. There was basically nothing wrong with either Jim or Edward and they had nothing in common health-wise with Ward- Jim was younger and Edward older- except for one thing. They both (like Ward) went into the hospital with something fixable. But Jim and Edward never made it out again.
Jim went into the hospital following a mild stroke. He ended up contracting pneumonia and dying there.
Edward went into the hospital with intestinal problems that required some surgery. He ended up aspirating during a post-op MRI, contracted pneumonia and died.
Ward was much more fragile. Much less healthy BEFORE his "alarming event".
He'd entered the hospital after numerous infections and bleeding episodes but deemed well enough for the surgery to repair the failed graft that was the source of the infections and bleediness.
He went from a long complicated surgery
To a very bad drug reaction
To an emergency surgery
To his heart and lungs saying "That's it- I'm out".
To mechanical support in ICU
To pneumonia
To staph infections
And then, amazingly
To a slow, torturous, frustrating, frightening but hallelujah praise whoever's up there recovery.
Ward was lucky. Ward IS lucky. Alec and I are lucky.
And it so easily could've slipped quietly,quickly and fatally in the other direction. As it did for our friends. Not people in the news. Not abstract figures or names in the death notices. To our friends.
That's a few months behind us, and Ward's still making slow but sure recovery, so what in blue blazes am I doing re-hashing all this mess???
We've got a guinea pig show coming up and Sunni and Jim are guinea pig friends. We've stayed more than once at their home and cherished every minute we've ever had with them.
I talked to Sharlotte today- she lives just up the road from us and we buy hay from them. She and Edward have always been there for us for any reason and at any time.
So I had both couples on my mind lately. Couples that aren't anymore. Not because of natural causes or an accident or because they didn't make it to the hospital in time.
They died BECAUSE they were at the hospital. And not tiny little bohunk boonies hospitals- Sunni and Jim live in Austin and Edward went to our large regional hospital (clever hint given two paragraphs down). Just as Ward almost died directly BECAUSE of what was done or not done for him or to him at the hospital- MDAnderson Cancer Center- one of the premier hospitals in the world.
And it's not just some freak bad karma following my friends and me around zapping our menfolk- this shit happens every day in every hospital in this country.
Way back when we were just starting on our Cancer Family Adventure, I was waiting for Ward to get his hydro-therapy at our large regional hospital. Let's call it Trinity Mother Frances in Tyler Texas. To pass the time, I went to the cafeteria for a cuppa coffee.
On every table were little placards- colorful cardboard centerpieces to both inform and make dining more enjoyable. That was a very long time ago, but the gist of the placards was this-
Hospital Death Awareness Week (fill in the dates)
A week of educational seminars focusing on lessening the occurrence of death due to hospital-contracted conditions
(listing of educational seminars)
Trinity Mother Frances Hospital 20XX goal- LESS THAN 1,500
I re-read it a few times, in different light and at different angles because there was no way I could fathom
a) that this was something they'd put in the PUBLIC cafeteria for loved ones of patients to peruse and
b) that "Less than 1,500" was something to shoot for, death-wise.
And I guess, from the safety of this far away from our own near-death experience, I can breathe, close my eyes, and get truly and totally pissed off about a hospital that thinks "less than 1,500" is not only acceptable, but admirable.
That healthy people can go into a hospital in good faith and with no real concerns and not come out.
And that the hospitals are not accountable.
They may express concern. The individual players may grieve right with you, because I really believe that most of them ARE there to heal, to care for, to nurture other humans and the problem is that the environment they have to do it in is toxic and/or managed not by health professionals but by accountants and insurance companies and/or the systems used to keep records is ridiculously cumbersome and archaic.
But when you enter a hospital in America for any reason whatsoever, you must sign a little paper before a doctor will even come into the same room with you. That paper says that you give the hospital and its staff permission to treat you as they see fit. That the outcome of your visit may or may not be favorable to you, and may end in disfigurement, a worsening of your condition, the addition of new conditions or possibly death.
It's a permission slip.
It's a golden ticket.
For getting away with murder.
And I think of Jim and Edward and Sunni and Sharlotte. I look at Ward- the shadow of what he's been through hangs on him, dragging him down, and he fights his way through it every single day- for the last 3 months and for many months to come.
And people who've never skated that close to the edge shrug apologetically and say "Well, what can you do?"
And people who've tipped into that frigid bottomless pit go to the phone book and call a lawyer and see what they can do. And the answer is "Not much".
We actually saw a lawyer way back when we found out that Ward's surgeon here in Tyler was well aware that she did not get all the cancer when she enucleated his eye, even though she told us she did, and even though they radiated the snot out of the area (they told us) "just in case".
Although the lawyer was sympathetic, and he AND his medical advisor said she'd not done the right thing, he declined the case. He said the only cases he could afford to take were what he called "jaw-droppers"- something that a jury would just freakin' not believe- and that had ended in death.
And we told him that while money would sure be nice to pay off all the subsequent "this was caused by her actions/inactions" expenses that had already totaled into the tens of thousands of dollars, our main goal was to make her stop.
Make her stop and THINK before saying "Oh yes- I do these all the time".
And I believe that's all most people who bring lawsuits for medical negligence want- because no money on earth will fill the hole losing your spouse, your parent, your child leaves in your heart.
Just STOP and think before doing something, or before blowing something off.
Because you've got someone's life in your hands.
And even though we've signed the permission slip, you need to do everything in your power to not have to use it.
Monday, April 26, 2010
"Houston Doctor Exposes Gaping Hole Where Soul Should Be- Film at Eleven"
Here. I'll let you read it for yourself-
http://www.khou.com/home/Kingswood-mother-has-all-four-limbs-amputated-after-home-birth-91858109.html
Awful. Just awful. My heart completely breaks for that poor woman and her family, who will never ever fully recover from this.
About the only thing that could possibly make the whole thing even more heinous than it already is would be the arrogant, ignorant stupidity of Dr. Joseph Salinas- the pompous bastard who issued a blanket condemnation of home births in general and stopped just shy of saying that any woman who chooses home birth pretty much deserves to lose all her limbs.
Our son was born at home, with a midwife, without incident. I can pretty much guarantee to my readers that the mother in the story above keeps a cleaner house than I do. I can also guaranDAMNtee that any and every hospital in this town or any other is chock full of all sorts of nasty bacteria.
My first two children were born in a hospital- home birth being against the law in Wisconsin- but my Obstetrician insisted he was all for home birth- that the hospital was the worst possible place to be giving birth because they're all FULL OF GERMS.
Because here's the thing. Giving birth is NOT a disease process. It's actually something that (brace yourself) women were built to do. From our perky little breasts to our comely shapely hips, women were NOT designed exclusively to aspire to be the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues- we were designed to grow and deliver more humans.
And most of the time, most of the women can do that without the intervention of Dr. Joseph Salinas- something I'm sure will put a gigantic dent in his...ego.
The FACT is that this one woman contracted a nasty strep somewhere- possibly not even birth-related. The FACT is that many thousands of people contract, suffer, recover (some) and die (alot) the same type of germs IN THE HOSPITAL every year, something Dr. Salinas conveniently forgot to mention in his giddiness to make damn sure he frightened clients...er...women into flocking under his manly, protective wings to have their babies.
I don't know why Katy didn't go right to the doctor when she started hurting- and it really doesn't matter with this type of germ, it was gonna 'get' her regardless of the time frame, even in-hospital contracted Strep A isn't a "take this pill and that'll do ya", scenario- but her husband's blog shows some glimpses as to the Maybe Why's.
They are both self employed, and lacked adequate (if any) health insurance- possibly one reason to opt for home birth as well, although I'm of the school that believes that home is the best place to take care of this natural event. The FACT is that a home birth including excellent pre-natal and post-natal care costs less than 10% of a hospital birth, and you get to stay in your own bed.
That Houston's KHOU took a heartbreaking story and twisted it for Dr. Salinas' agenda is news reporting at its very shoddiest- and thank goodness the viewers are agreeing in overwhelming numbers.
It'd be lovely to see the news station step up and do some REAL reporting and community good and cover
-the ways this family can be helped through this horror via donations
-the actual facts regarding safety of home birth vs. hospital birth, both here in the US and elsewhere in the world (something that will not make our system look very good)
-education on what to look for re: signs of Strep A, since it's freakin' EVERYWHERE and you can get it from any cut or puncture
-how sorry it is that a mother even had to consider the expense of going in for 'traditional' medical care till she was really in pain, and really in jeopardy.
And that's the thing.
This is so NOT a home birth vs. hospital birth thing, this is a health care availability in America thing, and that point was cleverly not even brought up.
I'm not holding my breath for any of the above- the medical corporations and insurance companies and Defenders of the System are all too powerful- so much better to blame the experienced midwife, blame the loving mother, blame the victim.
Katy's husband started a blog, and there are links to help the family. I'd consider it a personal favor if ya'll could donate what you can.
Because what our family is going through right now is easy compared to what they will face forever.
http://katyupdate.wordpress.com/
http://www.khou.com/home/Kingswood-mother-has-all-four-limbs-amputated-after-home-birth-91858109.html
Awful. Just awful. My heart completely breaks for that poor woman and her family, who will never ever fully recover from this.
About the only thing that could possibly make the whole thing even more heinous than it already is would be the arrogant, ignorant stupidity of Dr. Joseph Salinas- the pompous bastard who issued a blanket condemnation of home births in general and stopped just shy of saying that any woman who chooses home birth pretty much deserves to lose all her limbs.
Our son was born at home, with a midwife, without incident. I can pretty much guarantee to my readers that the mother in the story above keeps a cleaner house than I do. I can also guaranDAMNtee that any and every hospital in this town or any other is chock full of all sorts of nasty bacteria.
My first two children were born in a hospital- home birth being against the law in Wisconsin- but my Obstetrician insisted he was all for home birth- that the hospital was the worst possible place to be giving birth because they're all FULL OF GERMS.
Because here's the thing. Giving birth is NOT a disease process. It's actually something that (brace yourself) women were built to do. From our perky little breasts to our comely shapely hips, women were NOT designed exclusively to aspire to be the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues- we were designed to grow and deliver more humans.
And most of the time, most of the women can do that without the intervention of Dr. Joseph Salinas- something I'm sure will put a gigantic dent in his...ego.
The FACT is that this one woman contracted a nasty strep somewhere- possibly not even birth-related. The FACT is that many thousands of people contract, suffer, recover (some) and die (alot) the same type of germs IN THE HOSPITAL every year, something Dr. Salinas conveniently forgot to mention in his giddiness to make damn sure he frightened clients...er...women into flocking under his manly, protective wings to have their babies.
I don't know why Katy didn't go right to the doctor when she started hurting- and it really doesn't matter with this type of germ, it was gonna 'get' her regardless of the time frame, even in-hospital contracted Strep A isn't a "take this pill and that'll do ya", scenario- but her husband's blog shows some glimpses as to the Maybe Why's.
They are both self employed, and lacked adequate (if any) health insurance- possibly one reason to opt for home birth as well, although I'm of the school that believes that home is the best place to take care of this natural event. The FACT is that a home birth including excellent pre-natal and post-natal care costs less than 10% of a hospital birth, and you get to stay in your own bed.
That Houston's KHOU took a heartbreaking story and twisted it for Dr. Salinas' agenda is news reporting at its very shoddiest- and thank goodness the viewers are agreeing in overwhelming numbers.
It'd be lovely to see the news station step up and do some REAL reporting and community good and cover
-the ways this family can be helped through this horror via donations
-the actual facts regarding safety of home birth vs. hospital birth, both here in the US and elsewhere in the world (something that will not make our system look very good)
-education on what to look for re: signs of Strep A, since it's freakin' EVERYWHERE and you can get it from any cut or puncture
-how sorry it is that a mother even had to consider the expense of going in for 'traditional' medical care till she was really in pain, and really in jeopardy.
And that's the thing.
This is so NOT a home birth vs. hospital birth thing, this is a health care availability in America thing, and that point was cleverly not even brought up.
I'm not holding my breath for any of the above- the medical corporations and insurance companies and Defenders of the System are all too powerful- so much better to blame the experienced midwife, blame the loving mother, blame the victim.
Katy's husband started a blog, and there are links to help the family. I'd consider it a personal favor if ya'll could donate what you can.
Because what our family is going through right now is easy compared to what they will face forever.
http://katyupdate.wordpress.com/
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Transcript: First Meeting of T-BAD (Take Back America, Dammit)
(room filled to overflowing with angry Americans)
(leader walks to front of room and steps to the podium)
"My fellow Americans- this is a dark time for our country. We come together today- Republicans, Democrats, Independents from all walks of life- drawn together by our horror of what's been happening to our country, and our terrible trepidation of what the signing of this "health reform bill" will mean to life as we know it. We want one thing only- for the government to say OUT OF OUR HOMES (riotous cheers), OUT OF OUR POCKETS (wild screams of approval) and most of all OUT OF OUR LIVES AND HOW WE MAY CHOOSE TO LIVE THEM" (thunderous applause)
"Did any of us ASK for the Government to be our baby-sitters?" (HELL,NO!)
"Do any of us WANT any Government handouts?" (HELL,NO!!)
"ARE WE MAD AS HELL?" (resounding YES from all)
"ARE WE GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE??" (earth-shattering NO from same)
"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???" (as one voice- "TAKE BACK AMERICA- DAMMIT")
(full five minutes before the room is once again quiet enough to continue)
"I can see we're all agreed here- every one of us a rugged individual- proud of our ability to care for ourselves and those around us and needing NOTHING from some Government-spawned noose-around-our-necks "social programs"- thinly veiled traps to lull us into complacency before snuffing out the last vestiges of FREEDOM and plunge us en masse back into the very pit of bondage our Founding Fathers bled and died to save us from".
(sustained combination of outrage, jeers and cheers)
"Before we really begin, I just want to be sure everyone here is truly in the right place- strong enough and tough enough for this challenge. And please, when leaving tonight, take a copy of the handouts on the table by the door. Now-"
"Anyone here who are themselves or who has a family member who receives Social Security- either in the form of disability or retirement- please leave. The Social Security system was a total bastard spawned by evil Socialists. Ronald Reagan said so".
(sound of a great many people leaving the room)
"Anyone who has ever taken their children to a public clinic for vaccinations, received AFDC food, cashed an unemployment check or FOR SURE ever used food stamps- please leave. These programs encourage people to stay dependent on Uncle Sam when they should be getting out and working like the rest of us worthy Americans".
(many feet shuffling out the door)
"Public schools- those liberal-run dens of Communist iniquity- NO ONE here condones, much less uses these tools of Satan, do they?"
(lots of people head for the door- including many small feet who were brought here by their parents to see How Democracy Works)
"All our Veterans here- you are our Pride, our Heroes- you know more than anyone how precious Freedom is and how the Government screws up everything it touches- making any government-run program a complete boondoggle. You know firsthand the shoddy care you receive at the VA clinics and hospitals, right? I mean, they're there, but I know you'd never in a million years USE them- you're too proud and independent for that".
(the room begins to have a hollow empty feel to it)
"And finally, although we here- those of us left, anyway- are the lifeblood of the American Dream, we remember that our great Nation, and most of ourselves by our very family trees, are Melting Pots of all the nationalities and races of the world- and we celebrate the strength that comes from that and will not tolerate any sort of bigotry or prejudice. We renounce any persons or groups who condone such behavior and agree that even to turn the other way, or 'let slide' such behavior from others is to do our great country a grave dis-service".
(the silence in the room is deafening)
"Hello? Hello?"
(smiles, turns out the light and closes the door behind her)
"I thought so."
One lone flier remains on the table-
Dear Fellow American,
I apologize for Going All Tea Party on your ass, but you weren't listening to anything else and things are really getting out of hand.
If you are reading this, you have left the room because you have benefited from some social service program that our country offers- and each and every one was hard-won and hotly contested at the time they were enacted.
I AM a proud American, and that to me, means loving and caring for the heart of America- its people.
While I worked 2 jobs to afford surgery for my home-schooled little boy because we couldn't afford insurance and didn't qualify for aid, I paid for your AFDC, public schools and Medicaid to help you through hard times.
While my husband worked at a horrible job all through cancer treatments and surgeries just to keep his insurance, he paid for your Medicare, unemployment and Veterans' services.
Did we ever once resent one penny of that even though we ourselves struggled?
No.
Not even for an instant.
Ever.
You're welcome.
The Health Care Reform bill that just passed is not perfect, but it goes a long way towards making our civilization more civil. It's not the end of the world, it's not a signal that the End Times are upon us, and what I DO resent is the uncivil and hateful way its opponents are behaving.
Revamping our health system will be a work in progress and can be fine-tuned as needed. How can you believe "leaders" who tell you "This will destroy America- there will be no going back once it's signed" in one breath and "This isn't over yet- we CAN still repeal it" in the next?
How can you admire those who scream that the entire thing needs to be scrapped and started over line by line? Where the hell WERE they this whole last year?
Give it a chance. See what happens. Because the way you are currently behaving is embarrassing, unseemly, and infantile.
And MY vision of America is none of those.
Thank you for your time.
(leader walks to front of room and steps to the podium)
"My fellow Americans- this is a dark time for our country. We come together today- Republicans, Democrats, Independents from all walks of life- drawn together by our horror of what's been happening to our country, and our terrible trepidation of what the signing of this "health reform bill" will mean to life as we know it. We want one thing only- for the government to say OUT OF OUR HOMES (riotous cheers), OUT OF OUR POCKETS (wild screams of approval) and most of all OUT OF OUR LIVES AND HOW WE MAY CHOOSE TO LIVE THEM" (thunderous applause)
"Did any of us ASK for the Government to be our baby-sitters?" (HELL,NO!)
"Do any of us WANT any Government handouts?" (HELL,NO!!)
"ARE WE MAD AS HELL?" (resounding YES from all)
"ARE WE GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE??" (earth-shattering NO from same)
"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???" (as one voice- "TAKE BACK AMERICA- DAMMIT")
(full five minutes before the room is once again quiet enough to continue)
"I can see we're all agreed here- every one of us a rugged individual- proud of our ability to care for ourselves and those around us and needing NOTHING from some Government-spawned noose-around-our-necks "social programs"- thinly veiled traps to lull us into complacency before snuffing out the last vestiges of FREEDOM and plunge us en masse back into the very pit of bondage our Founding Fathers bled and died to save us from".
(sustained combination of outrage, jeers and cheers)
"Before we really begin, I just want to be sure everyone here is truly in the right place- strong enough and tough enough for this challenge. And please, when leaving tonight, take a copy of the handouts on the table by the door. Now-"
"Anyone here who are themselves or who has a family member who receives Social Security- either in the form of disability or retirement- please leave. The Social Security system was a total bastard spawned by evil Socialists. Ronald Reagan said so".
(sound of a great many people leaving the room)
"Anyone who has ever taken their children to a public clinic for vaccinations, received AFDC food, cashed an unemployment check or FOR SURE ever used food stamps- please leave. These programs encourage people to stay dependent on Uncle Sam when they should be getting out and working like the rest of us worthy Americans".
(many feet shuffling out the door)
"Public schools- those liberal-run dens of Communist iniquity- NO ONE here condones, much less uses these tools of Satan, do they?"
(lots of people head for the door- including many small feet who were brought here by their parents to see How Democracy Works)
"All our Veterans here- you are our Pride, our Heroes- you know more than anyone how precious Freedom is and how the Government screws up everything it touches- making any government-run program a complete boondoggle. You know firsthand the shoddy care you receive at the VA clinics and hospitals, right? I mean, they're there, but I know you'd never in a million years USE them- you're too proud and independent for that".
(the room begins to have a hollow empty feel to it)
"And finally, although we here- those of us left, anyway- are the lifeblood of the American Dream, we remember that our great Nation, and most of ourselves by our very family trees, are Melting Pots of all the nationalities and races of the world- and we celebrate the strength that comes from that and will not tolerate any sort of bigotry or prejudice. We renounce any persons or groups who condone such behavior and agree that even to turn the other way, or 'let slide' such behavior from others is to do our great country a grave dis-service".
(the silence in the room is deafening)
"Hello? Hello?"
(smiles, turns out the light and closes the door behind her)
"I thought so."
One lone flier remains on the table-
Dear Fellow American,
I apologize for Going All Tea Party on your ass, but you weren't listening to anything else and things are really getting out of hand.
If you are reading this, you have left the room because you have benefited from some social service program that our country offers- and each and every one was hard-won and hotly contested at the time they were enacted.
I AM a proud American, and that to me, means loving and caring for the heart of America- its people.
While I worked 2 jobs to afford surgery for my home-schooled little boy because we couldn't afford insurance and didn't qualify for aid, I paid for your AFDC, public schools and Medicaid to help you through hard times.
While my husband worked at a horrible job all through cancer treatments and surgeries just to keep his insurance, he paid for your Medicare, unemployment and Veterans' services.
Did we ever once resent one penny of that even though we ourselves struggled?
No.
Not even for an instant.
Ever.
You're welcome.
The Health Care Reform bill that just passed is not perfect, but it goes a long way towards making our civilization more civil. It's not the end of the world, it's not a signal that the End Times are upon us, and what I DO resent is the uncivil and hateful way its opponents are behaving.
Revamping our health system will be a work in progress and can be fine-tuned as needed. How can you believe "leaders" who tell you "This will destroy America- there will be no going back once it's signed" in one breath and "This isn't over yet- we CAN still repeal it" in the next?
How can you admire those who scream that the entire thing needs to be scrapped and started over line by line? Where the hell WERE they this whole last year?
Give it a chance. See what happens. Because the way you are currently behaving is embarrassing, unseemly, and infantile.
And MY vision of America is none of those.
Thank you for your time.
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