So I was sleeping soundly, I think, last night when I woke up wanting an olive or three. As I was standing there in front of the open fridge door, some questions came to mind.
Not the logical questions you might expect from a finely tuned mind such as mine: “Why did I wake up?” “Why Olives?” “Could this mean I am pregnant?”
Nooo, not those questions. These were much more insidious. Questions like: “Why these stupid skinny bottles you can’t get a spoon in?” “Who decided man should eat bitter, half ripe fruit?” “Red and green, should these be Christmas food?” “What madman said “Hey, let’s rip the seeds out and stuff these little red things in.’?” “What the hell is a pimento anyway?”
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
First They Came For . . .
To paraphrase Pastor Martin Niemöller:
In Obamaland they first came for the banks,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a banker.
Then they came for industry,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an industrialist.
Then they came for those who did not support single payer,
and I didn't speak up because I was uninformed.
Then they came for the media,
and I didn't speak up because I was a believer.
Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
In Obamaland they first came for the banks,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a banker.
Then they came for industry,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an industrialist.
Then they came for those who did not support single payer,
and I didn't speak up because I was uninformed.
Then they came for the media,
and I didn't speak up because I was a believer.
Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Lies About Lies
Moveon.org recently sent out an email claiming to debunk lies about health care. Since the House bill is available online, their claims were easy to check.
The “lies” are listed by number. They are followed by the language from the actual bill as posted on the House of Representative’s official web site.
Here’s the web site for anyone who wishes to verify: http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf
Line numbers are included for ease of reference.
Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!
The bill has senior counseling by someone with a fiduciary responsibility to the state on this and more:
Pg 426-7
4 ‘‘(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the
5 continuum of end-of-life services and supports avail
6 able, including palliative care and hospice, and bene
7 fits for such services and supports that are available
8 under this title.
9 ‘‘(F)(i) Subject to clause (ii), an explanation of
10 orders regarding life sustaining treatment or similar
11 orders, which shall include—
12 ‘‘(I) the reasons why the development of
13 such an order is beneficial to the individual and
14 the individual’s family and the reasons why
15 such an order should be updated periodically as
16 the health of the individual changes;
17 ‘‘(II) the information needed for an indi
18 vidual or legal surrogate to make informed deci
19 sions regarding the completion of such an
20 order; and
21 ‘‘(III) the identification of resources that
22 an individual may use to determine the require
23 ments of the State in which such individual re
24 sides so that the treatment wishes of that indi
25 vidual will be carried out if the individual is un-
1 able to communicate those wishes, including re
2 quirements regarding the designation of a sur
3 rogate decisionmaker (also known as a health
4 care proxy).
So the white coats who work for the government and have that responsibility to save government money, the white coats most elderly respect, even defer to, are going to come in and talk to them about death instead of life. And we already know borat favors letting the old die. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dQfb8WQvo
OK, technically it is not euthanasia but it is as close as you can get without putting the plastic bag over their heads.
Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!
Page 16
1 SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT
2 COVERAGE.
3 (a) GRANDFATHERED HEALTH INSURANCE COV
4 ERAGE DEFINED.—Subject to the succeeding provisions of
5 this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable cov
6 erage under this division, the term ‘‘grandfathered health
7 insurance coverage’’ means individual health insurance
8 coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the
9 first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:
10 (1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT.—
11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
12 this paragraph, the individual health insurance
13 issuer offering such coverage does not enroll
14 any individual in such coverage if the first ef
15 fective date of coverage is on or after the first
16 day of Y1.
Unless your current coverage pleases The Government, it will die because it is not allowed to enroll new members.
Pg 17
8 ( GRACE PERIOD FOR CURRENT EMPLOYMENT9
BASED HEALTH PLANS.—
10 (1) GRACE PERIOD.—
11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner
12 shall establish a grace period whereby, for plan
13 years beginning after the end of the 5-year pe
14 riod beginning with Y1, an employment-based
15 health plan in operation as of the day before
16 the first day of Y1 must meet the same require
17 ments as apply to a qualified health benefits
18 plan under section 101, including the essential
19 benefit package requirement under section 121.
And if it survives 5 years with no new members, The Chosen one will kill it or force it to change so that it is no longer the plan you had.
Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!
Page 71:
(ii) BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS.—
7 Amounts appropriated under clause (i),
8 and outlays flowing from such appropria
9 tions, shall not be taken into account for
10 purposes of any budget enforcement proce
11 dures including allocations under section
12 302(a) and ( of the Balanced Budget
13 and Emergency Deficit Control Act and
14 budget resolutions for fiscal years during
15 which appropriations are made from the
16 Trust Fund.
17 (iii) LIMITATION TO AVAILABLE
18 FUNDS.—The Secretary has the authority
19 to stop taking applications for participa
20 tion in the program or take such other
21 steps in reducing expenditures under the
22 reinsurance program in order to ensure
23 that expenditures under the reinsurance
24 program do not exceed the funds available
25 under this subsection.
There’s your rationing. With a planned $2 Billion cut to Medicare and 80 million baby boomers to hit the system in the next few years, the only question is 2 years or 5 years before it starts.
Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!
Secretly? They have made no secret about cutting Medicare funding. Under his proposed budget Medicare Advantage as we know it is a goner. See the WSJ: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/02/26/obama-budget-cuts-medicare-advantage-helps-generic-biotech/
And the CBO chief’s testimony on these “savings”: http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/testimony/2009test/022509detest.pdf
Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!
Turbo Tax Timmy says we're so broke we need to go deeper in debt:
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has urged Congress to set new statutory debt limit, increasing it from the current USD 12.1 trillion limit.
In a letter to the US lawmakers, Geithner called on the US Congress to act swiftly before the current public debt hits its limits by mid-October.
"It is critically important that Congress act before the limit is reached so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain confident that the United States will always meet its obligations," noted the US Treasury Secretary in his letter published on Monday.
Meanwhile analysts have expressed dissatisfaction with the management of the US economy, which has created uncertainty about the amount of additional debts that the world's largest financial hub can handle. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103098§ionid=3510203
Let us not forget The President Himself told us we are already broke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkzGz1xR7DQ
The CBO, for those who can remember past last week, says obamacare will add an additional Trillion plus. If his own words and the need to increase the debt limit don’t indicate we are already broke, healthcare will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
The “lies” are listed by number. They are followed by the language from the actual bill as posted on the House of Representative’s official web site.
Here’s the web site for anyone who wishes to verify: http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf
Line numbers are included for ease of reference.
Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!
The bill has senior counseling by someone with a fiduciary responsibility to the state on this and more:
Pg 426-7
4 ‘‘(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the
5 continuum of end-of-life services and supports avail
6 able, including palliative care and hospice, and bene
7 fits for such services and supports that are available
8 under this title.
9 ‘‘(F)(i) Subject to clause (ii), an explanation of
10 orders regarding life sustaining treatment or similar
11 orders, which shall include—
12 ‘‘(I) the reasons why the development of
13 such an order is beneficial to the individual and
14 the individual’s family and the reasons why
15 such an order should be updated periodically as
16 the health of the individual changes;
17 ‘‘(II) the information needed for an indi
18 vidual or legal surrogate to make informed deci
19 sions regarding the completion of such an
20 order; and
21 ‘‘(III) the identification of resources that
22 an individual may use to determine the require
23 ments of the State in which such individual re
24 sides so that the treatment wishes of that indi
25 vidual will be carried out if the individual is un-
1 able to communicate those wishes, including re
2 quirements regarding the designation of a sur
3 rogate decisionmaker (also known as a health
4 care proxy).
So the white coats who work for the government and have that responsibility to save government money, the white coats most elderly respect, even defer to, are going to come in and talk to them about death instead of life. And we already know borat favors letting the old die. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dQfb8WQvo
OK, technically it is not euthanasia but it is as close as you can get without putting the plastic bag over their heads.
Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!
Page 16
1 SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT
2 COVERAGE.
3 (a) GRANDFATHERED HEALTH INSURANCE COV
4 ERAGE DEFINED.—Subject to the succeeding provisions of
5 this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable cov
6 erage under this division, the term ‘‘grandfathered health
7 insurance coverage’’ means individual health insurance
8 coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the
9 first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:
10 (1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT.—
11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
12 this paragraph, the individual health insurance
13 issuer offering such coverage does not enroll
14 any individual in such coverage if the first ef
15 fective date of coverage is on or after the first
16 day of Y1.
Unless your current coverage pleases The Government, it will die because it is not allowed to enroll new members.
Pg 17
8 ( GRACE PERIOD FOR CURRENT EMPLOYMENT9
BASED HEALTH PLANS.—
10 (1) GRACE PERIOD.—
11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner
12 shall establish a grace period whereby, for plan
13 years beginning after the end of the 5-year pe
14 riod beginning with Y1, an employment-based
15 health plan in operation as of the day before
16 the first day of Y1 must meet the same require
17 ments as apply to a qualified health benefits
18 plan under section 101, including the essential
19 benefit package requirement under section 121.
And if it survives 5 years with no new members, The Chosen one will kill it or force it to change so that it is no longer the plan you had.
Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!
Page 71:
(ii) BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS.—
7 Amounts appropriated under clause (i),
8 and outlays flowing from such appropria
9 tions, shall not be taken into account for
10 purposes of any budget enforcement proce
11 dures including allocations under section
12 302(a) and ( of the Balanced Budget
13 and Emergency Deficit Control Act and
14 budget resolutions for fiscal years during
15 which appropriations are made from the
16 Trust Fund.
17 (iii) LIMITATION TO AVAILABLE
18 FUNDS.—The Secretary has the authority
19 to stop taking applications for participa
20 tion in the program or take such other
21 steps in reducing expenditures under the
22 reinsurance program in order to ensure
23 that expenditures under the reinsurance
24 program do not exceed the funds available
25 under this subsection.
There’s your rationing. With a planned $2 Billion cut to Medicare and 80 million baby boomers to hit the system in the next few years, the only question is 2 years or 5 years before it starts.
Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!
Secretly? They have made no secret about cutting Medicare funding. Under his proposed budget Medicare Advantage as we know it is a goner. See the WSJ: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/02/26/obama-budget-cuts-medicare-advantage-helps-generic-biotech/
And the CBO chief’s testimony on these “savings”: http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/testimony/2009test/022509detest.pdf
Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!
Turbo Tax Timmy says we're so broke we need to go deeper in debt:
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has urged Congress to set new statutory debt limit, increasing it from the current USD 12.1 trillion limit.
In a letter to the US lawmakers, Geithner called on the US Congress to act swiftly before the current public debt hits its limits by mid-October.
"It is critically important that Congress act before the limit is reached so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain confident that the United States will always meet its obligations," noted the US Treasury Secretary in his letter published on Monday.
Meanwhile analysts have expressed dissatisfaction with the management of the US economy, which has created uncertainty about the amount of additional debts that the world's largest financial hub can handle. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103098§ionid=3510203
Let us not forget The President Himself told us we are already broke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkzGz1xR7DQ
The CBO, for those who can remember past last week, says obamacare will add an additional Trillion plus. If his own words and the need to increase the debt limit don’t indicate we are already broke, healthcare will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Apology
The Obama recently accused, after admitting he did not know the facts, the Cambridge police of acting stupidly.
He then offered a public “apology.”
Those of us who are familiar with children know that was no apology. It was a string of excuses and an attempt to pass the blame for his own stupid comments. “But Mom, Tommy wouldn’t give me his truck.”
As I write this, some of the true believers are expecting borat obummer to offer a new version of his apology, one that may contain real apology words like “mistake,” “sorry,” or even “I was wrong.” I suspect, based on past experience with the Racist Rev Wright, that this new apology will be forthcoming in a few days. However, as with the children in our lives, this will be no more a real apology than when little Billy apologized to Tommy only after being threatened with missing dinner. Just as obummer only tossed Wright under the bus after realizing he could lose votes.
What have we learned from this?
Well, if Sgt. James Crowley were black and Henry Louis Gates white, anyone jumping to the conclusion the officer was wrong would be labeled a racist.
Do we call obama a racist? I’ll leave that decision up to you but at the very least, we have to realize barry is not the post-racialist he pretends to be. Especially in light of the way he tried to tie the racism of the past to the events with no knowledge of the facts.
--------------
As an aside, is it just me or when obama talks, does it remind you of the way real mouths are stuffed into anime cartoon faces
He then offered a public “apology.”
Those of us who are familiar with children know that was no apology. It was a string of excuses and an attempt to pass the blame for his own stupid comments. “But Mom, Tommy wouldn’t give me his truck.”
As I write this, some of the true believers are expecting borat obummer to offer a new version of his apology, one that may contain real apology words like “mistake,” “sorry,” or even “I was wrong.” I suspect, based on past experience with the Racist Rev Wright, that this new apology will be forthcoming in a few days. However, as with the children in our lives, this will be no more a real apology than when little Billy apologized to Tommy only after being threatened with missing dinner. Just as obummer only tossed Wright under the bus after realizing he could lose votes.
What have we learned from this?
Well, if Sgt. James Crowley were black and Henry Louis Gates white, anyone jumping to the conclusion the officer was wrong would be labeled a racist.
Do we call obama a racist? I’ll leave that decision up to you but at the very least, we have to realize barry is not the post-racialist he pretends to be. Especially in light of the way he tried to tie the racism of the past to the events with no knowledge of the facts.
--------------
As an aside, is it just me or when obama talks, does it remind you of the way real mouths are stuffed into anime cartoon faces
Sunday, July 19, 2009
IE 8: Malware from Microsoft
I "upgraded" to IE 8 yesterday because several sites had messages they were about to stop supporting 6.
Installation:
Tries to change your preferred search (to bing, of course)
Changes your homepage without asking.
Installs bing as a second homepage so both tabs open when you start IE.
Does not appear to have a way to delete temp files without deleting cookies too.
Hides the "Temporary Internet Files" folder in a way I haven't figured out how to undo - including making hidden and system files/folders visible and using the attrib command.
Has some new way for web pages to access your system.
Adds all the microcrap, radio, money, msn, etc to your "favorites" at the top of the list.
In short, another entry on the list of "Why my next computer will be a Mac."
Installation:
Tries to change your preferred search (to bing, of course)
Changes your homepage without asking.
Installs bing as a second homepage so both tabs open when you start IE.
Does not appear to have a way to delete temp files without deleting cookies too.
Hides the "Temporary Internet Files" folder in a way I haven't figured out how to undo - including making hidden and system files/folders visible and using the attrib command.
Has some new way for web pages to access your system.
Adds all the microcrap, radio, money, msn, etc to your "favorites" at the top of the list.
In short, another entry on the list of "Why my next computer will be a Mac."
Saturday, July 18, 2009
The Czar Letter to Obama
TO:
Barry Sorento
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Barry,
It has come to my attention that you have now appointed thirty-some individuals who may reasonably be called czars.
Clearly, this many individuals need some sort of supervision to make sure they stay on message and do not make conflicting statements.
Equally clearly, you do not have time to do this personally as you jet around the world apologizing for America and taking your wife on dates. If you did, Joe “The Gaffer” Biden would not be such an embarrassment to your administration.
I have, therefore, taken the liberty of appointing myself the czar coordinator, the czar czar if you will.
I now request you make use of some of that $787 Billion in stimulus to stimulate this unemployed American by making this a paid position at a salary commensurate with the duties.
Oh, and don’t worry about my fitting in with your other appointees. I can file fraudulent amended tax returns since tax fraud seems to be a job requirement under your administration.
Sincerely,
An American in Need of Real Stimulus.
Barry Sorento
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Barry,
It has come to my attention that you have now appointed thirty-some individuals who may reasonably be called czars.
Clearly, this many individuals need some sort of supervision to make sure they stay on message and do not make conflicting statements.
Equally clearly, you do not have time to do this personally as you jet around the world apologizing for America and taking your wife on dates. If you did, Joe “The Gaffer” Biden would not be such an embarrassment to your administration.
I have, therefore, taken the liberty of appointing myself the czar coordinator, the czar czar if you will.
I now request you make use of some of that $787 Billion in stimulus to stimulate this unemployed American by making this a paid position at a salary commensurate with the duties.
Oh, and don’t worry about my fitting in with your other appointees. I can file fraudulent amended tax returns since tax fraud seems to be a job requirement under your administration.
Sincerely,
An American in Need of Real Stimulus.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Celebrity Foundations Piss Me Off
I was watching TV earlier when I realized celebrity foundations piss me off. You can thank Michael J. Fox for this revelation.
I am sure most of us know he suffers from Parkinson’s. Many of us know he now has his own organization.
And that is what pisses me off. Why the hell should we support this foundation – or any other started by a celebrity - after they or someone close to them contracts a disease?
In Fox’s case, as with breast cancer, spinal injury, diabetes, and a host of other diseases, there are a number of existing organizations. The National Parkinson Foundation (http://www.parkinson.org/Page.aspx?pid=201) has been around since 1957.
Why does Fox need his own? Does it somehow improve on the efforts of existing organizations? Wouldn’t throwing his support behind then do as much or more good than starting his own? Does he receive some income form it or does it just feed his ego?
There are a few exceptions to this. Celebrities who have worked for others for years, given their time and effort, used their face and power to help others with no personal connection. Jerry Lewis comes to mind. Although he has suffered from prostate cancer, diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis, he is best known for his work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) telethons. (Some great video clips from past telethons on the web site: href=http://www.mda.org/telethon/ )
I suggest when we see some celebrity starting a foundation we ask ourselves if they wouldn’t do more good by throwing their support behind others already doing the work. Then we find those existing foundations and support them.
I am sure most of us know he suffers from Parkinson’s. Many of us know he now has his own organization.
And that is what pisses me off. Why the hell should we support this foundation – or any other started by a celebrity - after they or someone close to them contracts a disease?
In Fox’s case, as with breast cancer, spinal injury, diabetes, and a host of other diseases, there are a number of existing organizations. The National Parkinson Foundation (http://www.parkinson.org/Page.aspx?pid=201) has been around since 1957.
Why does Fox need his own? Does it somehow improve on the efforts of existing organizations? Wouldn’t throwing his support behind then do as much or more good than starting his own? Does he receive some income form it or does it just feed his ego?
There are a few exceptions to this. Celebrities who have worked for others for years, given their time and effort, used their face and power to help others with no personal connection. Jerry Lewis comes to mind. Although he has suffered from prostate cancer, diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis, he is best known for his work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) telethons. (Some great video clips from past telethons on the web site: href=http://www.mda.org/telethon/ )
I suggest when we see some celebrity starting a foundation we ask ourselves if they wouldn’t do more good by throwing their support behind others already doing the work. Then we find those existing foundations and support them.
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