I am watching C-Span, and President-elect Obama just gave his acceptance speech. Once again, as he has done throughout this campaign, his speech wasn't about him. It was about us, about the United States of America. And as the families of President-elect Obama (I just love writing that!) and Vice-President-elect Biden came out on the stage, and as I watched the faces of the people in the crowd, it wasn't a black and white America I saw. It was every color, every race, every nationality that makes up our country. I saw families who obviously love each other on the stage, two couples who genuinely love each other. And men who love this country, and who will do their very best for all of us. I cried tonight when the results were announced. All the pent up nervousness I had suffered over the last few weeks just released itself, because despite the attacks, despite the vicious emails, the robocalls, the truly despicable campaign run by the Republican campaign machine, Americans had elected a man they had witnessed over the last two years remain unflappable, unstoppable, and dedicated to the belief that in this country, anything is possible.
Even as he began his speech, Obama was more gracious in victory than I could have been toward John McCain. I am not one of those people who used to love McCain, I never even liked him much, but even I had been stunned lately by the way his campaign was run. I even checked the comments on FoxNews.com, and the racism I read there was awful. I am not talking about any kind of code words; I am talking "did they really think a black man could ever become President?" That isn't about Barack Obama's politics, or his positions, or his policies; this is about his skin color. And America is better than that.
Or we will be. Give us four years.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Chores and musings
I have a willow chair, or rattan, or whatever it is. I'm thinking it's willow, but anyway, it needs refurbishing. I got the seat off okay, and it is ready to recover. But the back is giving me fits. It is a padded and upholstered piece of cardboard stapled into the opening, and the staples are really hard to get out. I want to paint the chair, so I need to sand it (my cats were using it for a scratching post), and before I do any of that the staples have to come out, so I can recover it with the fabric I have chosen. I am thinking I will paint it purple, since I already have the paint and it will match my (future) bedroom colors. I have a green fabric for the seat and back, because I love those colors together. The purple I have is a lighter shade, not quite lavender, and the green is a sagey color, so they will go well together. I am using wire cutter pliers at the moment, and they are hurting my hands, but it will be okay. I need to find a staple remover.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, nothing really, but I am avoiding something and that is when I get stuff done. I have written a blog already about what I'm avoiding, but won't publish it at this point. So the chair is a substitute. And it also is about reusing, reordering, getting my house in order. Nesting, in a sense.
More about this later.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, nothing really, but I am avoiding something and that is when I get stuff done. I have written a blog already about what I'm avoiding, but won't publish it at this point. So the chair is a substitute. And it also is about reusing, reordering, getting my house in order. Nesting, in a sense.
More about this later.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Food and mothers and home
Food links us to our past and provides context in our present. Tonight I cooked corn, grown by my mother on land that has belonged to my father's family for over 60 or so years. My uncle plowed the land, my mother planted the seed and hoed the rows and watered the corn (not to mention the other vegetables she grows) and when it was time she picked it, shucked it and cut it off the cob, to be placed in the freezer until I retrieved it, brought it the 200 miles or so from Abbeville to North Charleston and cooked it in a cast iron frying pan, the way she has done for these 50 some odd years. In another pan, a birthday gift from my father thirty some years ago, I browned hamburger for tacos, a food never served in my childhood home. I sliced and diced tomatoes, grown in that same garden and picked by me two days ago. And I ate the tacos, with the tomatoes on top, and the corn in a plate that once held food prepared by my father's mother, my granny, grown on that same land. This was an obvious link to the past.
Just now, I finished squeezing the pulp from a big bowl of muscadines, picked by me, my mother and my aunt from vines in her pasture, two days ago. I put the hulls in freezer bags, ready for pie, and the pulp in another, ready for cooking into juice for jelly. They wait now in my freezer, linking the future to the past and to today. None of this is important, of course. It's just food, after all.
But here's the thing. I know where the corn and the muscadines and the tomatoes grew. I know who tended the plants, who watered and hoed and cared for them. And more than that, those are the foods of my childhood. My grandparents, my mother's parents, had a farm too, although it has passed out of family hands now. There were muscadines and scuppurnongs and figs and pears and apples in late spring and early fall. Green beans, corn, butterbeans, crowder peas, okra, squash, all grew there. In the spring there were strawberries. And in summer, tomatoes, glorious red full-flavored tomatoes, like nothing you buy in the store, and with apologies to all those Johns Islanders, like nothing I ever got from there. My mother still grows those things, and she has introduced fruits to my father's farm that weren't there before, the apples and plums and figs. Her pear tree this year is full of green pears, which are crisp and sweet and juicy in your hand as you take big, crunchy bites of them, fresh from the tree. And the pecan trees are loaded with green hulled pecans, waiting for the colder weather to turn brown and drop from the tree, ready for pies and cakes and toppings for the sweet potatoes she is now digging from the garden. I can eat home grown food every day of my life. I know when certain foods are in season and when their growing time has passed and it is time to eat from the freezer or the jars.
I don't really have a point here, I guess, unless it is that we are too accustomed to food in packages and cans, in neat little bins in the produce section. We forget whether they grow in the ground or on a vine, on a bush or a tree. We don't know what pesticides or herbicides are used to facilitate their growth, and how that leaches into the groundwater. I don't shop at Whole Foods, I shop from my mother's garden, and I am wealthier for it. My father used to talk about how much it cost to grow all this stuff, but he never stopped growing it. My mother keeps doing it. And one day I hope to grow food in that same earth. Meantime, I love that I can eat it.
Just now, I finished squeezing the pulp from a big bowl of muscadines, picked by me, my mother and my aunt from vines in her pasture, two days ago. I put the hulls in freezer bags, ready for pie, and the pulp in another, ready for cooking into juice for jelly. They wait now in my freezer, linking the future to the past and to today. None of this is important, of course. It's just food, after all.
But here's the thing. I know where the corn and the muscadines and the tomatoes grew. I know who tended the plants, who watered and hoed and cared for them. And more than that, those are the foods of my childhood. My grandparents, my mother's parents, had a farm too, although it has passed out of family hands now. There were muscadines and scuppurnongs and figs and pears and apples in late spring and early fall. Green beans, corn, butterbeans, crowder peas, okra, squash, all grew there. In the spring there were strawberries. And in summer, tomatoes, glorious red full-flavored tomatoes, like nothing you buy in the store, and with apologies to all those Johns Islanders, like nothing I ever got from there. My mother still grows those things, and she has introduced fruits to my father's farm that weren't there before, the apples and plums and figs. Her pear tree this year is full of green pears, which are crisp and sweet and juicy in your hand as you take big, crunchy bites of them, fresh from the tree. And the pecan trees are loaded with green hulled pecans, waiting for the colder weather to turn brown and drop from the tree, ready for pies and cakes and toppings for the sweet potatoes she is now digging from the garden. I can eat home grown food every day of my life. I know when certain foods are in season and when their growing time has passed and it is time to eat from the freezer or the jars.
I don't really have a point here, I guess, unless it is that we are too accustomed to food in packages and cans, in neat little bins in the produce section. We forget whether they grow in the ground or on a vine, on a bush or a tree. We don't know what pesticides or herbicides are used to facilitate their growth, and how that leaches into the groundwater. I don't shop at Whole Foods, I shop from my mother's garden, and I am wealthier for it. My father used to talk about how much it cost to grow all this stuff, but he never stopped growing it. My mother keeps doing it. And one day I hope to grow food in that same earth. Meantime, I love that I can eat it.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Just a quick note
This is a quick post, my friend Jason has a new blog, Time to End Poverty (linked to this title). You should check it out. You should also check out http://halfinten.com/, John Edwards new campaign to cut poverty in half in ten years.
I haven't written much lately; time to get back to this!!
I haven't written much lately; time to get back to this!!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Fried Bologna
So tonight for supper I was frying bologna. Mundane, but my son and I both love it. We had it with some canned sweet potatoes and with green beans my mother grew, picked, broke and canned. Good stuff.
And why am I writing about bologna? Because I never eat it without thinking of my father. When I was young, I forget how old, maybe 11 or 12, we went on vacation to Florida. We almost never stayed in motels, and at that point we didn't camp either. We would pull over when Daddy got sleepy and sleep in the car. On this trip we had gone to Isle of Palms for a day, then driven down through Florida. We stopped at Silver Springs, in Ocala, went on the glass bottom boat and the jungle cruise. The picture of us on the jungle cruise boat is still around somewhere. Anyway, we got to Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral and before we got a chance to sightsee at all it started pouring down rain. Daddy parked at a store and went inside, bought bread, cheese and unsliced bologna (first time I had seen that) and we ate sandwiches in the car, watching the rain.
We didn't spend a lot of money on these vacations, because I guess we didn't have a lot of extra money. By not staying in motels, we had money for the glass bottom boat. We had a camp stove, and we would stop at picnic areas and cook our meals, so we didn't spend money eating out.
When Matthew and Tracey were younger, and the grocery money had stretched as far as it would go, I would open a jar of tomatoes (grown by my father and canned by my mother), pour them in a pot and add rice and a little chili powder, and then open a jar of green beans (same source) and heat them, and feed my little family. They enjoyed it and didn't think it had anything to do with the empty cabinets in our house. And I knew, as long as my father and mother were alive and able, my children would never be hungry, no matter what happened to me.
My point with all this, which I really had a grasp on as I was frying that bologna tonight, is that money didn't matter then to the family relationships we had. Another thing--as long as my father was awake and driving the car, I slept peacefully in the back. But when he stopped to sleep, I woke up and couldn't sleep as long as we were still. Maybe I was keeping watch, I don't know. But I miss him every minute of every day, and wish I had him back, driving the car.
And why am I writing about bologna? Because I never eat it without thinking of my father. When I was young, I forget how old, maybe 11 or 12, we went on vacation to Florida. We almost never stayed in motels, and at that point we didn't camp either. We would pull over when Daddy got sleepy and sleep in the car. On this trip we had gone to Isle of Palms for a day, then driven down through Florida. We stopped at Silver Springs, in Ocala, went on the glass bottom boat and the jungle cruise. The picture of us on the jungle cruise boat is still around somewhere. Anyway, we got to Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral and before we got a chance to sightsee at all it started pouring down rain. Daddy parked at a store and went inside, bought bread, cheese and unsliced bologna (first time I had seen that) and we ate sandwiches in the car, watching the rain.
We didn't spend a lot of money on these vacations, because I guess we didn't have a lot of extra money. By not staying in motels, we had money for the glass bottom boat. We had a camp stove, and we would stop at picnic areas and cook our meals, so we didn't spend money eating out.
When Matthew and Tracey were younger, and the grocery money had stretched as far as it would go, I would open a jar of tomatoes (grown by my father and canned by my mother), pour them in a pot and add rice and a little chili powder, and then open a jar of green beans (same source) and heat them, and feed my little family. They enjoyed it and didn't think it had anything to do with the empty cabinets in our house. And I knew, as long as my father and mother were alive and able, my children would never be hungry, no matter what happened to me.
My point with all this, which I really had a grasp on as I was frying that bologna tonight, is that money didn't matter then to the family relationships we had. Another thing--as long as my father was awake and driving the car, I slept peacefully in the back. But when he stopped to sleep, I woke up and couldn't sleep as long as we were still. Maybe I was keeping watch, I don't know. But I miss him every minute of every day, and wish I had him back, driving the car.
A Song For My Brother
I have the album this song is on. After my brother died, in 1974, I listened to it over and over. And tonight it came to me, and I googled the lyrics, and after 34 years I still could sing the tune, remembered it. Life is entirely too short, and we take too much for granted, and I know that is cliche but it is true, true, true. I wish we could understand that truth from our beginnings, and live our lives aware of it.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Random Midnight Thoughts
I made a mulberry pie tonight. For those who don't know, mulberries are kind of like blackberries but they grow on a tree. They aren't as round as blackberries, more of an oval shape. Very sweet, not as seedy as blackberries. Anyway, I have a tree by my front door, and whether because of the cats or their own generosity, the birds are leaving the mulberries for me this year. My son and I have been eating them, but at last there were enough ripe to make a cobbler (the easy way, what I call cuppa cuppa cuppa.) It was sooo good.
Obviously this isn't political. But mulberries are a memory of my youth. When I was a child my mother worked, and we didn't go to daycare but one summer. (I hated it). The rest of the time we had babysitters. One summer the teenage daughter of our babysitter introduced me to solitaire, soap operas and mulberries. It was a great summer.
Later, when I was a divorced mother of two attending Clemson, a friend and I ate mulberries from a tree on campus. The four years I was there, I eagerly awaited the arrival of the sweet fruits, and I introduced friends to the tree.
I never eat them now without thinking of these two most peaceful times in my life. I am so lucky to have this tree in my yard-it met me when I came, but I didn't know what it was until the spring, and some springs I am lucky enough to get a few berries. The pie this year has been an unexpected blessing.
Obviously this isn't political. But mulberries are a memory of my youth. When I was a child my mother worked, and we didn't go to daycare but one summer. (I hated it). The rest of the time we had babysitters. One summer the teenage daughter of our babysitter introduced me to solitaire, soap operas and mulberries. It was a great summer.
Later, when I was a divorced mother of two attending Clemson, a friend and I ate mulberries from a tree on campus. The four years I was there, I eagerly awaited the arrival of the sweet fruits, and I introduced friends to the tree.
I never eat them now without thinking of these two most peaceful times in my life. I am so lucky to have this tree in my yard-it met me when I came, but I didn't know what it was until the spring, and some springs I am lucky enough to get a few berries. The pie this year has been an unexpected blessing.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Elizabeth Edwards on health care
I cannot add to what she says in this blog. We are at a critical point in this country when it comes to health care, to the use of energy and to the conservation of our planet. As we mark Earth Day today, we need to think about how we care for others and for the planet. Please consider this when you talk to friends, when you pass on emails, when you vote and when you read and listen to the news and to the mass media. We are being cossetted by the media into thinking that celebrities are important and the economy, the wars and the election aren't. And the President is trying to convince us that what we have to worry about is whether terrorists are coming here to blow us up, rather than whether corporations (not all) are trying to take us over and make enormous profits at our expense.
PAY ATTENTION.
PAY ATTENTION.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Charleston Animal Society
Isn't this better than eHarmony? Doesn't it make you just want to run out and adopt a pet? I love my cats and they love me. Pets are much more accepting than people.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
In defense of Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright
Actually, more in defense of Senator Obama's relationship with him. I haven't heard this aspect brought out at all; I didn't listen to the "speech", so I don't know if it was mentioned by the senator. I haven't read everything written, haven't listened to all the pundits. This is just my take on it.
I was a single mother, and even though I had been married to the father of my older children, he wasn't a participant in their lives except sporadically. My father, their grandfather, was the male role model most present in their lives. He showed them how a man treats his family, his job, his friends. He was not perfect, but no matter what, he was their father figure, and they would no more reject him than they would me.
Barack Obama was raised by a single white woman, and his white grandparents were the other stable adults in his life, according to what I know of him. The role models he had for living life as a black man in the US (and trust me, no matter the color of his mother's skin, he was going to live his life as a black man in this country, we are not yet color blind) were few. And he has developed a strong bond with Pastor Wright, as a spiritual advisor and I would imagine in some sense as a surrogate father. The people in our lives who fill those spaces are not easily denounced or rejected. Whether perfect (no one is) or not, we accept their failings short-sightedness, prejudices and anger and love them anyway. Many people have said angry, hateful things but still love the country, still love their friends and children, still do good work. I don't want to point out all the religious leaders that John McCain has embraced, because I think he does that for political reasons. Senator Obama and Pastor Wright have a different relationship. They don't have a bond for political reasons; it seems to be deeply personal. If it were his father saying these things would we expect him to denounce him? It is possible that he didn't really hear these things the same way many people listening to the clips do, because we don't always hear things said by people we love the same way others do. We hear the underlying message, not the rhetoric.
I can't go back and tell you everything my father ever said; I can tell you how he loved me, how he taught me right from wrong, and how he showed me to respect others. I am sure that for Senator Obama, he can tell you all the good Pastor Wright has done, and he would be right.
I was a single mother, and even though I had been married to the father of my older children, he wasn't a participant in their lives except sporadically. My father, their grandfather, was the male role model most present in their lives. He showed them how a man treats his family, his job, his friends. He was not perfect, but no matter what, he was their father figure, and they would no more reject him than they would me.
Barack Obama was raised by a single white woman, and his white grandparents were the other stable adults in his life, according to what I know of him. The role models he had for living life as a black man in the US (and trust me, no matter the color of his mother's skin, he was going to live his life as a black man in this country, we are not yet color blind) were few. And he has developed a strong bond with Pastor Wright, as a spiritual advisor and I would imagine in some sense as a surrogate father. The people in our lives who fill those spaces are not easily denounced or rejected. Whether perfect (no one is) or not, we accept their failings short-sightedness, prejudices and anger and love them anyway. Many people have said angry, hateful things but still love the country, still love their friends and children, still do good work. I don't want to point out all the religious leaders that John McCain has embraced, because I think he does that for political reasons. Senator Obama and Pastor Wright have a different relationship. They don't have a bond for political reasons; it seems to be deeply personal. If it were his father saying these things would we expect him to denounce him? It is possible that he didn't really hear these things the same way many people listening to the clips do, because we don't always hear things said by people we love the same way others do. We hear the underlying message, not the rhetoric.
I can't go back and tell you everything my father ever said; I can tell you how he loved me, how he taught me right from wrong, and how he showed me to respect others. I am sure that for Senator Obama, he can tell you all the good Pastor Wright has done, and he would be right.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
So now torture is okay?
(Click title to link to NY Times article)
President Bush vetoed a bill which would have banned the CIA from using waterboarding as an interrogation technique. His entire Presidency has been devoted to increasing the powers of the executive branch, and this is just one more step. If we elect another Republican to the presidency, in a few years this will not be a representative republic but an empire, with the president as emperor.
If for no other reason this is why we must put a Democrat in the White House.
President Bush vetoed a bill which would have banned the CIA from using waterboarding as an interrogation technique. His entire Presidency has been devoted to increasing the powers of the executive branch, and this is just one more step. If we elect another Republican to the presidency, in a few years this will not be a representative republic but an empire, with the president as emperor.
If for no other reason this is why we must put a Democrat in the White House.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Recent shootings
I couldn't link to all of them if I wanted, but it seems that lately there is a shooting almost every day somewhere. And almost all of them are with legally obtained weapons. We even had a deputy solicitor here in Charleston who pulled a gun on a fellow driver (pointing at her while they were driving). He lost his job and his law license has been suspended.
But one thing I would like to point out. Every time one of these shootings happens, at Wendy's or a school or wherever, someone who is opposed to any type of gun control makes the observation that one armed person could stop the attack. Well, I differ. Especially since most of these people kill themselves, after a few minutes of shooting. I doubt any of them would be deterred by the thought or even the knowledge that someone in the room could have a gun and shoot them. These shootings are not the argument for less gun control that the "let everyone have a gun" crowd would like us to believe.
But one thing I would like to point out. Every time one of these shootings happens, at Wendy's or a school or wherever, someone who is opposed to any type of gun control makes the observation that one armed person could stop the attack. Well, I differ. Especially since most of these people kill themselves, after a few minutes of shooting. I doubt any of them would be deterred by the thought or even the knowledge that someone in the room could have a gun and shoot them. These shootings are not the argument for less gun control that the "let everyone have a gun" crowd would like us to believe.
So the Government is only spying on the bad guys?
"FBI Director Robert Mueller says an upcoming Justice Department report will show the bureau improperly used national security letters to obtain personal data on Americans during terror and spy investigations."
(click on the title for the whole story)
Yet we have been repeatedly told that the only people being investigated were people who had some kind of ties to terrorists. Who did they think they were fooling? Oh, right, the 20-30 percent of people who still think George W. Bush is a great president, the ones who are so frightened of the bad men in the turbans that they would vote for the devil himself if they thought he would keep them safe.
(click on the title for the whole story)
Yet we have been repeatedly told that the only people being investigated were people who had some kind of ties to terrorists. Who did they think they were fooling? Oh, right, the 20-30 percent of people who still think George W. Bush is a great president, the ones who are so frightened of the bad men in the turbans that they would vote for the devil himself if they thought he would keep them safe.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Education?
My son's science teacher is a Hillary Clinton supporter, and while I am happy she's a Democrat, I don't think she should bring it in the classroom. Whether it is politics or religion or even vegetables, should a teacher's personal preferences be part of the curriculum?
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Miscellaneous Musings
I babysat my 2 year old granddaughter last night. She is such a cutie, and I always enjoy spending time with any of my grandchildren. They are not all easy children, and they have not had easy lives. We seem to take life the hard way somehow, and yet we go forward. Except for my one poor son, who somehow lost his ability to hold on, but I think that was a temporary lapse, and if he hadn't had the ability to leave this world, he would have stayed and been okay. I have him on my mind often, and he has interrupted my sleep the last couple of nights. I wish I could relive that one day, and maybe a few others, and let him know how very much I love him.
New Responsibility
I have accepted a new responsibility. There is a rather informal group, centered around living liberally, that meets in different cities called drinking liberally. Our group here in Charleston has been rather quiet for a month or so, and in the need for regrouping I was asked if I would be interested in helping revive it and keep it going. I always have enjoyed hanging out and talking politics and life with this group, and so agreed to help. It mostly involves writing an email every week and going out to eat pizza and drink with like minded friends. If this sounds appealing, you should go the national website and look for a chapter near you. It's a great way to keep your spirits up, when you think there aren't any other liberals around.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Frightening Children
I got involved in a facebook discussion last night, and it was truly frightening. Of course, facebook is overpopulated with high school and college students, so that weighs into the naivete of the conversation that was happening. The original question posed that drew me in was whether the telecom companies should get retroactive immunity for cooperating with the warrantless surveillance of American citizen. Being the liberal that I am of course I answered no. They should be sued within an inch of their corporate solvency, as far as I am concerned. But I noticed that someone had started a thread that asserted that the "libs" answering no to the question had misread it. I started reading and ended up posting, and I realize I would never change the mind of the confused boy who started the thread, but I hoped I could at least make some of the other young people think about the issue. The reason I say it was frightening is because so many of the young people involved in the discussion were willing to give up their civil liberties at the whim of the president in order to be "safe", one even going as far as seeming to want the president to have total power. I hope they aren't representative of the next generation.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is a lovely man, and very funny. I didn't see this when it aired on his show, and I happened to see it today on youtube. I miss my own father terribly, and could relate to this and thought many others could also.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
$7 Million on January 18 for John Edwards
Click the Edwards for President link on my page and donate, we want to raise $7 million in one day for the Edwards campaign!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Grassroots for Edwards
Edwards supporters need to check out http://www.dailykos.com/ and http://crooksandliars.com/, you will find encouraging diaries there, to help you make your points with your friends. We need to do what in my childhood church was called holding each other up in prayer, whether you call it prayer or good thoughts or encouraging words. We need to tell each other about the good we find, the positive coverage we find, and as one commenter on CrooksandLiars said, we have to be the media for John because the mainstream media isn't going to do it. He is a true grassroots candidate now, because the corporations that run this country don't want people to hear his message. And the other two campaigns make calls and send out canvassers giving the impression that there are only candidates and that neither of them is John Edwards . Speak out! Write blogs, diaries, bulletins, post videos and comments on www.youtube.com , go to sites like dailykos, crooksandliars, www.huffingtonpost.com , www.truthout.org , http://ichoosejohn.com, http://itshouldntbethisway.blogspot.com/ , any others you can find or know of and spread the word among like minded people that the Edwards campaign is neither dead nor dying. Give what money you can at www.johnedwards.com. We have to do whatever it takes to get out the word. Go Edwards, our best hope for the future 2008!
Glucose for a diabetic?
If you are a diabetic and need an iv to get your meds, don't you think the staff should pay attention to what the medium is? And how long should your blood sugar readings be out of whack before someone realizes that there is glucose in your iv bag?
And if you were in the right hospital, and not the insurance company's choice of hospital, maybe this would have been a non-issue.
It is past time for this to all change. Let there be a single payer system,, so that nurses can nurses, doctors can doctor, and people can get the proper care.
And if you were in the right hospital, and not the insurance company's choice of hospital, maybe this would have been a non-issue.
It is past time for this to all change. Let there be a single payer system,, so that nurses can nurses, doctors can doctor, and people can get the proper care.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
New links
I am adding a couple of links to my page, and I wanted to post a message here to make you all aware of them.
John Edwards gets much less media coverage than the other candidates. It is absurd that he came in second in Iowa, beating Hillary Clinton, and the story on all the networks was still Obama/Clinton. So we need to let the networks know that their job is not to decide, but to report. (Unlike Fox, which although their motto is "we report, you decide", reports in such a way as to make the decision for you). So I have linked to FairMediaNow.com, a fellow blogspot poster.
Also, for people who have decided to vote for Edwards and for people who haven't, there is ichoosejohn.com, also a blogspot post, with comments to read and post.
Enjoy, but remember to vote in the primary for your state!!
John Edwards gets much less media coverage than the other candidates. It is absurd that he came in second in Iowa, beating Hillary Clinton, and the story on all the networks was still Obama/Clinton. So we need to let the networks know that their job is not to decide, but to report. (Unlike Fox, which although their motto is "we report, you decide", reports in such a way as to make the decision for you). So I have linked to FairMediaNow.com, a fellow blogspot poster.
Also, for people who have decided to vote for Edwards and for people who haven't, there is ichoosejohn.com, also a blogspot post, with comments to read and post.
Enjoy, but remember to vote in the primary for your state!!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
FOX ATTACKS! Obama Staffer
Fox non-news, where anchors introduce stories about flooding with laughter and hosts assault Presidential candidates staffers--who can believe anything "reported" on that network?
Friday, January 4, 2008
Another health care story
I wrote about my attorney with the back problem before. Today he got the okay for his back surgery, his diabetes is controlled enough for him to get the surgery. So now there is the issue of what hospital the insurance company will allow him to use (he can use any hospital he wants, obviously, as many will point out, but if he wants the insurance that he pays premiums on to pay, he has to let it choose). He was on hold for a nurse for about 20 minutes; then she said, no, the hospital your orthopaedist (who is in their "network" by the way) wants to use is not "preferred". So now he has to go to a hospital that isn't the one his doctor prefers, but the one the insurance company prefers.
When people criticize single payer universal health care they always want to say, "you won't be able to choose your doctor or hospital". Well, who has chosen my boss's doctor and hospital? Not the patient, not even the doctor, but the insurance company. When did they get to make these decisions for patients they haven't ever seen?
This has to change.
When people criticize single payer universal health care they always want to say, "you won't be able to choose your doctor or hospital". Well, who has chosen my boss's doctor and hospital? Not the patient, not even the doctor, but the insurance company. When did they get to make these decisions for patients they haven't ever seen?
This has to change.
Iowa
John Edwards came in second in the Iowa caucuses. That may sound bad, but I am so very excited, because he came in ahead of Hillary. He didn't come out incredibly far ahead of her, but it is still good. Yet the mainstream media is STILL talking as if it were an Obama/Hillary race, as if JRE isn't even part of the race, to a certain extent. I am so tired of that. He has spent much less than Clinton or Obama, and I hope people in New Hampshire listen to what he has to say. He has plans for everything, he has ideas to change the country. And i don't really want to hear this bipartisanship stuff, I am sick and tired of the majority of the Republicans in Congress who do nothing but block any progressive. It is time for change, for real progressive ideas to be executed,and by electing John Edwards as President, and maybe Obama as VP, and having a real majority in Congress, as I hope we will when all is said and done, we can get there.
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