By the way. Just a comment that I do know that Octo-mom "only" had 6 embryos implanted, and 2 developed into twins. Not that it makes a difference, really, be it 6 or 8 implants.
Another thought though, nothing to do with Nadya and her kids, I was wondering why the BC government has set up needle exchange programs for drug addicts at the cost of (approx.) $160,000 per year (the cost of building overhead, staff, equiptment and so on) and yet taxpayers like Steven have to pay for lancets and needles to control their diabetes.
I'm not saying that the needle exchange is wrong, I understand that the amount of newly diagnosed cases of HIV/AIDs and other diseases like hepatitis has dropped dramatically, and there are many drug addicts who have taken advantage of the councilling that is available, but I am saying that it seems wrong to give free needles to some, and yet to charge other people who are paying their bills and paying for BC Medical and paying the salaries of the government employees who are in turn biting the very hands that feed them. Ah yes...George Abbott can kiss my ass.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Hey, I remember that!
I was thinking of rotary phones and party lines today. I'm sure that every one who reads this knows about rotary phones, although I haven't actually seen one in a while, other than in movies, but I'll bet a lot of people who read this have never experienced a party line! (Coral? Rhiannon? I KNOW you guys haven't!)
When we lived in northern Quebec, back when I was a kid, our small village had party lines. There were usually about 10 or so families on one line. In other words, we all shared the same phone line and if someone else was using the phone and you picked it up at your house, it was like picking up the phone in the other room today, you heard them and they heard the "click" as you picked it up. You would hang it up in a huff, and hopefully they would quickly finish up their call so that you could use the phone. Of course the phone etiquette wasn't always followed and sometimes people would chit-chat for ages, rendering the line unusable for any one else.
Everyone had their own ring, a combination of long and short rings. I think ours was 2 long. You eventually knew who's ring was what, and you knew who was getting calls, and when. Phone etiquette also dictated that you not phone people during the night or early AM since everyone on that line would hear the ring.
Us kids would think it great fun to listen in on other calls, if you heard a ring, you would try and pick up the phone at the exact same second as the real recipient, thus they wouldn't hear the "click" and you could eavesdrop. I don't ever recall hearing anything exciting, but one just never knew....
It was hard to chat to your friends for any length of time since your parents would always be hollering to "get off the line...someone else might want to use it!", so we would tell each other what time we would call, we would then synchronize our Timex watches and then pick the phone up at the exact same second, and voila! Conversation in a whisper until we heard someone else harumphing and clicking as they hung up.
Now I see my neighbours hop in their truck and start to talk on the phone. What? You haven't even been out of your house and you need to talk on the phone? Within 15 seconds? What cold be so important that you couldn't have used the phone in the house before you left, you know, 15 seconds ago, or, what could be so important that you need to drive and talk on the phone when you have your children in the back seat? What happened to "paying attention" when you drive? I'm sorry, I just don't get it.
~For a list of all the ways that technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press 3.
~Alice Kahn
When we lived in northern Quebec, back when I was a kid, our small village had party lines. There were usually about 10 or so families on one line. In other words, we all shared the same phone line and if someone else was using the phone and you picked it up at your house, it was like picking up the phone in the other room today, you heard them and they heard the "click" as you picked it up. You would hang it up in a huff, and hopefully they would quickly finish up their call so that you could use the phone. Of course the phone etiquette wasn't always followed and sometimes people would chit-chat for ages, rendering the line unusable for any one else.
Everyone had their own ring, a combination of long and short rings. I think ours was 2 long. You eventually knew who's ring was what, and you knew who was getting calls, and when. Phone etiquette also dictated that you not phone people during the night or early AM since everyone on that line would hear the ring.
Us kids would think it great fun to listen in on other calls, if you heard a ring, you would try and pick up the phone at the exact same second as the real recipient, thus they wouldn't hear the "click" and you could eavesdrop. I don't ever recall hearing anything exciting, but one just never knew....
It was hard to chat to your friends for any length of time since your parents would always be hollering to "get off the line...someone else might want to use it!", so we would tell each other what time we would call, we would then synchronize our Timex watches and then pick the phone up at the exact same second, and voila! Conversation in a whisper until we heard someone else harumphing and clicking as they hung up.
Now I see my neighbours hop in their truck and start to talk on the phone. What? You haven't even been out of your house and you need to talk on the phone? Within 15 seconds? What cold be so important that you couldn't have used the phone in the house before you left, you know, 15 seconds ago, or, what could be so important that you need to drive and talk on the phone when you have your children in the back seat? What happened to "paying attention" when you drive? I'm sorry, I just don't get it.
~For a list of all the ways that technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press 3.
~Alice Kahn
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Octo-Mom
What is with the rage that people feel towards Nadya Suleman...better known, I'm sure to her dismay, as Octo-mom? She is, without a doubt, somewhat odd and has certainly shown irresponsibiity, immaturity, selfishness, foolishness and a multitude of other negative words, but come ON...death threats?
She is assuredly not rational. What rational person who is single, jobless, in debt and cannot provide for her 6 children would then allow herself to be implanted with 8 embryos?
I think it must be the fact that we are in a recession and times are bad. People are losing their homes, their jobs, their savings and here comes a woman who just decides to have 14 kids and live off the government. It doesn't matter what she plans to do in the future, the fact remains that she can't support herself and her children in the now.
But I wonder why other families of huge "batches" of kids are recieved with love and help and kindness? Look at "John and Kate plus Eight". Everyone adores them and they are paying their bills by starring (exploiting?) their family in a reality show. There was a rumor that OctoMom was going to have a reality show, and Good God, the roar of fury was heard half way 'round the world.
Remember the McCaughys? She had 6 or 7 and half the world came pounding on their door, make that their nice new door that was attached to their nice new HUGE house that was built for them, and furnished by Sears and a dozen other companies, as well as the van that was supplied to them so that the family of 10 or so could go on nice outings that were filmed by Dateline and the likes, so that the rest of the wrold could "ooh" and "ahhh" over the wee ones.
But in Nadya's case, legal bigwigs are trying to have her babies taken away from her...before she even gets them home! No investigations have been done yet, there is no reason to think that she is harming the babies, no one knows what amount of friends, family and members of her church have for plans to help her.
It just strikes me as very sad. It doesn't matter what we think of her and the fact that she never should have had those 8 embryos implanted, what matters is, she DID and now there are 8 tiny babies that need to be cared for. And it wouldn't hurt anyone to toss the poor woman a word of kindness.
~The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer
She is assuredly not rational. What rational person who is single, jobless, in debt and cannot provide for her 6 children would then allow herself to be implanted with 8 embryos?
I think it must be the fact that we are in a recession and times are bad. People are losing their homes, their jobs, their savings and here comes a woman who just decides to have 14 kids and live off the government. It doesn't matter what she plans to do in the future, the fact remains that she can't support herself and her children in the now.
But I wonder why other families of huge "batches" of kids are recieved with love and help and kindness? Look at "John and Kate plus Eight". Everyone adores them and they are paying their bills by starring (exploiting?) their family in a reality show. There was a rumor that OctoMom was going to have a reality show, and Good God, the roar of fury was heard half way 'round the world.
Remember the McCaughys? She had 6 or 7 and half the world came pounding on their door, make that their nice new door that was attached to their nice new HUGE house that was built for them, and furnished by Sears and a dozen other companies, as well as the van that was supplied to them so that the family of 10 or so could go on nice outings that were filmed by Dateline and the likes, so that the rest of the wrold could "ooh" and "ahhh" over the wee ones.
But in Nadya's case, legal bigwigs are trying to have her babies taken away from her...before she even gets them home! No investigations have been done yet, there is no reason to think that she is harming the babies, no one knows what amount of friends, family and members of her church have for plans to help her.
It just strikes me as very sad. It doesn't matter what we think of her and the fact that she never should have had those 8 embryos implanted, what matters is, she DID and now there are 8 tiny babies that need to be cared for. And it wouldn't hurt anyone to toss the poor woman a word of kindness.
~The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Friday, February 13, 2009
Give Me a Break.
This is totally ridiculous. I cannot believe our Health Care system, and this belongs in one of those "Outrageous" columns in Readers Digest or somewhere.
It's two things actually, although they are sort of tangled together.
Now, Steven has Crohns and has had multiple surgeries in which more and more of his bowel has been removed, thus resulting in two different problems; one being diarrhea and the other being a B12 problem.
The B12 is the "biggie". If you don't get B12, you get pernicous anemia and you eventually die. You can only get B12 through absorption in a certain spot in your bowel, and Steven has had that section removed. Therefore, he needs B12 shots monthly for the rest of his life...or he dies. Luckily, B12 is readily and easily available and his Dr. injects him every 4 weeks.
Now, Pacific Blue Cross won't cover this because, first of all, they said they don't cover "vitamin supplements." We sent letter after letter from his Dr explaining why this wasn't just a supplement, but to no avail. They have "rules to follow" don't you know?
Finally, we sent yet another letter, this time noting that a copy was being forwarded to our MLA and they responded with another letter saying that they only cover B12 when it is a treatment for pernicious anemia. "Hooray!" we thought..."finally!" Oh, but, no, no, they won't cover Steven because he doesn't HAVE pernicous anemia. "Well, but wait" we said, "if he doesn't get the B12, then he WILL have it"...same thing, no? Apparently no. He does not have it, so thus they will not pay for the drug.
We are appealing this.
The second item is similar. The only thing that helps his diarrhea is Immodium, the regular over-the-counter kind. It doesn't stop it by any means, and he still gets up once or twice during the night, but without it, it's every hour or 45 minutes. Really bad.
It's expensive, about $700 a year. But because it's over the counter, they refuse to cover it. So, Steven tried another drug, Lomotil, which is:
1. Almost three times as expensive.
2. Does not work as well.
3. Is a NARCOTIC and thus addictive.
4. Causes side effects like stomach pain and headaches.
5. It works by causing paralysis of the bowel, which is a very bad thing for
sufferers of Crohns.
6. His surgeon does NOT want him to take it.
But Pacific Blue Cross will not back down and pay for the cheaper, healthier, and more sucessful drug that has NO side effects.
We are appealing this as well.
Our system really cares about us doesn't it? And it's nice to see that they are concerned about saving money.
George Abbott is our Minister of health, and he can kiss my ass.
~If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists, then all is lost.
Barack Obama
It's two things actually, although they are sort of tangled together.
Now, Steven has Crohns and has had multiple surgeries in which more and more of his bowel has been removed, thus resulting in two different problems; one being diarrhea and the other being a B12 problem.
The B12 is the "biggie". If you don't get B12, you get pernicous anemia and you eventually die. You can only get B12 through absorption in a certain spot in your bowel, and Steven has had that section removed. Therefore, he needs B12 shots monthly for the rest of his life...or he dies. Luckily, B12 is readily and easily available and his Dr. injects him every 4 weeks.
Now, Pacific Blue Cross won't cover this because, first of all, they said they don't cover "vitamin supplements." We sent letter after letter from his Dr explaining why this wasn't just a supplement, but to no avail. They have "rules to follow" don't you know?
Finally, we sent yet another letter, this time noting that a copy was being forwarded to our MLA and they responded with another letter saying that they only cover B12 when it is a treatment for pernicious anemia. "Hooray!" we thought..."finally!" Oh, but, no, no, they won't cover Steven because he doesn't HAVE pernicous anemia. "Well, but wait" we said, "if he doesn't get the B12, then he WILL have it"...same thing, no? Apparently no. He does not have it, so thus they will not pay for the drug.
We are appealing this.
The second item is similar. The only thing that helps his diarrhea is Immodium, the regular over-the-counter kind. It doesn't stop it by any means, and he still gets up once or twice during the night, but without it, it's every hour or 45 minutes. Really bad.
It's expensive, about $700 a year. But because it's over the counter, they refuse to cover it. So, Steven tried another drug, Lomotil, which is:
1. Almost three times as expensive.
2. Does not work as well.
3. Is a NARCOTIC and thus addictive.
4. Causes side effects like stomach pain and headaches.
5. It works by causing paralysis of the bowel, which is a very bad thing for
sufferers of Crohns.
6. His surgeon does NOT want him to take it.
But Pacific Blue Cross will not back down and pay for the cheaper, healthier, and more sucessful drug that has NO side effects.
We are appealing this as well.
Our system really cares about us doesn't it? And it's nice to see that they are concerned about saving money.
George Abbott is our Minister of health, and he can kiss my ass.
~If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists, then all is lost.
Barack Obama
Sunday, February 01, 2009
I am really finding it hard to think of things to write. I think that January is that kind of month though, sort of slow and a little dreary. Not much happening, the Christmas exitement is all over with and not much is going on.
I heard on the news the other night that some of the sponsers for the 2010 Olympics have filed for bankruptcy and have therefore pulled out of their sponsership. These are not smaller companies, but HUGE ones like Nortel. Other sponsers are having their own economic meltdown and have simply pulled out.
And what does that mean to the citizens of BC? Well kiddies, it means that we, as in Us Taxpayers, have to make up the difference. Yes, the entire difference, which is reputed to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
I KNEW the Olympics in Vancouver were a bad thing. A bad, bad thing. The cost overruns are already in the hundreds of millions and they are getting higher and higher as more and more sponsers pull out. "Pull Out." Sounds vaguely sexual doesn't it? As well it should, as we are being royally screwed.
So our taxes will go up. Now, I am one of those people who don't generally complain about taxes, as long as they are reasonable. I mean, think of it, our taxes pay for things that I like. I like to have clean water that comes right to my house, I like having paved streets and I'm glad my children got to go to safe schools that had a roof. Our health care may be having it's share of problems, but I still can see a doctor when I need to. So taxes have their place, and it's usually pretty good.
But paying for the Olympics? That really bothers me. There isn't a politician in the world that can convince me that these Games will be good for BC.
~ Collecting more taxes than is absolutely neccessary is legalized robbery.
~Calvin Cooledge
I heard on the news the other night that some of the sponsers for the 2010 Olympics have filed for bankruptcy and have therefore pulled out of their sponsership. These are not smaller companies, but HUGE ones like Nortel. Other sponsers are having their own economic meltdown and have simply pulled out.
And what does that mean to the citizens of BC? Well kiddies, it means that we, as in Us Taxpayers, have to make up the difference. Yes, the entire difference, which is reputed to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
I KNEW the Olympics in Vancouver were a bad thing. A bad, bad thing. The cost overruns are already in the hundreds of millions and they are getting higher and higher as more and more sponsers pull out. "Pull Out." Sounds vaguely sexual doesn't it? As well it should, as we are being royally screwed.
So our taxes will go up. Now, I am one of those people who don't generally complain about taxes, as long as they are reasonable. I mean, think of it, our taxes pay for things that I like. I like to have clean water that comes right to my house, I like having paved streets and I'm glad my children got to go to safe schools that had a roof. Our health care may be having it's share of problems, but I still can see a doctor when I need to. So taxes have their place, and it's usually pretty good.
But paying for the Olympics? That really bothers me. There isn't a politician in the world that can convince me that these Games will be good for BC.
~ Collecting more taxes than is absolutely neccessary is legalized robbery.
~Calvin Cooledge
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