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............... How can I put this politely .......... ? SPAM BLAM! Hey Microsoft! Stick with the stringers, and stop making announcements on the blogs--pay for your advertising! You are pissing off a LOT of neighborhood bloggers, dude.— November 4, 2009 2:59 p.m.
SDGE Lobbyist Said to be Innocent, Reinstated
re: # 81: "...and belonging and regularly attending a Christian church. Best, Don Bauder" D'uoh! Forgot about that MAJOR lifestyle image requirement! The holy trinity of marriage, family "values," and church. [shiver] re: #84: I cut and pasted from my OWN Word document. I wrote that for SurfPuppy, but I guess he can't appreciate the gift. For the denser among us, the line breaks are on purpose, as it spells out "Floozy" down the left margin. *Sigh* re: #86: The only library paste around here is the stuff SurfPuppy has been sniffing (or eating), which creates that happy delusional haze, in which it becomes true that few politicians sleep around :) re: #89: SurfPuppy can have no basis for such slander. I intend to sue the mangy fur coat off him for libel :)— November 4, 2009 1:12 p.m.
As Promised A Scary Story
re: #9: "the rotting teeth..slack faces..sunken eyes...long hard tendon and veins winding down their arms and legs like the Red River itself" Oh--I think we have another poet in our midst! Just lovely, Cuddles :) La Leche League! I love that name. So wonderful that one mother's milk can feed another's child--or someone grown, as we see with Rose of Sharon. Nan, I mean what I say about your writing. It is often fresh (in more than one sense! ;), and startles at frequent turns--seemingly effortless. It is obvious in your prose that you deal in this sharp holding, this crystallization of images that show you to be very much the poet. I'm a fan, and look forward to more of your serious work--toss us a few more poems now and then, eh?— November 4, 2009 1:02 p.m.
Shield for All
Oops, meant to say that the injectible would easily cost $1000 a pop.— November 4, 2009 12:52 p.m.
Shield for All
Well, peeps, health insurance premiums are steep, but HMO plans are cost effective if you have chronic health issues. We are fortunately covered through a city job, and pay approximately $440 or $500 per month (could be a little more, need to check on that figure). It's a lot, but it covers tens of thousands of dollars of medicine (with copays of $10 to $30 per prescription), and hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical procedures and hospital care for me. Of course, there are always more out of pocket fees to absorb, on top of doctor's office copays and script copays, and my health issues put us a paycheck or two away from the street, with no real ability to sustain savings, much less pay down student loans and emergency credit card debt (though the cards are torn up). However, just one injectible drug I take weekly would easily cost $100 a 'pop,' so it's quite a deal. As it stands, health insurance is a privilege you have to pay for, and pay into, but IMO, healthCARE should be a right of every citizen, if we have any interest in more than the image of a just and civilized 'first world' society. Exactly how that is to come about is not yet clear to me, but it needs to happen in a way that is fair and effective. We need to have a mindset that includes care of our citizens who are unable to work for reasons of disability, for example. I've seen too many people on the street because a physical disability, or catastrophic accident and medical bills cost them their homes and livelihoods, and we have to remember that some homeless fall prey to drink and drugs in order to cope with the nightmare of living outdoors--it is not always the other way around. I almost lost my job recently because of illness--employers are not always legally obligated to be understanding--they simply need people who can get the work in on time, and make sure the business runs. Ron Paul was on Larry King last night, and made a flawed point: People are not dying, he says, for lack of medical care; they can simply to go any ER and will not be refused care. Yes, I know this better than many, since during my visits to the ER in excruciating chronic pain, I have to wait while Johnny Jr. gets his toothache examined, or some yahoo who got in a drunken barfight is crying like a baby because he might need a stitch in his eyebrow. Of course the yahoo’s got to be seen before me, because that knock to the head by another yahoo could mean pressure on the brain and sudden death, for all they know. However, what Ron Paul neglected to mention is that people who need expensive treatments, such as transplants, do not always get them, even if possible—if they cannot pay. So yes, they die for lack of proper care. Since you are a nurse, I’d be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on this topic, magics, and what you think a possible solution might be to this mess.— November 4, 2009 12:51 p.m.
SDGE Lobbyist Said to be Innocent, Reinstated
Then stop calling me names and questioning my moral landscape, Puppy. And you'd better protect your tail from Paul, who is insinuating that you might not be a doggy lawyer after all. Sic, Puppy, sic!— November 4, 2009 11:34 a.m.
SPAM-arama.
Cool, but what of my stockade roast, Pete. Got time to find that? I'll make you guys one... :)— November 4, 2009 11:31 a.m.
Poor Pauly
abbeyrd, I think it's good that you reported what you did--tooting your own horn or not. We need to be reminded that having a heart doesn't always have to hurt :) Pete, I understand that scammers abound. We have two liquor stores on one city block near our place, so you know just by that, there are plenty of scammers hanging out in this hood. I felt sorry for this guy W., who has full blown AIDS, until I learned from another homeless person that he gets $900/month from SSI, and just throws away all of the medicine he gets from doctors on CMS--on our dime. He gets more money for doing nothing than I make part-time, working when I am healthy enough to work; he apparently spends it on motels, booze, paid protection (another homeless guy who hangs out with him for drugs) and yes--heroin. This guy, who receives $900/month still has the cojones to hang out in front of the Bi-Rite or the Ivy and spange customers. He and his 'pal' also robbed a wheelchair-bound homeless woman living in the area, who has multiple health problems. As she dozed in her chair in an empty parking lot, they stole her backpack containing all of her meds, including necessary pain meds. But then again, these people are not all hard-drinking or drugging men hanging out with a 'tude, with the deluded philosophy that the rest of us owe them a living. The woman I mention above is a total sweetheart, and would work if she were able--she has a neuropathy that makes her hands pretty much useless, and her SSI application has been tied up in the courts for years. Meanwhile, she sleeps in a doorway, and no amount of socks, blankets, and mittens we give her is going to shut out the cold from that hard brick porch. There is another guy, whose name I don't know, hanging out on 5th avenue and Laurel. He doesn't drink or drug, OR spange--no one has ever seen him beg anyone for anything. He sits with his bags at a couple of regular bus stops, and stands and salutes the drivers as they pass, with simple, wholehearted goodwill. One driver told me that this guy's salute is so perfect that he knows he was once military. He stops and presses a few dollars on him at the Laurel stop whenever he can. I give him cigarettes and a couple of bucks here and there, but can't do much else for him. And then again--there is our friend Cre0, who inspires with her determination to finish school, despite being homeless. For her, and for B., the woman I wrote about above, I would love to see something good happen...— November 4, 2009 11:26 a.m.
SPAM-arama.
You can call the content of the page an article, Pete--can be used as a general term. The link you posted in #19 declared that there was no Spam article, and I looked no further.— November 4, 2009 10:30 a.m.
Dirty Laundromats
Feel better, Pikey. Hey, can I still join even if there is a laundry room in my building? Still have to go all the way down to the garage ;)— November 4, 2009 10:25 a.m.