Tag Archives: de-civilization

Kym Kardashian?

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Ok, I am a little behind on the latest Reality (which is, as Lily Tomlin said, for people who can’t deal with drugs).  I thought the Kardashians were an alien species on Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Since there was a Star Trek craze this summer (spring?), it seemed on-the-edge of reasonable.

So, now I know they have nothing to do with Star Trek, although the little I have read about them suggests that they are IN FACT an alien species.

I don’t need to watch someone else’s reality.  Mine is hard enough to follow.

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Lynette Squeaky Fromme

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The only reason to feel sorry for this Charles Manson follower and would-be assassinator of our then President Ford, is that she is 60 years old and STILL she is called Squeaky.  Is Lynette such a bad name?

Do you think she is different now?  It is hard to imagine a 60 year-old Manson follower.  It is like imagining your grandparents’ having sex.  But not as gross.  Eeewww.   Eeeeewwww.  I need to stop now.

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Health Care Lobbyists on Capitol Hill

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According to Bloomberg, there are FIVE lobbyists for every one member of Congress and the ratio is growing.  These lobbyists fall along the entire health care spectrum.

The burning question is:  Is this our legislative body or an episode of HBO’s Entourage?

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Reckless Indifference to the Truth

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If Sarah Palin believed what she says, then, ok, people can disagree on things. 

End of life issues are difficult, emotionally, culturally, religiously and not for the undecisive. 

But unless Sarah Palin wants to explain in Kerry-like fashion how she was for it before she was against it, I think she is just using anything to burnish her image as the true neo-con leader for 2012.

Why? because a Google search shows the text of her proclamation supporting end of life and quality of life decision-making:

spacerState of Alaska > Governor > Proclamations > Proclamations Archive

Healthcare Decisions Day  Print Now Printer Friendly

WHEREAS, Healthcare Decisions Day is designed to raise public awareness of the need to plan ahead for healthcare decisions, related to end of life care and medical decision-making whenever patients are unable to speak for themselves and to encourage the specific use of advance directives to communicate these important healthcare decisions.

WHEREAS, in Alaska, Alaska Statute 13.52 provides the specifics of the advance directives law and offers a model form for patient use.  

WHEREAS, it is estimated that only about 20 percent of people in Alaska have executed an advance directive. Moreover, it is estimated that less than 50 percent of severely or terminally ill patients have an advance directive.

WHEREAS, it is likely that a significant reason for these low percentages is that there is both a lack of knowledge and considerable confusion in the public about Advance Directives.

WHEREAS, one of the principal goals of Healthcare Decisions Day is to encourage hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities, and hospices to participate in a statewide effort to provide clear and consistent information to the public about advance directives, as well as to encourage medical professionals and lawyers to volunteer their time and efforts to improve public knowledge and increase the number of Alaska’s citizens with advance directives.

WHEREAS, the Foundation for End of Life Care in Juneau, Alaska, and other organizations throughout the United States have endorsed this event and are committed to educating the public about the importance of discussing healthcare choices and executing advance directives.

WHEREAS, as a result of April 16, 2008, being recognized as Healthcare Decisions Day in Alaska, more citizens will have conversations about their healthcare decisions; more citizens will execute advance directives to make their wishes known; and fewer families and healthcare providers will have to struggle with making difficult healthcare decisions in the absence of guidance from the patient.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the state of Alaska, do hereby proclaim April 16, 2008, as:

Healthcare Decisions Day in Alaska, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.

Dated: April 16, 2008

The only thing being murdered is the truth.

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Whistle-blower: Health care industry engaging in PR tactics

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Health care companies, like all persons invested in maintaining the status quo, stoop to any thing to prevent change.  The whistleblowers deserve our gratitude and thanks. 

IT IS NOT ABOUT THE OUTCOME; IT IS ABOUT A FAIR AND OPEN DISCUSSION AND DECISION BY VOTE OF OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES.

Are there too few of us who believe in the ideals of the democratic system?

 

From CNN, Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wendell Potter  . . . [t]he former vice president of corporate communications at insurance giant Cigna, who left his post, says the industry is playing “dirty tricks” in an effort to manipulate public opinion.

“Words matter, and the insurance industry is a master at linguistics and using the hot words, buzzwords, buzz expressions that they know will get people upset,” he told CNN Wednesday.

Now a senior fellow on health care for the watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, Potter writes a blog on health care reform. He is focusing on efforts to defeat legislation supporting a government health care plan — something he supports.

In early July, Potter testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, telling senators that “I know from personal experience that members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty and trustworthiness of the insurance industry.”

Potter described how underwriters at his former company would drive small businesses with expensive insurance claims to dump their Cigna policies. Industry executives refer to the practice as “purging,” Potter said.

“When that business comes up for renewal, the underwriters jack the rates up so much, the employer has no choice but to drop insurance,” Potter had said.

In an e-mail to CNN, Cigna spokesman Chris Curran denied the company engages in purging.

[go to CNN for more of the article]

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Did Glenn Beck really say it is all about reparations?

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We all knew that Glenn Beck is a fear-mongerer who has called Obama a racist. Now he says the whole basis for the health care reform is Obama’s desire to pay reparations for slavery.

Ok, there are so many things going on in that STUPID thought that we have to dissect it:

  1. Glenn Beck thinks only African-Americans will benefit from health care reform.
  2. Glenn Beck thinks health care reform that doesn’t benefit only Caucasians is not really reform.
  3. Glenn Beck thinks only true Americans are Caucasian (psst, Glenn, “whites” are not NATIVE Americans (remembered, our nation massacred them), and your family has probably been here only three or four generations).
  4. Glenn Beck thinks President Obama’s only attribute relevant to this debate is that he identifies as an African-American. 
  5. Glenn Beck thinks President Obama by virtue of this single attribute cannot govern for the betterment of the entire country.

GLENN BECK IS A DUMB ASS.

Glenn Beck, you are a sad, twisted guy.  I bet Bill O’Reilly is scared you have your eye on his time slot on Fox News. Which makes you even more evil — you are doing this for money and power and not because you believe it. 

But there is a place for everyone.  For you, Glenn, that place is 1930s Germany.

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SUUURPRISE !!!!!!!Rove involvement in US attorney firing detailed

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Yes, Virginia, the government DOES lie, cheat and steal.

I don’t even need to go on my usual rant — res ipsa loquitir.

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 35 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Former White House political adviser Karl Rove played a central role in the ouster of a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, one of nine prosecutors fired in a scandal in 2006 over political interference with the Justice Department, according to transcripts of closed-door testimony released Tuesday.

Harriet Miers, then White House counsel, said in testimony June 15 to House Judiciary Committee investigators that Rove was “very agitated” over U.S. Attorney David Iglesias “and wanted something done about it.”

The committee released more than 5,400 pages of White House and Republican National Committee e-mails, along with transcripts of closed-door testimony by Miers and Rove. Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said the documents reveal that White House political officials were deeply involved in the firing of Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys.

The documents show that staffers in Rove’s office were actively seeking to have Iglesias removed after Republican figures in New Mexico complained that he was not pursuing voter fraud cases they wanted. In 2005, Rove aide Scott Jennings sent an e-mail to another Rove aide saying, “I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY.”

Miers testified that Rove relayed to her complaints about Iglesias from political figures in New Mexico but added that she could not recall whether Rove told her specifically that the prosecutor should be fired.

“My best recollection is that he was very agitated about the U.S. attorney in New Mexico,” Miers testified. “It was clear to me that he felt like he had a serious problem and that he wanted something done about it.”

Rove’s aides kept him apprised of complaints about Iglesias in other e-mails released Tuesday by the committee.

In a 2006 e-mail, Jennings told Rove that then Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., wanted Iglesias fired. “You are aware of the issues, I believe,” Jennings said in the e-mail to Rove.

Rove issued a statement Tuesday saying the documents “show politics played no role in the Bush administration‘s removal of U.S. attorneys, that I never sought to influence the conduct of any prosecution, and that I played no role in deciding which U.S. attorneys were retained and which were replaced.”

He added, “Rather than relying on partisans selectively quoting testimony or excerpting e-mail messages, I urge anyone interested to review the documents in their entirety.”

A subsequent Justice Department inquiry into the firing of Iglesias and other U.S. attorneys concluded that political considerations played a part in as many as four of the dismissals. A political uproar led to a series of damaging revelations about the Bush administration’s political meddling with the Justice Department and the eventual resignation of then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Iglesias said in an interview Tuesday he was nauseated by the whole affair.

“It’s exactly what I feared. Over two years ago, I said that all roads lead to Rove,” Iglesias said. “I’ve said consistently that he was highly involved, and now the evidence is there.”

Iglesias said there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue the voter fraud cases that Republicans wanted.

Conyers said he provided a copy of the documents to acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy, who questioned Rove earlier this year to determine his precise role in politically tinged firings.

“After all the delay and despite all the obfuscation, lies, and spin, this basic truth can no longer be denied: Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings, which were done for improper reasons,” Conyers said.

Rove, who was interviewed by the committee on July 7 and again July 30, has told reporters in recent interviews that he acted simply as a conduit for other Republicans’ complaints about the job performance of specific U.S. attorneys.

Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said the documents show no evidence of wrongdoing. “Democrats need to stop wasting taxpayers’ time and money on political investigations that are nothing more than the politics of personal destruction,” Smith said.

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Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

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German bride spends first night with crate of vodka

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And some thought that only dumb Americans did this type of thing. 
And this bride might become a mother some day.  Here that flush?  Civilization circling the toilet drain.

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BERLIN (Reuters) – A bride in Germany spent her wedding night passed out next to a crate of vodka in the back seat of a car and had to be rescued by police when the BMW began to overheat in the sun.

Police in the western city of Cologne said Monday the inebriated 30-year-old remained unconscious even after they smashed the car window to get her out.

“Only after being shaken several times did she eventually regain consciousness,” police said in a statement.

Still clad in her wedding dress, the dazed woman had to scramble through the broken window because she had no idea where the car keys or her husband were, police said.

(Reporting by Caroline Copley)

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Glenn Beck — the unhinging of the right

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Arguing with Idiots by Glenn Beck: Book Cover

Ok, this is apparently a real book.  It is so ironic since Mr. Beck is one of the biggest idiots ever and you can’t argue with him because he will scream you down.  He looks like Nazi-esque on the cover, which I am sure is intentional and intentionally offensive.

Glenn Beck called President Obama a racist, Sarah Palin calls his health care initiatives evil, Lou Dobbs stokes the birther conspiracy and Rush Limbaugh, well, he just stirs the pot.  This is the Republican think tank.  Septic tank, more precisely.

But, Glenn, you are leading the pack with this book.  You are the star of the septic tank.

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Palin says Obama’s health care plan is ‘evil’ [but she is the DEVIL]

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Is this Sarah Palin’s America?  Fear-mongering and power-grabs?  Did she read the various committee bills?  I don’t think so.

The premise is so ludicrous that one doesn’t know where to begin.  Today, in the current system, health care and coverage are rationed and claims denied all of the time.  And all the bill says is that people should have health care proxies and end of life directives so doctors and family know their wishes.  I have a great plan and my partner and my sister have my proxies and my directives.  My mother was dying of cancer and gave us proxies and directives about what she wanted and did not want done at the end.  This is called planning ahead and having a say in your care.  This is NOT about euthanasia. This is about individualism and choice.

Does anyone’s health insurance cover a 95 year old who wants a heart transplant?  No. Cataracts?  Sure.  The government is not taking away a right that exists.

In fact, GOP took health insurance away from CHILDREN, so stop touting your special needs child.  I have a child with special needs, too.  So, I know that is a photo-op and I am appalled.

Americans cannot cheat death.  But we can live healthier and longer with a health care system that covers more wellness programs so that there is less need emergency surgeries or long hospital stays.
And, Sarah, preying on the fears of Americans who don’t have the resources or the time to understand the issues is UNAMERICAN and CRIMINAL.  There are too many people in this GREAT country who have no insurance and we the taxpayers pay their entire bill when they show up in the emergency room at a critical stage THAT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED had they access to health care professionals.  But, hey, those ideas are mavericky and we all know you are not the real deal.

You say that Obama’s health care plan is “evil”.  That is proof enough that it is a good plan.  Why? Because you are the Devil.

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By MARK THIESSEN, Associated Press Writer Mark Thiessen, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – In her first communication since leaving office, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin described in an Internet posting Friday that President Barack Obama‘s plan to overhaul the health care system was evil.

“Who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course,” the former vice Republican presidential candidate wrote on her Facebook page.

“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil,” Palin wrote.

An e-mail sent to Palin’s spokeswoman to confirm authorship was not immediately returned Friday.

Obama, a Democrat, campaigned on a promise of offering affordable health care to all Americans, as the United States is the only developed nation that does not have a comprehensive national health care plan for all its citizens.

He has proposed a system that would include government and private insurers. Republicans say that private insurers would be unable to compete, leaving the country with only a government-run health program. They warn that could leave Americans with little control over their health care.

Republican criticism has included claims that the reform plans will lead to rationing, or the government determining which medical procedures a patient can have. However, millions of Americans already face rationing, as insurance companies rule on procedures they will cover.

Denying coverage for certain procedures might increase under proposals to have a government-appointed agency identify medicines and procedures best suited for various conditions.

Denying coverage for certain procedures might increase under proposals to have a government-appointed agency identify medicines and procedures best suited for various conditions.

In the posting, Palin encouraged her supporters to be engaged in the debate. “Nationalizing our health care system is a point of no return for government interference in the lives of its citizens. If we go down this path, there will be no turning back,” Palin wrote.

“Let’s stop and think and make our voices heard before it’s too late,” the posting said.

Palin resigned as Alaska governor on July 26 with nearly 18 months left in her term. She cited not only the numerous ethics complaints that had been filed against her also her wish not to be a lame duck after the first-term governor decided not to seek re-election next year.

Palin, popular with conservatives in the Republican party, has said she wants to build a right-of-center coalition, and there is speculation she will seek the presidency in 2012. In the two weeks since she resigned, Palin has made only one public appearance, giving a Second Amendment rights speech last Saturday before a gun owners group in Anchorage.

Palin also has been largely silent before Friday’s post. She was a voracious user of the social networking site Twitter, and promised to keep her supporters updated with a new private account after she left office. But that hasn’t happened, leaving some of her fans begging for updates in the past two weeks.

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