Senator Kerry

I emailed Senator Kerry to complain about the healthcare bill.  I do not approve of taxing people’s healthcare benefits.  I do not think people should be mandated to get healthcare coverage etc etc etc.  In the loooooong great winded way as only John Kerry can do, I believe he told me to stuff it.  Yeah well stuff this I’m voting for Scott Brown!

“Dear Ms. Dion:

Thank you for contacting me to express your opinions on the health care crisis in our country and on health care reform legislation.  I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter.

Reforming our country's health care system and ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable health insurance is a top priority.  Today, the United States spends more on health care than other developed countries, yet we have a shorter life expectancy and higher infant mortality. Health care spending represents nearly 17 percent of our economy, totaling over $2 trillion a year.  Still, approximately 87 million people-one in three Americans-went without health insurance for some period during 2007 and 2008.  This is unacceptable.  As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I am working to enact comprehensive health care reform that improves the access and delivery of health care for millions of Americans.

According to researchers, about $700 billion is spent each year on health care that fails to improve outcomes.  I believe we should eliminate this excess spending and transform how we pay for health services.  Payments should be based on the quality of care delivered instead the quantity of services performed.  We need to reward providers who coordinate care and improve health outcomes.  New investments must be made in our health care workforce to meet the needs of a fully insured population.  Through better access to providers as well as prevention and wellness programs, individuals will be able to lead healthier lifestyles, reduce the likelihood of chronic disease and reduce costs.  Health reform should also include better access to home and community-based services for those needing long-term care. 

The Massachusetts experience with health reform holds valuable lessons for federal reform.  Our state has the lowest number of uninsured in the nation due to reform efforts that included:  expanded public programs; the development of new insurance standards; subsidized insurance to those with low income, the creation of an insurance exchange for private plans; maintaining safety net hospitals and health centers; and a requirement that individuals and employers each have a responsibility to contribute to health care costs.

Too many individuals cannot afford insurance as health insurance premiums continue to rise faster than inflation and wages.  We must control skyrocketing health costs that push families into bankruptcy and place our businesses at a disadvantage in the global economy. Families deserve affordable options when choosing a health plan, which is why I support a public plan option like the one included in the bill passed out of Senator Kennedy's HELP Committee.  Under that plan, all Senators and their staff would be required to use the public option as their health insurance. Every American has the right to high quality and affordable health care, regardless of age, income or health status.  That is why I recently introduced the Women's Health Insurance Fairness Act to prevent insurers from charging women higher premiums than men for health insurance policies.

As a strong supporter of improving health insurance coverage to children, I introduced Kids First, a bill that would guarantee health coverage to the currently nine million uninsured children in America. In these uncertain economic times, families should never be forced to forgo health insurance for their children.  I also supported improvements to the Children's Health Insurance Program, which became law in February 2009.  This new public law will strengthen and expand health coverage to an additional four million children, nearly halving the number of uninsured children over the next five years.  This new law included legislation that I wrote, the Children's Mental Health Parity Act, which will ensure that children served by this program will also have access to critical mental health services.

A modernized health system must take full advantage of electronic prescribing and health information technology.  Electronic prescribing not only saves money through improved efficiency, but more importantly, it reduces medical errors and saves lives.  According to the Institute of Medicine, one-third of written prescriptions require follow-up clarification, with medication mistakes causing 7,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries per year.  The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act that was enacted into law in July 2008, included provisions from my electronic prescribing legislation.   This law creates incentives for physicians to implement electronic prescribing within their offices.

While I strongly believe there are many things that need to be changed within our current health care system, it is equally important to preserve the parts of our system that work.  As we move to make health insurance more affordable, those who are satisfied with their current insurance should be able to keep what they have. The issue of health reform has been the center of many debates and conversations across the country.  I support a transparent process that involves the public and provides open access to the facts regarding reform efforts.

As we continue to move forward with health reform I will keep your thoughts and concerns in mind.  Thank you again for writing me.  Please do not hesitate to contact me about this issue or any other matter of importance to you.”

The Nook e-Reader

I have been debating whether or not I wanted to get a Kindle. Not being able to hold it in my hands prior to making a purchase has kept me from getting one. I love technology. I don’t always know how it works, but I like the convenience it brings to my life. I also love books. I like holding them and feeling the weight in my hands. I like the smell of the paper. Reading a book is not just a cerebral experience it's a physical one. The whole e-book thing has been a dilemma for me.

Then I heard about the Nook, Barnes and Noble’s answer to the Kindle. It’s a touch screen with similar functionality as the iPhone. The bottom of the screen is in color, so you can see the actual covers of the books. Sounds good to me. Then I read reviews of the Nook. The reviews were one complaint after another. The only good things I read had to do more with Barnes and Noble as a book seller than the Nook itself. This left me disappointed and bitter. Today I stopped into a Barnes and Noble to handle a Nook and see for myself what I thought of it. Take that Kindle! Let’s go through the complaints and what I thought.

The first complaints had to with its size and weight. Holding it in my hand, it was just a nice size. The portion of the screen where text is shown is slightly larger than a paperback. The font is crisp and clear. It actually looked like the page out of a book. It weighs a bit more than a Kindle…about 2 ounces I think. I’ve had paperbacks that weigh more than a Nook. I have nothing to complain about so far.

The next complaint was that the operating system was not intuitive. I picked it up turned it on, and was on my way. Once it was turned on, it took about less than two minutes to connect to the Wi-Fi in B&N. I don’t think that is unreasonable. I scrolled through the book covers on the lower half of the screen. No helped needed so far, not even a direction manual. I picked a book, and downloaded a teaser chapter. Which leads to the next complaint, it takes so much longer than the Kindle to download contact. Well the chapter downloaded so quickly I was left thinking I did something wrong. I mean to download a whole book must take 5 to 10 seconds. Outrageous waste of my time.

At this point I want to say this is an eReader, it’s not an iMac. Heck it’s not even an Acer. I don’t expect it to be. I want this eReader to do one thing…allow me to read books. I don’t want to run spreadsheets, check email, look at the internet etc. I want to read books that’s all. It has free ATT 3G access. If you’ve got a lousy Wi-Fi connection well life’s tough isn’t it. That has nothing to do with the Nook.

Back to the Nook not being intuitive. Once I downloaded the chapter I was able to navigate to the book library on the Nook. I found my chapter and opened it up. It was simple. The next complaint said that the Nook itself was slow when opening downloaded books and turning the page. Well I opened a couple of books that were already on the Nook. The books opened up in under 5 seconds. The time it takes to turn a page was maybe 2 seconds. Depending on how you hold a book in your hand, it might take longer to manually turn a page in a book than it does for the Nook.

The Nook has 2GB of space that holds about 1500 books. You can upgrade the memory. That is something the Kindle can’t do. The memory you get is the memory you get. Poor Kindle

Then there’s Barnes and Noble. No one knows how to sell a book like B&N. They have more e-titles available to purchase than Amazon, over a million. They have more free books available, about 500,000. Most books including best sellers and new releases allow you to download the first chapter for free to take the book for a test drive. If you like it download the rest, if not you haven’t wasted your money.

I think the people who wrote all of these awful reviews for the Nook are on the payroll of Amazon. They’re big stupid heads.

I liked the Nook. I want a Nook. I want one so bad I can’t stand it. I wanted the display model. They won’t be available until February. It’s infuriating. That is my complaint. I want one and can’t get one. Grrrr Arrrrgh!!!!

Christmas is a fraud.

Christmas is a fraud. It is nothing more than fruit from the poison tree. I know that is a pretty inflammatory thing to say. It is the truth. Christians can be divided into two groups: those that subscribe to the Church of Rome and those that do not. It cannot be denied that it is the Church of Rome that formed the earliest beliefs that virtually all Christians have subscribed to for two thousand years. Let’s examine Christmas.

We do not actually know when Jesus was born. The earliest church leaders had to have known. If they wanted to celebrate his birth, why not use the actual date of his birth? Why pick December 25^th?

The early church, in the days and years after the crucifixion, was struggling for survival. It was not a cohesive religion, there were different factions. They were fighting for followers with other popular pagan religions. What is a young new religion to do? Steal beliefs from other religions. That is what they did. They stole Christmas.

December 25^th was an important day in a number of pagan religions from ancient Egypt to the time of Jesus. It was celebrated as the mid-winter festival of gods such as Sol Invictus, Mithras, Dionysus and Horus to name a few. The Church of Rome waited until 1994 to let people know December 25^th wasn’t really the birth date of Jesus. Early church leaders picked it as it was already a popular pagan festival. It essentially made it easier to compete for followers with the pagans.

What else did they take? If I were to tell you a story about a savior, a man who was called the Good Shepherd and Savior of Men who was born in cave or grotto. His birth was a virgin birth. There were miraculous signs such as a shooting star, and shepherds attended the birth. Who am I talking about? No I am not talking about Jesus. I am talking about the pagan god Mithras. This story predates the nativity story by a very very long time. Of course even it is not original to Mithras, as it has its roots in ancient Egypt. Horus was born of a virgin in a cave or grotto as well.

The whole story of Jesus’ birth is a fraud. It is simply not true. The early church leaders were more concerned with fighting for followers than spreading the truth of what Jesus said. It was dishonest. I think it says a lot about who those early church leaders were. Their concerns were the concerns of men, not of God. They were greedy and corrupt. This was not the only dishonest thing they did. They stole the true story and replaced it with a pagan one. That is incredibly sad, as we may never know the true story. They obviously did not have faith in the true story.

It is no wonder then that the modern day Christmas celebration has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. Christmas has nothing to do with Christianity. It is not a Christian holiday, it is a capitalist holiday. In place of the baby Jesus in the manger folks should put a wad of money in the manger. That is what they are worshipping. Folks today are more concerned with spending money they do not have to buy gifts that people do not want. Then they are equally concerned with what they will be getting themselves. What does that have to do with Jesus? Nothing. It’s not my birthday. It’s not your birthday. It is the day that was “chosen” to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. He told us what we needed to do, if we wanted to do something for him. It wasn’t buying expenses gifts for one another.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if people all over the world, actually spent the day doing the things Jesus asked us to do…you know taking care of those less fortunate. It would be an amazing change in the world. Since we don’t know what day Jesus was actually born, imagine if took a little time each day to celebrate his birthday by doing what he asked us to do. The world would be changed.

I’m not going to get into how Christmas trees and Santa are also pagan. I assume people know that already.

I don’t want people to think I’m anti-Christmas. I’m not. I actually love Christmas. I love the lights. I can get lost in them. Although I must be careful not to get too bedazzled by them or I may drool on myself. I love Christmas music. I do. I believe it is never too early or too late in the year for Christmas music. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Yep, that’s Vickie listening to Christmas music in June. I love the spirit of the holiday. You know the one we get from Jesus.

Charlene

My mother had an older sister growing up. Her name was Charlene Louise Dion and she born on December 19^th 1951 in Lynn Massachusetts. She died on August 15^th 1963. By all accounts she was extraordinarily kind and loving. She was deeply religious, and had a great love of God. She held a deep affection for Priests and Nuns. She also loved John Kennedy. She adored him. She had a record of his speeches that she would love to just sit and listen too. She prayed for him every day. I have no doubt she was one of the first Angels to greet him in Heaven.

On August 15^th 1963 her and my Great-grandmother Kent were cooking something up at Grammy’s house. They needed some sort of ingredient or another. Charlene got on her bicycle and went to the store to get it. On her way back she went to cross one the many streets she had to in order to get back to Grammy’s. She got off of her bicycle, as she had been taught to do, and proceeded to walk her bicycle across the street. A pregnant woman coming around the corner hit her gas pedal instead of the break by accident. Charlene was crushed between the car and the bicycle. She was not killed instantly.

When her mother, my Grandmother, got to the hospital she was told there was nothing to be done, it was a matter of time. She went to sit with Charlene and wait for the inevitable to happen. Charlene for being twelve years old knew what was happening to her. When I was little I had a knack for being around adults when they were talking. Probably more than I should have been. I heard stories about what happened in that room.

Charlene for the injuries sustained should not have been awake let alone coherent, and she was both. She proceeded to comfort my Grandmother. She told her not worry. Jesus was with her and wasn’t allowing her to feel any pain. He was there to take her to Heaven. She was given the last rights. She passed away. I always took this to mean she literally meant Jesus was in the room with her. Why not? Why is that not possible? I believe it is.

I think my Grandfather thought it was true. He hated God after that. I think he blamed him for her death. In his heart I bet he always thought if he was there why didn’t he heal her instead of taking her? I suppose that is a fair question. I think God has broad enough shoulders to carry that anger.

I think Grammy thought she was responsible for it happening. If she hadn’t sent Charlene to the store, it wouldn’t have happened. Of course it wasn’t her fault. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile these things in our hearts.

My Grandmother went into a deep depression after that. I think she tried to kill herself. No one ever said that she did. She had scars on her wrists that were never talked about.

Myself, hearing this story and taking it literally I was always afraid Jesus or Mary would pop out from behind a corner if I was bad. Go ahead it’s OK to laugh a little at that. The story made God very real for me. I think for many people God, Jesus, Mary etc it’s all very abstract. It was very real and concrete for me. As an adult I may not be religious, I am very spiritual.

A young man…

This morning on my way to work I passed a young man on an off ramp. His pants were too short. His shoes looked a bit ragged. He had on only a t-shirt in the rain. His head was roughly shaven. He had a large backpack on, and was carrying another bag. He was obviously homeless, and in those two bags likely everything he owns. He was standing looking over the side of the ramp at the sloping hill. He was probably looking for a place to get out of the weather. I don’t know what brought him to that place. I don’t think it really matters. He was…well is a human being.

You may not be rich. You may not have many of the things that you want. But if you have the things you need…a warm bed, a roof over your head, and food in your belly you are doing alright in this life. Be thankful for everything that you have.

Grammy Kent

My poor Great-grandmother Kent, her life was hard. She was born Alice Evelyn Collar on the 12^th of August, 1904 in Revere Massachusetts. Today would’ve been her 105^th birthday. She married my Great-grandfather, Schuyler Brooks Hoar, at 17 on November 21^st 1921 in Bath, Maine. They had five children Schuyler Brooks, Elizabeth Phelana, Edward Rockwell, Gloria Louise (my Grandmother) and Shirley Mae.

Her husband Schuyler died the 20^th February, 1935 when she was three months pregnant with Shirley. Social Security was signed into law in 1935. He did not live long enough to pay into Social Security so she was not eligible to receive any benefits. In those days there was no such thing as welfare. She had to work washing other people’s clothes and cleaning their homes to keep her family together.

With five children and meager means everything had to be made to last. My Grandmother would tell me how they would split a quart of milk up amongst the kids with their breakfast each morning and dinner each night. How they would eat molasses sandwiches. My Grandmother said she remembered them tasting so good. She had one later on as an adult and nearly choked on it. She said it was awful. When you know nothing else these things seem like real treats I suppose.

Some things were good. They would scramble some hamburger with an onion, and add beans. It was enjoyed with a slice of bread and butter. I still eat this on occasion. Comfort food I guess.

These were the days when the nuns would show up and take your children away of you had been deemed unable to care for them. That was Grammy Kent’s worst fear, losing her children. Her eldest, Schuyler, was 12 years older than the youngest. Even when he got older she made him follow the same rules as the youngest. Grammy Kent was lucky to be 5 foot 1. Schuyler was well over 6 feet tall. When the street lights came on he had to be home. She would go down the corner and grab him by the ear and drag him away from his friends. He had to set an example for the younger ones, and if he got into trouble she could’ve lost the younger ones. She was a spitfire.

Uncle Sky left school to go to work and help her with money for the family. Back then safety was not a huge concern for factory owners. A piece of machinery fell on him. He moved in time, but in the process of putting his hands out to protect himself he lost both thumbs. Think about that, not having any thumbs. She had no way to pay for medical care.

The doctors offered an experimental treatment. They saved some of the bone and tried to use muscle and skin from his abdomen to fashion him new thumbs. This was in the early 1940s mind you. His thumbs were actually sown into his stomach for a period of time. These new thumbs didn’t really work like thumbs or look like thumbs. He wanted them removed, but the doctors refused. It was medical breakthrough at the time. He was in medical journals. Despite that he could take a watch apart and put it back together tiny pieces and all!

In 1945 Grammy married her second husband Harry Kent. Not all of her children liked him. He wasn’t a bad man, not at all. He was a drunk. Instead of her life getting easier, and having someone to share the load, she ended up taking care of him. It doesn’t seem fair. But then when is life ever fair? Harry died in 1973 several months after I was born. Grammy Kent lived on her for a few years after that.

She woke up one day and couldn’t see. She only had peripheral vision. I don’t know why. She learned to do many things by the touch of her hand. She was an expert knitter. She needed to have a knee replacement. She was not steady on her feet as she had problems with her equal librium. She was blind, knee replacement, unsteady on her feet and living alone. A kid broke into her apartment and knocked her down. He didn’t get anything, she didn’t have anything. She was unable to get up until someone found her several hours later. After that she came to live with us. I believe I was about two years old. She lived with us until I was 10.

When my Mother and Grandmother would go out I wouldn’t let Grammy Kent watch me. They had to trick me and tell me I was watching her. Her bedroom was off of the dining room. She couldn’t go up and down stairs. She’d lie down to take a nap, and I’d lie down and take a nap too. She smelled like Jean Nate and Kent cigarettes. Sometimes I swear I can still smell that smell.

When I was 10 we moved to Missouri. My Grandmother’s sister lived there. Aunt Betty, Elizabeth, lived away in either Texas or Missouri for most of her adult life. She would come home and visit every now and again. When we moved Grammy went to live with Aunt Betty. When we moved back to Massachusetts six months later Grammy stayed behind. I got to see her a few more times.

Grammy would get gold injections. I’m not sure why or what the medical benefit of such a thing was thought to be. When she went for a routine shot, her doctor used a dirty needle. She got a staph infection. It came on within a day. They hospitalized her. While in the hospital she had a stroke. She was unable to speak. Not being able to see or speak I cannot imagine how that must have been for her. She was transferred to one of the regional trauma centers where they take care of extreme cases.

Despite all of that she was coming along. She wasn’t able to eat well. They decided to put in a feeding tube to give her the nourishment she needed to recover. The doctor made an initial incision, but thinking it did not go all the way into the stomach, made a second incision for the feeding tube. The first incision did go in as far as it needed to. Unbeknownst to everyone poison from her stomach was seeping into her body. She became very ill very fast. By the time they knew what was wrong; it was too late to do anything to save her. She suffered for forty-five days from the initial shot and infection. It must have been a horror for her. I hope she doesn’t remember any of that pain.

I wanted to go with my Grandmother to Missouri and see Grammy Kent. I was 14 and they said they didn’t want me to see what was going on. I knew she was dying and I desperately wanted to see her one last time. I was so angry at not being able to see her tell her I loved her. I can be rational and say I see the wisdom in not having me witness what was happening to her. My heart says I should’ve been able to see her one last time.

I know this must make her sound like a tragic figure. Maybe she was. I don’t think she’d say that. She was strong. She had a great will to survive. She was without a doubt the best person I knew. She was kind and loving and generous. She took great joy in her family especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I loved her dearly. I miss her all the time. I can’t hardly think about her without crying.

St Francis of Assisi has this great quote: “For without being seen they are present with us…” I think he’s talking about Angels. I think this applies to our loved ones as well. I know she is never far.

Happy Birthday Grammy. I love you!

Something fun…

I get these emails from Oprah.com.  I end up deleting them all.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever read one of them.  Well I got one this past week that intrigued me.  It said “Write your own memoir…”  Now I have no intentions of doing that.  But the writing exercises they gave actually looked like fun.  So I’m going to give them a try.  If nothing else maybe I’ll get a couple of new blog entries.  It would be nice to have some blog entries that don’t center around me having an accident of some sort.  :D

There were 10 exercises that asked the writer to write two pages on different topics.  The topics are what intrigued me.  They were things like:

Write two pages about something you cannot deny.

Write two pages about something that got left behind.

Write two pages about a time when you experienced compassion unexpectedly.

The article can be found here:Link

Why not try it out..