aspirations

Heatlh Care action meeting June 6th

Sally T. — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:08:49 EDT

We had 16 attendees, from our county, Kendall, and two other counties, Kerr and Bexar. We discussed the current health care system and took a head count of those who have private health insurance. There were 3 who had private health insurance. The others are covered by Tricare for Life, Medicare and a federal retiree program. Those were not subject to health insurance programs (employer based, non Medicare), were very concerned that their family members did not have insurance, as well as the fact that a large number of local families, who are not retirees, are uninsured. The overwhelming thought was that we need SINGLE PAYER healthcare, covering everyone.

Obviously we saw the benefits of single payer health care as a way to decrease national cost, cover everyone in the nation, and make our nation more competitive with most of the cilvilzed world, where their populations are covered by national health care.

In addition, we discussed the myth of "socialized medicine" and discussed the benefits of healthcare in other countries, as we were fortunate to have attendees who were originally from other nations and could speak to their health care experiences. In addition, our foreign diplomats (retired) also spoke on their experiences.

We decided to have an event that would hopefully include local Republican health care providers who have seen the difficulties billing for health care reimbursement (ethically speaking) and others that are single payer advocates. We are to seek out the single payer advocates, inviite them to speak June 27th, and invite the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center for blood donations, and teh American Red Cross to discuss CPR/AED. We are not sure if we can accomplish this, but we will try to do so.

Why not Rev. Jim Wallis for the inauguration?

Sally T. — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:32:10 EST

We have worked our fannies off to go to the inauguration, the first time in 36 years of marriage that we have done something this spur of the moment, and then find that Rev. Warren will give the invocation? That's not making us very happy. I don't like the evangelicals in my own family and then this?

Why not Rev. Jim Wallis or the Rector of Riverside Church? Oh I am not happy.

Yes we DID!

Sally T. — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:59:10 EST

I woke this morning to a beautiful Tx Hill Country fall day, the leaves have just turned orange on our native plum tree and the red was starting on the top of our big tooth maple tree, and Obama is now the President-elect, what more could anyone ask for?

Sen. Harry Reid, Daniel Akaka and Carl Levin

Sally T. — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:19:00 EDT

Placido sent me this email, and I am sharing with as many people as possible. Please consider writing, calling or emailing Senators Harry Reid, Daniel Akaka and Carl Levin and stressing the importance and the need for a South Texas VA hospital. It is entirely too much to expect veterans to come all the way to San Antonio from way south Texas.

Thanks,

Sally Tarasoff (USAR veteran)

Meet Audassity, our float mascot!

Sally T. — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:23:37 EDT

Kendall County Democrats will have a huge float in the Labor Day Parade in Boerne, Texas on Aug. 28th. The parade is at 10 am down Main St. in Boerne. Ya'll come by!

The donkey's name is -- Audassity.

Racism? Pulling the race card? I think NOT.

Sally T. — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:16:44 EDT

Give me a break. Puhleez. Grampy McCain, et al, just get over it. Grampy mentioned the dollar bill images in June, but now it's news? Well, how else does Grampy get in the news cycle, I guess. The whole thing is just total crap brought to us by the media, who hype stuff that is meaningless in order to get us to watch their sad, pathetic 24-7 so-called news. When most of the people at Obama rallys are WHITE people, how the heck can you even speak of racism and make it believable? Oh, duh, Americans can be so gullible, after all if you say it often enough, you can make it seem true...ask George Bush and Co. They catapulted the propaganda and lied to us enough than many believed Saddam caused 9/11. See, how stupid we are? So now will we fall for that kind of BS and believe Obama is pulling the race card? Only if we are stupid. I am sick of this crap and sick of the lies.

All the baloney in the latest news cycle brings me back to a post on another blog that I have about bento boxes. I am proud that my family encompasses three (or more) racial/ethic groups. We are quintessentially what makes up the fabric of our nation, a veritable tapestry of humanity, with many ideas, many foods, many traditions, all of which help make our country a better place -- and can do so, if we just stop bickering about our differences and instead embrace and enjoy our differences. And how do we start? FOOD. Food is what brings us together, we like food, and we like ethnic food. So if the food is so good, what is the matter with the people??? Huh???? Tell me that one. Oh...they don't look like you. Well, get over it and try to meet people that don't look like you. This might come as a shock to you, but most people in the world really just want to have a family and raise their family in peace, and with love. Doesn't matter where they come from or what their religion, etc. They just want to raise good kids. So, take a step up to the plate and as you embrace that Mexican, Cuban, Thai, Chinese, and Soul food that tastes so good, go meet the people from that country and thank them for their style of cooking that you love so much. It is a start.

<strong>My previous post on this subject, from last Easter Sunday:</strong>
We decided not to celebrate Easter twice this year. For once we will only celebrate Orthodox Easter on April 27th. It worked out great, we relaxed and the grandkids had Easter festivities at the other Grandma's house. I did get the urge to cook, when I discovered our HEB (grocery store) was closed and I had to fix lunch for Monday with what I had in the house.
I came up with a Tandoori chicken with leftover greek yogurt, and a sort-of tabbouleh with Manchego cheese, tomatoes and green onion. Mexico meets the middle east so to speak.

We are all looking forward to Orthodox Easter and our favorite foods: Pashka (cheese), Kulich (bread), Mama's blini (crepes, which I have not mastered yet) and piroshki (yeast bread rolls filled with a meat mixture). Yummy. Everybody's favorite is the bread and cheese, even my new son-in-law is a fan, and it is sure very different from the food he grew up with in Puerto Rico, but he loves it.

We are the quintessential American family comprising 6-7 ethnic groups (and 3 racial groups), sharing our foods and customs across the board. We are proud of our various heritages and holidays, celebrating Russian Orthodox Easter, Cinco de Mayo, 4th of July, Dia de los Muertos, Three Kings Day, Martin Luther King Day, and various saints days (Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopalian). We ARE America, we are what makes our country so special and so great....a mix of cultures, ideas, love and faith. Our children and grandchildren are the future of our nation, and the colors of our nation. We are so proud of all of them.

So, in the spirit of rebirth, in this Easter season, please take time to let new ideas take wing. It is time for us to discuss where our nation needs to go, how we put our dreams into action, and how we work for a future for ALL of us, no matter our color, or belief system.

To quote Barack Obama (who we support):

<blockquote>In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well. </blockquote>

What does our nation value?

Sally T. — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:08:23 EDT

What does our nation value?

While I was participating at the Texas Democratic Convention in Austin, June 5-7, 2008, my youngest daughter, age 26 (mother of 2) was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She was hospitalized with a blood sugar of over 400 mg/dl, following symptoms of thirst, blurred vision and fatigue, the classic symptoms of diabetes. Prior to this she had been in excellent health, not even a hint of gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her 2 children.

She has insurance, but it covers very little. The diagnosis was shocking, but the sticker shock for her medications and supplies, which are critical to keeping her alive, was even more stunning.

The statistics:

$98 per week for Lantus insulin
$29 per week for syringes
$40 per week for Novolog insulin
Contour test strips (used 4 + times per day) $100 for 100 strips
Needles for the Contour tester $200 for approximately one month’s worth
cost not added: alcohol wipes
a diet that won’t include carbohydrates more than 60 Gm per meal, which is more expensive than beans and rice or other ways to stretch food on a budget

This week, the total cost for supplies as she was discharged from the hospital (and we shopped around) $700.

My daughter and her husband earn $10 per hour. My daughter’s insurance does not cover medications. What I want you, the reader, to picture, is how they (or you) can manage to live on your salary, pay for a home, raise 2 children, and still afford to pay $700 per month for medication to keep you alive.

It is stunning to me, that in the richest nation in the world, that prides itself on being “number one” we don’t have national health care. No, we would rather allow people like my daughter, to suffer due to lack of care, poor care, no care, or complications from a treatable disease due to lack of funds, rather than save money and help them care for themselves. In other words, we as a nation, would rather pay many times more for emergency room care, and indigent care (which increases our insurance premiums) rather than pay for preventative and maintenance care. This is a national disgrace.

What is even worse, is that during my daughter’s hospitalization, she got one (count ‘em ONE) visit from a diabetic educator and ONE visit from a dietician. How much can a person learn about managing a life threatening disease in one visit? In addition, during her hospitalization, there was no visit from a social worker or anyone else to inform her about what resources were available to her in order for her to find a way to pay for her life sustaining treatment.

As an RN, and her mother, I am outraged at the poor quality of care we offer our citizens. I can help my daughter, and together we will learn the best way to help her manage her diabetes. What happens to others? How do they learn what to do, and how to best care for themselves. How do they afford their medication?

For our family, I hope we can find the proper resources to pay for my daughter’s medication. For the rest of our nation, and others like my daughter, what do we do? How do we resolve this problem? How do we care for those who need assistance?

This is why I believe that a single payer health care plan is the only way to go forward.

Senator Obama, please help all of us.

I will continue to work tirelessly to help you get elected, as I have since June 2007. Remember, my husband and I worked your San Antonio event June 24, 2007, on our 35th wedding anniversary…and we have block walked, phone banked and everything else since that time. Consider those with chronic illness and help improve healthcare for them. After all, what does our nation value, guns and the corporations, or our citizens? I am hoping it is the citizens.

Thank you.

Lodging in Austin for delegates

Sally T. — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:18:59 EDT

Austin is expensive, no doubt, but there is a hostel!

http://www.hiaustin.org/austin-hostel-reservations.shtml Each room houses 6 beds with lockers available Right by Town Lake, rates $19 to $22 per night.

Ethnic Easter musings

Sally T. — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:50:07 EDT

We decided not to celebrate Easter twice this year. For once we will only celebrate Orthodox Easter on April 27th. It worked out great, we relaxed and the grandkids had Easter festivities at the other Grandma's house. I did get the urge to cook, when I discovered our HEB (grocery store) was closed and I had to fix lunch for Monday with what I had in the house.
I came up with a Tandoori chicken with leftover greek yogurt, and a sort-of tabbouleh with Manchego cheese, tomatoes and green onion. Mexico meets the middle east so to speak.

<a onblurXSSCleanedXSSCleaned="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_i5ngHgrt66c/R-crry0uniI/AAAAAAAADw0/Zeu6yzypIQU/s1600-h/P1000674.JPG"><img XSSCleaned="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_i5ngHgrt66c/R-crry0uniI/AAAAAAAADw0/Zeu6yzypIQU/s400/P1000674.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181157927690346018" /></a>

We are all looking forward to Orthodox Easter and our favorite foods: Pashka (cheese), Kulich (bread), Mama's blini (crepes, which I have not mastered yet) and piroshki (yeast bread rolls filled with a meat mixture). Yummy. Everybody's favorite is the bread and cheese, even my new son-in-law is a fan, and it is sure very different from the food he grew up with in Puerto Rico, but he loves it.

We are the quintessential American family comprising 6 ethnic and/or racial groups, sharing our foods and customs across the board. We are proud of our various heritages and holidays, celebrating Russian Orthodox Easter, Cinco de Mayo, 4th of July, Dia de los Muertos, Three Kings Day, Martin Luther King Day, and various saints days (Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopalian). We ARE America, we are what makes our country so special and so great....a mix of cultures, ideas, love and faith. Our children and grandchildren are the future of our nation, and the colors of our nation. We are so proud of all of them.

So, in the spirit of rebirth, in this Easter season, please take time to let new ideas take wing. It is time for us to discuss where our nation needs to go, how we put our dreams into action, and how we work for a future for ALL of us, no matter our color, or belief system.

To quote Barack Obama (who we support):
<blockquote>In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well. </blockquote>

My unasked question at the American GI Forum today

Sally T. — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:16:22 EST

Sen. Obama, when you are President of the USA, how will you address issues regarding healthcare in America today?

Specifically, will you hold town hall meetings across the county consisting of bedside nurses, nurse's aides, respiratory therapists, and other allied health professionals in order to discuss the issues facing those that deliver the actual bedside care? Will you listen to the thoughts of those who struggle, and try to give compassionate, professional care in a for profit setting, that does not allow professionals to deliver the standard of care that we believe our patients deserve?

Second, as a former US Army Nurse and VA nurse, I would like to know how you will address the top-down change in culture in these facilities? In my experience in the VA, and US Army, I found that healthcare professionals who are well versed in history (i.e. history of US conflicts) can find common ground with their patients, and therefore develop more empathy and compassion for them, if only they know their histories.

For example, I had never heard much about Iniwetok, but took care of military personnel who were there and were exposed to the atom bomb testing. I took care of those who were involved in the Normandy Invasion, the invasion of Siciliy and Italy, and in the North African campaign, the Philippines and Corregidor, etc. Only those who invaded Normandy are recognized by most Americans, because that battle is well known. Those involved in other military battles, such as the invasion of Sicily, Italy, North Africa and later, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, are also unrecognized. VA and US military staff should know of each of the conflicts, and understand them, and thus be trained to recognize the Veterans of these (and all other campaigns) and learn to value their sacrifices. Until and unless those who take care of our military veterans are well versed in the history that led to the battles in which they were involved, they are likely unable to give these veterans their due respect. Therefore, caregivers in the VA and in military institutions should be well schooled in history, so they can be more respectful of the veterans.

The same goes when it comes to taking care of our civilian elders. They have had a world experience that goes beyond the bounds of high school and college history classes, We must instill in our young folks a hunger to learn the lessons of our nation's history beyond the "blurbs" their school books now have.

National healthcare is more than just health care, it's about our nation as a whole, learning where we have been, and were we must go. It is learning our history, which will teach us volumes.

Most of all, I believe that our healthcare professionals, those who give direct care to patients, deserve more input regarding the things that will help them deliver quality patient care, and we need your help.

Boerne Wisconsin Watch party

Sally T. — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:54:42 EST

Thanks to Oscar Garcia. Check out events for 78006. A nice way to end the day after the Obama event in SA on Tuesday.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/meeting/4rpxk

Thanks AlamObama volunteers

Sally T. — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:17:41 EST

I want to thank everyone for the GOTV effort prior to the South Carolina primary. 1,200 phone calls, it's amazing!

As a baby boomer, who is strapped by many requirements including work, care of grandchildren, etc. I am thankful that so many people found the time, the will, and the strength to work so hard to get those phone calls made. Many of you were students, and I thank you. Those younger than us boomers are the wealth of our nation, you are our treasure. We are so appreciative that you, the treasure of our nation, and our nation's future were so strongly moved that you got out and worked for what you believed in. Please keep up your strength, your joy, and and your sense of purpose. We need you! We thank you!

Onward to the next primaries!

WOOOO HOOOO a win in South Carolina! !

Sally T. — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:09:39 EST

How positively exciting! ! We were stunned, just stunned when 30 seconds after the polls closed Obama was announced the winner. It was surreal. So we, hunkered down to wait for the results as they came in from each precinct.

Amazing, awesome, and now.....we block walk! GOTV for Barack.

Don't forget Friday Dec. 21st phone cards for Vets

Sally T. — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:37:53 EST

Friday Dec. 21st, from 2 to 4 pm, we will be delivering phone cards at the Audie Murphy VA. The phone cards are provided by Working Assets, now CREDO.

Come on by and help me do the second annual delivery of phone cards! Meet at the volunteer center to the right of the main entrance of the VA.

Obama Rocks!

Sally T. — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:35:40 EST

I heard on the Ed Schultz show that Coloradans are precinct leaders in droves for Obama! Change is what America wants, state by state.

I can't afford to go and help on out of state campaigns for Obama, but if you can, please go!

Ready to go!

Crimethink, thanks to S. 1959: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

Sally T. — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:00:37 EST

The Thought Police are coming....check out this proposed bill. Guess it's ok, (NOT ! ) we already have Big Brother watching all our communications. Hi Big Brother...do I have enough "code words" on this page?

Per Randi Rhodes website http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/live/ my favorite radio commentator. I'll supply the links below.

_____________________________________

THE VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT:
An Act passed by The House in late October and currently before the Senate Homeland Security Committee is as bad as or WORSE than the McCarthy Era when people were labeled and jailed for anything HE deemed UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES.

Language inserted in the act does partially define "homegrown terrorism" as "planning" or "threatening" to use force to promote a political objective, meaning that just thinking about doing something could be enough to merit the terrorist label.

The act also describes "violent radicalization" as the promotion of an "extremist belief system" without attempting to define "extremist."

Here is the FULL TEXT OF THE BILL:
Note Section 899A Homegrown Terrorism where it becomes a crime "to intimidate or coerce the US government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objective". And Section 899B Paragraph 3 – The internet is a tool of terror.

_________________

Links:

S. 1959: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1959

Votes on the Violence, Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorist Act: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2007-993

Bringing the War on Terrorism Home: Congress Considers How to 'Disrupt' Radical Movements in the United States. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7439

Philip Giraldi from Huffington Post wrote more about the Act http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-giraldi/the-violent-radicalizatio_b_74091.html

_______________________________-

and who voted yes?

Texas
Aye TX-1 Gohmert, Louis [R]
Aye TX-2 Poe, Ted [R]
Aye TX-3 Johnson, Samuel [R]
Aye TX-4 Hall, Ralph [R]
Aye TX-5 Hensarling, Jeb [R]
Aye TX-6 Barton, Joe [R]
Aye TX-7 Culberson, John [R]
Aye TX-8 Brady, Kevin [R]
Aye TX-9 Green, Al [D]
Aye TX-10 McCaul, Michael [R]
Aye TX-11 Conaway, K. [R]
Aye TX-12 Granger, Kay [R]
Aye TX-13 Thornberry, William [R]
No Vote TX-14 Paul, Ronald [R]
Aye TX-15 Hinojosa, Rubén [D]
No Vote TX-16 Reyes, Silvestre [D]
Aye TX-17 Edwards, Thomas [D]
Aye TX-18 Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D]
Aye TX-19 Neugebauer, Randy [R]
Aye TX-20 Gonzalez, Charles [D]
Aye TX-21 Smith, Lamar [R]
Aye TX-22 Lampson, Nicholas [D]
Aye TX-23 Rodriguez, Ciro [D]
Aye TX-24 Marchant, Kenny [R]
Aye TX-25 Doggett, Lloyd [D]
Aye TX-26 Burgess, Michael [R]
Aye TX-27 Ortiz, Solomon [D]
Aye TX-28 Cuellar, Henry [D]
Aye TX-29 Green, Raymond [D]
No Vote TX-30 Johnson, Eddie [D]
Aye TX-31 Carter, John [R]
Aye TX-32 Sessions, Peter [R]

_______________________________________

Bringing the War on Terrorism Home: Congress Considers How to 'Disrupt' Radical Movements in the United States

by Jessica Lee

Global Research, November 25, 2007
indypendent.org

Under the guise of a bill that calls for the study of "homegrown terrorism," Congress is apparently trying to broaden the definition of terrorism to encompass both First Amendment political activity and traditional forms of protest such as nonviolent civil disobedience, according to civil liberties advocates, scholars and historians.

The proposed law, The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R. 1955), was passed by the House of Representative in a 404-6 vote Oct. 23. (The Senate is currently considering a companion bill, S. 1959.) The act would establish a "National Commission on the prevention of violent radicalization and ideologically based violence" and a university-based "Center for Excellence" to â€œexamine and report upon the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism and ideologically based violence in the United States" in order to develop policy for "prevention, disruption and mitigation."

Many observers fear that the proposed law will be used against U.S.-based groups engaged in legal but unpopular political activism, ranging from political Islamists to animal-rights and environmental campaigners to radical right-wing organizations. There is concern, too, that the bill will undermine academic integrity and is the latest salvo in a decade-long government grab for power at the expense of civil liberties.

David Price, a professor of anthropology at St. Martin's University who studies government surveillance and harassment of dissident scholars, says the bill "is a shot over the bow of environmental activists, animal-rights activists, anti-globalization activists and scholars who are working in the Middle East who have views that go against the administration." Price says some right-wing outfits such as gun clubs are also threatened because "[they] would be looked at with suspicion under the bill."

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC), which has been organizing against post-Sept. 11 legislative attacks on First Amendment rights, is critical of the bill. "When you first look at this bill, it might seem harmless because it is about the development of a commission to do a study," explained Hope Marston, a regional organizer with BORDC.

"However, when you realize the focus of the study is 'homegrown terrorism,' it raises red flags," Marston said. "When you consider that the government has wiretapped our phone calls and emails, spied on religious and political groups and has done extensive data mining of our daily records, it is worrisome of what might be done with the study. I am concerned that there appears to be an inclination to study religious and political groups to ultimately try to find subversion. This would violate our First Amendment rights to free speech and freedoms of religion and association."

for the rest of the article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-giraldi/the-violent-radicalizatio_b_74091.html

Come visit Boerne and wear your Obama shirts for the parade on Dec. 1st

Sally T. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:28:56 EDT

The Boerrne christmas parade is HUG! We invite all of your to our little town for the festivities from Nov. 30 on to Christmas. The parade is Dec. 1st, and I would suggest you come 2 hours early to find parking and place to sit and watch the parade. Make sure you wear Obama stuff and have literature to pass out.Being seen is a good bunch of publicity.

Besides, it's great fun, and there is live music, kids activities, beer garden, food, carriage rides and good old Texas fake snow! What more could you want?

Just who deserves SCHIP and national healthcare? Tell me now.

Sally T. — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 03:31:29 EDT

As a co-worker told me, it's all my fault that I am bitching and moaning about my $1000 deductible and 80/20 co-pay. I should have saved more money to cover the carpal tunnel surgery I must have as a result of being glued to a keyboard working on deadlines for the past 14 years. After all, he said, national health care is a communist plot and this is America and nothing here is free, nor should it be. If I don’t like it I should leave.

It's all my fault that I did not save enough to anticipate my daughter's divorce from her alcoholic and abusive husband, and the fact that in the past 1 ½ years all my children and their children came home to my house to lick their wounds. One came home to survive job loss. So what, we fed a family of 14 on a salary that once only fed and housed 4, that should be easy, right?

Then, it's all my fault because I could not afford a $1300 water softener, that would have prevented my water heater (in hard water Texas) from burning out and corroding the heating element in place so that instead of replacing the heating element, we had to replace the whole water heater last week.

It's all my fault that it cost $260 for a plumber to install my new $244 Home Depot water heater. (Other local plumbers wanted to charge $800 to put in the cheap a** water heater we bought). Thankfully, we shopped around and went with cold showers). And in the same week, it's my fault that the timing belt on my car (with 167,000 miles on it) broke 3 days after the water heater went out and cost $762 to repair. After all, I should not be driving such an old car. And so, of course, it's my fault that my mortgage payment is now late this month and I'll have to pay a late charge because again, I did not save enough. Before Bush, I did save enough, but we have slowly but surely eaten through our savings with medical bills.

It's my fault, I should have saved more and done more with less. It's my fault that I can't stretch 1 lb of ground meat to feed 14 people in a fashion better than casseroles. It's my fault that milk is $4 a gallon. God forbid I should want those expensive fresh vegetables on my salary. Instead, let’s buy Big Pharma vitamins.

Again, it's my fault, I should have gotten bigger raises and saved more while I took care of your mother, father, brother, sister, child, and wiped their behinds, gave them pain medicine, cared for them and listened and empathized, taking pride in my skills as an under-appreciated and over-worked nurse.

It's my fault because I should have been an MD or a pharmacy representative, and then I would have made enough money to care for my family, and have time to stay home and take care of my 91 year old mother. Instead, taking care of Mom was a family group effort. Why? Because we did not save enough money to hire someone to sit with her, we did that ourselves, with missed work hours and missed wages. Oh, but that's my fault too.

Until Americans understand that it is a moral imperative that we make health care a non-profit service, and a right for all citizens, all of us will be making choices that cause us to lose wages, job opportunities and the like so that we can care for ill family members by ourselves.

I want to see you anti-national health care people and anti-SCHIP people line folks up on national television and show me, point them out in front of God and everybody, which of these people does not deserve health care? Then explain, without waffling and beating around the bush, exactly why this or that person that you have lined up in front of you, does not deserve health care. It’s their fault because why?

Instead of swift-boating families behind their backs, why not do it in person? Surely that is ever so much more effective. I dare you.

Consumer-Directed Health Care and the Disadvantaged

Sally T. — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:39:30 EDT

Worth reading as well:

Consumer-Directed Health Care and the Disadvantaged

M. Gregg Bloche

Abstract and IntroductionAbstract

Broad adoption of "consumer-directed health care" would probably widen socioeconomic disparities in care and redistribute wealth in "reverse Robin Hood" fashion, from the working poor and middle classes to the well-off. Racial and ethnic disparities in care would also probably worsen. These effects could be alleviated by adjustments to the consumer-directed paradigm. Possible fixes include more progressive tax subsidies, tiering of cost-sharing schemes to promote high-value care, and reduced cost sharing for the less well-off. These fixes, though, are unlikely to gain traction. If consumer-directed plans achieve market dominance, disparities in care by class and race will probably grow.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/562847_1

Who Killed Healthcare?

Sally T. — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:28:32 EDT

We turn over $2.2 trillion of our money each year to those who manage our healthcare, without holding them accountable for efficiency or quality. Not surprisingly, these folks -- hospitals, insurers, governments -- they use the money to benefit themselves. Jack Morgan, the insured, middle-class protagonist in Who Killed Health Care?[1] was killed by this system.

Insurers, hospitals, and governments have gotten fat on our bloated healthcare costs, which kill the competitiveness of US firms. More than 40 million Americans are uninsured, mostly because they cannot afford it, while 300,000 people die every few years from medical errors.[2] Arrogant insurance bureaucrats deny people the services they paid for, while many insured find their coverage inadequate for serious illnesses. The uninsured -- they are charged the highest prices by our allegedly nonprofit, ostensibly "charitable" hospitals and are all too often driven to bankruptcy.[3-5]

Meanwhile, many doctors leave the profession because of insurer, hospital, and government micromanagement of their activities. Physicians enrolled in my MBA courses at the Harvard Business School tell me, "I can no longer practice medicine." The grip of the powerful status quo also scares off those entrepreneurs who represent the best hope of transforming healthcare.

Only 1 stakeholder can fix this -- you and me. We must take back our money so we can decide how to spend it. We should be buying health insurance for ourselves, using the foregone salaries and massive taxes we once turned over to the self-serving healthcare industry crew. Switzerland's consumer-driven healthcare system points the way: With their excellent, private healthcare system, the Swiss have universal coverage and spend 40% less.[6]

We are at war for control of an annual $2.2 trillion -- an amount equal in size to China's whole economy. If we do not win it, our health and economy will go down in flames. My new book Who Killed Health Care?[1] details the consumer-driven battle plan that can revive our doctors, our economy, and our good health.

That's my opinion. I'm Professor Regina Herzlinger of the Harvard Business School.

Article from medscape.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a fundamental disagreement with Obama's position on healthcare and still believe we need single payer healthcare. However, maybe we should look into the Swiss system? Where ever we go, in the end HMO's, PPO's and the insurance industry need to go.

Harriet Myers, what I want to see

Sally T. — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:51:26 EDT

I want to see Harriet Myers held in "inherent contempt" and frog marched to the floor of the House where she will be charged. Then, I want to see her tried by the House for failing to appear when subpoened. My greatest hope is that she and Sarah Taylor are convicted and sent to jail. Only then will the Bush administration understand that Bush is not the dictator, that he must abide by the constitution, and that he serves at the "pleasure of the American people." Our democracy is in jeapordy. We must, at all cost, let the Bush administration understand that we, the people, will not stand for any more lies, stone-walling or other shenanigans. This is truly about our country's survival, and the rule of law. We must not let this go unchallenged.

Today we were blessed

Sally T. — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 21:06:20 EDT

Today we attended the Obama kickoff in San Antonio. We worked as volunteers at the event with AlamObama. It was our 35th wedding anniversary, but nevertheless, we decided that this event and our participation in it, was more important than an fancy dinner out, or anything else.

So, we volunteered, in the steamy, humid south Texas sun, directing cars to parking areas. After all our work, and perspiration I might add, we were awarded with a great speech from Sen. Obama. The best part, We CAN. He gives us great hope for the future, and so much more. We will continue to work for the campaign, hot weather or not. We need Obama so much! Our country has lost it's hope for the future. We need a man in office who sees hope.

What was even more amazing was that following the event, the volunteers were invited for a group photo with Sen. Obama. He spent time talking with us and shaking hands. In the process, when I told him that we felt honored to spend our 25th wedding anniversary with him, he signed my shirt and congratulated us on our 35 years of marriage.

We do hope he and his wife have as many happy years as we have.

shirt photo

C'mon now, speak to healthcare professionals

Sally T. — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 01:40:58 EDT

Some of of us are not unionized, We live in the south where folks do not understand the value of unions, and how unions led us to have a middle class.

Speak to these people. They are sheep, led by the right-wing idiots and free-market adherents. We work with Filipinas, Canadians, Irish and Brits, who are taking our jobs. But, the nation only sees "brown people" as our enemies. Not so. educated folks from all over the globe are taking our jobs, and we are too ill informed to notice.

Wake up America!

My take on healthcare issues

Sally T. — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:17:05 EDT

Sen. Obama, you stated an interest in "coverage without cost containment will only shift the burdens..." Reagan began the first cost containment with diagnosis related groups, DRG's. Let me remind you what happened. In Omaha, RN's were laid off, staffing in the hospitals became minimal, nurse's aids were hired, LVN's (LPN's) were hired, and I lost my job. My husband had gone back to school to become a Respiratory Therapist, and nobody in his graduating class (Creighton University) could find jobs in Omaha or the surrounding areas. He went to Shreveport, LA, for one year, but came back to Omaha because we could not sell our house. We lived on one salary, eating popcorn to fill up while we fed our two children instead of ourselves. We were grateful for unclaimed lunch trays in the hospital, which provided food for us that we shared with equally hungry co-workers. Eventually, our house sold, and my husband found a job in PA. Since that time, we have moved twice, and are now in Boerne, Texas near San Antonio.

Has the job situation improved? Not at all. Nurses and Allied Health professionals, like my husband still work in extremely difficult circumstances. I don't believe that any other college educated professionals would put up with what we put up with. My last hospital job required me to be responsible for 2 floors of patients. 2 floors! Nurses and RT's and others are staffed at minimal levels. If the patient census goes down, health care professionals are sent home, and must use vacation time (2 weeks per year) to cover their lost wages. When they run out of vacation time and are sent home, they are not paid for that day. What happens is that we never know what our take home pay will be from paycheck to paycheck. That's just not right, and why we (and our professional organizations) sit idly by and do nothing to protest this issue is beyond my understanding

There is a furor over the shortage of healthcare professionals available to staff hospitals. Well, would you work in a job where you have no idea what your paycheck will be from one week to the next? I, like many other RN's, have found alternative employment outside of the hospital so that we have at least one salary that is constant. We are lucky because we are a two wage earner family. We can manage, others cannot.

Cost containment will strike healthcare professionals and allied healthcare professionals. CEO's and hospitals will work us harder, remove more benefits, and we will lose, but hospitals will win. Just like when Reagan began the first cost containment efforts.

Cost containment will shift burdens, to those of us that staff the hospitals. Don’t believe that the insurance industry and hospital corporations will do anything to benefit patient care, and healthcare professionals who perform patient care. They will always look to their bottom line, and if that means cutting staffing levels to save money, they will do it in a heartbeat, because that is always their modus operandi.

For example, when HCA took over our small hospital in Papillion, NE in 1980, they decided to eliminate telephones as a cost containment method. We, in the labor and delivery department, we outraged that they wanted to remove telephones from the delivery rooms and labor rooms! That was unsafe, because we would have no way to call a physician in an emergency or even call a code. Staffing was decreased to one RN on duty, which was very scary sometimes, particularly when a difficult delivery situation arose. In fact, Nov. 6, 1981, I was the only RN on duty, and I went into labor. I had just completed caring for a patient in labor, helped with her delivery, scrubbed down her bed, the delivery room, the toilet, the shower, and mopped the delivery room floor. Due to cost containment we had no housekeeping assistance. So, there I was with my BSN degree scrubbing toilets and mopping floors. As my contractions became more noticeable, I had to waddle down the hall to the surgery department to ask for help for myself. 32 minutes later, with the help of surgery RN’s and scrub techs, and my physician who ran over from his nearby office, I delivered my second daughter. What if this had happened at night and I was alone in the department? I shudder to think.

This is how hospitals contain costs, at the expense of patients and staff. We need to find a way for cost containment to include mandating minimum staffing levels at hospitals, to prevent healthcare professionals (RN's, LVN's, etc.) from having to care for too many patients at one time, which is a patient safety issue, and from losing pay, and to prevent mandatory overtime. As it is now, many RN's work 7 am to 7 pm, but because of short staffing they remain at work for 2-3 hours finishing their charting. If someone from the next shift does not show up, they can be required to stay until someone is found to replace them, otherwise they are told they will be charged with patient abandonment.

I have a host of nightmare staffing stories, as do many other RN’s. I think you should meet with RN’s and Respiratory Therapists and LVN’s across the nation, and ask them for their stories. I am sure that you will be amazed to hear their stories. In fact, I invite you to come to San Antonio and my husband and I will be glad to find healthcare professionals who would be willing to speak to you.

Sally T. RN, BSN

You almost lost my vote

Sally T. — Thu, 24 May 2007 20:55:13 EDT

Can't you get the Dems to STOP the war?????? No funding. Get serious and damn the torpedoes of the Republicans. Stop the war NOW.

Chicken Dems back down on Iraq war funding

Sally T. — Wed, 23 May 2007 19:21:48 EDT

Get a spine all of you! No funding for the war, period. Sen. Gravel has the plan, you and all your Dem colleagues should listen and do what he says. I think my monthly contribution to the Democratic party will be canceled. I can't abide the spineless actions by everyone in the party.

Barack's healthcare plan--needs work

Sally T. — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:21:47 EDT

Here is a synopsis that I read:

What he did offer was basic principles for his health care vision.

"Everbody's in" the plan, "employers are going to have to play or pay"—offer coverage directly or help fund coverage—and subsidies should offered to those who struggling to afford health care.
The plan should "save money" by emphasizing prevention, chronic care management and medical technology.
There should be a "pooling of cost and risk," and money should be spent more efficiently to improve quality.

My opinion...as an RN...Employers offer coverage, but it's expensive, the deductibles are high, and we are still left with big medical bills. Not a solution.Emphasizing prevention, chronic care management and medical technology...well sounds good, but that does not go far enough. In order to do that standards of care must be set. For example, if you have diabetes, you will have free access to a dietician and training on proper diet, exercise, etc. And, you will have a RN diabetes educator who will be available for questions, and will train the diabetic and his/her family on management of blood sugar, reinforce diet information, and perform teaching for each patient as well as be available for consultation on a daily basis, without charge. To do any of this, we will need a national plan that includes RN's to manage chronic care. Of course, there is a shortage of RN's, partly because salaries are low, jobs are inflexible in hours, there is no vacation time, management stinks, because they keep staffing at an absolute minimum in order to keep profits high. That's why I no longer work in a hospital. In addition, we need to use the skills of ALL healthcare professionals, like Respiratory therapists who could manage chronic care for asthmatics, COPD and emphysema patients, etc. Health care can NOT be a for profit operation, because when that happens, the patient suffers. IMHO, none of the candidates understand what we need for healthcare. Plus, they should not ask physicians, they should ask those of us that work in the trenches what needs to happen. We know, and we will tell them.

Healthcare for all, some comments

Sally T. — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 17:13:31 EST

I am currentlly reading The Audacity of Hope and I have some comments about the healthcare ideas outlined on pages 183 to 187. I am an RN, with over 30 years experience. In addiiton, I took care of both of my elderly parents and a younger sister with breast cancer, all of whom have since passed away. This gives me a unique experience and a unique point of view regarding healthcare in this country today.
The ideas proposed are good, but do not go far enough.
Tax breaks for employers and the use of private insurance are not going to cut it. Healthcare cannot be performed on a for-profit basis. When it is, care is withheld, in one manner or another. We need a system of national healthcare that is single payer, period. Otherwise, who will cover grannie's care at home, or in assisted living or a nursing home? Currently the coverage is extremely poor. Who will cover the expenses of chemo, a bone marrow transplant, a stem cell transplant? Insurance doesn't, but the military medical system did that for my sister. Who will give the care-giver (like I was) time off to take a family member to a MD appt or sit by a hospital bed? Who will provide respite care for those providing 24 hr a day 7 day a week elder care? Who actually covers home PT, OT, home health aides, RN's, LPN's for more than a short amount of time?
THere are big needs out here. It's tough to care for the elderly, believe me. You have no break, you go nowhere with your spouse, unless you can afford to spend thousands of dollars for a live-in care giver. In 20 years, we left my Mom maybe a dozen times, thanks to a sister or my near adult children. Once we took a 2 week vacation and paid the thousands of dollars it took for someone to stay with my Mom. Our marriage needed a break from the stress. Our teenagers babysat grandma so we could go out on a Sat. afternoon. We could not go out at night together because my mother was terrified of being alone after dark. I know we are not the only family in this nation that has done this. People do this every day without fanfare or notice because it's what families do out of love.
As far as purchasing a plan, with what extra money do my young daughters do that? They make just enough to put a roof over their heads and feed their kids. THere are extra dollars in their piggy banks. A Canadian friend noted that he was amazed at how much time and effort Americans spend worrying about health care costs, and how stressful it was for them. Sure, the Canadian system isn't perfect, but they don't have to worry about the "what-if's"...what if my child gets sick, what if I get sick...etc.
One pet peeve is the commercial for HPV virus vaccine. In it, they note that of course all young women should have regular screening. Most young women today don't have health insurance and aren't getting screened at all. They can go to Planned Parenthood for screening, but have to brave screaming "pro-life" protesters to do that.
TB is making a comeback in this country. That is a public health problem. Where is our public health system? Dead.
Heck everyone in this country could have free healthcare for years and years on the price of what it cost to go to war in Iraq. We need to spend our national resources more wisely.
Until and unless we see healthcare as a right for everyone, and not some nebulous "entitlement" we will get nowhere fast. We can't compete with nations who foot the bill for healthcare.
I had to add one more thing...Mexico has national health care, although our repug friends like to ignore that little fact. I have had healthcare in Mexico, which was excellent. My one sister in law in Mexico gets state of the art healthcare for her arthritis, that I could not afford here. Did you know that if you get a really bad sunburn or ill in central America you can get free healthcare? Yep. It's just us stupid folk in the great old USA that think healthcare is only for the rich.

Great grandma has passed, who will watch the kids?

Sally T. — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:00:34 EST

My grandchildren’s great grandmother Jovita passed away today. She was at work, and was 75 years old. It is believed that she had a heart attack. Why was she working? To cover expenses that her social security did not cover. This was totally unexpected and devastating for all of us. She was the glue that bound us all together, related or not.

You see, we are not unique as a family group, but we probably are an example of how Americans make do in this day and age. My daughter married into the Trejo family, and she and her husband divorced several years later. However, her children’s grandparents, and great grandma Jovita stayed close to all of us. We continued to share holidays, the grandkid’s birthdays, and religious holidays. We helped each other out in times of sickness and other difficulties. Jovita, picked up everyone’s kids after school, and was there until parents and grandparents got home. Everything worked because everyone, in some way, depended upon Jovita.

When my mother died in Jan. of this year, Jovita sent dozens of home made tamales to the house (she was the world’s best tamale maker on the planet). Now, you may not know about making tamales, but it is a labor intensive project like making pierogies or piroshki. It is a skill that must be taught, and practiced, over and over again. The gift of one generation to another. To know that Jovita lovingly worked to put those tamales together, and sent them to the house, steaming, and ready to eat, was a great gift in a time of grief. It was a tangible touch of love and care.

Women like Jovita, who work hard, and care for everyone else’s families, cook, clean, and earn minimal wages are the backbone of our nation. But, they are undervalued by everyone. We, as a nation, need to remember women like Jovita when legislating social security benefits and prescription drug plans. We need our great grandmas. They are our history, our traditions, and the glue that binds us. We also need to remember, that our great grandmothers of color (brown and black), are also the least valued in society, and receive the least benefits. They are always there, but not always seen or appreciated.

Thinking about Jovita, and many other women just like her, I can surely say that our nation needs to think about the values we learn from our elders, and the needs they fulfill. As we lose more and more of our great grandmas and grandmas, who will fill the gap? Do we, as a nation value our younger generation enough to legislate after school care, all day kindergarten, pre-K and affordable day care? If we value our children, we need to wrap them in the safety net of adequate care before and after school. After all, what do you do when great grandma and grandma aren’t there? We surely don’t know at this point, but we will stick together as usual, and rise to the challenge. If only our nation could do the same.

God Bless you, Jovita. Rest in peace.

Answer to an email from a Republican friend

Sally T. — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 10:25:47 EST

How I replied to a Republican friend's emailI wanted to send a repectful, well thought out reply to an email that started out about serving in Vietnam and about how Johnson lied, but then led to calling democrats unpatriotic and got uglier as it went along. My reply was this:

At first I thought about dazzling you with facts, then I re-read the
email. The content was factual at the beginning but ended in an
emotional tirade. I am one of those people that your friend hates. I am
a Democrat and a liberal. I am also a Veteran, not a war-time Veteran,
but I served from 1987 to 2001. I was active duty for Operation Just
Cause and the invasion of Grenada. I am a nurse, so my mission was a bit
different that yours or your friend's. My mission in life is also
affected by the fact that I have been involved in health care for 33
years. In addition, my mission in life, the provision of health care
without regard to race, creed, color or national origin affects my world
view. With that in mind, I would like to make a few points.

First of all, I am not unpatriotic. My military service and my
governmental service in the VA Hospital System and the National
Institutes of Health proves that. Period.

Second, I have questions that are central to how I view our government
at the present time.

1. Why did we invade Iraq? Which reason, of the many given over a period
years, do we believe? WMD's and promoting democracy, etc.? Ever
changing reasons, to justify something that should not have been done.

2. Reviewing historical record can an insurgancy be beaten? History
says no. See below

In its modern form, insurgency warfare is meant to convince the enemy's
decision-makers that victory was too costly.
The flood of papers by military scholars now dissecting the American
campaign in Iraq are peppered with references to the revolutionary
strategist {Mao], and not simply as historic footnotes.

"Mao started this form of war..." Marine Corps. Col. Thomas X. Hammes
writes in his widely acclaimed book on modern insurgency warfare, "The
Sling and the Stone." "The anti-coalition forces in Iraq, the Taliban,
the Chechnyans and the al-Qaida network are simply the latest to use the
tactics and techniques that have been developing for decades."...

--Insurgencies pivot more on will than force and tend to be more
political than military. This makes them extremely difficult to defeat.

--The goal of insurgents through history has been to make the conflict
too politically costly back home for their enemy to sustain. The
insurgencies of the last half-century have lessons valuable for helping
to understand the conflict in Iraq, now approaching historic elections
at month's end."

--Force alone can't defeat insurgencies. Push too hard and risk losing
more hearts and minds than you win. source
Link
23-Moderninsurgenc.html

3. Clinton....get over it. Is he really the first President who had sex
in the White House? Honestly, it's only sex. Somehow I think lying to
the American people is much more serious. Bush has lied about the
intelligence on Iraq, i.e. today's papers.

4, Destruction from within? Easy. Do not educate the population; feed
them propaganda on TV (reality shows) and make them feel that their vote
doesn't count...already done. So democracy is moot. In order to have a
democracy everyone must participate. Hardly anyone does at this point so
they don't even realize what they have lost. Habeas corpus? Gone. Does
anyone realize why that might be important? Nope...they don't teach
civics anymore. My kids were surprised to know what habeas corpus meant,
as did many other young people I know. Yes, I did a teach-in on habeas
corpus.When our citizens don't even know their constitutional rights,
much less have ever read the constittuton or other founding documents
such as the Federalist Papers, then our democracy dies. Have you looked
at a middle school or high school text book that purports to teach
history lately? The Vietnam war is a paraagraph. One paragraph.

5. A 21st century "conservative" is not a conservative. Evidently those
who call themselves conservatives have never read the neocons PNAC
report. That should scare a conservative in his boots. It's not
Goldwater's idea of conservatism.

6. We on the far left are not absorbed with regaining control of
Congress, we are absorbed wtih regaining our constitutional rights.
Oversight, separaton of powers, and outlawing Bush's idea of the unitary
executive, which is unconstitutional. No more signing statements, the
law is the law and he can't decide, like some dictator, that he does not
need to abide by it.

7. The "threat." Terrorism is as overblown as the war on drugs. The
British model of policing is more appropriate than invading a country.
Spending our blood and treasure will not accomplish what we need to do.
Poverty and hopelessness create more unrest than anything. We should be
working on that instead of warring, bombing and making more enemies. A
pissed off kid, who lost a family member to the US is more likely to
grow up to be an adult who shoulders a missle launcher and downs a US
helicopter than a kid who had food on the table and a good education and
a good job.

8. And, Bush has cut more funds to veterans than any other President. I
have a friend at the American GI Forum, a bronze star and purple heart
recipient who could certainly set you straight on that one, as he works
for funding all the time, day after day.

So, I am sure you can add me to your list of "nut jobs." I just had to
tell you that we, as a nation, need to go beyond name calling and fear
mongering, and think more carefully. By categorizing people by their
beliefs, political and otherwise, you lose many valuable parts of our
culture. We need to work together, and not name-call and hold grudges.
Otherwise, the terrorists you so fear will win.

They don't need to invade us ... anyone can take us out. We manufacture
nothing, and suck up oil. When we can't get our stuff at the mall, we
will lose, because we are whiners we just want to go shopping...and of
course our President told us that shopping was what we need to do.

Best wishes xxxxxxxx. See you at the pizza parlor on Friday.

Sally

Answer to an email from a Republican friend

Sally T. — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 02:16:15 EST

How I replied to a Republican friend's emailI wanted to send a repectful, well thought out reply to an email that started out about serving in Vietnam and about how Johnson lied, but then led to calling democrats unpatriotic and got uglier as it went along. My reply was this:

At first I thought about dazzling you with facts, then I re-read the
email. The content was factual at the beginning but ended in an
emotional tirade. I am one of those people that your friend hates. I am
a Democrat and a liberal. I am also a Veteran, not a war-time Veteran,
but I served from 1987 to 2001. I was active duty for Operation Just
Cause and the invasion of Grenada. I am a nurse, so my mission was a bit
different that yours or your friend's. My mission in life is also
affected by the fact that I have been involved in health care for 33
years. In addition, my mission in life, the provision of health care
without regard to race, creed, color or national origin affects my world
view. With that in mind, I would like to make a few points.

First of all, I am not unpatriotic. My military service and my
governmental service in the VA Hospital System and the National
Institutes of Health proves that. Period.

Second, I have questions that are central to how I view our government
at the present time.

1. Why did we invade Iraq? Which reason, of the many given over a period
years, do we believe? WMD's and promoting democracy, etc.? Ever
changing reasons, to justify something that should not have been done.

2. Reviewing historical record can an insurgancy be beaten? History
says no. See below

In its modern form, insurgency warfare is meant to convince the enemy's
decision-makers that victory was too costly.
The flood of papers by military scholars now dissecting the American
campaign in Iraq are peppered with references to the revolutionary
strategist {Mao], and not simply as historic footnotes.

"Mao started this form of war..." Marine Corps. Col. Thomas X. Hammes
writes in his widely acclaimed book on modern insurgency warfare, "The
Sling and the Stone." "The anti-coalition forces in Iraq, the Taliban,
the Chechnyans and the al-Qaida network are simply the latest to use the
tactics and techniques that have been developing for decades."...

--Insurgencies pivot more on will than force and tend to be more
political than military. This makes them extremely difficult to defeat.

--Insurgencies pivot more on will than force and tend to be more
political than military. This makes them extremely difficult to defeat.

--The goal of insurgents through history has been to make the conflict
too politically costly back home for their enemy to sustain. The
insurgencies of the last half-century have lessons valuable for helping
to understand the conflict in Iraq, now approaching historic elections
at month's end."

--Force alone can't defeat insurgencies. Push too hard and risk losing
more hearts and minds than you win. source
Link
23-Moderninsurgenc.html

3. Clinton....get over it. Is he really the first President who had sex
in the White House? Honestly, it's only sex. Somehow I think lying to
the American people is much more serious. Bush has lied about the
intelligence on Iraq, i.e. today's papers.

4, Destruction from within? Easy. Do not educate the population; feed
them propaganda on TV (reality shows) and make them feel that their vote
doesn't count...already done. So democracy is moot. In order to have a
democracy everyone must participate. Hardly anyone does at this point so
they don't even realize what they have lost. Habeas corpus? Gone. Does
anyone realize why that might be important? Nope...they don't teach
civics anymore. My kids were surprised to know what habeas corpus meant,
as did many other young people I know. Yes, I did a teach-in on habeas
corpus.When our citizens don't even know their constitutional rights,
much less have ever read the constittuton or other founding documents
such as the Federalist Papers, then our democracy dies. Have you looked
at a middle school or high school text book that purports to teach
history lately? The Vietnam war is a paraagraph. One paragraph.

5. A 21st century "conservative" is not a conservative. Evidently those
who call themselves conservatives have never read the neocons PNAC
report. That should scare a conservative in his boots. It's not
Goldwater's idea of conservatism.

6. We on the far left are not absorbed with regaining control of
Congress, we are absorbed wtih regaining our constitutional rights.
Oversight, separaton of powers, and outlawing Bush's idea of the unitary
executive, which is unconstitutional. No more signing statements, the
law is the law and he can't decide, like some dictator, that he does not
need to abide by it.

7. The "threat." Terrorism is as overblown as the war on drugs. The
British model of policing is more appropriate than invading a country.
Spending our blood and treasure will not accomplish what we need to do.
Poverty and hopelessness create more unrest than anything. We should be
working on that instead of warring, bombing and making more enemies. A
pissed off kid, who lost a family member to the US is more likely to
grow up to be an adult who shoulders a missle launcher and downs a US
helicopter than a kid who had food on the table and a good education and
a good job.

8. And, Bush has cut more funds to veterans than any other President. I
have a friend at the American GI Forum, a bronze star and purple heart
recipient who could certainly set you straight on that one, as he works
for funding all the time, day after day.

So, I am sure you can add me to your list of "nut jobs." I just had to
tell you that we, as a nation, need to go beyond name calling and fear
mongering, and think more carefully. By categorizing people by their
beliefs, political and otherwise, you lose many valuable parts of our
culture. We need to work together, and not name-call and hold grudges.
Otherwise, the terrorists you so fear will win.

They don't need to invade us ... anyone can take us out. We manufacture
nothing, and suck up oil. When we can't get our stuff at the mall, we
will lose, because we are whiners we just want to go shopping...and of
course our President told us that shopping was what we need to do.

Best wishes xxxxxxxx. See you at the pizza parlor on Friday.

Sally

Was it volcanic ash, was it a meteor? No it was T Rex farts!

Sally T. — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:37:43 EST

Can you believe this! OMG!
Climate looninessCategory: Planet EarthPosted on: February 9, 2007 11:17 AM, by Josh Rosenau
The House Science Committee held a historic hearing on the IPCC report and the status of climate change (link to RealPlayer video of the hearing). It was especially historic because Speaker Pelosi made it the first committee she testified before as Speaker. She expressed her concerns about climate change, and the concerns she's heard from many others.
The hearing continued for over three hours, with a panel of experts occupying most of the time. The panel consisted of climate scientists who had contributed and edited portions of the IPCC report and the Summary for Policy Makers recently released. Chris Mooney covered the hearing for Seed magazine.
But what I want to talk about is not the excellent testimony offered, but the concluding remarks by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. He had aggressively questioned on witness, pushing a fairly irrelevant question about what fraction of carbon dioxide in the air comes from natural sources, then ignoring the answers he got. In his concluding remarks, he observed that carbon dioxide levels have fluctuated throughout the Earth's history.
"We don't know what those other cycles were caused by in the past," Representative Rohrabacher speculated, "it could be dinosaur flatulence."
No one laughed. Rohrabacher was unable to bring any witnesses who could defend that claim, or indeed any climate change deniers at all.
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Iran next?

Sally T. — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 18:42:02 EST

From BBC World News today....Israeli missile test 'successful'The Arrow missile was first developed to counter Iraqi scudsIsrael has carried out a successful test of its Arrow missile, the defence ministry has said.One of the missiles was fired at night and destroyed what Israeli media said was a target similar to Iran's long-range Shahab-3 missile.
Ok, this bit of news tells me everything I need to know. The Bush admin is trooping out their "proof" that Iran is giving arms and exposives to Iraq, including serial numbers, just like prior to the invasion of Iraq. Bogus proof. I mean, where do they get the information from the serial numbers? You think it might be because they are from weapons we SOLD Iran during the Iran Contra affair? Could be, but if we can't track weapons in this country what makes you think we can track them in Iran?
Yep, my crimethought...believe nothing the Bush administration says. I just don't buy it all all. And, again, I ask, why did we ship Patriot missle batteries over there...location not actually determined. 2 aircraft carrier groups in the gulf...remember folks that GROUPS..that is all the ships that support an aircraft carrier and that's alot. Add to that the support personnel, etc, etc.
And the Israelis are just "conveniently" testing a long range missle? B.S. We are going to be taken for a ride of more lies, and sadly, more of our military will be maimed and killed for oil. It just makes me ill.

Where are we going and what's in the handbasket?

Sally T. — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 01:42:07 EST

With a bow to The Complete Newspeak Dictionary

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I thought perhaps now would be a good time to refresh your memory of George Orwell's book, 1984. If you have not read it, read it. If you have never read 1984, then I consider that another symptom of how our schools are dumbing down the curriculum nation-wide. This is a classic novel that should be required reading before high school graduation. Every day, our world gets more and more like this. Cheney is the master of newspeak, as he twists the nation in his evil grasp. The words I find most important are:
crimethink - To even consider any thought not in line with the principles of Ingsoc. Doubting any of the principles of Ingsoc. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you can control crime. "Thoughtcrime is death. Thoughtcrime does not entail death, Thoughtcrime is death.... The essential crime that contains all others in itself."
Thinkpol - ThoughtPolice. Police force in charge of eliminating crimethink. The thought police monitor the public by way of spies (narcs), helicopters, and telescreens.
prolefeed - Rubishy "Entertainment" and spurious news which the Party handed out to the masses. This includes written literature, movies, porn, music, and other various propaganda created for the proles. (For a modern example of prolefeed, just turn on your television or radio. With the exception of some scientific programming, everything else is prolefeed.)
prole - Proletarians. Approximately 85% of Oceania's population are in this class. Members of the party viewed them as animals. They are not as rigidly observed as members of the party, and very few (if any) have telescreens in their home. They are permitted to indulge in pornography, prostitution, and other acts considered thoughtcrime, simply because it would be impossible to observe all of them as rigidly as the party observes its own members. Plus, allowing them to indulge in these "little joys" helps to keep the masses content.