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October 3rd, 2008
October 1st, 2008
10:29 pm - Thought experiment
If something like Hurricane Katrina or the Indian Ocean tsunami occurred and the American people were told that there were 40 million people without proper medical care, there would be an enormous outpouring of charity. People would line up to donate blood, corporations would give staggering sums, politicians would author relief bills supported by their constituents, individuals from all walks of life would give whatever they could to make sure that those people had the care they needed.
Ask the same Americans to accept a small increase in taxes to fund health care for themselves and their fellow citizens and they, by and large, balk at the prospect.
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September 27th, 2008
07:54 am - Two debate thoughts
When did talking to someone with crazy ideas become legitimizing those ideas? How does not talking to them cause them to change those ideas? At best, you might get them to make a public statement disavowing the crazy ideas in order to gain some advantage, but as soon as they have that advantage, it would be back to the crazy talk all over again.
Once again, the old right-wing trope of "not putting the federal government between you and your doctor" reared its head. You know what? For the tens of millions of Americans without health insurance the federal government is between them and a doctor. The government is effectively saying, "You, you're not old enough, or disabled enough or poor enough for us to provide you with health care on a regular basis. So no, you don't get to have that annual check-up, you don't get to take your child in to get a strep test, you don't get a cholesterol screening, you don't get preventative care that's affordable. You have to wait until you have a dramatic medical problem that will be expensive and difficult to treat so that you have to face the choice of getting medical treatment that will economically devastate you and your family or dying. But, hey, at least you're not a filthy socialist."
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September 25th, 2008
05:21 pm - Two economic thoughts
$700 billion seems like a lot of money. It seems particularly a large amount of money to use in making bad investments. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what's being suggested? My impression is that places like AIG and Lehman Bros. are in trouble because they bought a bunch of mortgage-backed securities that are no longer worth as much as they used to be. So our plan to fix this is to buy those poor-performing investments? Why not skip the middle-man and simply buy the houses that have been foreclosed on? Turn them into public housing for the homeless. That would shore up the mortgage-backed securities because now those mortgages would be paid off (or being paid off; it might make more sense to assume the mortgages than make out-right purchases). Better yet, how about using that $700 billion in a program so that people who are defaulting on their mortgages can get caught up and get into a mortgage plan they can afford?
Which leads me to my second thought: President Bush told us last night this was at least partially about providing capital so that banks could make loans. Seems to me, the banks in question were making loans that got us into this mess in the first place. So why not take that $700 billion and build a new bank? Don't give the money to these failing banks that made bad decisions, but find some new bankers to do the job right and get them started with some new capital. Then build in a plan where said bankers use their profits to buy back the government interest in their corporation over time, slowly becoming an independent entity. That seems to me like it would get the capital necessary for driving the economy back into circulation and would give the government oversight into how things were run to avoid a similar problem in the future.
I'm guessing I'm highly naive about how these things work, but it is frustrating to hear that the options are to either bail out the fuck-ups or the global economy goes boom. Surely there are some other options.
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September 20th, 2008
02:57 pm - A night out!
Thanks to a gracious and helpful PCA who is willing to stay with Ericka overnight, I'm getting a chance to go to Zumbrota, MN to see a performance of Abbey Road in its entirety. Mary is driving down and we'll be crashing at her sister's place, which means I'll get a chance to meet some of her family as well.
I'm excited!
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September 18th, 2008
10:44 pm - A Republican tells it like it is
Finally! Here's a senior Republican official, Chuck Hagel, Senator from Nebraska, Vietnam veteran who was awarded two Purple Hearts, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Sarah Palin's foreign policy credentials:"I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia'," he said.
"That kind of thing is insulting to the American people." From an article in the Omaha World-Herald as quoted on the BBC web site.
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August 27th, 2008
07:32 am - 100 pushup challenge
W1, D2 9, 8, 6, 5, (12)
My chest muscles still ache from day 1. More arnica and I may wait an extra day before taking on day 3.
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01:34 am - Butterfly Day
Last week, Mary had a day off of work and we took advantage of the time and Ericka having some PCAs to care for her to run a few errands and stop by the Como Zoo to see their butterfly exhibit.
( photos behind the cut )
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August 24th, 2008
07:31 pm - 100 pushup challenge
Well, after starting the program from http://hundredpushups.com a while ago, I fell off the band wagon and have seen many if my peers continue with great success. They have inspired me to get back to it. I skipped the initial test, figuring that I would be best off repeating from my previous starting point. So today I did the Week One, Day One reps of: 7, 7, 5, 4, (12). As I suspected would be the case, the first four sets were pretty easy with the rest between. I didn't push myself too hard on the last (max) set because that's how I got in trouble last time, pulling or straining something in the process. So now I'm going to take some arnica and rest up.
Tomorrow, I have two meetings with contracting firms and may here back about a position I had two good interviews for!
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August 13th, 2008
12:43 am - Changes of many sorts
A while back I started thinking that I needed some change in my life. The Universe, ever attentive to what we need, gave me quite a bit.
It started with my thinking that I have really not been very social for quite a while. The need for me to be the primary caregiver for ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) erickavan has cut down the opportunities that I had for social interaction. I could get a way for a few hours a week, at most, so I would often just go see a movie by myself. Now, I enjoy seeing movies and don't mind watching them by myself, but the pattern seemed a bit lonely.
So I thought I would try dating. Ericka and I have long had an open relationship and we've both taken advantage of that by having other people in our lives from time to time. We talked it over and she agreed it would be good for me. At first, my attempts were a bit comical. I bumped into the awkward situation of replying to a friend's anonymous personal ad on Craig's List, for example. The suggested matches for me on OKCupid all seemed to be 20-something bisexual women. (Not that I have anything against 20-something bisexual women, I just don't think they'd be all that interested in me.)
Finally, I went pro. I joined Great Expectations. I didn't expect that I'd have any better luck, but after a long string of fairly plausible ads on Craig's List led inevitably to "adult dating" sites, I did like that at least there would be real people on the other end of possible matches. There were quite a few women that seemed interesting and I sent out several invitations to meet. I'd been honest in my description of myself, however, and I think most of the members were looking for something I was unable to give.
I received one unsolicited invitation from a woman named Mary. She seemed bright and quirky and I even suspected that she might be a fan whom I'd somehow missed all these years. We chatted on the phone and she suggested we meet for coffee. Well, after an initial delay caused by her coming down with a possible case of strep, we did just that. And we talked long enough to make it into a dinner date and talked for a while after.
We had our first, actual, planned date the day that the Universe threw me another change and I separated from my job at the University. I've seen her several times since then. She's met Ericka and they have had a great time discussing books they both enjoy. She's even willing to watch the occasional baseball game with me.
For the first time in a long time, I have a degree of happiness in my life that I'd been missing. Some of this is, I know, new relationship euphoria. But there are some deeper connections that Mary and I have already felt. I'll be looking forward to introducing you all to her when the opportunity arises. In the meantime, you'll have to trust that I think you'll like her at least as much as I do.
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August 6th, 2008
10:25 am - An affirmation
In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all, the universe generously supports me and my chosen family financially while I pursue employment or other endeavors that I enjoy, that challenge me and that allow me to grow in my abilities.
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August 1st, 2008
12:37 am - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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July 31st, 2008
01:38 am - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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July 30th, 2008
04:41 pm - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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July 25th, 2008
12:33 am - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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July 24th, 2008
12:36 am - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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July 1st, 2008
01:23 am - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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June 26th, 2008
12:41 am - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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June 20th, 2008
12:40 am - Random musings
Just some things I was thinking...
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