Text To Donate!

The future is now...

This morning I took 30 seconds out of my day to donate $10 to Red Cross International Relief for Haiti. Just text HAITI to 90999. $10 is charged to your phone bill. (Don't worry- this is legit.)

Oh, and while we're on the topic of Haiti, check out the article, Haiti and America's Historic Debt on Consortiumnews.com!

I can't imagine what it's like over there right now. I can just hope that they are getting the help they so desperately need.

Forever Young

Last night, I attended a wake for my Great Aunt Helen, who passed away at the ripe age of ninety-five. She was one of my grandfather's SEVEN sisters. (That's right...I said SEVEN. One boy, seven girls. The man had the patience of a saint.) Aunt Helen was a sharp little firecracker right up til the end and she was a wonderful, hilarious, strong and incredibly loving woman. In the 1990's, My aunt lost two of her four children within a few years of each other- one in a tragic car accident and the other to cancer. Not long after, her husband, my Uncle Jerry, suffered a stroke. She became his nurse and cared for him 'til he passed away. The amazing thing about my Aunt Helen was that despite the amount of loss she endured in such a short period of time, she was still one of the funniest and most positive people I knew. She made everyone feel special and loved, she stayed "with it" and kept up with the times, even mastering Wii Bowling recently. She often greeted us with, "Come give your beautiful aunt a kiss!" Her laughter was contagious and her heart stayed young. She was someone soooo worth knowing and completely unforgettable. I, along with our whole family and her many, many friends, will miss her very much.

Following the wake, as I channel-surfed in my parents' basement, I happened upon a documentary on PBS called Young@Heart, about a chorus of senior citizens in Massachusetts singing modern rock and R & B songs- like "Schizophrenia" by Sonic Youth and "I Feel Good" by James Brown. It was quite moving and incredibly endearing. I was moved most by their performance at a prison of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young". I sat there with tears streaming down my face and couldn't help but think of my Aunt Helen. Isn't it strange how things line up like that? She was a perfect embodiment of someone staying "forever young" right up until the end.

Check it out for yourself- "Forever Young" performed by Young@Heart

Oh, and if you have heart, I encourage you to watch this film.

Close All the Windows

Thanks to my parents' holiday generosity, I am now the proud owner of a Toshiba Mini NB205, AKA a netbook. I love it and I love them (with or without said netbook).

Anyway, seeing as this is the first new computer of my very own, I want to make sure I go about learning everything I can about making the most of it. I'm learning so many interesting things that I didn't really think were that interesting before...

I came to learn about specific operating systems for netbooks...with systems that create less strain and operate according to the netbooks' specific structures. Blah, blah, blah....you get the point. ANYway, so I was wondering whether to take the leap into "linuxland" and download the Jolicloud OS, and I started doing some research into Windows for comparisons. My computer came with Windows 7 Starter. I thought this seemed coolish at first. I mean, I keep hearing that Windows 7 is everything that Vista hoped it could be and it's Windows...I've never used anything BUT Windows. BUT when I was doing some basic things on my computer (like trying to post a picture as my desktop background), I kept getting messages telling me to upgrade to the REAL Windows 7, meaning that what my computer had was just like a little commercial for or an intro to Windows 7 and if I wanted the real deal, I'd need to pay over $100.

Then I had a thought...

Why should I have to pay for this at all? Wasn't the computer's price tag enough? THERE, my friends, is the rub! Apparently, the jokes on us! (Isn't it always, though?) I was completely unaware of all the Microsoft shenanigans that have been going on for years. Just typing in "Windows 7" to google brought me to the Windows 7 Sins site. Here are a few blurbs:

Monopoly behavior: Nearly every computer purchased has Windows pre-installed -- but not by choice. Microsoft dictates requirements to hardware vendors, who will not offer PCs without Windows installed on them, despite many people asking for them. Even computers available with other operating systems like GNU/Linux pre-installed often had Windows on them first.

Lock-in: Microsoft regularly attempts to force updates on its users, by removing support for older versions of Windows and Office, and by inflating hardware requirements. For many people, this means having to throw away working computers just because they don't meet the unnecessary requirements for the new Windows versions.

Abusing standards: Microsoft has attempted to block free standardization of document formats, because standards like OpenDocument Format would threaten the control they have now over users via proprietary Word formats. They have engaged in underhanded behavior, including bribing officials, in an attempt to stop such efforts.

Some other finds...

From Slashdot (2007)- "After trying to bribe a local supplier with a $400,000 marketing contract, Microsoft has still apparently lost out in trying to woo Nigeria's government to use Windows over Linux. Microsoft threw the money at the supplier after it chose Mandriva Linux for 17,000 laptops for school children across Nigeria. The supplier took the bait and agreed to wipe Mandriva off the machines, but now Nigeria's government has stepped in to stop the dirty deal."

From ZDnet (2002), Microsoft's Lobbying Efforts Eclipse Enron- "The software giant's budget for its Political Action Committee (PAC) increased from about $16,000 in 1995 to $1.6 million in 2000, according to Edward Roeder, a self-styled expert on efforts to influence the U.S. government, and founder of Sunshine Press Services, a news agency devoted to investigating money in politics."

And GET THIS! According to IT PRO, Microsoft put Windows 7 on new computers and that gave the owners a chance to get used to and play with the new OS, BUT on June 1st, 2010, that is going to expire, which means it's time to upgrade to the "real deal". Oh, and THAT'S not all...on March 1st, 2010...

“'The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you’ll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You’ll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use.'”

And there's more where all that came from. So, here's my point...this is yet ANOTHER example of a corporate power repeatedly behaving unethically, creating a monopoly, while we all just sit here, none the wiser, and partake. First off, by now we all need to honestly acknowledge that the mainstream media is crap and it won't report this kind of information that we could benefit from knowing. So that's the first step- doing the investigating ourselves. I found all this out in a matter of minutes while browsing the web. And secondly, once finding this out, we need to actively oppose it. Choosing to use a linux OS breaks free of the restraint that is happily put upon us. I know that could seem kind of silly, but it's about the bigger picture. Some of the most basic things in our daily lives have a nasty trail behind them. Like how Coca-Cola is america's sweetheart soda, but it robs communities of natural resources and union leaders in Columbia have turned up dead at the hands of this corporate criminal. We've got to wonder, we've got to question.

SO, my little netbook is now equipped with the Jolicloud OS and I'm loving it. I think I've closed a window(s) and opened a new door here...I have now entered the land of Linux. So far, so good.

All That Glitters Is Not Good

So, Pacific Rim (a large Canadian mining company), is aggressively proposing a gold mine in El Salvador, where opposition to this mine has been mounting over the last few years. In the last few weeks, a number of outspoken community leaders opposed to the mine have been murdered. Just last Saturday, Dora "Alicia" Recinos Sorto, eight months pregnant, was shot dead while walking with her two year old son. Uhhhh, I'm appalled. How about you? So, we have a big, powerful mining company that really, really wants to mine and mounting opposition standing in their way, so...why not hire some hit men to take some of this opposition out? Pretty sick. What's also pretty sick is that this crap happens all the time.

A friend of mine sent me the transcript of a Democracy Now interview with Alexis Stoumbelis, Executive Director of CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. It's short, but informative. Why should you care? (Besides the fact that, y'know, being an formed citizen of the world isn't a bad thing and all...) First off, this is silver mining and chances are, you are wearing or have worn gold and silver and knowing where and under what circumstances the items we adorn ourselves with is a good thing to know. Also, the United States has El Salvador (along with pretty much all of Latin America) in its pocket and El Salvador is pretty dependent on the US thanks to the fact that for the last twenty years the country has been run by the right-wing ARENA party, one of the United States' closest allies. So, El Salvador needs our support more than anything.

Unlike so many stories of injustice out there now, there is the potential of some real support behind this movement. Stoumbelis says,

This is a really incredibly important moment in El Salvador. After twenty years of a very hard-right government, they have—the Salvadoran people have elected their first progressive government. The FMLN is now in charge of the presidency and in the majority—well, not the majority, but having the most seats in the legislative assembly. And so, there is really a role like we’ve never had before to hear the voices of people be reflected at the top levels of the government. And Mauricio Funes spoke out last week, specifically around the assassination of Ramiro Rivera, and vowed to investigate fully and not to allow this case to continue in impunity, which was very exciting...

...The FMLN, as a political party, made a very strong denouncement yesterday against the violence and a commitment to investigating, and they have also made a public commitment against mining and have actually introduced a bill in the legislative assembly, which is going to take a huge push, to actually ban all forms of metallic mining, which would be the first in the world.

All of this is important to know because there is REAL injustice happening here and it's the result (as it almost always is...) of big, corporate bullying. People are taking a stand and lives are being lost, BUT there is a real courageous movement going and the push is being felt. The FMLN commitment and bill introduction are proof of voices being heard...but how many lives need to be lost in the process?

Merry Christmas, Insurance Companies!

It seems as though the insurance companies will be having the merriest Christmas this year (in lieu of the coal that many of us hoped they'd find in their stockings). Santa Obama and his senatelves really delivered the goods...to corporate America. They can boast that we got what was on our list (REFORM!!!!!!), but that's like asking for a new pair of shoes and getting an empty shoe box. What will keep our feet warm? Americans awake to find empty shoe boxes, while the insurance companies sneak out the back door, adorned with new kicks.

I, like many, am heartbroken with this turn of events and can't help but feel that the joke is on us. Our representative democracy has failed us yet again. Do you feel you had a say in this? I don't. We went from public option to medicare buy-in to complete CRAP. Suddenly the insurance companies power has expanded; individuals will be forced to buy insurance with NO cost control. Jigga wha?!?!

Last Thursday, Howard Dean took to the Washington Post:

Any measure that expands private insurers' monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform. Real reform would insert competition into insurance markets, force insurers to cut unnecessary administrative expenses and spend health-care dollars caring for people. Real reform would significantly lower costs, improve the delivery of health care and give all Americans a meaningful choice of coverage. The current Senate bill accomplishes none of these...

...From the very beginning of this debate, progressives have argued that a public option or a Medicare buy-in would restore competition and hold the private health insurance industry accountable. Progressives understood that a public plan would give Americans real choices about what kind of system they wanted to be in and how they wanted to spend their money. Yet Washington has decided, once again, that the American people cannot be trusted to choose for themselves. Your money goes to insurers, whether or not you want it to.

And on Monday, the National Nurses Union cited "10 fundamental flaws" in the bill:

1. The individual mandate forcing all those without coverage to buy private insurance, with insufficient cost controls on skyrocketing premiums and other insurance costs.

2. No challenge to insurance company monopolies, especially in the top 94 metropolitan areas where one or two companies dominate, severely limiting choice and competition.

3. An affordability mirage. Congressional Budget Office estimates say a family of four with a household income of $54,000 would be expected to pay 17 percent of their income, $9,000, on healthcare exposing too many families to grave financial risk.

4. The excise tax on comprehensive insurance plans which will encourage employers to reduce benefits, shift more costs to employees, promote proliferation of high-deductible plans, and lead to more self-rationing of care and medical bankruptcies, especially as more plans are subject to the tax every year due to the lack of adequate price controls. A Towers-Perrin survey in September found 30 percent of employers said they would reduce employment if their health costs go up, 86 percent said they'd pass the higher costs to their employees.

5. Major loopholes in the insurance reforms that promise bans on exclusion for pre-existing conditions, and no cancellations for sickness. The loopholes include:

· Provisions permitting insurers and companies to more than double charges to employees who fail "wellness" programs because they have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol readings, or other medical conditions.

· Insurers are permitted to sell policies "across state lines", exempting patient protections passed in other states. Insurers will thus set up in the least regulated states in a race to the bottom threatening public protections won by consumers in various states.

· Insurers can charge four times more based on age plus more for certain conditions, and continue to use marketing techniques to cherry-pick healthier, less costly enrollees.

· Insurers may continue to rescind policies for "fraud or intentional misrepresentation" – the main pretext insurance companies now use to cancel coverage.

6. Minimal oversight on insurance denials of care; a report by the California Nurses Association/NNOC in September found that six of California's largest insurers have rejected more than one-fifth of all claims since 2002.

7. Inadequate limits on drug prices, especially after Senate rejection of an amendment, to protect a White House deal with pharmaceutical giants, allowing pharmacies and wholesalers to import lower-cost drugs.

8. New burdens for our public safety net. With a shortage of primary care physicians and a continuing fiscal crisis at the state and local level, public hospitals and clinics will be a dumping ground for those the private system doesn't want.

9. Reduced reproductive rights for women.

10. No single standard of care. Our multi-tiered system remains with access to care still determined by ability to pay. Nothing changes in basic structure of the system; healthcare remains a privilege, not a right.

I have a "right" to post this blog but I don't have a right to get good, sufficient health care if my arm gets ripped off tomorrow. That's...W-R-O-N-G.

The bill gets pushed through and the hoity toities in Washington make it home in plenty of time to sip egg nog near the roaring fire. Honestly, what's it to them? About 2/3 of the US Senate are millionaires anyway.

Oh! We musn't forget Ben Nelson, the "democrat" with a pivotal vote in all this. The Nebraskan senator who "made is name and money in INSURANCE". Did you catch that? INSURANCE. Also, according to the Examiner...

Under the agreement struck between Harry Reid and Ben Nelson, Nebraska’s expanded Medicaid program will now be fully funded by the federal government. Nebraska is the only state to receive this sweetheart deal.

This should be a WAKE-UP CALL to not only Americans, but the whole wold. This is our HEALTHCARE. What is healthy about this? Who REALLY cares? This is not "reform". This is continued imperialistic greed in reform's clothing.

Curiosity Killed the Tiger

I don't really care about this Tiger Woods drama. I'm not surprised; isn't this kind of the quietly accepted norm among professional athletes? However, when I came across Michael Bader's, "Everything You Think You Know About Tiger Woods is Wrong, So Shut the F**** Up!", I couldn't help but agree.

Okay, I admit it-I indulge in celebrity gossip. It's a guilty pleasure and when I say guilty, I mean it- I feel a little petty as I read about how Jennifer Aniston is "DONE with immature boys!" I know there are better things to be filling my head with and the more I learn, the more I see what a negative effect its focus has on society as a whole. SO, that being said, I've been limiting my indulgences.

Bader says,

"I like to read celebrity gossip; it's titillating, funny, and often outrageous. I suppose that it's a comfort to know that celebrities and others we put

on pedestals are screwed up just like us. Then, for just a moment, we don't have to feel badly about our own problems. But I try not to confuse this game with reality."

But the main (and I think most accurate) point he makes is:

The fact is that we're the victims, the perpetrators, and the observers. We act selfishly, lust after people other than our partners, feel rejected and abandoned, have fetishes and weird fantasies, feel guilty, make amends, love and hate. We are afflicted and we sometimes afflict others. But we're desperate for relief from these internal states and are therefore relieved to find them in others. I suppose it can entertaining, but we should know that we're doing it.

Pretty spot on, huh?

Bubble-vicious

This isn't relevant news, but it did haunt my dreams last night:

Ukrainian student killed by exploding chewing gum

21:57 08/12/2009 A chemistry student from the northern Ukrainian city of Konotop was killed when a stick of chewing gum exploded in his mouth, Ukrainian media reported on Tuesday.>>

Other news of the day

I just...can't...imagine that. That is SO messed up!