FUCK!

http://nation.foxnews.com/obesity/2010/12/13/first-lady-childhood-obesity-national-security-threatI don't normally curse; in fact I never do. But I'm pissed. At FOX News of course. And their loyal readers. I finally have the credible argument I needed to maybe get FOX News to remove their "Fair and Balanced" lie. And what pisses me off is that the "intelligent real Americans" who believe that crap actually DO BELIEVE THAT CRAP! Look, here's the "article". FOX News changed the picture to support their political bias. Why do I know this? Logic:

If they didn't consciously decide to change the picture then there would be no point to changing it. If they did consciously decide, then of course they're going to choose the picture that best supports their message.

And the "loyal Americans" ate it all up--read the comments. Why exactly do schools even bother to teach about Yellow Journalism when half the population won't believe it true from their precious FOX News?

I really shouldn't read FOX News at bed time.

T.V.

People say that television is going to the dogs. While I think this is true for American television, British television is hitting it's prime, I think. Or at least British actors are. I've been watching Doctor Who, Primeval, Merlin (and have on my list of shows to watch when I get time: Torchwood and The Sarah-Jane Adventures). It's not just because I happen to love basic science fiction (I dislike shows and books that make up too much stuff--I have enough trouble in science and foreign/ancient history trying to remember what words mean), but it's the actors. Heck, who doesn't love Hugh Laurie--so you know it isn't just the accent.

I personally think that its the difference in expectations of male actors in Britain--it has to be. I mean, you are going to be hard-pressed to find an American male actor who is comfortable enough to really show his emotions and wear his heart on his sleeve. I mean, think about the last time you saw one of your favorite actors cry on screen--did it look fake? I can't remember the last time I watched an actor cry on screen, especially not on television.

Maybe I'm just biased because I've been watching so much British TV lately. Maybe I'm just tired because I had 3 finals in 3 days. Maybe it's because I've never been so excited by a bromance as I have been with watching Prince Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. And then we have Keanu Reeves who has no tear ducts nor muscles in his face.

Raptors

I never really understood the fascination with raptors before....the dinosaurs, not the birds. Velociraptor to be precise. I watched the 3 Jurassic Park movies and enjoyed their ferociousness, but it never really clicked as to why they were so popular on the internet. Then I started watching the ITV show Primeval and it became obvious--they're pretty wicked smart. I guess I was just too young to fully enjoy their awesomeness when I first watched Jurassic Park. Looks like I'll have to do some re-watching while I'm home for winter break.

Buddhism Sounds Like Protestanism

"The precursor to these reform movements was the monk Genshin (942-1017). His popular work Ojo Yoshu (Essentials of Salvation) depicted the horrors of hell and contrasted them vividly with the bliss of the Western Paradise. To attain rebirth in this paradise, Genshin stressed faith in the efficacy of the original vow of Amida Buddha (Amitabha). This could be manifested in the practice of menbutsu, by reciting the sacred name of Amida Buddha in the formula Namu Amida Butsu (Hail to the Name of Amida Buddha).

By stressing faith and dependence on the power of another (tariki), Genshin brought a totally new conccept to Japanese Buddhism. The sequel to his teaching was to deny, as a means of salvation, dependence on one's own strength (jiriki) as practiced in traditional Buddhism, be it in the form of ascetic observance, in spiritual and metaphysical exercises, or in performing good works. By simplifying the creed, he also opened the gate of paradise to the reach of common men.

The way that was paved by Genshin was brought into fruition by Honen (1133-1212), who became the ffounder of the Pure Land (Jodo) Sect in Japan (around 1175). Honen taught absolute efficacy of nembutsu, and departed in some points from the teachings of Genshin. For example, Genshin maintained that in invoking the sacred name of Buddha, one ought to form a mental image of Amida Buddha, and meditate on it. Honen rejected meditation or complete comprehension as unnecessary.

Shinran (1173-1262) moved Honen's teachings of the absolute efficacy of nembutsu one step further and to its logical conclusion. In traditional Pure Land beliefs, such as those advocated by the Chinese monk Shandao and by Honen, the awakening of faith required diligent observance of prayers to the Three Treasures. Thus there was an an element of acquiring faith by one's own power. To Shinran "faith is a gift freely given" by all Buddhas. He maintained that faith as well as the thought of Amida Buddha was transferred to or conferred upon all sentient beings to ensure the latter's salvation. And since salvation was dependent on the works of Amida Buddha: "If a good man can attain salvation, even more so a wicked man."

From "Japan: A Documentary History" by David Lu.

Wow, didn't know until about 30 seconds ago that there's evidence of early Christianity reaching Japan in around 400 AD. However, given that the widely accepted notion that Christianity didn't arrive until 1549, then you'll be quick to notice the similarities between Christian ideas and a Buddhist ideology that wasn't supposed to know that it existed, especially given that Luther didn't write his 95 Thesis until 1517--well after Shinran said "faith is a gift freely given" by all Buddhas.

BBC loves

I love the Doctor and I love Merlin and Arthur. What can make for a better video?!?

I [heart] Confusion

Or is that Confucian? I'll let you decide:

"When the government of a nation has gone astray, Heaven will chastise it through calamities. If storms and floods do not cause the government to mend its ways, Heaven will strike terror in the people's hearts by still greater disasters. Ruin will come at last if these two visitations are not sufficient to check the downward course. With gracious love toward the ruler, the Heavenly Way will make use of these means to prevent the final necessary evil, while the principles of propriety and music are positive means to guiding the people"
--nope, not from some recient Christian group, but from "The Heaven-Appointed Duty of Subjects" by Kumazawa Banzan (1619-1691) Confucian Scholar of sorts who "submitted an opinion to Shogun Tsunayoshi, who ordered his arrest".

Why This Country Sucks

I'm going to start a new series here called "Why This Country Sucks". Pretty much, I'm just going to identify a problem with this country and give a credible solution. There's a whole lot of overlap (go figure) so it'll probably be a pointless and confusing series. But there's going to be one major theme, I know. That is, individual accountability goes a whole lot farther than what you do for yourself and your family and friends. Individual accountability must be an accountability for the entire country (and ultimately the world) if you ever want to expel the phrase "this country sucks" from your vocabulary.

Today's lecture: On schools; specifically on in-school-suspension--why it's great and why it's so hard to find.

Did you know that the typical punishment for a child that skips school is out of school suspension for the day? So you just rewarded the child with the outcome that they wanted in the first place—they get to skip school. A suspension counts as an unexcused absence, which at the schools I've been to, 10 equal failing the class. So, if a student gets caught skipping school for one day, plus the day they get sent home for punishment, that's 2 days absent. The major reason for this is because schools don’t have an in school suspension program in place, generally because when the funding fails the extra teacher who doesn’t actually teach but supervises the delinquent children is let go. With no extra hands there to watch them, the students are sent home. If the parents were to all volunteer for just an hour a day to sit in that classroom then no students would have to be sent home as a reward for skipping school. I believe that no crime committed by students should result in an out of school suspension, including fighting. If we send them home, then those student who don’t want to be in school will start fights to be sent home. And what’s to stop them? They aren’t going to get some revelation while sitting at home in front of the TV screen that an education is the key to their future. We have to make it so that if nothing else no one slips through the cracks in the education system by being absent due to suspensions.

A Simpler Label For Not-So-Secret Information

President Obama on Thursday rolled back a proliferating array of policies by which federal agencies had kept unclassified information from the public, issuing an executive order intended to create a uniform way of handling such information. Mr. Obama’s order requires agencies to use only one term — “Controlled Unclassified Information,” or CUI — when stamping certain documents that officials believe should be safeguarded but that are not delicate enough to warrant being classified. That label would replace almost 120 markings that various agencies had developed to protect information.
---from this article from the NY Times

Wow, you'd think that they would learn this years ago. But then, ICS is still not fully incorporated--there is still ego amongst the ranks.

I didn't mean it!

I'm watching Bones and was thinking earlier this episode that Booth and his new girlfriend, Hannah, are getting too close. I randomly thought that the only way that he and Bones will ever get together is if Hannah ends up dead. And then Booth get's a phone call saying Hannah got shot. And then in the hospital, Bones saves Hannah's life by telling her that the nick on her leg is worse than her doctor told her and that if left untreated it could kill her. Wow. I really didn't mean for the producers to kill her off. Or maybe I'm just really good at pointing out the predictable.

Cathy's 2011-12 Political Predictions

I'm actually optimistic about the coming 2 years. And no, I'm don't classify myself as Republican. Here's why:

I'm pretty sure that the Republican's threw away the past 2 years. They did NOTHING that I can see to help Obama make better policy decisions--they threw him and the rest of congress under the bus.

The Democrats aren't Obama's type of people--they also threw him under the bus. They handed him crap and he had to sign it to get anything done.

Now, why do I think both parties tanked? Because the Democrats are a bit too idealistic and a bit too much government for the rest of America. They really should have pulled back on some things and would have had the Republicans actually pulled their weight. But they didn't because they have their head's stuck up their butts too often.

So, now that we have Republican majority in the House I expect better bills to come out. I'm not sure how the numbers work and how much Reps and Dems in the house will have to work together there, but with the Senate still belonging to the Dems, whatever hits the president's desk is going to HAVE to be bi-partisan.

So, we're going to see 1 of 2 things happen:
1) The dems and reps are going to actually work together and the country is going to prosper.
2)They're going to play chicken and see who blinks first and nothing will get accomplished.

In either case, it's going to be a hard sell in 2012 to say that Obama caused the issues, though maybe in the 2nd case I would expect him to get his butt to the Capital Building and show them who's boss.

I'm also extremely giddy to see what happens to the tea party backed candidates. I'm sad that it looks like they all ran as Republicans (I was hoping that they would make my life easy and actually get themselves together to run as a 3rd party)--it's made finding them in the election results difficult. But anyway, I fully expect that somewhere one or more of them is going to wake up one morning about 2 months into their term and wonder how on earth they are going to keep their word on the platforms that they ran on. How many said no to pork barrels? How exactly do they plan to get money to their localities without them?

By the way, I need to look into one candidate labeled "the mom in sneakers" because she's quite proud to be, what?, 9th in pork barreling. I'm glad that she's honest.

Tea Party Vows to Police Voter Fraud

Wow, scary thought. Here's the article.

Pretty much they're welcoming McCarthyist tactics to the polling booths. These people are encouraging individuals to "turn in" those who vote illegally--whatever that means. Probably the most common will be for illegal aliens getting paid to vote. So, they're going to pull over every Hispanic they can, because these people don't have the specialized training to be able to accurately tell an illegal from a legal. Tea Party authorized racism in action--and they wonder why so many people disagree with their practices.

I'm sorry, but I believe in a free country. Which means that individuals are free, in my book, to sell their votes. Why? For a few reasons:
1: Secret Ballot. Imagine how much money you can make off people buying your vote (dozens of people if you wish) and then you step into that booth you can choose for yourself--you can lie all you want about who you voted for and no one but you will ever know.
2: Of those who do vote, most sell their votes without even realizing it. They vote for the name they know better and that's the person who's better able to get their message across--which normally means that they've spent the most money on TV ads. Ever notice that positive relationship between amount of money a candidate spends and their chance at winning. Only when they've done something really stupid do they lose, normally.

Don't go after the people voting--that's impossible at best for the average American to do effectively. But anyone, including myself can be vigilant about REAL voter fraud. Cases where your vote isn't secret--times where there is tangible negligence of the voting processes.

If you want to stop those not eligible to vote then you need to get the police manpower into the field to stop identity theft--easiest way to get legal information into the hands of those who misuse it. It's not just about stealing the retirement savings of little old ladies, but gets terrorists onto planes, helps murderers escape, you name it.

I wonder how many innocent people will be terrorized by these "do gooders"? As my own personal judge of the effectiveness of this idea (in other words, how it's obviously not just blatant racism), would be if they pulled me over for being to young to vote. I really don't look like my 22 years.

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

I've always liked this poem and I've never really liked poems.

Morning and evening
Maids heard the goblins cry:
"Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy:
Apples and quinces,
Lemons and oranges,
Plump unpecked cherries-
Melons and raspberries,
Bloom-down-cheeked peaches,
Swart-headed mulberries,
Wild free-born cranberries,
Crab-apples, dewberries,
Pine-apples, blackberries,
Apricots, strawberries--
All ripe together
In summer weather--
Morns that pass by,
Fair eves that fly;
Come buy, come buy;
Our grapes fresh from the vine,
Pomegranates full and fine,
Dates and sharp bullaces,
Rare pears and greengages,
Damsons and bilberries,
Taste them and try:
Currants and gooseberries,
Bright-fire-like barberries,
Figs to fill your mouth,
Citrons from the South,
Sweet to tongue and sound to eye,
Come buy, come buy."

Quote

"The art of diplomacy is the luck of knowing more of your rival's secrets than he knows of yours. Always deal from a position of power. These were Shrewd's maxims. And Verity abided by them."
--From Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Amusements

Picked these up from a forwarded email.

1. Ever wonder about those people who spend $4.00 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water?
Try spelling Evian backwards :NAIVE

2. Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool? (My sentiments exactly!)

15. I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me ... they're cramming for their final exam.

17. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them?
Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?
----actually, I think this would be a smart way to get more people's attention about wanted posters. Speaking of stamps, I love the idea of forever stamps, but why can't they make them something other than the liberty bell? I guess it's to keep people like me from buying them, though I do have a nice selection for when the prices do increase.

21. Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?

***Edit: 3/30/2011: They have made all new stamps forever stamps!!!! Brilliant!

From "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb

"Tell this to King Shrewd. Our population grows, but there is a limit to our arable soil. Wild game will only feed so many. Comes a time when a country must open itself to trade, especially so rocky and mountainous a country as mine. You have heard, perhaps, that the Jhaampe way is that the ruler is the servant of his people? Well, I serve them in this wise. I marry my beloved younger sister away, in the hopes of winning grain and trade routes and lowland goods for my people, and grazing rights in the cold part of the year when our pastures are under snow. For this, too, I am willing to give you timbers, the great straight timbers that Verity will need to build his warships. Our mountains grow white oak such as you have never seen. This is a thing my father would refuse. He has the old feelings about the cutting of live trees, And like Regal, he sees your coast as a liability, your ocean as a great barrier. But I see it as your father did--a wide road that leads in all directions, and your coast as our access to it. And I see no offense in using trees uprooted by the annual floods and windstorms."

excellent quote, I think.

Wondering Aloud.

It's 1982 and Ellen Goodman from the Washington Post Writers Group was tasked with writing a review to put on the back of my book Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel. She wrote, "In this new season of migration, when the economy acts like a centrifuge, it is equally challenging to keep a family together..."

As I wasn't alive in 1982, I can't really say what the economy was like. Nor can I say much about the "new season of migration". But I can say something about a centrifuge. I've used one probably 2 dozen times during the 7 weeks of bio-lab I've had so far and will probably use it more in the coming weeks. A centrifuge literally spins around in circles causing everything inside your tube to get squished into the tip, creating a little pellet. I'm not sure how this can describe an economy. Unless, of course, she means that all the wealth got spun around in circles until it all ended up in the hands of a very few people (making up that pellet). Ah well. If you could provide some insight, that would be much appreciated.

On a similar, but probably not related note, there was a funny moment in my lecture course today. The professor that was speaking had a total brain fart when describing initial thoughts about coral reefs. Apparently early scientists of the species thought that the corals were..."umm....what's the name for, uhh, vegetarians?" "Herbivores" (said someone from the audience).  "Thank-you" (from the professor). It was a great lecture. He told us about 2 research projects he worked on measuring the affects of stresses on coral reefs (increased amount of nutrients, increased water temperatures, increased sediment runoff, etc). One was in Israel where they worked out of a military tent while the military vessels sailed past checking on their work. The other was off the coast of Key Largo, FL where they lived 80m under the ocean surface for 10 days with a broken toilet where they had to venture out of the habitat to a separate bubble and "release more nutrients into the ocean column" and then told us of the certain fish that liked to hang around and bit the legs of those using the bathroom. Good times. Oh, and they couldn't have an open flame because they were under pressure, so they had to eat freeze dried astronaut meals for those 10 days.

Test Your Savvy on Religion

see orignial: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/opinion/10kristof.html?src=me&ref=general
Time for a pop quiz.

Damon Winter/The New York Times

Nicholas D. Kristof

On the Ground

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Nicholas Kristof addresses reader feedback and posts short takes from his travels.

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The New York Times reported recently on a Pew Research Center poll in which religious people turned out to be remarkably uninformed about religion. Almost half of Catholics didn’t understand Communion. Most Protestants didn’t know that Martin Luther started the Reformation. Almost half of Jews didn’t realize Maimonides was Jewish. And atheists were among the best informed about religion.
So let me give everybody another chance. And given the uproar about Islam, I’ll focus on extremism and fundamentalism — and, as you’ll see, there’s a larger point to this quiz. Note that some questions have more than one correct choice; answers are at the end.

 1. Which holy book stipulates that a girl who does not bleed on her wedding night should be stoned to death?
a. Koran
b. Old Testament
c. (Hindu) Upanishads

2. Which holy text declares: “Let there be no compulsion in religion”?
a. Koran
b. Gospel of Matthew
c. Letter of Paul to the Romans

3. The terrorists who pioneered the suicide vest in modern times, and the use of women in terror attacks, were affiliated with which major religion?
a. Islam
b. Christianity
c. Hinduism

4. "Every child is touched by the devil as soon as he is born and this contact makes him cry. Excepted are Mary and her Son.” This verse is from:
a. Letters of Paul to the Corinthians
b. The Book of Revelation
c. An Islamic hadith, or religious tale

5. Which holy text is sympathetic to slavery?
a. Old Testament
b. New Testament
c. Koran

6. In the New Testament, Jesus’ views of homosexuality are:
a. strongly condemnatory
b. forgiving
c. never mentioned

7. Which holy text urges responding to evil with kindness, saying: “repel the evil deed with one which is better.”
a. Gospel of Luke
b. Book of Isaiah
c. Koran

8. Which religious figure preaches tolerance by suggesting that God looks after all peoples and leads them all to their promised lands?
a. Muhammad
b. Amos
c. Jesus

9. Which of these religious leaders was a polygamist?
a. Jacob
b. King David
c. Muhammad

10. What characterizes Muhammad’s behavior toward the Jews of his time?
a. He killed them.
b. He married one.
c. He praised them as a chosen people.

11. Which holy scripture urges that the "little ones" of the enemy be dashed against the stones?
a. Book of Psalms
b. Koran
c. Leviticus

12. Which holy scripture suggests beating wives who misbehave?
a. Koran
b. Letters of Paul to the Corinthians
c. Book of Judges

13. Which religious leader is quoted as commanding women to be silent during services?
a. The first Dalai Lama
b. St. Paul
c. Muhammad

Answers:
1. b. Deuteronomy 22:21.
2. a. Koran, 2:256. But other sections of the Koran do describe coercion.
3. c. Most early suicide bombings were by Tamil Hindus (some secular) in Sri Lanka and India.
4. c. Hadith. Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet to be revered.
5. All of the above.
6. c. Other parts of the New and Old Testaments object to homosexuality, but there’s no indication of Jesus’ views.
7. c. Koran, 41:34. Jesus says much the same thing in different words.
8. b. Amos 9:7
9. all of them
10. all of these. Muhammad’s Jewish wife was seized in battle, which undermines the spirit of the gesture. By some accounts he had a second Jewish wife as well.
11. a. Psalm 137
12. a. Koran 4:34
13. b. St. Paul, both in 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2, but many scholars believe that neither section was actually written by Paul.

And yes, the point of this little quiz is that religion is more complicated than it sometimes seems, and that we should be wary of rushing to inflammatory conclusions about any faith, especially based on cherry-picking texts. The most crucial element is perhaps not what is in our scriptures, but what is in our hearts.

I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.

Fox News on Hulu

I can't help but feel like I was in some way responsible for this addition to the TV site since I sent about 40 emails to various Fox personalities asking why they were so against sharing their video with folks like me who don't care to pay for access to the channel. But I'm concerned as to why they are the only videos which are so proud to include the intro and conclusion telling us that these videos are exclusive for Hulu. Are they censoring something? Or just embarrassed to share with the free world (taken literally) what they tell the paying world? Sigh, I guess it's back to the emailing for me. I really would love to get my hands on some "Fox and Friends" because honestly, they HAVE to do better than what is used as soundbites on youtube and certain comedy central shows.

rally to restore sanity/keep fear alive

Wow, I'm not sure where I've been recently, but I'm extremely excited for October 30th. I LOVE Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. They are definitely my type of people. I won't be able to attend, but my heart is all there. I also love that it's also a campaign to raise money for schools.

I didn't realize how serious this was until I saw Colbert's speech to congress. Wow. I have to say that I think I've used similar arguments while being sarcastic to friends and family about this. I like that as I post this someone thought it fitting to complain in the comments section about his "lying" to congress by being in character. I don't know how it can be called lying when it's his way of expressing his opinion. This debate has been going on for at least a decade with parties on both sides using formal, traditional tone. And it's getting no where. What they need to hear is what everyone's too afraid to say; what they all say behind closed doors. He gives a quite reasoned argument, which few people do when being themselves. Ask Mr. Glenn Beck: he's quite fond of contradicting himself within one sentence. What I find upsetting about this is the lady of congress who is spotted texting while she should be listening. Something tells me that this was more performance than actual speech for someone in that room, and I don't think it was Mr. Colbert.

Please check out the Rally to Restore Sanity or Keep Fear Alive.
More interesting information found at: http://www.jonstewartrally.com/ and http://www.colbertrally.com/

The power of a voice.

I had an interesting thought while at dinner tonight.This year is the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy/Nixon debate. Everyone says that Nixon lost because he looked so bad and Kennedy looked so good in front of the camera. I started thinking about other speeches/debates and then thought about the mock debate a few years ago between "The West Wing" characters. So I wondered what would happen if we handed the speeches to different people to read, what would happen. Would the public feel the same way if personality didn't matter? It would definitely help Obama since he's quoted as saying that it didn't matter if he claimed the earth were round, the republicans would vote against him.

And it's not just the Kennedy/Nixon debate to test, anything would work. I had to look up speeches for an english class back in 11th grade and it was funny how it didn't much matter who I was reading, the tone was exactly the same. Subject might change, but the same allusions were made. I think it would be an interesting test to do a bit like Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are doing on the October 30th, only without letting the public in on it. Take a generic speech and some unknown actor and give it in town hall style. Maybe bill it as being partisan. Then judge people's reactions--cheers and jeers should be enough. The last lines could be that this was a "test of public sentiment" and give them information on where to find results if they care at all. I wonder what kinds of things all Americans would be able to agree on.

Random bit of Thursday

I've been having a heck of a month trying to remember all that I've been thinking of--I think lack of sleep is the reason for it. Anywho.

I read about Dairy Queen going to open about 100 stores in China. My question is...for those who always complain about the US sending jobs overseas, I wonder whether they are for or against this.

Have you ever realized how similar to Christianity Buddhism is? We were sitting in discussion for Early Japanese History chatting about what Buddhism was doing in year 1100 or so. Let's just say that I was quietly giggling to myself about belief in mappo (the decline of humanity/end of days), the formation of various sects of Buddhism with similar but different core beliefs on sin and enlightenment (read: salvation) (including campaigning that only through belief in their sect would save the soul from the mappo), and how one of the most important Bodhisattva promised in life that  he would not go on to nirvana without knowing that all the humans are saved. Then there was the whole fact that at this time there was a focus on getting Buddhism to the masses, not just to the aristocracy.

I hate stereotyping

 In response to the Islamophobic comments to this article.

I'm sorry. But why the heck does EVERYONE insist on grouping EVERYONE into categories that they don't belong in?!?! I personally think that 90% of the people who bother to comment on this rubbish news site are ignorant homophobic bigots who never leave their 5 acre farm and insist that their wives and female children wear skirts at all times and can't read anything other than the Bible. But no. I know enough females that choose to only wear skirts, enough people who live on farms, enough people who are opinionated to fall into my own trap. Why must we propagate the ignorance? Instead let's treat individuals as they really are.

How many Christian groups promote intolerance? I can give you 2 that have done something news worth in the past year: Dove World Outreach Center in FL and Westboro Baptist Church in KS. Does that mean that we should think all Apostolic and Baptist Churches are centers of intolerance? No. Heck. You know what the problem with the Christian faith is? It's that there is so much schism that you CAN'T group them all together. Why do people have fuel to hate the Catholics? Because you can go into any Catholic church and hear the same sermons. But that's not what makes a church it's own body. The Catholics use the same Bible as the Protestants and the Mormons and ALL those people who believe in Christ. Unless they are the group that thinks that only the KJV is correct which means that those people will want to kill me. And those folks over there who say that Catholics worship the Devil, Mary, Saints as equal to Jesus (take your pick)--I'm on their hit list too. There is no such thing as the Christian faith, because no one wants to admit to it because then you have to include "all of them". Poor Muslims for having a unified faith. Because then no one believes you when you say "that person is crazy--he doesn't really believe in what I believe". I guess that's what happens when your god doesn't allow for division. Oh wait. Doesn't it say somewhere in the bible that the Church (god's church, not a building) cannot be divided? OOPS...someone broke the rule.

If a church with only 50 members has a website, you can be sure that those with 100 have them too. Yup--the church I used to go to (Catholic--you can see that I'm biased) even has a website. Look them up. How many can you find with racist (pick your definition: religion, country of origin, etc) underpinnings. If they aren't bold enough, look for those groups to know to be racist (see above) and see what kind of faith they support. Neo-Nazis attack a number of races "and people with different political or religious opinions"--from Wikipedia. See--there's some "Christian" church out there with people who use their faith as some basis of their bigotry. Why Christian? Because they hate everyone else (see the community approved list.

What does it mean to have a religious community? Why is it that individuals walk into and out of churches of supposedly the same denomination and can only find one that they can actually agree with? As a former Catholic, I have to say that I don't agree with some fathers who think gays are unholy sinners, and to have one's tubes tied is a sentence to life in Hell. Actually, the priests who have had the longest tenures at my church were of a more moderate belief. To live in love free of lies is more holy than lying and cheating to protect against a fate that God gave you. To sentence your children to suffer in a life in which you had them but cannot pay for their well being is a similar sin. I know that this is the same difference you find in your own churches. I know that there has been some time that whatever denomination you are, you have seen a church of the same which you just think are a bunch of crazy nuts--either too liberal or too conservative. The Anglican church is splitting as we speak.

Christians have this luxury--to say "they aren't of my faith". We don't extend this luxury to those of other denominations. To the mainstream American, a Jew is a Jew and who cares if he's orthodox or non, kosher or not. A Buddhist is a Buddhist, etc. The same is true of the Muslims--are they Sunni or Shiite? Do we care? And why do we? At the end of the day we are all individuals with our own beliefs characterized by our own experiences. Why do the radicals attack? Is it because they've heard the snide remarks? The FL pastor didn't want to believe that his burning of the Qur'an caused violent protests in the middle east. All actions have reactions. Why do we only pay attention when the story turns violent and claim "we didn't see it coming"? Columbine, VA Tech, 9-11, that guy who killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum, Ft Hood, that guy who just killed 6 people this morning when his eggs were cold because that was the last straw. How often is the newsworthy story that "last straw"? What really are the causes behind the effects? Again, do we care? At what point will YOU attack someone? When does it quit having viable causes and becomes merely a matter of insanity--drowning your 5 children, microwaving your newborn, etc.

And one last thing, I promise. How many truly evil people have hidden their intentions behind benign faces?

Jobs

You'd think that there were no jobs in existence in this country (see previous post). Curious, I decided to do some job searching of my own. I found quite a few just in the state of Virginia. I've heard a lot about people who just don't know how to get hired and that's why they can't find work. I'm sure this is common knowledge to a lot of people, but I also handed out a lot of applications 2 summers ago when I worked at a small store down the street of my house. There are a few dos and don'ts to follow for those who are looking for work.

1. Make sure you actually want the job you're applying for. With those applications, it was not uncommon for women to walk in off the streets and rudely ask for an application. We weren't really hiring (there was an 80 hour cap on hours per week, so employees were limited), but that didn't stop me from handing out the applications--at least these people were trying. Maybe 3 came back completed out of the 40 I gave out. And one of those was from a guy who included his resume then bugged us for the next 3 weeks that if we weren't going to hire him, he needed his resume back because it cost him money and he needed it to apply for another job. Seriously--when you're applying to a crummy job (i.e. one that's going to be long hours for minimum wage) apply in person if possible. I got the application on a whim, turned it in a week later (after having spilled water on it) and was just going to hand it over and leave, but ended up with an impromptu interview and tour and was hired right then and there. That help wanted sign had been up for about a month and had ANYONE showed the slightest interest would have gotten it. So, my advice is that you need to remember that you are competing against people who honestly are applying just because they have to in order to keep their unemployment benefits.

2. I've heard many people talk about their resumes and how they really look immature. Even the best educated people don't have the most talent with writing resumes--heck, I think of myself as a pretty smart person and I know that I'm not a very good writer of anything. I also hate to "sell" myself which is exactly what you need to do on a resume. So, best advice--get someone professional to look over yours. Employment agencies will probably do it for free, especially if it's for people who have been out of work for awhile--and I'm sure such agencies will do the review work online.

3. Do as your future employer asks. If they want a cover sheet, include a cover sheet. If they want a resume, include a resume, etc. Any applications that are missing items WILL be thrown away. To assume otherwise is a waste of your time. Also, if you want to keep your job, you should really assume that your boss knows best. Too often people get fired of quit because they think that their boss is an idiot. While this may be true, don't let it lead you back down the path of unemployment. If you absolutely hate your job, start job searching. Nothing says that you can't look for a job while you already have one.

4. Be willing to move. If you are one of those persons who doesn't want to leave your area, then I hope you are resigned to being unemployed for a very long time. Just saying--you have to go after the jobs, not wait for the jobs to come to you.

5. Be willing to work below your potential. If nothing else, you will learn a lot about the world. Working at that store did extraordinarily well in helping me decide that I want to do a whole lot better with my college education. But income is income. And if you have a problem with illegal immigrants taking your potential jobs, like I said to begin this, make sure you actually want the job that you are applying for.

Jobs Lost

Hmm...54,000 jobs lost in August. Ya know--that's a highly speculative number. I agree that when you know that 150,000 jobs were lost by the census workers who knew their job was only temporary (leaving a net increase in jobs of 67,000)and then you realize that August probably is a high month for job losses anyway because of the end of the vacation season. I know that everyone who was making a buck or 2 at summer camps, ice cream parlors, and souvenir shops in tourist traps either lost their job or is only working there for off season possibilities and/or just to keep the doors open all year. Similarly, I predict that business will begin to thrive in college towns. I know that I'm already used to coming back to school in late August to find 3 or 4 new businesses on the Corner because the previous ones didn't survive the deserted summer season. Do we need to do something to increase employment? Yes. But also remember, the "natural" unemployment rate is 5%. Which is low for most countries in this world.

Letter to Glenn Beck

was reading up on your 912 project and just about had an annurism from laughing so hard. I want you to think exceptionally broadly (which may or may not be possible) and look VERY closely at something.

"and when we demand that we are self-reliant, we will ensure that others can rely on us, not the government."--from your website
"b : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed"--a definition from Marriam-Webster (I'm going to hold off on what it's a definition of for the time being so as to not throw you off).

So, to what extent do you propose that "others can rely on us, not the government"? Do you include things like, say, housing, jobs, food, etc? Those things that welfare and social security cover? That people can go to their community members and ask for help as they need it? So, if I'm a poor man trying to feed my family, say, with farming, the community will do it's best to help me to become self-sufficient. Would that include giving me land to farm on? When my baby gets sick, the community would do it's best to help her get better--even if that means asking the community doctor to help her free of charge? At what point does community assistance to self-reliance end?

Now, how do my questions relate to that definition? Aren't they mutually compatible--where the "goods owned in common" include what is "owned" by the community members that can be given freely to help the individual become self-sufficient--without the use of the government (I shan't debate the validity of saying (or implying) that there is no government in a community that you describe).

Getting the picture yet? Now....what do you say to the fact that that 2nd definition belongs to communism? Ignore all preconceptions and arguments about it, the society you envision with self-reliance regulated by the community is a communistic society. You don't say that "WE can rely on US", you say "OTHERS can rely on US"--so you agree with me that the only way to fix society is for the community to get off their asses and aid those around them--even if it means giving up the 80 acre PRIVATE PROPERTY compound that houses 4 people in a 4000 sq ft mansion VOLUNTARILY to support the upward mobility of a poor family of 10. That sure as hell isn't capitalism which would ask how much could you sell that property for nor is it socialism in which some arbitrary 3rd party TELLS you to do it.

Blink and you're dead

Creepy tale from the world of Doctor Who :-). I love how deliciously scary the angels are.

Yay communism

This article made me chuckle. I would love to hear some "conservative" or "liberal" viewpoints on it.

Wow, a country with its head on straight.

In S. Africa, when a top music star kills 4 students he gets his house threatened to be burned down. While I don't agree with facing violence with violence, it's nice that he isn't getting a record deal out of the ordeal.

Censorship in the US.

Yup, yup. Happens everyday by those you'd LEAST expect--CONSERVATIVE VETERANS. Okay, I exaggerate (but only in terms of the group doing the censoring)--I'm sure they don't censor everything, but I sure do know that they censor enough.

Case in point--the Smithsonian Museum, 1995. The Enola Gay incident. Shame, shame, shame.

In 1945, the Enola Gay was the plane that dropped the 1st Atomic Bombs ever, the first on Hiroshima and resulted in the death of approxiamtely 200,000 people (mostly civilians). It also dropped the 2nd bomb, landing on Nagasaki, of which several more hundred thousand civilians died. You see, the Veterans (who I love dearly, most of the time) don't want you to know that. When the Smithsonian tried to show these numbers and what it's REALLY like to have a 8,900lb dropped on your city where 69% of buildings were completely destroyed and only 7% were severely damaged (with those numbers, it means, "if it was hit, it was totalled"). Yeah, hiding under your desk isn't gonna save you--you'd better hope for a direct hit because if it's just close enough to not kill you, you're going to wish that you were dead. The Japanese deserve to have their pain shared with the world--especially when it's the truth. What would we say if the Afghans deleted 9-11 from their history?

Jefferson also agrees with the arbitraryness of the term bible.

I jokingly call one on my Envi Sci textbooks "the bible" because it is a compilation of 3 other books with no index.

"Jefferson was a self-taught architect who learned the art by studying books on the subject. He particularly admired the work of the Renaissance Italian Andrea Palladio, whose Four Books of Architecture Jefferson reportedly referred to as "the Bible."" Found this on the Monticello website here.

20 Pictures of the REAL cost of war.

Wow. Just. Wow.

See here.

Wow, someone with a clue!!

Really, I think this opinion is self-explanatory. Enjoy.

Interesting...

So. The great debate between conservatives and liberals over education continues. Actually, I myself find this article to be quite revealing. I never realized that conservatives don't particularly like TJ, but I guess that's only a certain subset. Also, I'm thinking of trying to win that $1000 for charity (maybe for planned parenthood?) because if I remember correctly, the 1st amendment says that there will be no establishment of a religion, which also means that there can be no one religion over any other. SO, if this is a "country under god" that also includes Allah and Zeus. And Christianity isn't a religion, so we can't just say that we're a christian country--sorry peeps, but you can't choose an arbitrary subset as a religion--religions have doctrines and as Westboro Baptist Church illustrates, not even the Baptists can agree on what their religion is supposed to be.

But I'm tired...I'm not even sure how much sense this blurb of mine makes. In any case, it sure doesn't make sense to me that when one party/group makes a decision on content that the story becomes "more balanced"--I don't like being told what I believe--they always screw it up.

Care to answer any of these questions?

Remember when grandparents and  great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade  education? Well, here is what you had to know in 1895.

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas , USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina and reprinted by the Salina Journal.   

8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina, KS - 1895  
Grammar  (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name  the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications
3. Define verse, stanza  and paragraph
4. What are the  principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case;  illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for  principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of  about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical  use of the rules of grammar.
  
Arithmetic  (Time,1 hour 15  minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2.  A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many  bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs  3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050  lbs. For  tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000.  What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at  $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost  of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of  $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the  cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per  metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days  (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm  at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write  a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt
  
U.S.  History (Time, 45 minutes)  1. Give the epochs into  which U.S. History is divided
2.  Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and  results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial  growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of  the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the  most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the  following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620,  1800, 1849, 1865.
  
Orthography  (Time, one hour)  [Do we even  know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic,  orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3.  What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters,  linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5.  Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters  in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark  diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name  the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last..
9.  Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks
And by syllabication.
 
Geography  (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon  what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas  ?
3. Of what use are  rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the  following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate  the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the  Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which  the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10.  Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the  earth.
The student were given five hours to complete the exam, and gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new  meaning.

Tea Party People

Yeah, they confuse me. I mean, seriously, where have these people been?!? I read an article in the NYTimes about said tea party-ers here and it got me seriously thinking about these people...who are they and where did they come from, primarily. So, I started doing some math.

1960--the beginning of the wild times when just about everything changed in the US. Welcome in the generation that ends with love, sex, and drugs, JFK and LBJ and eventually protesters of the Vietnam war. So, pretty much our baby boomers People who in 1970 were about 20 years old. 40 years later, these people are about 60. For some of us, these are our parents, for others, our grandparents (by us I mean the 20 year olds of today).

But for some reason, I don't see a bunch of Vietnam draft burners being the primary "out of the woodwork" movers and shakers of the Tea Party Movement. And I'm going to put all my money down that at least 50% of the Tea Party Movement (with me being conservative, because my gut says closer to 70%) are right around 45 years old.

And I think I'm right. Glenn Beck comes in right at 46 years old. The "Alex P. Keaton" generation, I'm going to start calling it. Think about it. In 1984 these kids were turning 20 years old, entering college and everything was about "The Reagan". Republicanism was the "it thing" to combat the hippies that are their parents. What are the most beloved movies of the 1980s? The "Brat Pack"--a bunch of upper middle class suburban yuppies whose biggest fear is to belong to the wrong clique in high school. If I was a 45 year old member of the Tea Party Movement I would HAVE to agree with this analysis because otherwise, they are just a bunch of uninformed ignorant soccer moms and accountants who have NO idea what they are actually doing.

THIS is the problem with the Tea Party People--where the hell were you 10 years ago?!? Where were you 6 years ago?! IF they are for a more fiscal conservative government, why was it okay for Bush to be reelected in 2004?--they claim today that they disagree with his increasing the national debt for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but I guess that didn't matter 6 years ago. I guess the fact that the government was allowing businesses to pull the crap that they did to set the stage for the financial meltdown 10 years ago wasn't so important. I think I'm more worried about the fact that these people are suddenly getting into the whole politics scene than about what they actually stand for. It's like, where were you when your 16 year old kids asked you why you could vote for a person like that back in 2004?

I do support the Tea Party Movement (as you will hear true from most 20 year old democratic-libertarians) HOWEVER! Those who think like me, and I tend to think of myself as a very moderate central leaning person of the majority, will tell you that we do NOT agree with destroying the US government as it was established 230 years ago. The system is as perfect as it can be, given the fact that people are greedy and sometimes stupid beings. There MUST be checks and balances and all the rest that our system incorporates. The problem? It's the same problem as 1910--PLEASE watch "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". It's a bunch of Fat, Greedy Cats who are doing what they can to make a quick buck while pretending to represent their constituents. If you want to reform Washington, you have to send honorable people there. It's not impeaching one man who HASN'T DONE ANYTHING! I don't understand this whole call to reform the presidency when REALLY Congress has ALL the power. Will I say that Obama has failed to pass anything of any importance? Yes. Why couldn't he pass anything? Congress. Why is the Health Care Bill full of tons of (literal) shit? Obama didn't write it (and he sure as hell better not sign it as is)--Congress did.

You show me a congress willing to accept term limits and who will take a pay cut and I'll show you a better Federal Government. Quit focusing on who will be president in 2012 (*cough, I'm not voting for Palin even if I have to vote Satan instead)--focus on the fact that guys have been serving 35 terms and DYING in office--really--have they made your life ANY better?

Finally. An excellent idea.

 I just read this article and I'm quite impressed.

By the way, my 10th grade class (gosh, 5 years ago) also agreed with me when I mentioned that this is how high school is run in many other countries.

"Money" is just paper.

I'm totally going to buy my new computer with cowry shells. Seriously, though, how rich do you think those poor people would be if they could actually "sell" their actual worth? I honestly think a carpenter is worth more than a CEO, but that's just me and my love of the barter system as the way to undermine the big banks.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/u_s_economy_grinds_to_halt_as

Q/A with professor about Global Warming

1st off, this starts out reading like some of the labs I wrote in Ecology and will write in other Envi. Sci. courses. "Statistically Significant" is the bane of my existence--I hated statistics when I took it and I hate trying to remember (i.e. not screw up) whether a number bigger than alpha means it's significant or whether it's supposed to be lower than alpha to be significant. And seriously, just because a number isn't statistically significant doesn't mean that it isn't a hell of a lot close enough to be so.

As for the "trick" seems to me that taking KNOWN inaccurate data out of the mix. In other words he was using tree-ring data which did not correspond with known data measured by instruments, so there was obviously an error in the tree-ring data which is much harder to measure accurately. Trust me, I know a LOT about inaccurate data gathering, which is why I don't plan to become a real scientist.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8511670.stm

Jon Stewart on The Factor

Definitely should be watched. I still think Jon gets a WIN. O'Reilly won't let Jon speak. Like every time Jon says something important, O'Reilly talks over him/brings up something stupid.

The customer is always right...

...sometimes. I've heard the old adage numerous times throughout my life. The closest chain pizza shop to my house had 2 rules behind the counter: "#1 The Customer is always right. #2, see #1."

So, imagine my surprise when I came across this site which gives anecdotes of all the stupid stuff shop workers, tech support, etc. go through on an almost daily. But this site thrives on how dumb people can be.

I was quite surprised to read this article which talks about service in France where equality is a must.

I guess it all centers around the fact that service workers are people too and no one should take this common statement to much to heart. Sometimes the customer isn't right and sometimes the worker is just plain rude.

American's Charged for Child Trafficking in Haiti

Yeah, what a bunch of Dumb-A$$es. Seriously, there is NOTHING that differentiates them from other child traffickers--hence the importance of PAPERWORK!! Just another case of overenthusiastic volunteers who think they can change the world without having a CLUE as to how to do it! Yeah, I've had experiences with that type of person who has no concept of reality. I have my own healthy dose of naivete, but at least I know that while it may seem stupid to an overall good person, there is a reason behind the madness. There can't be a double standard for those who "claim" good intentions, because no child trafficker is going to say "hey, I'm just going to take your kid and sell him into slave labor". 

However, I am surprised to hear that they got charged, but then again, what they did is against a clear law--that there must be proper paperwork to cross country lines with children which are not yours. Maybe this will be a WIN for the common sense movement. So, to end, good luck ladies. Sorry about your situation, but you really should have known better. Hopefully your sentence isn't too tough and will keep other people like you from  trying the same dumb act.

Charging MPs for theft in the UK.

So, how come we don't have this kind of control over OUR congressmen?!?!

A new way to think about marriage.

Being gay in China tells the stories of 3 men in China about their experiences as being gay there.

Funny. So many people who are so deathly afraid of allowing gay marriage would ALSO be terrified that the government would put such a restriction on people's lives as China does.


Here's an American blogger's view on internet in China. As I have a friend currently stuck behind the great firewall in China, it isn't a myth that sites are blocked. I'm just glad that she isn't in this specific area--where she is is much more open.

***
With the recent start to get rid of "Don't ask, Don't tell", I was quite happy to see this letter from a gay pilot who is in the process of being unfairly discharged. I hope that this will finally bring to light the fact that not every gay is a "flamer" and that most are just like straights in their life goals, etc--it's just who they want to be romantically with that is different.

Paying for Health Care

I came up with this plan when Health Care was first brought to my attention when I was about 16 years old (I guess this was the 2004 election). And you know, I think it's a pretty reasonable plan: Let's make every state, city, county, whatever the same as a corporation.

Hear me out. Okay, so when businesses decide to offer insurance to their employees they start looking for the company that is willing to give the most "bang for their buck". Generally the agreement between business and employee is that both will pay half, maybe more depending. But, pretty much the business will let the insurance companies fight over who will get the deal. The bigger the business, the more higher the proportion of healthy people to not--the healthy people will end up paying for the care the non-healthy need. This is the problem with the private insurance situation--not enough healthy people buy it because they're healthy--why need it. So. The business gets the best deal, the employees pay the least price, and the insurance companies make money--trifecta of win for all.

So, here's my grand scheme. Use the same system, but with the government as the deciding factor (like the CEO ultimately decides on the insurance company of choice, so does the top Government official). The area used can really be anything--city, state, county, whatever. Just not country because that would be a monopoly and make the whole system redundant. And then we let all the current insurance companies fight over the areas. Everyone will "buy" places with really healthy people, and grudgingly take the places with all the unhealthy people. So to be fair, all areas will be ranked with proportion of obesity for the given population. The more lower ranked an area is, the higher they can take from the healthy areas (so the company that takes the "sickest" area also has access to the "healthiest")--the only rule is that by the end of the day, ALL areas must have a sponsoring insurance company. Pricing for the policies will be based on income with those who make more paying a more "traditional" price (no one is allowed to be charged more than they would pay for a traditional private policy), BUT the minimum policy is one where you get 1 free check-up a year and coverage for any bill over $2000 and a co-pay of whatever is normal for doctor/ER/whatever visits and tests. I think my parents pay $100 a month to cover 4 people with this kind of service--but I might be COMPLETELY wrong--I haven't had to buy insurance yet and haven't paid too much attention to it. The insurance company can decide on pricing. And the government (the one in charge of insurance decisions) will pay our of our taxes those costs over the amount expected by everyone to pay. For example: the insurance company sets the price of that basic policy at $100 a month, but the government decides that someone making less than $15,000 a year can only afford $50 in insurance a month--the government will pay the difference. However, the government will ONLY pay the difference between what they expect someone to be able to pay and the amount of the cheapest policy. Should a person decide to sign up for a more expensive policy, they are responsible for everything over the amount allotted (so, if they are deemed able to pay $50, and the cheapest policy is $100, but the person wants the $200 policy, they have to pay the $150 not covered by the government's $50 grant out of their pocket). The amount the person pays in sales tax should more than pay for the difference in their insurance policy.

Now, someone who makes $100,000 a year can choose to purchase the basic policy and it will only cost them $100 a month, even though the government has decided that they should be able to pay $500 a month for better service (or whatever). The insurance company decides on the prices, so it's not like they're going to lose money on this policy. And no currently held policies will be ended. The only law that affects the public is that EVERYONE must purchase an insurance policy there are no exceptions. (Okay, the Amish just claimed to be exempt, and I'm willing to give it to them since pretty much the world can "end" tomorrow and they will survive. They don't need internet or fancy hospitals. But I just looked up the Amish on Wikipedia and I think that having a church "insurance" policy is quite sufficient.)

And the government in charge of insurance will be allowed to seek a better policy yearly as part of the law. However, in all cases, no ones' policy rate can be risen by such a move. If the insurance company decides to raise it's rate, there must be 3 months notice in advance so that all parties can decide to change companies privately or choose to keep the same policy at the higher rate--those who can no longer afford the cheapest policy will get a government grant of the difference. But if the government decides to change companies, they cannot do so if it means that current policies will be more expensive (that they are choosing to go to a company which the cheapest policy is $115 when the current cheapest policy is $100 is illegal) unless the new policy offers more services, though this can be debatable as there is a minimum policy standard for a reason. However, in this case, the government will be paying the difference, so it will not cost the individuals for the payment increase.

Initially, the distribution of insurance companies nationwide will be even--in a sort of NFL draft pick like system the companies will choose with each government making the final decision. Then, after 1 year the governments can decide whether another company could do a better job. I'm less concerned about how companies are placed with an area than the way in which the policies are distributed.

However.The prices set as area prices are not available to those outside of the area. If you work for AIG, you cannot get the discount price for employees of Hot Topic, so the same standard is true for the area policies. But, of course, the individual insurance companies can decide to offer the discount price to all if they wish--or they can decide to charge a higher price to  those who are "out of area". All discounts are at their discretion.

Should any insurance company go out of business, it's areas will immediately go back onto the national market to be picked up by the other companies in the same way as decided initially as the way of dividing the areas--unless the government has already found a new company, which should actually be the first option (government THEN back onto the national market). BUT, when this emergency change is made, for 3 months the new company must accept the previous pricing, and must give notification at the time of acquisition of all the coming changes in pricing, just as if it were a "normal" change in insurance company.

Any bills acquired during the emergency transfer of insurance company will NOT be eligible for late fees, etc. caused because of the inconvenience. The medical places must wait for reimbursement and/or the patient will be reimbursed once all paperwork is settled.

Did I miss anything? Maybe I should send this to Washington since they can't seem to not steal when it comes to health care.

Communism

After learning all about the plan Mao had in mind and how his communism almost worked, I started thinking--Communism has SERIOUSLY been misrepresented and is too easily confused with Socialism. They are to VERY different entities that shouldn't be confused. Let me explain:

Socialism is when the government takes from those who have to give to those who don't have in order to make everyone equal. Yeah. It doesn't work.

Communism involves no government. It is a totally individual run entity. And it's something that to an extent we already to--it's totally just an act of sharing within your community. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"--or so says Marx. No where does it say "You must give everything and receive it back". That is just stupid. Your neighbor needs a cup of sugar, you need a babysitter so you can run to the store to pick up some bread--that, my dear, is Communism. Expand it further as far as you need. Maybe in a society there will be a doctor who works for food and clothing because he cannot acquire for himself these necessities while caring for your child. But since the barter system has already proved itself inefficient in use, there is no reason why dollars can't be used instead.

But it's not capitalism. It's not "it cost me $5 to make this, so I will sell it to you for $25". The secret to Communism is giving things actual worth. Identifying actual costs is 95% of the crap that is wrong with our current Capitalist system. You ask anyone and "Profits" is the most important thing to ANY company. Guess what? Profits means absolutely nothing! All profits do is stuff the pockets of businessmen who happen to own the company. Look, I have NO problem with people making a wage that would astonish me (i.e. anything over $100,000 a year). Too many people defend big business because it is their "right" to make as much money as humanly possible without REALLY thinking about what they are allowing. The peons of Wal-mart don't get a pay raise when the company makes a profit--it's those who don't have a wage, but just decide to split the profits after paying the costs (i.e. the peon's wage, cost of the goods, etc.). This doesn't mean that stockholders get paid--the profits can pretty much go where ever the bosses decide. Research and Development? Ehh...I think they bill that under costs. Nope. Right into their pockets. That's where most of our money goes. What we NEED to do is make companies set wages of big bosses. It can be 25 Billion dollars a year for all I care, but I want to make sure that when they make that 26th billion, it isn't going into someone's pocket. I don't know about you, but I don't think I'll ever be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and I don't think I'd want to, but so what if my salary is limited to 25 Billion? Do I REALLY need that 26th? Nah, I'm good. How come their salary isn't limited? They sure do limit MY salary. But please, don't see this as an attack on big business--it's not at all. Every SINGLE dollar earned over cost can go to R&D--where the REAL work is done. You can't deny Steve Jobs--he designs so F@*%ing AWESOME stuff--it sells itself with a little help from the advertising department. So, in my perfect world, those big bosses get their set salary where all "profits" can be spent ANYWHERE BUT into their own pockets--unlike the current system.

That last paragraph is my defense as to why Communism won't become a major player for at least the next 100 years. Greed kills perfection bud. But if you like playing fair and creating a closer world, buy locally in small businesses. And come up with a way to do this kind of cost-benefit analysis to improve the health care system--I don't care what I have written here--so far as I care, capitalism as we know it is the ONLY way to ensure excellent care. I have no idea where to cut costs in research and there is no way in HELL I would cut the salaries in any way to doctors, nurses, whatevers. But using these resources more efficiently definitely helps. Being healthy is the BEST way to reform health care. BUT 100% of being healthy is in going to the doctor, which can't be done if it costs an arm and a leg to go. This is why EVERYONE needs insurance. As for making health care affordable, see my next post.

Yemen

I'm watching some of the older videos on my hulu account that are about to expire--namely Colbert and Jon Stewart. Of course, the top news for January 4th or so was still the underwear bomber. Here's what I don't understand:

WHY THE HECK IS YEMEN A NEW COUNTRY OF TERROR?!?!? DOESN'T ANYONE REMEMBER 2000 WHEN THAT WAS THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF THE BOMBERS OF THE USS COLE?!?!? Or is that only relevant to one small 12 year old who remembers seeing the faces of the 17 dead on the front page of the paper and reading the stories of their lives. How about walking into a classroom and having a teacher mention that she had taught one of the 5 dead who grew up in and around Norfolk? I'm actually disappointed by Stewart and Colbert to not have picked up on this--it makes me sadder that the 17's deaths were in vain. RIP.

Excellent article

Seriously. Read this article about why people vote against reforms. To be fair--that health care bill is a piece of work and a half, but don't those congressmen add in all their special interest BS BECAUSE their constituencies would be FURIOUS that an honest congressman would say he would support a bill that gives health care to Nebraska without giving his state of Oklahoma some kind of benefit. Yay for being a "Christian Nation" who doesn't give a S#!T (excuse my French) about any state other than the one that we live in. Just because I live in Southern Virginia (which should be a completely different state than Northern Virginia because they are crazy), doesn't mean that I won't allow our Governor to pass laws that affect the whole state--like seat belt laws. I won't even say that in order to allow it, the governor has to give money to Norfolk to pay for a light-rail system (which is a FAILURE of EPIC proportion!).

Fox News on Hulu.com

Okay, I know I sent a LOT of annoying emails to various fox personalities complaining that there is no access to Fox News for me (I like to know what the enemy is saying). Yeah...they complied, but not in a good way. I figured that they would just stream their current programs on the "television" site, but instead, I'm not sure what they did. The media is from at least 2008 (I quit adding to my queue once I hit the election, so there may be more). But they actually took the time to make it look like the news has always been online--a commentator at the beginning to introduce it as "Fox News on HULU.com"...HULU is HUGE on the first screen. I need to pay more attention to whether that intro is the same commentator though the rest of the clip. But since I know that at least part of it is fake, I have no idea what to think about the rest of this--how was this news used a year and a half ago?!? Is the commentary totally new, made to look like Fox News made better news then? I'm so confused! Or rather, I'm so annoyed. ABC news was also recently added to the site--they only have the past 2 weeks or so. Why does Fox News need to be special (ed.)?

By the way--WOOO! For Mrs. McCain for standing up for gay right to marry. I KNEW I liked her!! She should totally run for president!

Paying the hospital bills

Seriously! I can't wait to have a situation where I need to pay a hospital bill of $1000 or so. My dad was telling me about all his experiences paying for bills which insurance didn't cover. All he had to do was sign a contract saying that he would pay what he could afford per month (in this case, $20--which was very true as now father of 2, making a combined $30,000 a year with my mom in 1990). Then he would pay whatever he could out of his paycheck every week even though it came out to be well more than the $20 a month (though rarely amounted to more than $100 a month).

The hospital had the gall to get impatient for his money and sent the bill to a bill collection agency. My father, keeping his own records, refused to pay said agency because he was abiding by the contract and he wasn't going to pay the interest that the agency could charge. By LAW medical bills cannot collect interest, but once it's sent to an agency it can, because the agency pays off your debt to the hospital and then it's just regular debt. This made for what I consider a FUN development. My dad continued to send his payments, weekly, to the hospital, even though they weren't sending him a bill. SINCE he was abiding by the contract there's not a dang thing they could do about it--can't take him to court for not paying his bill; can't instruct him to pay that agency for the same reason. The hospital had to deal with all the paperwork--sending the information to the agency, and paying all those people and no one was collecting that interest.

THAT, my dear, is sticking it to the man AND why I think medical bills are awesome--why WOULDN'T you want to pay them, haha.

But, a $1000 bill to be paid off in a year is one thing. That's what was left after insurance pays. EVERYONE MUST have insurance or spending one's life sending $20 a week to pay off a million dollar bill will be a waste to ALL.