Congratulations America!

By passing the health care reform bill including a public option, America has just collectively moved up the ladder of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual evolution.

Well done America!

P.S. Thank you President Obama, and God bless you.

I am saying this one more time.

Give us a public option.

The operative word is "OPTION".

It is an option, an option, that is all.
An option, is what has our insurance industry up in arms.
Imagine that, an option.
They are trying to restrict our freedom to have an option.
Imagine that. Really? Seriously?
Worse still..they may just get away with it.
Think about it.

The U.S. health-care crisis is killing us, fiscally, socially and quite literally, it is killing us.

Over 65% of Americans want a public option. Therefore, it would probably make sense, to see to it that they get it. Please say no, let's cut through the strings of the "Jabbas" of the insurance/banking industry. Let's wipe our hands clean of their grubby slime, once and for all.

Without a public option, there is no real reform. Finding loopholes for regulations is a cat and mouse game played by opposing administrations since the beginning of politics. Our only hope to help the health and financial well being of our people is a public option.

No ifs ands or buts.

Only a public option offers true reform.

Nothing less will due

Dear Mr. President,

First, your speech at the Human Rights event tonight was the best that I have heard by any president ever, bar none.
You make me so proud to have voted for you.

Secondly, Congrats on the Nobel Peace Prize!
Norwegians are no dummies, they knew exactly what they were doing, they trust you.

Lastly, with all due admiration and respect, I must say a few words regarding the U.S. health-care crisis. It's killing us, fiscally, socially and quite literally, it is killing us.

How better to be considered capable of helping the world than by helping your own people first? Think about it. Cleaning up your own back yard is part of what the Vikings were hoping for when they gave you the most important award the world has to offer.

Over 65% of Americans want a public option. Therefore, it would probably make sense, to see to it that they get it. Please don't buckle under the pressure of the puppeteers bill this Tuesday. Please say no, cut through the strings of the "Jabbas" of the insurance/banking industry, and wipe your hands clean of their grubby slime, once and for all. That, Mr. President, is what will help America heal. Nothing short, of that, will due.

You do this, for your own country, and you really will have the credibility and the strength to help bring peace to the places in world that need it most. We will all be stronger in support of you as a result, and as our leader, you will be stronger for it too.


Your Friend,

Kristine Falck-Pedersen

P.S.
If your interested....

http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/kristinefalckpedersen/CGjpn

http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/kristinefalckpedersen/CGjJ8

yada yada
More pleading for a public option....


You can write the President too.

Here is the link

http://www.democrats.org/page/s/Nobel

At heart I am a socialist. After reading the following article, (see the extened post), from Aljazeera, a few things pop out.

1. Norwegians are way richer than Americans per capita. With nearly no such thing as bankruptcy, foreclosures or homelessness, and no trillion dollar debt, or ownership from counties like China, they are financially light years ahead of us. They are as a whole, very green, and have conserved their resources extremely well. For such a little understated country, they have some very deep pockets, it's really quite impressive.

2. They are, by in large, a very healthy nation. They have a longer life expectancy, lower death rate at birth, and very little obesity if any, or all the health related issues that follow with it. Perhaps not fretting about insurance improves your health, and adds years to your life. You don't need insurance there. Without the stressful headache/heart attack that insurance has become for so many Americans, life would certainly be different, that's for sure.

3. The worst complaint the right wing party had, was waiting for non-emergency treatment. In all my visits there, no one ever complained about waiting. In fact, people who are a little ill or very critically ill, get the state of the art treatment which many of us are denied. Generally, they get help with very little waiting, and no medical bills. The same treatments that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars here, and have ruined countless American lives, are free there.
Free, can you imagine that?
How civilized is that?

At least they are true progressives over there, across the pond, and not all hype and talk.

4. It was a close race in Norway, unlike the obvious win for the"progressives" here. Thank god, the more civilized party won there again, and still remains civil minded. Their taxes may be higher than ours, but it is money well spent, in my book. Look at our costs for education, health care, and elderly care, most of which only the middle (?) and upper class receive. Over there, however, you are free to be what you want to be. Can you imagine not worrying about health care? Can you imagine getting a P.h.D., at no cost? My dad did.

How did the land of so called "free" end up imprisoned in the self-inflicted bondages of terrible education and health systems? Seems more like a U.S. system of ignorance and sickness from my perspective.

5. Why can't our current government get it's act together and it's ass in gear, and give us a real government run option? Furthermore, what is wrong with big government anyway? It's small government that scares the hell out of me, and small minded people too.   Read More »

I only have insurance during semesters in grad school. Recently this summer, my local hospital made me drive back home with a broken arm because I forgot my checkbook. Without coverage, they said they could not bill me, it was "policy" that self pay clients pay before being treated.

This was just to get an x-ray and a cast, which my primary doctor prescribed to spare me from ER, because my primary care physician is very way cool, she bills. Dr. Elena Fitchev, for all you Northeastern Chicagoans looking for a really good doctor. She really is very ethical, sharp, and compassionate.

After driving back home, collecting my wallet, and arriving back, after one look at the x-ray the orthopedic surgeon said I "must have" surgery. So....I went home with a temp. cast, and called my brother, a Dr. at Cornell Medical Center in N.Y, for a consult. After speaking with my bro, I called the orthopedic surgeon back, and refused surgery. The ortho surgeon finally revealed that 99% percent of breaks will heal fine in a cast, which is exactly what my bro said.

Can you imagine? That quack wanted to put pins and plates in my wrist, which would have doubled the recovery time, and increased the risk of complications by tenfold. The bills would have added to over ten thousand $$,$$$.! Instead, thanks to my brother, I only wrote a check for $300 for a cast and an ex-ray. I wouldn't step foot into an emergency room in this country, at least not if I could help it.

Having been in France, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, London etc.... by comparison, this country has barbaric health care, run primarily by wasteful and greedy insurance execs.

It is a racket, bad in one way or another for everyone, and it needs to be stopped.

Please, support a more socially evolved public option of health care, and help America release the grip of greedy, wasteful mayhem.

Good God, here me now, please make this public option happen.

Amen

Last week, at least 66 84 wolves were killed by aerial gunners with high-powered rifles in helicopters near Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. And, under new policies approved by Governor Sarah Palin's Board of Game, wolf pups could be gassed to death in their dens in the weeks ahead.


WTF?

How can the democrats sit back and watch this?

It is hard to imagine getting into a predicament where I would actually need to kill an animal. Not being a farmer who is trying to raise cattle in a territory roamed by wolves for ions, I can only imagine the predicament today's cattlemen have gotten themselves into.

Wolves are one of the most majestic, socially evolved, and intelligent wild animals these United States have to offer. Yet, for centuries little red riding hood has given them a bad rap. Wolves are generous, caring, loyal animals. They are amazing hunters, great singers, and beautiful creatures. Please let's not let the meat eating greed of humans get out of hand with what was once the territory of wolves. Please, help encourage farmers to cope creatively with the help of appropriate resources, not guns.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has approved the Bush Administration's discredited plan to eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana.

It's a decision that could lead to the deaths of more than 1,000 wolves -- including wolves in the western Greater Yellowstone ecosystem!

Make your voice heard. Call the US Fish and Wildlife Service at 1-800-344-9453 (between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday-Friday), select option "3" (for endangered species) and hit "0" to speak with the operator. Once you are connected, just deliver your own words or you can use this simple message: Please give your name....

I am calling to express my extreme disappointment in Interior Secretary Salazar's decision to implement the Bush Administration's flawed plan to eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana.

If this rule is allowed to stand, nearly two-thirds of the wolves in the Northern Rockies could be killed starting as soon as this spring. I strongly urge Secretary Salazar to stop the implementation of this awful decision and reconsider his approach to wolf conservation in the Northern Rockies.


Thank you for calling... if you have any doubts about this...

please remember...

There has to be a better way than killing wolves, and there is, numerous alternatives have been successfully implemented in the past few years, if given a chance these methods could avoid the needless bloodshed of an endangered species.

Killing livestock is not what wolves are meant to do, but if farmers insist on raising cattle in the midst of territory roamed by wolves for thousands of years, then it is they, the farmers who need to learn to adapt, for they are the true trespassers, not the wolves.

Have a great evening.

Other contenders for titles of this blog were......

"Is That Your Inside voice or Your Outside Voice?"

and

"Let's Trade Lessor Teachers for Better Teachers!"

It is ironic how preoccupied American teachers are with professionalism within their peer relations, while at the same time exhibiting a variable scale of unprofessionalism with their students. Let's just say I have been around the block, met and seen dozens of teachers in action, and I have to give the cake to a couple I am working with now.

Today I think I lost some hearing in my right ear. I was standing only a few feet away from a "colleague" who was screaming at the top of her lungs (which I abhor). She was down the hall from some students near her classroom, which she wasn't near, alas, her need to engage in blood curdling screaming.

Isn't it about time, someone speaks up? Is yelling and screaming an acceptable method of discipline to employ on students? Is verbally accosting and berating students the most effective means of getting results? I have seen enough to answer that. No, it only makes things worse.

Hearing this teacher scream so loud it hurt my ears, is getting old, really old. Then as if by some remarkable stroke of ignorance, she turned around to the group of teachers I was standing with, smiled, and said, "yelling works." The only thing worse than the lack of common human respect she shows to students (6th graders) is the way she speaks of them to her "colleagues"

I am awe-struck at what I hear when teachers talk to each other. Evidently it perfectly acceptable to bad mouth a student openly to other teachers. "So and so is lazy", "he's just lazy', "she's just lazy", it's about as distasteful for me to hear as if I were watching them say it to the child's face. Excuse me, but aren't we teachers supposed to say "lacks motivation", instead of lazy? By the way, isn't it up to teachers to take the responsibility for motivating students if they lack it?

If yelling, has not accomplished improved achievement, and it apparently has not, then it is time to stop, even if it does effectively quiet the classroom. Some of the less favored kids have gone from bad to worse, and a couple of these teachers seem to just get angrier and angrier. That doesn't help.

It is as though we are caught in a rut. The kids don't listen, when teachers scream they tune out. They stop caring or doing their work, and the teachers get mad, yell, and berate, and the kids continue to withdraw and do worse. This cycle can repeat itself until the child ages out of the public system. It's like these yellers and irate teachers don't have the intellectual and emotional tools, to be optimistic and encouraging, when it's needed most.

Listening to the way these teachers talk to the students is such a turn off, but listening to them talk about the students is absolutely sickening. It is quite easy to sympathize with the student and understand why he/she doesn't listen, I have even found myself wanting to hide under something on several occasions when watching a teacher berate one of students. Yet, speaking out against teachers who obviously do not model appropriate behavior is strongly discouraged. It's kind of like how medical doctors stick together during malpractice suits.

Please click the extended and read on...   Read More »

From an email recently received....

"Inauguration Augury: Animating the Spirit of Democracy
With a ritual of Unity and Blessing"


"Aptly on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day--
One day before the official inauguration we gather to inaugurate a culture of all-inclusive reverent ingenuity."

"To Atlantis rising under Mordor...
Obamanos!"


"Let's be in collaborative cahoots, either in embodied form or via telepathic well-wishing:

The Washington, D.C. community of magical and spiritual progressives will join together on Monday afternoon, January 19th, at the Jefferson Memorial Plaza, to sweep the town clean and welcome President-elect Obama and his administration to the White House."

"The ritual of Unity and Blessing is organized by a triumvirate of native Washingtonians, one of whom is the great-granddaughter of slaves, one the greatpgranddaughter of slave owners, and one the daughter of a populist New Deal Congressman."

"The ceremony will begin promptly at 2pm with a Witches Broom Dance, intended to cleanse Washington of the malfeasance, deceit and partisanship of the last eight years."

More info in the extended text....   Read More »

A message from those of us who think that wolves have had enough of the short end of the stick. This is why I donate $40 per week, for this commercial, simply because if McCain thinks so highly of his VP nominee, than I have to question their integrity, judgment and ethics.

The republicans are so ascew, backwards and out of touch they don't come close to getting it.

The aerial killing of wolves is so disgusting it makes the political history of Chicago look honorable. Sure we may have our own way of doing things, but at least our hearts are in the right place and our souls are intact. They don't call this the heartland for nothin.

Hi,

Have you ever heard of aerial wolf hunting? It's a brutal practice. Wolves are shot from low-flying aircraft or chased to exhaustion, then shot and killed at point-blank range.

Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for Vice President, promotes this barbaric practice, exploiting a loophole in the Federal Airborne Hunting Act to allow private wolf killers to shoot down wolves using aircraft. We have to get the word out about this!

Please watch this powerful video by Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, and then share it with every wildlife lover and conservationist you know:

http://actionfund.defenders.org/palinvideo

Well it's a long list, diplomacy, universal health care, equality, civil rights, public education, environment, to name just a few but of course, wildlife come up as a major concern of mine. After writing to Richard J. Durbin, our Democratic United States Senator, I received this letter from him.

Dear Ms. Falck-Pedersen:

Thank you for your message in support of the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act. I appreciate knowing of your interest in this legislation.

The Great Cats and Rare Canids Act (S. 1033) would add an additional program to the Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF). Federal funds directed to this new program would be used to protect 13 feline and canine species, including lions, cheetahs, jaguars, and wolves.

I have long supported the MSCF, which helps us preserve Asian and African elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses, great apes, and marine turtles. Multinational species programs have succeeded in maintaining or increasing key populations such as rhinos in Indonesia and mountain gorillas in East Africa.

Protecting animals that are endangered or threatened is one of the most important legacies we can leave to future generations.

The Great Cats and Rare Canids Act has been referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. I am not a member of this committee, but I will keep your views in mind in case S. 1033 is brought to the Senate floor for a vote.

Thanks again for your message. Please feel free to stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin

United States Senator


Now see...this is why....
I am grateful for our democratic leaders. This is one of the many reasons why I support Obama. It's not just because of the economy, education, Iraq, and of course the environment. It's because he like so many other democrates, cares about the world around him. I can't say that about McCain. I just don't see McCain or other republicans caring about much other than profiting from their own petty self interests.


Viva Obama~!

An email from my friend, astrologer, and one of my favorite writers, contained this regarding the republican ticket. IMHO, no one phrases thoiughts better than Caroline.

"McCain couldn't be a better cartoon of the emotionally arrested fighter pilot. Mars haunted by guilt, with an infantile relationship to Venus. One beauty queen after another, and now, completely unmoored from any anchor of integrity or authenticity. He has been flailing to shirk his appointment with Fate, (See Appointment in Samarkand. In fleeing our appointments with our fate, we always end up keeping them.)

So let's invite his soul to return - to admit, confess, reveal his state of self, and in doing so take a small step towards mental health.

And Sarah Palin, bless her heart, "Wowee, I'm over my head, and given away my autonomy to the Rovian Dementors, reached the limits of my visualization of what it would look like to meet world leaders, the Road to Nowhere is my Fate, and returning home to Alaska to be impeached and face indictments is starting to look good."

Awoooooo-yip-yip-yip,
Onward!

Caroline


I wish you all could meet Caroline, see her and, listen to her speak. Caroline Casey is that wonderful combination of wit, wisdom, truth and beauty that many of us aspire to.

Obama 08

Save the wolves

Awoooooo-yip-yip-yip,

New television ad to educate voters about what Governor Sarah Palin really stands for.

See link below... yes, I am still on the saving wolves bandwagon, and will never get off.

Ok, some of you know I am a green freak, and animal nut, and comedy theatre wacko, some of you also know my passion for children with disabilities and education....

All good reasons to vote for Obama...and never for McCain.

but....

This business of arial shooting of wolves and Palins endorsement of it in Alaska, really has me cranked.

No animal is more sacred to me and my family than wolves.

My mothers maiden name is Ulven, in Norwegian that translates to Wolves.


I gotta warn ya, this video ain't pretty, but it is real.

http://action.defenders.org/site/PageServer?pagename=savewolves_video


Please, after viewing this, click on the take action tab, to sign the petition, or if you have done so already, please send the URL to 3 friends.

Please, help to save these majestic creatures.



Thank you.

Palin...holed up in a hotel room for three days....with...

Former longtime Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully. He is just about the creepiest, hollow writer on the planet... Bush? Oh yeah, real popular speaker. Not.

Think about it, 3 days with that excuse for a writer.

Not that Palin had any extra brain cells to spare...but the two of them together add up to a negative IQ.

She has done nothing to forward McCain's campaign. She only solidified what never could vote progressively in the first place, the creationists and right wingers. BFD ( better find decoy) lol

If anything, the silly loud mouth, has repelled moderate repo's and damaged McCains campaign beyond repair.

I am done writing about this ranting zero of a puppet.
Palin is not worth the time it takes to think about her.

On Creationism being taught in grade school/high school, as part of a science curriculum...

Ahem....

Why not teach Buddhism, islam, jannism, why not teach every friggen religious theory possible ...

Oh wait they do..as elective theology courses. lol

But no, it is not a science, and it has no business being taught in a science class, because... creationism has nothing, WHATSOEVER, to do with science.

It belongs in some sort of mystical theology class for the priesthood..., or maybe for anthropology or christian/religious historians, or abnormal psych majors...lol

There is, however, a direct correlation between the lack of comprehension in creationists and the lack of tolerance for them in scientists..lol

We are clear on that, now, right?

Just a few minutes ago....

I read AlexaC last three posts, and just as I was going to try and engage her in a discussion on the one where she is upset and calls those who have said unkind remarks about Palin, Classless...like me for example....lol

that sounded interesting...for once.

I was actually enthused about an engaging discourse...

Then suddenly ...Poof

They were deleted.

All her posts, she is banned now too.

Damn, I really wanted to talk to her...this site is loosing it's potency and really becoming monotonous quickly.

Another x-Hillary supporter repelled by the democrats...

This has got to stop, now little children, we must learn how to play nice with those that have strong oppositional views. We simply cannot continue on like this, it is very immature, and speaks poorly of all democrats. Please do not prove AlexaC correct, do not continue with classless censorship, it is third world.

Here's a little story from 1964, when aviators were the coolest, and so was Brando.

Once when I was a little girl, I stole a pair of sunglasses, my mother caught me.

She grabbed my hand with the glasses out of my pocket.

She said "Do you want to be poor for the rest of your life?" "No", I said.

Then she said "The act of theft is self proclaiming poverty"

I put those sunglasses back, and have never entertained the thought of being dishonest since.

We censor our opponents for disagreeing, (and I read her last 3 posts, they were no big deal), then we become intolerant, disagreeable and we lose our integrity. We regress to third world mentality, force, tyranny and yes, censorship.

How undemocratic can this site get?

I have already posted so much on this mess of a VP that I would rather lay low, BUT I CAN'T.

Needless to say....

I do not like Palin.


1. Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.

2. She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.

3. Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.

4. She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.

5. She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewable won't be ready for years.

6. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species�, she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska. SHE WANTS TO SHOOT WOLVES FROM HELICOPTERS.....

AHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGG......... Ok I will compose myself..

7. Votes against the environment again and again.

8. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials.

9. She is anti-gay rights.

"This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.�"Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

Choosing Palin was a bridge burner.

Who do they think they're kidding? lol

On most everything....

Oil drilling in Alaska,

De-classifying polar bears as endangered,

Shooting wolves from the air in planes and helicopters,

Reducing gun restrictions,

Denying civil rights to GLBT,

Privatizing education,

and...of course....last but not least.....

Palin and the Bush administration are anti-pro choice.

Here is how our current anti pro-choice administration operates abroad.

It's worked wonders...   Read More »

Palin is an anti-choice, vindictive, gun toting, Alaskan drilling, wolf-killing republican puppet.

Will that win her new found best buddy McCain any votes on their ticket for the GE?

From who?

Who would choose to be that dumb, unless they were already dinked before?

Which of the right wing conservatives has he won over now, which of those were considering voting for Obama anyway?


What has he gained other than a cupie doll with no value?

Let the political wolves and polar bears have at this little decoy, that would be poetic justice.

McCain will soon regret tethering himself to this ball and chain!