Honduras

As Americans, we tend to miss out on global news and what is really going around the world if we're not looking for it. For instance, how about this military coup going on in Honduras?!

President Manuel Zelaya was literally forced out of office by gunpoint on June 28 after he announced that a non-binding consultation on whether citizens supported changes to the consitution would be held.

t r u t h o u t | Amnesty: Honduras Testimonies Show Extent of Police Violence

The above link is an article about Amnesty International's report documenting "'serious ill-treatment by police and military of peaceful protesters' in Honduras, warning that 'beatings and mass arrests are being used as a way of punishing people for voicing their opposition' to the coup."

The following is a timeline of events, courtesy of BBC online:

28 June: Zelaya forced out of country at gunpoint

5 July: A dramatic bid by Zelaya to return home by plane fails after the runway at Tegucigalpa airport is blocked

25-26 July: Zelaya briefly crosses into the country from Nicaragua on two consecutive days

21 Sept: Zelaya appears in the Brazilian embassy in Tegulcigalpa

27 Sept: Honduras issues 10-day ultimatum to Brazil and threatens to close embassy

As of Sunday, coup leader, decreed a 45 day suspension of the current constitution.

And TODAY (09/29), he's now saying civil liberties could be restored.

Let it be known that this is a big HONKIN' deal, okay?

And we all SHOULD know what's going down in other

countries...

especially because we cast our

big, American shadow far and wide and

it reaches each and every one of them.

Protect Insurance Companies

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

"Insurance companies need our support because they keep our selfish priorities in check when we can't..."

Mary, The Magic Alto

Mary Travers of the folk trio, Peter, Paul & Mary passed away this week. I have very fond memories of watching the Peter, Paul & Mary specials on PBS with my mom when I was little. Mom would always, without fail, get choked up at some point while watching AND the waterworks would always, without fail, cause my eyes to roll.

Today, while perusing youtube, I found a video of "500 Miles" and whaddya know?! I found myself feeling...emotional and maybe even a little...choked up.

Mary's voice creates a beautifully wistful song that has the power to evoke all kinds of emotion.

Enjoy :)

O'Reeeeeeealllly?

This man (and his arsenal of arrogance and ignorance) is endlessly entertaining...

O’REILLY: The public option now is done. We discussed this, it’s not going to happen. But you say that this little marketplace that they’re going to set up, whereby the federal government would subsidize insurance for some Americans, that is, in your opinion, a public option?

OWCHARENKO: Well, it has massive new federal regulation. So you don’t necessarily need a public option if the federal government is going to control and regulate the type of health insurance that Americans can buy.

O’REILLY: But you know, I want that, Ms. Owcharenko. I want that. I want, not for personally for me, but for working Americans, to have a option, that if they don’t like their health insurance, if it’s too expensive, they can’t afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.

Take Heed...

(Perhaps some advice I should take)

San Francisco Treat

I heard a segment on the radio this morning about Healthy San Francisco, the city's current health care program for its uninsured. I was surprised I hadn't heard of this before (the program is in its third year), and found it to be a small, refreshing tidbit amongst all this health care hullabaloo. The program does not offer health insurance, but it does offer participants health care in clinics and hospitals in the city:

How are the results? Hospital admissions of plan members have dropped, and the average stay for those who wind up in the hospital has been cut almost in half...

The program, now in its third year, is proving popular. More than 43,000 people were enrolled as of June, up from 24,000 a year before...

Employers in the city fretted over a 2008 mandate requiring they offer health coverage to employees, contribute to workers' health savings accounts or pitch in on Healthy San Francisco. But predictions the requirements would drive businesses under haven't proved true.

"The San Francisco experiment is working, and it's working well,"Ken Jacobs, chair of the University of California, Berkeley labor center, said last month, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "There's no evidence of any impact of the ordinance on employment in San Francisco."

No program is perfect (and working within the limits of our current jumbled government can prove to be quite a challenge), but this seems to be making some real headway. Big props to the City by the Bay for at least starting to chip away at this big, honkin' problem!

It doesn't appear as though there are creatures from the pits of hell crawling out from beneath the earth there quite yet. Maybe, just MAYBE, actually helping people get taken care of when they're sick isn't so scary ;)

Word.

Blogger's Block

I realize I have been away from the blog scene for over a month. I have been distracted by the mundane and to the two of you that read this (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!), I apologize.

This picture is by a photographer named Emilio Morenatti who has won awards for his work covering Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine and Pakistan. Compelling and inspiring, no?

Ahhhlll be baaaach...