WHICH IS WORSE?

The insane personal beliefs which he would impose on all women:

“I’m very proud of my pro-life record. I’ve always adopted the idea that the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life,” he said during an interview with television station WJHL. In that statement, Ryan basically admits that he believes 1) rape is a form of conception and 2) it’s equal to conception by consensual sex because both produce life. This reasoning is apparently why Ryan opposes the rape exception for abortion.


Or the bold faced lies:

1. “A downgraded America.” Ryan blamed the president for the nation’s credit downgrade in August 2011 after Republicans threatened to allow the government to default on its debt for the first time in history. But the ratings agency explicitly blamed “Republicans saying that they refuse to accept any tax increases as part of a larger deal.”


2. “More debt than any other president before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined.” Romney has made the almost identical claim, that Obama has amassed more debt “as almost all of the other presidents combined.” But their math doesn’t add up: when Obama took office, the national debt was $10.626 trillion. It has increased to slightly above $15 trillion.

3. Shuttered General Motors plant is “one more broken promise.” Ryan described a GM plant that closed down in his hometown, Janesville, Wisconsin, and blamed Obama for breaking his promise to keep the plant open when he visited during his campaign. But Obama never made that promise, and the plant shut down in December 2008, before Obama even took office.

4. Obama “did exactly nothing” on Bowles-Simpson. Ryan said, “He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.” In fact, Ryan was instrumental in sabotaging the commission, leading the other House Republicans in voting against the plan.

5. “$716 billion, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.” Ryan’s favorite lie is a deliberate distortion of Obamacare’s savings from eliminating inefficiencies. Furthermore, Ryan’s own plan for Medicare includes these savings. Romney has vowed to restore these cuts, which would render the trust fund insolvent 8 years ahead of schedule.

6. “The greatest of all responsibilities is that of the strong to protect the weak.” Ryan closed the speech with an invocation of social responsibility, saying, “The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves.” However, numerous clergy members have condemned Ryan’s budget plan as “cruel,” and “an immoral disaster” because of its devastating cuts in social programs the poor and sick rely on. Meanwhile, Ryan would give ultra-rich individuals and corporations $3 trillion in tax breaks.

 

TIME TO FIND BRIGHTSIDE AGAIN

I feel like I have not only lost my blogging mojo, I am losing my bright side.

 I am going to take a break for a few weeks - try to get some of the tarnish scrubbed off and get it shining again.

FOLLOW UP...

I finally got the lab test codes from my doctor - I think even he is amazed at how hard it was to find out the cost of the tests he ordered.  The cost for 3 blood tests comes to about $400.00.  That is nearly 2 weeks take home pay for me - ironically due to the high cost of my medical insurance.

So - knowing most tab tests are done by machines and not even by real trained people with jobs - why so much? One blood draw, program the machine and send the results. I don't think lab tests cost this much when done through a regular insurance plan, why so much for one where I am paying out of pocket before my deductible is paid?  A doctor asked and answered this question:

I can think of at least two reasons an insurance company might price services so outrageously high on certain policies. First, that would punish anyone who buys inexpensive insurance with a high deductible (both of these patients did). Second, they keep you from finding out how much (little) medical service really cost. Patients with high deductibles pay for most of their own medical care. The insurance companies make sure that these patients see a much higher price than the “real” price that they could pay. Just as with generic prescription drugs, insurance companies, not providers determine the price of everything. They can hide their real costs, and punish you for not buying a more expensive plan.

I have to admit I didn't realize that the insurance companies were quite so devious.

I did know that they spend a lot of money touting tort reform as an answer to high medical costs when legal costs are actually only 2% (mostly for their own lawyers.).  But I didn't know that the highest cost for insurance companies - 56% of their expenses - is for product design, underwriting and marketing. 

So the design and marketing of my high deductible plan is the reason my out of pocket/pre-deductible blood tests are so outrageous.

Wow. That is twisted.

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  Ran across this great photo essay "What if all Olympic sports were photographed like Beach volleyball?" 

2.)  Staying up too late watching the Olympic coverage every night - and making an effort not to see all the spoilers on the internet all day.

3.) Hearing a lot of bad news about Facebook lately. Apparently the people who do the budget projections for the state of California decided that all the new millionaire employees of FB would cash out their stock and get taxed on it boosting the state's income. They certainly bought into the hype. Today the stock price for FB is almost half what it was at the offering and now the projections are dire. The schools will be hard hit, yet again.
Then another article caught my eye - collections agencies are now using Facebook to stalk and harass people. They are contacting the "friends" listed and letting them know that their friend owes money. Nice. A lawsuit is in the works.



4.)  Got a beautiful needlepoint kit last December and have been working on it ever since.  Now that I am nearly done I am obsessed with finishing and have taken it with me to the Friday night Concerts in the Park.  People have seen me working on it all summer and are now commenting on it!

I went out to Cost Plus when they had throw pillows on sale and bought a few to match it. So excited to have it front and center on the sofa!

5.)  The decision at work was to go with a High Deductible Health Care Plan - which I had before and appreciated because the monthly premium was so low.  Not the case with this plan.  It is a $2000. deductible but the premium is still over $1000. a month for my family plan - if we need major care, it's great, covered at 100% once the deductible is met.

So now my "free" physical turned up something in the blood test which requires more tests - not free. So I have been inquiring about the out of pocket cost to me.  I have been inquiring for 2 weeks.  Apparently in the history of this medical group, no one has ever asked for the cost up front.  One department sends me to another for codes, etc.  The doctor doesn't know, the lab doesn't know, the billing office doesn't know.  Yet if I just go in for the tests I am sure they will quickly figure out how much to bill me.  Sigh. Those folks who think we have the best health care system must have some kind of plan I have never had access to.

QUESTIONS ARE NOT RACIST

I 've always loved the Olympics.  Growing up,  watching those huge East German and Russian women with moustaches regularly winning their events all the while everyone "knowing" that they were cheating by using drugs.  (That and the Russian judges always scoring the communist countries better than the democratic ones were just part of the whole experience.)  The good guys and the bad guys.

Since the Rome Olympics 1994 we have had better drug testing and the WADA to enforce abuses.  But there were long periods when the Chinese were dominating track and swimming and then turning up positive for steroid use after the games.  Striping an athlete/country of medals after the fact is a way to deal with it - but I think it takes away from watching the games knowing that some of the winners will later be disqualified. It ruins the purity of the experience.

Now we have a young Chinese woman, Ye Shiwen, 16, swimming the last leg of a 400m race at a speed greater than a record holding male swimmer.  So eyebrows are raised, questions are being asked and the Olympic committee and others are calling it racist.  That's ridiculous.  If the Chinese have a history of drug use - one that extends to just 10 years ago, and they have a young woman swimming faster than a seasoned male swimmer, the system should kick in. 

I agree that all the sarcastic comments and innuendo are not sportsmanlike.  These issues should be taken up with the officials and the testing and whatever else should be done without prejudice.  However, to expect people to accept a super human effort as just "good coaching" is pretty lame considering the actions of the Chinese teams in the recent past.

The chairman of the IOC medical commission and WADA vice-president Arne Ljungqvist, was quoted as saying that if a surprise performance is immediately suspected as being a cheat, that "sport is in danger for sure." He - and several of his IOC colleagues - are worried about the "charm of competitive sport" being lost if exceptional performances are shrouded in suspicion.
I don't disagree in my heart, but the sad truth is that these cheats tend to go on for years before the questions are answered.  If we don't ask the questions, well that's the real danger to sports and the athletes.

PEOPLE WATCHING

I like to people watch and I do make an effort not to be snarky as I do it.  One thing am always on the look for is women whose style I admire.  I see very few of them. 

Last week we went to our local Friday evening Concert in the Park, people spread out blankets and chairs, picnic and listen to music.  There was a gathering of friends next to us.   The women all slim, a couple of them very skinny.  They were  well turned out in dress, accessories,hair and nails.  Most of them were wrangling young children, the husbands were in the background.

Aside from the appearance of the women, what I noticed is that the only thing they were eating were  pea pods.They were hovering over them and eating one after another. There was all sorts of wine and beer to choose from, but only the peas to eat.

Guess that's how you get so skinny.

On Pinterest there are near constant postings of hair; in braids, styled for weddings, and the new trend -  ombre hair color. Actually nails and clothes and hair are all ombre which is basically going from dark to lighter and lighter shades of color. 

The first real person I saw who had attempted that hair die technique looked just awful.  I could tell she was so proud of it - but the color was choppy and uneven and it took me a while to realize that the intention had been to fade the color dark to light.

 I think most of us have had an idea in our minds of a hair cut or color only to be disappointed in the reality.

On my drive to and from work I have the opportunity to observe people, too.  There are 21 stop lights between home and work -  the lights are not well timed.

Today there was a young woman tweezing her brows and chin at the stop lights - she actually had a magnifying mirror in the car for this purpose.  At least she was smart enough to put the tweezers away when the light changed to green.

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  This week was a fast one!

2.)  I just got word of my 40th high school reunion so I went back up on Facebook. This has been in the works for a while and I wasn't there to be found and notified sooner.   Not that it matters - can't lose 100 pounds or otherwise turn back the ravages of time in a few months.  Looking at the photos of some of my classmates, many of them have taken very good care of themselves.    My BFF girlfriends are planning to come from out of state so I wouldn't miss it.

I will still up the diet efforts between now and then...I am not completely without vanity.

3.)  So much sad news coming from Colorado.

Locally a woman's body was found at our local BART stations.  There was so much fear mongering and racist finger pointing about what might have happened to her.  Turns out she was a suicide.

So many people carry heavy burdens in their hearts and minds which they can act out against themselves and others.  It really doesn't help to jump in and say it is drugs or race or whatever when our society doesn't do a very good job of taking care of people with mental illness and depression; the bottom line cause of so many of these things.

ROCKING TO THE OLDIES WITH THE OLDIES

It was one of those spur of the moment purchases - discounted tickets to go see Chicago and The Doobie Brothers at a local outdoor pavillion.  As the day approached we kind of lost our enthusiasm for it, but off we went.

Going to  a concert to hear bands which had their hay days in the 1970's means that the majority of the attendees were not carded at the walk-up bars.  Even so, there were a lot of people there younger than Tom and me and those were the ones I noticed because their approach to attending a concert are decidedly different than ours.

We went early because we had will call tickets and thought we would just relax and have dinner.  Except that there weren't many choices of things to eat and no where at all to sit.  There were no fewer than 5 bars set up, but only 1 stand with junky food.  The concert started at 7 but crowds were filing in steadily until about 7:45. which meant a lot of hopping up and down to let people squeeze down the aisles to their seats.

It was very odd.  The atmosphere was more like a sporting event.  People were carrying on conversations shouted over the music.  The vendors who roamed the aisles hawking popcorn, lemonade and red ropes stopped shouting but kept going up and down the steps all through the performances - and so did the people going to the bathroom and for refills on the beer.

The last time we went to a concert in this venue, we were down in the floor seats.  It had an intimate feel and, if all that other stuff was going on up in the levels above, we were not aware of it.  It may be that times have changed  or it may be that people just don't get as involved with the band and music when they are up in the cheaper seats - watching the big screens is kind of like being home watching TV.

Otherwise, the music was good - though the productions were very, very choreographed.  No room for the relaxed, personal or improvisational.  Chicago was one of my all time favorites back in the day and they still had that great music and sound - even if some of the voices are not as good as the originals.

We had fun doing something we rarely do but we agreed we enjoyed  music in small clubs and bars much better.

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.) I enjoy wearing cotton dresses in the summer especially on hot days like we are having now.  The only issue is the undies.  My usual one cling in the area of my large bottom.  I have a couple of nylon ones which I wear when I wear dresses. (Remember wearing slips?)  Today I put on my dress but I realized the necessary undergarment was in the dryer.  I finished hair, make-up, shoes, jewelry and came downstairs for my yogurt and blueberries.

When I sat down to eat I realized I had never gone into the dryer for my undies. A moment of "should I just go to work without?" 

Not today.

2.) There was an article about whether anxiety causes women to age faster - which confirmed it is true.  I know when we were in the initial throes of our life changing struggles that I had all kinds of physical issues associated with stress.  Now I can legitimately blame my wrinkly face on all that, too.

Interesting that they only studied women.  Is pre-mature aging only an issue for women?




Marion Cuningham in her kitchen at home in Walnut Creek.

 3.) This is getting posted late because I read that the mother of one of my high school friends died this week so I was searching to see if I could find him to write him a note. My friend's mother was Marion Cunningham.  In the years after we graduated she became "Fannie Farmer" and an icon in the national food scene.

I knew my friend was different than any of the other kids in our rather large circle.  He was smart, sophisticated, sarcastic and guarded.

 I was only in his house one time and I remember my friend Chris and I going into the kitchen and loving it - funny how a feeling about a person can be felt in their special space.

It wasn't until many, many years later that I read in one of Ruth Reichl's memoirs some of the details of Marion's life - that she had been an alcoholic and agoraphobic during the years my friend was growing up.  Learning that explained a lot.  Marion, the year we graduated, broke free of her fears with the help of my friend,  and began a whole new life - I hope that my friend was able to take pleasure in that.  I wish him all the best at this sorrowful time.

OUT IN THE DARK

In the spirit of Mrs. G's challenge to do something new and scary (it was a while ago and I can't find the post to link), I agreed to go out on my bike at night. I am not a sure and steady bike rider in the broad daylight.  I hate riding near cars - or people for that matter. Tom LOVES his night rides and comes home thrilled with his adventures in the darkness.

What lured me out into the dark?  Fireworks.  We live less than a mile from the county fairgrounds and this year they were shooting off fireworks every Friday night.  We can't really see them from home because of the trees and we noticed that a local park filled up with families and picnickers the previous Friday.

We left in daylight and found a spot on the patio of a local brew pub with good food.  Then as it was getting dark we rode down the street a mile or so to the park.  It was scary for me even though Tom affixed no fewer than 4 lights to my bike.  It was flashing and strobing and lit up like a parade.  I could see his headlight steady and straight and mine wobbling all over the road!  I felt a little queasy, but I made it. 

The park with full of kids draped with glow lights.  It was entertaining to see them flitting around like noisy multicolored fireflies.  The fireworks show was great and the ride home much less nerve wracking.  It really was a lovely night.