New Year

Well, it is near the end of the old year. I am trying to change, to not be in constant mourning for things I cannot change. I have tried to become a better person, to improve myself and get out in the world more. Most of all I have tried not to live in the past. But at this time of year it is hard not to feel a certain melancholy for lost family and friends. I miss my son, my father, my stepson, my grandparents. I think about old friends who have been missing from my life for a long time. I recently made a facebook page, and the first friend I added was a man I went to high school with. He still is friends, and I mean active friends, with people he knew in school. I am in contact with a couple of people from my past, but as for seeing or talking to them, or hanging out with them, that doesn't happen. Distance has a part in that, but more it is the nature of me to let things slide, to not reach out to people. It is a flaw; I need to change that, be more friendly with my friends. That will be my New Year's Resolution.

Bowie Meets Crosby

nat king cole - the christmas song

Beautiful song, beautiful man.

Vanessa Williams

'please come home for christmas' (Eagles)

John Edwards Volunteers Go Door-to-Door in Iowa

These are devoted people. I wish I could go there, but I do what I can here.

A Republican John Edwards Volunteer

Health care is the issue that will decide this election--most of us are more afraid of our health care costs than we are of some annonymous terrorist, and we should be.

John Edwards - A New Year's Wish

speaks for itself

John Edwards and Tim Robbins in Iowa

It's not inevitable that HRC or BHO will get the nomination--John Edwards is the candidate who is in it for us, not himself.

We are the world

I watched this video yet again, and I am moved by it all over again. None of the people who worked on this song were or are perfect. Michael Jackson, for one, if not a pedophile is just flat out weird. But they did this one really good thing, to help people less fortunate than themselves. They didn't get paid, as I recall. They volunteered their time, their talents, their hearts, to raise money for children in Africa.

I don't think everything is a liberal/conservative thing. I think there are a lot of people who consider themselves conservatives who give liberally of their time, their money and their prayers for others. They vote for Republicans because the Republican party has a lot of leaders who are very good dissemblers. The leaders convince these voters that they share their concerns about high taxes, about abortion, about "Christian values". Maybe some do. But I think more of them are concerned with power, with running things the way that will benefit themselves and those like them--and if you think Joe the farmer in overalls is someone who even registers in the mind of someone like Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani or almost any other Republican candidate as his equal, I can sell you a bridge...

Stone Soup

I thought last night of a story I read as a child. There's a hobo, traveling through a village. He stops at house after house, asking for a bit of supper, and at every house the inhabitants tell him they don't have enough for themselves, much less enough to share. Finally he stops in a field and builds a cooking fire. He sets up his cookpot and puts in water, a stone, and some salt and pepper he carries in his knapsack.
As his water boils, he hums a little song to himself. Soon a villager stops by, and asks what is in the pot? I thought you were without food, why did you ask me for supper when you had food all along? Well, says the hobo, this is stone soup. It's really good, but with a little extra it would be even better. The villager suggests that he has some potatoes he could add, he will run and fetch them. Soon other villagers stop by and each adds something to the pot. Eventually the stone soup becomes a lovely pot of soup, and there is enough for everyone.

This isn't to advocate socialism. Whatever my utopian ideals, I am practical enough to realize that the human race could not make socialism work. And I admit it, I have stuff I really like too! But in some areas, when the good of the individual also is the good of society, as it is in the matter of health care, it is past time for some sort of collective approach.

Insurance

I am trying to change my son's insurance to something cheaper. I filled out the application online and am waiting to hear. Hopefully it will save me some money until the Democrats take charge and set us up with a national health plan.

My life as an activist

I am a shy person by nature. People who know me will say I talk a lot, sometimes too much. My children will point out that I will talk to complete strangers in stores, even on the street. But despite those undeniable facts, I am shy. I often get sick when I am supposed to go to parties with people I know, because being with people in a work situation and in a social situation are so totally different. Thursday night I went to a Democratic Women's Council Holiday party, even though I don't go to the monthly meetings, so that I could meet John Edwards. I have wanted to meet him for years, and was so determined that I overcame my normal shyness for it. It turned out better than I could have ever dreamed, and it was good that I was there, in a sense, because someone I know who really doesn't know that many people in Charleston was also there, and seeing me and having someone to talk to helped him.

I started this to kind of explain how I act on behalf of candidates. Last year I very bravely (for me) volunteered to make telephone calls for the congressional races in Ohio and another state, I can't remember off the bat which one. It was great, because I did it from home, using my computer and my telephone, and I felt that I was helping (even though I didn't really talk to that many people). Tonight I wrote letters to people in Iowa, and maybe they will throw them out or maybe they won't but for me it was a pretty brave thing.

Years ago, when Bill Clinton first ran for president, I felt hope when I heard him talk about change for America. I haven't felt that hope for a long time, but when I hear John Edwards talk about the things we need to change, and what he will do to help bring it about, hope once again stirs, and even stronger than back then. He has the courage of his convictions. And he is fearless. When you have lost a child, as he and Elizabeth have (and incidentally as I have), you realize that life can't throw anything worse at you, and you start to know what is really important. Losing my child has made me braver, just as losing my outgoing brother inspired me to talk to strangers in stores. Death is not the ideal cure for shyness, but death and the fear of what the Republicans have done to this country over the last two decades (and even before) have given me courage. Unlike me, JRE is not afraid of the Republicans, because he has faith that Americans are ready to do the right thing and throw them out. I pray he is right.

Introduction to

This is the intro to the song below, it explains a lot.

Christmas in Fallujah - Cass Dillon and Billy Joel

We have asked so much of our soldiers, and they have given so much, and to what end? Is this really how we ought to be using our precious resources, our young people?

Harry Belafonte - Mary's Boy Child

someone mentioned this song to Mr.
Belafonte in my presence; I had forgotten how beautiful it is, and found this video to share. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Sting - Gabriel's Message

I love this song, I think one of the most beautiful sting has ever recorded. Merry Christmas, everyone.

we are the world

It's hard to believe that this is 22 years old. And yet we still have so many people dying, starving, suffering. What have we learned in those 22 years?

John Edwards - Hair

John Edwards in South Carolina: Newsclip 12.07.07

My moment--the woman in purple!

Excited

I am so excited. I met John Edwards tonight at a local event. Harry Belafonte was there with him. John made some wonderful remarks, and even though many of them were things I had heard him say before it was still exciting to hear him in person, and to speak with him. This is the man who should be our next president.

Guess what I heard about today

Colonoscopies are recommended for people over 50 as a diagnostic, preventive tool. Katie Couric had one on tv so everyone could see how much fun they are. Insurance companies send out brochures to their customers encouraging them to get one. BUT...

Today I heard about my friend's sister. She made an appointment for a colonoscopy. She is 60. It's a routine test, so the insurance company said sure, we'll pay, no problem.

During the test, the doctor found a polyp. As is routine, since he's already there, he snips it out.

Now, the routine colonoscopy has become a surgical procedure. Guess what the insurance company says?

We won't pay, this was not pre-approved.

Big surprise, hmmmm?

Diabetes types 1 and 2

Everyone hears about Type 2 diabetes from the news, from magazines, from television. Type 2 is related to lifestyle choices, by all accounts. It can often be managed by reversing those choices. But Type 1 doesn't get so much coverage, because it is more rare and maybe because it affects children more than adults, at least in its initial diagnosis. As I have already written, my 8 year old grandson has Type 1 diabetes. We found out when he was 4. No lifestyle choices make any difference in whether a person gets Type 1 diabetes or not. No lifestyle choices can reverse it. It just appears, and while researchers have a lot of theories, they don't really know why any individual becomes diabetic. All that is well and good, but unfortunately for people like my grandson, since newscasters and others don't differentiate when they talk about diabetes between type 1 and type 2, people who don't know any better could get the impression that somehow all people who have diabetes have it because of their own actions. And considering the state of health care in this country, and the problems convincing people that universal health care should be an important issue, the difference might matter.

The true cost of health

I had an asthma attack yesterday in Belk. My mother was with me and it lead to a discussion about health care, because obviously my mother is concerned and thinks I need to see the doctor. That is probably true (no, definitely true) but honestly I am afraid to go. There is the co-pay, which with my insurance is $25. But what if there is something more wrong and I need tests? Those are not generally covered until I have met my deductible, which is $1500. Then there is the issue of steroids, which is the general treatment for asthma and which frightens me. But what if something else is going on? What if it turns out to be more serious and less treatable than asthma?
Oh, well. It is time to visit the doctor and take whatever comes.

Rivalry

So today is the big Clemson/Carolina football game. It seems important now, of course. I went to school at Clemson, and it means a lot to me, but it isn't the be-all and end-all, of course. After Monday, when the fans of the winners get to grin at the fans of the losers, it is done. For most of us, anyway. But the bigger rivalry, that between those who see government as the absolute problem and those who see certain government interventions as the potential solution, will continue. And those of us who worry about what will happen in the future, who are concerned about the health care situation in this country, will continue to fight for what we think is the right thing, the only reasonable thing to do.

Another day in paradise

I was reminded of this Phil Collins song by a young man today. And also today, I listened to a friend who is worried about her daughter. Her daughter is in her late teens, early twenties. She has type 1 diabetes, which of course means that nothing she did caused the disease; nothing she did could have prevented it. Partly because of the disease, she can't get health insurance easily. She doesn't have the kind of job that offers group coverage, and of course private insurance companies can pick and choose who they cover, and how much they charge. So she makes do as best she can. In a previous post I talked about my grandson, who is 8 and also has type 1 diabetes, so this friend of mine has been a source of information and comfort for me as I travel this path with my grandson. Anyway, my friend's daughter has MRSA in her thumb, and may lose it, and to hear her experiences of the last few days made me want to scream. And aside from the MRSA, her mother thinks she may be in ketoacidosis (look it up), which basically means her blood sugar is extremely, dangerously out of whack. And part of the reason this may be so is because those little strips she uses to check her blood sugar, which basically are just a means to deliver the blood to the meter, cost $1.50 EACH. And a person with type 1 diabetes (and I imagine also type 2) uses as many as 200 of those little strips per month (I know Adam checks his sugar level at least 5 times per day). That translates into over $200/month just to find out what her blood sugar level is, not including the necessary insulin to maintain it at a healthy level.
And with all this, the most ironic thing for me is that her mother votes republican as far as I know. What is wrong with this picture? My friend loves her child, yet I am sure she doesn't think there should be universal health care. I love her, and my heart breaks for her and for her child, and my vote, MY VOTE, will go to those who will make this better.

And another thing

I met a lawyer the other night who is fairly new in town, and so he takes all kinds of cases at this point. One aspect of his practice is to go after insurance companies for patient claims. So instead of using hospital resources to treat patients, the hospital is paying an attorney to make insurance companies (the profiteers) pay claims for their customers, the patients. How ridiculous is that? He, being left leaning himself, says he would be happy if he could vote himself out of that particular aspect of his practice.
So, if we went to universal health care, we could eliminate having this aspect of lawyers' practices, not to mention accountants, insurance clerks, claims adjusters, and half of most medical staffs. Wow. And if we didn't have to pay all those people, plus profits for the insurance company, how much less would health care cost? As a percentage of our GDP?

Read The Rainmaker, John Grisham. Fiction, yes, but if you think it doesn't happen you are fooling yourself.

What gives?

One of the arguments made against universal health care, single payer, is that it takes a long time to see a doctor. Another is that the government is going to be making your health care decisions for you, instead of the doctor. To both of these, I offer an example:

A friend of mine hurt his back a couple of weeks ago. He was taking pain medicine but it got worse, so he went to an orthopedic doctor (he had to wait a day or so for the appointment). The ortho doctor told him he needs an MRI to find out why he is in all this pain. The doctor said the radiologist would call in a day or so to set up his appointment. That's all fine. But the next day the radiologist's office called. Because of my friend's insurance, he couldn't get the MRI yet. The insurance company, which is in business to make a profit (see previous post) requires pre-approval for the MRI, and in order to approve it, they have to see the records, so that they can second guess the doctor. It will be at least two weeks before he gets his MRI, and in the meantime he is taking percoset, for the pain, which is affecting his quality of life. Now, how is this better than universal health care?

Another day, another story

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html?ex=1350792000&en=8834ae50a0292bc1&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Okay, so this is an opinion piece in the New York Times. And yet it is not full of opinion; it is a recital of one family's story. One of the arguments I often hear made against universal, single payer health care is that most of the people who don't have health insurance are young and healthy and don't want to pay for insurance because they would rather take the chance. To be honest with you, I don't really believe that. I think they may be young, they may be healthy, and even those with children are taking the chance, but I don't think that they always take the chance because they don't want the insurance. I think they are taking the chance because they want a good life for themselves and their children, and they don't want their children or themselves to miss out on food, clothing or shelter so that they can pay the $300 or $500 or $1000 per month for health insurance. Or maybe they have tried to get health insurance and have been turned down, which is how the profit making insurance companies maintain their profit. We have laws requiring insurance companies to provide some type of coverage for bad drivers, even at really high costs. There are no such laws for insurance companies, although some states do mandate coverage for certain pre-existing conditions, so there are those who cannot get coverage at any price.
My employer pays for mine, and I pay the $300 or so for my ONE child, but I miss that money. Fortunately there are only the 2 of us and we can live just fine on my income, but I cannot imagine trying to manage a family of 4 or more with the income I have, and it is well above poverty level. If there were more of us, and I was the sole provider, that health insurance cost would look more and more optional.

Terrorism and me (and maybe you)

Okay, so I have been trying to work out this analogy in my head. Just in the past week we have heard of the study that 19,000 people died in 2005 from an antibiotic resistant bacterial infection. Now of course this is partly the fault of all of us, because so many people run to the doctor every time they sneeze and demand an antibiotic. This, I hope, has changed in the last few years. But maybe not in time.
So 19,000 dead in 2005 from this bug. I don't know how many died from other causes that year. But I bet no one died on US soil from a terrorist attack in 2005. And to be honest, I don't believe that has anything to do with Bush and Cheney and the then-Republican Congress protecting us. I think it has to do with the fact that it takes time to plan a coordinated attack, and maybe some good law enforcement work. And the last attack, the 9/11 attack, killed about 3000 people. I am not saying it wasn't awful, because of course it was. I am saying that I am more likely to encounter this horrible staph infection (and in fact, I already know people who have had it) than I am a terrorist.
So to the analogy--if there is a guy at my door with a gun, and he has already killed some of my neighbors, and the police tell me they can't deal with that guy because they have to prepare for the guy from Maine (I live in the south) who is coming next month, that is just stupid. And that is what we have going on with Bush--they didn't want to deal with Katrina, or the housing bust, or the sub prime mortgage debacle, or the pending water crisis in Atlanta, because they are too busy convincing us to be afraid of the guy who is coming next month.

End of the day

So it is Sunday night, the end of the weekend. Tomorrow we go to our jobs and our schools, and being our weeks again. During the course of the day, if it goes like most of my days, I will once again hear or read a story about the health care crisis in this country.

There is my 82 year old aunt who came home the same day she had a colon biopsy, thankfully, because she doesn't have supplemental medical insurance.
There is my 8 year old grandson with diabetes and ADHD, who receives not state of the art care but minimum care because he has no health insurance, and to get it at this point would cost more than his mother and stepfather can afford.
There is my friend at work who doesn't get the stress test her doctor recommends because she doesn't have the $6000 to pay for it (and believe it or not, she has insurance, paid for by our employer).
There is a woman I used to know at work who has MS, and I don't know how she is doing, but I know that she didn't have health insurance at the time she was diagnosed, and that they lost their house this year.
The cost of one chemo drug for one year is more than my income, and to be honest, I couldn't afford to have cancer. I don't have savings to live on or credit cards. Health insurance has caps (check yours if you don't believe me) ranging from a couple of hundred thousand/year up to maybe a lifetime cap of a million. One catastrophic illness could wipe that out.
IT SHOULDN'T BE THIS WAY. These are small examples. Every day in your world, as in mine, you can find even more serious examples. Like my friend whose husband has been in the hospital for over two months, much of it in intensive care. Some friends had a fundraiser for the family, raised around eleven thousand dollars, but some of the medication that was given to him at the hospital cost 6000/dose. How do they pay for this? He has insurance, but that won't cover everything, and what happens if he hits the cap? Not to mention the lost work for his wife (he is retired, but takes care of their two small children).
When I speak of universal health care, I am not talking about breast implants for strippers. I am not ruling out that someone who has the money can get whatever private care they want. But if you think that government control would be the problem, who do you think makes the decisions now as to what health insurance will and won't pay for? Accountants, because insurance companies are publicly traded, for the most part, which means they are not in business to pay your bills, but to make money for shareholders. Would you want your fire department to operate that way? Your police? So that the less calls they made, the less money that was spent on them, the better? Health care should not be profit driven.

New Postage Stamp (joke alert)

New Postage Stamp

The Postal Service created a 41-cent first-class postage stamp with a picture of President Bush. The stamp was not sticking to envelopes, which enraged the President, who demanded a full investigation (at taxpayers' expense).

After a month of testing, a special presidential commission presentedthe following findings:
1. The stamp is in perfect order.
2. There is nothing wrong with the applied adhesive.
3. People are spitting on the wrong side.

I don't know the source of this, I got it from a friend, but it is funny. I laugh when those to the right of me say that we on the left are obsessed with hating President Bush, and usually what is said is pretty mild. Like they didn't call President Clinton a murderer, a rapist, call for his assasination, stuff like that. Of course, that was okay, because they really thought it was true!!

First post

Okay, so I have decided to start blogging. I read a lot of stuff, political and otherwise, and always have things I want to say. My co workers are too busy to listen to my rantings, and I am too busy to rant at work, so I am putting them out on the web. If nothing else, it will get my thoughts out of my head and into the world.
First, the title of my blog. This is my mantra lately. Our country has been abused and misused and treated like a private bank for those with the secret password. It has been going on for too long, and it is time it changed. We, the everyday people, can change it, so people who are not registered to vote need to register, and everyone needs to PAY ATTENTION. Read blogs, left and right, read the newspaper, watch cnn, msnbc and even foxnews, but sift it all and see how it matches and how it fits with your own ideas and observations. Don't depend on any single source for your information, get it from everywhere.
I will admit I lean so far left it is a wonder I don't fall over. If you don't, then that is fine, I still want you to be involved. Of course I have a candidate already picked out, but look at every one for yourself. I'll share my choice, and why, in another post.
Enough for a beginning. I hope someone reads this, I hope someone enjoys it.