Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
Header
Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003just wait 'til next year
Navigation
the archives
The last few dribbles...
- -
Wednesday, Jul. 06, 2005
good-bye diaryland -
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005
Social Security -
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005
save the arctic refuge -
Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005
it's surreal -
Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005
the latest entry
Contact the ikss
~ the ikss guestbook ~
email the ikss
notes to the ikss
New here? Start here
The Usual Suspects (Cast)
the ikss Mission Statement: Please Read
the ikss bio
the ikss profile, including favorite diaryland links
somebody out there loves me
�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
REGISTER TO VOTE
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice."
--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
Well, it turns out that John and I are not going to Palm Springs this weekend. We�re just going to hang out at home. My home, that is. Since it�s his birthday on Sunday, I am making him dinner Saturday night and taking him to brunch on Sunday at a nifty seafood place on the ocean in Malibu. Yes, we like to celebrate all occasions with food. I may also get him a massage at a spa in my area, since he won�t be getting one in Palm Springs.
Of course, the stupid thing is, the cost of massages for the two of us here at home is almost as much as it would cost to go to Palm Springs for the night.
So I haven�t yet written about the Breast Cancer 3 Day weekend.
I had fun. The whole thing was very inspirational and I am already making plans for next year�s walk (which happens to take place during my birthday weekend). I was bummed that I was �stuck� working the crew after training so hard and long for the walk, but I still met a lot of very groovy people and I still had to wake up at 3:30 every morning (!) so that I could get out to my spot on the route and set things up. I worked at a �Grab and Go�, you see. These are little stations set up along the route, where walkers can refill their water and Gatorade bottles. Once my group was finished with things at our Grab and Go station, we moved farther along down the route, joining others at other Pit Stops and/or cheering the walkers on along the way. We also helped set up camp each night, even though our Crew Captain did her best to keep us from arriving at camp early enough to actually help out.
That was the one drawback: our Crew Captain. Rarely have I met a more annoying person.
She was nice enough, but I swear if I had to listen to her talk about her husband�or her dogs�or her kids�or her trials and tribulations as a Cub Scout and Girl Scout Leader�or her upcoming weekend jaunt to Paris�just one more time�I just may have committed a violent crime. Plus, I don�t really know why someone who so obviously doesn�t like to work hard signed up to be on a crew of any kind.
Also�OK, can I just ask�do I look that old?
Annoying Freak Woman appeared to be about 55 years old, except that she had piercings in parts of her ears where most 55 year-old women wouldn�t think to pierce. But whatever, right? Everybody is piercing a lot these days. She had wrinkles, she had droopy eyes, she had a double chin�so anyway, she kept talking about her husband, who was working on a different crew team (eyah�probably to get away from her annoying, freakish self for a few days). When I finally met him, he appeared to be about twenty years younger than Annoying Freak Woman.
Or so I thought�
Sometime later, Annoying Freak Woman was talking about her high school days and it became apparent that she went to high school at the same time I did!
ACK!
Please tell me I do not look that old�
Annoying Freak Woman aside, I once again proved to myself that I am She Ra, Super Amazon Woman.
OK, as much as a five foot two girl can be an Amazon Woman.
My point is, I am frickin� strong, yo! Forget jumpin� �em, I can lift large buildings in a single�um�well, you get my drift.
Anyway, time after time people would try to lift things, ask me to come help and I would lift it by myself. �I think you�ll need a dolly for that,� I�d hear, only to turn around and lift a box as if it were empty.
Either I am She Ra or these gals was tres wimpy.
Aside from exhausting myself and hurting my knee, though, I actually feel as if I�ve been on a little vacation. In a lot of ways, I feel revitalized. It is awfully nice to know that there are so many people willing to work that hard (and use up precious vacation days) for no personal gain.
Except me, of course. I got loads of personal gain out of this whole thing. But, you know�it�s encouraging to know that there are other altruistic individuals in existence.
~~~
Politics:
Dear MoveOn member,
For years, Democratic lawmakers have been working to make sure that seniors have access to prescription drugs and reasonable healthcare. Now, in an attempt to score political points, the Republican Congressional leadership is pushing through a bill that appears to offer a solution. Actually, the bill undermines the entire Medicare program, pushing people into the very HMOs which contribute heavily to Republican lawmakers and barring the government from negotiating for lower drug prices.
Given the danger to seniors, one might expect that the millions-strong American Association of Retired People (AARP) to be on the case. But after huge contributions from pharmaceutical companies and HMOs, and pressure from Republican lawmakers, the AARP is selling out its membership and backing the bill.
In response, 85 members of Congress (so far) have canceled their AARP memberships, or announced that they will never join (if they're not yet old enough to be eligible). [1] Today, we urge you to do the same. If the AARP won't stand up for the elderly when it comes to health care, what good is it?
You can reach the AARP at:
CA Branch: 626-585-9500
National hotline: 1-800-424-3410
If you're a member, tell them you're quitting.
If you're too young to be eligible, tell them you'll never join.
You also may want to let your Representative and Senators know that you're keeping the AARP accountable. You could also tell them that you expect them to demand real health care reform -- not this industry-backed bill.
You can reach your members of Congress (for Southern California residents) at:
Representative Dana Rohrabacher
DC Phone: 202-225-2415
Senator Dianne Feinstein
DC Phone: 202-224-3841
Senator Barbara Boxer
DC Phone: 202-224-3553
Please let us know how you feel about this -- we're collecting individual comments to share with the media here.
The AARP has endorsed a bill that would make two fundamental changes in Medicare:
1. First, it would force people to make a stark choice: either pay sharply increased premiums to stay in traditional Medicare, where they can choose their doctor; or be forced out, into an HMO.
Newt Gingrich, the former House Republican leader, said in 1995 that he wanted to let Medicare to "wither on the vine." This change would lead to that result, with cost incentives driving people out. (Not coincidentally, AARP CEO William Novelli recently wrote the forward to Gingrich's book. [2])
2. Second, it offers a prescription drug benefit, but requires people who want this coverage to buy it from private insurance plans.
This part of the bill also bars the government from doing the one thing it could do to actually reduce the cost of these drugs -- negotiate for lower prices, using the size of the Medicare program as leverage. Drug prices are soaring now, and unless they're brought under control, they will eventually bankrupt Medicare.
AARP itself sells insurance and also sells prescription drugs, so the group stands to reap huge financial gains from this change.
The bill has been opposed by a host of liberal groups [3] as well as by major conservative groups, including the Club for Growth, The Heritage Foundation, the American Conservative Union, The Cato Institute, and the National Taxpayers Union. It's also been assailed by virtually every one of the Democratic presidential candidates. [4]
In endorsing this bill, the AARP has broken faith with its members. In a recent poll, 65% of AARP members said they're opposed to it. [5] The group has also violated its own written principles. In July, CEO William Novelli wrote to Congress stating the requirements for AARP's support of a Medicare bill. [6] Yet the bill AARP has just endorsed fails to meet nine separate requirements stated in that letter. [7]
We need to hold the AARP responsible for selling out its members. If the organization sees sufficient backlash from its members and prospective members, it could still change course and effect the outcome of this legislation. Please call your local AARP branch today.
Sincerely,
--Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team
November 20th, 2003
-----
[1] 85 Representatives wrote to Novelli, canceling their memberships
[2] From the foreword by Novelli to Gingrich's new book, "Saving Lives and Saving Dollars".
[3] Complete list of organizations.
[4] See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54358-2003Nov17.html
[5] Poll: a majority of AARP members oppose the Medicare bill
[6] AARP July letter on minimum acceptable standards
[7] How AARP goes back on its word
[8] http://www.aarp.org/leadership/Articles/a2002-12-18-aarpfactsheet.html
~~~
Word of the Day for Thursday November 20, 2003:
interlard in-tuhr-LARD, transitive verb:
To insert between; to mix or mingle; especially, to introduce something foreign or irrelevant into; as, "to interlard a conversation with oaths or allusions."
~~~
Quote A Day:
When you move like a jellyfish Rhythm don't mean nothing You go with the flow You don't stop. --Jack Johnson
Good News of the Day:
It was a marathon of a marathon. She stopped every mile to stretch and tested her blood sugar every two hours. She took breaks, but didn't sleep. Twenty nine hours and 45 minutes after she started -- more than 27 hours after the first runner crossed the line -- Zoe Koplowitz walked, aided by crutches, across the finish line of the New York City Marathon on Monday. Diagnosed 30 years ago with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system, Koplowitz used the two purple crutches to help her get through the 26.2 mile race!
Be The Change:
Go to a marathon and cheer for someone who's giving their best!
last / next
~~~~~~~~~~~peace, love and smooches~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't know why you'd wanna, but on the off-chance you may feel tempted to steal any of my words and claim them as your own, please be advised:
All material
Copyright 2002-2005, Howl-at-the-Moon Words
***DISCLAIMER: These are my thoughts and my thoughts alone. If you know me in my "real life" off the net and have come across this page purely by accident, please keep in mind that you were not invited here and I would suggest you leave this page now. However, should you choose not to do so, please be warned that reading my thoughts here is not an invitation to discuss them off-line. You may discover things you do not know about me and may not like very much. Such is life. Again, this is MY space and I will use it as I see fit. If you are offended by anything here, well that's pretty much your own fault at this point.
I say all of this with love, of course, but there it is.
