healthcare tonight...

so tonight is the big night...well, sort of. it is the preamble to it, anyway. it is the vote that will decide whether or not the senate healthcare bill will make it to the floor for an official vote. it is also the night our congress will prove to us whether or not they actually represent us or not. if they did what we really wanted, this bill wouldn't even be up for discussion. but they have proved time and time again that they think we are ignorant and they are above having to be held to our standards. ooooh, i can't wait for midterm elections.

one of my favorite myths of our "terrible, overrated" healthcare system is that we rank 35th in the world in infant and child mortality. let me bring attention to something that black and white statistics can't account for: choice and compassion. american women have the amazing choice, not only of how many children they can have, but they also have the choice to have a child when they know full well that child may not make it very long. there are multiple birth defects that can be predicted before birth. in other countries (especially those with limits on # of children), those children would be aborted. in america, a mother has the choice to carry her sick child full term and hold them in her arms for however long that baby may have. so, yes, that may mess with the stats but which situation would you rather have.

also, in the same ny times article that cites the above stat, they talk about our subpar survival rate after surgeries like kidney transplants in middle aged to elderly men - coming in worse than canada with their socialized medicine. well, that's why. in canada, an older man would have to be in excellent health to get a kidney transplant (got to get the most out of those organs). not to mention the number of people that wouldn't survive the ridiculously long waiting periods that don't get factored in. i would be interested to see how many of the american casualties were people who got so sick in canada and got tired of waiting that they came to america for their surgery but it was just too late. that's what happens with health care rationing, people, and if you don't think it's going to happen to us you are choosing to remain ignorant.

these are extreme cases that healthcare proponents like to exploit, but let's talk about what will affect us more. day to day doctors visits, preventative care, early detection and basic tests. these are all things we will lose. you can't insure millions more people on the same staff that the country currently has AND have government making the decisions and expect things to get better. i am a testimony to this. last monday i was able to have a routine one day outpatient surgery that would allow david and i to move forward in starting a family. under this new healthcare bill, things like this will fall the wayside. that is just frivolous. and i would be forced to sit helpless - waiting to start a family, with possibly no hope of that procedure ever taking place.

this is all not to mention the government's plan to put private insurance out of business and punishing citizens with high fines and possible jail time for not falling in line. and if that isn't enough, they are willing to pay off those congressmen who aren't quite sure if they want to enslave our country like this. the government has yet to prove they can run anything efficiently so when are we going to WAKE UP and realize that we just let them do this?

go here to find your senators and tell them to vote NO tonight...and tell them that if this bill passes you will campaign for/vote against those who voted for the bill. that seems to be the only way to get through to these people.

fire rule #13...

now, this is the first post I've written on fire prevention/tips. but I listed this as #13 because it's not going to be the first thing they tell you. you know, stop drop and roll...meet at the mailbox...those usually are first.

well my dad was a fireman, a fire marshall and is now a fire chief. today he answered a fatality call that led him to share with us some info that after 25 years of ingrained teaching, I have never learned. today a 61 year old woman died because she went into the bathroom where there were bars on the windows and couldn't get out. so she got in the bathtub. apparently, this is common. people get in bathtubs and turn the water on but they don't know why. they've just heard you're suposed to. well, here's why:

keep in mind, this is a last resort. see hypothetical reasons 1-12 that you should do first. but if there is no other choice or you find yourself in a bathroom for some unknown reason, you should get in the bathtub. but not just to keep yourself from burning. when water comes out of the faucet, it also shoots out air. the air is what forces the water out. so you stick your nose or face under the water and breathe the air that is coming out of the faucet. now, don't inhale the water, but just postion your face so that the water runs off your nose.

because it doesn't matter if you're skin isn't burned if you die of smoke inhalation.

now, don't you feel smarter? your welcome.

remodelers...

so i am supposed to be blogging this experience. and i haven't been. but i promised i would start. liz and i are both currently unemployed and my mom has been wanting to do some work on her house for over a year now. so with these powers combined, it has turned into a project headed up by liz and me. it has been quite an experience so far and we are still very much in the beginning stages.

we spend a lot of time like this trying to figure out what the h*ll we are doing:

thankfully, liz is a designer so she knows a lot of this stuff. i'm really good for bouncing ideas off of, though.

and we have been doing some basic wallpaper tearing down, ceiling scraping, etc.

we are really just ready for demo to begin. like the real demo that involves sledgehammers and destruction. it will be good times. this little house deserves it. mom and dad deserve it.

glee, pt. 2...

sorry for the delay. it is seriously hard to find glee clips.

ok, so as far as the past 2 episodes go, they have been seriously stepping up their game. gah! it's so good.

but for episode 7, i have to say my favorite was quinn's "keep me hangin' on"

and then from this past week's episode, episode 8, "bust a move" was awesome but he would be fired for singing that and dancing like that with female students (because the rest of the show is so believable...) and "i could have danced all night" gets a major shout out for being from one of my favorite movies, but i think it was to be "the thong song." 1. i never thought i would hear that song again and 2. the princess di dress reference was hilarious.

the art of "nudging"...

cass sunstein, administrator of the white house office of information and regulatory affairs, is well known for his book nudge. the main idea of this book is that you don't have to fundamentally change people's everyday life to bring about change; you can just "nudge" them - whether it be by regulation or benefits - to do what you want them to do.

the importance of this lesson is that the government knows what it's doing. there seems to be a general feeling in america - that i believe is starting to wear off - that it can't happen to us. surely the fate of china and the soviet union are not what lie ahead for us...and geez, it sounds crazy typed out.

but in the past 10 months, we have seen the nationalization of a major automotive company (which also happens to be onstar's biggest client). we have seen the nationalization of banks. government money has gone out to major corporations and now the government is controlling their executives' pay. and while the deficit is growing exponentially due to increased spending over this past year, we are still supposed to believe this isn't a mess created by the current administration?

now, we are starting to see the "nudge" more than ever. one aspect depends very heavily on the health care bill. there is talk of raising premiums for patients who engage in "unhealthy" behaviors. well, one might think these are the typical smoking, drinking rates that apply to normal insurance. but the national institute of health is currently conducting a study on the health risks of gun ownership. you see, "gun related violence is a public health problem," according to NIH spokesman don ralbovsky (and by the way, those are millions of our tax dollars funding this study). so it would follow that if gun ownership is deemed an unhealthy behavior, it might make your insurance premiums go up. they would never want to take away your right to a firearm, but maybe they could just "nudge" you into getting rid of them. not to mention, it would make it more difficult to purchase one (as if it isn't already a pain).

then there is the latest case of fox news. after months of this administration's mockery of fox news and refusal to appear on any program, david axelrod and rahm emanuel came out with two almost identical statements saying essentially that fox news isn't "real news." they have a perspective and are out for profit. i was unaware anderson cooper was a volunteer. not only is this a slap in the face to fox, but it also serves as a stern warning for other news organizations to get in line. the subtlety here is that now, when fox news breaks a story (i.e. acorn, van jones, you name it...) it can be swept under the rug and put in the same category as tabloid fodder. fox news aired a clip of anita dunn citing mother theresa and mao tse tung as her favorite political philosophers. cnn didn't cover the story but aired her response that she was "just kidding" about claiming that the man who was responsible for the murder of 40 million people was one of the philosophers she "turned to most." seriously, watch this video. the only thing more disturbing than her words is whatever she's doing with her mouth. she's not kidding.

after weeks of rebuttals on the white house blog directly to his show, glenn beck installed a red phone for the white house to call and directly question anything he has gotten wrong. he has said he will gladly correct any mistakes on air. he has yet to get a phone call. however - and this is absolutely nauseating to me - during a live broadcast, the white house emailed msnbc to correct them on a story about the fox news debacle to which they promptly corrected themselves. josef stalin said "control the media. control the people."

last but not least, the iparticipate initiative. this idea of service to your country. it may seem like a great idea to help out the community. but like, all other aspects of our society and economy, these are best left to local means and movements. this idea of "service" we keep hearing about breeds - by nudging, of course - the mindset of loyalty to the state above all. read the words of a woman who lived through that world. if you don't believe me, then why are demi and ashton asking me to pledge allegiance to barack obama instead of "to the freedom on which [he] stands"?

so what now? i don't know. but i know it's not too late.

glee, pt. 1...

so, it's my new obsession (really, if it's not yours, what's wrong with you?) i have been hard core against high school musical and such nonesense, but this is a chance for us adults to geek out hard core. i love it. and david hates me for it.

so anyway, i think this is going to take the place of my old school so you think you can dance pick of the week. these will now be my favorite glee numbers. aren't you excited? (no? just me? ...it's cool)

ok, so here's this week's:

the boys' mashup of bon jovi's "it's my life" and usher's "confessions" (i don't know what's better: the singing, the dancing, the fact that they're all hopped up on decongestants...)



and since i'm starting this late in the game i will do a recap:

episode 1: "don't stop believin'" -no video :(
episode 2: "gold digger"
episode 3: "she bust the windows"
episode 4: "single ladies"
episode 5: "alone"

meet matthew gray gubler...

if you don't watch criminal minds, well, you should. anyway, i love matthew's character because he's a dweeby genius who knows the most random stuff (like, what i aspire to be).

anyway, i also love that he's in 500 days of summer and one thing led to another in my boredom the other day and i wound up watching all 5 episodes of his "unauthorized documentary" on youtube. basically, it's a farce of "hollywood behavior." here i will share with you episode 3 (beware: there is a little bit of inappropriate language so don't watch it in front of the kiddos).



you can watch the other 4 episodes here (if the spirit moves you). come to find out, he interned under wes anderson (jealous)! and also produced/directed one of my favorite music videos ever!