Category Archives: poor

DN, revisited

by

Gah, I don’t believe this entire post was eaten in cyberspace! Arrgh!

Okay, since I don’t know which website caused the error, I’ll try adding one at a time…

You’ll have to go to the DN website to see what stories I’m commenting on…

President Obama is once again promising that he will let the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich to expire…yeah, well, we’ve heard that before…

…and we all know the rich don’t want to pay for anything…

Okay, if these two posts hold up, I might have time to put the other links up in the next post…

Supreme Court passes Affordable care

by

You know, I’m probably the only moderate progressive who disagrees with this Act.  Not for the same reasons the far right does, but because of the mandate for private insurance, instead of Medicare for All.  Unlike those in this article, I don’t see this as a step in the right direction–as a way to get single payer in the door.

However, I do agree with the right on the issue of gov’t control of healthcare.  They already are violating the Fourth Amendment, so what will hold them back in violating a person’s right to privacy with their health records?  If it were a separate agency, such as Medicare–a well run agency–I would trust it more.

And then we have the growing lack of privacy for employees for everything, including medical.

Here’s a site that answers questions on the rights of employers to ask for medical history:

The HIPPA privacy rule does not prevent your employer from asking you for information about your health if your employer needs the information to administer sick leave, workers’ compensation, wellness programs, or health insurance.

Read that again.  They have it couched as “necessary” for the employer to obtain your private information to buy health insurance or administer wellness programs…

And people won’t refuse this especially in this economy—they don’t want to make waves and will agree to it even if they disagree strongly in handing over private information.  This opens the door for an employer in dismissing someone because of a health reason. Actually, as the lawyer points out, they can fire you for any reason if you live in an “At Will” state.  There’s just no rights of the employees in this and that bothers me a great deal.

Again, if there was a Medicare for All, the employers would not have such monumental power over their employees’ lives.

For me, however, I’m less and less likely to seek out the medical profession for issues, and find the natural plants and organic food that will help me regain my health.  Thank God for doctors like Natasha Campbell-McBride who think outside the box and use that wonderful intuition to come up with solutions that aren’t a) making the pharmaceutical companies rich; and b) aren’t ignoring diet  and the environment as a major factors in health.

The medical profession is set up to try to rein in the horse after it’s left the barn, instead of fixing the gate (diet and healthy environment).  That makes no sense to me at all.

 

DN! today

by

DN has this up today.

Let’s only hope that the carbon emissions news is followed by actual, you know, action.  Because if anything this administration is famous for–it’s tough words with no backbone.  The other day, I was listening to Limbaugh rant about the immigration law and Arizona and how the Obama Administration was instituting an “800” number for anyone observing a police officer violating someone’s civil rights.  Limbaugh was all for civil rights and said it was about time that they started doing something about it.

bwahahaahahahahahaha. *snort*

Um, okay, he really didn’t say that.  He was incensed that the Obama administration was actually trying to provide a way for folks to speak up.  He immediately said it would be the sniveling liberals who would be calling in and the police officers would be afraid of lawsuits, yada, yada, yada.

My heart was lifted at the news of an “800” number…but then I recalled all the past “strong” words by this administration, followed by…no action.  So, yeah, unless there is a full time staff behind this 800 number, and the people at the other end of the phone are actually empowered to DO something, well, I don’t see it providing much help.  And it might even hurt someone who calls in thinking they are doing a service for the community, give their name, phone number and they themselves are harassed.  I’m just saying this is a possibility.  An administration that allows illegal wire-tapping against the Fourth Amendment leaves me doubting the sincerity of this program.  Why now? Especially after record deportations?

Onto the other stories on DN:

The Tar Sands pipeline being once again pushed by Big Oil and the Obama Administration going along is another red flag that this administration continues to say one thing and do another.  I’m just cynical enough to wonder if the sudden decrease in gas prices has anything to do with the Administration’s agreeing to Tar Sands?

Lawmakers making money off of legislation? No way. They’re the most fine, upstanding individuals ever to walk the Earth. /snark

You see, entitlement only applies to little old ladies trying to collect Social Security and the poor trying to collect food stamps to eat.   They make the laws, so members of Congress are entitled to make profits off of it.

Sorry to see Nora Ephron has passed.  I was watching “When Harry Met Sally…” last night.  Peace to her.

Newborns in Need

by

I was re-reading some of my old “Sew News” magazines from back in the day…

In one was an article on a super group of sewing enthusiasts who made quilts for needy babies.  The group’s name is Newborns in Need, started by a lady by the name of Green (sorry, forgot to bring the mag with me to the library and can’t remember her first name) whom had read of stillborns who were being buried in paper bags.  The group of ladies she was with thought it was some spoof or sensational story like those found in the tabloids.  Green pursued the story, however, and tracked down the reporter.  Indeed, the story was true.

She decided she would sew burial outfits for these babies, for which the mothers were grateful.

Somewhere along the line, however, she decided she’d rather sew quilts for the live babies….the “Newborns in Need” was created.  She said that she didn’t know exactly how many quilts she and her circle of sewers made, but it was around 150 quilts per month.  Her children also helped when they were pressed to get quilts to the babies.  The article said her teenage sons would sew through the night trying to meet the need.

This article, like the magazine, was old–1997, so I wondered if the work was continuing.  Green said that she had made a nonprofit corporation when she started it, but soon it became about power and money and the focus of the organization was being lost.  She dissolved the corporation.  So…I was wondering if it was still going…

It is. And I found that a hospital here in Fort Wayne is part of the network.

When I was really ill from the mercury, I lost the ability to sew.  I used to sew my kids’ clothes and wanted to try quilting.  I had seen these beautiful watercolor quilts in sewing books and wanted to try it.  However, it coincided with the increase in mercury and my brain just could not wrap itself around the complexities of shades of color, patterns, and coordinating all of it.    Heck, I couldn’t even sew a straight line.  Seriously.  My eyes were dimmed and I couldn’t focus on the line on the sewing machine to keep the material straight.  Frustrating as hell, especially when I had previously sewn so many outfits.  I didn’t understand or know about the mercury at the time.

As I have gotten better, the skill is coming back, but it is like re-learning it all over again.  I don’t think non-sewers know or appreciate how difficult sewing is…you have to be able to cut straight (couldn’t do  that when I was sick–eye/hand coordination wasn’t there), sew straight, and be able to envision what the directions are telling you and what the garment is supposed to look like when you’re done.  Otherwise, it’s endless frustration with messing up over and over again.

So…I have a lot of fabric.  The old joke is “she who dies with the most fabric wins”.  Only a sewer in love with fabric and creativity would get that joke…:)

I think I’m going to try the quilting thing again…but I’m going to have to pace myself.  I was detoxing yesterday (I’m doing epsom salt baths every other day as recommended by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, to detox, and boy is it working.)–and this seems to affect my eye-hand coordination because I was once again messing up pretty badly.  I finally gave up after so many mistakes.  I tried again this morning, and viola!

But, along with the music ability, it comes in spurts and long periods of no progress…I’m nervously trying to push myself a little to go out on a limb to make this quilt.  I’m afraid if I get started, and then for whatever reason don’t feel up to it, that I’ll let people down. But I would like to sew these quilts for the babies in need.  Sounds like a neat group.

We shall see…

 

Fairy Tales by the World Bank

by

According to this article: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/education/poor-education-unemployment-caused-arab-spring-claims-world-bank

… World Bank would like to blame the Arab Spring on the lack of college education…while saying that unemployment could be helped by education.

Yeah….that isn’t playing out so well over across the pond, where unemployment of college educated folks is the highest ever, according to this blog:http://www.econmatters.com/2012/05/first-time-ever-most-of-unemployed-are.html

Although I don’t agree with the author’s assertion that the “solution” is to do away with college loans (can you say rightwing?), but rather, to…you know, this will sound crazy….but the solution isn’t to deny college education, but to actually change the economic policies by Friedman economists who believe that unemployment is actually good for the country…(as James Medoff and Andrew Harless asserted in their book, The Indebted Society.)

Friedman and his followers believe in a convoluted policy called “Natural Rate of Unemployment” which embraces the neocon mindset of greed is good.

Here’s a great blog on the subject.

From the blog below the first:

…the whole story is starting to feel like a comedy routine: yet again the economy slides, unemployment soars, banks get into trouble, governments rush to the rescue — but somehow it’s only the banks that get rescued, not the unemployed.

[italics mine]

~~~~~~~~~

You know, whenever I read the financial theories, I come back to the thought that the way that we do business is set up to go against the best interests of Mother Earth: use up resources without giving back.

That’s a self-defeating proposition.

The bigger question is how can we have jobs or some form of support that is in tune with nature?  Is that possible?

News from Wisconsin, ALEC, and more…

by

Center for Media and Democracy has this post up on the slanted nooz for Wisconsin taxpayers…and, sadly, there are too many folks who will believe what is written…because it’s written.  See, they think that anyone who puts their name next to an article is actually taking pride in that article and that they’re are trying to report the news fairly.  They don’t understand that news is created, and that the newspaper editors (along with news directors) get to decide what news is reported, and HOW it’s reported….they are gatekeepers.

~~~~~~~

Next, we have the story on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp being a member of ALEC.  I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you! /snark

I was also shocked that Murdoch is joining in the destruction of public schools with the financial free-for-all that’s going on with these greedy bastards.

From the article:

Last November, News Corp. dropped $360 million to buy Wireless Generation, a Brooklyn-based education technology company that provides software, assessment tools, and data services. “When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed by big breakthroughs that extend the reach of great teaching,” Murdoch said at the time.

Um…what “big breakthrough” could possibly be beyond the “reach” of great teaching…?

More from the article:

Last year, when New Jersey lost out on millions of federal education funding due to a screw-up on its grant application, the company landed at the center of the debacle. The state, after all, had reportedly paid the firm $500,000 to ensure the accuracy of its application, among other things.

Okay, schools having to apply (beg) for money for grants for the children’s education irritates me to no end.  I tried to look up exactly when the whole schools-begging-for-money-through-grants-thing started, but I couldn’t find it.  If I recall correctly, it was when my kids were in elementary school, some twenty years ago (I just noticed CMD has stated this started about twenty years ago, but I don’t have time to read the link).  It seems that the grants and No Child Left A Mind have combined to transform our good school systems into the soulless, art-less, music-less robot creators they are…schools had to play nice in order to get needed money.

Here’s one school that stood up against this shady bullying.  Good for them. I love that they questioned the ranking, especially when they had been rated as a good school just prior to the failing ranking.  I love that someone also mentioned the faults of testing–it’s been given a golden status as the true measurement of one’s intelligence, when it should be a tool, but not the concrete answer of the question of intelligence.  And, as I’ve mentioned previously, testing was originally devised to help a child in trouble…but the eugenics crowd leaped on it to use as a tool to decide who is worthy and who is not.  I saw this as a Substitute Teacher–the kids were tested, and based on that test, were labeled–and that label will follow them all of their school career.

A side note~ I remember one time when I was subbing for a teacher that I didn’t know.  It was one of the first experiences I had as a sub.  There was one particular child who was having great difficulty with the Math lesson, so I used more time to devote to the lesson–going over it three times and then helping him individually with it.  He finally “got it”.  However, this meant that I didn’t get through all of the lessons for that day.  The teacher came in the room at the end of the day, and her face turned red with anger as I explained that I didn’t get through her entire plan.  She was furious because I had taken so long with the Math lesson.

With NCLB, there isn’t time, really, for the kids that are having difficulty with lessons.  Your time is tightly controlled to cram everything that is required in.  It is so controlled that a teacher is not able to teach creatively.  It also puts such pressure on the little ones to complete a task in a given number of minutes, and if they fail, they’re labeled as dummies.  And if they do successfully complete a task, this doesn’t in any way mean that they’ve actually learned anything–they’re just repeating what they’ve memorized, because, basically, that’s what NCLB is all about–not learning creative skills, critical thinking skills, thinking outside the box–it’s about repeating what you’ve been told.  There’s a reason that teachers “teach to the test”….if their school does not show “improvement” they lose the $$.  It’s all for show, folks…

~~~~~

On to other things…

Gotta love this. 

Rahm Emanuel is apparently afraid the renegade nurses would start…I dunno, giving out free health care…?

From the story:

 

In the lead up to the eventful weekend in Chicago, NNU had a hard time securing permits for their rally and march from the mayor of Chicago, and former chief of staff to President Obama, Rahm Emanuel. At the last minute, Emanuel tried to move the rally and kick Morello off the bill, but the nurses would not yield. After much negotiation, they were allowed to rally, but not to march, so the nurses decided to take a stroll, walking on the sidewalks, stopping at red lights and courteously maintaining a path for passers-by. Despite their decidedly well-behaved march, they were followed by watchful police officers from countless agencies, in the streets and on the rooftops.

Nurses, folks.  Emanuel is afraid of nurses exercising their right to assemble and have their grievances addressed…hmmm…now I *know* I’ve read that we have the right somewhere…oh, yeah, the Constitution….hmmm…

There’s more on CMD, but I’m out of time here.  More tomorrow.

 

The pain of Bain

by

…and playing the game…

Yeah, it’s not really news, either.

I can’t figure out why all that money that was raised at Clooney’s party couldn’t have been better placed behind a third party candidate?  Harry Braun, anyone?  Yeah, I don’t think he’s perfect, but it is so refreshing to see an intelligent discussion of the serious issues facing us right now. And not part of the financial/big oil crowd….

~~~~~~~~

Related to this, is this incident with Romney and John Lauber.  I’d heard about this, but couldn’t get to it until now. Wow.  The rightwing host here was having a fit over the publishing of this story–he was saying that this was old news and that the Post was in a conspiracy because it was published the same day that Obama came out for gay marriage.  As if…

The rightwing host went on to say that “this was 1965–nobody wore their hair long then. Nobody.”  Um, yeah, I have a different recollection.  Even though I was only 4 years old at the time, I remember how irate my father was at the “long hairs” and “weirdos”.  So guys were starting to wear their hair long–it just wasn’t acceptable by the anal retentives.  To express your individuality with long hair was verboten–as Herr Romney illustrated.

Anyway, the rightwing host failed to recognize the bullying aspect and how wrong this was.  Romney had no right to impose his will on another.  None.  He was violent towards another individual.  I think that is very relevant to his character and whether we want such a person leading this country.

Let’s see…contempt of the poor, bragging about paying 13% of a normal 35% in taxes, wants to destroy public schools,…and now bullying…sounds like a stand up kinda guy. /snark