Saturday, October 25, 2008
Quote of the day
"Joe thinks that Obama is an overconfident imbecile for believing his diplomatic approach to the Middle East would ever yield success.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Blake has a new song
ok so my son has gone off to PDx to college and he and David have given birth to a new song. I am sure BlanDrew video will follow during the upcoming year.
Anyway, the link to their new song is here.
Un-Opened Letter is my favorite for obvious reasons.
Anyway, the link to their new song is here.
Un-Opened Letter is my favorite for obvious reasons.
Kitchy Curio Shop
The store where I work is referred to in polite circles as a "Vendor Mall". It is a place where any one can rent a booth space and hawk their taudry wares as they see fit.
It is a wondrously kitchy, educational and inspiring place to work for 2 days each week.
Here is a sample of some of more interesting "taudry wares" being marketed there.
(You will need to click on the photo to see the proper enlarged version of the photo.)
It is a wondrously kitchy, educational and inspiring place to work for 2 days each week.
Here is a sample of some of more interesting "taudry wares" being marketed there.
(You will need to click on the photo to see the proper enlarged version of the photo.)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Obama's Health Care Notion would not work for my family
He would REQUIRE children to be insured?
In reality, I think this should be mandated but only until about 5 or 6 years of age after which time, the only things that kids need hospitlization for is a broken bone, an appendectomy, tonsillectomy, eartubes etc. (-and this is a GENERAL STATEMENT that applies to the AVEREAGE family - not those battling childhood cancers and similar extreme deadly illnesses, etc)
Under the guise of presenting himself as noble by taking the "Children first" tack with regard to emotional wording, he managed to avoid providing for the most expensive and at risk group : The Middle Aged American.
We are now the people who are the ones without health care.
We will take care of our kids first.
I will take my kids to the Dr at the first sign that a cold/flu is going bacterial.
But there comes a time when kids injuries are payable, even after a few years of making payments, which I have done.
It is MY age group that his plan shuffles off under the rug because our health risks are MORE expensive and our health insurance is more expensive because of it.
It is MY age group that dies prematurely of simple stuff - heart attack, diabetes complications, cholesterol, cancers etc because we cannot take food out of our kids mouths to go get checked out.
Obama mandating that Employers provide
Insurance/help with insurance:
Well that's already what we have now, and his plan for this is not sounding all that different.
If I am unemployed - then I have no employer to "Help" pay in for my health care.
If I am unemployed because I am a stay at home mom, then odds are we can't afford to pay into the health care package provided by my spouses employer, because we are not making enough to pay that extra amount, since there is only ONE salary coming into the household.
Kids are eligible for free clinics more often than their parents.
I know because I have had to participate in the Oregon Health Plan from time to time while raising my 3 kids. Now that plan has gone belly-up and can no longer provide services. It was a great experiment that died.
I still say that McCains health care plan is the one that would best fit our families needs.
My kids health care needs after the ages of 6 went down enourmously. Mine and my husbands went up. Kid injuries like the common ones I listed above are relatively inexpensive by comparison, and can be paid off within the course of 1-2 years. I know I have done it many times.
If I get cancer, there is NO treatment for me.
We make too much to be seen by free clinics, and we don't make enough to pay for health care, send our kids to college and food and basics are often a struggle. If I get a cold/fly that appears to be going bacterial, I do not go to the Dr. I try to see if I can ride it out. I just can't afford the expense. If John McCains plan went through, you bet I would have a physical, get a mammogram, a PAP (none of these have I had in 9 years or more.) I would get my blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring taken care of, and have my blood sugar monitored.
That right there is about $1000 worth of diagnostics, and the meds would be about $150 per month. But ieven for a little while, it would go a LOOOOONG way to extending my life span without putting my family at a bigger financial risk.
What gets me as I watch this, is that Obama represents himself, his experiences and that of his family as a connecting point with the viewer. He assumes that we are all like him, for the most part. but we aren't. He has everything. And if his health care plan went through, the gov't would save alot of money by dodging having to include my generation in its "mandated" health care plans.
Additional comment from Pam at FaceBook
(We'll call her Pam 1):
I might add to that by saying, just one blood sugar poke is a dollar per glucose stick (if done at home), that is not including the achohol swab and the actual lancet. If you need insulin, depending on the dosage it is 75.00 per vial and some use 4 vials a month. 8 sticks a day adds up too! Some people like myself pay 2000.00 a month on just meds alone. We for one... Can NOT AFFORD it!!! So... I vote McCain/Palin!!
Help in health care greatly needed for the middle aged!!!
Thanks Michelle for your thoughts and for taking time to post them.
A comment from ANNE at FaceBook:
Hi Michelle! Hey, I agree with you too. Except, I've never really liked him. Beyond the partial birth abortion support, you know what else he supports? If a woman is having an abortion and it is botched and the baby acually, gasp-heaven forbid!, lives...he supports just putting it in a prettily decorated "comfort room" and leaving it to die. Read this in an Oregon Right to Life paper. Anyone who supports that has no soul in my humble opinion. He is eloquent and smooth and does have some good ideas but I think he's a total wolf in sheeps clothing. If he's elected, I think it would be fine for the first year or so and then I think America would start seeing his true colors and they'd be in for way more than they bargained for...
And a comment from a Different Pam at FaceBook
(We'll call her Pam 2:
I can't feel any hope from a man that 8 years ago did not stay a Maverick for the things that mattered. He (McCain) speaks clearly of embracing Adam Smith Economic principals of capitalism that believes that an invisible arm will correct any problems in the economy.(He said this early in his campaign and it seemed to me to sound like something to placate the far right of the spectrum with.) Then Enron, Housing Market,desire to build more Nuclear Power Plants, Bale Out of the Banks and AIG,jobs being lost by big companies going overseas where there is precious little oversight, and our need for medical insurance and McCain is acting like he has consistently really backed these issue for the people. As we have already had 8 years of very little checks and balances I could not endorse this continued direction. But then I am just in the poorest, largest, school district in the state and work with students and families that aren't making $200,000/yr. Habitat for Humanity come in ...
And then Mih Wrote:
Well I don't make 200,000 are year either.
Something that Obama said back a few months ago really got my attention.
He said " America, we are the solution to our own problems."
That is pretty danged humanistic.
Granted I am not one for sitting on my butt and not being proactive, but I also know that human kind has limits that it often does not recognise.
I also think that this statement of his declares more about his inner perspective than he is confessing. After watching him, I believe he is a Godless man, despite all of his wacky-church affiliation. I think that mankind is his god.
As far as economical stuff, I don't think McCain has indicated that he will be staying the current course with regard to the economy. I have a huge stake in AIG. Frankly, I am appalled at teh folderol that would threaten my dads livelihood in his declining years,an I will take an appropriate course of action by the end of this week, but I think McCain will tackle that head to head. And I think he has indicated as much. And while nobody is perfect, I am thinking that McCain is a far better choice than Obama at this point. I find Obama to be slickly skirting the issues, and using culturally pleasing metaphors and language to tickle people ears. I have to agree with what Anne said earlier, in that he is certainly starting to appear like a wolf in sheeps clothing.
As far as an "invisible Arm" I am not sure what all that is about but I know that God has long intervened on the behalf of Israel, through the existence of America.
America, (while chasing after the fate of Rome at a galloping run it would seem,) will continue to exist until such time as God is through with us.
But we are going the route of Rome to be sure.
I do NOT believe for one minute that America will always exist.
God says He will not strive with man forever.
His strivings with Americans and their self absorbed debauchery and self love have gone on for very very long. And while we race along toward our own destruction, when compared with the self righteous and behaviours of other world cultures and nations, we are still considered a "Christian Nation," (which defies comprehension when you think about how ungodly even we, the Church have become).
We are the ones in Iraq.
Let the media krap all over that situation but you talk to a soldier.
The people of Iraq are GLAD we are there.
I hate that my friends relatives have died in a stinking war!
But these same soldiers bring gifts that have been donated by average Americans. My town alone collects school supplies and ships them directly to soldiers who give them to families with children in Iraq. This is not a gov't sponsored activity. This is a community that says "This is the right thing to do."
Yes.
We love those who would normally be called our enemies.
We send a poop load of aid to Pakistan when it has horrific earthquakes that devour its people by the thousands.
You didn't see Pakistans neighbors rushing to their aid.
And Pakistan STILL harbours Taliban extremists.
So when you mention an invisible arm, yeah. I think there is one.
We deserve hell and death.
We have better.
Not because we are good.
Because God is.
JASON at FaceBook Writes:
"I agree, too, actually, that Obama's plans regarding health care have been rather vague. And while I think he is a great public speaker, which would give him an advantage as a leader, his tone has been rather condescending at times. He needs to bury his ego a little bit and stop trying to distance himself from the wealthy, which he now is.
To be fair, Obama had to work pretty hard to get where he is at, while John Sidney McCain III is, like George W Bush, the third generation of an American dynasty. Both rebelled against their expectations into mediocrity as kids. Both try to shed skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.
As for abortion, neither McCain or Obama will make the issue go away. The Supreme Court made their ruling, and frankly, when our government decides for us what morality is, I don't think we're free.
But! As much as we may dislike personal qualities of each person (or their VP choices), that shouldn't affect how we judge them as politicians. I wish I had more time to get into that aspect of it..."
In reality, I think this should be mandated but only until about 5 or 6 years of age after which time, the only things that kids need hospitlization for is a broken bone, an appendectomy, tonsillectomy, eartubes etc. (-and this is a GENERAL STATEMENT that applies to the AVEREAGE family - not those battling childhood cancers and similar extreme deadly illnesses, etc)
Under the guise of presenting himself as noble by taking the "Children first" tack with regard to emotional wording, he managed to avoid providing for the most expensive and at risk group : The Middle Aged American.
We are now the people who are the ones without health care.
We will take care of our kids first.
I will take my kids to the Dr at the first sign that a cold/flu is going bacterial.
But there comes a time when kids injuries are payable, even after a few years of making payments, which I have done.
It is MY age group that his plan shuffles off under the rug because our health risks are MORE expensive and our health insurance is more expensive because of it.
It is MY age group that dies prematurely of simple stuff - heart attack, diabetes complications, cholesterol, cancers etc because we cannot take food out of our kids mouths to go get checked out.
Obama mandating that Employers provide
Insurance/help with insurance:
Well that's already what we have now, and his plan for this is not sounding all that different.
If I am unemployed - then I have no employer to "Help" pay in for my health care.
If I am unemployed because I am a stay at home mom, then odds are we can't afford to pay into the health care package provided by my spouses employer, because we are not making enough to pay that extra amount, since there is only ONE salary coming into the household.
Kids are eligible for free clinics more often than their parents.
I know because I have had to participate in the Oregon Health Plan from time to time while raising my 3 kids. Now that plan has gone belly-up and can no longer provide services. It was a great experiment that died.
I still say that McCains health care plan is the one that would best fit our families needs.
My kids health care needs after the ages of 6 went down enourmously. Mine and my husbands went up. Kid injuries like the common ones I listed above are relatively inexpensive by comparison, and can be paid off within the course of 1-2 years. I know I have done it many times.
If I get cancer, there is NO treatment for me.
We make too much to be seen by free clinics, and we don't make enough to pay for health care, send our kids to college and food and basics are often a struggle. If I get a cold/fly that appears to be going bacterial, I do not go to the Dr. I try to see if I can ride it out. I just can't afford the expense. If John McCains plan went through, you bet I would have a physical, get a mammogram, a PAP (none of these have I had in 9 years or more.) I would get my blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring taken care of, and have my blood sugar monitored.
That right there is about $1000 worth of diagnostics, and the meds would be about $150 per month. But ieven for a little while, it would go a LOOOOONG way to extending my life span without putting my family at a bigger financial risk.
What gets me as I watch this, is that Obama represents himself, his experiences and that of his family as a connecting point with the viewer. He assumes that we are all like him, for the most part. but we aren't. He has everything. And if his health care plan went through, the gov't would save alot of money by dodging having to include my generation in its "mandated" health care plans.
Additional comment from Pam at FaceBook
(We'll call her Pam 1):
I might add to that by saying, just one blood sugar poke is a dollar per glucose stick (if done at home), that is not including the achohol swab and the actual lancet. If you need insulin, depending on the dosage it is 75.00 per vial and some use 4 vials a month. 8 sticks a day adds up too! Some people like myself pay 2000.00 a month on just meds alone. We for one... Can NOT AFFORD it!!! So... I vote McCain/Palin!!
Help in health care greatly needed for the middle aged!!!
Thanks Michelle for your thoughts and for taking time to post them.
A comment from ANNE at FaceBook:
Hi Michelle! Hey, I agree with you too. Except, I've never really liked him. Beyond the partial birth abortion support, you know what else he supports? If a woman is having an abortion and it is botched and the baby acually, gasp-heaven forbid!, lives...he supports just putting it in a prettily decorated "comfort room" and leaving it to die. Read this in an Oregon Right to Life paper. Anyone who supports that has no soul in my humble opinion. He is eloquent and smooth and does have some good ideas but I think he's a total wolf in sheeps clothing. If he's elected, I think it would be fine for the first year or so and then I think America would start seeing his true colors and they'd be in for way more than they bargained for...
And a comment from a Different Pam at FaceBook
(We'll call her Pam 2:
I can't feel any hope from a man that 8 years ago did not stay a Maverick for the things that mattered. He (McCain) speaks clearly of embracing Adam Smith Economic principals of capitalism that believes that an invisible arm will correct any problems in the economy.(He said this early in his campaign and it seemed to me to sound like something to placate the far right of the spectrum with.) Then Enron, Housing Market,desire to build more Nuclear Power Plants, Bale Out of the Banks and AIG,jobs being lost by big companies going overseas where there is precious little oversight, and our need for medical insurance and McCain is acting like he has consistently really backed these issue for the people. As we have already had 8 years of very little checks and balances I could not endorse this continued direction. But then I am just in the poorest, largest, school district in the state and work with students and families that aren't making $200,000/yr. Habitat for Humanity come in ...
And then Mih Wrote:
Well I don't make 200,000 are year either.
Something that Obama said back a few months ago really got my attention.
He said " America, we are the solution to our own problems."
That is pretty danged humanistic.
Granted I am not one for sitting on my butt and not being proactive, but I also know that human kind has limits that it often does not recognise.
I also think that this statement of his declares more about his inner perspective than he is confessing. After watching him, I believe he is a Godless man, despite all of his wacky-church affiliation. I think that mankind is his god.
As far as economical stuff, I don't think McCain has indicated that he will be staying the current course with regard to the economy. I have a huge stake in AIG. Frankly, I am appalled at teh folderol that would threaten my dads livelihood in his declining years,an I will take an appropriate course of action by the end of this week, but I think McCain will tackle that head to head. And I think he has indicated as much. And while nobody is perfect, I am thinking that McCain is a far better choice than Obama at this point. I find Obama to be slickly skirting the issues, and using culturally pleasing metaphors and language to tickle people ears. I have to agree with what Anne said earlier, in that he is certainly starting to appear like a wolf in sheeps clothing.
As far as an "invisible Arm" I am not sure what all that is about but I know that God has long intervened on the behalf of Israel, through the existence of America.
America, (while chasing after the fate of Rome at a galloping run it would seem,) will continue to exist until such time as God is through with us.
But we are going the route of Rome to be sure.
I do NOT believe for one minute that America will always exist.
God says He will not strive with man forever.
His strivings with Americans and their self absorbed debauchery and self love have gone on for very very long. And while we race along toward our own destruction, when compared with the self righteous and behaviours of other world cultures and nations, we are still considered a "Christian Nation," (which defies comprehension when you think about how ungodly even we, the Church have become).
We are the ones in Iraq.
Let the media krap all over that situation but you talk to a soldier.
The people of Iraq are GLAD we are there.
I hate that my friends relatives have died in a stinking war!
But these same soldiers bring gifts that have been donated by average Americans. My town alone collects school supplies and ships them directly to soldiers who give them to families with children in Iraq. This is not a gov't sponsored activity. This is a community that says "This is the right thing to do."
Yes.
We love those who would normally be called our enemies.
We send a poop load of aid to Pakistan when it has horrific earthquakes that devour its people by the thousands.
You didn't see Pakistans neighbors rushing to their aid.
And Pakistan STILL harbours Taliban extremists.
So when you mention an invisible arm, yeah. I think there is one.
We deserve hell and death.
We have better.
Not because we are good.
Because God is.
JASON at FaceBook Writes:
"I agree, too, actually, that Obama's plans regarding health care have been rather vague. And while I think he is a great public speaker, which would give him an advantage as a leader, his tone has been rather condescending at times. He needs to bury his ego a little bit and stop trying to distance himself from the wealthy, which he now is.
To be fair, Obama had to work pretty hard to get where he is at, while John Sidney McCain III is, like George W Bush, the third generation of an American dynasty. Both rebelled against their expectations into mediocrity as kids. Both try to shed skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.
As for abortion, neither McCain or Obama will make the issue go away. The Supreme Court made their ruling, and frankly, when our government decides for us what morality is, I don't think we're free.
But! As much as we may dislike personal qualities of each person (or their VP choices), that shouldn't affect how we judge them as politicians. I wish I had more time to get into that aspect of it..."
Thursday, October 2, 2008
A middle American womans thots on the VP Debate
My blow by blow take on the VP debates as carried out via my Face Book Status updates and comments from friends:
...I have to agree with Biden that Drilling is not necessarily the solution. 6:34pm
... how can coal be "clean?" It defies the essence of coal burning. 6:36pm
...disagree with Biden. In the sense of marriage, marriageis a BIBLICAL institution and therefor Christian. There is no such thing as Same Sex Marriage. 6:38pm
...There is no sense in "talking" with Iran, or North Korea or Cuba. I agree with Palin on this point. 6:51pm
...look at Bidens eyes..he's playing to the camera. When Palin addresses him, she is looking at him, no tthe camera. Interesting. 7:02pm
...he' still not addressing her, he is still adressing the camera. weirdness. 7:12pm - CommentWrite a comment... hmmm...Palin has repeatedly declared her respect for Biden on mutually recognised issues. He has not done likewise. 7:06pm
...on the role of VP - that was good, Biden was more engaging and humble addressing both Palin and plain speaking his ideas to the nation. 7:16pm
And the health care debate:
mih is thinking that McCains Health Care proposal would work for me. Obama's wouldn't. Frankly, i would LIKE some health care.
Kimberly Wilson at 6:29pm October 2 wrote:
What makes you think that McCain's would work for you and Obama's wouldn't?
mih- because $5000 allocated to our family would make it possible for me to decide how to use it. As opposed to Obama/gov't deciding what plan I could have which would cover this or that. I would decide. Not the gov't, how to use my allocation. I can't access OR Health Plan. I can't access free clinics. I have real medical needs that go unaddressed - ... high blood pressure, weird tissue growths, heart murmur and potential diabetes. Dental and vision needs go un-met because the current gov't decides what is needful and what isn't for my quality of life.
PS - Blake, dion't freak out. God is big. He is the one who keeps me alive. Although it WOULD be nice to have SOME medical care.
Kimberly Wilson at 7:22pm October 2
Thanks for the answer! I appreciate it! Mih Ehr at 7:23pm October 2
Mih Ehr at 7:29pm October 2
Look around you America. Half of the people you pass on the street are like me. We have REAL health needs. We have NO health support. We don't talk about it because it would alarm our loved ones.But Obama is waaaayyyy too glossy. The current govts health system does NOT work either.A mandated health plan is not the answer because it just takes away what I need to pay for groceries for my family and forces me to submit to a mandated health plan that doens't even meet our needs.
In the end, if Obama had his way, I would be out the premium $ to pay for the mandated health care plan, and it wouldn't even meet my needs. So I would pay the premiums demanded by the gov't and lose out on the medical care it is SUPPOSED to provide AND in the procress the gov't would rob me of the $ to pay for groceries.I cannot support this idea.
mih is now officially riled up about health care. Obama sucks. (Read comments) Thank you Kimberly for bringing it out. you are awesome! :o). 7:31pm - Comment
...I have to agree with Biden that Drilling is not necessarily the solution. 6:34pm
... how can coal be "clean?" It defies the essence of coal burning. 6:36pm
...disagree with Biden. In the sense of marriage, marriageis a BIBLICAL institution and therefor Christian. There is no such thing as Same Sex Marriage. 6:38pm
...There is no sense in "talking" with Iran, or North Korea or Cuba. I agree with Palin on this point. 6:51pm
...look at Bidens eyes..he's playing to the camera. When Palin addresses him, she is looking at him, no tthe camera. Interesting. 7:02pm
...he' still not addressing her, he is still adressing the camera. weirdness. 7:12pm - CommentWrite a comment... hmmm...Palin has repeatedly declared her respect for Biden on mutually recognised issues. He has not done likewise. 7:06pm
...on the role of VP - that was good, Biden was more engaging and humble addressing both Palin and plain speaking his ideas to the nation. 7:16pm
And the health care debate:
mih is thinking that McCains Health Care proposal would work for me. Obama's wouldn't. Frankly, i would LIKE some health care.
Kimberly Wilson at 6:29pm October 2 wrote:
What makes you think that McCain's would work for you and Obama's wouldn't?
mih- because $5000 allocated to our family would make it possible for me to decide how to use it. As opposed to Obama/gov't deciding what plan I could have which would cover this or that. I would decide. Not the gov't, how to use my allocation. I can't access OR Health Plan. I can't access free clinics. I have real medical needs that go unaddressed - ... high blood pressure, weird tissue growths, heart murmur and potential diabetes. Dental and vision needs go un-met because the current gov't decides what is needful and what isn't for my quality of life.
PS - Blake, dion't freak out. God is big. He is the one who keeps me alive. Although it WOULD be nice to have SOME medical care.
Kimberly Wilson at 7:22pm October 2
Thanks for the answer! I appreciate it! Mih Ehr at 7:23pm October 2
Mih Ehr at 7:29pm October 2
Look around you America. Half of the people you pass on the street are like me. We have REAL health needs. We have NO health support. We don't talk about it because it would alarm our loved ones.But Obama is waaaayyyy too glossy. The current govts health system does NOT work either.A mandated health plan is not the answer because it just takes away what I need to pay for groceries for my family and forces me to submit to a mandated health plan that doens't even meet our needs.
In the end, if Obama had his way, I would be out the premium $ to pay for the mandated health care plan, and it wouldn't even meet my needs. So I would pay the premiums demanded by the gov't and lose out on the medical care it is SUPPOSED to provide AND in the procress the gov't would rob me of the $ to pay for groceries.I cannot support this idea.
mih is now officially riled up about health care. Obama sucks. (Read comments) Thank you Kimberly for bringing it out. you are awesome! :o). 7:31pm - Comment
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
And so I did see with New Eyes
So instead of giving in to frustration - the inspiration that arrived on the heels of a mundane and slow work day, I chose to look upon my surroundings with new eyes.
I work in a vendor mall , with 60 different vendors each stocking their own individual booths with their own individual products ranging from the antique to the kitchy. From the random and indescribable to the downright ugly. Its all here. So I gazed with new inspiration on elderly chairs, and dead-eyed dolls. On a cast iron Mr Peanut and an old chrome icebucket with a lucite handle from the 1950's.
I looked on these sorts of things, and tried to imagine how I would arrange them in a shoot.
It was a good way to spend an otherwise slow day in the curio-shop.
:o)
I work in a vendor mall , with 60 different vendors each stocking their own individual booths with their own individual products ranging from the antique to the kitchy. From the random and indescribable to the downright ugly. Its all here. So I gazed with new inspiration on elderly chairs, and dead-eyed dolls. On a cast iron Mr Peanut and an old chrome icebucket with a lucite handle from the 1950's.
I looked on these sorts of things, and tried to imagine how I would arrange them in a shoot.
It was a good way to spend an otherwise slow day in the curio-shop.
:o)
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