Month: July 2009

I Hate A Coward!

Daily Agitation

I state it again…”I HATE A COWARD!”

But where are the cowards you ask?  That is really simple….

The “Birther” people are cowards…why?  They have locked onto something that has no relevancy whatsoever…..they are hiding behind some made up BS to hide the fact that they are RACISTS.  They are cowards because they hide behind something trivial, instead of being a man/woman and admit that they are nothing but racists.

More cowards….Blue Dog Dems…they hide behind some made up BS to oppose health care on the premise that it is too expensive…but these same “people” and I use the term loosely, are the ones that helped authorize cash for two wars without much opposition…so I guess it is somehow okay with them to send Americans to die but not help them live longer and healthier.  Their opposition has made the coalition a bunch of money..go figure.

The media is a coward because they allow such BS as funerals, arguments and car crashes and moronic politicians that have the IQ of a turnip to dominate national news.  It is easier than reporting on war deaths or deaths because of no health care or energy that is killing Americans….on and on…..we have more serious problems than what goes for major news stories.  The media is a coward…plain and simple.

There are more cowards…..governors who run and win office, that is a contract with the people of the state, and then resign to pursue a personal agenda….that is cowardice.

The there is a party of cowards, at least in a leadership position, that does nothing but attack and attack all issue proposals and offer the people nothing as an alternate…that is a coward….a mental midget of a coward.  They become a party of NO…no alternatives, no positions, no policy…..a party of NO… . .That is a coward’s way of governing.

Why Not Eliminate Fraud?

Of all the debate being spit out in Washington, of all the lies and misinformation flying out the butts of pundits….why is there very little mention to the fraud that occurs in the health care system?

In an article written in the Huffington post by Sen Bernie Sanders:

What we have seen over the last several decades is the systemic fraud perpetrated by private insurance companies, private drug companies, and private for-profit hospitals ripping off the American people and the taxpayers of this country to the tune of many billions of dollars.

The rampant fraud is another reason why our current health care system, dominated by private insurance companies, is the most costly, wasteful, complicated and bureaucratic in the world. Its function is not to provide quality health care, but to make huge profits for those who own the companies. With 1,300 private insurance companies and thousands of different health benefit programs designed to maximize profits, our country spends an incredible 30 percent of each health care dollar on administration and billing, exorbitant CEO compensation packages, advertising, lobbying and campaign contributions. Public programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the VA are administered for much less.

In recent years, not only have we seen massive fraud by the health care industry, but we also have been paying for a huge increase in health care bureaucrats and bill collectors. Over the last three decades, the number of administrative personnel has grown by 25 times the number of physicians. Doctors and nurses in Vermont have described to me in painful detail the amount of time and money they are forced to waste negotiating with insurance companies about how they can treat their patients.

Just a little fraud that has been found and prosecuted:

In 2004, Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer Inc., pled guilty to two felonies and agreed to pay $430 million for fraudulently promoting the drug Neurontin.

In 2003, GlaxoSmithKline paid $88 million in civil fines for overcharging Medicaid for its anti-depressant Paxil.

In 1999, Hoffmann-LaRoche paid a $500 million criminal fine for leading a worldwide conspiracy to fix prices for certain vitamins.

In 2009, UnitedHealth, a leading insurance company, paid $350 million to settle lawsuits brought by the American Medical Association and other physician groups for shortchanging consumers and physicians for medical services outside its preferred network.

On the personal side….when I had my accident that shattered my leg….I was put into an ambulance and when I got the bill I was being charged for a cervical collar and a gown…a total of $80…neither of which I got in my ride to the hospital….I informed the Insurance company of the add ons and they paid it anyway.  Now using a little math, one ambulance overcharging riders on 3 shifts a day comes to if they have the average pick up of 8 people a day, comes to $430,000 a year….and that is ONE unit in ONE town…now if you take it further to a state we are talking millions and in the country billions….maybe that should be addressed.

And let us not go into the fraud with Medicare…that would make you sick.

My point is while all the cowards are bitching about the cost of the program, the industry is fleecing the public…but to them that is somehow okay.  Fraud is rampant and for the most part accepted….maybe that should change and savings could be a boom to offsetting any expenditures.

So my question is…why do not these concerned politicians actually go after the fraud instead of looking the other way while accepting their contributions for the re-election fund?

Oh wait!  The Repubs have this idea of tort reform as a way to make the uninsured more likely to get insurance…..tort reform?  Yeah, you know those frivolous lawsuits that lead to an increase in the insurance that doctors pay for protection from malpractice?  I will agree that some of the lawsuits are outrageous, but that accounts for about 1% of the total cost of health care…I do not beliueve that controlling 1% of the costs will help anyone to get health insurance.  As Det. Joe Friday always says,  “Yes facts, sir”.

Tort reform is a typical ploy to keep everything the way it is…….

We Have The Best Health Care System In The World

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Health/Economics

Damn!  That is what many in the GOP is spouting trying to fight off the Obama plan for getting health care to the uninsured.  Representative after representative, senator after senator has got in front of the cameras and told this version of the misinformation.  This is the war cry of the conservatives….that the US has the best health care system in the world…but how accurate is the claim?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked the world’s health systems and according to WHO the best ranked system is that of France, with Italy a close second.  But wait!  Does not the conservatives use Canada and France as examples of a poor health system?  Do not hurt yourself….yes, they do.

But where does the US rank with WHO?  The US ranks 37th behind Third World countries like Dominica and Costa Rica.  Oh yeah, just for your information, Canada ranks 30th.  Oops!  That is still ahead of the US.

Is there more?  You betcha!  On health performance, the US ranks 72nd, again according to WHO.  Oman ranks number one.  The US finished behind such countries as Bosnia and Argentina.

Surely the US leads in something as it pertains to health care.  Uh huh, it does.  The US leads in expenditures as per capita…..so we are spending more than anyone in the world and we are basically receive nothing in return.

If your opinion is still that the US has the “best” health system in the world, then you most likely have insurance and believe the hype of the health care opposition.

The Man Of Steele

RNC’s leader Michael Steele has done it again…this time he got his talking points from the GOP that Obama’s plan for health care is an “experiment” that will ruin the country.  That word is so important to the GOP talking points that DSteele used it some 30+ times in one short speech to the Press Club.

Steele also seem to like the word “cabal”,  which by the way means some form of intrigue, my guess that it also is a talking word for the Repubs.  The word implies some sort of secret plan or intrigue.  the RNC has decided to run with Steele’s speech.

Republican officials said they were supplementing Steele’s speech with a round of television advertising designed to oppose government-run health care. The 30-second spot, titled “Grand Experiment,” criticizes recent government aid to the auto industry and banks as “the biggest spending spree in our history” and warns of “a risky experiment with our health care.”

But the Repubs “man of Steele” has his kryptonite and it is the word “policy”.  When asked a question that was not part of his read speech, he said “I do not do policy”  That is pretty telling in my opinion….the GOP has NO policy on health care with the exception of NO.  Their policy is to be in opposition regardless of the consequences for the American people.  Maybe the RNC should look for someone smart enough to actually have ideas on policy.

They are playing a delaying game……it work in the 90’s for health care reform….thew more time that the GOP can delay any vote the better the chances are that their half-truths, misinformation and out right lies will have a positive effect for them.

A Better Way To Till Your Fields

It is another one of those weeks where there was a tempest of accusatiopns from both sides and absolutely NOTHING was accomplished in Washington….looks like all were just farting around until they can have yet another break from doing as little as possible and getting paid for that action…..not a bad job if you can get it.

For that reason I have another Sexy Sunday report for my readers enjoy.

This latest tidbit is from an article in Reuters:

Farmers in an eastern Indian state have asked their unmarried daughters to plow parched fields naked in a bid to embarrass the weather gods to bring some badly needed monsoon rain, officials said on Thursday.Witnesses said the naked girls in Bihar state plowed the fields and chanted ancient hymns after sunset to invoke the gods. They said elderly village women helped the girls drag the plows.

“They (villagers) believe their acts would get the weather gods badly embarrassed, who in turn would ensure bumper crops by sending rains,” Upendra Kumar, a village council official, said from Bihar’s remote Banke Bazaar town.

Now if you think about it…the US has some of its worst droughts since the 1920’s…if this works in India…I say let us try it here….besides naked women doing work in the fields has got to be more interesting than watching some over weight redneck on a tractor….Just a thought.  The only problem would be that we probably would not see all the “goodies” because of the massive tatoos.  Oh well……..

It Is Not Who You Are…….

But rather who you marry……

I have heard just about every reason for firing someone, but this one is one for the record books.

From a report by Trina Hoaks for the examiner.com:

According to MSNBC, what Mayor Kiker did was call an emergency meeting this past Tuesday night to vote on whether Janke should be removed from his position. Though Kiker maintains that he and council members did not make a judgment call on Janke or his wife, they ousted Janke in a 5-0 vote.

They fired him “‘without cause.'” According to the report, Janke’s contract allowed for him to be fired by vote. Janke will receive a “severance package worth six months salary, which comes to about $50,000, plus health benefits,” said the report.

Janke said in the report that he and his wife have nothing to feel sorry for as they have done nothing wrong. And, although it was fully acknowledged by the mayor that Jankl had done nothing wrong, he reportedly was “concerned whether Janke could remain effective and not distract the community from the business of the town along the state’s west coast.”

There is no word from Janke as to whether he will seek legal action against the town.

Personally, I would sue their dicks into the dirt….who I married is none of anyone’s business…maybe the mayor is just pissed that Janke may be getting it regular.

Another Sad Story

Yes, we in the US treat rape victims as social pariahs….we as a society are getting better but there is still a longer way to go…but I saw this article and had to post it…it is from the BBC:

Offers of help are pouring in for an eight-year-old Liberian girl disowned by her own family in Phoenix, Arizona, after being raped by four boys.

The girl is under the care of the Arizona Child Protective Service (CPS) because her parents said she had shamed them, and they did not want her back.

The boys, Liberian immigrants aged nine to 14, have been charged with rape.

The case has sparked outrage across the US and even drawn condemnation from Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, an outspoken anti-rape campaigner.

Media reports said the girl was lured into a shed on 16 July with promises of chewing gum by the four young boys.

There, they held her down and took turns assaulting her for 10 to 15 minutes, before her screams alerted officers nearby.

The oldest suspect, a 14-year-old boy, will be tried as an adult on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault, police said on Friday. He is being held in police custody until trial.

The other three – aged 9, 10, and 13 – are charged as juveniles with sexual assault and kidnapping.

We read stories like these and make a comment on our society, but do little to stop this type of outrage.  Just what did this young girl do to warrant such crime?  We cannot blame the way she was dressed….or cannot blame her flirting…..we cannot blame….these boys are just sick and should be tried as adults and given a sentence without chance of freedom.

Yoga Can “Cure” Gay

Everybody has their opinion on the fact that there are homosexuals in the world and I saw this piece while surfing……A piece of absurdity……

INDIA’S top television yoga expert has challenged a landmark court ruling legalising gay sex, claiming it is a “disease” that can be cured by yoga.

Swami Baba Ramdev filed the petition on the grounds that the Delhi High Court “erred” in decriminalising “unnatural sex acts” last week and that homosexuality was an illness which could be treated, according to the Indian Express newspaper.

“It can be treated like any other congenital defect. Such tendencies can be treated by yoga, pranayama (breathing exercises) and other meditation techniques,” he said in the challenge filed in the Supreme Court.

Under the Indian legal system, any person can challenge a court decision in a higher court.

An astrologer, Suresh Kumar Kaushal, has also filed a petition against the high court decision, arguing that if gay sex is legalised, “tomorrow people might seek permission for having sex with animals”.

See…..really dumbass people are everywhere….you cannot get away from them.

Doc Bottom’s ASpray

I swear that I do not make this sh*t up!  There are somethings that just cannot be ignored and this is one of those items.

Go to http://www.buyaspray.com—yopu will not believe what you hear and see.

Here is just a bit of the website:

Aspray goes where others cannot:

• Your Butt
• Your Feet
• Your Underarms
• You Can even Aspray™ your privates!

I swear I did not make this up…I am a sick SOB but this is beyond my capabilities.

THGere is a cheaper way to eliminate the odors…..it is called a….SHOWER!

Blue Dogs’ Yellow Streak Turns Green

First of all for all you students of art……if you combine blue and yellow….what color do you get?  Green……..

I have been a critic, a sharp critic, of the Dems that call themselves Blue Dogs, those supposedly fiscal conservatives in th US House of Representatives.  Anyway, the yellow streak of the Blue Dogs has turned to green….meaning……there stance on holding up health care has turned into cash for the coalition.

This is the complete article written for USA Today by Fredreka Schouten of the papers Congress Team:

The conservative House Democrats known as the Blue Dog Coalition have seen their political clout grow dramatically as they work to shape the health care debate.

So have their campaign coffers — and much of the money has come from industries seeking to influence President Obama’s health care overhaul and other key legislative efforts in Congress, according to reports out today.

The Blue Dog’s political action committee has collected $1.1 million in the first six months of the year — more than any other political action committee, according to CQ. (Subscription required.) Nearly 54% came from the energy, financial services and health care industries, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity. That’s up from 45% in 2004. The center’s reporting appeared in Politico.

The 52-member coalition has demanded changes to health care legislation to rein in spending and address their concerns about disparities in Medicare reimbursement rates between urban and rural communities — slowing action on legislation that Obama and congressional leaders had sought to put on a fast track.

Who says it does not pay to be a coward?  The Blue Dogs have proven that accusation wrong.