A question

Recently, I overheard a person saying that he came from a county that had socialized medicine and said he loved it. He didn't know what the big deal was and wondered why people didn't like it. Then he complains about the American health care system.

So I asked "Why not go home if things were so great here? Why stay and complain?".

Then I get snapped at by a lady who just thinks I'm the most incredibly insensitive person and says "I'm tolerant of other's beliefs and opinions - why can't you be?".

I wasn't trying to be insulting or snarky... I really wanted to know. Why DO people stay in a place where they aren't happy and talk about how great things were where they came from? Why don't they go home? I really want to know... It baffles me.

"Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body" ~Cicero

Thanks to our good ole buddy Michael Moore, the health care debate rages on. People out there have come up with the notion that health care shouldn't just be for the "privileged" or the "lucky". And guess what? Its not. You can go to any hospital and they HAVE to see you. Afterwards, you can set up payment plans or what have you, but you have to pay for the services you received. Simple as that.

(Hint: If you can afford cable, cell phones, video game systems, and going out to eat everyday at Burger King or McDonald's, you can afford health care.)

And this may come as a shocker to you, but its not free nor should it ever be. Lower the cost of the service and you lower the value. "But other countries do it" - yeah, like Canada, right? There's a 3 year waiting list for hip replacements. Imagine how long the list is for something like a heart. Our system may not be perfect - neither is anyone else's. If you disagree, please go live over there and enjoy their "flawless" system - stop whining "that our country's health care is better than ours". Good, go and enjoy it.

And why should everything be free? Why should everything be a handout? I thought America was about working hard to get what you wanted, not just standing around whining about what you doing have...

What's next? Free food? Because afterall, its our right to eat. Oh yeah... we have that - food stamps.
Housing? Yep... they pay for that too.
But its my right to have children, even though I can't take care of them! Yeah, the government pays for that too...

Strange how I've never heard of cell phone, cable or video game assistance. But that's not fair!! Having those things is my right, I shouldn't have to pay for them!! Those things shouldn't be for the fortunate - I deserve to have them too.

What is the point of living outside of your parents' house if you want everything provided for you? Correct me if I'm wrong- but isn't the point of being independent and responsible to be able to support yourself? There are many things I want, but I can't afford them right now, so I don't have them. After 6 years of living in apartments, I'm sick of it and want to live in a house. But I do not have the funds, the credit, etc to have one right now, so I'm waiting until I can. I live in a one bedroom apartment and even though its not perfect, I'm happy because its mine. My parents didn't help me get it, nor did the government - I got it and pay for it. Same with my car. Same with food - I may not eat out all the time or have steak dinners every night, but its mine. I paid for it and cooked it myself.

It all comes back around to responsiblity. People do not want to take responsibility for themselves. They want others to take care of them, to provide for them... Not me. What's the point of living? Because you are not. Quit begging for the government to support you - they aren't your parents. Go back to their house instead, or work for what you want. Its not hard.

Some notes on health care:

The following 3 points are directly quoted from Canada's own health care site (http://www.canadian-healthcare.org/index.html):

1) "Canada's health care system is a group of socialized health insurance plans that provides coverage to all Canadian citizens."
Socialized = socialist. Everything distributed equally. Meaning that if one guy had had $10 and another had a million, you'd pool their money and divide it between them. Yeah, the 1st guy makes off like a bandit, but the other gets screwed. Ditto with a healthcare system like Canada's. So what? They're rich, lucky, fortunate, etc... right?

2) "Canada's health care system is the subject of much political controversy and debate in the country. Some question the efficiencies of the current system to deliver treatments in a timely fashion, and advocate adopting a private system similar to the United States."

If their system was perfect, why would they debate over it and want to promote a system like ours?

3) "The shortage of doctors and nurses in Canada: Some feel that Canada's health care system does not adequately compensate health care providers. This has led to a "brain drain" of Canadian doctors and nurses, which have left Canada to pursue careers in the United States. Attracting and keeping skilled medical workers is a priority if Canada is to be able to provide proper medical services."

And there ya go - if we were to change our system, we would probably have a shortage of doctors too. Not only would the quality go down because suddenly everyone was allowed in, but the doctors wouldn't even stand for it and they would leave - decreasing the quality even more.

Let's take Disney World as an example. Yeah its expensive to get in. So people complain and complain that they only let in the rich and its their kid's right to go to Disney World. So Disney breaks down and lets everyone in free. Great, right? No. The lines are insanely long as is, but if it was free to get in, you be lucky if you got to go on two rides in one day. You spend the rest of it standing in line. Now the rides break down more often due to more usage, but Disney can't afford to pay the mechanics more because they lost revenue by letting people in free. So the mechanics look over at Universal, who hasn't let people in for free and go to work over there, which leaves Disney up a creek without a paddle. Now not only does it take all day to get on one ride, but the majority of them are broken all the time, leaving the people's choice of rides limited to the older rides that runs continuously on the track, not fun ones like Splash Mountain.

Do you see now? It sounds heartless to exclude people, but if you don't, then everyone ends up losing.

You are joking, right?

I was surfing around and look what I ran into on www.algore.org:

Sign the petition

Our friends at DraftGore.com began a petition drive demonstrating the broad support for a Gore campaign. If you haven't signed yet, please do so below!

Dear Vice President Gore:

Americans from every corner of our nation are calling on you. Please listen to our plea and run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States in 2008.

Never before has America needed a leader of your stature, vision and experience more than now. The next presidential election will be the most crucial one in our history, and you are the only Democrat who can unite the country and lead us to victory. And this country -- indeed, the entire world -- cannot afford anything less.

Our nation and the planet itself are entering “a period of consequences,” as you so well stated in “An Inconvenient Truth,” but in more ways than one. We are ruled by a government of the powerful and for the powerful -- a government that tramples our Constitution, wages unjust war in our name, sacrifices our economic future, and puts our very planet on the endangered species list.

America and the world need you now more than ever. Be our candidate. Run for president. And we pledge that we'll be there for you every day until the last vote is counted.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

---

Let's disect this, shall we? Lemme see if I've got this straight...

"Dear Vice President Gore:"

Last I checked, he isn't VP. Let's try a "former" in there - he isn't VP anymore... nor is the "true" President, blah blah whatever.

"Please listen to our plea..."

Omg... PLEASE tell me people aren't out there "pleaing" for him to run... What's the matter? He didn't make a fool of himself enough the first time he ran? He didn't have much of a platform in the first place, unless you count (which I don't) all of the environmental BS he was feeding everyone. He made a mockery of it - parading around, doing photo ops like Britney Spears or boasting about "accomplishments" he had not done. He raised a big stink about the results, even when people consented to his whining and recounted the results. He was a sore loser about it.

" Never before has America needed a leader of your stature, vision and experience more than now"

'Leader'?!?! LOL 'stature'?!?! LMAO 'vision and experience'?!?!?!?!?! ROFL
Please please please someone tell me this is a joke! ( a really really bad one...) Did his concoct this "petition" himself? Aside from all of the reasons I have already listed above, let me tell you about this guy you think is a "leader of stature". He was on the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" a week or so ago to promote his new book. He refered to the program as a "serious news program". Its a satirical news show. Most issues and guests on the show are being made fun of, including you. Then Gore had the nerve to criticize Bush for something that Clinton, the President that he served under, had put into effect and failed to do - leaving it for Bush to take care.

As for "vision" - yeah, its good to care about the environment. I hate breathing smog. But as for "global warming", "climate change" or however they choose to refer to it is a MYTH, a HOAX. No matter how much work you put into a mythological vision, you will still come up empty handed. If I study dragons for 10 years and run around collecting "evidence" of their existance, making fancy bar graphs that conviently leave out evidence contradicting, calling everyone that doesn't believe in dragons 'stupid' and telling Paleontologists that have been studying,working in their craft for 50 years that they don't know what they are talking about - then I would have just ruffled a few feathers, but I will still come up with nothing in the end. Why - because dragons are a myth.

And as for 'experience', he has none. All he has done is written a couple of books, delivered speeches on it and made a movie. He has not studied it, he has not researched it. He is not a scientist, nor a climatologist, nor an ecologist, nor even a meterologist. No more experience than a guy who has played a President on TV for 10 years and thinks he could run the county. NO - neither of you have experience.

"We are ruled by a government of the powerful and for the powerful..."

For the powerful... You're telling me that the mean ole government isn't giving you enough? What about the tax cuts? What about the welfare system that pays you to sit on your butt? You want more?!?! Sure, handouts all around... afterall, the constition says "for the people by the people" and we all know that the rich aren't people because they aren't the "working class". It can't be that they have good saving habits or don't spend it on cigarettes or lottery tickets. No, they are just lucky. A bundle of a million dollars just fell into their lap one day.

"wages unjust war in our name, sacrifices our economic future, and puts our very planet on the endangered species list."

Wow... a mouthful. As for the war, Clinton was suppose to take Hussien out and never did - and it got passed onto Bush. Guess who was under Clinton at the time? That's right - Gore. If you have a problem with the war, then maybe Gore isn't the way to go... As for economic future, Democrats are usually bigger spenders... You sure you want to be voting democrat? And the Government isn't to blame for environmental issues, try a bit closer to home - your SUV is...and when you pass gas... and apparently when you eat meat, because cows contribute to Co2...and along those same lines, apparently it also harms the environment when you anger the volcano gods too, causing them to erupt.

Arg, get a life and put your efforts behind someone who actually has a chance of getting elected. And please, when trying to promote them, know what you are talking about. Don't say "I want a democrat, but I want less spending" or "I want peace, but I don't want anyone to mess with us" or "Heal the enviroment but I don't want to stop driving my SUV". No, it doesn't work that way - Pick a side.

Harry Potter and the Responsible American

Unfortunately I have the misfortune of living in the same state as the woman who's trying to go all the way to the Supreme court to get Harry Potter banned in schools.

I heard a discussion on the radio about a week ago on this issue. One parent (a woman) called up to say she agreed with her. And why? She said that if another parent found something that was potentially harmful for her kids, then they had the right to block it from them.

Sure, if you deem something harmful (hopefully after you have watched, listened, read it, etc first) then you have the right to block it from your child. But not to block it from another parent's child. That's basically giving someone else the right to raise your kid(s). If you don't want to take the responsibility of raising your own children, then you know what?

You probably shouldn't have them in the first place.

Hey, sometimes the truth hurts. And shame on you for trying to take away something that has encouraged more children to read. Illiteracy is a much bigger problem than Harry Potter. Read the book first, and then judge it. Religion isn't mentioned at all in them, and if anything, I have seen tons of Christian illusions and themes in them. Good vs Evil, rebirth, miracles, the little in-experienced kid defeating a huge powerful evil guy, etc...

But also on the subject of responsibility, I was reading Neal's Nuze (an email newsletter by talk show host Neal Boortz) in my e-mail today and found a hate mail that he received. In it, the angry listener stated how he wants the government to take care of him. He wants the government to have more power than the individual.

"We should trust them to make the hard decisions for us, while we put forth our energies into living life. We have many things to do in this life other than worrying about our pension plans and the minuscule tax increases that happen every year."

Good for you, buddy. I consider living my life as having control over it. If you don't want to have control over your own life, perhaps you should consider moving to Russia. Hey, everything's planned out for you there - you don't have to worry about a thing! They'll choose your job for you, how much money you'll get to keep, what you can/can't say about the goverment and more. Great plan! Let me know how that works out for you.

If people like these had their way, all of the things that we enjoy will be taken away - like books and talk show hosts. And its a horrible thought, but maybe the responsible person is in danger of disappearing as well. Or perhaps the "responsible person" is just as fictional as Harry Potter

The "Do not press that easy button" challenge.

Staples features an "easy" button in their ads, and I have noticed that society is more than happy to press their own personal "easy" button all too quickly.

Today at work, a woman put down her dog because it bit her kid. The dog was old, and sick, which caused its temperament to turn sour. She cried and apologized to the dog, saying "I wish I didn't have to do this". And then she turned to the kid, and told him that the dog was going to live with the vet from now on. After she left, the vet took the dog in the back room and before the injection was given, he said "Serves you right for biting that kid". The whole incident made me sick.

Two people... two "mature" adults refusing to take responsibility for their actions and blaming it all on a old, helpless, sick dog. Shame on you.

Now the issue here isn't about the dog biting the kid. I have no idea how bad the bite was. And undoubtedly parents are going to disagree with me here. I don't have kids yet and I can't see it from that viewpoint. Maybe one day I will.

But we have one woman who signs a form for her dog to be put down. Easy Button. The vet injects a poison into the dog. Easy button.
Both easy, thoughtless actions. And I hope you are okay with your choices because you are the ones who have to live with them. But most likely, they are both water off a duck's back by now... Shrug it off like it never happened.

Sure I'm mad about what occurred here, but the main issue is that everyone is all too ready to take the easy way out. I see it everyday, all around me. And it sickens me. Give that dog to someone how is able to care for it, teach your kids how to properly handle an animal, explore other options with your vet. Atleast a dozen other options, and you chose to sing a release form and wash your hands of it instead.

"I hate how high gas prices are. It's all Bush's/the Government's fault", says the person driving the SUV, who doesn't bother to carpool or consolidate trips. Easy Button. Couldn't possibly be our fault - must be the Government's.

"It's going to take $800 to fix my car, and I don't have that kind of money. I'll think I'll junk it and buy a new one."
or "My car is due for an oil change, new brakes and some other things. I don't feel like doing that and I'll feel like a change. I think I'll buy a new one." Easy button.
A car is a committment. If you don't have the time, the money or the guts for that kind of committment, take the bus.

A man who preaches about Global Warming, who doesn't practice what he preaches. Easy Button. Lead by example - more people will follow that than you squaking from your soapbox.

Calling someone names because you don't agree with what they say. Easy Button. Articulate WHY you disagree with them and try not to use name calling or bringing the other person's appearance/intelect into the arguement.

"My cat is a curtain climber..." or "That dog doesn't get along with the other one..."
"...so I'll get rid of them and make them someone else's problem." Easy Button. Easy Button. Stop and take the time to teach them how to behave. WARNING: It will take an enormous amount of time and patience. If you don't have either, then you probably don't deserve to have animals in the first place. Nor children for that matter.

And this list could go on and on for years. And I'm not saying I'm innocent of this either. Its something we all need to work on. I challenge everyone reading this to go a day without pressing their "Easy" button. If you take the time to explore other options, you will become stronger as a person. If you have animals that have behavioral problems, taking the time to train them will form a bond between you that you could never imagine. If you attacked issues in a debate rather than the other person, you just might learn something or see something from another viewpoint that never crossed your mind. If you believe in something strongly like global warming or religion, live your life to reflect that. Do it for yourself and the rewards will be much greater. Take care of your things, like a car, and your sense of ownership will increase. And in turn, you will be proud of the things you own because you took care of them, you took the time to make sure they worked properly.

Sure, it's not going to be easy. If it was, then we would have been born with a physical "easy" button when we were born. Instead, we were sent with free-will. The ability to choose between taking responsibility or not, and that's the beauty about being human - we have the ability to choose. Either way, you are the one who has to live with your choices.

As for me, I accept the challenge. I will take one day at a time, not resorting to pressing that "Easy" button. And I start that today.

Can't we all just get along?

In dealing with the new puppy, Serendipity, lately... I have experienced a new type of discrimination - breed discrimination. "Dippy" is a pitbull/boxer mix. She's sweeter than my dog. She hasn't snapped, growled or bitten. The worst she's done is nip, and that's because she is a puppy. She loves other dogs, but we aren't allowed to go to the dog park because of what she is. She needs obiedence classes, but if I were to enroll her, we'd have to pay more money to get private lessons. During walks, people give us dirty looks and hide their children.

And now with the release of Harry Potter book and movie this summer, the Anti-HP crowd is getting rabid. People who claim to be open-minded, state that others in same-sex relationships are going to hell. A good number of my friends are more liberal than I am, and they won't even listen to other viewpoints. They even stop talking to me when I express my own views.

You know why we have wars, un-neccessary stress, discrimination, etc? Because we refuse to open ourselves to learn about others. We need to stop dividing ourselves and start coming together. No more titles, no more barriers. We all have to be stuck here together. Why don't we make the most of it? Step out of your comfort zone and spend a day doing something that you may not agree with, but will open up your mind to others.

Don't like organized religion? Go spend a few Sundays or volunteer at your local Church. Get to know THEM as people and stop grouping them together by their religion. Upset at illegal aliens? Take a few classes in Spanish or volunteer as an ESL teacher. Think Harry Potter is the root of all evil? Pick up a book and read it. Think all pitbulls need to be put down? Spend a Saturday volunteering at a PitBull rescue society.

Take time to learn about these people,animals, etc on a personable level instead of a generalized, distant one... Get to know the individual instead of pretending to "know" a group. We don't know anything unless we take the time to discover something ourselves.

We have enough bounderies in our lives, such as languages and geographical distances. We don't need to be making more. The best way to learn about yourself and to become more confident in your own stances is to learn first hand about other viewpoints you may not agree with. I'm not saying change your mind about the issue, just open yourself up to learn about the other side too.

Open your mind and you will open your world.