Explosive Expressions

These are the people representing you, America. Instead of fair, balanced debate of the issues, the GOP resorts to interrupting the process and acting like petulant children. The people of America have spoken and ELECTED those that are in congress. Obviously we want those people representing us. We want them making these decisions, and we want to see health care reform move forward.

The GOP had their chance to show America that it was right. They released details of their so-called healthcare plan (HR 3962) that they claim is better and will cover more than the democratic bill. In fact, however, the CBO reports that their bill will have almost no effect on healthcare at all. It will reduce the deficit, but just barely. Quoting from the CBO:

CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that the amendment would reduce federal deficits by $68 billion over the 2010-2019 period; it would also slightly reduce federal budget deficits in the following decade, relative to those projected under current law, with a total effect during that decade that is in a broad range between zero and one-quarter percent of gross domestic product.

But, you say, there are provisions in the bill to reduce the cost even more and help people afford it! Well, the CBO looked at this as well and concluded:

CBO and JCT estimate that those provisions would increase federal budget deficits by about $8 billion over the 2010-2019 period, reducing the number of nonelderly people without health insurance by about 3 million in 2019 and leaving about 52 million nonelderly residents uninsured. The share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage in 2019— 83 percent — would be roughly in line with the current share.

So after all of the crap they’ve been spouting about how much better their bill is, in the end, it helps no one. In fact, after ten years, there will be LESS coverage. Genius. Keep up the great work, you morons..

Found this over on mint.com … Pretty decent depiction of what’s going on and how to handle it. In short, stop freaking out over the Swine Flu. It’s just the flu. That’s all. Just a bit more catching than we’re used to. So you know how to deal with it, right? Use your common sense. Wash your hands, cover your mouth if you cough, etc. If you’re sick, stay home and try not to spread it. If you’re sick and really feeling bad, call a doctor. If you’re having trouble breathing, have a high fever, or have some other sever symptom, go to the emergency room.

See? Easy enough. It’s not all that bad. As for the vaccine, use your common sense. If you’re in a high risk group, go get vaccinated. If you’re not, then don’t bother, leave the vaccine for those that really need it.

Enjoy the graphic.

Religion … The cause of so many of the worlds current problems. From the fanatics who will do anything, including die, for their supposed cause, to those that get so caught up in religion, they believe the impossible and hurt those closest to them.

Then there are those who embrace it sanely and use it to be better people. They don’t preach, they don’t push their religion on others, they just try to be examples.

Well, I guess it has some merits.. So if you’re looking for a religion, here’s some help. Thanks lol god !

Voter Intimidation. Interesting. Hey conservatives.. I find it insanely ironic that you claim Obama is a facist, communist, socialist, and even compare him to Hitler, and yet your party is intimidating voters. Voter intimidation is something we typically hear about happening in foreign countries. For instance, there was widespread reports of voter intimidation in the Afghan elections. It’s absolutely pathetic and disheartening to hear about this behavior in US elections.

Way to set an example, guys.

I don’t care what Cheney’s little brat says, I’m proud of my choice to vote for a President who will take the time to honor those that have fallen.

And a huge thank you to all the men and women who have given their lives to this great country. We may not be perfect, but we’re still here because of the sacrifices you have made.

Ok, seriously. Can someone please explain this ad to me?

Apparently it’s the same ad they ran in California for Proposition 8, albeit with a different actor. But it confuses me. I went through school, I did my time, I learned what I was supposed to. I don’t remember learning anything about marriage, though … No, not a single class on marriage. So why would allowing same-sex/gay/homosexual/lesbian/whatever marriage suddenly mean this will be a topic in class?

Sorry, but I think this is yet another scare tactic from those in the world with closed minds. I’m not gay, and honestly, the thought of sex with another man repulses me. But that’s me, and I don’t think it’s proper for me to force others to live like I do. I’ve had many gay friends over the years. And guess what?!?! It didn’t turn me gay! Seriously. I had gay friends, hung out with them, invited them to parties, and yet I still don’t have the urge to suck cock. I know, amazing.. I must be really lucky, because as we all know, gay is a disease. A disease that can be transmitted by merely hearing about it!

Ugh … stupid people sicken me.

Look, whether or not homosexuality is a choice or an inherited trait is irrelevant. It’s none of your business what a person does in the privacy of their own home. In public, people have the right to act how they want, provided it falls within the law. I don’t see you getting all up in arms about a boy/girl couple holding hands or even, *gasp*, kissing! I don’t see a problem with same-sex couples showing the same affection in public, either. Don’t like it? Go somewhere else. The same works for what you hear or see on radios and TV. Don’t like it? Change the station. Don’t like what’s on that web page? Don’t go there.

This is common sense, people. No one is forcing you to agree with this, and no one is forcing you to approve. There’s lots of stuff I don’t approve of. I’ve written about a bunch of it in this blog. But that’s what makes this nation such a great place to live. I can believe what I want, and no one has the right to tell me otherwise. And as long as I’m living within the law, you can all go to hell. 🙂

Can we stop trying to make laws that prevent people from doing things we find offensive? Yeah, we need laws against stuff like murder, rape, etc. But laws against marrying someone of the same sex? Where is the harm in that? It’s not your life!

Healthcare. Pass it. It’s about fucking time already.

Hey Democrats, grow some balls. You have a majority, try using it. Republicans don’t want to play ball? Fuck ’em. Seriously. They’re leading you on, playing games, and making you all look like asses. They’re saying one thing, acting on something else, and attacking you at every opportunity.

We have a bill. It’s not perfect, and it never will be. We have a bill that the CBO says will not sink the country. They go on to say that it will actually cut the deficit by $81 billion. The bad news, though, is that it is not universal healthcare as it would only cover 94% of the population. It’s better than what we have now, though, which is jack shit.

But, there’s no public option, which the CBO says would save even more. That doesn’t stop the jackasses on the right, though, as they still find a way to bitch and moan. But who the hell cares what they think. Without a public option, the insurance companies win. Period. There is no happy ending, there is no silver lining. Without a public option, the insurance monopolies will continue to be able to bend you over the table and have their way with you. Hope you like insurance rate hikes, because after all the money they’re spending on fighting healthcare reform, they’ll need to recoup it somewhere..

So do us all a favor, congress. Grow some balls. You have a majority, pass the goddamn bill already. And make damn sure it has a public option. I’ll gladly help pay for someone else’s medical bills if it means my own will be taken care of if I’m ever in need.

No, not those kind of boobs.. The wonderful kind! Hey, I’m a guy, I like tits. Get over it.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month. I’ve altered the site a bit to reflect that. Check out more breast cancer resources here.

Help out now and prevent the loss of this precious resource.

The public option. Surely you’ve heard of this concept before. After all, it’s being blasted all over the mainstream media. But do you know what it is? What exactly is everyone screaming about?

Well, simply put, the public option is a government run healthcare option. O. P. T. I. O. N. There is no requirement that you choose to use government healthcare, at least, not with the current proposal. However, there is a clause in the current healthcare proposal that requires healthcare of some kind.

The public option was voted down yesterday, though. This is a massive disappointment to me, even though I have no interest in participating in it. This may sound a little odd, so let me explain why I’m disappointed and what I think will end up happening if we don’t get a public option.

First off, having a public option would force healthcare providers to start competing for business. If there’s a free alternative, then the for-pay options need to have better benefits. For that reason in particular, I believe the public option should be a bare-bones option, allowing only minimal coverage. Given that, most people would probably prefer to have something better, but it still provides something for those that cannot afford anything else.

But if there is no public option, there is really no incentive for insurance companies to lower costs. Sure, the government can regulate the industry, but there is always a way around regulations. For instance, the government can prevent insurance companies from turning away people with pre-existing conditions, but you can be sure there will be a loophole somewhere that will allow the insurance company to make that person pay dearly for service. There will be virtually no way to stop them from raking in profits on the backs of those of us with coverage.

And this brings up another issue. If the mandatory coverage portion of the proposal is passed, then we have millions of people who need to get coverage, or will end up being fined. This is great news for insurance companies as they’ll have all sorts of new customers. But how do those people pay for coverage? Well, the current proposal mentioned subsidies for health coverage. In other words, the government will help those people pay for coverage. You know, kinda like Welfare. Welfare is great, right? Works perfectly, never abused. And it doesn’t cost the taxpayer anything, right? Yeah, if only..

The public option is extremely important. How important? Well, you can always judge the importance of something by how hard people fight for and against it. If the public option wasn’t a big deal, would the insurance companies be fighting it so hard? Why would republicans be decrying it as socialism? Why would people call it government-run healthcare and immediately mark it as bad when Medicare has been running well for years?

So, I’m a bit disappointed that the public option has been shot down, thus far. I suppose it’s possible it will make it back into the bill, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Corporate America has been influencing policy for years and I don’t expect that to change. After all, greed runs everything, doesn’t it?

This week, leaders from around the world are meeting in New York to attend the U.N. Security Council. There’s all sorts of talk about climate change, nuclear weapons, and other such topics. But what I’ve found interesting, thus far, is an interview that Newsweek had with the current Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

If you’ve been following the news in the past few months, or even reading my blog, you’ll know that Iran has been the source of some rather appalling news. With riots, human rights violations, and more, Iran hasn’t been a very pleasant place.

Putting aside the current state of Iran, though, read through the article I mentioned above. Put aside your pre-conceived notion of who Ahmadinejad is. Put aside the vitriol spouted about him in the media. Read what he had to say, and think about it for a few minutes.

Now that you’re done, let’s look a little closer at what he’s saying. Seriously, because I think what’s being said here is a bit more than the standard “He’s EVIL!” stuff you see in the media. Not that I’m arguing that point, but still, there is some food for thought here.

Let’s start with the Holocaust stuff. The popular media marks him as a Holocaust denier, but if you read what he actually says, I believe there’s more to it than that simplistic label. When asked why he would say there was no Holocaust, here’s how he responded:

What I am saying is extremely clear. It is an academic approach to a crucial subject and also one based on humanitarian considerations. What I am saying here is that in past history many events have happened, and in World War II many crimes were committed. Over 60 million people were killed and even more were displaced. So we have several specific questions with regard to the events of World War II, and I believe we cannot find the answers to these questions through the propaganda that is promoted by the media. In the end, the questions need convincing answers.

Ok, so far so good. So he’s admitting that people died and were displaced. He does seem to be equating historical information to propaganda, but that’s not so very wrong. After all, the winners generally get to write the history books, so equating it to propaganda isn’t so terribly wrong. But let’s move on, shall we? He mentioned some questions…

The first question that I have to try and understand is why in the midst of all that happened in World War II, the Holocaust is emphasized more than any other [event]?

Holy. Shit. Wow.. umm.. That’s one hell of a question. Think about it for a minute. Millions of people died during World War II. Why is the Holocaust emphasized so much? There are a lot of valid answers to this, but it’s still a damn good question. And his follow-ups are even better.

The second question is why do Western politicians focus on this issue so much? The third question is how does that event connect with issues that we see around us in the world today? Was this a historical event that happened in isolation without impacting the present conditions?

These are some thought provoking questions. On the one hand, I believe the reason this is brought up so much is that we need to learn from mistakes and do our best to ensure that such atrocities don’t occur again. On the other hand, it does get used a lot as an excuse for this or that. It is a historical event, though I’m not sure it has a direct effect on present conditions. Sure, it happened, it was an atrocity, and a lot of people lost their lives, but would the world be that much different today if it did not happen? Very hard to say, either way. Good food for thought, though.

The next question we should ask ourselves is if the event did take place, where did it happen, who were the perpetrators, what was the role of the Palestinian people? What crime have they committed to deserve what they have received as a result? Why exactly should the Palestinian people be victimized? Are you aware that over 5 million Palestinians have been displaced and have had refugee status? What role did they play in the Holocaust? Why is the Holocaust used as a pretext to occupy the land of other people? Why should the Palestinian people give their lives up for it? You are probably aware that there have been embargoes on the people of Gaza.

And now we get to the real meat of this issue. Remember, we’re talking about Iran here, home to palestinians. When we talk about Israel, the Holocaust is sure to come up. After all, the Holocaust was a deliberate attack on Jews, and it is argued that the formation of Israel is a direct result of the Holocaust. I believe this is what Ahmadinejad is getting at. Basically, the nation of Israel was formed as a home for the Jewish people. The problem is, it was created at the expense of the Palestinian people. Whether you agree or not, there were a lot of people displaced by that decision.

Now, add in the Holocaust to that. It is believed that the existence of the Holocaust resulted in a lot of empathy votes when the U.N. voted on the Palestine Partition Plan. For better or worse, we ended up with Israel and a lot of really pissed off Palestinians. The holocaust was not caused by the Palestinians, but it seems they are being made to pay for it. Or, at least, that’s what popular culture leads us to believe. There are those that disagree, of course.

He follows up with more, though you can read that for yourself.

After tackling the holocaust, Ahmadinejad is asked about the recent presidential election. During that election there was both protesting and rioting. Many believe that large numbers of protesters were unjustly arrested and have been mistreated ever since. These human-rights violations are apparently going to be discussed in Geneva in the near future and the interviewer asks if the president is prepared to talk about them. Interestingly enough, Ahmadinejad seems to deflect the question by asking how many people are imprisoned in the USA. He goes on to state the following:

Do you know the number of prisoners here in the United States? I will give you an answer; if you please, bear with me. You don’t expect me to give you the answer you are expecting. You have 3.6 million prisoners in the United States. Why are they in your prisons? Some of them are electrocuted. Why? Exactly why? There is a law here that deals with such matters. Could we say it is a bad thing? Could we address exactly why 3.6 million people are in prison? If nobody has violated the law, there is no reason for them to go to prison. Once the law is violated, then they could end up in prison.

What is interesting about this is how he tries to gloss over his countries actions by pointing out how difficult it is to make sure that every person in jail is supposed to be there. He then goes on to compare his countries judicial system to the system in the USA. He states that there are five stages to a court trial and that four of them are reviews of the case. Somehow this is to prove that they are much more diligent in Iran and will absolutely uphold the rights of the person being held.

He then goes on to state that other issues such as Guantanamo Bay, world security and disarmament, the economy, and more will be discussed in Geneva. He then rails on Europe and the rights violations that occur there. He states that merely discussing the Holocaust ends up with scientists and academics being imprisoned. But at no point does he mention that he is willing to discuss what happened most recently in his country. It’s interesting how he can spin a conversation and evade answering questions.

At this point the interview turns towards nuclear power, enriching uranium, and other nuclear-related topics. Personally, I’m not sure I trust his true intentions and I believe the U.N. needs to proceed with caution. He does, however, raise a number of good questions about procedure and legalities with respect to global nuclear law. I think those matters need to be looked into, but I’m of the opinion that the entire story isn’t being told.

I definitely don’t think Ahmadinejad has the best interests of his people at heart, and I would love to see him lose his presidency to someone who will fight for the people. That said, I think we need to tread carefully as he is a well-spoken, well-educated individual and I think he can be very, very dangerous.