Months ago I commented: OFA needs to start sending the message that what was started with Barack Obama's election must be continued - his election was not a silver bullet where with one perfect shot he would fix politics. EVERY election is important and has consequences.
I also commented that I was very upset with the new tactic by those who want to discourage Barack Obama's supporters e.g. supporting the fringe and tea-partyers with lies and exageration to activate their base to come out for the midterm elections. The prediction is for this midterm to be like other midterms e.g. only the disgruntled participate.
I hear people are getting discouraged because nine months have passed and President Obama has not brought the change he promised. Remember he said: change is about us not him. Look at how he has been treated by members of both his party and the opposition. Lobbying money is stronger than anything we have except our numbers. We can't help him if we do not vote to support him every chance we get. This is how we create change! Without us he has little power to accomplish anything on his own. In Congress both members of our party and the other party must know we support him and will turn out for him when asked.
Now I sit at home waiting for tomorrow night when I expect to hear how President Obama's election was a fluck because the change he brings is not the change WE wanted and this is why his support is falling. Tomorrow's win by Republican's mascarading as Conservatives will embolden them to work even harder against him and any change he may attempt.
I also hate being misused by the Democratic Party! We are bombarded with emails for support and solicitation constantly. We should be treated as an asset that can be exhausted and used when we are really needed which is exactly the same concept we are trying to communicate about our troops and war.
Its too late to ask you to go vote with me tomorrow but I ask you to not let another election go by without going to the polls.
Thank you.
There are special interest groups trying to block progress on health care reform by using myths and scare tactics. Like the notion that health care reform would ration your care, hurt Medicare or be a government takeover. Actually, these are false statements.
All of the health care reform plans currently being debated in Congress would ensure that you and your doctor are the ones making decisions about your health. The majority of working Americans will continue to receive their health care through their employer. In addition, health care reform will strengthen Medicare by eliminating billions of dollars in waste while lowering prescription drug prices.
Throughout the debate on how to fix what's broken about our health care system, AARP pledges to help you cut through the noise and find the facts about what health care reform means for you and your family. When we see special interests using scare tactics, we'll make sure you're given the facts so you can make informed decisions about health care reform.
The following are some of the most common myths being spread about health care reform and the facts that prove them wrong – click here to watch a video by AARP on the myths and facts of reform.
Fact: Health care reform will preserve the employer-based health care system, meaning an estimated 200 million Americans will continue to get their coverage through their employers.Fact: For people buying coverage for themselves, there would be a range of private health plans to choose from. Also, the so-called "public plan" option would seek to give American consumers another choice if they can't find affordable, quality coverage in the private insurance market. The goal of the "public plan" is to give consumers the best value for their money and force greater competition among insurance plans for our business.Fact: Every proposal that Congress is considering would allow people to choose their own doctors and hospitals.Bottom Line: Health care reform isn't about a government takeover. It's about guaranteeing all Americans a choice of health care plans they can afford.
Fact: Health care reform will preserve the employer-based health care system, meaning an estimated 200 million Americans will continue to get their coverage through their employers.
Fact: For people buying coverage for themselves, there would be a range of private health plans to choose from. Also, the so-called "public plan" option would seek to give American consumers another choice if they can't find affordable, quality coverage in the private insurance market. The goal of the "public plan" is to give consumers the best value for their money and force greater competition among insurance plans for our business.
Fact: Every proposal that Congress is considering would allow people to choose their own doctors and hospitals.
Bottom Line: Health care reform isn't about a government takeover. It's about guaranteeing all Americans a choice of health care plans they can afford.
Fact: None of the health reform proposals being considered would stand between individuals and their doctors or prevent any American from choosing the best possible care.Fact: Health care reform will NOT give the government the power to make life or death decisions for anyone regardless of their age. Those decisions will be made by an individual, their doctor and their family.Fact: Health care reform will help ensure doctors are paid fairly so they will continue to treat Medicare patients.Bottom Line: Health reform isn't about rationing; it's about giving people the peace of mind of knowing that they will be able to keep their doctors and that they will always have a choice of affordable health plans.
Fact: None of the health reform proposals being considered would stand between individuals and their doctors or prevent any American from choosing the best possible care.
Fact: Health care reform will NOT give the government the power to make life or death decisions for anyone regardless of their age. Those decisions will be made by an individual, their doctor and their family.
Fact: Health care reform will help ensure doctors are paid fairly so they will continue to treat Medicare patients.
Bottom Line: Health reform isn't about rationing; it's about giving people the peace of mind of knowing that they will be able to keep their doctors and that they will always have a choice of affordable health plans.
Fact: None of the health care reform proposals being considered by Congress would cut Medicare benefits or increase your out-of-pocket costs for Medicare services.Fact: Health care reform will lower prescription drug costs for people in the Medicare Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole" so they can get better afford the drugs they need.Fact: Health care reform will protect seniors' access to their doctors and reduce the cost of preventive services so patients stay healthier.Fact: Health care reform will reduce costly, preventable hospital readmissions, saving patients and Medicare money.Fact: Rather than weaken Medicare, health care reform will strengthen the financial status of the Medicare program.Bottom Line: For people in Medicare, health care reform is about lowering prescription drug costs for people in the "doughnut hole", keeping the doctor of your choice, improving the quality of care, and eliminating billions in waste that is causing poor care and medical errors.
Fact: None of the health care reform proposals being considered by Congress would cut Medicare benefits or increase your out-of-pocket costs for Medicare services.
Fact: Health care reform will lower prescription drug costs for people in the Medicare Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole" so they can get better afford the drugs they need.
Fact: Health care reform will protect seniors' access to their doctors and reduce the cost of preventive services so patients stay healthier.
Fact: Health care reform will reduce costly, preventable hospital readmissions, saving patients and Medicare money.
Fact: Rather than weaken Medicare, health care reform will strengthen the financial status of the Medicare program.
Bottom Line: For people in Medicare, health care reform is about lowering prescription drug costs for people in the "doughnut hole", keeping the doctor of your choice, improving the quality of care, and eliminating billions in waste that is causing poor care and medical errors.
Fact: The President and Congress have committed to producing legislation that will be paid for so it won't saddle our children and grandchildren with debt.Fact: If we do nothing to fix health care, families with Medicare or employer-based health coverage will likely see their premiums nearly double again in the next seven years.Fact: If we do nothing to fix health care, the share of your income spent on health care will nearly double in the next seven years.Bottom Line: When one in three Americans say someone in their family skipped pills, postponed or cut back on needed medical care due to the cost; when countless bankruptcies are related to medical expenses; when the number of uninsured approaches 50 million; when government spending on health programs rises so rapidly that it jeopardizes other priorities; and when employers struggle to pay for the costs of health care, the fact is, we can't afford not to fix health care.
Fact: The President and Congress have committed to producing legislation that will be paid for so it won't saddle our children and grandchildren with debt.
Fact: If we do nothing to fix health care, families with Medicare or employer-based health coverage will likely see their premiums nearly double again in the next seven years.
Fact: If we do nothing to fix health care, the share of your income spent on health care will nearly double in the next seven years.
Bottom Line: When one in three Americans say someone in their family skipped pills, postponed or cut back on needed medical care due to the cost; when countless bankruptcies are related to medical expenses; when the number of uninsured approaches 50 million; when government spending on health programs rises so rapidly that it jeopardizes other priorities; and when employers struggle to pay for the costs of health care, the fact is, we can't afford not to fix health care.
Fact: Health care reform will NOT give the government the power to make life-and-death decisions for anyone regardless of their age. Those decisions will be made by individuals, their doctor and their family.Fact: No one, including the government or your insurance company, will be given power to make life-and-death decisions for you.Bottom Line: Health care reform isn't about putting the government in charge of difficult end of life decisions. It's about giving individuals and families the option to talk with their doctors in advance about difficult choices every family faces when loved ones near the end of their lives.
Fact: Health care reform will NOT give the government the power to make life-and-death decisions for anyone regardless of their age. Those decisions will be made by individuals, their doctor and their family.
Fact: No one, including the government or your insurance company, will be given power to make life-and-death decisions for you.
Bottom Line: Health care reform isn't about putting the government in charge of difficult end of life decisions. It's about giving individuals and families the option to talk with their doctors in advance about difficult choices every family faces when loved ones near the end of their lives.
This is a website that I have been following for a while and today was very impressed by the illustration of this very talented individual who continues, day in and day out to express his views in a very interesting and amusing at times way. If you have not seen his web site, you must. Go into the link below and see the illustration. I copied and pasted the text below. All women should see this! Thank you Mario Piperni!
http://twurl.nl/2pqhnp
A new low for the party of shame.
It turns out that in eight states, plus the District of Columbia, getting beaten up by your spouse is a pre-existing condition.Under the cold logic of the insurance industry, it makes perfect sense: If you are in a marriage with someone who has beaten you in the past, you’re more likely to get beaten again than the average person and are therefore more expensive to insure.In human terms, it’s a second punishment for a victim of domestic violence.
It turns out that in eight states, plus the District of Columbia, getting beaten up by your spouse is a pre-existing condition.
Under the cold logic of the insurance industry, it makes perfect sense: If you are in a marriage with someone who has beaten you in the past, you’re more likely to get beaten again than the average person and are therefore more expensive to insure.
In human terms, it’s a second punishment for a victim of domestic violence.
Ugly enough…but it gets worse.
In 2006, Democrats tried to end the practice. An amendment introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), now a member of leadership, split the Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee 10-10. The tie meant that the measure failed.All ten no votes were Republicans
In 2006, Democrats tried to end the practice. An amendment introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), now a member of leadership, split the Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee 10-10. The tie meant that the measure failed.
There’s been plenty of opportunities to feel disgust for republicans but today they take me to a new place. Their actions are inexcusable and is another vivid reminder of who they are and what they represent. For all their talk of patriotism and love of country, they once again reveal themselves to be the ugliest part of America. Their callous and cold view of their fellow citizens, devoid of compassion, appears to have no bounds. For Republicans, taking care of the insurance industry takes precedence over the needs of battered women.
If it gets more disgusting than that, I don’t know how.
___
Operation swamp the streets to defend your healthcare.
match until single payer, universal healthcare for all is passed.!!!
Calling on All who voted for the Obama agenda in November to match a mile a day to hand over the torch of the United State to the next persons or groups from where you are, going until we reach whashington in a human chain, to carry the torch of humanity. We are the most prosperous nation in the world, yet there is no recourse for anyone who happen to be in a bind temporarily or not, when they get sick in our nation.
We are a God fearing nation, we profess to be a christian nation, yet the answer to a crying woman who is losing her husband to cancer for lack of insurance from the republicans was " because you are here talking to me, I would be magnanimous enough to make sure you are taken care of, but anyone else can't have the same chance."
He refused to answer her pleas for a universal single payer healthcare, yet he said "he the government" would make sure her husband receives treatment that insurance companies have rationed or denied him.
What our republican speaker was saying was that, he would used his "good office" to extend government money to take care of her husband, but if she got sick herself, then too bad she would have to call him again if he is still in office.
He didn't help her by passing a law that would ensure that she gets treatement as well as all americans in his husband's condition.
He went on to say that the job of helping people belongs to the church which all depend on the taxes we pay, to the government or to the church (donations). In effect, he is putting your life in the hands of those who can only extend their services (arbitrarily)to their frock or friends.
Many people sitting in that audience may have had cases that are worse than that of the weeping lady. Yet if they didn't have the luck to have the microphone, they were not heard, and would not be helped as the lady was promised.
We need to organize and march until the single payer universal healthcare is passed.
Town Mauls (part 2)
I realized that the 47% against health care reform contains the 45.7% that did not vote for President Obama in 2008. They do not want the change that the majority (54.3%) voted for. They were against the stimulus and are now yelling for "less government invovement" in healthcare. They believe the economy can only be fixed through "tax policy" and are also firm believers in the doom that comes from a large government deficit. They are the other side and will be out demonstrating on anything the President does that they consider as "change". We do need to listen to them but we can't let them prevent us from taking action.
I think that we should give them the opportunity to ask questions but we can't let them prevent us providing information. Perhaps we should actively call them on their shut down actions e.g. let them speak: challenge their incorrect information and ask them what they are proposing as an alternative. When they can't offer counter proposals ask them why they think nothing is the better option?
Shock and Awe Town Halls: base activation for 2010 (part 1)
I am very upset with this new tactic by those who want to discourage Barack Obama's supporter. I hear that elected republicans are supporting this action because it will activate their base to come out for the midterm elections. The prediction is for this midterm to be like other midterms e.g. only the disgruntled participate. OFA needs to start sending the message that what was started with Barack Obama's election must be continued - his election was not a silver bullet to fix politics. Every election is important and has consequences. Lets start by looking at incumbants who are most vested in the status quo.
Believe it or not, the reality of the situation in Cambridge is not race-based. It is about a personal sense of being disrespect and the response to them. This is the teachable moment. Race obscures the reality of the dynamics of the situation that happens in the US every day e.g. forced acceptance of authoritarian demands made by some individuals in public safety. Hypervigilance is defined as abnormally increased arousal, responsiveness to stimuli, and scanning of the environment for threats. Too many public safety employees come into situations primed to respond and reacting to individual responses in a negative way.
Perhaps the training we should be giving our public safety officials is sensitivity to and management of their own physiological state while being in the midst of an emotionally charged situation.
I am getting more and more disappointed. It appears the briefing book was just a carrot to get us to vote for Obama, but never was taken seriously by the Administration. Also I don't see any evidence that the Administration has heard the complaints about our corrupt justice system or the excess control over the health care reform package by Insurance Companies and Pharmaceutical Companies.
I fell we are being betrayed, misled, and abandoned. Use us and lose us. This blog is a waste!
I was trying to put together a comprehensive framework to build a comprehensive committee for health care reform. As I was building this list I was amazed at how disproportionate the lobbying efforts are compared to the model. Take a look and make suggestions for changes. NOTE: when building the committee I advocate only looking for representation of sectors from 1.0 through 5.9.
Thanks - Janell Larocque
STAKEHOLDERS IN HEALTH CARE REFORM (created 07/14/09)
1.1 Public Health
1.1.1 CDC
1.1.2 FEMA
1.1.3 Research
1.1.3.1 FDA
1.1.3.2 NIH
1.2 Personal Health
1.2.1 Routine (Includes Wellness, Dental, Vision)
1.2.2 Emergencies
1.2.3 Chronic Care
1.2.4 End of Life Care
2.1 Urban and Suburban Care
2.1.1 Professional Office
2.1.2 Clinic
2.1.3 Hospital
2.1.4 Recipient’s Home
2.1.5 Rehabilitation Facility
2.1.6 Long Term Facility
2.1.7 Hospices
2.2 Local Health Departments
2.3 VA Hospitals and Health Care System
2.4 Rural Health Care
3.0 HEALTH CARE DELIVERY
3.1 Primary Physician
3.2 Specialists
3.3 Pharmaceuticals (Manufacturers and Pharmacies)
3.4 Laboratories (Equipment Manufacturers and/or Delivery Specialists)
3.5 Other Testing Resources (Manufacturers and/or Testers)
3.6 Other Treatment Resources (Manufacturers and/or Treatment Providers)
4.0 HEALTH CARE IMPACTED INSURER/INSURANCE PROVIDERS
4.01 Health Insurance Provider
4.01.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.01.2 Direct to recipient
4.02 Vision Insurance Provider
4.02.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.02.2 Direct to recipient
4.03 Dental Insurance Provider
4.03.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.03.2 Direct to recipient
4.04 Prescription Drug Insurance
4.04.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.04.2 Direct to recipient
4.05 Short Term Disability Insurance
4.05.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.05.2 Direct to recipient
4.06 Long Term Disability Insurance
4.06.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.06.2 Direct to recipient
4.07 Supplemental Insurance
4.07.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.07.2 Direct to recipient
4.08 Life Insurance
4.08.1 To employer (Third Party)
4.08.2 Direct to recipient
4.09 Specialized Short Term Health Insurance
4.10 Employers
4.10.1 Self-Employed
4.10.2 Small Business
4.10.3 Business
4.10.4 Government
4.10.4.1 For Career Employees
4.10.4.2 For Elected Officials
4.11 Medicare
4.12 Tri-Care
5.0 HEALTH CARE RECIPIENTS
5.1 Employees
5.1.1 Working Poor e.g. Full Time Low Income
5.1.2 Traditional e.g. Full Time Moderate Income and Above
5.1.2.1 Unionized
5.1.2.2 Non-unionized
5.1.3 Non-traditional
5.1.4 Retirees
5.1.1 Unionized
5.1.2 Non-unionized
5.2 Unemployed
5.2.1 No-choice
5.2.2 By Choice
5.3 College Students (non-dependent)
5.4 Veterans
5.4.1 Active duty
5.4.2 Reserve
5.4.3 Retired
5.5 Chronically Ill
5.6 Disabled
5.7 Mentally Ill
5.8 Elderly
5.9 Terminally Ill
5.10 Children
5.11 Pregnant Women
5.12 Victims of Sex Crimes
6.1 Schools, Educational Institutions, and Specialized Training Programs e.g. medical schools
6.2 Professional Organizations/Agencies
6.3 Manufacturer’s Trade Organizations
6.4 Credentialing Agencies
6.5 Regulatory and Standards Compliance Organizations
7.1 Abortion Practices
7.2 Birth Control Programs
7.3 Programs Involving Sexual Identity Conflicts With Sexual Physiology
7.4 Research Activities Using Stem Cells
Phrases like "group complexion" and "organizational fit" have become accepted. Yet they are ways that have been found to allow small minded people to maintain the comfort of their own cultural identity within a very small protective bubble. Without diversity groups and organizations cheat themselves because they do not expereince the whole range of human conditions & expereinces and the unique gifts bestowed by those events.
More Americans die unnecessarily each year and more American lives destroyed due to their lack of access to health care. Safety begins at home. We have the greatest military might in the history of the world. Militarily, we cannot get any safer. Physically and psychologically, we have a long way to go.
I just signed the petition. If you'd like to as well, go here and make your voice heard!
http://us.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=0&.rand=bj2lq3lk58mqg
I attended today's town hall meeting on health care reform hosted by Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois' 9th Congressional District. First, I'd be remiss if I didn't say how proud I am to tell you that Jan is my rep.
A gentleman, who identified himself as an attorney for health insurance actuarial industry, said that as soon as you file a claim you become a “claimant,” and that makes you liability to the for-profit insurer. He continued that at this point, the claimant starts costing the insurer money. The lengths they will then go to to rid the claimant are immoral, at best.
I approached him after the meeting and told him a little about myself. I have a chronic illness and since a relatively young age, early 30s, I’ve been on medication that costs Americans about $300 a month; that I had been employed by a Fortune 500 company; that individuals with my illness are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; and that I had been among the first wave of layoffs in the early days of the recession. I told him that, in order to be protected by the ADA, I was required to disclose my illness to my employer. Then I asked him if he, like I, believe that my health care provider shared my allegedly confidential health care information with my employer, and if so, do I have any legal recourse, and finally, if I do have legal recourse, why hasn’t there been a class action lawsuit by now?
He said that since I worked for such a large corporation, I probably have a case. Only then did I share with him this one caveat. Upon my dismissal, in order to receive my severance pay, I had to sign a release form that said I could not sue the company for any reason. That was December 31, 2007, the recession had just begun. In the months to come, people were being laid off at a frightening rate.
When you lose your job, not only do you lose your means, without your severance, you lose the ability to pay for your health care. Many things run through your mind—My god, my house! My health care! I’m doomed!–all the while, your employer is holding a gun to your head forcing you to waive your right to sue.The attorney chuckled while shaking his head in disbelief; this was a new one to him. He said that unfortunately, you signed a contract that states you will accept a sum of money in lieu of filing a law suit. While thanking him for his time, I noted, “It’s an evil little racket,” to which he replied, “Yes it is.”
Is there a lesson to be learned? I do believe there is. We need to find those, even if it be a single individual, who can be persuaded not to sign such a waiver, and raise money to fund his or her law suit for wrongful termination.
In the discourse of each and every economic debate, the libertarian argument, upon which the premise is merely a figment of their imaginations – if you haven’t figured it out yet, they call it the “free” market model – determines:
My question to the congressional proponents of the public option is simple: How do these consequences of the libertarian model enter the debate? And if they do not, the please explain why not?
At the end of 2007, I was one of 2700 employees of a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Chicago to be laid-off. My health care provider from mid-2001 through the end of 2007 was BCBS-IL. Unable to find employment in the successive months, by May of 2008 I found my monthly COBRA payment of $435 onerous. An independent search turned up a couple of reasonably priced policies offered by two insurers, one of which being BCBS-IL. The monthly premium offered by BCBS-IL was $138. But I was denied because I disclosed that I have a "pre-existing condition." That’s nothing new since the time I was hospitalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1991. At that time, I was very ill, uninsured, and unable to pay. For years after, I was harassed by collection agencies. Eventually, I filed for bankruptcy. When unemployed, as I am today and have been for more than a year, I’m promptly denied coverage from private insurance companies.
-Celtic Insurance Company
-Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
What makes this latest decision by BCBS-IL so unconscionable is, as I’ve stated above, BCBS-IL had been my health care provider for the past 6 and a half years while employed, and my health care covered 30 therapist visits and medication. But in the 8 months between January and August 2008, BCBS-IL had deemed me uninsurable due to what they now consider a “pre-existing condition.”
This brings me to the matter of real health care reform. Real reform means real choice. President Obama envisioned a health care reform package that will include the creation of a government-run health plan to compete with private carriers in the traditional market place. In short, this is how reform is designed to work: the cruel, exclusionary, driven by greed, overly bureaucratic, exceedingly inefficient for-profit insurance industry will have to compete against an all-inclusive, leaner, more cost effective government-run option. That’s real reform, that’s real choice. That’s the platform the President ran on. That’s the shared vision of the President and the millions of us who helped elect him to office.
For 18 years, the insurance industry has told me to “Drop dead.” Today, I have a message for them.
You'll get to know me soon enough, so all I have to say in my initial entry is, Wow, my very own blog! I have so much to say!! I should have found this long ago, but it's never to late to start!
One more thing, a shameless plug. I wrote a book in 2001 about my living with bipolar disorder, which highlights the pitfalls of the for-profit health care system. You visit my webpage
www.insmalldoseshome.com
and follow the link to purchase a copy from Amazon.
There are not that many people which we happen to call terrorists that have any concrete information that we want or need. Missions are carried out by what we call “terrorists, CIA agents, or our military.” Know that each person carrying out the mission in any of the groups I reference here are not privy to the information of each other. This my friends is where the torture issue breaks down and does not work. Why? We don’t know if Johns’s information is related to Sam’s or if he knows anything at all. These unknown factors make torture an act of trial and error. How on earth are we going to torture people on a trial and error basis? How can we move forward believing that this is an act of self-preservation of a nation? How can we involve ourselves in such grievous and heinous crimes against humans whether they are guilty or not, just because we are out to find the truth? How can we search for the truth employing our own men? Do you think our men will be the same after they torture someone? Do you know that these men that perform the torture are just as victims as the ones they are torturing? Why do we do this to our own?
How, please tell me how, can conservatives that are out there in search of preservation of life, as in the unborn child, risk the adult child’s mind by forcing them to torture others? How, can the conservatives who claim to have such fundamental truths to withhold do such atrocities to other human beings? How, can conservatives claim that life is to be honored and cherished and yet have such double standards for US citizens vs. the rest of the world? Why? I am appalled today and disgusted with this. I am furious that we are even discussing this. How can self-righteousness make us cruel? How? Two wrongs do not make a right! And worse of all when we don’t even know if we are taking our 6th degrees of separation terrorist cousin that grew up in the other side of the word and degrading his human nature to the point of total surrender! Yes, why don’t you conservatives ask McCain? Ask him why he does not agree with torture. Ask McCain why this practice has to be abolished. Ask McCain how he broke down. For what? If Sam is captured, do not fool yourselves, someone else will carry out his mission. There is always a plan B!
Cheney can talk, Rumsfeld can talk, and everyone out there Republican, Democrats, Independents can talk…. But the truth of the matter is that we hurt our own! Why? Why?
Has humanity gone bonkers? Today I am angry at this issue. Angry that we even have to discuss it!
Conservatives, do on to others… does not mean just us, it means humans… wake up people…. Wake up!
Don't panic - it may even turn out to be only a moderate flu season. Don't believe all the hype. For factual information and recommendations see the following for my opinion - if questions ask your doctor:
http://drlindashelton.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/2008-mexican-flu-swine-flu-what-to-do/
Every time we torture someone we open the door for someone to torture our kids. It is the universal law of karma. Besides this holistic interpretation of same, you can also say, "what you put out you will get back multipled (good or bad)!"
We cannot lose ourselves as citizens of USA and this world attempting to equate our actions with the people we named as "terrorists!"
We need to learn from them, we need to familiarize ourselves with their beliefs, as we would do with any child in our home that was experiencing difficulties relating to the rest of the family... with careful attention and an open mind. Tit for tat is not going to cut it... not at this moment in history. Our president is not perfect but he is attempting to rise above policies which come from a fear based center.
Never, never, never, never, let them see you sweat! Fear based attacks on people we do not understand, is just that, attacks without fundamental basic respect, seeking our commonalities rather than our differences, just as we do with our inner circle of friends and others around us.
