"Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again"
by Henry Scott Holland
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Let's have healthcare that takes care of all
I have a flag on my porch, it says “God bless America, Land that I love”
One day I looked at it and thought” I wonder how many people here think America does not love them?
I look at other developed countries with National Health care and wonder “why not us?” if they can do it,we can do it. What does it say about us as a nation?
And I do not believe the propaganda that says those systems are bad, they are not. I have friends in England, Canada and Australia and they would not trade for our system. In fact, they are quite satisfied with their healthcare systems.
There so many lies and myths out there, deliberate deceptions . I got an email claiming
That the healthcare being proposed would limit certain care to those above 59 “like in the UK” So I emailed the NHS in the UK: no such limit exists!
In fact this is what I learned from the email:
“The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. At its launch by the then minister of health, Aneurin Bevan, on July 5 1948. , it had at its heart three core principles: • that it meet the needs of everyone, • that it be free at the point of delivery, and • that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. These three principles have guided the development of the NHS over more than half a century and remain.
There is no arbitrary cut off point where age is concerned. If a consultant decides that a heart bypass or the fitting of a stent is the required surgical intervention, then, providing the patient agrees to the procedure, the surgery will go ahead”
They have had it since 1948!! I also learned it was funded in part at first by us! Through the Marshall Plan!!
A moral issue?
There is a local girl who was burned over 65% of her body,her family does not have health insurance. So a local organization is going to hold a barbeque to raise funds to pay the medical bills. Is this a country who cares about its people?
What should we do about medical bills of the uninsured? Have a bake sale?
I know a young couple with a new baby who pay $15,000 for medical insurance, about half of their income.
Is this right?
Our ranking in the world for healthcare has slipped to 37! Behind Costa Rica, ahead of Slovenia!
37th!!! Is that something to be proud of?
If the other developed nations can take care of their people, why not us?
Are profits more important?
From the AFT
THE FACTS: The time to reform our healthcare system is now. Many Americans are uninsured or struggle to pay the soaring costs of care. As costs continue to rise, even those with employer-provided insurance pay a heavy price in forgone pay raises, increases in insurance deductibles and premiums, and greater insecurity about the availability of high-quality healthcare in the future.
Since 2000, employee contributions to company-provided health insurance have increased more than 120 percent, and out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-payments for medications, and co-insurance for physician and hospital visits have risen 115 percent. Skyrocketing healthcare costs strain family budgets, burden businesses of all sizes, squeeze state and federal budgets, and are delaying America's economic recovery.
One day I looked at it and thought” I wonder how many people here think America does not love them?
I look at other developed countries with National Health care and wonder “why not us?” if they can do it,we can do it. What does it say about us as a nation?
And I do not believe the propaganda that says those systems are bad, they are not. I have friends in England, Canada and Australia and they would not trade for our system. In fact, they are quite satisfied with their healthcare systems.
There so many lies and myths out there, deliberate deceptions . I got an email claiming
That the healthcare being proposed would limit certain care to those above 59 “like in the UK” So I emailed the NHS in the UK: no such limit exists!
In fact this is what I learned from the email:
“The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. At its launch by the then minister of health, Aneurin Bevan, on July 5 1948. , it had at its heart three core principles: • that it meet the needs of everyone, • that it be free at the point of delivery, and • that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. These three principles have guided the development of the NHS over more than half a century and remain.
There is no arbitrary cut off point where age is concerned. If a consultant decides that a heart bypass or the fitting of a stent is the required surgical intervention, then, providing the patient agrees to the procedure, the surgery will go ahead”
They have had it since 1948!! I also learned it was funded in part at first by us! Through the Marshall Plan!!
A moral issue?
There is a local girl who was burned over 65% of her body,her family does not have health insurance. So a local organization is going to hold a barbeque to raise funds to pay the medical bills. Is this a country who cares about its people?
What should we do about medical bills of the uninsured? Have a bake sale?
I know a young couple with a new baby who pay $15,000 for medical insurance, about half of their income.
Is this right?
Our ranking in the world for healthcare has slipped to 37! Behind Costa Rica, ahead of Slovenia!
37th!!! Is that something to be proud of?
If the other developed nations can take care of their people, why not us?
Are profits more important?
From the AFT
THE FACTS: The time to reform our healthcare system is now. Many Americans are uninsured or struggle to pay the soaring costs of care. As costs continue to rise, even those with employer-provided insurance pay a heavy price in forgone pay raises, increases in insurance deductibles and premiums, and greater insecurity about the availability of high-quality healthcare in the future.
Since 2000, employee contributions to company-provided health insurance have increased more than 120 percent, and out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-payments for medications, and co-insurance for physician and hospital visits have risen 115 percent. Skyrocketing healthcare costs strain family budgets, burden businesses of all sizes, squeeze state and federal budgets, and are delaying America's economic recovery.
This morning I watched a video of Canadians being interviewed on their healthcare system..not ONE negative comment! They do not even know what a co-pay is!!
They do not understand why we don't have the same here....I wonder too...
Why not?
Why don't we care more about our citizens?
I am afraid the answer comes down to profit.....and not for the medical community.
All I know is: I want what the Canadians have for us!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Intrepid Pansies
I am SO excited! I just took a look at our garden. Last year we planted hundreds of bulbs..crocus, tulips, daffodils, hyacinth...
the only ones open are the crocuses...so I counted...1,2,3,4,5,6,7,..EIGHT crocuses open!
WAIT! There's a...pansy...and another...come back from last year!! YAY! I am so proud of them!! Gives a whole new meaning to "pansy" !!! I am so delighted!
You have to understand..it has been a long winter...the first snow storm came Oct 28...and it never stopped...we had snow on the ground until last week!!
So Spring will be that much sweeter....and the last post covered "What is life?"..and this one is Spring and rebirth, renaissance....how appropriate for Easter weekend!
the only ones open are the crocuses...so I counted...1,2,3,4,5,6,7,..EIGHT crocuses open!
WAIT! There's a...pansy...and another...come back from last year!! YAY! I am so proud of them!! Gives a whole new meaning to "pansy" !!! I am so delighted!
You have to understand..it has been a long winter...the first snow storm came Oct 28...and it never stopped...we had snow on the ground until last week!!
So Spring will be that much sweeter....and the last post covered "What is life?"..and this one is Spring and rebirth, renaissance....how appropriate for Easter weekend!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
What is life??
You know..life can be crazy sometimes...sometimes? most of the time? all the time?
There is a poem , a soliloquy Ioften recall from Spanish literature..Que is la vida? What is life?
from "La vida es sueño" by Pedro Calderón de la Barca:
¿Qué es la vida?Un frenesi.
¿Qué es la vida?Una ilusion,una sombra,una ficcion.
Y el mayor bien es pequeño,que toda la vida es sueño,y los sueños sueños son."
What is life?A frenzy
What is life?An illusion,a shadow,a fiction.
And the greatest good is small ,in that all of life is a dream,and the dreams are dreams."
and ,sometimes, to me that is the best summary of it all.
There is a poem , a soliloquy Ioften recall from Spanish literature..Que is la vida? What is life?
from "La vida es sueño" by Pedro Calderón de la Barca:
¿Qué es la vida?Un frenesi.
¿Qué es la vida?Una ilusion,una sombra,una ficcion.
Y el mayor bien es pequeño,que toda la vida es sueño,y los sueños sueños son."
What is life?A frenzy
What is life?An illusion,a shadow,a fiction.
And the greatest good is small ,in that all of life is a dream,and the dreams are dreams."
and ,sometimes, to me that is the best summary of it all.
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