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Sunday, November 29th, 2009
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12:14 am
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This is just lovely, isn't it?
Is anyone really surprised? I'm not.
The sad part is, if he'd pushed for it, and captured or killed bin Laden, his presidency could have been an entirely different story. We'd have forgiven a lot if he'd managed to provide the one bit of revenge we all sought after 9/11. All his failures after would have been tempered in our minds by the knowledge that he'd done this one thing right, even if it wouldn't have stopped terrorism from growing.
Would it have been enough to make up for all the other failures? Possibly not, but perhaps he wouldn't have been remembered with such total bitterness or as such a complete and utter failure. Instead, this just heaps more on his head.
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| Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
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6:50 am
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Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) harmanhay for the linkage;
This!
I'd like to say that this is why ms_issicran and I haven't gotten married, but that wouldn't be entirely true. We have several personal reasons for the status of our relationship, and co-opting this to claim some moral superiority would be tacky. However, I do support the concept of objection through demonstration.
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| Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
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2:48 pm
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Health care to cost 849 billion over ten years, for 31 million uninsured people.
Let's do the math: 849 billion / 31 million, divided by ten years, equals $2,739 for each person, annually.
The report also says the bill would cut the deficit by 127 billion over that same decade.
If we prorate that over those same 31 million,, the 2739 is reduced by 410, leaving an annual cost of $2,329 per person.
Insurance was available to me under COBRA after my last job, at approx $375 / month, or $4500 per year. That was before we discovered my cholesterol and triglycerides were through the roof, and my blood pressure was wandering into dangerous territory. I doubt I could even get it now, and certainly not so cheap as $4500 / year.
$2329 doesn't sound that bad to me, especially when you consider that I've had nearly $4k in medical bills each of the last couple years, with a good chance of significantly higher bills down the road sometime.
It would take approximately 50% of that 31 million uninsured group to default on their medical bills to make this a winning proposition. When you consider the additional cost of unemployment, defaulted mortgages and bankruptcies and other effects of serious illness while uninsured, and the increased benefits of available preventative care for those people, this sounds like a bargain to me.
And, just to put things into perspective, the Iraq war ran over budget by more than 100 billion per year (or was that quarterly?) for over 6 years. That's not the total cost, that's just the amount that was asked for in addition to our defense budget every year, (which supposedly included the war costs after the first year,) as emergency funding.
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12:12 am
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When I first moved into this house back in 1981, we were at the edge of town, and the night sky was full of stars. Over the years, the town grew up around us, lights were put up, and generally the stars faded away in the face of all that electrical illuminative competition.
I don't know what's changed- Maybe the recession has resulted in fewer street lights. Maybe being gone for months has given me a fresh look.
But the constellation of Orion both tonight and about 4 or 5 nights ago has been (if you'll excuse the horrible pun) simply stellar. It is one of my favorites, and I love to look at it, but recently it has been so bright and clear...
That's all. I've just been loving that group of stars. I look at it and feel like I could fall right into space.
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| Monday, November 16th, 2009
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2:09 am
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| Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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8:33 am
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Man, what is wrong with me this morning? I've had a single cup of coffee, and am almost awake, but I'm trying to fix everybody's problem or tell them how to do things. I almost posted to one of my friends trying to tell her how to do her job. She's been doing it longer than I ever did.
I think perhaps this is one of those mornings that used to make my staff at the hotel try to hide from me. Maybe another cup will work.
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| Sunday, November 8th, 2009
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5:49 am
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I awoke to thunder. Apparently the lightning wasn't bright enough to penetrate my eyelids.
Imagine a boxcar being dropped on its side, and then four more in rapid succession. That was some impressive thunder. Later I saw the flash and heard the thunder, but now it was about 5 miles off, and much quieter.
Right now it is pouring down out there, and sounding miserable.
The heat is off, due to a faulty board in my 8 yr old furnace. I'll get it fixed tomorrow, although it perturbs me no end that I have to. Fortunately it isn't that cold out. In here it's about 65 degrees F, I think. The house is well insulated, and will probably not get much below 60 before tomorrow. Outside is much cooler.
I'll be nappin and doing other old people stuff later. Rock on, my peeps.
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| Saturday, November 7th, 2009
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6:59 am - My portfolio.
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| Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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12:35 am
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Ice halo around the nearly full moon tonight.
I got pictures, and will post them tomorrow. Tonight I'm tired and need to sleep.
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| Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
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11:40 am
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I don't often take the time anymore to bitch about political shenanigans, but this needs to be pointed out;
For months, the GOP has whined about the health care bill, refused to provide any substantial or meaningful input into a reform package that is long overdue, or offer any sort of useful alternative. They've focused on mudslinging and outright falsehoods in their efforts to smear and ensure the failure of the Democratic proposal. Now, when it is far too late to engage in any non-partisan cooperation or compromise, having shown their complete unwillingness to bend in any way, they have whipped up a quick and dirty version of health care 'reform' of their own.
This proposal does nothing to reform a broken system, but offers supposed breaks to those who already have insurance or insurance options, and grants a pass to doctors and medical professionals who screw up other people's lives by limiting malpractice suit proceeds to a mere $250K.
Considering the cost of long term care and how expensive treatment is for the various issues caused by incompetence or negligence in a hospital setting, this is a ridiculous figure, and a slap in the face to anyone who suffers legitimate damage from such types of failure. The figures for infection, surgical mistakes, and deaths from negligence in hospital settings are way too high to grant such reprieves. (My own prescription to lower malpractice insurance would be to penalize those who bring frivolous lawsuits, rather than limit the liability of the insurance companies in the case of actual negligence.)
The whole bill appears to be aimed at helping out the health insurance industry, which is one of the key failures of this broken system.
Considering the state of the Republican party, its total disconnect from reality or the people it supposedly represents, and its continued exodus from a 'conservative' party to a party of extremists, it is well beyond time for this party to be relegated to its proper place as a fringe element in politics. The recent incident in NY where the Republican candidate, Dierdre Scozzafava, withdrew because the GOP was backing a more extremist right-winger from a third party is a perfect example of how far out of touch they've become. They don't even support their own, unless they espouse the same extreme views of such paragons of moderation as Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. (Scozzafava didn't hold with the right-wingers stance on abortion or gay marriage. She has since thrown her support behind the Democratic challenger, because she's more interested in what's good for the people than what's good for the party. The link above is just a starting point for this incident. Or you could read Hannity's article where he makes out that this has nothing to do with the GOP becoming out of touch and marginalized. Riiiight.)
ETA: I should point out that the $250K cap on malpractice settlements is not my only complaint with the GOP package. I am actually fairly incensed about every single thing mentioned in that article. The Cap thing is just an old thing they've tried to pass before, and it galled me back then. I note there's been no adjustment for inflation since the last time, either. How... realistic... of them. Overall, the bill shows no original thought at all, but is just a basic rehash of all the crap they have tried to push down our throats for the last couple decades.
Also, I'm not entirely smitten with the Dems' primary package, but at least they put some work and thought into it.
current mood: Disgusted
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| Saturday, October 31st, 2009
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12:17 am
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I'm home (have been since Saturday, yay!) and trying to catch up on everything I need to do. I need a vacation from my vacation.
btw, love the Google logo today. Don't forget to click on it. Multiple times. ;)
Heartburn and anxiety about the 'work' I have to do is keeping me up. However, I'm too tired to go look up my collected links just yet.
I'm telling people that for Halloween, I'm putting a big bowl of loose M & Ms together, so the little beggars can swirl their hands around in some H1N1. So far, they figure 1300 deaths, and nearly 6 million people infected in the US. Is door-to-door delivery really where we want to go, people?
For those of you who insist on handing out goodies, make sure you do the delivery. Don't let the kids fish around in the bowls.
At the same time, the news is complaining that only half the expected doses of vaccine are available as yet, at around 26.7 million, which is less than 10% of the population.
Very little of the vaccine is made in the US, so it's no surprise at all that obtaining supplies is going to be difficult, or at least expensive. I note that some pundits blame Obama for this, and suggest lack of vaccine could be bad for him politically. Oookayyy then.
More later, when I'm awake, alert, and have some time to sit here.
Just a couple notes:
Don, you're looking good in pig blood. Hee.
T, Thanks for the card- Hang in there. :)
Chin up, Nea. You're in our thoughts. OO
Good thoughts all round, peeps. Get/Stay well.
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| Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
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3:01 am
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I hate the 2 am wakeups. I should be asleep, not sitting here.
Spent most of an hour in bed, trying to go back to sleep, and finally gave up.
In unrelated news, my toes tingle. I think it must be some kind of circulation problem.
Also, waiting to go home. I've been in AK for almost four months now. The weather is turning nasty, although it hasn't started snowing down here in Anchorage yet. Just up in the hills above us. No, it's raining, and running about 45 degrees during the day, and about 30 at night.
I get to go home around Oct 20, I think. Of course, then I get to turn around and do this again, but somewhere else.
btw, for something actually interesting;
Tropical storms caused flooding in the Philippines, putting 380,000 people into shelters, and directly affecting over a million people. Earthquakes in Indonesia struck on two consecutive days, causing widespread damage, and rendering about 300,000 homeless, and directly affecting another million or so. Tsunamis from an undersea quake flooded American Samoa, Western Samoa and the island nation of Tonga. Loss of life in Am Samoa is, last I checked, up to about 25 people, while in Western Samoa, it had hit 77. In Tonga, at least 9 people died.
As an exercise for the reader, go do some Googling to see how much money the US is giving each of these countries in humanitarian aid.
Some of those sites will also tell you how much other countries (and corporations!) are donating toward the cause(s). The comparison with the US contributions is not flattering.
You probably won't find any dollar amounts associated with the tsunami disasters, as we're sending FEMA to Am Samoa, and the amount will be based on actual needs, as Am Samoa is a US territory.
Unfortunately, neither Tonga nor Western Samoa are US territories. Presumably, they aren't getting anything from us.
Billions for war, pennies for charity. I love this country.
And, in still other news; In AK, the panhandlers seldom ask you for money. They ask for cigarettes sometimes, but mostly they ask for food. Because, unlike the homeless guys I tend to see in Portland, these guys actually want food, not crack. They're not running a business called "Stand on the off-ramp with a cardboard sign and beg for money so we can buy another half-rack of beer", they're actually trying to survive.
Of course, the AK natives described above would probably have food if they hadn't drank all their money that the state gives them for living here, but I think that's more genetic here than it is down south. Natives seem especially susceptible to binge drinking.
So, yeah. I've bought a sandwich or two up here. More out in Bethel than in Anchorage, but I think the concentration of starving natives is higher there. That is, targets of opportunity for the hungry abound more in Anchorage, so they spend less time panhandling, and are less likely to hit any given person. But, PFDs (State distributions of money, ostensibly based on oil company drilling contracts) go out this month, I think, so lots of Natives will end up drunk and broke, and since winter is moving in, perhaps we'll see more soon.
I find that I send myself links about stories I want to blog about, but then I never get the time to actually do any of it. They sit in my mailbox, becoming dated and irrelevant, while I work, sleep, work, sleep, and so on until Sunday, when I just sleep.
At least I get to catch up on you folks once or twice a week or so, even if I don't have time to comment.
Alright. It's about 3:40am here, about a half hour after I gave up on sleep. Let's go give it another try.
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| Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
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8:39 pm
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So, in an attempt to recreate what was lost yesterday;
( Take Two )
This is a rather unsatisfying and pale rendition of the original post, but that's how it goes.
This entry was originally posted at http://blackbyrd2.dreamwidth.org/833.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
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| Monday, September 14th, 2009
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6:08 am
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Today I will be angry.
Last Friday, I dropped one of my prescriptions off at the Walmart pharmacy. I make sure they know my Dr's name, (they had it on record) and that they'll need to get authorization from him, since the prescription is undoubtedly out of refills. (Why? I'm going to be taking this crap the rest of my life. It's one of the few prescriptions that's actually doing what it is supposed to, with no discernable side effects!)
Sunday I stop by to pick the meds up, only to find that either the Oregon Walmart hasn't completed the transfer (one person's excuse) or they didn't have my Drs phone number, only a fax number, or maybe NOT even a fax number, and a street address- no way to contact him, anyway.
Yesterday, I tried to post a fairly long blog post on Dreamwidth, only to have IE eat it when the hotel's Guest-Tek internet connection, which presumably renews IP leases every 24 hours, decide it was time to renew mine. Did they open a new tab, or a new window? NO. They redirect the existing window to their crappy 'security' interface, wiping out an hours worth of work. No way to back, no way to recover, just; Hey look! It's gone!
This morning, I open my browser, and attempt to come here, only to be redirected again.
Assholes.
So, to summarize; Pharmacists are more of a hindrance in health care than a help, in my opinion today. (I can see the meds, in their prefilled containers, just the way they ship into the store, sitting on the shelf. I watched the pharmacist's assistant grab one to get me a carry-over pill. It would take 2 minutes to print my label, slap it on, and stack three boxes in a bag.)
Marriott's Residence Inn provides crappy service when it comes to internet connectivity. (We won't discuss how many other issues I've had with them this trip.)
Maybe tomorrow I will be able to be happy.
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| Sunday, September 13th, 2009
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5:54 pm
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Before I talk about what this is, let's talk about what it isn't.
This won't be a discussion on the mutual fund market, for the most part. Several people have already pointed out the advantages of index funds over other mutual funds (low-no fees, better returns, etc.) nor will bond funds play a major role in this blog, although all this is subject to change if I decide I need to say something about any of it.
Nor is this a beginner's guide to day trading, or, as it could better be called, going broke.
This will be almost exclusively about equities and long term investing. Well, actually, it's about me, my investments, and the decision making process involved.
( Read more... )
This is all that Dreamwidth saved, which is about half the entry I was going to post, when the local hotel connection decided I needed to renew my IP lease, the bastards.
Maybe I'll try again later. Right now I just want to kill someone.
This entry was originally posted at http://blackbyrd2.dreamwidth.org/586.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
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7:00 am - New beginnings
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I've had this Dreamwidth account for several months, and have been debating what to use it for.
For now, I'm going to track my investments and personal finances here. I'll use this to keep track of what I buy and sell, (although not quantities. Who really wants to know that sort of thing?), and my thoughts on the market, what things I'm unsure of or puzzled by, and my perspectives and recommendations, for those crazy enough to want to follow me.
( Boring financial history )
I want the Dreamwidth account to be more about things I'm doing which might act as a resource for others. Along with my financial commentary, I hope to post some recipes, maybe some artsy-craftsy stuff if/as it comes up, etc.
This entry was originally posted at http://blackbyrd2.dreamwidth.org/437.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
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| Saturday, September 5th, 2009
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6:00 pm
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Take a walk.
Eat some vegetables.
Laugh.
Smooch.
Contribute to your retirement fund. (Or start one, if you don't have one.)
Learn something.
Talk to someone.
Take a nap.
Make something.
Water a plant.
Do something nice for someone.
Try to understand the other person's point of view.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Other suggestions for a healthy, happy life?
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| Friday, September 4th, 2009
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6:16 am - The hypocrisy and irony burn.
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Pres. Obama is giving a speech to school kids, telling them, essentially, to stay in school, work hard and become brighter, more educated citizens/voters.
Republicans think this is politicizing the speech, and think he shouldn't be 'indoctrinating' kids into his socialist / liberal agenda. (ETA: They're actually concerned the kids might be influenced to support Obama's Health Care Plan. That's right. These kids who can't vote for several years yet, in some cases, will be a threat to the Republicans' attempts to bury the Health Care package. Right.) They think the kids should have a chance to think for themselves and make up their own minds.
So, the natural thing to do is politicize the speech, and use it to show Obama is Teh Evil, pushing the Republican agenda of opposing anything they didn't think of first. (Oh wait. G.H. Bush did the exact same thing)
How to mobilize against this nefarious plot?
Pull your kids out of school, and encourage everyone to join in National Truancy Day.
Because that sends the right message to the kids. It also encourages them to be smarter voters who will think for themselves. It's not using the kids for political maneuvering. And it is an incredibly well thought out plan; exactly the sort of thing a well-educated person might think of. Thank Dog for such public education plans as No Child Left Behind, eh? /sarcasm
Linkage to all the above idiocy is available, but do I really need to post it for you? You're mostly liberals, and thus mostly smarter. You'll figure it out.
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| Sunday, August 30th, 2009
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7:12 am - Shut the hell up, Dick.
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Seriously, no one cares what you think.
"It's clearly a political move," Cheney said in an interview aired on "Fox News Sunday." "I mean, there's no other rationale for why they're doing this."
Right. I mean, apart from the whole business of going beyond and outside of policies which were themselves already outside the scope of law and what this country stands for, there's no other reason but politics.
You moron.
I just wish he'd quit singing the same old song about how effective torture was in gathering intelligence. I mean, everyone already knows that, right? Except for all the people who were actually more deeply involved in it than him who have already discredited both the policy and Cheney's claims.
Just shut up you Dick.
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| Saturday, August 29th, 2009
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5:54 pm
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This is what's wrong with America today.
This is party politics taken to its logical extreme. We don't care whether or not something is good, bad or indifferent. If it's proposed by our opponents, we'll fight it tooth and nail with whatever we can.
Surely, the right thing to do would be to point out the bad aspects, and ask that they be corrected, or better, offer revisions which would fix them. But the GOP would rather make shit up out of thin air than hold a rational discussion about the issue and bring intelligent discourse to the table.
This example of their mindset adds a certain almost funny irony to the quote about halfway down in which Katie Wright, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, states, apparently without realizing how it sounds, that ""The RNC doesn't try to scare people," said Wright. "We're just trying to get the facts out on health care. And that's what we do every day.""
That's what we do every day. We fearmonger, lie, obstruct and interfere with progress. Just ask Sarah Palin, who is, in actuality, a perfect spokesperson for what the Republican Party has come to represent. That statement alone ought to make you shudder with fear.
Now the GOP is bad about this, and it's really nothing new to anyone who has been paying even a little bit of attention over the last eight years (much less the last 30 or more) but that is the party, not the people. One shouldn't mistake a lobbyist-serving ultra-conservative organization for the people it attempts to coerce, and whom it claims to represent. (I'm a registered Republican and they certainly don't represent MY interests.)
What gets me is the number of people who blithely buy into this shit and run with it, as evidenced by all the "death panel" loonies shouting down speakers and hosts at the town hall meetings across the country where some of us might be trying to get actual facts about the health care proposals.
Before the death panels, it was the tea-baggers, and before them was the birthers (well, and after, as well) and it just goes on. The Republican Party apparently has cornered the market on nutjobs, gullible and stupid people, and is happily using them for its own agenda, which, one might wonder, is exactly what?
I'll hazard a guess and say it is whatever is in the best interests of the special interest groups who fund it, such as insurance companies, hospitals, high paid medical specialists, Big Pharma and Big Oil, among others.
Much like with global warming and the economy, we're going to ignore reality and fight with these morons until it's too late, instead of addressing the issues. We'll allow the shouting idiots to keep us distracted until they've accomplished their goals.
Yanno, we'd never put up with this kind of shit online. Once someone is revealed to be talking out their ass, we generally point them towards the original posts/pages/links that debunk their crap and then ignore them as trolls.
That's a lesson our government and most of our public has yet to learn, apparently. You don't feed the trolls.
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