Today's medical procedure

Ok, I don't usually blog about personal stuff, but since the health care debate is front and center, here goes.

The local is starting to wear off and it's starting to hurt a tiny bit so I am a little cranky. I had a cyst removed. Before they removed it I had to sign a form that said that I would pay for the procedure if the insurance refused to pay for it. "What?! I was under the impression that it had been pre-approved a month ago when I made the appointment. No wonder 75% of the country wants the public option" I grumbled. She said that the insurance usually pays if they biopsy it. So I think "OK, I get to see in a little specimen container what's been getting infected and bugging me for the last 5 years." So once they excised the "anchored" cyst they sent the little alien looking thing (fucker had it's own little blood vessels, ewwww) off to the lab. Hopefully the insurance will cover the procedure, the Dr.s fee, the lab fee, and the suture removal visit.

So, ya grossed out? I'm not done. At one point I look up and she's got some hose thing and I ask "What's that?" She says "It's for the smoke."

"Ennh?"

I guess the smell of cauterized human flesh is not a big hit, even around a medical office. There are 4 smells that get to me, cauterized infected human flesh, vomit, poop and the contents of a colostomy bag. Fortunately the smoke eater hose thingy worked.

I usually don't have problems with my insurance. There are three levels of care available to retired military dependents, which is what I am. The premium for the highest level of care costs peanuts compared to the out-of-pocket share of premiums paid by other people. I know this. I'm grateful for this, but the retirement pay for enlisted servicemen is shit, and the cost of living in this city is disgustingly high, so something good better come from it. Dental and optical are not covered, and the premium for dental was ridiculously high, so we went with the dental insurance offered by his job, and the current job allows us to pay for glasses. I dunno what we're going to do if he loses his job, we'd be eligible for section 8 vouchers, but the waiting list in most places in Southern California is 10 years or more. Rent here is 2/3 of his gross retirement, not the net, and this place ain't all that and a bag of chips, that's for sure. Never mind stuff like car maintenance, car insurance, renter's insurance, internet access, computers. That would become luxuries.

If he wasn't working, I would not have taken the risk that the insurance might not pay for the procedure that I had done today. A very minor problem, but one that has made me aware in a very personal way of just how screwed up our medical system is, and how important the public option is, even if the congresswhores don't get that.

update 6:10 PM 9/29/2009

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And the Senate Finance Committee rejects it

Ex-Bush officials face lawsuits over their actions

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009

Americans Pay More to Die Earlier -- Why Is Our Health Care System So Screwed Up?

By Brad Reed, AlterNet
Posted on September 28, 2009, Printed on September 28, 2009

surprisingly the article did not mention that so many doctors specialize because primary care doctors don't get paid shit, they are forced to be the gatekeepers for the fucking insurance companies and that means waaaaay too much paperwork, and they are disrespected.

If you pay very careful attention when you read this you will see why a government run single payer insurance plan is the ONLY thing that makes SENSE for the people in this country, and any businesses (that require labor) interested in investing here.

And then there is big pharma and their congresswhores -

FDA: NJ Politicians Pressured Them Into Approving Unsafe Medical Device - After They Received Large Donations
By Susie Madrak Monday Sep 28, 2009 9:00am

Religion sucks #20

A hostile takeover of Zionism hat tip to Danny.

An armed ultra-orthodox Jewish settler walks in the mountains overlooking the Palestinian village of Burin in the West Bank. AFP

Israel is teetering toward theocracy, with the rise of the Haredim

...One Haredi leader who almost won Jerusalem's mayoralty race last fall, boasts that, within 20 years, the ultra-Orthodox will control the municipal government of every city in the country. And why not? Of the Jewish Israeli children entering primary school for the first time this month, more than 25 per cent are Haredi, and that proportion will keep growing. There are between 600,000 and 700,000 Haredim in Israel, and they average 8.8 children a family...

Nifty. Just what the world needs, more armed religious fanatics, breeding like rats, and seeking theocratic rule. *sigh*

Nice catch vidiotspeak

Anyone think war got nuthin' to do with economics?

(click on title link)

Fighting Botnets with Doc Savage

...we are still going after online crime like it is being perpetuated by 1990s-era basement hackers who are looking for more fame than fortune, when today cybercrime has become big business...

...The number of malicious websites has grown 671 percent in the past year, and 86 percent of all unwanted e-mails in circulation contained links to spam sites and/or malicious sites, according to the report...

Hmmm, not surprisingly, the worst cyber-criminals come from unregulated Russia and China both on the list for G 20 countries. If someone knows whether or not this was brought up in Pittsburgh and I can't find it, let me know? And oh yeah, you think your MAC is safe? Ha. I knew it was only a matter of time.

Rachel and Jeremy on Acorn witch hunt

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Trudging through "The Black Swan"

Dear Mr. Taleb,

I'm 70 pages in and a lot of it is tedious shit that I already know. I been a philosophizer and a janitor, and believe me, I get "random."

Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' - OPENS NATIONWIDE OCTOBER 2nd!

Moore fears 'Capitalism' movie will be his last

Last Update: 9/06 6:57 am

Moviemaker Michael Moore fears his new documentary Capitalism: A Love Story will be his last - because the footage will grossly offend the financiers who back his projects

The director's latest venture is a scathing critique of Wall Street and lays bare capitalist greed amongst the country's bankers

Moore is adamant he didn't let financial ties stand in the way of his expose, admitting many of the corporations which put up money for the film will be unhappy with the results...


Shit. None of the greedy fucks want to put anything into distribution of this movie. I should be able to buy online tickets to the one theater where it will be playing locally at soon. I will, and I will drive out of my way to see it. Hell, I drove an hour and a half to see his last movie because I didn't think it would be playing here at all. I like seeing Michael Moore's movies. I like to laugh, to be entertained, to hurt, to learn while watching a documentary. I know my emotions are being manipulated. I trust that the greater good will be served by allowing Michael Moore to manipulate my feelings. That is skill. And heart. And integrity.

I really enjoyed Naomi Klein's interview of Michael. The podcast kept me from paying attention to the articles I was skimming at the time. Yeah, I do that, it's the closest I get to "multitasking." I know women are supposed to be able to multitask, but not all of us ever get good at it. ADD is a hindrance to doing one task well, forget doing a shitload of them at the same time.

Here is the best interview regarding this movie that I have seen so far.

Stop Denigrating Government: There is No Economy Without It

Some funny I missed

on an unfunny subject.
Bill Maher Interview with former Cigna Exec Wendell Potter Sept 18, 2009

Fashion

R U FN KDDNG?

Who wears this shit?


San Ysidro border crossing closes after shooting
U.S. officers fire at three vans carrying more than 70 suspected illegal immigrants as the vehicles try to speed north through the checkpoint. At least four people are hurt.

You know? I was born and raised in Southern California and sometimes I just feel stunned at the weirdness of the place. Santa Anna's don't help quell that feeling.

I'm back

and this is some depressing stuff.

Why did the FBI destroy Walter Cronkite's FBI file?

Two years ago, the FBI destroyed documents that “may have” contained information about Walter Cronkite. What documents? We don’t know. Why were they destroyed? Good question!

Raw Story reports that blogger Michael Petrelis filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Cronkite’s file with the FBI, and got back a response that essentially said, “We destroyed a bunch of files a couple years back, and they may have been about Conkrite. We’re not saying they were about Cronkite, but for some reason that we can’t explain to you, we think they may have been about Cronkite, but anyway we threw them away, so thanks for asking.”

With Copenhagen Summit Approaching, Leading Polluters US and China Undercut Hopes of Substantial Pollution Cuts

Federal Judge Dismisses Police Harassment Claims by Activist Groups at Pittsburgh’s G-20
Thousands of additional security forces have been brought into Pittsburgh ahead of the G-20, and tall steel fencing now runs along the the convention center in this former steel town. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled against two protest groups who accused the Pittsburgh police of harassment. Seeds of Peace and Three Rivers Climate Convergence claim the police used illegal searches, vehicle seizures, raids and detentions to discourage them from taking part in protests later this week.


TIME TO CHANGE BERNANKE'S MEDICATION?
Secret White House letter to G-20

by Greg Palast
Tuesday, September 22, 2009, New York

And finally, another Republican elite to run for CA Governor. She's great at rhetoric, and kissing the ass of rich fucks. The corporate whore will be trolling for corporate money at Gen-Probe in my city today.

"Both McCain and Romney have endorsed Whitman, as has former Gov. Pete Wilson, who is her campaign chairman and joined her in speaking in Fullerton Tuesday."

Romney, the Mormon? The ones who financed the Yes on h8te campaign?

Arnold's secret meeting with Kenny Boy

Chris Kelly over at HuffPo has some questions for her

Chris Kelly
Writer, Real Time with Bill Maher
Posted: May 13, 2009 04:41 AM
Meg Whitman Week -- Wednesday: A Tawdry Episode

...Meg Whitman was the CEO of eBay. EBay's investment bankers were Goldman Sachs. EBay didn't have to hire Goldman Sachs to be their investment bankers, because this was a few years ago, when there were lots of banks, and not just the three we keep bailing out. Goldman Sachs was very grateful for eBay's business and they had a special way of showing their gratitude to eBay's executives. Goldman Sachs would let them buy shares in other companies whose initial public offerings they were underwriting. This was during the dot-com era and IPO companies often posted huge first-day gains. After Meg Whitman brought eBay's business to Goldman Sachs, she bought shares in 100 Goldman Sachs IPOs one day and sold them the next day. She made 1.78 million dollars...

Read more at: Chris Kelly -- Meg Whitman

Wendell Potter on Rachel Maddow

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I think Wendell Potter is a hero.

So, nobody ever accused me of having good taste

But even the politickybitch has to take a short break from politics and be entertained once in a while. I do not know who is playing, but I love this song.



I finished Hollywood Station. It was a nice little romp to places I don't want to be, around criminals and familiar with police officers. My friend and I agreed that we just like to fly under the radar, no cops, no criminals in our lives. I like Wambaugh because he writes about cops as people, as fully fleshed out characters. Cops put up with a lot of crap, and this book is newer than some of the stuff by Wambaugh that I've read recently. It was written after the fallout from the Rampart Scandal, and released after this scum-sucking piece of shit won an Oscar. No, I haven't seen the movie. Why should I? It doesn't look like entertainment to me. What I read and what I watch for entertainment are two entirely different animals.

My friend is such a clown

Well, no, actually this weekend she showed up at a triathlon in a chicken suit. She said the weather was warm and she got baked and then fried, lol. I hear her young niece did very well.

Congratulations Baby J!

Music

Obviously I had a few years to catch up on, and I just had a ball today. If you are my age, you will know it.

Aint No Mountain High Enough

Brown Eyed Girl

In the Summertime

Mr. Big Stuff

Sunshine (go away today)

Low Rider

Fire

We Just Disagree

In the Evening

Flashlight

You can't change that

101 Eastbound

Who can it be now

One Wish

Nena- 99luft Ballons

Put your records on

Can't decide which one to read

The Black Swan by Nicholas Taleb or Hollywood Station by Joseph Wambaugh? Click on the books for reviews. I'm leaning towards the Wambaugh because I just need a break from shit I have to think about. A little fiction break maybe? Anybody read either of these?

ACORN’s Family Tree

Behind the News, Campaign Desk — September 18, 2009 05:44 PM
Was the Baltimore video journalism? Does it matter?
By Alexandra Fenwick

In a piece in the October 2009 issue of The Atlantic, “The Story Behind the Story,” journalist Mark Bowden examines the source of the Sonia Sotomayor video clips that surfaced during her Supreme Court nomination—and what happens when ideologues step forward to provide the reporting that journalists don’t have the resources to do.(click title link)

Selective Deficit Disorder

Published on Friday, September 18, 2009 by TruthDig.com
by David Sirota

Watching the health care debate unfold these days is a little like watching scenes from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”—the ones showing a collage of strung-out, deranged or otherwise incapacitated patients rotting away in a squalid psychiatric ward....(click on title link)

Sirota makes me laugh.

Bill Moyers is going to expose the Tea Baggers and their leaders' hypocrisy tonight. Whadyaya know, the same people who killed "HillaryCare" are all juiced up with health sector bucks to kill "Obamacare" and the Tea Baggers are so stupid they don't even know they are being used by Glenn Beck and Dick Armey to do the bidding of those that make Armey and Beck wealthy. And hypocritical. Is there no end to teh stoopid?



Man Arrested For Asking Anthem Blue Cross/Shield About His Rate Increase
By Susie Madrak Friday Sep 18, 2009 4:00pm

It gets more unbelievable by the day, doesn't it?

Joe Szakos leads the Virginia Organizing Project, an almost fifteen year-old community organization that Health Care for America Now works with in Virginia to organize for health care reform. Szakos's organization employs dozens of people, and they get their health care through Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

This year, Szakos was informed that Anthem was going to increase the premiums on Virginia Organizing Project's health plan by 14.1%. Around the same time, the Virginia Organizing Project received an email from Anthem:

We strongly support reform that builds a strong, sustainable private-sector health care system - and strongly oppose creating a government-run health plan. We are urging our elected officials in Washington to take bipartisan action that will accomplish that. We are educating policymakers in Washington and working with our trade associations to encourage Congress to build on the current system and not disrupt the quality, affordable coverage on which our members depend....

As our elected officials debate health care, they need to hear directly from you.

Szakos immediately had some questions for Anthem. Chief among them, why is Anthem using its resources to lobby against health care reform with a public health insurance option while at the same time increasing rates by 14.1%?

Szakos, along with three other Virginia Organizing Project board members, went down to Anthem's offices in Richmond, VA to ask. He left in handcuffs.

Szakos, a customer, couldn't get an answer from Anthem. There was no justification for raising rates on one hand, and spending money lobbying against health care reform on the other. And instead of trying to offer Szakos an explanation, they had him arrested.

As Szakos said in the video, this is about greed and force. There is no good explanation for these rate increases, and there is no justification for Anthem to spend money it collects in premiums from customers suffering under its "health care" plans on lobbying against reform that would help these very same people. The only thing motivating Anthem - and all insurance companies - is greed. And they get and keep their money by force.

While the Fox newz freeptards were obeying the order to sic ACORN

They were successfully distracted from the fact that the health sector lobbyists were screwing them:

Wendell Potter: Public Option Essential, Baucus Plan An "Absolute Gift" To Health Insurance Industry (VIDEO)


Hmm, looks like I'm not the only one who had that thought, Greenwald points out the M-I-C and the banksters lobbyists activity also.

Glenn Greenwald:
Thursday Sept. 17, 2009 11:18 EDT
The distracting benefits of ACORN hysteria

Health care reform

FACTBOX: Details of Baucus plan for healthcare reform


Yeah. Ever since I read distributorcap NY's post titled Constitutional Side Effects I knew we were screwed. You think corruption is endemic in only states that have large populations?

Bwaaa haa ha ha ha hahahahaha ha ha ha

Finished reading The Big White Lie by Michael Levine

And the same information keeps popping up. This time from a link to a Robert Parry article I happened upon through Scoobie's The Real Sun Myung Moon blog. Ladies and gentlemen, the truth really is stranger than fiction and more horrifying. The CIA drug smuggling while running a campaign to persecute a clean DEA agent who uncovered it. Nazis. US govt trained death squads all over Latin America. Religious nutcases involved with all of the above while running a national newspaper and funding one of the most powerful political families in the US.

The real nutcases in the world have FAR too much power.

How long before we figure out that there are more of us than there are of them?

Nobody listened, they're still not listening

Why Obama Won't Be Able to Reform Wall Street
Huff TV
Posted March 31, 2009 | 10:49 PM (EST)
Black Swan Author Nassim Taleb Joins Arianna on CNBC's Squawk Box

Originally Aired: September 14, 2009
Analysis
One Year After Financial Crisis, Reform Questions Loom
On the one year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Jeffrey Brown talks to economists and experts about what has been learned and the future of financial reform.

Stiglitz Says Banking Problems Are Now Bigger Than Pre-Lehman

WTF?

Why a New York Court Unmasked the Blogger Who Wrote Harshly About a Model
By JULIE HILDEN
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

FINANCIAL CRISIS DAILY UPDATE: WHO WILL CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY OF MELTDOWN?

NY TIME SAT: WALL STREET TRIUMPHANT, CRIME UNCHECKED

NYT VIA LBN: A YEAR AFTER A CATACLYSM, LITTLE CHANGE ON WALL ST.

Bitchin'

The banksters are fine and the arms industry is booming.

The middle class?

Uh, not so good.

I have a question. How come I have to get the news from someone who got sick of the BS in the news business and struck out on his own?

Tomgram: Chip Ward, The Ruins in Our Future

posted September 13, 2009 5:44 pm

All of us have been watching drought in action this summer. When it hits the TV news, though, it usually goes by the moniker of "fire." As we've seen, California, in the third year of a major drought, has been experiencing "a seemingly endless fire that has burned more than 250 square miles of Los Angeles County" (and that may turn out to be just the beginning of another fire season from hell).

Southern California has hardly been the only drought story, though. For those with an eye out, the southern parts of Texas, the hottest state in the union this year, have been in the grips of a monster drought. Seven hundred thousand acres of the state have already burned in 2009, with a high risk of more to come...

I was born here. I grew up here. I've noticed the gradual changes. I don't remember ever having fear of the Santa Ana winds and massive fires. That has happened in the last ten years.

Born to be Big

Early exposure to common chemicals may be programming kids to be fat.
By Sharon Begley | NEWSWEEK
Published Sep 11, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Sep 21, 2009

...In 2006 scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health reported that the prevalence of obesity in infants under 6 months had risen 73 percent since 1980...

...hormone-mimicking pollutants,...

What Causes Hormonal Imbalance?

Wall Street's Mania for Short-Term Results Hurts Economy

By Steven Pearlstein
Friday, September 11, 2009

No shit Sherlock. Yeesh what a title.


Update 8:24 PM 9/11/2009
Ironically, I had to go shopping to get the kid ready for the dorms. I am tired.

I don't think any American likes this particular anniversary. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that 8 years ago today was the beginning of the end of my brainwashed existence. I read very little non-fiction now and I read constantly.

Reading Now

The Big White Lie by Michael Levine (c) 1993


So far it's depressing, but not surprising. After all, I have read The Politics of Heroin by Alfred McCoy. Maybe the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs in a couple of Latin American countries will force the CIA to knock off its bullshit, eventually. How many more innocent people will die before then? Who knows? Some moron told me he thought the CIA was a good organization. Good for who? I couldn't have had more contempt. Nothing will really change here until decriminalization of small amounts of drugs and drug treatment takes precedence.