NHS = What Americans do NOT want!

This is how the NHS handles healthcare:

Per Prof Alan Maynard, University of York

"More money for cancer, means less money for motor neurone disease. More money for cancer means less to treat patients who have got Alzheimer's."

He said many of the cancer drugs were portrayed as wonder drugs when they only extend a patient's life by three to four months."

"You are undermining NICE and all the work it does to target resources where we get the biggest health gain, the bang for the buck. And this drives a horse and cart through logical and systematic rationing of health care resources,"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8717793.stm

The UK system RATIONS health care.  If they determine that available medicines will only prolong your life an average of 3 - 4 months you don't get the drug.

But where do they draw the line?  Is one year an acceptable time limit to prolong life, or does the medicine need to prolong life five years or more?  Or is it subjective based on the disease and the area you live in (remember your doctor / hospital is based on your post code in the UK unless you go private and pay for your own health care).

In America we don't conduct a cost benefit analysis on how long you may live before the government decides if you can have the treatment.  We treat everyone. 

And yes you do get treated - if you show up to the hospital and you need to be treated - surgery etc... you have to be treated.  It's against the law for them to reject you on based on whether or not you can pay.

Can you imagine the uproar if the Government started putting limits on what treatment you could have because your estimated life span would only be an extra few months?!

Give me a break - we have fits when they try to take people off life support who are brain dead.  Do you think given a rationing system like the UK has that a Terry Shiavo situation would ever come to pass? 

I think not.  It would be way to expensive (15 years on life support) and she had no hope of recovery.

There is no way they would have put her on life support - she would have been declared dead the same day she collapsed.

And good luck if you get cancer or if you contract some non-main stream disease.  You are SOL.

And I can say I'd much rather be an uninsured American (and yes I have been) than an insured Brit.  I know, I've experienced both, first hand, as a local.

Child Marriage and other things on my mind this morning.

I was reading this blog http://stilettosinthesand.blogspot.com/ yesterday.

It's written by an American woman who's had the misfortune of living in KSA for the past 7 years.  She's just "escaped" and made it back to America.  In her blog she mentioned this 2005 article regarding child marriage.

http://archive.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=66983&d=15&m=7&y=2005

Now, when I say child I mean CHILD.

After doing the complicated math it turns out this baby was married off by her sperm donor (there is no way I'm calling this freak her father) for the first time at the age of FIVE.

Yep that's right FIVE.

Some perverted 50 year old man married this little FIVE year old girl.

I cannot tell you how angry this makes me.  But wait...it gets better...

Her Grandmother sued and was granted a divorce for the child, but when she went to go collect her she was no where to be found.

Why you ask?

Because her sperm donor sold married her off again at the ripe old age of TEN.

Now it doesn't say what the Grandmother was going to do now that the child was married again.  Hopefully they didn't have to go through another divorce, but could just pick her up and take her home.

Yeah right, like that happened!

She's in a country where a FIVE year old can be married off legally.  I bet the poor thing is still "married" to the pedophile - and at 15 she's probably considered "used" up and he (the "husband') is most likely looking for another TEN year old "wife".

Here's another article regarding a TEN year old Yemeni girl who was raped and beaten by her 30 something year old "husband".

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/11/world/fg-childbride11

She actually took matters into her own hands and went to the courts by herself to get a divorce.

This kills me - no one helped her but her Aunt and she only provided bus fare.

ARGH!!!

Here's an article about an EIGHT year old who was granted an annulment.  Her 20 something year old "husband" told the court that he had "consummated" the marriage but didn't beat her.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7351336.stm

Well that was mighty nice of him wasn't it?!

Yes, your Honor, I raped the small child BUT I DID NOT beat her.

WTF people?!

In other news...

Apparently our communist president hired this idiot - Dr. Donald Berwick - to oversee Medicare and Medicaid.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/66920

This guy thinks the UK NHS system is the bomb.

Obviously he's never had to rely on it.

Clearly he's never looked deeply enough into it to realize that the government has made healthcare in the UK a nightmare.

He says "“The NHS is a bridge – a towering bridge – between the rhetoric of justice and the fact of justice.”

It's a bridge alright, a bridge to an early grave.

You have to wait a minimum of NINE MONTHS before you can get any surgery.  ANY surgery that isn't an emergency.  That was the wait time when I left the country in 2007.  It could be longer now - I'm not sure.

And I'm not sure what the NHS considers an emergency since I worked with a gentleman who needed heart valve repair surgery, his heart stopped about 6 times while he was waiting for his surgery.

SIX TIMES PEOPLE.

And it didn't bump him up in the line any quicker.

And it takes about 6 weeks to get an appointment unless you pay extra and become a "private" patient.  But you still get the same crappy doctors.

My own personal experience with the UK healthcare system was pretty impressive.  As some of you know I had a stroke back in 2001. 

Guess what?

It happened in America so I was seen immediately and hospitalized for tests the same day (turns out my neurologist thinks the stroke was courtesy of Vioxx). 

Anyway, fast forward to 2006, we're living in London - Wimbledon no less.  Suppose to be a posh area (looks like the slums in America) and you would think there would be decent doctors there.

Because your doctor is determined by your address.  Yep - you don't get a choice of doctors in the NHS you are assigned one based on your home address.  So if you want to see one near work you are S.O.L. unless you want to pay out of pocket as a "private" patient. 

Something else we get to look forward to I'm sure if dipshit Dr. Donald Berwick has his way.

So anyway it's 2006, I'm having chest pains - which really concerns me because hey I've already had a stroke - and I go to the doctor.

I tell him my history.

And he says to me, without taking my blood pressure, temperature, or even listening to my heart - you may have gall bladder problems.  If it's still bothering you in a week come back in and we'll have a look at it.

I look at him and say seriously?!  What if it's a heart attack?  He just says you're too young, if you're still feeling bad in a week come back in.

The whole thing took about 10 minutes.

And since I'm still alive it wasn't a heart attack - but if it had been I'd be dead because the doctor was an incompetent shit. 

This is the same one that saw my hubby and diagnosed his ear infection as cotton stuck in his ear - come back in a week if it still bothers you.  His eardrum burst and he now sports a scar on his eardrum.

Here is an earlier post about the UK healthcare system and here is another one and below are more articles.

"Around 10,000 people die in England each year after their cancer is diagnosed late, and the UK has one of the poorest records in Europe for spotting the disease at an early stage."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/08/nhs-early-cancer-diagnosis

"It comes as an alarming report reveals that British women are more likely to die from cancer than those in most other European countries. Death rates here are worse than in Croatia, Russia, Bulgaria and Lithuania."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1231940/Britains-shame-cancer-toll-women--nearly-worst-Europe.html

Oh yeah - this is just what we need...

Or we can be like the Canadians...

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/6607/obamacare-a-canadian-wait-time-preview/

They seem to have a healthcare system that is about as good as the NHS is.

OH MY GOSH!!!!  I can hardly wait to be treated like Shit when I get sick so I can die faster and in a more painful way.

Aren't you excited too!?

The momentum has slowed

Not sure why but my writing has slowed to a trickle.

It could be one of the below:

1.  I've been sleeping in late every morning...oops!
2.  I don't want to face the fact that my vacation is over.
3.  I'm lazy...
4.  I don't want to organize my thoughts enough to write about them.

I have been thinking of things to write about, I just can't seem to actually write...

Here's a list of items I've I intended on writing about but just didn't.

1.  Personality tests - I took a morality one and a political one.  Here is the results of the Morality test:

"Based on your answers to the previous questions, your overall score on a conservative/liberal dimension of moral attitudes--compared with the general population--puts your percentile at 5, with the 99th percentile indicating the most liberal possible rating. Another way of explaining this is to say that out of 100 randomly-selected people, you will most likely be more liberal than 5 of them."



Hmmm I didn't realize I was THAT conservative. 
 
And the political test said I was a conservative but had liberal social views.  WTF?!  I have no idea what that means!
 
2.  The health care bill that no one read before signing (evidenced by the fact that the politicians screwed their own health care).
 
3.  Vacation plans - where to go?  Vietnam, Malyasia, where???
 
4.  My house - the A/C is leaking, we have to find a new place to live in August, the landlord isn't responding to e-mails.
 
5.  My sister is going to live with our mother - which is good it will allow her to get back on her feet.
 
6.  I joined a gym - that was interesting...let's hope I use it...
 
7.  We're going to Switzerland for our anniversary or as I like to call it, our honeymoon.

8.  The notebook was sent to me - but of course it didn't make it.  ARGH!  Living over here really chaps my ass sometimes.  I don't even know why I bother giving out our address over here - things only make it here about 50% of the time.  The rest just wind up return to sender. 

9.  I just realized all my blog links have disappeared.  WTF?!  It must have happened when I tried to change my layout.  So I need to add them back...
 
Many things to write about - many opinions to share.  None have made it on here.  Well at least I have a list now and if I want to write about these things later I can.
 
Oh and can I just say I can't stand people who don't manage their calendars.
 
It really pisses me off.

Help me to understand...

This article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100421/ap_on_re_us/us_day_of_prayer_military

Why in is an evangelist speaking at the Pentagon? 

Really?!

Really.

Separation of Church and State - does anyone remember this?

This article is concerned about the fact this guy (Billy Graham's son no less) insulted Muslims.

When they really should be freaking out about the fact this guy was even invited to speak at the Pentagon!

STOP MIXING RELIGION WITH POLITICS!

People act crazy when you start mixing religion with politics - every religion thinks there's is the "right" one.  And when you start mixing that with politics you get religious politicians trying to shove their "morals" and "values" down everyone else's throat.

For example - Bush removing all funding to clinics who offer abortion, and removing funding to schools who teach any form of birth control other than abstinence.  It's all fine and well if you don't believe in abortion or birth control - but don't shove your beliefs onto me. 

I do believe in a woman's right to choose and I do believe in educating teenagers on birth control.

If you don't you should be able to opt your children out of that type of education but you shouldn't be able to opt my children out.  The same goes with the right to choose - if you want to make that decision for yourself fine - but don't presume to make decisions regarding my life and my body for me.

Religion and politics is a slippery slope - someone on their high and mighty horse trying to force what they think is right on the masses is just a dictatorship waiting to happen.

Go Ricky! Go Ricky!

Ricky Martin is Gay.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100330/ap_on_en_mu/us_people_ricky_martin


Hmmm, I don't know about you but his sexual orientation really wasn't a surprise to me.

He's pretty, keeps himself up nicely, and is mega talented.  At a minimum my thought was that he was bi-sexual.

A man can be all those things and straight, but usually that's not the case. 

I'm glad he felt comfortable enough to come out, but really it's not anyone's business but his own.

However, I guess as more men and women who are talented, successful, and in the public eye come out, the more acceptable and normal homosexuality will become.

Then maybe they can have the same rights and privileges as the rest of society without anyone obsessing how they spend their free time.

Personally I find it creepy the way people get all upset over same sex partners.  When I think of how much energy they spend trying to keep them from having a legal relationship with one another I pretty much think they must be really angry, really jealous, and really bored.

I mean seriously - don't we have more important things to lobby against, more important causes to spend our money and time on?

You know, starving children, Aids, the homeless, National Debt, battered women, getting Obama out of office...

Seriously, unless you're trying to hook up with a child, or a non-human partner, I could really care less who you take to bed with you at night or to whom you want to bind yourself legally. 

In my opinion (which is always right) everyone should be able to enter into a legal relationship with the person they love. 

It's not fair that I can marry the love of my life, which automatically gives me certain rights and protections under the law, and my sister cannot. 

What makes my love more valid than hers? 

What gives the government the right to decide my love is right and her's is somehow deviant and wrong?  And why are they using God as a reason why?

The government has no right to deny part of the population of rights and privileges the rest of the population enjoys.  Especially based on sexual orientation.

And if a church doesn't believe in homosexuality I don't think they should have to marry a same sex couple.  But I do believe if they don't marry them then they shouldn't enjoy tax exempt status.  If you are a private club and you can reject part of the populous then you shouldn't enjoy any type of government exemptions.  You are practicing discrimination.

Try to deny an inter-racial couple from marrying and see what happens. 

In America all men and women are suppose to be treated equally.  We have anti discrimination laws, and we are so proud of the fact that anyone can be anything in America.  How can we not remove this legal discrimination against a large part of our population?

It's ridiculous.  Just as ridiculous as I find the military for discharging people because they are gay. 

What, do they think being gay is contagious?

Oh my gosh!  I've got the gays!  Quick help me wash it off, maybe it won't stick!

HA!  Idiots!

I CANNOT Believe this

The health care bill passed.

Obama is jumping up and down, the Democrats are having a victory dance.

IDIOTS.

They have no idea what they have done because they've never experienced any healthcare system other than the American one. 

In theory it might me nice to change it, but in practice they have no idea what they have done.

We - the middle class - are going to be sucked under, we are going to drown under the weight of all the tax we will have to pay.

For what will be the shittiest healthcare that America has ever experienced.

This is the end of the American Dream.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100322/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

"To pay for the changes, the legislation includes more than $400 billion in higher taxes over a decade, roughly half of it from a new Medicare payroll tax on individuals with incomes over $200,000 and couples over $250,000. A new excise tax on high-cost insurance policies was significantly scaled back in deference to complaints from organized labor.

In addition, the bills cut more than $500 billion from planned payments to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and other providers that treat Medicare patients. An estimated $200 billion would reduce planned subsidies to insurance companies that offer a private alternative to traditional Medicare.

The insurance industry warned that seniors would face sharply higher premiums as a result, and the Congressional Budget Office said many would return to traditional Medicare as a result.

The subsidies are higher than those for seniors on traditional Medicare, a difference that critics complain is wasteful, but insurance industry officials argue goes into expanded benefits."
Not only are we going to drown under the weight of the cost of this - senior citizens are going to be taxed at higher rates and they are going to get less coverage.

And this bill decreases payments to the doctors and hospitals!

WTF?!

I can tell you what's going to happen. We're going to be poorer. There are going to be less doctors because they will make less and nothing was done to address the incredible amounts they have to pay to get a medical degree and pay for malpractice.

So it won't be an attractive career path. So guess what? We'll get more mediocre doctors like they have in the UK who have no idea what they are doing and who are treated like crap by the government.

The bureaucracy that will be created by the government to "run" the healthcare system will mean it will be over priced - we the consumers will be under served. It will be one great big cluster fuck. And we'll end up like the English. We'll survive in spite of our healthcare system. Not because of it.

If we can afford it we'll all be going to Asia to see the doctor. And we'll be drowning in debt while we struggle to get there.

Asia anyone....

Groping

Can you believe this?!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/09/massa-groped-sexually/

Massa has admitted to groping an employee but insists that it wasn't sexual. How in the world do you grope someone and it not be sexual?

I don't understand these people.

Why would you grope someone at work?!

Not only that why would you tickle someone until you were jumped by other staff members?

"Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn't breathe and then four guys jumped on top of me," he said. "It was my 50th birthday. It was 'kill the old guy.' You can take anything out of context."

Seriously, he didn't think there was anything wrong with torturing that poor guy until he couldn't breathe and his co-workers had to save him?!

There is NO WAY to put this into any kind of context which would make it O.K. Well maybe in your own home with your life partner or one night stand. If both parties were consenting. But not at work with your boss. That is pure harassment and assault.

Tickling can be torture - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickle_torture

I know I do not like to be tickled; it's not fun or pleasant. It hurts and Massa should be charged with assault.

And I'm still confused as to how he can say he was groping the poor boy and that it wasn't sexual. How in the hell do you non-sexually grope someone?!

And why would you ever think it would be O.K. to touch a member of staff in a way that could be described as groping?

The only place I think it would be appropriate to touch a co-worker would be on the shoulder, the arm or the back.

Let me be clear - the upper back, in the shoulder area. The arms should not be touched on the underside, only on the top and either near the shoulder or on the forearm. Not near the breast. Hands should not be held, and the lower back should not be touched.

No hugging - unless there is a personal relationship and the person is trying to comfort a visibly upset co-worker. If there is not personal relationship outside of work then just pat the person on the shoulder. Nothing else.

I would have thought in this day and age what is considered appropriate in the work place would be clear. I guess not.

Actually, it sounds like the congressmen are having some kind of groping orgy over there in DC.

Which is pretty creepy to think about.

Keep yourself under control at work. If you want to get freaky go to the club or get online. Don't do it at work.
WTF.

The UK Healthcare System

I wasn't surprised by this:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588573,00.html

Woman Gives Birth 3 Hours After Doctors Tell Her She's Pregnant

Tuesday, March 09, 2010
A British woman became a mother for the first time just three hours after doctors discovered she was pregnant, The Sun reported Tuesday.

Belinda Waite, 21, had been in and out of hospital for nine months after being told she was suffering from a severe case of irritable bowel syndrome and gout.

It was only after she was admitted to hospital in severe pain on Feb. 6 that doctors realized she was expecting.

They told Waite she was around three months pregnant and sent her back home to Bampton, Devon in the U.K., just before midnight.

But a few hours later, baby Louise arrived weighing a healthy 8 pounds, 14 ounces to the amazement of Waite and her boyfriend, Wayne Boyles.

"I did feel like something was moving inside me as the months went on," Waite said. "But I never considered I was pregnant — and it doesn't seem to have crossed the doctors' minds."

I should have been because I'm an American, but I wasn't.

Considering my experiences with the UK system when I lived there I'm not surprised at all that they couldn't figure out the 21 year old woman was pregnant. 

After all when you go in to the doctor's office in the UK they don't even take your blood pressure, temperature, listen to your heart, or weigh you.  All of which are standard in the US.

I mean it seriously took her going into labor (which by the way they couldn't even figure out that she was in labor) for them to say hey I think you're pregnant.  And then they didn't even check to see how far along she was. 

They told her she was only 3 months pregnant then sent her back home.

While she was in active labor.

Really?!

Really.

They wouldn't have sent her back home in the States.

Back home they would have conducted an ultra sound to see how far along she was. 

At the very least.

Hell back home it wouldn't have taken the doctors 9 months to figure out she was pregnant.  One of the most common questions I'm asked when I go to the doctor in the States is "Are you or could you be Pregnant?". 

And my GYN does a pregnancy test as a matter of course at every visit just to make sure I'm not.

This is what Obama wants to turn our healthcare system into.  A bunch of incompetent people who stand around and scratch their heads and say hmmm...based on the fact I've done absolutely nothing to diagnose you I'd say you have gout (yes she was diagnosed with IBS and Gout not pregnancy).

When you have the government involved it turns the whole thing into crap because really what do politicians know about health?  Really what do they know about anything?

Lawyers, politicians, insurance companies - STAY OUT of my healthcare!

Not Again...

Someone needs to fire the protocol officer at the White House.

Can you see anything wrong with this photo?

I mean seriously they sent the Dali Lama out the side door with the GARBAGE?! 

No one checked to make sure the pathway was clear?!

Would they have sent the Pope out the same way?

Really? Really?

There are so many things wrong with this White House and this just highlights the complete lack of care given to the details.  If you're going to be a President who thinks everything can be solved by "opening a dialogue" you really should surround yourself with people that have half a brain.

The protocol officer's job is to make sure these things don't happen.  What was she doing prior to the Dali Lama's visit?  Getting lunch?

Miss me yet?

I laughed out loud when I saw this:

I don't know if it's a real billboard or not, regardless I love it!

I wasn't a huge Bush fan, but I liked him.  I would have preferred Gore, but wasn't unhappy to have Bush in office.  Especially after 9/11.  I liked how Bush handled the attack, well...maybe he could have been a bit more aggressive. 

Anyway...

I agreed with Bush on some things like foreign policy and defense.  And I disagreed on others.  I wasn't too happy with him trying to take away my right to choose. 

In my opinion, unless you're directly involved with popping the baby out or unless you were asked directly by the parties involved for your opinion, keep your opinion to yourself. 

And I also didn't like the way he kept trying to bring religion into government. 

I have my own beliefs thank you, and I don't really need to hear about yours.  If you are a Government official keep your religious beliefs to yourself in the privacy of your own home.

It's called separation of Chruch and State.

Practice it.

People either loved or hated Bush, but I can say this about him...right, wrong, indifferent you knew where he stood on the issues. 

Obama - he doesn't even know where he stands so how can I?

The State of the Union

Well, I just read the State of the Union.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32111.html

And I have to say it was a very nice speech.

However.

Reading it I was struck by the fact that when Obama says:


"Next, we need to encourage American innovation. Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history – an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched. And no area is more ripe for such innovation than energy. You can see the results of last year’s investment in clean energy – in the North Carolina company that will create 1200 jobs nationwide helping to make advanced batteries; or in the California business that will put 1,000 people to work making solar panels."

"It lives on in the struggling small business owner who wrote to me of his company, “None of us,” he said, “…are willing to consider, even slightly, that we might fail.”"

"It lives on in the woman who said that even though she and her neighbors have felt the pain of recession, “We are strong. We are resilient. We are American.”"

There are no references.  Not to a specific person, company, or even White House website where I can look up the various companies who are benefiting from the stimulus package.  Now I know I can go to 

http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx 

to look up the progress.  But I have a feeling he doesn't want to point anyone to it because the numbers are so tiny.  We've spent about a trillion dollars and only 640,00 jobs were saved?!

Reading the State of the Union it seems to suggest so much more.  My opinion is that the government is hemorrhaging money.  And I'm guessing that a good bit of it gets eaten up by bureaucracy.  

For example, one of the biggest recipients of the aid is CH2M Hill at 1.3 million, I'm sure they need the money.  And from the description of the project they need it for transportation and disposal of hazardous waste.  This is something that would normally be funded by the government.  So really were the jobs saved?  Or did a government project get funded by the stimulus instead of funds from the EPA?  Its creative accounting.  Shifting the cost of doing business from one department - the EPA - to another - Recovery.  

Government is too expensive.  And Obama wants to make it more so.  There is no room for innovation or streamlining processes when you work for the government because everything has to go through 10 people to be approved or considered.  That's one of the reasons why I'm so against socializing medicine.

Healthcare quality will suffer and we'll have the same problems the UK have.  All the money will got to "administration" and none will filter down to the doctors and hospitals. Doctors will be laid off like postal workers in the States, housekeeping will be sub-standard, and the patients will suffer.

Anyway since they are spending my money. I want less government and more free market movement.  


Capitalism.  I love it.

America.  Love it too.

The Republicans Won AGAIN!

Massachusetts voted a REPUBLICAN senator to replace Kennedy!  It's the first one they've had in 30 years.

And he's promised to vote AGAINST the healthcare reform.

Go Scott, Go Scott.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100120/ap_on_el_se/us_massachusetts_senate

First Virginia and New Jersey with their new Republican Governors - now Mass with their new Republican Senator. 

I don't think the Democrats are going to do so well in the elections this year.

Do you think Washington will listen now?  The majority of the populous do NOT want government subsidized healthcare.

It will only make things worse and cost us A LOT of money.  I cannot afford to pay more taxes and I do NOT want to live in a socialist country.

I'm an American.  I am a Capitalist.

And I am against the Heathcare bill.

I like this:

Now, let me get this straight.....We are going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president that also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes…all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's nearly broke. What could possibly go wrong?

~Anonymous

http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/01/quote-of-day.html

Big Government is BAD!

"It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens." Grover Cleveland

We shouldn't be creating a monster, the more government you have, the more bureaucracy and inefficiencies you have, which increases costs and decreases effectiveness.

If you've ever tried to get anything done with the government you know what I mean. You can't fire anyone and they just keep hiring more people.

A free market is needed to keep things streamlined and on the cutting edge. The more layers we create and the more we involve government the less free thinking and innovations you will have and the worse off we're going to be.

If you don't like a free market move to China, or to the UK.

Same, same, only different.

Republicans

Oh Yeah Baby!  The republicans are starting to take it back!  Virginia and NJ now have Republican Governors.

I had no sweets yesterday and only did the 10 sit ups - I did 10 more this morning - so CLEARLY I won't be doing any excercising at night.  

At least right now.

So my little goal today is rolling over from yesterday.  

No sweets, 10 sit-ups.

I need some coffee.

I'm going to Amsterdam on Friday...I've decided I'm not giving up on my mid-life crisis.

I don't have any children to impress with my wild ways, but I do have my self respect.

And self love.

And how can I look myself in the mirror if I don't do something crazy? 

It's my MID-LIFE CRISIS!

And it should rate something...unless of course mid-life for me is 50. 

ohhhh - maybe I should drag my mid-life crisis out for the next 10 years.  Do something really crazy every year or six months. 

Then when I'm old I can be like those women they put on the History Channel chronicling their crazy insane lives. 

They can say things like "in her day women didn't normally [insert crazy act here] but Judith was a rebel".  "She was doing [insert another crazy thing here] when women her age were doing [insert normal thing here]".

It's something to think about.

I wonder if my husband could stand 10 years of crazy?

I wonder what crazy things I should do?

Obama and Healthcare

I am against this universal healthcare crap he's trying to push thru.  But I need to gather my thoughts and research before I write more. 

I met my goal yesterday for sweets - but I didn't do my 5 sit-ups until today - so I did 10 this morning. 

Can that count for yesterday if I do 5 more tonight? 

I'm going for the same Goal today.  Maybe I'll try a weekly goal starting next week - after my vacation!  Right now daily is all I can handle.

My husband told me I'm going bald.  Now I'm freaking out and need to see how to keep my hair in my head. 

I don't want hair plugs.  They look weird.

But if I have to I will.

Or maybe I'll just shave it all off and go around bald. 

Or wear head scarves and hats.

Comb overs are not attractive.  But I guess no hair isn't that attractive either.  But no hair would be more dignified than the comb over.

Just call me Kojak.

My Brother

I talked to my brother and his Mom this morning.  I always love talking to him even though he says like the same five things over and over again every time I talk to him.  Sandra (his Mom) said everything is going really well over in their neck of the woods and that they went to see Lion King in Alaska.  Apparently Art and Erica were so enthralled they were quiet the entire show (Aside from the laughing and clapping).  It was a great start to my day hearing how much fun they had.

We're going on vacation on Friday to Istanbul - I'm more looking forward to not being at work than I am about seeing Istanbul.  But it will be fun and most importantly the beds at the W are suppose to be very, very, comfortable.

I love sleeping and wallowing in a comfortable bed.

LOVE IT! 

I have special wallow time sheduled every Friday morning - my husband even leaves me alone until it's finished...

There is nothing like lying in the bed knowing that you don't have to get up and you don't have to be anywhere anytime soon. My sheets are perfect - 800 thread count Egyptian cotton (my favorites that I bought at TJ Maxx - gotta love the Maxx). My bed is a Sterns and Foster pillow top with a Sterns and Foster mattress pad. It's the ultimate in comfort. 

I live for Friday mornings...

I haven't talked to my sister in a week or so - which makes me worry.  Especially now that she's lost another job.  I hope she gets her shit together soon and doesn't do anything stupid.

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., Hey Yeah, Rocking in the USA...  - this is what is going through my head right now...sad.
====================================

O.K. it's a bit later in the day and I have a sick feeling in my stomach regarding the health care bill.  You know who is going to be paying out their eyeballs for it...middle class.  People like me - we'll never be able to save enough for retirement and we'll end up eating generic dog food that was tossed out...

While living in a cardboard box...

While still working because I won't be able to afford the cardboard box without a job... 

I'll be 80 and working 50 hours weeks just to pay for health care for "the poor". 

I cannot stand government who wants to take my hard earned dollars out of my pocket and put it into either their pocket or someone they think is more deserving. 

I should have been a teenage mother.  Then I wouldn't be worried about my pocketbook or retirement.  I would just need to keep voting Democrats into office.

Haven't they heard of the Public Health Clinic.  We used that when I was a kid and we didn't have any money or insurance.  It worked out just fine - got my shots, got my dental work, was able to even get gyn exams and birth control.  I used the PHC until I was well into my 20's. 

But no - we can't send more funding to them - we have to overhaul the entire system. 

ARGH!

America is still the best country on the face of the earth.  The Democrats are just hippies.

Who Should Have Won....

I'm back to politics again today, the Nobel Peace Prize and education.

I firmly believe education is key, once you have it, whether from experience or formally no one can take it away and it helps you see the world from a different perspective. It also allows you to see what is possible. Especially for women and girls.

How can a country move forward out of the dark ages when 1/2 of its population is oppressed and treated little better than chattle? How can one question what IS if they don't have any idea what can BE? If we want peace in the world it needs to be educated, all of it. Without education there can be no peace.

This is the man who should have won the Nobel Peace Prize, Greg Mortenson. His website is:

http://www.gregmortenson.com/welcome.php

An article in Time said this about him: 

"Greg Mortenson, nominated for the prize by some members of Congress, whom the bookies gave 20-to-1 odds of winning. Son of a missionary, a former Army medic and mountaineer, he has made it his mission to build schools for girls in places where opium dealers and tribal warlords kill people for trying. His Central Asia Institute has built more than 130 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan — a mission which has, along the way, inspired millions of people to view the protection and education of girls as a key to peace and prosperity and progress." http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1929395,00.html

Obama is in over his head - when I look at what he's doing versus what he's saying he just looks like he's floundering. He needs to pick one major thing at a time (leave health care alone) and deal with it, his method so far of little bit, little bit, little bit, doesn't work and it's down right annoying.

America.

Nobel Peace Prize

WTF - And what exactly did he do?  NOTHING. 

"So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act," said former Polish President Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate.   

"This is probably an encouragement for him to act. Let's see if he perseveres. Let's give him time to act," Walesa said.  http://www.newsday.com/news/in-a-surprise-obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-1.1512274 

ARGH!

Obamination

I just have one thing to say about the President for whom I did not vote. How in the HELL can you not meet with the Dali Lama?! I don't want to upset China...?! If you are going to meet with the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad why can't you meet with a person who is a pacifist and promotes peace? Piss off the Americans - but play nice with the Chinese?

Seriously people.

Well I'm in the midst of trying to finish the skirt I'm learning how to sew. Yes, it's one of those things I've taken up in order to fill my time and try to find a purpose. It's actually interesting - I've learned how to draft the pattern and now I'm sewing it together. So no store bought patterns for me - which is a good thing since you can't get them over here.

I'm also conserving the white paper I use to draft the pattern on, because while I did find it once, it's not currently available in the UAE. Kinda like this past summer when we couldn't buy chicken from June to September. Inventory control hasn't quite made it over here.

How thankful do you think I am that I'm an American when I go back to the US and know that I can get anything I want? Especially when it's something as simple as chicken? My new mantra is - you can never have too much choice.

I've said it once, will most likely say it again, people who bitch about America should be relocated to another country and forced to live exactly like the nationals. I can tell you it'll shut their mouths up pretty fast. And if they like the way of life in that country so much they can stay and give up their citizenship.

Which brings me to something that has pissed me off ever since I first heard it. "...for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.."

Michelle Obama should get down on her hands and knees and thank God that she was born in America. That nasty little comment she made;

"...for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country..."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/803267,CST-NWS-marin20.article

made me want to smack her and make her live here or even London. Not with all her money, but live as one of us. She'd find out pretty quick that, while we may not be perfect in America (and really who ever is?) we sure as hell are a lot more progressive and treat people more equally than most of the rest of the world. 


Maybe Scandinavia is better at it but they really don't have much diversity so in my opinion they don't count. Great country to visit - excellent food...but I digress.

In England you are not considered an English person unless you are white and have been there for many generations. If you are of Indian decent you're always going to be India, Asian you are Chinese, Korean, black you are African, Jamaican etc... In America you are American and your ethnic background is whatever it is.

Those who have not experienced this will never understand the distinction. But it is there and it is glaring. And I have to say - it was shocking but a good ease in to living and dealing with the mindset here in the UAE.

We have opportunity in America - opportunity like no where else in the world.

I can truly do and be anything I want to be in America. Not here.

Here in the UAE I'm not allowed to;
- work more than 10 hours a day (not that I want to but it's a LAW people)
- work after dark, this too is a LAW

I cannot;
- drive without written permission from my husband
- work without written permission from my husband
- drink without the same written permission

I also am not allowed to have a cell phone without...you guessed it, written permission from my husband.

Actual honest to God written permission.

Because I am a WOMAN.

I miss being a woman in the south. So much more respect and consideration from men.

To be honest I'm not completely treated like a local woman here - I'm not married off at 18, and I won't lose my citizenship if I marry outside my nationality. And while my lack of children is looked down upon here, it would be enough reason for my husband to take a second wife or divorce me if I were an Emirati woman. I also have more freedom to work. But if my husband choses to beat me I'm S.O.L. just like the local women.

Isn't that nice?

God bless America.

And I do thank God that I was born in America.

Everyday.

Back to sewing.