Health Care Reform

You want to know what significantly socialized medicine would look like in this country? Look no further than the Veterans Association. VA 'beneficiaries' have so many red tape horrors stories, they are actually the source of the term. It seems to me what the average person wants in relation to universal health care is a combination of widespread availability and affordabilty, both of which can be readily provided by a system involving the creation of a national health insurance company. Instead of socially regulating hospitals, doctors and other providers (which causes a significant increase to the overall cost of health care), better to take a constitutionally mandated position.

In Article 1, section 8 of the US Constitution there reads the following:

Congress shall have power ....To establish post offices and post roads

At the time the Constitution was written in 1789, medicine was not widely considered a necessary public service, but the post was. The ability to send and receive mail was deemed so important, it was constitutionally mandated, and I believe it can be easily and rationally argued that, had cardio-thoracic surgery existed in 1789, federally mandated health care would have been included as a power of congress.
Instead of paying larger, profit driven middle men for expensive and limited coverage, every citizen should be able to pay the government health care insurance company and affordable premium, show their insurance card and receive coverage anywhere in the United States. Why do so many people make a direct correlation between employers and health benefits? Forcing employers to mandatorily provide benefits reduces either the amount they are able to pay their workers, or the number of employees they are able to hire. Yes, many insurance providers shop their plans to companies, insisting on it as a brilliant worker incentive, and it often can be, but in the process the service provided is expensive, and COBRA aside (which most workers never use) it is usually far to expensive coverage to carry without the employer's assistance.

Choice is important. In the UK, for example, the quality of health care often depends on where you live, because you generally have to see physicians in your neighborhood, even if there is a better hospital elsewhere. This has much to do with the simple fact that more qualified doctors live in more affluent areas, and therefore work at more affluent hospitals. We cannot force people to be physicians, therefore we cannot 'entitle' medicine. However, so long as such services are available, we can provide a system that allows citizens to receive care without going bankrupt.

National Guard

With all the flooding and disasters in Texas and the midwest this month, I think it would be brilliant for one or more of the state governors to call up their national guard (most of whom are in Iraq and Afghanistan) and pressure the President to return them home. If he refused, they should take it immediately to the Supreme Court (since it would be the only court with jurisdiction I believe), where they would probably win, because in a states rights vs federal, the states have the right to the National presence of the National Guard.

Why no one should be surprised

The CDC has been aware of the potential outbreak of drug resistant tuberculosis in the United States for almost a decade. The public is less informed about it because the news agencies only cover it when there is (non-African) human drama involved. The 2005 movie The Constant Gardner had mdr and xdr TB heavily featured in its plotline.

First work-rant post

Last night I couldn't sleep well. My anxiety was getting to me, and rem escaped me for most of the night. That my roommates set off the fire alarm in the middle of the night, and that someone kept hitting the buzzer to our house at 1am didn't help in the slightest.

Today was possibly my worst day of work so far. Everything seemed to be going wrong. When I clocked in I learned I was not working with my favorite co-worker, as i had thought. That ticked me off. Then I couldn't find my hat, so I used the aforementioned person's. I was castigated for floating initially instead of immediately signing onto a register. When I work my instinct, aside from ringing, is to clean and stock. When there is disarray and abject filth, I want to clean and organize. Instead I rang. I still have trouble knowing when to yell for things and when to do them myself, and I thought a co-worker was angry with me for that, but I talked about it with him later and he clarified that he wasn't angry at all, his voice is simply loud and brusque by nature.

A customer came in and was incredibly snide. I wanted very badly to lay him out. Not wanting, however, to be fired and or charged with felony assault, I quietly counted to ten while he looked on continuing to make rude comments.

Later when there was a lull I cleaned. While cleaning a trash bag leaked and I had to mop. When I grabbed the mop, the mop bucket spilled everywhere, creating another mess to clean. When I finally mopped the trash spill, the mop head broke. When I went to count down my till, the cash drawer fell off the table and the coins went everywhere.
Other numerous small incidents are being excluded. It was my worst day so far.

Work aside, my roommate continues to irk me. Although I thought I had clarified my position on her attitude (I made it clear that I think she is fake and I don't appreciate it) she inquired about work last night. it wasn't the question, it was the tone of voice. She has no intonation, no inflection. It doesn't sound at all genuine. I told her that "I don't like those kind of 'how are you?' questions [from her] because they sound retail." I'm not certain she gets the point. She also never does dishes. Yes, the dish drama, naturally. She is the only one who doesn't do them. Daniel (my friend and her BF) seems to think I am unfairly picking on her. I'm simply trying to be honest.

Also, I came out at work. Again and again. It's always fun.

Tour de France/ Floyd Landis scandal explained

The Tour de France is the most famous bike race in the world. It starts in July, and lasts for about 25 days. Each day of racing is called a stage. There are usually 21 stages with a few rest days during the Tour. Each stage consists of a different course. Some stages are flat, and these favor the sprinters. Other stages are hilly, called mountain stages, and these favor the climbers. Only a climber can win the entire Tour. There are individual time trial stages (ITT), in which each rider takes a turn racing alone, trying to get the best time. There are also team time trials(TTT), in which five riders race together for the best overall time.

In 2006 the Tour field was open. Armstrong, or Le Boss as the French called him, had retired. Less than a week before the tour started, a doping scandal broke in Spain. A doctor's facilities were raided and a list of names were found suspected to contain a list of athletes the doctor had helped dope. Inexplicably, only the names of professional cyclists were immediately released, and among these were Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, both favored to win the 2006 Tour de France. They, and others, were banned from competing pending further investigation

So now on the literal eve of the Tour, the playing field is really open. Perhaps even George Hincapie, Lance's longtime domestique (support rider) has a chance to take the Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey-overall leader)

Speaking of jersey, let me explain those. There are Four jerseys in the Tour de France, essentially trophies that can be won. They are as follows:

Maillot Jaune: Yellow jersey- overall winner
Maillot Vert: Green Jersey- best sprinter (also called points category)
Maillot Blanc: White jersey- best rider under the age of 25
Maillot a Pois Rouges : White jersey with red polka dots- King of the Mountains (best climber)





Pictured above: Damian Cunego, Floyd Landis, Robbie McEwen, Michael Rasmussen

The Maillot Jaune might technically hold any of the other jerseys (or theoretically all of them) but he will only wear the Maillot Jaune, and so the second best rider(s) in any category will wear the jersey for it.

Now, in 2006 Floyd Landis of Team Phonak (an American and former teammate of Lance) won. He held a decent lead until stage 16, when he 'bonked' (cycling for maxed out) Then, on stage 17, he essentially time trial-ed the entire time (riding as hard as he could right to the end) and won and impossible lead, securing the maillot jaune. It was later suspected that he injected artificial testosterone in order to manage his inhuman feat. This week he is defending his innocence.

to be continued

ad nauseam

If you're going to be political, be fucking political.

I'm sick of supposed activists stealing space from people who actually care. There is a social climate that exists primarily in the collegiate world, though it bleeds into the peripherals. It is a climate of activism, the idea that apathy should be an anathema, and that if you're not active, you are somehow morally bankrupt. A lot of people buy into this bullshit, and so instead of actually caring, they simply make the pretense. You know this because when pressed they generally have little more than a cursory understanding of any issues.

And for me that is the selling point. How can you truly care about something if you know little or nothing about it? How do you know you're correct, if you haven't done any research to support your opinions?

You might think that it goes without saying that every genuine political opinion, right or left, should be considered based on its individual merit, and not vilified or made an epithet.

I make this rant about three or four times a year, depending on the number of political-posers I encounter. I live with one right now, and so it crops up more often.

Giro D'Italia and DC team

The current GC (general classification) standings for the Discovery Channel team tells me they are most likely using the Giro as a warm up for Le Tour. George Hincapie is in 58th as of stage six, and that is the best DC position right now. Last year after Armstrong retired the team decided to take a break from focusing on Le Tour alone, and everyone essentially did their own thing (George the classics, Tom the Giro, etc) and the results were mediocre. This year the contract with DC is up in October, and they'll need a new sponsor. In order to get the best deal (i.e. the most cash) they'll need a better performance record this year. Hopefully that will mean a Maillot jaune for team leader Levi Leipheimer. Any bets on who the new sponsor will be? I'm thinking Nike right now, but we'll see. Generally the sponsors are companies that need the exposure, and Nike obviously doesn't.