Disclaimer: Much as i would love to try and get over 50 comments again it's time for a change - vacation is officially over!
MENU OF THE DAY:
on iTunes: I have Genius turned on with a Wilco song and some more good stuff is playing. right now it's Ryan Adams - "To Be Young" - Next is Beck "Lost Cause".
Reading: OMG, the new Jonathan Tropper (NOT Hopper - thank you equeyaya!) book is amazing! "This is Where i Leave You" i love it as much as i loved "Book of Joe". I already finished the Richard Russo book.
Weather: last week was a heat wave over 100 degrees. This week it is 40 degrees cooler and feels like fall. Only 64 degrees!
(It does make it easier for me now that i'm back to work. (Island pearl, how are you doing in Hawaii with Felicia or Felicity or whatever the hell that hurricane is called.)
In my glass: (See photo) The label is actually better than the wine, which is obviously the reason i bought it. But it's not bad.
My most recent iTunes purchase: Don't laugh, but while getting my allergy shot last week and reading the only magazine they ever have in that waiting room - which is called "Outside" and is mostly aimed at extreme rock climber athlete types and likely gay men for all the good advertisements, there was an article by this one dude who said he just loved the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and it reminded me of how long it's been since i heard that song and how much i used to love it. So i bought it. It's one of those guilty pleasure purchases, like "Wichita Lineman" or "Rockafella Skank" by Fatboy Slim (which i purchased one night after my second glass of wine, only to find that it really really grew on me!)
I also bought "Famous Blue Raincoat", but not by Leonard Cohen. This version is by some chick Kate Buckhaven or something like that.
(I am thinking that quotations and italics are being a little bit redundant, so i will from here on out, forego the quotations on titles of stuff and leave off the italics on actual quotes. There is too much formatting in blogging already! )
Quotes: Here's some stuff i came across in one of my many journals of stuff i've read in books:
"We love to buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them." - the late Warren Zevon quoting Schoppenhauer. (written out 9-13-03)
"I don't try to do the right thing on purpose." - my husband, Brian (written out 9-5-03)
(speaking of Russo:) "She looked like the kind of woman who had spent her whole life waiting in line." - from his book Mohawk. (Isn't this a great description and can't you just picture her?)
Here's one of my favorites:
"If she learned nothing else over the past two years, she had absorbed one painful lesson: There is no such thing as safety, there is only strength." - from the book Folly, by Laurie R. King.
I'm not adding any random thoughts today, just the Menu.
What's on your Menu?
56 comments:
it just occurred to me that i am stuck in a rut when it comes to taking pictures for my blog!
think of it more as a trademark : )
I love Weapons of Choice and have now added Rockafella Skank. Thanks a LOT.
Not all that concerned about F. quite yet...will watc the weather tonite to decide whether to lockdown the outdoor furniture and deploy the windscreens on the lanai. Fingers crossed!
Weird weird weird occurence this AM...got an email from my 1st ex. Damn Classmates.com!! Haven't heard from/of him in, like, 33 years. Oh well. Can't escape your past...as they say. And actually, who I am today is the sum total of how I have reacted to the events/influences of my past. So who's to say it isn't all good, right? All that really matters is where I'm at (spiritually and physically) today.
If you like Gregorian chant, try Tallis Scholars (a tip I got from Dave Matthews.)
I'm with MH -- the wine's a nice signature!
Oh...and tonight we saw Hurt Locker. V. Intense and a remarkable 'war' movie by a woman. Excellent character study, and makes you want to grab the next person you see in chamis and give em a tearful huge hug.
After, we went to Uncles for dinner. It's a, for lack of a better word, fish house. At Pier 35, there's limited table service but the freshest fish imaginable, well perpared. And great, live Hawaiian music completing the atmospere. Because of where it is located, is still a "local" treasure, but I'd take you there in a dirt road minute, if Brian could get you sufficiently sedated to fly across the big blue.
Gaws I wish this thing had spell check. Would that be so hard?
See what I mean...that's gawD. D. Dammit
i like weapons of choise but rockefellar skank just reminds me of shes all that when they all dance a routine at the dance.
when did people ever break out in a dance routine so choreographed at dances? other than the electric or chacha slide?!
I like the label signature, too! I showed it to my trainer this morning when we were at the horse show and I peeked in from my IPHONE! LOL!
But I like when you have other photos in addition.
My menu:
on iTunes: I have Genius turned on with Teddy Thompson's "Separate Ways." After that is Greg Laswell's "And Then You" and then Ryan Adams' "If I am A Stranger," and then "I Dug Up A Diamond" with Mark Knopfler and EmmyLou Harris. 11 of the 25 genius songs are from the illustrious jopod!
Reading: Don't you mean Jonathan Tropper?! Can't wait to get my hands on that one. I bought the last copy of the new Russo book yesterday at Target, but I'm saving it for vacation. Right now I'm trying to get into "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. Pretty science fiction-y for me, but I think I'll like it once I get further in.
Weather: Rainy today, and humid. We had a horse show and it was fun watching Mel and Sally gallop around the jumps in a downpour. We had a thunderstorm a little while ago (thankfully not while we were at the show), and now the sun is out. Hope you dodge the hurricane, pearl!
In my glass: just H2O for now. I stopped at the discount liquors place in New Jersey after the horse show and got a 1.75 liter of louielouie's Hendricks gin, on sale for $55 - is that a good price? I picked up a few bottles of wine, too. We're going to have a martini later.
My most recent iTunes purchase: I like "Edmund Fitzgerald" too. When we were in Michigan I bought a print of that ship on Lake Superior where she sank. We have it framed in our family room with a lighthouse print and a silhouette photo I took of a sailing ship from that same trip.
I still haven't bought any itunes for a long time. I can never seem to justify the expense! I have stuff sitting in my shopping cart from Paolo Nutini, Pete Yorn, Death Cab, Mat Kearney, Radiohead, Van Morrison, Rob Thomas, Dave Matthews, The Hold Steady, and A Fine Frenzy.
Melanie has new CDs in the Durango by Our Lady Peace (she's going to their concert next week), and a new "old" CD of Something Corporate. And I've been enjoying them.
Quotes: I love that you write that stuff down in journals. Here are a couple favorites of mine:
"pennies on paper!" ~Melanie, age 18 months, caught going through my wallet, she said this while holding up a fistful of dollar bills.
"but it's never tomorrow!" ~Grace, age 3, when I told her about something we would do "tomorrow."
OHHHH how sweet, eque, your girls' quotes! I just read them to Brian who is in the other room and can just picture Grace as a toddler saying "But it's never tomorrow!" which exactly sums up what it's like to be a kid.
I will be done with the Tropper (thanks for the correction! How did i do that? I only had a little bit wine last night too!) - he definitely writes honestly from a guy's perspective, which i why i like reading him so much. It's the closest thing to being in a man's brain. It does follow his usual formula of including a charming slacker 30-something brother/nephew/friend character, but the book still feels fresh. They are making a movie of it and already i picture Susan Sarandon as the mother.
I bought Pete Yorn's "Don't Wanna Cry" song.
pearl, what are you going to do about the ex? Did you respond? I hope things are standing still for you over there with Felice.
Modern Hippie, that dance is the BEST thing about that movie "She's All That". I must have YouTubed that a half dozen times. I just love watching it.
Watching the weather; giving ex email a couple of days before providing a polite courtesy response. Haven't heard from him in something like 33 years and haven't missed him a bit.
I've got a question: Why is civil disobedience by rowdy liberals celebrated as a just exercise of free speech, while similar activities by rowdy conservatives viewed as such a threat? Are people just that stunned that conservatives are actually capable of public to-dos? It's a puzzlement...
pearl, What am i missing? I'm not sure what current story you're referring to in regards to civil disobedience since I've not watched much news other than what i read when i open Comcast.
i view rowdy liberals and rowdy conservatives pretty much the same way. To be avoided. And i don't think one party is more guilty than other other in their obedience.
I think when talking about extremes it seems that with the conservatives some of the stuff like "The Birthers" who insist Obama is not born in the U.S. just come across as idiots because their argument there has no merit but yet they continue to believe he is not eligible, no matter what proof is put in front of them.
And the extreme liberals, the bleeding hearts,(trying to think of a current example, but can't come up with one) come across more as self righteous asses,overly dramatic with their emotions, but their views are not necessarily made up up falsehoods, but more of a extreme emotional response that others just don't share. And so maybe their passion gives them what they think is an excuse to act up, because you can't exactly take someone's feeling away from them about why they feel it's terrible that Indians kill whales or people cut down trees when there is a spotted owl living in it, etc.
I have no idea if i am making sense. I am not an extreme liberal by any stretch, but i am not even THAT liberal. I may not be a total fan of Keith Olberman, nor do i even watch him that much, but i am definitely in agreement with the Rushes, Ann Coulters and Bill O'Reillys either.
Where is the FREAKING EDIT BUTTON? of course i meant i am NOT NOT NOT NOT in agreement with Rush, Ann, and Bill. (where is the bold feature when i need it too!)
I know what you mean...I can't stand any of them. The birthers are totally jerking my chain. These "discussions" around the healthcare legislations are crucial, and every time one of these wingnuts starts shouting the birther anthem it totally sucks the credibility out of anything that went before...or comes after, for that matter.
What I was hearing was on one of the Sunday AM talking head panel shows. Don't know which one...I was in the other room and could just hear it.
I can understand the level of frustration, though. This administration has been ramrodding legislation through with $$ trillions+ price tags and NO meaningful discussion since the inauguration. That ridiculous cash/clunker program reboot is just a minor example.
And now they're not only messing with my savings...they're playing with my health.
I've had insurance companies levy decisions on what I could or could not have in the way of treatment (or what they would or would not pay) that I've challenged off and on for years. I just fought them...and generally have won so far.
Once the feds take that over, I won't have a prayer. You can't fight...or sue...the federal government. And they will quite literally have my (and your) life in their hands. Their profoundly incompetent hands.
I can't shake the concern I have that this is the same government that has made such a mess of medicare, social security and the VA over the years. And they think they might get it right this time? Sorry...not when my health's at stake.
It's a good thinkg I'm not on Gumbo any more. I can just imagine how the cheering section is going. Wonder if there is any voice of conscience left over there?
"She looked like the kind of woman who had spent her whole life waiting in line."
i originally thought it said she had never spent her life waiting in line and i was SO confused, I couldnt picture what she would like! cause i always picture busy women in pencil skirts waiting in line, mothers waiting in line, i mean what, shes a bum because she doesnt listen to society? haha
although i think i picture her something like elaine from seinfeld, curly hair, but with blue jeans a white shirt and she looks tired. am i close? haha
i picture the woman who looked like she had spent her whole life waiting in line like this:
1. She has a dull expression on her face and looks like she is not often surprised or ever expects kindness from anyone, even her family.
2. She is wearing clothes that don't fit her - likely too big and they are colors like a drab brown or gray.
3. She had a lousy hair style and probably cuts her own hair.
4. her shoes are sensible and she only owns about three pairs and they too are sensible.
5. she had never worn a push up bra.
6. She is near sighted and is still wearing the same oversized eyeframes from the 1980's.
7. She has never had a pedicure.
8. She can't remember the last time anyone said something nice to her.
9. She's very tired even though she doesn't do very much.
i picture her that way too!! minus the glasses but very thin. well not overweight. someone who looks like she would be gorgeous if she had a makeover...
and her hair is parted down the middle.
Yes!....and here are the last songs she bought off of iTunes:
1. Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne".
2. Barry Manilow's "Mandy".
3. Michael Jackson's "Ben".
4. The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby"
and these are the last Netflix movies she rented:
1. "10 Things I hate About You"
2. Any Sandra Bullock movie
3. The Notebook.
And here are the last few books she bought from Amazon:
1. The Notebook.
2. Anything by Danielle Steele
3. The latest Jodi Picoult
4. Catcher in the Rye (she's been meaning to re-read it for a long time.)
See the thing that is so great about Richard Russo is that with one sentence he described someone that made me think of these things. If i tried to write a novel to do what he does it would be 3,000 pages long because i would need that many words to describe what i mean. This is what makes Russo my favorite author!
"She looked like the kind of woman who had spent her whole life waiting in line"
Who else has a description of what they think this Russo character is all about?
oh yeah, and her hair WAS parted in the middle but held back with two mismatched cheap barrettes. One of them was rusted.
Haven't read any Russo, so no frame of reference.
But my interpretation of the phrase would not be such a total loser. Just some one who has never been noticed. Not because there's nothing to BE noticed but because she's never had the courage to put it out there. She just waits. Generations of us have been raised to just wait.
Kind of like Susan Boyle until she took the risk and auditioned for that TV show.
******** OR -- Just maybe...***********
She was standing there with her well worn, multi-pocket Coach bucket bag with a 120-gig iPod loaded with her favorite tunes, TV shows and a good movie or two, a camera to catch who knows what (or who) might cross the path, a really good paperback, a bottle of water and is wearing a nice outfit with great and comfy shoes.
She's clearly waited in line many times before and embraces it as an opportunity to not have any further demands on her than to simply wait in that line.
Kind of like me standing around for 2.5 hours at a totally fruitless casting call.
I can't remember the character now that Russo was describing, but I actually don't picture her as a loser - i think she is a good person, (maybe a bit of a hopeless romantic), who has denied herself good things.
*gasp* jojo!!! How on earth have i been missing you?! I'm so happy to have your musings back in my life again :)
~Aimee (determined2fly/LilAngel)
Wow, D2F/Lil Angel! Hey girl.... I hope life is being good to you! Nice to see you here. Welcome!
-I think my wife Jo Jo makes very good and interesting photographs. (is 'good' and 'interesting' redundant?)
-The woman waiting in line quote makes me think of the child who gave up and decided its best to behave.
-Susan Boyle is Cinderella except she looks a little more like Shrek's girlfriend.
-One of the most memorable quotes I read was on a huge button this fat guy had on his coat. It said..."I'M NOT DEAD!"
Which reminds me from a favorite moment in "Spamalot" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ5uAs5A46w&feature=related
Hi Aimee and Brian!!
Y'all wrote great descriptions, but I think that woman is me! LOL!
I'm not dead yet! ....spamalot. lol.
Baybee, you can never be redundant enough when giving your good and interesting wife compliments over and over.
she's not you, eque. ;)
i picture the lady as a mom who is tired. ohhh ohh i have the best quotes from this one book called 'too late' by mark spitz its this jewish guy who made a hit rock and roll song and is trying to make it again as a rock'n'roller
he had this one quote it was about calling himself a rock'n'roll legend and he said "well i never say that about myself, you could, but i dont, and i would apperciate it sometimes you did" i loved it. that book has a ton of great quotes. i have them all written down in my "quote notebook"
ill share them with you when i get home.
actually i just made a decision, im going to make a quotes blog and post my favorite quotes from movies, books and life and i'll do a weekly post. : )
i have an entire notebook filled with pages, whenever i watch a movie i pull out my notebook and doodle with it so that i can write down all the fabulous quotes, youd be surprised how awesome things sound when they are out of context. makes for great facebook status'
I'm still coming off a high from meeting NeNe from Real Housewives of Atlanta. While she was as nice as should could be (much nicer than Delta Burke was when I met her) I loved standing in line. Met so many cool people and we were just laughing about the shows the whole time.
I have no quotes..that's Furline's job. Of course people quote not vice versa.
I'm way to wrapped up in the Health Care Debate to see straight. People at work keep repeating what they hear from Glenn Beck or Bill O and do not research the rumors. It drives me crazy. My company is officially against it. I'm sure it is has to do with what they get can deduct and what they'll be hit for in taxes if it passes. All I know is hospitals are not buying new equipment till a decision is made and business is down.
Ok, I'm having a hot flash..time to turn on the fans and get ready for bed. I just love this forum..
JoJo...you and Pearl should start your own board....I'd post on it.
well, i'm getting out of line and forging my own path. :D
i wanted to share another quote! it goes in line with the "she looked like she spent her whole life waiting in line"
"shes the kind of girl you have to look over twice. the first time in admiration, the next in disbelief." its from 'too much too late' that same rock'n'roll book with the other quote i posted eariler.
and i did just make a quote blog i think it will be better when it gets off cause right now theres a LOT posted it will be nicer when its 4-5 posted at once, but i selected only the best ones so go take a look! :) 'because they said it better' is the name of the blog.
My biggest problem with the whole "health care" thing is the demonization of insurance cos when the problem is way bigger than that. And of course the double-speak.
I don't trust this administration with my health any more than I'd trust any other. And it irritates me that rather than listen to the other POV, they blow it off as "astroturf." It's all part of that "if they don't agree with me it's because they're just stupid" frame of reference.
I hope they all remember this come Nov 2010. I will.
Off to look at MH's new blog...
Just got back from the beach today and have my new Russo book here waiting for me. Im worried it isnt that good since jojo hasnt commented on it but maybe that's so she wont spoil it for me lol. It's definately smaller than 'Bridge of Sighs'.
That quote makes me want to go find it in my 'Mohawk' book!!
p.s. I love the idea of a movie and book quote blog or journal.
Re: health care. I already know i have not been following the news enough to debate this with anyone. But what i don't understand is the vehemence at these Town Hall meetings. What are Americans afraid of and why are they being so selfish? We NEED reform. We've been talking about it for freaking years and years.
What are we afraid of? That insurance companies might have to lower their prices because the government plan will look better to Americans and will leave them? that insurance companies might have to become more competitive with their health care premiums???
I do not believe for one minutes that Obama is out to kill anybody's grandma or destroy health insurance companies. But i do love that he might be trying to find a way for my niece Kylee/Modern Hippie or my brother Troy to never be denied health insurance because of their pre-existing conditions.
Ok, changing the subject. Grits, i really liked the Cape Cod Russo book. I did not love it as much as the Empire Falls or Nobody's Fool, but i liked it alot and read it quickly. It is easier to read than Bridge of Sighs, i think because it started out as a short story. I love how the main character, the husband, is so introspective. It makes me feel Russo writes himself into the story and it makes me want to know him in real life and i would love to knock back chardonnays with him.
Kylee, i love your quote blog! so cool with all the pictures! Girl, are you sure you're getting your homework done?????
Neither do I have enough knowlege to debate the health care system.
I just know my own problems, past & present. When I was pregant we had insurance that allowed 3 doctor visits a year. It took several years to pay off medical bills after I had an uncomplicated pregnancy and the brief stay in hospital during childbirth.
We decided to get our own insurance outside of work (Blue Cross) and my husband was denied because of high cholesterol. Even so, the premiums were so high we had to let it go and go back to work insurance, with deductibles so high, it hardly seems like coverage at all.
you know. I am probably one of those few people who could debate health care so well just on personal experience, but i never do because I think it sounds like I'm asking for pitty or im just telling my sob story, I never use my "situation" in that tacky way. it pissed me off when people would get up during the campaign and tell some sob story and half the time i wanted to yell back "you think you had it bad? i dont think so! get off your soap box!" someone, somewhere always has it worse. (i used to get pissed when people complained about a cold, ive now gotten over that haha)
but the bottom line is that we do need change in our healthcare system, in MANY ways. the bottom line is that its going to take awhile the bottom line is that Obama is trying to make that happen, his goal is for no one to have to pay to keep them selves alive, no one should go into debt to stay healthy and no one should be denied, their life, (Essentially) because they were originally sick. where is the fault in this? I voted for Obama for many reasons and i remember exactly why i voted the way i did in 2008 and it was for healthcare specifically : )
i have complete faith in him. the end.
haha and yes Jo i am getting my hmwrk done! this stuff takes me no time at all. i always send my boss proposals for stuff and he thinks it took me hours and it only took me a couple minutes : )
i took the typing test. 75 wpm!! wooweee!! haha
you're right of course,Kylee. I forgot how fast you type and how fast your mind works! LOL. Here's what i think about the health care debate. I think we need to listen more to you Kylee and Grits and those who have struggled with health care coverage, more than those of us who have had it all our working careers and take it for granted all the years we had it and are now freaking out because we believe that by allowing you both in (et al) that we may be giving up something ourselves.
America, right? We look out for everyone.
If i sound stupid it's cause I just finished my third glass of Friday's viognier.
yes thank you Jo! we are supposed to be united as one and yet everyone freaks out about wanting to help others, the main difference between the two parties, but whats silly is these arent even "handouts" the people that are the most against it are people who have never had major healthcare/insurance issues, they dont understand what its really about.
and on top of it all. i'd like to mention, that it sucks when your lying in a hospital bed and the one thing youre worried about, is the bill. it shouldnt be that way.
i think you sound brillant.
I think that I've had enough life experiences to "earn" my right to comment, too.
Should everyone have the care they need? Sure. Sounds terrific. I have a couple of pre-existing conditions myself. But what you cannot avoid is the simple matter that it won't be - can't be - free. At some point someone is going to have to pay for it. And to believe that only the "wealthy" will need bear the burden is at best hopelessly naive.
The administration is spinning the cost of this whole thing so hard the wheels will come off sooner rather than later. And if you dig hard enough for those golden eggs, you will kill the geese.
The debate has shifted from where it needs to be -- the perpetually escalating cost of care -- to just simply pounding on the pass-through mechanism: insurance companies.
Makes it pretty obvious to anyone looking at this at all objectively that the end game is simple governmental control of yet another aspect of our lives.
And there is no having a rational discussion on an emotional issue.
It is more than slightly ironic that the people decrying the protests are the same people that applauded and defended (and participated in?) similarly vociferous demonstrations during the previous administration against its policies.
Double standard, much?
If I sound cranky it's because I haven't had my first glass of Friday wine. Or maybe that mango daquiri.
Okay -- a couple glasses of wine and a killer new salmon dish (rub with coarse ground mustard, a grind or two of black pepper, then wrap each filet with a strip of bacon and broil 3 minutes a side -- YUMM) and my blood sugar has righted itself. I'm saving the mango daquiri for Sat/Sun lazy afternoon.
It is not my intention to upset or irritate or insult anyone.
Something clearly needs to be done as respects healthcare. But I can't believe that turning it over to the government is the right answer. Ask yourself this: would you have wanted a Bush appointee deciding whether you got treated or not? Obama has 2 terms -- max. Unless rewriting the constitution is on his agenda...
It terrifies me to see people blindly backing every single thing the president does because they've ascribed this messianic status to the man.
He's just a man. And worse...he's the consummate politician. That alone should trigger some doubt.
Question. Probe. Challenge. Please?
That's all.
I haven't studied this issue. I have a friend who is a doctor, no longer practicing and now working for an insurance company. She is very conservative, and very worried about the health care issue. She has also said that outcomes are statistically better in countries with socialized medicine. I think what she is acknowledging is there is probably a better way, but she is very concerned about the direction this particular legislation is taking. And she hates Obama. So I try to avoid debating with her because sometimes she scares me a little.
I don't count myself as one of those having ascribed "messianic status" to Obama. But I do trust him a hell of a lot more than I trusted Bush. I hope that we find a solution that:
1. doesn't further escalate our deficit.
2. balances keeping what's working well with fixing what's not
Now I'm off to my morning walk and ride!
That's what I love about yall - I learn something from each and every one of you!
and Kylee, you never fail to strike me as very very bright, intelligent and intuitive. Ive often wondered about all you recently went thru with your medical issues (nightmares!)but since you dont talk about it, I never want to pry. But if you decide to talk more about it, I for one, would listen and gratefully learn from you.
this is what resonates with me :
Kylee says:
"and on top of it all. i'd like to mention, that it sucks when your lying in a hospital bed and the one thing youre worried about, is the bill. it shouldnt be that way".
eque says:
"I don't count myself as one of those having ascribed "messianic status" to Obama. But I do trust him a hell of a lot more than I trusted Bush. I hope that we find a solution that"
(Oh yeah and also that part where Kylee says i sound brilliant!)
and pearl your salmon sounds wonderful and i don't even like salmon. And yeah you did sound cranky in the first post. (But you know i'm okay with that.)
I don't believe any of here thinks everything Obama does is 100% perfect and can do no wrong...we just think he's way way better than Bush/Cheney. I just don't believe he is wrong here....and yeah, maybe we trust him alittle more than we should right now because we're just do damned happy we aren't living in those other years anymore.
I don't base my belief and trust in Obama all on my own emotional response, i take into consideration what some journalists i respect say (and i'm not just talking about Rachel Maddow or Keith Olberman).
David Gergen (who i really like alot - you know the CNN guy) says this:
"I've been most impressed over the past six months by the degree of passionate and serious commitment Obama has to social change. It's not just rhetoric - he's actually trying to follow through. He has also established that those who said he was not prepared and not up to the job were wrong. He's now the most respected political figure in the world, according to some international surveys. When you compare all tht to the recent past in our politics, this is a significant leap forward."
Paul Krugman (who won the Nobel prize last year for Economics) says: "It's funny - my reaction is that i'm extremely impressed by a lot of stuff Obama is doing, even on the fronts where I'm complaining."
Krugman says this on the health care issue: "Part of the problem is the other party. Last week I saw John Boehner, GOP Minority leader, compain that Republicans are game to play a role in the health care discussion. He really wants to be part of it, on certain conditions - there must be no discussion of an individual mandate and no increase in goverment spending. In other words, he wants to play a role on health care reform as long as no actual health care reform be considered. I rag on Obama to be tougher, but my biggest disappointment is that one of the nation's two great political parties has been completely, completely unhelpful. The party that ran the country for the past 8 years has just basically dug in on the belief that if they're sufficiently negative, Obama's going to go away."
Well, my sister has no insurance. Her boss dropped it and because she is 62 with pre-existing conditions she is out of luck. So for the past 5 years and for the next three she just hopes she doesn't need to go into the hospital for any length of time.
My hairdresser pays 1200 a month for insurance. Her son was born with a heart murmur..her husband is self-employed.
Free is not what is being requested: affordable is.
and to add to another resonating quote:
susieatl says:
"Free is not what is being requested: affordable is".
I'm all for affordable. But the bills on the table aren't doing anything meaningful to reduce costs. They're just shifting them.
I'm stunned when I hear speeches pointing to the 'success' of medicare and social security -- programs nearing bankruptcy at the moment.
"We HAVE to do something NOW!" is the same battle cry that led us into Viet Nam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Twice. And this is a minefield we are charging blindly into as well.
I wish the conservatives weren't being such asses about it (and the media wasn't focusing all its attention on the most ass-est of them).
What I'd like to see is some coalition building and thoughtful crafting of a workable solution.
I thought that was supposed to be Obama's forte - bringing people together to solve problems. Not just bringing his own party together to cram their idea of what's best down everyones throat.
The history on this issue has been cluttered with the same tired argument over and over:
"This is the only way!"
"We don't like your way!"
"Tough. That's the way it is."
"Okay. Then we won't do it at all!"
Real productive...and it takes both sides stonewalling to stop the progress. If there was some movement toward a real conversation...real collaboration...from either side, we might actually come away with a workable plan.
I still believe that there's a way to do it so it might actually work, Including --
* Throttle back on punitive damage awards and frivilous malpractice suits, so that docs/hospitals/researchers don't have that sword dangling overhead forcing them to practice expensive defensive medicine. Plus, it would reduce the frictional cost of all that legal rumpus that's currently built into the system.
* Focus on preventive maintenance. Starting with early childhood, but staying strong through adulthood and into the senior years.
* And, for the subsidies to work, everyone MUST subscribe. Everyone must pay in - according to their ability to contribute, perhaps - but everyone needs to have some skin in the game.
I hate that people have to go without needed treatment because they don't have the means to pay, whether it's the doctor bills or the insurance premiums.
I also hate knowing that a goodly share of what I pay in premium now provides care to people who don't really need it at all. They're hypochondriacs in it just for the attention they get and it costs the rest of us a bundle.
You know they are out there. You know at least a few of them. And they will be milking whatever system is contrived going forward.
It's a sticky problem with no easy fix. But that doesn't mean that it's hopeless. It just requires...gulp...compromise.
Pearl, I agree. Compromise on both sides. I would love to see calm heads get together and hash this out.
i would never want free healthcare, it would be crappy healthcare and there would be people abusing it, a lot of homeless people need medical attention and there are a lot of exceptions but you'd be surprised how many people are homeless by choice, now this is based on seattle but we studied it in a psychology class where the majorty prefer the streets to a life that conforms to society, so if thats the case i dont want to offer them healthcare that is for society. you need to be apart of society and you need to somehow pay into the system whether its money or not.
right now, everything is still on the table, i look at it closely with work; we were just bought out by a new company and they want to make a lot of changes and there are alot of meetings and alot of new ideas that may have the "stamp of approval" but it ends up changing again before they actually put it in action. until all is in action we cant panic to much.
i dont blind back obama, i dontcreate a stance fon anything that happens with him until i research it but my feelings for obama are based on morals; gay rights, abortion, religion, health care, the list goes on and on and i believe we feel the same morally about these issues i might have more passion for it but generally the same so i dont worry about what he might do and i have faith, confidence, respect and hope for him, almost more than any other person i know.
Grits, Oh i certainly dont mind talking about it I just don't like to use my "story" as a political advantage or edge i think it sounds tacky when people do the poor-me storys, its a very long story so i wont post it on here but maybe i will finally right that healthcare piece for OFA and i'll post the link for everyone. its definitley an interesting story and a little bit of a rollercoaster, and of course Jo was a great secretary during it all taking notes whenever the doctors came in, i always remember her legal pad with "ITS NOT CANCER :)" written on the top. haha.
im not religious but can i get an AMEN to susieatl "free is not what is being requested. affordable is." haha
the battlecry for healthcare is a little different than a battlecry for war though, dont you think? i mean rushing into a war costs lives and unplanned strategies. rushing into a new healthcare plan, if it is considered rushing. whats the worst that could happen. because really how can it get any worse?
i dont think we need to specifically have people from the republican party and specifically people from the democrat party. we just need broad minds. its like getting your miniority race for a college, you'll grab anyone just so you can say "we have 32% hispanic." but it shouldnt be a "members only" "democrats only" thing it should be the top people in our nation helping to figure out whats best.
but totally agree. everyone needs to pay in. and the big fight is to make sure that everyone can get treated regardless of money.
its horrible that health and your life is based on money. rich people get to live longer cause they can afford it? when did our lives come with a price tag?
susieatl, is there such thing as "calm heads hashing it out" when it comes to democrats and republicans? haha
Jo! you hit 50 comments!! does that bring your blog up a status level? platinum? haha
Kylee, YOU are platinum! You give me hope in the future of our country!
Kylee, i wish you could have been on Gumbo YaYa! I am so proud to be your aunt!
(Do you still have those notes from the hospital? I remember writing that on top, in big letters. I also remember holding my breath when the doctor came in. I think all of us were.)
aw thanks guys!
you know what, i bet mom does. in that GIGANTIC folder haha, did you know she sat down and started reading the hospital transcripts the other day?! haha i was like "whyy?!" it must have been when dad was out of town and she was bored with no one to talk to. she probably couldn figure out how to turn on the tv hahaha.
i still have all my cards and notes that i got though, i thought it was cool that i had a whole cabinet full of pictures, tom's kids i think claire and connor made me like 3 pictures haha they brought one everytime they came.
you know i surprisingly have some good memories from the hospital haha, i mean the food was great! hahaha i dont know what people go on about hospital food. anyone reading, i am serious, i loved the hospital food! it was amazing. haha.
i remember when i tried to get ash some sleeping pills, i still dont get why it was such a silly question to ask "can my sister have some sleeping pills too, please?" hahaha
i remember you were in the hospital when Obama won the Iowa caucus and who it seemed like it might really happen that Obama had a chance.
i brought in the Obama bumper sticker that day and taped it to the end of your hospital bed, only someone stole it or ripped it off because it was gone the next day!
ohh i remember that!! i think it just fell off the bed and the cleaning lady swept it up, i mean i was always in the bed i would have noticed i dont think they were ever in there when i was sleeping
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