The Daily Depression

'It's Kind of a Funny Story'

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:18:00 +0000

I was in my local movie theater the other day, and I saw this trailer for a movie called 'It's Kind of a Funny Story', and I could feel the goose bumps. I even felt my eyes get a little foggy...I couldn't help translating what I was seeing on the screen through my own experiences years ago. I was in a mental hospital twice for extended stays, and during my first visit, I was pretty young as well (though not sixteen like the character here.)

It looks like the directors have kept a pretty good balance with comedy to lighten the mood of an otherwise serious subject, and a respect for those with mental illness and the trials they go through every day. Granted, this was just a trailer, but I am looking forward to this movie and will absolutely see it in person, regardless of what the critics or anyone else says.

There is nothing like spending time with a bunch of strangers in a hospital and you can't leave...the only thing wrong with you is invisible, and everyone there wants you to talk about your problems, when that's the last thing you want to do.

YouTube - 'It's Kind of a Funny Story' - Trailer HD

Official 'It's Kind of a Funny Story' Site

Inception - Must See!

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:04:00 +0000

Inception

I never thought I'd say this, but the 2 best movies I've seen this year both star Leonardo DiCaprio. And I am pretty sure I didn't get crazier this year, or lose all sense of reality...it's just that Shutter Island and Inception are incredible movies, and DiCaprio has really impressed me recently.

You need to go see Inception, the new film by Dark Knight director, Christopher Nolan. This Nolan cat is talented, creative, and gets great performances out of his cast. DiCaprio is the centerpiece of the film, but Nolan places interesting, insightful choices all around him. There are echoes of Shutter Island in Inception, and yet they couldn't be more different.

Inception is a film where we're not sure what year it takes place, and we're not entirely sure if what we're seeing is only in someone's subconscious, or partly in dreams, partly in real life. I will probably go see this again in the theater because this movie was awesome, and I am betting there are things I'll pick up on the second time around. The scope of the movie shifts from intimate, private moments, to open landscapes filled with the kind of creations only dreams can inspire - not to mention the special effects are seamless and aren't trying to be the star of the show.

Happy Mother's Day! - Laissez-Faire Mom Laura Bennett: Let 'Em Eat Cake!

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sun, 09 May 2010 14:48:00 +0000

Laissez-Faire Mom Laura Bennett: Let 'Em Eat Cake!

Awesome story on NPR's Weekend Edition this morning. Laura Bennett is a 50's mom, with the upgrades necessary to take on this crazy world of the 21st Century. She's got a great sense of humor, is multi-talented, and has a sensible approach to motherhood that I think (just from hearing this short story on the radio) more mothers ought to look into.

If I was going to ever have children, my wife would have a required reading list of Laura Bennett's work. She's an advocate of taking care of yourself first to ensure that you've got enough sanity and patience left to deal with your kids in the right way. I've always thought you've got to take care of yourself before you can truly take care of anyone else.

I recommend listening to the actual story as well, not just the excerpt in the online version, because it adds an extra dimension to the words. Laura Bennett should be cloned so we could repopulate this planet with common sense, a wryly-playful sense of humor, and the wisdom to not take everything so seriously.

A Poem for Sad People

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:12:00 +0000

A Poem for Sad People ::

It's okay

I say to myself

Wandering alone in a wooded area

Where the trees look like cardboard and toothpicks

And the leaves look like crumpled craft paper and paint

It's okay

I say to myself

When I find that I am solitary

On a long, uneven sidewalk winding through an industrial complex

Where thousands and thousands of crows huddle together, just out of reach

It's okay

I say to myself

It's okay...

Republican Scare Tactics Again - Too Bad People Still Fall For This S@*#

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:12:00 +0000

Link - Politico Exclusive: RNC document mocks donors, plays on 'fear'

Fuck you, Republicans. Fuck you.

Freedy Johnston's New Album - Rain on the City

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:35:00 +0000

Lithium and Prozac - the Newest Cocktail

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:58:00 +0000

For a couple of months now I've been taking 900mg of Lithium and 40mg of Prozac each day. I stopped taking the Seroquel about 4 months back, but I might have to get back on that because my sleep problems are back. It really helped me to get a solid nights rest, but I wanted to stop taking it as soon as was practical. Now I realize that like my other medications, I might need to take Seroquel daily forever as well.

The Lithium/Prozac combo works pretty well for me, but it took a couple of weeks before I got used to the Lithium. I had stomach problems a lot, but that was the only noticeable side effect. I had to take it with food in the beginning, but now I can take it on an empty stomach if I need to and it's no problem. I like the Lithium because it's processed by the kidneys, not the liver, like so many of the other anti-depressant/mood stabilizer drugs out there - my liver needs a break!

I do still have some days where I feel like a non-person for reason at all. I don't have as many manic episodes now, which is what the Lithium is primarily supposed to control. I am certainly better off than with no meds, which you'd think by now I'd have that irrefutable fact tattooed on my brain. But, like the super-genius I think I am, I always try to push my luck at some point and stop taking some or all of my chemicals.

I like this current cocktail, though, and I am going to stick with it. I did have to start out on a lower dose of Lithium at first, and then after blood tests, upgrade to the 900mg a day. There's a very tight range of effectiveness of the drug in your blood stream - I was under at first, and now I think it's right on target. Anyway, I just thought I'd put that down on paper. Cheers.

NPR Story on Friends in College

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:18:00 +0000

This morning on All Things Considered on NPR, there was a story called Becoming Close: The Geography of Friendship, by Allison Aubrey. As I listened I began to think about my own experiences with friends over the years, and specifically about friends in college. Many people I know developed great, enduring friendships in college.

One of the things in the story that stood out to me was the studies that had been conducted over the years that indicate that proximity has a lot to do with who we develop friendships with; particularly during the first year of college when everything is new and different. I thought this was ironic because what I wanted to do was to get away from people, not engage with them, share a room with someone, or be close to anyone.

My first semester of college was in Savannah, GA at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I was on the soccer team and we were there earlier than the rest of the students to start training. The dining hall was almost always empty except for us and sometimes the volleyball team or some other random people. I managed to sit completely separate for about a week before the rest my teammates dragged me over to sit with them. I figured that I had to give up my wish to be left alone to be a part of something bigger, the team.

In my dorm though I didn't have a choice either way as I was paired with a roommate. He hailed from the Northeast and was a total d-bag. While I was living with him, I certainly didn't want to be his friend, and I think he would've fucked his Grateful Dead bootleg tapes if he could have figured out how to do it. We were nothing alike and in this case, proximity was just downright unfortunate and mandatory. I made up for this by sleeping as much as I could through the day, other than class times, and then having the night as my awake time.

This solved the problem of having to put up with him, but it really wasn't a healthy schedule for a freshman 800 miles from home to try to keep. I had more than one mental breakdown and only stayed for that single semester. I did make some basic friendships with some of the guys on the team, but I could tell from that short time there that I would never really be able to forge a bond with anyone from then, regardless of how close I physically was to them, unlike the study I was listening to suggested.

I am happy for people that can create these friendships, and I probably would be a better person today had I been able to at some point make some lasting friends during my years in and out of college. The exact opposite has happened though...I have slowly disconnected from and lost all the friendships I built up from high school and into early adulthood.

Did this story on NPR make me feel melancholy? Maybe a bit, but I've been feeling that way pretty regularly these days anyway. It just made me laugh just a little that as proximity can build friendships, I realized that I was always trying to get single rooms, live by myself outside of school, or was avoiding being social whenever I could.

Commentary on House Bill HR 3200 - America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:28:00 +0000

A family member forwarded me an email from someone they know that took a supposedly close look at this bill and wanted to point out to all concerned parties how much evil euthanasia, rationing, and downright bad Orwellian stuff is in this bill and on the overall agenda of the Obama-ites. Well, I decided to take about 8 hours out of my weekend and review all the claims in the aforementioned email to check for accuracy. If the things this person claimed were true, really were, then I would be worried, too. But it turns out that it's just more of the same old inflammatory, bush-league scare tactics from a typical right-winger.

The text below is formatted so that my responses are below each original claim. My words are in blue italics, his claims are in black text and not indented. This post is really long and I don't blame you if you don't read the whole thing, but I would recommend you do. There is so much mis-information out there right now, from Sarah Palin lying out of both sides of her mouth, to the typical wingnuts like Glenn Beck and others like him. It's good to be truly informed instead of led along like a dog on a leash, being fed lies like slop, day after day.

I don't think any healthcare reform is going to be perfect, and I think it's going to take longer than a month to craft good legislation, but it makes me sick that there are a lot of people out there saying no to this thing out of hand to try to score a political victory. Oh, don't worry about it you clever republicans, just keep saying no to everything and you'll find yourself right back in power on the Hill...yeah, good to see you're doing what's best for America and just playing politics, lying your asses off, and being beligerent about it. You'll never get my vote. Not ever.

My comments are based on review of the only actual bill that is officially viable as of 8-16-09, HR 3200. You can go here to read for it yourself - H.R.3200 - America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. Also important in this review is the Social Security Act.

The original email begins here:

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!

I only found the word audit in other sections, like ones talking about SEC 142(b)(2)“The commissioner shall, in coordination with States, conduct audits of qualified health benefits plan compliance with Federal requirements. Such audits may include random compliance audits and targeted audits in response to complaints or other suspected non-compliance.”

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get (read euthanasia)

Why ‘read euthanasia’ here? There are govt committees that recommend standards for all kinds of things, like they already do for Medicare for example, so highlighting euthanasia is only inflammatory.

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!! You can only get so much "care" per year

This claim is totally false! There is no mention of rationing in this section, and the only limitation mentioned is that of an individual or a family’s total yearly out-of-pocket costs. This section doesn’t dictate how much “care” you can get per year, it just specifies the most anyone would have to pay for all the care they do receive.

Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits 4 you. You have no choice!

This is what the pertinent section of the bill actually says “QUALIFIED PLAN STANDARDS- The establishment of qualified health benefits plan standards under this title, including the enforcement of such standards in coordination with State insurance regulators and the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury.” I read this to mean that the commissioner will establish standards (i.e. minimums) for plans, not take away your choices.

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise

FALSE!!! Here is the truth, directly from the language of the bill…” SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS - Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”

Pg 58HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access to individs finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!

Also in this section, “(b) Limitations on Use of Data- Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the use of information collected under this section in a manner that would adversely affect any individual.”

Here is the actual wording of the referenced section…” (D) enable the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card”

Now, ‘financial responsibility’ in this section does not mean the govt is going to look at your credit or your bank account, that’s just not true. Healthcare providers do this already, they check to ensure that you’re eligible for coverage for the person you’re trying to see, or the service you’re trying to get, that’s all…no bogeymen in this one, sorry.

And the National ID Healthcard…there’s nothing whatsoever in here about a National ID, and that is also just an inflammatory use of another common public fear of Big Brother. Oh, and there’s another thing we already do when we go to receive healthcare; hand over our insurance cards.

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer

This is a misleading statement, and is not spelled out in the bill. Since this section 4(C) comes right after the section that is mentioned above, 2(D), it more than likely means that it allows for immediate payment from your health insurance company for the amount they say they will cover, which has already been verified in the overall SEC 1173, of which this is a part. It really has nothing to do with the GOV taking your money at all it might have something to do with the HCP knowing instantly how much you are responsible for since the insurance has immediately paid their portion.

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community organisations (ACORN).

This claim is pure opinion and nothing like this is even remotely stated in the bill.

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Govt control.

PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the Exchange

Yes and no; the govt defines the minimums/base level coverage for plans to be eligible for inclusion the Exchange, not the totality of all plans and all options.

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!

False! The govt will not ration your healthcare, and this section in particular only talks about the creation of 3 tiers of plans, and that the commissioner will define the minimum/standard benefits for inclusion as a basic health care plan in the Exchange.

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services..... Example - Translation for illegal aliens

Another example – Braille for the blind. And I will reiterate that the bill specifically states that illegal aliens will not receive govt money for treatment!

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individually for Govt HC plan

In SEC 205, subsection c(3) this is what it says exactly, “(3) USE OF OTHER ENTITIES- In carrying out this subsection, the Commissioner may work with other appropriate entities to facilitate the dissemination of information under this subsection and to provide assistance as described in paragraph (2).” What difference does it make who the ‘other appropriate entities’ are anyway?

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Benefit Levels for Plans. AARP members - your Health care WILL be rationed

False! The govt will not ration your healthcare, and this section in particular only talks about the creation of 3 tiers of plans, and that the commissioner will define the minimum/standard benefits for inclusion as a basic health care plan in the Exchange.

-PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Individuals. will be automatically.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice

False! Let’s see what the ACTUAL bill says (SEC 205, subsection d(3)) and please note the bolded text near the end…”AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT OF MEDICAID ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS INTO MEDICAID- The Commissioner shall provide for a process under which an individual who is described in section 202(d)(3) and has not elected to enroll in an Exchange-participating health benefits plan is automatically enrolled under Medicaid.”

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monopoly

Can’t find this, so no comment yet.

pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make.

I think this is the section you’re referring to, but please correct me if I’m wrong. Even though you cite page numbers it can be difficult to be sure we are looking at the same thing, but here is a critical element that precedes any language… (SEC 223 subsection 1) ”The Secretary shall establish payment rates for the public health insurance option for services and health care providers consistent with this section and may change such payment rates in accordance with section 224.”

The bill doesn’t tell doctors what they can and can’t charge, it says what the govt will pay under the public option, that’s it. They already do this for Medicare anyway. There’s a huge difference between ‘telling YOU what you can make’ and setting payment standards for just the public insurance option.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public opt plan. NO CHOICE

SEC 312 subsection c is what I assume you’re talking about, and if so, you’re again ignoring the options available…i.e. you’re lying about there being NO CHOICE. I don’t want to be belligerent, but not only are there choices, there is no MUST enroll into the public plan! If you really do see that language, please quote it directly so I can understand…you can’t just read the headlines of a section and then not read the actual legally-binding language within that section.

Let’s look at the language for this particular section: “(1) IN GENERAL- The requirement of this subsection with respect to an employer and an employee is that the employer automatically enroll suchs [sic] employee into the employment-based health benefits plan for individual coverage under the plan option with the lowest applicable employee premium.

(2) OPT-OUT- In no case may an employer automatically enroll an employee in a plan under paragraph (1) if such employee makes an affirmative election to opt out of such plan or to elect coverage under an employment-based health benefits plan offered by such employer. An employer shall provide an employee with a 30-day period to make such an affirmative election before the employer may automatically enroll the employee in such a plan.

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.

Can’t find this, so no comment yet.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Employer with payroll 400k & above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll

I don’t see where it says any employer is taxed if they don’t provide the public option – I am looking in SEC 313 where the % tax table resides. In the rest of the bill they talk about any plan under the Exchange, not just the public option, so why is this section different? I could be wrong, but I think you’re being disingenuous by including the public option part of this comment.

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w/ payroll between 251k & 400k who doesn't provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

I don’t see where it says any employer is taxed if they don’t provide the public option – I am looking in SEC 313 where the % tax table resides. In the rest of the bill they talk about any plan under the Exchange, not just the public option, so why is this section different? I could be wrong, but I think you’re being disingenuous by including the public option part of this comment.

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5%

Correct – I think the idea is similar to being required to carry auto insurance…if you hit me and you didn’t have coverage, then all the costs are absorbed by me and my insurance company, which isn’t fair. If people either have a plan or are taxed, then there is money or a plan regardless of who gets ‘hit’ by an illness, etc.

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (You and I will pay for them)

According to US tax laws, a Non-resident Alien is “If a person does not meet either the Green Card or Substantial Presence Test, then that person is classified as a non-resident alien - A new arrival on a J-1 or F-1 visa is generally a non-resident alien” Also, Non-resident aliens are taxed only on their income from sources within the U.S. and on certain income connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the U.S. (source – Duke U. website)

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans financial/personal records

Let’s look at the whole picture, and read the actual bill, not just cherry pick certain phrases to try to scare people! First, the info they have access to is your tax return info, and only certain parts of it at that – oh no! The govt already has this! This bill is not giving them access to information they don’t already know.

SEC 431 “(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary, upon written request from the Health Choices Commissioner or the head of a State-based health insurance exchange approved for operation under section 208 of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, shall disclose to officers and employees of the Health Choices Administration or such State-based health insurance exchange, as the case may be, return information of any taxpayer whose income is relevant in determining any affordability credit described in subtitle C of title II of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.”

“(B) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED INFORMATION- Return information disclosed under subparagraph (A) may be used by officers and employees of the Health Choices Administration or such State-based health insurance exchange, as the case may be, only for the purposes of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing and verifying the appropriate amount of any affordability credit described in subtitle C of title II of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 and providing for the repayment of any such credit which was in excess of such appropriate amount.”

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC - "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that.

Yes, and it goes on to say…” The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax imposed by this chapter for purposes of determining the amount of any credit under this chapter or for purposes of section 55.” I am guessing this is sarcasm here?

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor will be very affected.

Can’t find this, so no comment yet.

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same

Can’t find this, so no comment yet.

PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr's time, professional judgments, etc. Literally value of humans.

The literal value of a human??? I didn’t see that in there, in fact, what I saw was a section about the Secretary using things like “work elements (such as time, mental effort and professional judgment, technical skill and physical effort, and stress due to risk) involved with furnishing a service” to evaluate the potential addition of, and fees associated, in the IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIALLY MISVALUED CODEs. This is what the whole section is about (SEC 1122)

I am not sure how one can extrapolate the value of a human being set into law from a section talking about identifying and updating billing codes?!

PG 265 Sec 1131Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries

This section of the bill amends the Social Security Act, which is current law, to include dates for implementation of productivity adjustments to the sections of the Act pertaining to ‘PAYMENT TO HOSPITALS FOR INPATIENT HOSPITAL SERVICES’ It doesn’t sound as sinister as this comment makes it out to be.

PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs

False! – c’mon, this small part only amends the Social Security Act by “(2) by striking ‘power-driven wheelchair’ and inserting ‘complex rehabilitative power-driven wheelchair recognized by the Secretary as classified within group 3 or higher’.”

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

This sounds scary, but guess what, it’s not rationing! I repeat; this rationing claim is false! SEC 1145 – “(A) STUDY- The Secretary shall conduct a study to determine if, under the system under this subsection, costs incurred by hospitals described in section 1886(d)(1)(B)(v) with respect to ambulatory payment classification groups exceed those costs incurred by other hospitals furnishing services under this subsection (as determined appropriate by the Secretary).”

“(B) AUTHORIZATION OF ADJUSTMENT- Insofar as the Secretary determines under subparagraph (A) that costs incurred by hospitals described in section 1886(d)(1)(B)(v) exceed those costs incurred by other hospitals furnishing services under this subsection, the Secretary shall provide for an appropriate adjustment under paragraph (2)(E) to reflect those higher costs effective for services furnished on or after January 1, 2011.”

This is not rationing, this is researching to find out why some hospitals charge more for the exact same services, and then granting the power to make adjustments to the fee scale that govt is willing to pay hospitals for those services. This is the stuff we should want to see more of in my opinion…let’s see where we can cut costs by finding out how much it actually does cost to perform a service, and holding providers to that reasonable standard.

Finally, to be clear, this section only updates Social Security law, meaning that it applies to Medicare and that’s it, unless I am mis-reading something?

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals for what Govt deems preventable re-admissions.

This section updates the Social Security Act, and just like these last few sections, only applies to Medicare. In general the intent behind the amendment is good I think because readmissions are more costly than keeping someone in the hospital in the first place and/or doing the job right the first time. Not that there aren’t other issues here and difficulties for hospitals, because they can’t control what someone does when they leave the hospital, for example.

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Doctors. what/how much they can own.

Hold on, in the context of this section of the bill (SEC 1156 (i) Requirements To Qualify for Rural Provider and Hospital Ownership Exceptions to Self-referral Prohibition-) the bill says that if you want to refer patients to a hospital that you are a part-owner or investor in, you cannot own more than ‘x’ % or expand beyond current levels. The bill also provides a provision for requesting an exception to this rule as well.

Also, this provides only for an amendment to the Social Security Act – SEC 1877, meaning this only applies to Medicare. As a physician you are not legally allowed to refer a patient to an entity providing healthcare if they have a financial relationship with that entity beforehand. There are many exceptions in the Act regarding physician services, group practices, etc.

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand

See comment directly above…

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have option to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!

Why is everyone so afraid of ACORN and why are they being dragged into the healthcare debate? Oh my, they’re so scary and stuff! C’mon, discussing the issues is great, but it’s better when people leave out the bogeymen that have nothing to do with the issues. Oh, and by the way, communities have input on all kinds of expansions…Wal-Mart can’t just waltz into town without some community input in most places.

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates establishment. of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing

Here’s what the bill actually says, and please be sure to read past the headline in all caps, because that’s where the ACTUAL important language is…

“SEC 1162 3(B)(ii) ESTABLISHMENT OF OUTCOME-BASED MEASURES- By not later than for 2013 the Secretary shall implement reporting requirements for quality under this section on measures selected under clause (iii) that reflect the outcomes of care experienced by individuals enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans (in addition to measures described in clause (i)”

So to determine Medicare payments in 2013 and beyond, the govt will rank the quality of measures using reporting from outcomes of those measures on actual patients. How is this even remotely anywhere near rationing? Please explain it to me if you can, because I really do want to understand how this is the same thing. Also, just to note, this affects only Medicare Advantage plans.

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing all into Govt HC plan

Again, read beyond the headline!!!!!!!

“SEC 1162 3(E)(iv) AUTHORITY TO DISQUALIFY CERTAIN PLANS- In applying clauses (ii) and (iii), the Secretary may determine not to identify a Medicare Advantage plan if the Secretary has identified deficiencies in the plan’s compliance with rules for such plans under this part.”

This is simply to apply a status to a plan on whether or not it qualifies for a ‘quality performance payment adjustment.’ I am not sure how this is supposed to end up “forcing all into govt HC plan.”

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs

False! This section modifies the SSA SEC 1859(f)(1), by “by striking ‘January 1, 2011’ and inserting ‘January 1, 2013 or January 1, 2016” which already restricts Medicare Adv plans to certain classes of special needs individuals (defined in SSA SEC 1859(b)(6)).

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Cmtte. Can you say HC by phone?

This section resides under Subtitle F - Medicare Rural Access Protections, and therefore makes more sense in this context. I certainly don’t want healthcare by phone, but it is understandable that it could be a valuable service in a rural environment (think poison control center hotline.)

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life. Seniors will be interviewed every year for health issues and decisions made as to what care you can or can't receive

False! - This claim is just pure bull*#&@, and I am going to try really hard to be civil here. I am sick of the outright lies about this section of the bill because it’s so easy to scare people with this topic. This is the infamous SEC 1233.

Seniors won’t be ‘interviewed’ about their health issues. And the section does not say anything about what care you can or can't receive! This is just an outright lie and it’s not in the bill anywhere. Here’s what is in the bill…”(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.”

The section says your doctor will get paid to talk to you about “advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.” You have every right to lay out in advance what care you ‘want or don’t want’ and this provision in the bill allows Medicare to pay for this conversation with your doctor every 5 years or if there’s a major change to your health status.

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

False – it’s absolutely not mandatory! You have the option to speak with your doctor about “advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.” The wording is “An explanation…”

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death

This is what the bill says, and it’s not as sinister as this claim makes it sounds…” (D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning, including the national toll-free hotline, the advance care planning clearinghouses, and State legal service organizations (including those funded through the Older Americans Act of 1965.)”

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The Govt has a say in how your life ends

FALSE! They will not have a say in how your life ends.

This section says that the bill “(I) ensures such orders are standardized and uniquely identifiable throughout the State; (II) distributes or makes accessible such orders to physicians and other health professionals that (acting within the scope of the professional’s authority under State law) may sign orders for life sustaining treatment; (III) provides training for health care professionals across the continuum of care about the goals and use of orders for life sustaining treatment; and (IV) is guided by a coalition of stakeholders includes representatives from emergency medical services, emergency department physicians or nurses, state long-term care association, state medical association, state surveyors, agency responsible for senior services, state department of health, state hospital association, home health association, state bar association, and state hospice association.

I for one am glad that this bill is trying to make clear, concise, and easily available, any wishes I might have for the end of my life. There are federal standards for all kinds of thing, and this will just add what is basically a paperwork standard to anybody on Medicare.

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An "adv. care planning consult" will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates

False – Here’s the bill itself, note the bolded words…” (B) An advance care planning consultation with respect to an individual may be conducted more frequently than provided under paragraph (1) if there is a significant change in the health condition of the individual, including diagnosis of a chronic, progressive, life-limiting disease, a life-threatening or terminal diagnosis or life-threatening injury, or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long-term care facility (as defined by the Secretary), or a hospice program.”

May, in legal terms, means can, not must. If your health status changes significantly you very well may want to have another talk with your doctor about advanced care planning, even if you had one within the last 5 years.

PG 429 Lines 10-12 "adv. care consultation" may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

False – it’s not an order from the govt, this is your doctor or nurse practitioner you’re talking to, not some bureaucrat! And of course you may come to a conclusion about end of life plans after talking with your doctor, why is that so unusual or ominous? Let’s not be spreading rumors that the govt will be creating orders for you or about you…that’s just cheap scare tactics as usual.

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

Let’s let the bill do the talking again…” (i) is signed and dated by a physician (as defined in subsection (r)(1)) or another health care professional (as specified by the Secretary and who is acting within the scope of the professional’s authority under State law in signing such an order, including a nurse practitioner or physician assistant)…”

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life

FALSE! Read the bill and you’ll see that this is untrue, these lines in the bill talk about the type of treatment you have specified for yourself! “(B) The level of treatment indicated under subparagraph (A)(ii) may range from an indication for full treatment to an indication to limit some or all or specified interventions. Such indicated levels of treatment may include indications respecting, among other items—“

Section A(ii) referenced in this quote is “…communicates the individual’s preferences regarding life sustaining treatment, including an indication of the treatment and care desired by the individual;”, meaning that your preferences determine what level of treatment you will have at end of life, not the bloody govt.

Pg 469 - Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit organizations. Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?

Again with ACORN. I don’t get it. This section also applies to churches and other relief organizations as well. Does ACORN work directly with physicians to supply medical home services to high-needs beneficiaries?

Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment to a community-based org. Like ACORN?

Just stop it with ACORN already. And separately, if you provided a service, would you not want payment for that service? This part of the bill just says that if you’re a community-based organization providing medical home services to patients, you’ll get paid once a month.

PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage

This section amends the SSA SEC 1861. Govt being inserted into your marriage??? Where does this happen? The bill simply indicates Medicare will cover these types of services from a therapist when otherwise it would have to have been a physician to be reimbursed by Medicare.

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those services

There is no rationing! This section also amends the SSA SEC 1861 and also just states that mental health counseling is covered when it is performed by licensed professionals other than your normal doctor. Please show me the part of the bill where the govt will be creating and rationing mental health services, because I can’t find it.

se types of services from a therapist when otherwise it would have to have been a physician to be reimbursed by Medicare.

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those services

Bell's Amber Ale - TASTY!

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I am not a beer snob, but at least 70% of the time I reach for a beer in a market, I reach for a micro or an import. I found a new brewer at the local market and I keep trying a new beer of theirs everytime I go back to shop. The brewery is Bell's, out of Kalamazoo, MI, and so far I've tried these:

Third Coast Beer

Amber Ale

Kalamazoo Stout

Lager Beer

Special Double Cream Stout

I have enjoyed each of these immensely. These are the kind of beers that you can drink 2 in a night and feel like you've just been given some good news - you've got just a twinkling of a warm buzz and the taste on your tongue is so pleasant. The alcohol content on these range from the 5's on up...they also range in price from $8 to $18 for a sixer from what I've seen, so my poor wallet regrets me ever discovering this foul temptress!

This post is about the Amber Ale specifically, but I wanted to just rap about the brand overall and my initial experience with the varieties I've tried to date. I came home the other day after a hot, 10-hour day in the office with no lunch other than crackers and water at my desk, and I had decided to pick up some deli meats and cheeses and a six of Bell's Amber on the way home as a treat.

So here's the whole reason I am writing this...I knocked the cap off in the kitchen and was walking upstairs when I had my first sip. And just as an FYI, I hardly ever pour a beer at home, I almost always just drink straight from the bottle. As I lightly swished that first heavenly sip, I literally stopped in my tracks. It was the equivalent of a comedic double-take. Since I was home alone I had no cause to be dramatic, yet I stopped and looked at the bottle in silence for a few moments as I savored that incredible first taste.

I have had A LOT of different beers in my relatively short 'day', if you will, and this is one tasty oat soda. It surprised me. That's not something that happens very often. To me it has the tiniest bit of sweetness to it and it's not very hoppy. You have to check it out, and I wish I could compare it to some beers you may already know, but I am not coming up with any fair comparisons right now. I don't think you'll be disappointed though.

Here is Bell's description of the Amber Ale:

Our flagship beer is made from mostly pale malt with some Munich and caramel malts. This gives it a slightly sweet flavor that is balanced by a melange of American hops. The result is a deep copper color and rich flavor.

Here's a cool profile of Bell's brewery and all the different beers that they make.

Here's the official Bell's Beer website.

It's Only a Pyramid

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Foul and dry. Dust and dread. It's only a pyramid.
It's only life as god or subject.
Wind and poison. For the truth...for the king.
I am no king, I have no truth,
and I am not a builder.

I am not a man living in a time.
What I am is not.

Let the rain come, let the slag run off the roofs,
into the streets - onto the everydays, the usuals.

For each dream whisping up into the hot night,
another midnight thought, awake, descends.

Caution - Zombies!

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:47:00 +0000

If this isn't the coolest prank ever...

I Met Someone

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:11:00 +0000

Yep, it's true. This old hermit has stumbled upon an amazing, talented, and beautiful woman who actually likes him! I know! Seriously, I am not lying. I keep having to convince myself this is really happening...kinda like a vivid dream where when you wake up you cower in bed under the covers, mortified, thinking that the horrible things you did in that dream in fact did happen.

My arm is bruised from pinching myself so often. I am still drinking it all in and I am trying my best not to suspect this is all an enormous cosmic joke for being this lucky to have met her.

14 Hands Cabernet - WOW

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:28:00 +0000

I was at Dolce Vita in Little Italy in Cleveland, OH the other day. First of all, the atmosphere and the service there were first rate. I'd go back there in a heartbeat. I had the 4-cheese ravioli in a special alfredo sauce...mmmm.

Anyway, on to the wine (the point of this post.) I ordered a glass of '06 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon made by Clos du Bois. It's from the Jerry Garcia collection. So, I had my heart set on this, and I was disappointed thusly when our server told us there was none to be found. However, they had a replacement called 14 Hands Cabernet. I shrugged, crinkled up my eyebrows and said 'sure, let's have a glass of that.' Very literary response, indeed.

She brings out the nice crystal glass filled with the 14 Hands and I say thank you, etc., etc. It smelled amazing, and the first thing I thought of when I took a sip after allowing the aromas to fully penetrate my brain, 'this wine is awesome!' Surely you can tell I am no wine critic or possessor of an enlightened nose, but I know awesome wine. Also, it was served at what for me is the perfect temperature. I have been drinking a good variety of reds lately, and this one truly stood out the instant the first sip swirled around in my mouth.

Go and buy this wine! It went nicely with the heavy cheese and alfredo ravioli I ate, and I would drink this wine with just about anything honestly; it was just that good.

Reports Omit Details About the Recent Israeli Bombing of Gaza

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Hamas fired many rockets and mortars into Israel over the last couple of weeks. Israel then sent warplanes into Gaza and bombed over 30 separate targets and killed 192 people (as of today's reports) and wounded almost 300. Hamas is threatening revenge and Israel is threatening more attacks.

Both of the articles below lay out these facts in a similar fashion, yet they do not include a critical detail...that Israel, up until the 26th, had completely blockaded Gaza for the past 10 days. Completely. Almost 1/2 of Palestinians in the Gaza strip rely on foreign aid to survive (food, fuel, & humanitarian aid.) This quote from an earlier Reuters article brings to the front one of core reasons for rocket fire and Hamas violence overall:

Gaza, a largely impoverished coastal enclave, has been under a heightened Israeli blockade since Hamas seized control of the territory from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement in 2007.

Articles about the Israeli bombing runs inside Gaza - Reuters and AP respectively

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSLR1342320081227?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&sp=true

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

Part 1 - The Great New England Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:40:00 +0000

Just a quick post now because I need to take some time to sort through and process all the digital pics and videos I took on the road. Overall, the trip was amazing and I feel refreshed physically and mentally. Even though I planned this trip almost 2 months ago, it turns out that it couldn't have come at a better time...and not even a single day too soon.

Short List of the Good:
Bowery Poetry Club - Greenwich village, New York
The Cuban Revolution - Providence, Rhode Island
Petey's Summertime Seafood & Bar - Rye, New Hampshire

Short List of the Not-so-Good:
The Philly traffic - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
High Gas Prices - Everywhere

Well those are short lists as promised. Cheers until next time.

It Just Gets Worse...

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:02:00 +0000

OR - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Emptiness

So - had a decent weekend, wasn't feeling like killing myself every hour upon the hour. I called my psych last week because I was feeling REALLY bad and was having trouble doing anything at work besides thinking about ways to die. I called and called and called, and I finally got a hold of someone, and my doc got a hold of me, and I got set up with this group therapy thing that was supposed to start today.

Well I am not a fan of groups, but I need to do something, and I am not sure I am ready to jump back into the hospital for a week, especially since I am leaving for my road trip on Friday. Anyway, I leave work, cruise down to the health and wellness center about 40 minutes away, and park. This building is huge, and there are so many hallways, with so many numbers on so many doors, and very few signs identifying one from the other. After wandering about 5 minutes I found the behavioral health office.

I go in, do all the standard paperwork, etc., and I sit down in this comfy chair to wait. This is my first night so I need to get some talky-time with the main person there, and then I figure the group counseling will start; though I don't know for sure. As I was sitting there, I started counting all the ways that I could kill myself in that waiting room before they came out to get me:

Definitely Would Work

Break the coffee pot and use the glass to cut my wrists/throat, etc.

Might Work

Take out a light bulb from a hanging fixture, lick my thumb, and stick it up into the socket
Turn over the water cooler container and empty it into the trashcan, then stick my head in
Yank the cord out of the lamp, tie it up, and hang myself on my knees with the cord attached to a door handle

I figure 4 ways isn't that bad for a waiting room in a behavioral health clinic. I don't even get in there though because after completing my paperwork and waiting for a while, I start to get cold feet. Another patient went in before me so I knew I would have to wait. I set a time and thought, if she doesn't come out and get me by X:XX then I will walk out. So that's what I did...I even gave her a couple of extra minutes when I was feeling unsure about my decision. It's not her fault really. So I went and grabbed some dinner at Boston Market - Barbecue chicken sandwich and a side of mac & cheese...great comfort food.

Basically what I am getting at is that I am still in fucking despair. I want to be excited about my trip, and my life, and all the good things in it...but it's just so exhausting. I don't know if I'll ever get through this cycle but for now I will keep trying. It's getting old though.

Medicine updates - more Lamictal and Prozac

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:38:00 +0000

So I had a productive appt. with my Psychiatrist on Friday the 12th. We bumped my Lamictal dose from 300mg/day to 375mg/day, and we bumped the Prozac dose from 60mg/day to 80mg/day. There was a student with her in the session who was shadowing her and getting experience with real patients. She asked me if that was cool and I said yes, but I would be lying if I said that I felt 100% comfortable with it - I caught myself pausing before saying things because a few things I was embarassed to say around someone new.

I am having a rough month and I am in the middle of a strong period of pure depression. Normally I go through a prolonged heavy depression starting in October, give or take a week...so lucky me, I am starting early this year. Since I am single now it's a bit harder to keep things in perspective without my girlfriend to be that soothing, reassuring, and realistic voice.

I have a 10-day road trip planned in October and I am really hoping that I don't feel so bad that I don't want to go anymore. I have 6 nights at different places booked already, so I'd be throwing away some serious cash if I don't go. Two years ago I tried a similar, but less-planned, road trip and I only got 300 miles away and after one night I turned back. Although, I usually find that road trips are a good way to just clear out the mind and leave all the regular stresses and routines behind for a while. I am looking forward to it both for that reason, and because it's 10-straight days off.

I have also been having a lot of headaches lately and though I am getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night, I am still very very tired in the morning and it's difficult to get out of bed. On the weekends I usually sleep about 75% of the entire time. Oh well.

The couple who lived in a mall and Dawn of the Dead

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:28:00 +0000

The couple who lived in a mall | Salon Life

After Michael Townsend and Adriana Yoto found their skyline blighted by a colossal mall, they protested it in an unusual way -- they moved in.

By Lisa Selin Davis

"In 2003, inside a 750-foot storage space, abandoned since construction days, they crafted a secret apartment within the mall from which they could study its allure. Why do so many of us flock to the mall's sanitized hallways? Why do we love the sameness of mall life, identical shops and structures across the country?"

Ok - so I was talking to my friend, Jason, at work on Friday. Out of the blue I had the urge to watch Dawn of the Dead (1978). It's the sequel to Night of the Living Dead by George Romero. In 'Dawn' a group of survivors hole up in a massive mall. They live there, creating a decently comfortable life considering all of the flesh-hungry zombies just outside the glass doors. Of course this was no 21st Century mall...this place had several decadent restaurants, a sporting goods store with a small arsenal of weapons, etc. This was a throw-back to malls as they were originally envisioned; a place to connect with the rest of humanity and buy anything and everything you might need.

Naturally their lives don't remain so comfortable and carefree as outside forces are determined to enter the mall at all costs. This isn't meant to be a review of Dawn of the Dead, but it is interesting that one day after having a strong urge to watch a movie where people move into a mall and live there, that I would see the Salon article about two people living in a mall for 4 years!

The mall that they filmed 'Dawn' in was in Monroeville, PA which is just outside Pittsburgh. I live about 2.5 hours away, in Ohio, so I may have to check that place out. Anyway, there was a strong 'living in malls' vibe about me recently...just thought I'd share.

Solitude Sometimes Is

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:34:00 +0000

Solitude Sometimes Is
Life that no longer exists
Solitude Sometimes Is
When there's nothing left to give
Solitude Sometimes Is - Manic Street Preachers

There I go again thinking that I am actually attractive in anyway whatsoever. Even in a small, innocent way - NO! Not even then. Not ever. Mistaking friendship for something more is a special skill I seem to have acquired over the years and it hurts like a sonofabitch when it is properly employed.

It had been awhile since I have felt that - but the pain is so resonant, so familiar, so expected.

5 Years Later: Pundits Who Were Wrong on Iraq Are Silent

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:50:00 +0000

5 Years Later: Pundits Who Were Wrong on Iraq Are Silent

This is a great article on the punditry, particularly David Brooks, that clamored for war and disparaged those who advocated for diplomacy, and how they are now silent. For the most part they do not revisit their war-mongering and distaste for those who prefer dialogue over laser-guided bombs. Iraq is a mess, our soldiers, sailors, and marines are dying and being disabled every day, and many informed opinions exclaim their exasperation at what now looks to become a decades-long occupation.

Generals and Admirals have spoken out; and many of those same patriots have lost their jobs because of it. It's American to have opinions and voice them strongly without fear of redress. Yet those who stir up public anger, xenophobia, and mistrust in an effort to launch a war should not be allowed to forget their mistakes. They should own up to their misguided hubris, admit they were wrong and that their opinions may have helped grease the wheels of the Bush war machine. Hawkish Republicans have bunkered themselves in against the backlash for the war in Iraq. Hawkish pundits have mostly done the same...yet hiding and pretending does not change history or the words that were spoken to shape it.

Contrary to Many an Opinion, the United States Will Not Implode if a Democrat is Elected in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:06:00 +0000

The following is a response I penned regarding the included email about the Gore vs. Bush 2000 election and the dangers of voting Democrat this year. The original email sent to me has been circulating since 2000 in one form or another. The exact text of the email is intact and has a colored, graphic background for clarity.

Not to stir up a hornet's nest, but I felt that I had to respond. Here's a link to an analysis of not only the quotes, but the numbers behind the points presented. I'll include some of the highlights here, but please check out the link for the full explanation. The pieces from the Snopes story are directly below the points in the original email and they are bolded in blue. Also I have included additional research and opinions as an extension to the overall topic of this email. Thanks!

The Snopes article - http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/tyler.asp

LeftoverJoe

Protected Subject: Fwd: Subject: How long does the USA have?

How Long Does The USA Have?

Just a Reminder.

BE VERY CAREFUL WHO YOU VOTE FOR IN 2008

HOW LONG DOES THE USA HAVE?

This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time.

The sad thing about it, you can see it coming.
I have always heard about this democracy countdown. It is
interesting to see it in print. God help us, not that we deserve it.

How Long Do We Have?

About the time o ur original thirteen states adopted their new
constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'
''A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'' From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result t hat every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'' 'Th e average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'' ''During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2.From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy,
7. From apathy to dependence;

8. From dependence back into bondage'

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law,

...Olson said the "research" was attributed to him erroneously. He said it came from a Sheriff Jay Printz in Montana. I e-mailed Sheriff Printz, and guess what? He didn't do the research either, and didn't remember who had e-mailed it to him.

In other words, he got the same legend e-mailed to him and passed it on to Olson without checking it out, and when Olson passed it on, someone thought it sounded better if a law professor had done the research, and so it grew.

Who knows where it originally came from, but it's just not true.

St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29

Square miles of land won by
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), in the year 2000 the national murder rate was about 5.5 per 100,000 residents. Homicide data by county for 1999 and 2000 can be downloaded from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NAJCD), and the counties won by Gore and Bush can be identified using the county-by-county election results made available by CNN. (The NACJD provides not only the number of reported murders for each county, but also the population for each.) The average murder rate in the counties won by Gore vs. the rate in the counties won by Bush can be determined from this data.

By calculating the murder rate for each county and then taking the averages, we find a murder rate (defined as number of murders per 100,000 residents) of about 5.2 for the "average" Gore county and 3.3 for the average Bush county. But since people, rather than counties, commit murders, a more appropriate approach is to calculate the total number of murders in the counties won by each candidate and divide that figure by the total number of residents in those counties. This more appropriate method yields the following average murder rates in counties won by each candidate:

# Gore: 6.5

# Bush: 4.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country.

Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...

A map of the counties that Bush and Gore won in 2000:

My own personal insight and research: Most of the counties Gore won are from more populous areas than Bush won. Of the top ten cities in terms of population in the country, seven of them were won by Gore...the only three he didn't win were cities in Texas. Bush largely won the rural areas and poorer states. A study was prepared for the Us Health and Human Services Bureau (http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/social-welfare-spending04/summary.htm).

It concluded that "States of less fiscal capacity spent less per capita on social welfare than states with higher per capita incomes. These differences between rich and poor states resulted largely from differences in states’ spending from their own sources of revenue. The distribution of federal funds neither greatly diminished nor greatly increased state differences in spending.

"That is, more federal money went to rich states than to poor states, but poor states relied more heavily on the federal government to support their social programs."

...also...

"Case studies of six states of low fiscal capacity and high social needs indicated that the basic trends in spending found among poor states before 2000 continued after that year. When we examined what happened in the six poor states after 2000 — and through 2003, when the case studies were completed — we found that the trends identified between 1977 and 2000 generally continued. Per capita Medicaid spending increased in most states between federal FYs 2000 and 2003, and the growth was greater among the six poor states in our sample than for all states."

So, despite the poorer, rural voters supporting Bush, and this email claiming that the people that supported Gore were largely welfare leaches and government subsidized to the hilt, more of Bush's supporters relied more heavily on government welfare money.

Olson believes the United State s is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

Apathy is dangerous no matter who's side in you're on or what you believe. But to the point that is mis-attributed to Olsen in the above paragraph; the middle class is shrinking rapidly, the boomers are retiring making for many more medicare and social security obligations, and the disparity between the wealthiest and the poorest is growing quickly. Here's one example:

Paul Street in his article on the disproportion of wealth in the US (https://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/2077), writes..."Corporate profit margins are higher than they have been in more than half a century, according to Merril Lynch economist David Rosenburg. After tax profits are now equal to 8.5 percent of the GDP - that's more than a trillion dollars - and the highest percent since the end of World War II in 1945. A June 2006 report by the leading investment bank Goldman Sachs aptly summed it up: 'The most important contribution to the higher profit margins over the past five years has been a decline in Labor's share of national income.'"

William Domhoff writes (http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html) "The ratio of CEO pay to factory worker pay rose from 42:1 in 1960 to...411:1 in 2005."

According to another section of the Domhoff article...

Figure 7: CEOs' average pay, production workers' average pay, the S&P 500 Index, corporate profits, and the federal minimum wage, 1990-2005 (all figures adjusted for inflation)

Source: Executive Excess 2006, the 13th Annual CEO Compensation Survey from the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.

With corporate profits and CEO pay surging, the wealthiest top 2% owning over 50% of the countries wealth, and stagnant working wages despite rising food, fuel, and other costs, it's no wonder that people are growing weary of the system and not participating...they're busy just slogging through life. When our "representatives" are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on election campaigns it's no surprise that the above-claimed 40% are apathetic because there's no evidence that they can make a difference anymore.

Domhoff also notes that in 1998 the share of wealth held by the top 1% of the population was almost 40%, and it's only grown since then. Also, the top 1% receive 20% of the country's income as of 2000.

Also from Domhoff's report..."A key factor behind the high concentration of income, and the likely reason that the concentration has been increasing, can be seen by examining the distribution of what is called "capital income": income from capital gains, dividends, interest, and rents. In 2003, just 1% of all households -- those with after-tax incomes averaging $701,500 -- received 57.5% of all capital income, up from 40% in the early 1990s. On the other hand, the bottom 80% received only 12.6% of capital income, down by nearly half since 1983, when the bottom 80% received 23.5%. Figure 5 and Table 7 provide the details."

So, please consider all of these facts, opinions, and observations. If a Democrat becomes the next President, we're not going to suddenly begin a five-year countdown to the oblivion of the American way of life...it's already happening for a large percentage of the country right now. I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, concerns about the original email and my responses. Thanks!

Joe

If you are in favor of this then delete this message if you are not then Pass this along to help everyone, realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

Thanks for reading.

For People I Love

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:26:00 +0000

I can't make it work. This whole thing is an illusion and it's so hard to keep others out of this...wouldn't want them in even if it was easier. I have hurt people, and I have said stupid things. How many fucking times will I just shut down and shut you all out? I am sorry.

I still love you. That hasn't changed. I am feeling in trouble and the ever-tightening spiral of black, spiky sorrow rips into the soft, spongy gray of my brain. I watch things at work go by like pieces of time through cloudy glass, voices like a skipping record of children laughing...over and over.

The man poised on the tower swivels, slips, and regrets nothing...save the exact manner of his head splashing on the limestone below. He'd have rather landed feet first, in a comical expression of compression, though without the cartoon bounce in the opposite direction.

We fall so fast. We let subtlety clutter our spaces and corrupt our tongues. To be free from it; free from everything; that is heaven.

Insomnia is a Piece of Crap

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:41:00 +0000

First the quote - this may explain things...

Sometimes we don't come through,
Sometimes we just get by.
- The Go-Betweens

So much for sleeping. It's like a lost art that I have taken for granted for years, and so now I have forgotten how to do it. It seems simple, but it is anything but. I recently have been experimenting w/ alcohol plus Seroquel to get more than a couple of hours of fitful rest in one night...and even that has failed to produce a full night of sleep. I am reticent to push the dosages of either the alcohol or the Seroquel too much, but it may come to that.

I feel a bit like Edward Norton in Fight Club; pretty soon I'll be beating the shit out of myself in an empty parking lot at two in the morning. Enough on this subject, I think. It is what it is.

fin

Looking Forward to 2008

noreply@blogger.com (LeftoverJoe) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:19:00 +0000

It's been a long while since I've posted and now that I have graduated I will have much more time on my hands. I have already started to paint again...just finished one up this evening in fact. I have even been doing a bit of sculpting too. I got myself an acoustic guitar for a graduation present, and I am back at lessons. It's fun being able to be creative with my time instead of reading hundreds of pages of dry material every week and having a new paper to write every week or two.

My treatment for manic depression / bi-polar, has been going very well. One thing that sucks is that I have been having some wicked insomnia for almost a year now. I've been trying some different things, and nothing has been the silver bullet yet. I have some prescription meds but they pretty much knock me out and it's hard to wake up at 6:00 in the morning then. I just got some 5-HTP natural supplements. It's supposed to have all kinds of magical stuff in there...we'll see.

I better get back to sketching out some new ideas before I lose them. Cheers.