Archive for the ‘Ranting’ Category

IN the eleventh chapter of Leviticus, God tells us those animals which we are forbidden from eating as they are an “abomination” to do so…

• Verse 4 – No camels
• Verse 5 – No coneys (a translation of the Hebrew Bible word shaphan, in modern English “rock hyrax”)
• Verse 6 – No hares
• Verse 7 – No swine
• Verse 8 - ”Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.”
• Verse 10 – “all that have not fins and scales… they shall be an abomination unto you” – so basically No shellfish (shrimp, crab, lobster, etc)
• Verse 13 – No eagles, ossifrage (a kind of vulture) or ospray
• Verse 14 – No vultures or kites (raptors)
• Verse 15 – No ravens
• Verse 16 – No owls, nighthawks, cuckoos, or hawks
• Verse 17 – No little owls, or great owls or cormorants
• Verse 18 – No swans, pelicans, or gier-eagles
• Verse 19 – No storks, herons, lapwings, or bats
• Verse 20 – “All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.”
• Verse 29 – No weasels, mice or tortoises (I’m guessing turtles would be a no-no as well)
• Verse 30 – No ferrets, chameleons, lizards, snails or moles
• Verse 41 – “And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earthshall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.”
• Verse 42 – “Whatsoever goeth upon the belly. and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat, for they are an abomination.” – So basically no snakes, centipedes, millipedes – pretty much no bugs (except locusts which are deemed okay in verse 22).

It goes into detail in verses 30-40ish about how these “unclean” animals are not only to be avoided as food but that if they come in contact with or if their carcasses come in contact with anything then those things are basically contaminated and we are forbidden from them as well.

So you’re probably wondering… why do I care?  Well doesn’t this seem just a little bit over the top?  I know that I’m not going to give up bacon or shrimp to name a few favorites.  I mean, truthfully, I probably wouldn’t have eaten many of these animals anyway but I fail to see the reasoning for them being banned.  Further…. I point this out because of the hypocrisy.  This is the same book of the Bible that homophobic right-wingers like to quote from when they try to defend their anti-gay propaganda. (See Lev 18:22 or 20:13)

So, here is my question for the masses… why should we vehemently follow the “anti-gay” verses but not the ones about naughty tasty animals?  Or how about the versus dictating that “they shall not make baldness upon their head” (Lev 21:05) boy that would put a dent in some fundamentalist hair-dos (or lack therof).  How about Lev  19:28 which says “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you” – No tattoos!

I could go on – the entire book of Leviticus is a plethora of hypocrisy and unreasonable rules.  So why oh why??? Why would anyone trying to prove a point use this as ammunition?  I’m bewildered, befuddled… mystified!  (Guess I’m not a)dumb b)gullible c)fundamentalist enough to get it.)

Help celebrate a year of Domestic Partnership Protections in Wisconsin!

Remember folks… it’s not about gay rights — it’s about CIVIL EQUALITY!!

I think I’m gonna go have some bacon-wrapped shrimp while I think about a design for my 6th tattoo…

Current Mood: Aaarrggghhh!!!!! & Doh! & Naughty & On my soapbox

Current Mood: *Wink* & Amused & On my soapbox

So my pals at the DNC called me today to help pay for their advertising up-tick to promote their health care reform bill and to negate all the evil coming from Emporer Limbaugh, Darth Hannity, Sith Witch Coulter and the rest of the Republic. While I do want to see a health care reform bill get passed this year, I am on the fence as to what it should look like. Why, you ask? Aren’t I a bra-burning liberal?? Well, yes, on most issues, especially social issues. But on this particular issue I have a very close-to-home conflict of interest. I work for one of the biggest insurance companies in the country.* 

So… depending on the bill that actually gets through, I could potentially be out of a job. And with 4 kids to feed I have to step back and really scrutinize what’s trying to be accomplished. That said, I would still like to see a national health care system but I think there should be a private offering as well. How would that work? Well, we have it in place already really. Medicare and Medical Assistance are available to seniors and families with children, respectively, when they don’t have the means to provide for their own health care. Now I think that these offerings would have to be tweaked a bit and made better overall but the base is there to start from. The big change would be opening those programs up to a bigger population with less restrictive requirements (i.e. income, age, family, etc).

Then leave the private insurance in place — they will have to become competitive financially and where benefits are concerned to keep the cash flowing. So, someone like me, with 4 kids, now has an option. I can stick with my private, employer-based insurance or I can opt-out and go with the federal insurance plan. Or maybe I can stay with my company’s insurance and just get pharmacy bennies from the fed since mine suck. Or any number of combinations of the two options that work fiscally and are best for the health of my family. I think that people in general want better health care, I think they also want choices. I think that our government can do both. So, as I told the nice gentleman from the DNC today… I won’t be donating until I see a better defined and what I think is a helpful plan put out to the public for review. So if they want my donation they will need to step it up a notch.

Interestingly enough, right after that phone call I saw the following message from Herb Kohl (D-WI):

Over the past several months, people in Washington have been working to carefully craft a health care reform package. Though progress has been steady, there are still several proposals in flux. Please be aware that neither the House nor the Senate has formulated one bill, and that no final decisions have been made about what will be included in health reform.

Most of us agree that reforming and improving our health care system is necessary, and we cannot afford to wait another 10 or 20 years until health care costs consume an even greater percentage of the economy and the budgets of American families.

Consider this: The United States spends $7,290 on health care per person, per year – while the average spent by the 30 most developed countries is $2,960. It is unacceptable that we have so much more of our money tied up in health care, yet we are not delivering demonstrably better health care than many of these countries. Studies show that the U.S. ranks below average on major health indicators, including infant mortality and life expectancy, when compared with the rest of the world.

We currently rank 44th in infant mortality and 30th in life expectancy, with the average American living to 78 years of age. By comparison, Japan spends $2,550 on health care per person each year – just over a third of what the U.S. spends – and boasts a life expectancy of 83 years.

There is no doubt that American health care is breaking the bank and making us less competitive in the world economy. Money that should be going to wage increases and helping to make our businesses more competitive is instead going to pay for increases in health care costs. This will not change until we get a handle on those costs.

Controlling costs is a goal we can all support in principle, especially when other countries have demonstrated that quality health care can be delivered at a much lower cost. We can start controlling costs by paying for value of care, not volume, and eliminating duplicative testing and over-treatment. If we can do that, then our health care system – and America’s patients – will be in better shape. We need to ensure that all health care systems provide better care in a more efficient way, and reward those systems that already do so, such as the ones we have in several locations in Wisconsin.

America’s health systems should expand the use of health information technology, which has been shown to save lives by reducing medical errors and save money by promoting efficiency in testing and communication. We can support the use of generic drugs and get generic equivalents on the market faster. And we can encourage Americans to engage in preventive care and healthy lifestyles.

Many of these money-saving ideas are not controversial. The fact is that there is a lot that we can all agree on. We agree that we need to expand coverage to most, if not all, Americans. We also agree that people should not be denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions. The principles we agree on far outnumber those on which we differ.

In addition to saving costs, health reform can do so much good for the average American. We want to limit your out-of-pocket expenses and co-pays. We want to make sure your coverage is not dropped just when you get sick and need it most. We want to eliminate caps on coverage, offer free preventive care and protect small businesses from the crushing costs of health care.

Despite all these positive changes that will benefit individual Americans, the debate surrounding health care threatens to get out of hand. False reports about what will be included in health care reform have taken on a life of their own. We need to strip away the rhetoric and dispel some of these rumors, many of which are meant to scare older Americans.

The most important thing for seniors to know is that health care reform will not diminish Medicare, the health care program those 65 and older have come to value. As we all know, Medicare provides older Americans with quality health care at a cost that is affordable.

Seniors are happy with Medicare. In fact, Medicare, a government-run program, boasts a satisfaction rate even higher than private insurance. The reform proposals to date are intended to strengthen Medicare, and will not make any significant changes to the way seniors receive their health care services.

As for the rumors out there about how health care will be drastically changed for the worse, you can rest assured: Health care reform will not limit choices, take away treatment options, ration care, eliminate private insurance, or tell you how or when to die. These things are not going to happen.

In the meantime, we hear you. We hear your needs and we hear your concerns. Your perspectives are invaluable, and we will continue to keep American families in mind as we work to complete a health reform package that starts to get costs under control, continues to provide high quality care, and begins to expand coverage to include most, if not all, Americans.

I tend to agree (he says it much better than I).  I especially like the part about the cost-benefit between America and other countries.  Really opens an eye.   The fact is, we are not going to lose choices, have reduced care or increased waits for care.  And while I don’t necessarily promote Michael Moore, Sicko made a few valid points; though I obviously don’t agree with him that all insurance companies should be abolished*.  If I can choose between putting $400+ per month into my company’s insurance plan or in taxes to a federal plan that probably has better benefits… well it seems like a no brainer, doesn’t it??

Anyhoo… that’s my two-cents. Thanks for listening, we now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Current Mood: On my soapbox & Thinking!

OH JOY!!  I’m over my mailbox limit and may not be able to send or receive e-mails until I clean up my mailbox!  What a perfect way to end what has been a, shall we say, less than perfect week!  I think I could sleep for a month… did you ever wonder why humans don’t hibernate?  Maybe we should… just a thought.

Current Mood: Aaarrggghhh!!!!! & Bitchy! & Sick & Tired

Sammy,

Okay, if I carry a negative balance in my checkbook the bank does not let me write more checks…let alone buy a couple billion dollars worth of obsolete jets! I mean, c’mon Uncle, when’s the last time we engaged in real ariel combat (which these jets were designed for)?  Seriously, I don’t think the Chinese are going to dare us to a dogfight over the huge sums of money we owe them!  (They’ll just pwn us in business.)

How about this… how about NO.   We don’t have the cash, so no planes for US!  You already [over]spent your allowance! 

How about lifting the export restrictions and selling these things to our allies?  That would save the jobs at Lockheed and generate some cash for US (in the form of tariffs).  

How about put some cash into R&D and come up with something that doesn’t run $40G an hour to operate?!?

Hugs & Kisses,

A Taxpaying Citizen

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Visit the Congress.org home page to see stories and documents from around the Web about the jet program.

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Obama Repeats Threat to Veto Bill Over F-22 Jet
By CHRISTOPHER DREW
Published: July 14, 2009
The president pressed his campaign against spending $1.75 billion for seven F-22 jets as Democratic support for the plane increased.

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The Outstanding Public Debt as of 21 Jul 2009 at 03:47:02 AM GMT is: $11,613,259,299,265.79
The estimated population of the United States is 306,585,943
so each citizen’s share of this debt is $37,879.29.

Current Mood: Aaarrggghhh!!!!! & Noooooooo & On my soapbox

As people we are born into the world without a mate and most of us spend our entire lives trying to find that one person who is our perfect match.

Socks are brought into the world with a mate and yet they seem to spend their entire lives trying to get lost, to seperate themselves from their perfect match.

Why is that?  What’s up with socks?  Why do I spend more time looking for a matched pair in the morning than anything else I do to get ready for work??

SOURCE

External oppression is the unjust exercise of authority and power by one group over another. It includes imposing one group’s belief system, values and life ways over another group.

External oppression becomes internalized oppression when we come to believe and act as if the oppressor’s beliefs system, values, and life way is reality.

“Self-hate” and “internalized racism” are other ways of saying internalized oppression.

The result of internalized oppression is shame and the disowning of our individual and cultural reality. Without internalized oppression, we would not now have previously unseen levels of violence, especially against women and children.

Drunkenness, disrespect for God, fighting, cussing and disrespect for women were “foreign” behaviors modeled by the Cavalry, and eventually worked their way into our communities through internalized oppression.

Internalized oppression means the oppressor doesn’t have to exert any more pressure, because we now do it to ourselves and each other. Divide and conquer works.

We resist internalized oppression by relearning how to live respectfully and harmoniously together — without violence.

 

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This explains a lot as to why we sometimes feel tortured by our own choices, doesn’t it?

A short list of household tasks that obviously require tits.

1. Putting the roll of toilet paper on the holder – not top of it, not on the back of the toilet, not on the counter.
2. Putting dirty clothes, especially socks, in the hamper – not on the floor a few inches away from the hamper.
3. Putting the empty milk or juice carton in the recycle bin instead of back in the refrigerator.
4. Picking up the garbage or putting away an item instead of simply stepping over or around it.
5. Asking for directions when you are obviously lost.  (Though, a woman wouldn’t have gotten lost to begin with having asked for directions long ago.)

You get the idea.

…you transfer money from your savings or money market to another account more than six times a month!  Obviously you’re sending money to terrorists!  (You couldn’t possibly be covering the stress-induced shopping spree you went on last week.)

I just got charged $10 for transferring money from my savings account to my checking account.  MY MONEY, MY BANK ACCOUNTS!!!!!! 

Why is this even a regulation???  What right does the government have to monitor or tell me how to manage (or mismanage) my own money!  Further… there’s nothing in the regulation about a fee!  The regulation says that if I make more that 6 withdrawals in a month the bank has to change my account from a savings to a checking account — not that they have to fine me!  So, basically, I’m getting charged for the monitoring services that the bank is providing for the fucked-up, right-wing, shit-eating federal reserve board (who are actually fronting for the grossly unconstitutional Partriot Act and Department of Homeland Security)! My ten bucks will probably pay for two links in the damn border patrol fence.  

(b) Background. Under Regulation D, 12 CFR 204.2(d)(2), the term “savings deposit” includes a deposit or an account that meets the requirements of §204.2(d)(1) and from which, under the terms of the deposit contract or by practice of the depository institution, the depositor is permitted or authorized to make up to six transfers or withdrawals per month or statement cycle of at least four weeks. The depository institution may authorize up to three of these six transfers to be made by check, draft, debit card, or similar order drawn by the depositor and payable to third parties. If more than six transfers (or more than three third party transfers by check, etc.) are permitted or authorized per month or statement cycle, the depository institution may not classify the account as a savings deposit. If the depositor, during the period, makes more than six transfers or withdrawals (or more than three third party transfers by check, etc.), the depository institution may, depending upon the facts and circumstances, be required by Regulation D (Footnote 5 at §204.2(d)(2)) to reclassify or close the account. (Link)

 It seems I’m not the only one unhappy about this… Federal Reserve Board Regulation D: Is it really protecting America?

Write your congress people about this.  How can we purport to be a free country when we can’t even move our own money around within our own bank accounts!

LANSING, Michigan (AP) — Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist dubbed “Dr. Death” after claiming he had participated in at least 130 assisted suicides, left prison after eight years Friday still believing people have the right to die.

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After watching the pain and suffering that my Grandmother endured before she finally let go this mortal coil, I am a strong supporter of the right to die effort that Dr. Kevorkian has tried to lead. 

I think the laws in this country should be changed to allow people complete control over their own lives.  The government and the church should NOT be able to tell me (or you)what to do with my body, not when, not how. 

And, yes, I am also Pro-choice.  Why bring unwanted children into this world.  Why stay in a world filled with pain?? 

This falls right in line with Advance Directives as well.  People should be able to document their wishes to die under certain circumstances and have those wishes carried out regardless of family opinion.  Let people die with some dignity not with lawsuits.  I have gone to great efforts to document my final wishes, right down to the anti-funeral arrangements.  I hope I’ve instilled in my children the understanding and sense of responsibility to carry out my wishes verbatim when the time comes.

*End rant*