Child of Illusion

Sunday art blogging

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Artist: Childe Hassam
Image from Wikimedia Commons

A reminder about war

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:29:00 +0000

I've emphasized the health care reform situation a lot on this blog lately and have neglected other issues. Here's something that will help us focus about the reality of something else is going on:

In olden times when there was a war, it was a human-to-human confrontation. The victor in battle would directly see the blood and suffering of the defeated enemy. Nowadays, it is much more terrifying because a person in an office can push a button and kill millions of people and never see the human tragedy that he or she has created. The mechanization of war, the mechanization of human conflict, poses an increasing threat to peace.
--The Dalai Lama

Year after year we sing about "Peace on earth" during Christmastide. We really need to cultivate a sense of urgency about it.
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Finally a name for the decade

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:53:00 +0000

I'm suggesting this article mainly for the title: Well, That Sure Sucked: Good Riddance to the Devil’s Decade by David Michael Green*.

There's a lot in it, actually, but here's the point that really gets to me:

These two presidencies [Bush and Obama] really do illustrate all too nicely the pathos that is twenty-first century America. Consider their respective situations, and what each did with those circumstances. Bush came into office after marketing himself as a moderate, after one of the most contentious election meltdowns in American history, with a Congress almost exactly evenly divided (and the Senate soon to fall into the hands of the Democrats), with no particular crisis going on short of a mild recession, and with really no mandate of any sort, apart from hopefully not acting as ill-suited and unprepared for the job as he seemed to be during the campaign (no worries there, though - Cheney and Rumsfeld and Powell would be keeping him on the right path - remember?). So what does he do under these circumstances? He adopts a radical regressive agenda. He polarizes the country. He lets loose a marketing campaign of epic intensity, he hammers Congress, he aggrandizes to himself probably more unilateral power than any president in history. And he gets virtually everything he wants. If you can hold your nose long enough to get past the results of his policies, it's quite an amazing story of boldness and presidential success, made all the more remarkable because of how astonishingly bad his ideas were for the country, and how transparent that fact was even at the time. This guy was selling melted poisonous ice-cubes to Eskimos in wintertime, and he not only made the sale, he got them to want the purchase.

Obama, on the other hand, is dealt almost the opposite hand when he comes to office. He is elected in a clear and compelling victory. He gets a Congress with his party controlling both houses by lopsided 60-40 margins. He receives a clear mandate for change, and he is backed by a stunning outpouring of goodwill, both at home and abroad. He's got crises that everyone agrees need some serious tending to. In short, you could hardly come up with a better set of circumstances for presidential success if you sat down and created them yourself. So what does he do with this gift? Again, the opposite of Bush. He demands nothing. He fights for nothing. He negotiates with everyone, including those who have zero intention of voting for a bill that he is nevertheless allowing them to dilute, and those (generally the same folks) explicitly trying to ruin his presidency.

Such a pity. Such a real pity.

* David Michael Green is a professor of political science at Hofstra University.
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We can improve the bill later, huh?

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:25:00 +0000

So, let's watch and see how it ends up working for health care.

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Words and human rights

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:58:00 +0000

Impermanence

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:01:00 +0000

I came across the following this morning:

The art of man is able to construct monuments far more permanent than the narrow span of his own existence; yet these monuments, like himself, are perishable and frail, and in the boundless annals of time, his life and labors must equally be measured as a fleeting moment.
-- Edward Gibbon

Yes, the one who wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
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UPDATE: Another Gibbon quote for your contemplation:

There exists in human nature a strong propensity to depreciate the advantages, and to magnify the evils, of the present times.

It's hard not to, isn't it?
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The Queen's Christmas Message 2009

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:32:00 +0000

Christmas in Tulsa

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:27:00 +0000

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Interestingly, this vintage postcard really looks like Tulsa today! The little birds in my yard were so grateful for the suet I had put out. They gathered around the bird feeder yesterday as the storm was beginning to work on getting their strength up!

It is beautiful outside today. And I'm very grateful that I didn't lose power through it all!

May everyone's day continue to be wonderful.

"God bless us everyone!"
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Cherishing peace and good will

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:19:00 +0000

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.

To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy,

is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

-- Calvin Coolidge

Let Congress give up its socialized health coverage

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:23:00 +0000

I just read a Jim Hightower piece called "Hoping for a New Ethic in 2010". Here's my favorite part:

Let's start, then, with those proud-and-loud members of Congress who've adamantly opposed real health insurance reform for workaday Americans. Not only do I include the entire block of Republican lawmakers whose vocabulary is limited to the word "no," but also those pathetic Democrats who've compromised the reform idea into corporate mush. It would be neat (and only fair) for each of these stalwarts of the status quo to make this vow for 2010: "Since I helped kill reform, I will give up the excellent government-paid, socialized health coverage that I get so that I am in the same leaky boat as my constituents."

It'll never happen of course. But I think a movement ought to be started that demands it. A little shaming would hurt these "stalwarts of the status quo" one little bit.
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The problem with insurance

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:46:00 +0000

I just read the following article over on the Common Dreams site:

"A Patient’s View of the Senate Christmas Healthcare Gift"

Now you go read it because I can't really get its point across with an excerpt. And it's short.

See, here's the thing: Having some form of health insurance is not the same thing as getting the health care you need. And this article demonstrates why.
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efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:36:00 +0000

That bill. Sigh.

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:54:00 +0000

I've admired and respected Rep. Louise Slaughter for a long time now. This morning she offers a short (sane) statement about the health care mess. It's published over on Alternet. Here's some of it:

Even though the House version is far from perfect, it at least represents a step toward our goal of giving 36 million Americans decent health coverage.

But under the Senate plan, millions of Americans will be forced into private insurance company plans, which will be subsidized by taxpayers. That alternative will do almost nothing to reform health care but will be a windfall for insurance companies. Is it any surprise that stock prices for some of those insurers are up recently?

I do not want to subsidize the private insurance market; the whole point of creating a government option is to bring prices down. Insisting on a government mandate to have insurance without a better alternative to the status quo is not true reform.

By eliminating the public option, the government program that could spark competition within the health insurance industry, the Senate has ended up with a bill that isn't worthy of its support.

I do recommend that you go on over and read the whole thing. Taking a look at the comments after the article might also be valuable.
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UPDATE: My goodness. Here's a curse worthy of the name. I found it in the comments:

What should be done is to suspend health coverage for every sorry ass Senator and Rep until they can fulfil the sustainable health needs of the nation that they supposedly serve.

Let the bastards experience non-coverage. Let them watch their children languish in untreated illness. Let them sell everything that they've worked a lifetime to own in an attempt to save a loved-one's life.

Let them live on the street in the cold, and die in a gutter.Let them eternally burn in Hell listening to Lieberman.

Ha! That last one made me laugh!
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Remember Good King Wenceslas?

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:54:00 +0000

You might like to check out all the lyrics right here.

The gift of life for someone

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:54:00 +0000

Okay, folks. Do me a favor, okay? Do yourself a favor. Do humanity a favor. Fill out your organ donor card. Get it on your driver's license. Make an advance directive. Make sure it's on file with your doctor, your attorney and your regular hospital. Let your family know.

To get you motivated, read this:

Pediatric heart transplant survivor: 'I thank God every day'

One of the stories is about Christy Farley who had a heart transplant at age twelve. That was twenty-four years ago. Today she is healthy, is a nurse, and has a two year old daughter. How amazing is that?
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efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:39:00 +0000

Even Jay Leno gets it

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Just look:

In Washington, it looks like the Senate is almost done with the healthcare bill. Otherwise known as the Joe Lieberman Insurance Company Preservation Act.
–Jay Leno

Man, that's harsh.
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Nurses speak out

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:09:00 +0000

A very short article from The Nation that I want to recommend is called "Nurses Say Senate Bill Entrenches Chokehold of Insurance Giants". Here's one paragraph:

"It is tragic to see the promise from Washington this year for genuine, comprehensive reform ground down to a seriously flawed bill that could actually exacerbate the health-care crisis and financial insecurity for American families, and that cedes far too much additional power to the tyranny of a callous insurance industry," says National Nurses Union co-president Karen Higgins, RN.

Specific flaws are listed. But what will really raise your awareness is the comments section. A lot of people are very, very concerned.
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efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Shameful. Just shameful.

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:59:00 +0000

It is so embarrassing to be from Oklahoma sometimes. Take a look:

At 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon -- nine hours before the 1 a.m. vote that would effectively clinch the legislation's passage -- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) went to the Senate floor to propose a prayer. "What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight," he said. "That's what they ought to pray."

It was difficult to escape the conclusion that Coburn was referring to the 92-year-old, wheelchair-bound Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) who has been in and out of hospitals and lay at home ailing. It would not be easy for Byrd to get out of bed in the wee hours with deep snow on the ground and ice on the roads -- but without his vote, Democrats wouldn't have the 60 they needed.
...
Durbin, learning of Coburn's prayer, went to the floor 45 minutes later to challenge him to a rhetorical duel. Coburn declined to return. "I don't think we should be wishing misfortune on either side of the aisle," Durbin said of his absent colleague.

Coburn was wearing blue jeans, an argyle sweater and a tweed jacket with elbow patches when he walked back into the chamber a few minutes before 1 a.m. He watched without expression when Byrd was wheeled in, dabbing his eyes and nose with tissues, his complexion pale. When his name was called, Byrd shot his right index finger into the air as he shouted "aye," then pumped his left fist in defiance.

It's all from Dana Milbank's column in the Washington Post.

That wonderful Senator Byrd can't really last much longer, can he? He will be so, so missed.
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Let's hear it for Al Franken!

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:50:00 +0000

On Saturday, President Obama signed into law the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010. Look what's in it:

Within the Appropriations Act is Sen. Al Franken’s (D-MN) amendment prohibiting defense contractors from restricting their employees’ abilities to take workplace discrimination, battery, and sexual assault cases to court. The measure was inspired by Jamie Leigh Jones, who was gang-raped by her co-workers while working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. Many Republicans opposed the legislation — saying it was an unnecessary attack on their allies in the defense contracting business — and faced intense political blowback over their positions.

Now would you believe that the Republicans who voted against that ammendment were shocked (shocked, I tell you!) to learn that many of their constituents were horrifed by their "no" vote?You can read about that right here.

The paragraph quoted above is from this posting found on Think Progress.
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Sunday art blogging

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:25:00 +0000

Artist: Paul Gauguin
Image from Wikimedia Commons

"The Corporation"

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Someone known as "Learning to See" left a comment today urging us all to see "The Corporation" - an award-winning Canadian documentary that offers really important insight about global capitalism. Quite a large number of contemporary thinkers who are prominent critics of the way corporations exist and operate appear in this film.

Here below are both the trailer and Part 1. You can then watch the entire documentary by following the other parts in the section of the actual YouTube site called "related videos":

I've long been both troubled and confused by the legal "personhood" of corporations. (And also that their right to give vast sums of money to political campaigns is considered protected "free speech".)
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efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:41:00 +0000

(Double click to enlarge)

Not mincing words

efinlay@intcon.net (Ellie Finlay) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:15:00 +0000

I just read an article entitled "Now I’m Really Getting Pissed Off" by David Michael Green. Here's a small excerpt:

But here's a little riddle that any sixth-grader can easily figure out, although it seems to have eluded the brain trust at the White House: If insurance companies are winning big-time, then who is doing the losing? Something tells me that if Democrats are dumb enough to pass their own legislation, voters will provide them the answer to that puzzle in November of 2010, and then again two years later. What could be stupider than saddling thirty-five million Americans with a new monthly bill that will probably represent the second or third biggest item in their budget, in exchange for crappy private sector health insurance that is unlikely to pay out when needed, and wastes a third of the dollars paid in premiums on bureaucracy and profits anyhow? Slapping big fines on them if they don't pony up for the insurance, perhaps? Yep, that's in there too.

This bill alone could mobilize legions of people to go to the polls and vote for whichever party didn't do it, and I'm pretty sure the GOP won't be shy about reminding Americans who that is.

Why can't the administration see this? Gosh. It seems so ridiculously OBVIOUS.
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UPDATE: Here's something else along the same lines:

To the Democrats in Congress: Pass a strong health care bill, that puts the needs of the American people ahead of the large corporations, while making certain that you point out the ongoing obstructionism of the Republicans, and you are guaranteeing a Democratic Party majority in Congress for a generation. Use the "nuclear option," use reconciliation to offer "Medicare for all at a fee" as an option for the uninsured, fill the "doughnut hole" in Medicare Part D; do this, and the Republican party will be reduced to George W. Bush's "haves and have mores" and the religious theocrats who want the Constitution replaced with the Bible.

It's from an article called "Forcing Their Hand" by Richard Girard.
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