Scalzi Has My Vote

On the suggestion of some friends from Metafilter and Boing Boing, I've been following John Scalzi's blog for a bit. I have ruminated about life stuff here - politics, sports, electronics, computers, etc. Scalzi just does it better. For example, here's his take on Obama now that Health Care Reform is law:

To be clear, and contrary to GOP thinking, I think this is the act that will make him a two-termer, the poor bastard. But even if by some chance he’s one-and-done, I think he can say he did the thing he came to Washington to do, and that he did something that was the right thing to do. As it happens, I agree with him; I think it makes moral, philosophical and economic sense for as many Americans as possible to have access to regular, competent health care. It was a reason I voted for him, and in itself is worth my vote for him.

I feel the same way. This was one of the reasons, to be fair, and like Scalzi, I'm looking forward to even more successes. There was less news space devoted to it, but there was a student loan bill passed this week, and a jobs bill that made it through unanimously a few weeks ago.

All of this is happening while Obama has to endure being likened to Hitler and being accused of fostering a new holocaust (during Passover, no less) by Sarah Palin and others. What has she done for the country other than propagate fear, doubt, and terror? You know, it wasn't that long ago that the GOP learned that the very same tact lost them an election. You'd think they'd adjust.

Hot Tub Time Machine

If you go with low expectations, you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you're averse to the f-bomb, you might want to wait until it hits Comedy Central. Overall, I think Ebert's three stars were deserved. If you liked it, I highly recommend Rob Corddry's Children's Hospital (NSFW). How that ended up on a WB site is beyond me.

Health Care Slime Machine

The Daily Show consistently shows the insanity in politics. See for yourself:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Health Care Slime Machine
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Also, YEAH FISTY.

Positive vs. Negative

I don't know why I keep ruminating on politics. It's all rhetoric and talking points. It's argument for the sake of argument. The actual change or impact to my daily routine is usually minimal. In the recent case of the health care reform, though, it's gotten crazy.

Here's what the DNC proposes for my congressional district:

According to our records, in your district alone, reform would:

-- Ban discrimination against 12,400 residents with pre-existing conditions;

-- Provide tax credits and other assistance for up to 151,000 families;

-- Extend coverage to 45,000 uninsured residents;

-- Save 1,600 families from health care related bankruptcy; and

-- Get full prescription drug coverage for 87,000 seniors on Medicare.

Now, there's a flip side to every argument, and there are parts of the bill that make me a little uncomfortable, too. However, if only a few of the bullets above are true, my concerns are not as important as those of my neighbors who are having trouble getting or staying healthy.

The reaction is what disheartens me. Death threats for helping people to get insurance? I don't get it. How is throwing a brick through a window of an elected official or leaving a death threat not considered (or treated by the media) as a terrorist attack? Protest is a right, but terrorism is obviously not.

All of this aggression for the particular permutation of a bill that got passed - not on the idea of health care reform itself. Everyone, presumably the death threat makers and brick throwers included, agree that this needed to get going at some point.

What's most perplexing is that during the presidential campaigns, the GOP took a fear-mongering and threatening stance to win, but lost. They propagated concerns about Obama's nationality, intentions, and political affiliations, and likened him to Hitler (still can't believe that's happening). Despite the barrage of attacks, Obama stayed on his positive message, which was to directly help the working class and rebuild infrastructure in America, and he won the election.

Since taking office, he's done just that. His message has been uniform and ambitious, and while all of the stuff he's done so far hasn't been 100% perfectly implemented, considering how much he's trying to do, it's very impressive. More so in the face of all of the opposition he's faced.

I mean, if the world doesn't come to an end, there's the possibility that the banks could repay the money they got last year, unemployment could go down because a number of small businesses could suddenly afford insurance for its people, or 1600 families in my congressional district won't have to move into poverty conditions because of an illness or injury. That would be fantastic, although I doubt some folks would be able to accept it.

The Onion, as usual, nails it.

Sorry, Here's Some Fun Stuff

I don't know why I keep following the media trail into the spiderhole of politics. John Stewart does a pretty good job of reminding me about just how ridiculous it all is:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Conservative Libertarian
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

And Gorillaz just dropped a new record called Plastic Beach. This video is great, too. I've been through the album a few times now, and while it has a few weak tracks, I get excited when the Snoop track starts. Man, that's a funky beat.

Once More Into the Breach

Today, I'm trying to figure out a few key things about the health care reform bill in play at the moment.

1. It seems like everyone agrees that we need health care reform. It's also clear that on such a politically charged issue, there will not be 100% agreement on how it should be implemented. Why can't the folks who oppose the bill focus on the parts they do not like and try to get them resolved instead of requesting to start from scratch?

2. I have pretty good insurance through my company and a well-known insurance carrier. Even still, when trying to find out the billing code for a trivial health test (to see if it would be covered), I spent half an hour and contacted a number of billing departments to no avail. I went in to the doctor's office to see if I could get a nurse or someone in billing to help and watched them take another 20 minutes before finally getting an answer. Not life or death, but it shouldn't be that difficult. Here's a USAToday post about people with much more dire billing issues.

3. We have public and private schools. Yes, public schools cost money and may turn out lower-scoring students than other public systems around the world. However, imagine if there were no public schools at all. Many folks would save a lot on their annual tax bill, but would they automatically funnel that into the primary education fund for their kids? More importantly, what would happen to the folks living near the poverty level? They might get more food in a month with the extra tax money, but how would they educate their children? (This is, of course, an analogy to public vs. private health care.)

4. Is anyone else sick of hearing about how we're ruining things for our kids and grandkids? It's a cheap, emotional talking point that casts anyone voting for this reform bill as a child hater. It's obvious that nobody would vote for a bill that puts future citizens of any stripe in jeopardy for a quick hit today. I'm also tired of hearing about how "Americans do not want this legislation". I'm an American and I do want this legislation. A majority of Americans voted Obama into office, and this is his policy. So, the majority of people wanted Obama and nearly everyone agrees that we need health care reform. Repeating those negative mantras over and over again is a subliminal trick. I'm afraid it works, too.

The government exists to serve and protect its people. Corporations exist to make money. Currently, corporations determine our ability to get the help we need. Corporations do not care about our cancer. Their cancer is hemorrhaging revenues, and they'll do anything to bandage those wounds. It's the opposite of the good Sammaritan story here.

In my simplistic way of thinking, while both the government and corporations can be bought or corrupted, I would rather have the government setting limits and creating safety nets than just leaving the corporations in charge. I think this is the most important aspect of this legislation. I'll take all of the pork and even some bad ideas to get the initial stake planted. It can be legislated from there. Unless you think none of our children or grandchildren will be senators.

Maybe I Am Materialistic

These things have changed my life to various degrees:

1. Auto-dimming rear view mirror. How is this not standard on all vehicles?

2. The DVR. So obvious, I probably shouldn't have bothered adding it here. I'm reminded how much I rely on it every time I try to skip ahead 30 seconds and see "Live TV".

3. Meebo. I wasn't able to use IM at work because the IT group blocks the ports that IM traffic uses. Meebo uses the standard Internet port and somehow funnels IM traffic through that. Did I mention that it aggregates all of the big IM clients, too?

4. In-line volume control. So much easier than to locate the volume button/rocker/slider on one of the many devices I use for music.

So, Where Were We?

Yikes! Take a little blogging break and months fly by. If you were concerned for my well-being, you can rest easy tonight. I haven't been 100% good on my 2010 resolutions, but I haven't totally abandoned them, either.

I weighed in at the heaviest I can remember being a few weeks ago, which served as a nice reminder to keep going into the gym. I was sick last week, but got back on the treadmill this week. Band practice is back on track, too, it seems. We might even have some gigs!

On the home front, we tore up the downstairs bathroom when the new floors were installed and I've gotten the toilet in, painted and trimmed out the walls, and now I have the new sink and vanity in place. Last step is to hook up the drain and water feed lines. Seems like it's taking forever, but it's only been a few weeks since the floors were done and I don't have blocks of time to work, usually.

Also, I've been back in school since January. I'm working toward the Cisco CCNA certification for my own edification and to add some new meat to my resume. (You can never be too sure.)

Things are going well for us, in general. We've both been working full-time for a year now, but we've also kept to our working budget to try to get caught up on bills and payments and maybe even get ahead a bit. Not as easy as it would seem, even with the additional income. I'm not complaining, either.

Next steps are to do the upstairs bathrooms, get some new bedroom furniture, and maybe get me a new car (depending on how the mighty Vue holds up this summer).

So far, 2010 is way better than 2009.

Further proof: