Whiners Not Welcome Here

I can definitely say that I have not been this busy since high school. Even today, I don't have time to post much, but thought I would throw out an update despite my insane schedule.

Work: Our volume is up, and the new DSHS Provider One rollouts seem to be going rather smoothly. This was a surprise to me, as over time I have become very cynical of Medicaid "improvements," but this one will actually improve efficiency and streamline prior authorizations. And for once, a software rollover has occurred without big glitches, and it was the government, not private agencies, that was responsible. Take note Premera and Regence. If the state can do it, so can you.

Internship: I've been spending Thursday mornings at City Hall interning under the Natural Resource Manager. So far, I've gotten a lot of insight into the Puget Sound Partnership and county politics. We have also been planning for a community garden at the old Country Charm Dairy, and an addition to the connectivity trails in the city. Just like when I went to pharmacy tech school, there's so much that you can only learn on the job, and I'm soaking up as much as possible.

Oceanography: I've been spending most Saturdays near Sequim at the DOE's Battelle Marine Lab. Last Saturday, we waded through the seaweed beds doing a biological survey, and taking samples for a photosynthesis and primary production lab. I'm not really a seaweed person, but it was fun, and I found a sheet of Nori that was over 4 square feet! Wrap that around your sushi (yuck!). When it came time to crunch numbers after the lab, I found out that people in my group "didn't like math." Well, who does really like math? Annoyed, but wanting to get home as soon as possible after all day on the beach and pier, I busted out the Calculus as fast as I could.

Forest Ecology: The Saturdays we haven't had Oceanography labs, we've gone to the peninsula for this class. We've picked up an old DNR study from the 1960's to track Douglas Fir production versus the effects of thinning in low precipitation conditions. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is done in a stand in the Olympic rain shadow near Sequim.

This weekend, we are joining the Natural History of the NW class on Mt. Ranier. The Everett students have been excited for weeks, and we've been planning our homework around the trip. However, the students from the peninsula have done nothing but complain about the trip, and many didn't show up for class last night as they are leaving today for the trip instead of tomorrow.

They are also complaining about the cost of the camping trip, but they're staying an extra night. The only reason I can gather that they are leaving early is to have an excuse to not turn work in on time, and to complain about the cost. This is offensive to me, as my classmate and I loose 6 hours of work time to travel every weekend, and have been paying for ferry trips all quarter. Despite the time we spend traveling every week, and both having families and full time jobs, we've been able to turn everything in on time all quarter. It's been so hard not to just spout off in class lately.

Environmental Politics: This class has been taking up much more time than I thought, but is the most interesting to me. In fact today, I plan on collecting more research for my term paper about the Gulf oil spill. I picked off shore drilling as my topic at the beginning of the quarter after Obama approved a plan for exploratory drilling off the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to Florida. Three weeks later, BP proved my point, and because of their disaster, it's been cake finding data to support my position. Hopefully all of you have joined me in a boycott of BP. Oh and don't feel sorry for them when they whine about how much they have spent in clean up so far - it's 4 days worth of profits for them.

Drill Baby Drill? Now I've Officially Lost My Hope

Environmental politics. Those two words sum up my two favorite topics, and I think it will be my favorite class - ever! In a quarter of forest ecology with Dr. Busywork, and Oceanography which I've yet to determine if I like, there is a shining beacon every Thursday night. My biggest problem in the class will be narrowing down the topic of my term paper.

When I read the syllabus, I thought I would write about the recent presidential approval of offshore oil and gas exploration off of the Atlantic coastline from Delaware to Florida. However, there is some interesting county politics going on regarding two "sustainable" communities that have been placed on hold. I put sustainable in quotes, because I am always suspicious when the Democrat councilmen oppose the developers, and the Republican ones support them.

The oil exploration topic is interesting, though. Especially since Senate Republicans, led by John McCain, vowed not to cooperate with Democrats for the rest of the year. Then, as soon as Obama approves the oil bill, they suddenly want to cooperate on jobs and oil bills.

The approved zones in the Atlantic are off the coasts of "red states" with the exception of Delaware and Maryland which swing sometimes. The EPA recently announced a Save the Chesapeake campaign, naming it not only the largest, but most polluted estuary in America, but now it's okay to drill off the shelf 50 miles from the coast. The other zone is off the north coast of Alaska, directly off the shelf from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, infamously known as ANWR in Congressional debates. This is what the Republicans want for ANWR. This is the natural beauty that ANWR really is.

It's sad that Obama has folded like this. He promised to preserve the coasts from oil exploration in his campaign. Just like he promised Universal Healthcare instead of this Insurance Goldmine healthcare system they created. The Green Jobs are also no where to find, I'm currently visciously fighting for unpaid internships in an industry with no openings. The "Hope" has faded away. I'm happy Oilman Dubya is gone, and there will be no drilling in ANWR, but what happens when an extreme ice pack destroys a drilling rig or two, or some other accident occurs? What would happen to my Bay if an extreme hurricane caused an accident?

On a Sustainable note, I'd like to give a huge thumbs up to the City of Arlington for improving such a walkable community downtown. Yesterday, as I was still sans textbooks and waiting for Amazon, I went downtown to run a ton of errands, and got sucked into a few extra local businesses. Since the parking situation has improved, it's much easier to park, and walk everywhere, and the storefront improvements are really working. I'd like to see some more greenery, but not everything is practical in my perfect world. I found myself meandering, and picked up some good used references at the new bookstore on Division. I still have to place another order with Amazon, but, saving any bit of money is great.

Feeling Old and Boring

Life feels as if it is at a standstill around here. Even though there is always laundry or some other chore to do, it has just been us and the pets since the 26th. One benefit of no kids at home for days is the concept of leftovers for dinner. I made a huge Christmas dinner, and even though the chicken was gone that night, we've been pairing the sides with my mom's leftover ham, and have been eating quite well.

To our surprise though, the youngest wanted to come home from his dad's last night, and the step-son called last night wanting to come home today. It's kind of weird, but we've always told them, we're just a phone call away and will always pick you up. I think they are more vocal now that we both recently began defending their right not to go to BioParents houses. It's one thing when they are young kids, but they all have their own lives and friends now that they are older. Both the hubby and I were forced into visitations as teens, so we've begun letting them make their own decisions about them. We still feel they should visit, but if their schedule only allows a day rather than a weekend, well we've decided to be firm and have their backs if needed.

I continued my pattern of watching old movies throughout my Winter Break, with my new Monty Python Holy Trilogy dvd's over the weekend. Since the break I've watched the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still," the original "Taking of Pelham 1,2,3," "Elmer Gentry," and many other oldies including countless Christmas classics like George C. Scott's "A Christmas Carol," "A Christmas Story," and of course "It's a Wonderful Life." I know it sounds boring, but sometimes I'm overwhelmed by all of the special effects, and want a classic story. The hubby also got me the new books from Steven King and Michael Crichton (yes, I know he's dead, tired of hearing about it) for Christmas. I've finally got some decent fiction to read.

I know what you're thinking - nothing about the World Climate Talks in Copenhagen? No, not really. I lost hope in them when we were following the pre-political preparation in class. Our politicians, for some reason think that they can dictate policies to us and the world. But here's a clue - people react best to peer pressure, and if you want to make a real change, you need to start small and work from the bottom up.

World talks will get no where until we can figure things out at home, and that includes your city and county. I have more hope for the Puget Sound Partnership than the Kyoto Protocol. I have some nasty words regarding the new developing country fund, since we need a major infrastucture overhaul at home, but I don't want to sound too cynical. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I'm not ready for next quarter yet, as the Amazon textbook order will be placed tonight. I feel like I need one more week off, but alas class starts on Monday. I do have a lead on a SnoCo parks internship, though. They are planning on making major changes and restorations at my old stomping ground out at Kayak Point County Park, and the Parks Department is requesting a couple of interns. I would love to work out there again, but I hope they don't get a new entrance sign. That's some great maitenance aid craftsmanship from 1996, I mean the routing and paint job is amazing! Sunshine and I worked for hours on it. :) I'll keep you posted on the new opportunity.

Insurance Reform not Healthcare Reform

How much do you pay for your total healthcare? I've been asking that question to many of our customers, curious if the average American cost I researched for my Economics 201 class was true. Instead of getting numbers, I have been getting sad stories, and scary questions, so I feel it's time to expose my opinion, I've been carefully keeping to myself lately.

I have opinions for and against the nationalized system, and I'm not naive enough to believe that the insurance corporations are not writing this bill via the leftwing in Congress. Growing up near D.C., and having an uncle who was an Economic Lawyer for the Congressional Ways and Means Committee, I learned at an early age that both sides are bought and paid for by corporations. This is why I am a registered Independent.

My dad, a retired pharmacist, has long believed we needed a nationalized healthcare system for decades. I know of many physicians who believe the same, but the problem to change over to this system breaks down to Economics. The biggest question of all should be how do you reimburse all the doctors, pharmacists, nurses, etc. for their HUGE student loans when the government knocks down their reimbursement for services?

First of all, let me get it into the open that I cannot stand the outright lies the rightwing has been scaring people with. If a national healthcare system is socialist and illegal, then we must do away with Medicare. Medicare is simply socialized medicine for retired Americans. Medicare does not pay for everything, like the rightwing likes to claim, and is not deducted from retired Americans' SSI checks. The myth that seniors have paid for Medicare is another falsehood created to make Americans believe that Medicare is not a socialized healthcare system, the deduction from your paycheck goes strictly to Social Security, and Medicare is not deducted from your Social Security.

See, what's going on is that the right wing politicians know that they cannot let the public know that Medicare is a socialist system, because their arguement against a total system would be void. They cannot get rid of Medicare, because they would have the AARP and all of their constituents that hastily had to move in their elderly parents rioting at their doors. But the spin that even Obama's watered down plan is Nazi-esc brings us to the next big question - What is more Nazi, taking care of all the sick and elderly people, or leaving them to die uninsured in their homes?

And if there is an outbreak of a serious disease, what will we do about the people with insurance that do not go to the hospital or doctor because they can't afford their copays? What about all the kids who don't even get well child check-ups, because their parents can't afford the after-insurance bill, but make too much to qualify for the Children's Healthcare Insurance Program?

Which leads me to my next big question - why healthcare reform? If we can't all agree on how it is done, then why not insurance reform? I'm not just refering to health insurance, but home, car and life insurance as well. Does your state require that you have car insurance? Ours does. Does your bank require you have homeowners insurance with your mortgage? Ours does. So if it is all required by law and policy, tell me why they should have unlimited profits.

Insurance was non-profit for decades until it was deregulated little by little through the 70's and 80's. So what are the figures? Let's go to my FAVORITE Economic resource, Executive Paywatch. The CEO of Medco (a pharmaceutical third party payor), David B. Snow made $14 million the last 2 years, while the CEO of Aetna (a health insurer) made $18 million. The CEO of State Farm made $13.66 million last year, and the CEO of MetLife made $22.4 million last year. Anyone else feeling had?

The next problem that needs to be nailed down is the aggressive marketing by Pharmaceutical companies. Whatever happened to doctors deciding you had a condition, and not you? The government banned cigarrette commercials in the 70's and should do the same for pharmaceutical companies. Many cholesterol drugs cause liver damage, but yet most of them are advertised on t.v. How is that not dangerous marketing? Doctors are not allowed to tell their patients they are fat and need to go on a low-fat diet, but are pressured by their patients to give them Lipitor. You can get a coupon for Ambien in Reader's Digest that has all the insurance processing information for a free 7 day supply. If someone forged a prescription and took it to an understaffed Rite Aid, they would get free drugs, and most likely not get caught. Scary?

Let's talk about their CEO's compensation - the CEO of Merck & Co. made $25 million last year, the CEO of Bristol-Meyers Squibb made $24 million, and the CEO of Mylan (a strictly generics producer) made $13 million. I know my doctor didn't even make close to that, and our pharmacists - pocket change compared to these market drug pushers. There are so many things that need fixed in our healthcare system, a hastily passed bill this fall will not even begin to fix. So I have written my Congressmen/women to tell them to stop the easyspeak, and get down to the real healthcare problem.

We paid over $11,000 in insurance premiums (which my employer pays 2/3), copays and your-share/non-covered services last year. How much did you pay?

What a Face to Wake Up To

Shame on CBS for polluting my Mother's Day morning with Dick Cheney of all people. The Republicans can't understand why they are a dying party? Here's a hint: stop letting Darth Vader go on television to tell boogeyman stories of people with different religions from different parts of the world. He actually said he would rather have a hate-mongering, drug-addict speak for the party, a.k.a. Rush (OxyContin) Limbaugh than a war-proven general, Colin Powell. Lions for Lambs anyone?

I saw a newspiece on the Saudi Arabian plan for Guantanamo prisoners that return to their country on CBS none-the-less last week. They try to assimilate them into the Western society as quickly as possible by buying them a car, a house, and providing them with a job. So far, they have a 90% success rate. These men actually realize that they were duped by a fanatical side of their religion. Let's let the experts - the military - run this now, and leave the Lambs out of it.

The Republicans will not have their party grow until they become inclusionary and not exclusionary. Listen to kids like Megan McCain, and you might grow again. More on that later...

Had a great Mom's Day despite working. Tay won her game on Saturday, and we hiked the new trail with the dogs after the kids split for their friend's houses. The hubby made me a great dinner, right down to the Almond - Soy Asian salad. Now it's back to crunch time.

A New Dawn in American Science

Today, the FDA approved stem cell transplants from pure human lines! I don't have much time to get technical, although Molecular Biology was my favorite class, but we will now be able to catch up with Europe's scientists. And I won't go into the political side, because face it, there are not enough wishful parents to adopt the frozen embryos from people playing God and having litters. Enough said.

Geron, who applied for FDA approval, will begin with embryonic stem cell transplants in paraplegic adults to see how well their spinal cord and nerves regenerate. As soon as they can prove it is safe in adults, which they already have in Europe, they can begin trials on children and on auto-immune diseases. Imagine if a Type 1 diabetic can get all new Beta cells in their pancreas, or if Multiple Sclerosis patients can get new nerve generation, or a lymphoma patient new marrow, and the list can go on and on. It's such an exciting day in Nerdworld!

Words to Vote By

This is one of my favorite quotes by President Harry S. Truman, and are truly words to vote by:

"Slanders, lies, character assassination - these things are a threat to every single citizen everywhere in this country. When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth - then all Americans are in peril. It is the job of all of us - of every American who loves his country and his freedom - to rise up and put a stop to this terrible business." - President Harry S. Truman

Why I’m Getting Out

Between my regular homework in ECON 201 and Espanol, working 32 hours a week, kids, etc. I have been working on a Healthcare group project for Econ. It is disheartening to see the stone cold facts about our healthcare system, and the stone cold facts about Universal Healthcare. As much as citizens of the UK complain about the wait for specialty care, most Americans on HMO's have to wait just as long for appeals, and the biggest fact of them all – 46 million Americans have NO coverage whatsoever, and the number grows with the rising Unemployment rate. But politicians must be careful as to what kind of Universal Coverage they impose.

I have had professors and colleagues ask me why I won't take the MCAT's or the PCAT's, and here is my answer. The American healthcare system is broken, and I cannot work in the field anymore and watch low income people continue to die. I can't do it anymore. Between my group project, and my discussion board posting this week, here are my facts to back up my feelings.

Country	% GDP Spent on Health-care	Average Annual Government Healthcare Spending	Average Annual Employer Healthcare Spending	Average Annual Citizen Health-care Spending
US	15.30%	$2,884	$1391	$2126
UK	8.30%	$2,371		$352
Canada	10%	$3,839		$1645
Germany	10.70%	$349	$1259	$1806
Japan	8%	$1,927		$431

Total Annual Average Spent per Person	Average Annual Gross Income	Average Annual Disposable Income	% AADI Spent on Healthcare
$6,401	$42028	$31410	6.8%
$2,723	$32602	$24612	1.4%
$5,484	$37872	$22512	7.3%
$3,414	$34895	$24078	7.5%
$2,358	$29882	$25184	1.7%

Working as a pharmacy technician for over 10 years, I have personally seen the demand for brand name drugs increase as marketing by drug companies has increased. I don't think I have bought a pen in the last 10 years, since we receive free pens and paper sporting ads for such drugs as Viagra, Vytorin, Advair, Nexium, Lantus, Celebrex, etc. on a regular basis. Many doctors practice what pharmacists call poly-pharmacy, meaning that the patient is receiving one or more drugs working against eachother, or causing other problems and symptoms. They prescribe them anyway. Why? Patients are demanding them because of an ad on tv or in a magazine, or because drug companies are giving the doctors kickbacks such as free continuing education classes, weekend getaways, ties, tee-shirts, clocks and watches. These sales are good for the drug companies and wholesalers, but are marginally small sales for the pharmacies themselves.

Insurance companies prefer to cover less expensive generic drugs that many times work just as well as "designer drugs" as we like to call them in the pharmacy. Pharmacies also rely on generic sales that they can buy low and mark-up significantly, while still maintaining a low sale price for the patient. The wholesalers make deals for bulk sales from the drug companies, then the pharmacies negotiate contract prices with the wholesalers. The pharmacies also negotiate contract payments with insurance companies based on the average wholesale price of each drug (which McKesson has been accused of falsely inflating), minus a contracted percentage. The more the pharmacy pays for the drug from the wholesaler, the less they make on the sale because of the pre-negotiated contract price from the insurer. The patient pays higher prices for a result they may have achieved from a much less expensive generic drug, but some doctors won't budge on the patient's prescribed drugs.

When American politicians promise to allow re-importation from Canada of drugs, they are taking away a pre-bought supply of drugs from Canadian citizens, creating a shortage of prescriptions in rural, non-border areas of Canada. The drug companies and insurers have a cash cow business in America that more than universal healthcare is going to solve. At least some companies are rethinking their marketing strategies due to politicians investigating just where their profits are being reinvested.

Basic Health Statistics
Sources: CIA.gov/the-World-Factbook and www.npr.org/news/specials/healthcare-profiles

U.S.A. – Population: 303,824,640 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $6,402
Life Expectancy: 78.14 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 6.3 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.6% - 18,229,478 citizens

United Kingdom – Population: 60,943,912 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $2,723
Life Expectancy: 78.85 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 4.93 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.2% - 1,218,878 citizens

Canada – Population: 33,212,696 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $5,484
Life Expectancy: 81.16 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 5.8 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.3% - 996,381 citizens

Germany – Population: 82,369,532 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $3,673
Life Expectancy: 79.1 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 4.03 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.1% - 823,695 citizens

Japan – Population: 127,288,416 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $2,358
Life Expectancy: 82 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 2.8 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: less than 0.1% - less than 1,000,000 citizens

The “New Generation” needs to speak up!

The Environmental Defense Fund is asking for our help again. They have begun a campaign to ensure that Global Warming, Alternative Energy and other Environmental issues are included in the presidential debates, and not pushed to the wayside by typical politics. Think about what concerns us most, especially if you are in Generation X or a Millenial. This economy and multi-trillion dollar debt will affect our lives and our retirement, and add to that the possibility of ever-changing weather due to climate change, and we face some major issues as the Baby Boom retires. We need to make sure that our issues are heard, so we have a clear choice of who will lead us into the future.

The current administration has stalled our growth by reducing spending on capital in the science and technology sector, and we need to get it back before the rest of the world catches up or surpasses us. In Europe, they are in the large-trial stages of stem-cell transplants, and in the Scandinavian region, countries have tidal power, geo-thermal power, hydro-electric power, wind and solar power. Feeling a little behind? Well, they are also driving on electricity, CNG, and ever-reducing their dependence on foreign oil. One of the reasons Japan lost WWII was an oil embargo against them. How would you function if the world all of a sudden had a beef against us, and decided not to sell us oil?

Alternative Energy sources are a major part of National Security, and this administration has ignored it. Sign the petition to keep the Environment on the list of issues during the Presidential Debates.

In ECON 201 today, I became more depressed about the state of the US economy. I wish I could put my 401K money under the mattress right now, but I'm going to "ride it out" like the "experts" keep telling me to. This $700 billion bail-out is absurd. Instead of thinking what is "bad or good" for the economy, think of it as "easy or difficult." The bail-out is the "easy" way out, which is not always best in the long run. Think about it – stopping terrorism "over there" instead of dealing with it "over here" seemed like an easy answer, but look at where it got us in the long run. Are we any safer from domestic terrorists than we were 7 years ago?

Bailing-out the banks is an easy way to STABILIZE the market for RIGHT NOW. It does not guarantee the prevention of a slide in the near future. It will only "open up" the credit market, or so they "speculate." It will not prevent a recession – at 6.1% unemployment we are already 1.1% ABOVE the "preferred" unemployment rate, therefore we are already in a recession. The bail-out will create inflation, as it makes the dollar weaker. It will make it harder to buy the essentials, much less pamper ourselves with Starbucks and HBO. And as a Gen-Xer, I can live every day for the rest of my life, knowing that my 5 member family donated $10,000 to corrupt bankers who made horrible decisions, so their credit market could be re-opened. Every day, for the rest of my life – I really hope my kids forgive us if we let this happen. If you haven't written to your Congressmen/women or Senators, do it now.

Think about it, if every "bad" mortgage was re-negotiated at lower interest rates, people could afford their mortgages, the banks would end up getting most of their return on investment, and real-estate would not sit empty as homelessness rises. It is difficult for the banks to sit on their bad debts and wait over the long run for a return on those investments. So they would rather the US taxpayer buy those bad mortgages, re-posses the properties, and hope that someone buys them as they sit, empty, at prices just out of reach of many Americans. How strange would it look to the rest of the world as houses sit empty while "Bushvilles" pop up across the nation?

If you look at the raw basics of this crisis, it is not a difficult decision to let "Lassiez faire," or let the markets be free, in good times and in bad. And if the big boys can't play right, then they need to share the profits with the debt-holders. At least raise the tax rate back to what it was in 1999, and start paying off some of the debt that already exists.

– $ 9,795,674,339,326

Economic Bail-out should spark a letter writing campaign

I wrote to my Representative and Senators today, asking them to postpone a vote on the Economic Bail-out, and debate it on the floors. The last plan they hastily pushed through Congress was the Iraq War and they claimed it would be easy and pay for itself. Remember? Everyone should write one as well, because we have Inflation coming. That was the subject of our first lecture in ECON 201 today. Our country is in economic trouble and we are about to make it worse for the individual worker.

For those of you who are fortunate to know someone still alive from the Greatest Generation, ask them how much a loaf of bread was during the Depression compared to their salaries. We are about to socialize a HUGE debt and bail-out executives who made HUGE mistakes.

We will not even socialize medicine, but it's okay to socialize the banks' debts without socializing their profits. Here's a copy of the letter I sent, please send one of your own:

We already know with the bungled results of the Iraq War that hasty votes by Congress can become large mistakes. Please take the time to ensure that the Executives responsible for these companies are fired, make golden parachute deals illegal, and regulate, regulate regulate!

It is not fair to my generation or my children's that we socialize debt before we socialize medicine and profits. Please do not hastily shove another one of the President's Best Guesses through. Too many Americans will have to pay in inflation and retirement fund sacrifices for too many generations to come. And those executives who come out with millions from all of this don't even pay their fair share of taxes.

When is Congress going to stand up for the majority of workers instead of bailing out the minority of large earners from their poor choices? I thought that's what a Democrat majority was supposed to produce.

Thank you,
Amy Lucas

Wall Street went down, down, down, down

As I am sitting here, the stock market is dipping and dipping. I don't even want to know what my 401K is doing, but hopefully my hypocrisy investments in "Natural Resources" are keeping it afloat. Despite the pain it will inflict on the economy, I am glad the government did not bail out Lehman Brothers, and I hope they tell the auto companies to "Suck it," too. What? The more wealthy citizens will finally feel a pinch like the rest of us?

Don't chide me for the loss of jobs, I realize this is a bad thing, but in the last 12 years, we have let M.B.A. salaries skyrocket past those of doctors, physicists, most lawyers – you get the picture. These C.E.O.'s and C.F.O.'s have been paid hundreds of times, sometimes even thousands of times (as in the case of Wal-Mart), the salaries of their lowest paid workers, and most of these salaries aren't even based on performance. They have been allowed to make bad investments, slash the skilled workforce, slash bonus programs for workers, and run the companies into the ground. But they get their parachute bonuses before leaving the companies, and I'm sure they are immediately put into tax shelters.

They are rewarded with golden parachutes of millions if their company is sold during their time as CEO. So what's the best way to get multi-millions without having to work? Simple, get an MBA, become a CEO, run the company into the ground, break it up and sell it off in pieces, then get your golden parachute. This happened to my husband, after 20 years of loyalty to a grocery chain, we watched his management bonus get smaller and smaller, while workers' wages were frozen, and the executives' were paid more and more. Not long after he left to run his own business, the company publicly announced its financial troubles, and was sold off in pieces. The executives were rewarded quite comfortably, while thousands of workers lost their jobs.

I really wish John Edwards had been able to keep his pants zipped, because this is a major example of the two Americas that John McCain doesn't want to acknowledge. To the autoworkers in Detroit – leave now. Go get a job with Toyota, or another car company willing to listen to the consumer, and act responsibly. I never thought I would buy a Japanese car, but if GM and Ford aren't willing to build the efficient cars we want, then we will go elsewhere. The government needs to recognize that bailing them out is just enabling more poor decisions by out-of-touch CEO's. For those CEO's to say that saving their company from their bad decisions is the only way to save the American economy is nothing but offensive. America has prospered through its past tough times with ingenuity and aided with innovations by Academia.

This de-regulated CEO thinking is dinosaur, get-rich-quick thinking, and it's time that a new generation of workers, who are familiar with the business and skilled in management, begin running the companies. Just because you have an MBA from Harvard doesn't mean you know what's best for a hospital or a grocery chain (or being President for that matter). Let Wall Street reel in its bad decisions, let the market slide to where it should be, and maybe next time investments are made, history will be examined before money is blindly invested.

Update: I went into my funds and heavily diversified yesterday. I moved some money around and hopefully, some positive choices I made will leave me with at least as much retirement as I put in.

G.O.P. is Out of Touch

Well if you did not know it by now, the Greedy Old Prude convention confirmed it last night. The Republicans are completely out of touch with the common American. Not one of them mentioned the economy, not one of them mentioned alternative energy, and not one of them mentioned health care. What did they mention? Well, aside from hockey (which most Americans can't afford to put their kids in), they bashed Obama for not getting a high paying corporate job after he graduated from Harvard. According to the Republicans, a community organizer is a joke.

Why is it a joke to want to get into your community and help people who are not as fortunate as you? If anything, it makes Barak and Michelle Obama more admirable, because they both could have gotten high paying corporate lawyer jobs out of college. Instead, they decided to live in Chicago and give back to the community, working hard to pay the bills. Now let's talk about what a community organizer does, and why it deserves a lot more respect than what the Republicans think.

According to the official Obama campaign a community organizer is, "the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies. Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed."

What a slap in the face to poor people, those who live paycheck to paycheck, those with little savings, and those who may be comfortable economically, but realize that there are millions who are not. If we go out and register the millions of hard working Americans to vote that aren't already registered, we can show them what the Democratic process means. The PEOPLE choose the leader who can understand what they are going through, who doesn't think it's a joke that people lose their jobs, or can't find work, or can't work because of sickness that they don't have a health care plan to take care of. Unfreaking believable!

I also kept scanning the crowd, and it looked like a sea of rich white people in suits and ties and gowns and pant suits. The crowd certainly was not even half as energized as the Democrats, and I am certain that McCain will not get more viewers of his speech than the Super Bowl or the Olympics. That's right, according to Nielsen ratings, Obama had over 40 million people tune into his acceptance speech last week. That's the highest rating in television this year of any show or event!

I want the Republicans to keep making fun of community helpers, and keep thinking we are worried about controlling the sex lives of our citizens. Keep on keeping on McCain, and hopefully your entire rich people base turns out to vote, so it won't be such an embarrassing landslide in November. Then the Republicans will understand that Roe vs. Wade is done, and it's time to tackle the real problems of America.

And in other national news, please don't think that our area up here in the North Cascades is a crazy shoot 'em up wild west. We have made the national news twice in less than 2 months for shooting deaths, but this last one could have happened anywhere in America. The man that went on the shooting rampage is mentally ill, and is another reason why national healthcare should be in the spotlight. Perhaps it could have been prevented if he could have gotten the mental health care he needed.

Palin? Bad Choice McCain

Do the Republicans think women are stupid? Are they really that sexist to think that when a woman sees another woman's name on a ballot they are going to vote for her? Like we are going to have some epiphany - Ooooh a woman, I should vote for her because I am a woman too. PLEASE!

I will vote for the candidate who is going to protect a woman's right to make her own decisions about her body, because anti-abortion laws are also a loophole that allow insurance companies to deny birth control pills, and other medical procedures essential to women's health (and no, this is not referring to abortion – see my blog below). I will vote for a candidate who believes in science and believes in teaching science. What am I talking about?

Governor Palin openly discusses her beliefs that global warming is not real and is definitely not man-made, and she also believes that Evolution should be banned from schools. Personally, I have had three science teachers that taught Evolution and believed that God had some hand in it. I'll never forget what my AP Biology teacher, Mr. Knowles said, "Who is any man to say they know how God made the Earth, or how infinite one of God's days are," referring to the 7 days in Genesis. If she doesn't listen to scientists, who have had years of schooling and spent decades dedicated to research, is she also going to ignore Generals and Economists like Bush? Ignorance is bliss people.

But I think my biggest problem with her is because I am a mom, and I feel she is being EXTREMELY selfish to leave her infant special-needs son and accept a spot on this ticket. If the child was older, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but this is a baby. Does she honestly think she will be able to spend the time her baby needs with her running for VP and if she should become VP? But alas she is well-off and I'm sure the nannies and nurse maids are awaiting. Why bother raising your kid when you can afford for other people to do it for you, right?

Dreams and Small Wonders

Today is the 45^th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech. Today is also the day that the first black man will accept a nomination from the Democratic Party to run for president. Anyone else feeling proud? I sure am, but I have other things in this presidential race to be proud of.

Obama's pick for VP comes from the home of the Blue hen chicken, the Small Wonder, the first state. Whenever I tell people where I'm from, I always say I'm from Delmarva and I get the weirdest looks (unless I'm back there visiting of course). I'm from the Maryland part of Delmarva near the states' border, but the states on peninsula share each others' joys and sorrows, especially Delaware's. I just visited there almost 2 months ago, and was so happy about how liberal and understanding my home peninsula has become. When people want to argue about school bussing programs, I just think about how successful they have been in reducing racism on Delmarva in the last 30 years. In fact, I distinctly noticed that the sign for the Mason-Dixon Line had been removed near Selbyville when I drove by. And now the first black presidential nominee has picked the long-term Senator from Delaware to be his running mate. How cool is that?

I remember when I was a kid, my mom-mom and pop-pop driving me for hours to some event where we could meet Joe Biden. My mom-mom was so happy to see her Senator in person, and was pretty up-to-date on her politics when it came to her Senator Biden. I only wish she could be here to see him become Vice President. Yes Vice President – face it, Obama's the man! Yes we can!

Quick note - Mo Rocca would like you to know that Biden's middle name is not Bassinette or Raisinette, but Robinette. If you have time, check out his video of the Blue Hen ladies at the DNC convention, and learn a little something about Delaware.

Evangelical Sleaze

Not being a religious person, prayer is not a regular part of my day. In fact, most of my religious experiences have occurred outside in nature, but I will say the occasional prayer, in my own way. So if I was religious, and prayed on a regular basis, what would I pray for? Hmmm, maybe world peace, a world effort to save the planet, an end to poverty, famine and drought, a cure for diseases like AIDS and cancer, and so on and so on.

What do our good Evangelical friends at Focus on the Family pray for? Well, they pray for rain, too, but not a cleansing rain to end drought or a hardy rain to grow food. No, screw those who are bad off, those who Jesus would probably make his mission to help. No, why bother praying for good things - they are going to pray for rain on the Democrats and Obama at the convention on the 25th. This is their web video encouraging the "prayer chain."

Do the Republicans know that they LOSE Independent voters like me when they don't condemn these things? There are positions in our state government I would rather see filled by a Republican, but they always want to bring morality into the picture. "Stay out of my private life, and stay on my ballot," that's my motto.

This video is disgusting and "Christians" like this need a reality check.

Abortion?! Them is Fightin’ Words!

Okay ladies. Put up your dukes. It's time to do some fightin'. The Republican executive branch, in its last ditch efforts to impose its "morality" on us, have now classified our birth control pills/shots/rings/IUD's and Plan B as a form of abortion. How does that affect you? Well it doesn't - yet.

According to the New York Times, the Department of Health and Human Services (the great people that brought HIPAA into health care) has drafted rules that would ban the federal funding of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies that require their staff to dispense these medications. But what scares me the most is the wording in the drafted rules defining abortion as, "any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation." Yes, Biology majors, Zygotes and Blastocysts are apparently human beings right away.

Now I'm not talking Juno, "my baby has fingernails" abortions. I'm talking about our birth control. You know the stuff you take so you can be a responsible parent or non-parent? I have a neighbor that has 6 children in a tiny 4 bedroom house, in which one of the rooms functions as a "schoolhouse." This is what they want from us – tons of kids, and lots of poor people homeschooling a generation of children ignorant to advanced society.

Now you might ask how a simple drafted rule like this can affect you if you go to a private doctor for your birth control. Well, it's about to get expensive. Most states require insurance companies to cover your birth control. Under these new rules, the Federal policy will supercede state policy, and any state that refuses to go along with the new rules will loose its Medicaid funding. What's worse is that it will make hospitals and clinics, including Planned Parenthood hire nurses and doctors who may also want to impose their "morality" on young, poor women who can't afford to pay cash for birth control.

Youth, inexperience and multiple children will only bring about a higher infant mortalilty rate and more homelessness. And to make it worse, the churches encourage in vitro fertilization, or as I call it, human litters (Jon and Bitch, oops, Kate Plus 8), so there are less couples out there willing to adopt than there used to be. Hey with these new funding rules along with Abstinence Only education, we'll finally be number one in the world again – in teenage pregnancy.

Call/write/email your Representatives, because after all, they control the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, and can pull the strings out from under them.