Sunday, August 07, 2005
Glad We're Both Fine, Dimitri
I spent the last quite a few days catching up on shit that had accumulated, both literally and figuratively, during my previous absence. Wiping the shit off my hands finally today after attending the LANL protests in LA (yesterday was Hiroshima Day, you’ll recall) to sit in front of the computer, what do I discover? Well, according to AP, the good people of California are getting another proposition to vote on. Only this time, it has legs that walk upright. No link, but the AP article says:
Big Pharma? Illegal profiteering? B-but they make medicines to help people, right? They plow their obscene profits right back into research for new cures, right?
Sheeee-it. I got my hospital bill the other day and—even with some insurance—it’ll take me months to pay it off. And all they did was stitch me up a little and “observe” me for a concussion, which they concluded was light enough to discharge me after a day and night.
It’s a nice start, California, but let’s focus on candidates in ’06 who’ll really talk about the state of health care in this glorious land of greed and profiteering, and then DO something about it. Let’s talk about how to get rid of nukes once and for all, not “strategic nukes” and “increasing nuclear energy resources.”
Now, I’m for another tot or 3 of this bottle of Maker’s Mark you Correntians talked me into trying (good call, btw), and a nap, perchance to dream of the kind of America people like Emma G., and Eugene V. Debs, and RFK and MLK described, not this one where poor people have no options for health care, and our leaders actually discuss “nuclear options” with a straight face.
Of course, then I recall my recent trips to Old Mexico, and tangles with uranium mining and coal power protests and realize that direct action feels good, and maybe tomorrow I might just get back into it. I was going to write about nukes and WMD’s, but after the peaceful actions yesterday, I said the hell with it. Everybody knows who the real threats are... right?
Or am I just getting tangled up in so many issues that my aging brain is blowing neurons faster every day?
Proposition 79, backed by a coalition of consumer groups and unions, would offer prescription drug discounts to uninsured individuals and families making up to four times the federal poverty level — up to $37,000 for an individual and $75,000 for a family of four. It would discourage any companies that refuse to provide discounts from participating in the state's $4 billion Medicaid program, and would allow residents to sue drug companies for "illegal profiteering."
Big Pharma? Illegal profiteering? B-but they make medicines to help people, right? They plow their obscene profits right back into research for new cures, right?
Sheeee-it. I got my hospital bill the other day and—even with some insurance—it’ll take me months to pay it off. And all they did was stitch me up a little and “observe” me for a concussion, which they concluded was light enough to discharge me after a day and night.
It’s a nice start, California, but let’s focus on candidates in ’06 who’ll really talk about the state of health care in this glorious land of greed and profiteering, and then DO something about it. Let’s talk about how to get rid of nukes once and for all, not “strategic nukes” and “increasing nuclear energy resources.”
Now, I’m for another tot or 3 of this bottle of Maker’s Mark you Correntians talked me into trying (good call, btw), and a nap, perchance to dream of the kind of America people like Emma G., and Eugene V. Debs, and RFK and MLK described, not this one where poor people have no options for health care, and our leaders actually discuss “nuclear options” with a straight face.
Of course, then I recall my recent trips to Old Mexico, and tangles with uranium mining and coal power protests and realize that direct action feels good, and maybe tomorrow I might just get back into it. I was going to write about nukes and WMD’s, but after the peaceful actions yesterday, I said the hell with it. Everybody knows who the real threats are... right?
Or am I just getting tangled up in so many issues that my aging brain is blowing neurons faster every day?
