This is the result of day 16 of the government shutdown!

Maybe I  am really suffering from cabin fever since I have a cast on my ankle and can't easily get outside.  My daughter was walking the dog yesterday and saw this sign by the community doggie waste basket.  I found it ha-lar-ious!

In case you can not read the whole message it says-  YOU UNCONSIDERATE LAZY ASS!
I guess it was to much to bend down and pick up after your big DOG!(mess) Do better next time I'm Watching!!!

Now what part of this reminds you Ted Cruz and the tea party?  Is it the exemplary grammar?  Is it the paranoid threats?  Does it make you feel better that regular people are just as big babies as Congress?

Thanks to my  neighbor for making me laugh today!  Congress supposedly made a deal while I was researching this important blog.  We will see if they finally have graduated to the kindergarten level!

Momma T

Affordable Health Care Act

There is probably no single issue that is more controversial today than the Affordable Health Care Act or Obama care. I really have tried to understand the ramifications of this bill that the House of Representatives has tried over 40 times to dismantle.  It is mystifying to me that people that really need affordable health care and complain about how expensive health care is are against this plan.

I am a retired educator.  My monthly check deduction for health insurance is $341.  My dental insurance deduction is $110. This means that 18% of my net income is used to pay for medical insurance.  Now that would be OK, if the insurance company actually paid the bills when I need to use the doctor, but sadly that is not the case.  For example- I recently had a small mole removed for analysis.  The results came back that it was abnormal, so I had a larger sample removed and analyzed.  I spent over $200 of my own money because my "deductible" hadn't been used up yet.  My deductible is $4000 per year.  I spend over $5000 per year on monthly medical insurance payments.  This means that technically my medical bills will not cover me fully until I have spent over 28% of my total annual income on medical bills.  I do not consider this to be affordable health care.  I am insured and I always have been insured.  I have put thousands of dollars out there over the last 31 years that have not been used.

I recently was hit by a car while bicycling and had to be put in a ambulance to go to the emergency room.  I am truly terrified to get the medical bills from this because I think this will be considered as out of network and then not count as part of my individual deductible. This will then be all my cost.  I also visited an orthopedic doctor after and she wanted me to get an MRI, because there is definitely more to the injury.  I decided not to go, simply because I can't afford to pay for an MRI.  My daughter had one earlier this year and my out of pocket cost was over $400. 

I guess the point I am trying to make is even when you do everything you are supposed to do.  You go to yearly checkups and floss, you  work thirty one years for the same employer, medical issues can
sideline you.  I am lucky to be relatively healthy.  I have several friends that spend 30-40% of their net salary on medical care because they have diseases like Type 1 Diabetes I or Chron's Disease.
I am not even discussing the people I know that work for themselves and can't afford health care. 

Georgia practically opted out of the Affordable Health Care Act.  Doesn't it make sense that if more people are paying into the system that care would eventually be more affordable?  I don't think that medical issues should be political.  People should be able to go to the doctor and not be afraid of the bill.  I try to read the paper each day and understand where all this is going and I am at a loss.  Help!

Go Gaga

If you didn't see Lady Gaga on WWHL the other night-do yourself a favor watch it on line.  It is definitely worth your time.  Cheers to Lady G for her frank, honest comments.  You all know how much I love Andy!  I know that Lady Gaga will receive media attention for her frank comments on taking the drug Molly- but I applaud her honesty and she did say that she wouldn't encourage anyone to do this drug.  I also liked when she was asked to discuss harmful comments made towards her that she wouldn't name anyone because that would give them acknowledgement as a celebrity.  I thought she was really classy and it made me like her even more.  GO GAGA!

The "Real" NJ Drama

 

It is painful to read about Teresa and Joe's indictment drama.  It is difficult to take a side because I think that even if they did something wrong with their tax statements- take a look at them.  They aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.  They have allowed their family to be filmed throughout the beginning of their days in their mansion.  Who can forget Joe giving Teresa 100K to spend on furniture.  She took us on the journey on television from season one until now.  We saw the moving into the mansion, the first housewarming, the famous flipping of the table, a tug of hair, a lavish Christmas, bankruptcy, a scaled down Christmas, a family split and a family on the mend.  Do we really need to put these two in jail?  I think they have been the most real of the Housewife franchises and the judge should be able to just view the tapes.

I agree that falsifying tax documents is wrong.  Can't they be given a chance due to their obvious lack of knowledge about most things that involve common sense.  Don't get me wrong here- I love the Guidice's, but they really shouldn't be accused of a crime such as this and actually serve time in jail.  I just read about the big banks like Goldman Sach's settling for a suit in which they didn't have to admit any wrong doing in the financial debacle with the mortgage industry and they had to pay half a billion dollars in a settlement.  That is equal to about three days of a year's profits.  It is sad that there is such inequity in our legal system. 

Come on judge- give the Guidice's a break.  They are our favorite guilty pleasure and they have four cute little girls.  They clearly were not smart enough to hide anything, since they flaunted their riches right in front of America.  They need to pay back they money they owe.  I guess we will have a few more cook books out after this.  Just my thoughts.....

Seizure of umbilical cords?

I have just heard about a law in Mississippi that will require any baby born to a teenage mother who hasn't named a father for the baby to have its umbilical cord analyzed for its DNA. 

I am just going to let you sit and think about that one.......



OK- now this is supposed to put a halt to teenage pregnancy. I guess it is supposed to stop fathers from raping their daughters and having inbreed babies.

I can't think of anything more intrusive than this.  The poor kid has had to suffer for 9 months with the stigma of being another "statistic", then her rights are violated once again for a DNA test.  Is there some magic DNA registry that will automatically prove who the father is?  Is the tea party OK with spending hundreds of dollars for each baby born to have a DNA test, when their whole mantra is less government intervention in our lives?  This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. 

Here is my suggestion to the good people of Mississippi.  I think before every legislative session, each congressman should have their private parts swabbed.  This way we can make sure that they are not fornicating with any prostitutes or having extra marital affairs. Think about how many problems would be solved on Capital Hill.  And we should have a registry for every person in this country with a sample of their DNA.  That way we can catch the criminals much more easily.  We can rule out babies that have genetic abnormalities before they are born. We can run genetic profiles on people and help them with their career choices.  We can reduce insurance costs by getting rid of genetic diseases.  Does this sound familiar?  It is the theme of GATTACA.  Watch the movie and learn something!

Fruitvale station

In light of the disturbing Zimmerman verdict, I recommend seeing this film.  I agree with President Obama in that you can not understand what is like to be a young black man unless you are actually in their shoes.  This movie tells the story of the day in life of  Oscar Grant.  He was killed by a security guard in Oakland's transit train station in 2008.  The film sort of looks like a documentary because the camera just follows him through his day.  I feel that by showing his love for his family and his struggles with his girlfriend and his recent job loss that he is presented not as a martyr but as a real person, flaws and all.  Many people would look at Oscar and the way he dresses and just see a "thug", but he was much more than that.  The incident happened in front of a whole train of New Year's celebrators and was filmed by many. Octavia Spencer was excellent as his mother and Michael B. Jordan did a great job as Oscar.  Of course the movie has a sad ending, but it really was well done.  Give it a try.

One last comment on racism and the verdict

This weekend I spoke to two of my friends about the Trayvon Martin verdict and I was surprised at the outrage that they had for President Obama's intervention on Friday.  I was very impressed with his courage to come out and express his feelings on the verdict.  I thought he showed real raw emotion and still kept himself very presidential.  That has been his legacy throughout his term in office.  He has been voted into office during a time of extreme polarization.  I agreed with him expressing his experience as a young teen and the hurt he must of felt when being followed around at a department store or hearing the clicks of the locks on the car doors as he walked by.

32 years ago, I was a student in college and my friends and I got tickets to a Jimmy Buffet concert five hours away in Tallahassee, Florida.  We stopped at a convenience store on the way and asked to use the bathroom.  The clerk told us there wasn't a bathroom.  After some customers left the store (guess what race they were), we were told that we could use the bathroom now.  My friend didn't hesitate- she said- that is OK we would rather pee our pants and she grabbed my hand and we left.  I will never forget the look on the clerk's face and I my deep pride in my friend.  I always felt angry with myself, for not having the presence of mind to initiate such a response.

The sad thing is, here we are 32 years later and racism is still around, ugly as ever.  When I was in 6th grade, my teacher did the "blue eye experiment" with my class.  This was a famous exercise created by Jane Elliot and first done in 1968 after the murder of Martin Luther King.  The idea was to teach children who had never experienced racism, what it felt like.  Believe me, as the person that was subjected to the temporary torment-it was not any fun.  I had the blue eyes, so I had to go to the end of the line.  I was told that the blue eyed children were liars and sneaky and I went home for lunch that day and begged my mother not to make me go back to school.  We were told after lunch what the purpose of the exercise was and I will never forget that feeling and I was only subjected to the evil for four hours.


When I was talking to my friend yesterday she expressed an outrage that President Obama had the audacity to speak out on a court case that was decided fairly and legally.  I did express my opinion on the subject (wow-courage) and I hope I was able to convince her that what he did was necessary and admirable. I remember when we were teaching together during the O.J. Simpson verdict and her reaction to our students after the not guilty verdict.  I definitely wasn't happy with the verdict then.  I felt for the victims- Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman.  I did understand our predominately African American student population's ecstatic response to the verdict.  It was a dig at "the Man". 

The truth is that all of us have a little racism inside.  You can't help it.  You are a product of your environment.  I was raised in an all white community by the beach.  I never really interacted with any brown people until I went to college in Atlanta.  I then proceeded to spend most of my teaching career teaching in predominately African American schools. I had to work to make certain that I did not exhibit any undue unfairness in my classes.  I will never understand what it feels like to be discriminated against or profiled.  But if our country can not come together and try to understand other's feelings, we will not be able to overcome the emotional chains of racism.

When we were in Europe- the headline story for several days was Racism in America.  Paula Deen and the Zimmerman Trial were the top story.  Does this mean that America is the only place in the world that is Racist?  No- we are the country to has the most diversity in the world. I felt weird in Europe because almost everyone was white.  There were almost no black people on the cruise or anywhere we were in Europe.  The truth is the diversity in America is what has made our nation so strong.  We need to embrace our differences and try to learn from our mistakes in order to become the best society possible.