Aliens and Healthcare (by guest author Aaron)

As any reasonable person knows, only aliens require constant health care; aliens, and liberals. I'm a huge advocate of health care as it will prolong my alien and liberal life, one or more or less gods rest my soul.

I digress, however, to point out that there is not really a downside. We shun taxes as we would the bubonic plague. And why is that? Living in a "free" and "equitable" country is often times neither free, nor equitable, and simply because I didn't believe in a absurd war, was I simply not to pay taxes? Could I separate the troops from their mission, supporting the former while denying the validity of the latter?

But clearly it's different when the shoe is on the hoof of another species. How is it that a health care bill that would benefit both liberals and conservatives is being thrashed by the conservatives who want no health care bill at all? We opt to take care of everyone, yet they continually opt to take care of only themselves. Clearly benefiting the nation as a whole is only a silly ideal....

It seems that these conservative arguments are continually exacerbating the rift between parties and you fail to realize that we're supposedly united. Imagine all that we could accomplish together if we'd simply pull our heads forth from our rectums, and agree that while you bicker, we all die.

The needs of the many truly outweigh the needs of the one.

I also feel the need to point the rather obscure objection made in the Senate to require the reading of a nearly 800 page document outlining a framework for a National Single Payer Healthcare system, or in short, Medicare for all authored by Bernie Sanders. Claiming to want to know what the bill was about while realistically only aiming to kill time before the winter recess seems like a move engineered with the intent of killing something that may be beneficial for the country. But why benefit the country at all?

And why these "elected officials" are so dead-set against healthcare for all is beyond me, vying for the attention of the masses from their pulpits, and indeed with just a hint of hypocrisy, since these government officials HAVE THEIR OWN HEALTH CARE! They don't sneeze without seeing a doctor while many die simply because they don't have that luxury.

With all the advances and claims that America is the greatest nation on the planet, I think it's high time that we started acting like it, as opposed to carrying on like a mass of recalcitrant children.

We left the age of "Gentleman's Duels" behind and instead choose to hide behind a mask of words and insinuations, as clearly this makes us far more civilized than our predecessors, but in the wake of this advancement, we fail to accomplish absolutely anything.

It's always too soon to take about healthcare reform. This is odd, considering reform was on the tips of everyone's tongue only as recently as 1940!

But I'm sure we will continue this pointless charade and dance, and talk our way into snake burrows until the end of time. Maybe that's the endgame; delay healthcare until there is absolutely nothing to care for anymore!

Replaced my iPod battery for $25

My 30GB video iPod has been a trusty device ...until the past month or so. The HOLD button stopped working. OK. I can deal with that. But the battery life had also started tanking. I could charge the iPod and after an hour or so it would still show as full or nearly so and then suddenly drop to the red zone and then die. I could have sent the iPod to Apple, but they charge $59 or more, it would be a couple of weeks before I'd have an iPod back, and it wouldn't be the same iPod --  Apple returns a different iPod of the same model. Not acceptable.

So after a little research, I ordered a battery replacement kit for $25 (including shipping) from Milliamp. The kit shipped within a day and was here one or two days later. A pic of the kit appears at the left (click to see full size). The kit includes a tool to open the iPod, very detailed instructions with pictures, the new battery, and a small screwdriver (which I didn't need).

I admit it was a little spooky to split my iPod open and perform the surgery. But the entire process only took about 10 minutes, and I had my iPod back together with a new battery. Did I mention that it is my iPod? All my files are intact, my custom engraving and skin is still there, and I did not have to go for days/weeks without the device. The ribbon cables are quite delicate, and one does need to be careful, but it is definitely a very doable task ...and much cheaper vs sending off to Apple.

Oh, and if you buy a kit from Milliamp, they allow you to send them your old battery and they'll recycle it. Nice!

Insane healthcare 'survey' from right-wing whack job

Today in the mail I have received the "2009 National Survey of 1,000,000 Seniors Concerning President Obama's Plan to Force Socialized Medicine on America" (here's a scan of page 1). Wow.

This would be laughable if it were not for the fact that there are so many sheeple who believe anything spewed from the blathermouths on Faux News and right wingnut talk radio (O'Reilly, Beck, Limbaugh, et al). If people would read the proposed bills and think for themselves, instead of trusting the scare tactic snippets that they see and hear, we might be able to have a real discussion about healthcare solutions. But the conservative media and the co-opted Republican Party want nothing to do with real discussion.

There are numerous problems with the mailing I received:

1. It's addressed to "Seniors". Hey man, I'm barely past 50! I'll be working another 20 years before I retire - maybe more. I think it's time to shift the term "senior" to correspond to the retirement age defined by Social Security. But that's my own personal issue :)


2. Um, WHAT "Plan to Force Socialized Medicine on America"? Have these folks read any of the proposed legislation? I have. I see nothing about socialized medicine. I don't even see anything proposing a single-payer system like Canada's (which is different than a socialized healthcare system like in the UK ...but I suspect that if these folks understand the difference, they do not want to let on)


3. "Force"?!? Nope. The best I'm hoping for is that a public option is available to people who have no other option. My dad went bankrupt from medical expenses (eventually paying the bills off - even though he did not legally have to) because he had no other choice; no one should have to go through that. But there's certainly nothing in the proposals about ANY socialized system, let alone forcing one on people.


4. The questions in this "survey" are not worded in anything CLOSE to an unbiased manner. Example is Question 6: "Do you think adopting a massive Socialized Medicine system, like what President Obama is proposing, is more likely to help or hurt the U.S economy?" ...Sheesh, that's like asking, "Pope Benedict, when did you stop beating your wife?" ...a question so incredibly insane and inane, there is no possible way to respond, other than to ask the questioner if they are current on their meds.


5. "Question" 13: "In addition to sending your $12.95 Annual CSA Membership Dues for 2009 ..." and it goes on to ask for more money. Um ...no.


6. They also ask for a voluntary $10 "Survey Processing Contribution" ...and an "Additional Gift". Hey, if I had more money to give, I would donate more to the local food bank and to other organizations that truly help people.


7. And the worst part about this mailer: it is from Jim Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition. This should really be named the Insane Hate-Spew & Lies Coalition. One prime focus of the site and organization is to spread anti-gay falsehoods. It's hard to look at the site for too long.

Also curious to me was that the return envelope says that the organization is an alternative "to the Far-Left AARP". WTF?!? And yet again all I can say is ...wow.

Healthcare: Are Republicans becoming irrelevant?

This evening we attended what was supposed to be a healthcare townhall meeting in Tampa. It was supposed to be an opportunity to learn about H.R. 3200, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009". Florida State House Representative Betty Reed attempted to host a forum in which people could listen to US House Rep Kathy Castor describe the bill for 10 minutes, have a discussion from a panel, and then open it up to discussion. Here's a copy of the agenda that was handed out.

What happened was that the room was, I am sure, filled beyond fire marshal limits (at least 200 in the meeting room - glad I arrived an hour early). A crowd estimated at over 1,000 was outside. As Rep Castor tried to speak, the mob would yell and chant, refusing to allow anything close to civil discourse. After I witnessed a couple of shoving matches, heard banging on the doors, banging on the windows (I was standing in an aisle by a window), something THROWN from outside at the window where I was standing ...it became apparent that this was not a safe place to be.

Initially I saw one uniformed police officer present. Another officer arrived, but there was no way two officers could contain this disgusting mob. The sad thing is that I know SOME people there (like us) wanted to hopefully learn something. I was having a quite cordial discussion with one person who was conservative (I'm a liberal), and she had written down some questions that she had hoped to ask. She truly had hoped to attend a townhall meeting where neighbors can discuss an issue and hopefully treat each other with respect.

As the mob became increasingly loud - inside the room and outside - and after witnessing a couple of shoving matches that I thought were going to escalate into all-out brawl, we decided that there was no point in sticking around, and we left.

As we made our way past the crowd outside (hundreds of people from each side of the issue), I was happy to see more police arriving. When we met up with friends later we were told that police in riot gear arrived, and the meeting was dispersed.

Kathy Castor IS planning to continue trying to reach out to her constituents, quite possibly next week, but this time plans to do so via phone; people could call in and hear her speak and then pose questions via phone in an orderly manner. That will allow everyone to hear, it will be safe, and hopefully those who wish to use their "inside voice" will be able to ask questions.

The Republican Party has no solution to offer for healthcare reform, so all they can do is try to prevent discussion. So far, I've not heard anyone from the Republican Party denouncing the unruly, rude, and dangerous behavior of these mobs. Why will they not stand up and denounce this attempt to stifle the democratic process and open discussion?

Until the Republican Party offers solutions - not just obstructions - they will continue to sink deeper and deeper into irrelevance.

It Could Happen to You!!!

Greetings all! For those of you who may have been wondering why I was out on Thursday, let me enlighten you.

Around 9:30 PM, I was headed northbound on I-75, approximately one mile from the Fletcher Avenue exit, when I began to experience a thumping sound and a very rough ride. I expressed myself with creative words, up until about one half mile from the exit.

The thumping got worse, then there was a loud popping sound, a distinct sound of metal to asphalt, and a very unhappy me. I proceeded to pull over into the right lane and jog my way over to the shoulder to assess what caused my terrible noise when what to my wondering eyes should appear?!? The tread of my driver side tire taking the opposite course as me.

Under a street lamp I prepared to install my spare tire, only to have the street lamp go out and find out that my tire was effectively shot, at which point I called FHP.

They arrived in no time flat, five to ten minutes, aided me in getting a spare which they provided onto my car, and escorted me off the road to safety. The only problem I had was that I didn't get his name, because I fully intended on calling FHP once more to compliment his fine and courteous service. For the problems you hear about law enforcement, there are still some who hold up their "protect and serve" motto.

Once the sun rose in Lutz the next day, I drove to Kauffman tire, found out my tire was special order (but covered by Dunlop). No cost to me. Yay! Friday morning I picked up my tire, mounted on my rim, since luckily it was minimally damaged, only several scratches, and put it on.

In the process I found out that my rain guard flap behind the driver tire was gone, along with a trim panel. The ABS Wheel Speed Sensor had been ripped out of the body of the car, and the control arm was warped. Since these are all minor but aggravating, I'll start to work straightening it all out on Sunday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

PS - IF THIS HAPPENS TO YOU, my best advice is DO NOT APPLY YOUR BRAKES. Coast to a stop. Since metal has much more resistance the rubber, you run the risk of spinning the car, or worse, flipping it over. I'm lucky I knew.