Friday, October 2, 2009

News from The Lake.

Fall is arriving at The Lake, yesterday some Canada Geese flew in. They left shortly afterwards, maybe to check out other nearby locations to spend their winter, but I am confident that they will return. I cannot imagine them finding a lovelier place. The leaves are starting to change - not quite up to Shenandoah standards, but we have our own understated standards on The Lake - not that "Brash, over the top brightness" of Canada either! The fish and crabs seem to be deserting us, no doubt heading for the warm depths of the Chesapeake Bay, which is a shame as we will miss our weekly fish dinner from The Lake, not to mention the monthly crab "Feasts". Our "Crab Feasts" were usually of 3 or 4 crabs each for the two of us - there are not a whole lot of crabs in The Lake - but they make a nice hor'doevre to start a fish dinner! But when the crabs and fish go the birds arrive, so I mustn't be too sad. Our beautiful birds are a delight to watch and I could spend hours doing just that, if only I didn't have to work!
In other news, I now have my first fan, and a fabulous fan she is too. She spoke glowingly of my writings - and didn't even ask me for a loan! The very first person ever tell me that, and I quote here "You write very well" I also seem to remember something about talent, heartfelt descriptions, great knack, you should consider writing a book etc. And as I said before, she did not ask me for a loan, so it must be true, right?
Well more to follow later from The Lake as winter approaches.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

National Health Insurance.

More stuff about a National Health Insurance. Apart from saving the 30% administration costs of the insurance companies, in favor of the 4% administration costs of a National Health system, we could also save the 20 or 30 million dollars that your insurance company pays its CEO! Then there is the one treatment in five that is turned down by your insurance company. It is expensive to maintain a huge team whose sole purpose is to find reasons to turn down the treatment that you need. Why not spend that money to treat you? The big insurance companies are in it strictly for profit. (No other civilized country in the world has a for profit Health Insurance BUSINESS.) Every claim that they pay comes right off of their bottom line - out of their profit. Why would they want to pay? Why are we the only country in the world that makes a profit out of your being sick? 45,000 people a year die in the US because they don't have health insurance, 700,000 people a year go bankrupt in the US because of health care costs. They don't allow you to go without health care or to go bankrupt because of health care costs in Europe.
I'm sure everyone is saying "We don't want Socialised medicine". Why? I'll tell you why, because there are hundreds of lobbyists in Washington whose sole purpose in life is to distribute money to Congressmen to get them to keep the Health Insurance BUSINESS in business and to basically tell lies about National Health Insurance in other countries so that the fat cat CEO's can continue to rip us off and collect their tens of millions of dollars in pay. Health Insurance Companies spend $1.4 million dollars per DAY lobbying against National Health Insurance. 75% of Americans are in favor of it.
The National Health Insurance in Canada, UK, France, Germany etc treat their citizens for less than half what the US spends per person. AND they all have a longer life expectancy than we in the US have! Out of the top 50 countries with the longest life expectancies in the world the US ranks 50th! For infant mortality we are 33rd! This is with by far the most expensive health care in the world!!
Even Cuba has a longer life expectancy and a lower infant mortality rate. They spend approx $250.00 per person per year (All of their citizens are covered) while the US spends approx $16,000 per person per year (About 85% are covered) I don't think that I would want to live in Cuba! But if all of their citizens have National Health Insurance at a reasonable rate, why can't the US?
The reason is the For Profit Health Insurance BUSINESS, not satisfied with the exorbitant profits and salaries that they were making ten years ago their profits have increased by over 400% since then. We have the right to a good "free" education in the US but apparently we don't have the right to a good "free" health care. Surely that is as important as education? To repeat - the only country that makes a PROFIT, and a HUGE one out of our being sick. Your being ill. or any member of your family being ill, can cost you everything that you have worked for and accumulated your whole life, 700,000 families a year bankrupted by health care costs. It is wrong, WRONG, WRONG. There is hardly any attempt to keep us healthy, why try to keep people healthy when you make more money out them being sick? In Europe the Doctors are encouraged to keep their patients healthy, they get paid more if they have healthy patients!

Murder?

At what point does the poisoning of our air, our water and our bodies by industry, for their huge profits, become murder?