The Health Care Conundrum (My Take)

All of this talk over the past few months about the American health care system has gotten me thinking. Obviously there is no simple solution, and certainly not one that will make everyone happy, but upon looking at my own situation, I think that it would work quite well for the majority of Americans.
As a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I am entitled to 100% medical coverage from the VA. I can go to any VA clinic or hospital for free, and if they cannot accommodate any treatment or condition, the simply refer me to a private provider that can. I also pay for private health insurance from my employer. The VA has my private insurance on file and charges them what is essentially a co-pay.
Sure, I could easily just let the VA take care of everything, but having additional, private insurance gives me the freedom to see a doctor of my own choosing outside of the VA network, as well as fill prescriptions at non-VA pharmacies. I don't opt for the top-of-the-line private plan, but I do choose the one that best suites me just as I would if I did not have my government benefits. Now, I may be a bit overoptimistic here, but I like to think that most people would feel the same.
In addition, a public health care system will never get the necessary support if the plan is to penalize people for not taking advantage of private options. Rather, we should be focusing on ways to encourage people to take advantage of these options and emphasise the benefits such as greater freedom when choosing a health care provider and quicker, more convenient access to care.
That's my two cents anyway. I figured everyone else was throwing theirs in, so I might as well too. Technorati Tags: health care medical government doctor insurance

Photo courtesy of wotthe7734

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Watching the Watchmen at the Hill AFB, UT Air Show

China Blocking Social Networking, Blogging Sites

In anticipation of the 20th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square protests this Thursday, the People's Republic of China has blocked at least a dozen websites such as Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, Wordpress and Blogger. This is an outrageous attempt to censer history by a country that just last year opened it's doors to the world for the 2008 Summer Olympics. As a representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said, "The Chinese government stops at nothing to silence what happened 20 years ago in Tienanmen Square." Reportedly, some of the blocked sites are still accessible through proxies and VPN clients. The Chinese have also prohibited foreign news crews from filming in Tienanmen Square.

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Memorial Day Weekend

NerdBomb radio is celebrating Memorial Day with a weekend of revolutionary music and music by revolutionary people as well as news and editorial features.

A Brief Introduction to Chemtrails

Remember being a kid and watching planes flying by overhead, seeing the trail of condensation from the exhaust (commonly known as a contrail) quickly dissipate behind the aircraft? Have you looked up lately? Those trails don't dissipate so quickly anymore. In fact, they can often last for as long as half a day or more, their crisscross patterns slowly merging into a single large cloud. These are what are known as chemtrails, and it is a phenomenon that has been documented since 1996.
Who is responsible for these chemtrails and what their purpose is has always been a point of speculation. Some people believe that this is a last ditch effort by the government to stop global warming by putting particles in the atmosphere to absorb or reflect the sun's rays. On the more extreme end is the idea that this is related to a population control program being perpetrated by the Bilderberg Group or some other New World Order-type organization. The highest numbers of reported chemtrail sightings come from North America, Western Europe, Japan, the Koreas and China.
Of course the governments of the affected nations have denied the existence chemtrails, generally passing it off as an "Internet hoax." All anyone has to do, however, is to look at the sky on a clear day and it is obvious that this is a very real, and potentially dangerous, reality. Regardless of who the perpetrators are or what their cause is, the people deserve to know the truth! We need to urge our elected officials in Washington to look into the chemtrail phenomenon and we must make full disclosure or goal. There are a number of chemtrail resources on the web that you can visit for more information such as the Chemtrails Data Page, Chemtrail Cenral, the Educate-Yourself.org chemtrail page and the Wikipedia Chemtrail conspiracy theory page, just to name a few.

These are some pictures I took from my apartment this afternoon of some chemtrails that had been persisting for at least five hours:

Was It the Government, Reptilians, or Government Reptilians?

Before I get into my story, allow me to present some background information for those who do not know me. I grew up in Hyde Park, New York, a small town about 90 miles north of New York City right on the Hudson River. When I was 20, I joined the U.S. Air Force and ended up in Ogden, Utah where I have lived for almost 6 years. I'm now 27 years old, and I don't drink or do drugs. I recently had knee surgery, so I have been taking Percacet for the pain, but I have been keeping my doses relatively low as I have a fairly high tolerance for pain. I have taken Percacet in the past with very minimal side effects and certainly none as severe as hallucinations.
I recently moved into a new apartment and since I have been here, my dog (a long-haired chihuahua named Daisy) has been acting very strange. She sits in the bedroom staring at the corner or tracking unseen objects across the ceiling, often barking or growling at what as far as I can tell is empty space. I asked my friends who lived here previously if they had ever noticed anything strange and they said that had not, and neither had their young son seemed to pick up on anything out of the ordinary.
Anyway, I went to bed around 1 o'clock this morning and was lying there with Daisy and my friend Stephanie when the room suddenly seemed to get brighter. I thought, "Damn, the sun's coming up already." but realized that it was only a little after 1 a.m., much too early for that. I attributed the light to Steph's phone and started to drift back to sleep. That's when things got really strange.
I started to hear a very high-pitched noise, like an old photocopier. Not completely odd given the amount of old computer hardware I have running in my apartment. The strange part is that the sound seemed to be coming from inside my head. I have no idea how long this went on for because I could not move my body and my clock was outside of my peripheral vision. The noise continued to grow more intense and began to be accompanied by bright lights appearing in my field of vision. the only thing that I could think of was that my brain was being scanned by someone or something.
I tried to resist it with moderate success until I heard a disembodied voice say, "Okay, the dog then." I could hear Daisy start whimpering and shaking against my leg and I thought, "Leave her alone, just do what you need to me." I was suddenly overwhelmed with bright lights and this high-pitched scanning noise, then suddenly it was gone. I still could not move anything but my eyes, nor could I speak. The only thing I could do to get Stephanie's attention was to breath hard enough for her to hear me. She asked me if I was okay, and I said yeah, because I couldn't even begin to explain what had just happened.
When we woke up this morning, Steph said that Daisy and I had both had bad dreams last night. I told her that that was no dream and explained to her what had happened. She said that she had seen some lights similar to those that I saw, but who- or whatever was in my head seems to have left her alone.
I'm sure most people who read this will think I'm just a cook or that I had a vivid dream brought on by the pain meds. That's fine, as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. All I can say is that it seemed very real to me, and as they drilled into our heads in the military, perception is reality.
Photo courtesy of Cal-el

Gotta Plug the Homies

C-Jizzle and Dynamite spit stupid bars for the camera

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So Who Are the Real Ecoterrorists?

"The term ecological terrorists, or ecoterrorists, refers to those individuals who independently and/or in concert with others engage in acts of violence and employ tactics commonly associated with terrorism to further their sociopolitical agenda aimed at animal and/or environmental protection."

That is the opening sentence of a DHS Universal Adversary Dynamic Threat Assessment dated May 7, 2008 titled Ecoterrorism: Environmental and Animal -Rights Militants in the United States. According to this document, anyone who physically intervenes to prevent another from harming an animal and/or the environment is essentially a terrorist. Are the soldiers who defeated the Nazis and freed the Jews from Auschwitz and other concentration camps terrorists? Are the police officers who arrested Josef Fritzl, who repeatedly raped his own daughter while she was imprisoned in his basement for 24 years? You would be hard pressed to find anyone who would say that they were. So why then is someone who destroys lab equipment used to conduct needles and torturous tests on innocent animals, or kidnaps an oil company executive responsible for a leaking pipeline poisoning the entire food chain any different?
They are different because while the capitalists make billions of dollars each year destroying the planet, they have not yet figured out how to profit from protecting it. It is a well known fact that money equals influence, and as such the powers that be are obligated to protect the interests of the wealth profiteers benefiting from torture and cruelty. What's the most effective way to do this in post-9/11 America? Label anyone who actively opposes them a terrorist, instantly stripping away their constitutional rights.
By this reasoning, it is clear that as long as big corporations continue to profit from torture and destruction, the situation will only get worse. So what can the average person do? Talk is cheap, but raiding labs and sabotaging factories is not for everyone, as many of us have families and careers of our own to consider. However, we can all support our brothers and sisters on the front lines by taking some very simple actions such as not supporting companies that test on animals and urging our elected officials at all levels to pass stronger environmental regulations. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for such a large scale problem as this, but we can all do our part and spread the word to put the true ecoterrorists out of business.

The original DHS document can be viewed here via WikiLeaks

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Failed By the System, Again

Two weeks ago, I was cited for driving on a suspended license, and as I go to court tomorrow morning for the citation I figured I should call the DMV and find out why my license was suspended. Yes, I had to call them myself because I was never notified that my license was suspended. And this is not the first time this has happened to me. As a matter of fact, it is the third time that my driver's license has been suspended without my being notified. Even better is the reason that it is suspended.
Previosly, I had been cited for driving without valid proof of insurance. I had insurance at the time but did not have my ID card in the vehicle, so the officer told me just to bring it with me to court and show it to the judge and it would be dropped. Well, I did, and it wasn't. The judge said that it wasn't specific enough, that I needed to show something from the insurance company stating that I was insured at the specific time and date that I was cited. I have since brought at least half a dozen printouts and letters from my insurance company stating that I was, in fact, insured at the time and date in question and none of them have been "specific enough" for this judge. This is still an ongoing and open case, and as such should not appear on my driving record, but alas, this is why my license has been suspended.
Yes, according to the gentleman I spoke with at the DMV this afternoon, my driver's license has been suspended for "operating a motor vehicle without valid insurance." In essence, I am being punished for a crime for which I have not yet even been convicted. To top it all off, it will cost me $95 to get my license reinstated regardless of the outcome of the insurance case. If this is not a prime example of a capitalist corporate government at work then I don't know what is.

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Sunday Insomnia

It's about 2:40 on a Sunday afternoon, I have to be to work in less than 6 and a half hours and I'm wide awake. So, I figured I might as well take advantage of this situation and be at least somewhat productive. I've caught up on some phone calls to the family back east, did a little apartment hunting online and posted some stuff up for sale on Craigslist (here and here).

This morning after work I took a trip down to the VA hospital in Salt Lake City because my finger was swollen and oozing some sort of yellowish fluid from underneath the cuticle. Apparently it is some sort of infection (thanks, doc. I never would have guessed that one on my own.) and I was given some antibiotics and sent merrily on my way.
Now I think it's time to catch up on some anime and/or reading and possibly squeeze in an hour or two of sleep.

New Year, New Beginning

At The risk of sounding cliche, I am looking at the new year as a chance to start over, be more proactive and more productive. First and foremost is the search for a new apartment. Then, hopefully, a new, more streamlined and focused website or two. I'm moving on with my life, letting go of the past and embracing the future. As one of my former co-workers would have said, "Big changes, big changes."