Senator West Virginia

The health care reform debate boils down to two sides. Health insurance industry profits and the health of the American people.

Those on the health insurance side are trying to kill the “public option” because they know it will create competition for the insurance industry which will force them to actually properly care for their customers (which will hurt their bottom line which is all they care about.)

Recent polling shows that most Americans are actually on the side of the health of the American people (surprising, isn’t it?) Despite all of the lies that have been spread by the right wing media (such Fox News) most Americans understand that having more options is a good thing for them and would help to improve their quality of health insurance whether they stick with their private plan or choose the public plan.

According to a new poll, support for the “public option” to be included in health care reform is at 65% among the American people as a whole. How often is this overwhelming support talked about on the news? Not often enough. Cable news spends most of their time focusing on a few ignorant people screaming at Town Hall meetings instead of focusing on the fact that average informed Americans strongly support real health care reform!

Among Democrats support for the “public option” is at 81% for and only 12% against. How is it that with that kind of support there are any Democratic Senators even considering voting against it? That’s insane! Who are they working for? Are they working for the American people or the health insurance industry? Any Senator who votes against the “public option” is making their alliance clear.

What may be surprising is that even a plurality (although not quite a majority) of Republicans support the “public option.” Despite this, not a single Republican Senator seems willing to part from the party line and actually side with their constituents instead of the corporations for once. 47% of Republicans are for it, while only 42% are against.

Among unaffiliated voters, 61% are for and only 30% against. Yes, there’s 2 to 1 support among the all important independent “swing voters” so what on earth are these politicians doing even thinking about voting against it?

This is a real test of our democracy. Who do our Senators work for? Do they work for us, or do they work for the insurance industry. We will find out with their votes on this very important issue.

Resources:

(1) Men’s Health Blog

(2) Poll On The Public Option

(3) Seven Ways To Support Health Care Form

Taking an Abraham Lincoln quiz is essentially taking a quiz in the history of the United States, as he stands as one of the most important presidents in the history of the nation. Although no president has left the country untouched by his own politics and beliefs, Lincoln went further than most in creating the changes that he believed in, and even though his legacy was already assured by his actions, his legend was assured by the manner of his death.

Abraham Lincoln trivia usually starts with the civil war, as it was his leadership that allowed the country to emerge united through the crisis which had torn it in two.  It is also going to touch on some of his famous speeches. Although earlier presidents had also been orators of a sort, it was Lincoln who among all others of the time truly became known for the speeches that he made. Although the most famous of those speeches is easily the Gettysburg Address, he had mentioned to others that his favorite among all of his speeches was his second inaugural address.

The most lasting effects beyond the victories of the civil war that were achieved by Lincoln involve both the Emancipation Proclamation, and the freeing of the slaves. The industry of the southern part of the country had been build upon the backs of slaves, and by freeing them, Lincoln set events into motion which would allow for the first steps to be taken along the long road to equality, a road that has surely led to the recent election of President Obama, and event that never could have taken place without the leadership of President Lincoln in his own times, a clear reason why any Abraham Lincoln quiz would include matters regarding the emancipation.

Finally, an Abraham Lincoln trivia point that many are interested in but most are sad to reflect upon was on this great president’s assassination. He had dodged assassins throughout most of his presidency, and on April 14^th, 1865 he was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre while attending a play. He was killed by the actor, John Wilkes Booth, who was working with the Confederates against Lincoln. Booth escaped after the assassination and remained in hiding for twelve days until he was caught and shot dead in the attempt to capture him. In fitting fashion, instead of solving the problems of the confederates, the death of Lincoln helped cement the rest of the country more firmly around his legacy; acknowledging him as the hero and the martyr who had saved their country.

The story of immigration is merely the story of our innate desire to seek out new lands and cultures. Whether it is the rigours of our native climate, intensely held personal beliefs or just our sense of ‘what if?’, people have been crossing oceans and borders for thousands of years.

Perhaps inevitably, people don’t just have to overcome the elements and the geography, but people who had the idea first. This kind of conflict can probably be said to be as ancient as the time when the first modern humans bumped into their country-bumpkin cousins the Neanderthals at the end of the last ice age.

The first ‘modern’ humans didn’t just like different foods and worship different gods, but by most accounts ‘ethnically cleansed’ Europe of its natives. By our standards of successful integration, this could be characterised as ‘disastrous’, and those who grumble about today’s immigrants should probably put that historical case-study to the back of their mind.

It’s easy to laugh at long-forgotten events from history, but most people think that problems really arise when it comes to questions of national identity. Much is made of of our national character and the values it embodies. Perhaps naturally we might think of recent arrivals with suspicion. They look different. They eat foods with zany ingredients. Sometimes, they even talk a different language.

In times past, immigration could be easy as climbing aboard a ship, arriving wherever it landed and finding some means of employment. As the idea of nation states grew in currency from the 17th century (and right through to today), this free-spirited world was over-run by a zealous guarding of borders. Fuelled by the likes of Malthus, who believed that the world was running out of resources and that this would lead to mass starvation and the collapse of civilisation, governments began to evolve systems to manage the inflow of people.

We’re a long way past Malthus today. We know that we can generate ever more return from resources we once thought were finite. We also understand that sometimes people are not motivated purely by finanical reasons to seek refuge in another country.

Despite these understandings, our governments continue to ramp up controls to enter a country. Most notably, the Canada visa system has perhaps started to reach a ‘tipping point’ in terms of complexity. Every new rule opens a new set of loopholes to be exploited by those with the means to do so. As globalisation brings our world together, our borders are more porous than ever.

Perhaps its time we tried to be less uptight about this hotly debated subject.

Recent clinical technology have made HIV/AIDS a highly treatable disease.

Appropriate medical care can extend the lives of HIV-infected persons and stops unnecessary and probably expensive intricacies. However, not all HIV-infected individuals have sufficient access to medical care.  Present economic downturn across the US, budget cuts is not surprising. However, this fact doesn’t diminish the pain of the $85 million budget slash aimed at AIDS programs across California. Hardest hit in the cuts are HIV education and prevention programs, testing and counseling services, home services and early intervention services. The Governor has recognized the difficult decision to cut AIDS programs. Spending on health care breeds economic activity, supports jobs, and produces income as it “ripples” through the economy, and becomes greater than the actual amount spent. This phenomenon is termed by the economists as the “multiplier effect”. Good example is, recent study estimated that $1 million in state spending on social program in California produces about $25,000 in sales taxes that go back to the state and local governments. Contrariwise, when spending on health care is cut, it has a negative economic impact that is even greater than the amount cut. This impact is further infuriated because the additio n of federal funding creates a significant increase in purchasing power. Therefore, when health care spending is cut, the effects [resonate/oscillates/reverberates] throughout the economy.

California’s most vulnerable population has its services on the chopping block again in the latest round of proposed state budget cuts. Needy families counting on welfare and Medi-Cal, children of low-income families, and individuals suffering from HIV or AIDS were all part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May budget revise reductions. The proposal also includes to stop all general fund contributions to up to 220 state parks, which could include the La Purisima Mission and parks along the Gaviota Coast. The governor’s proposed elimination of the CalWorks program is expected to affect 3,500 families in Sta. Barbra County as reported by Kathy Gallagher, the director of the County Social Services Department. The CalWORKs program provides temporary financial help and employment focused services to families with minor children who have income and property below State maximum limits for their family size. Most able-bodied aided parents are also required to participate in the CalWORKs GAIN employment services program. Adhering to the considered budget cuts would make California the only state and the first world country of civilized nations in the world to not have a catch program for the poor families.  Abating the welfare program, which gives cash aid and services to eligible impoverish California families, would placing the load directly on the county, making such idea totally wild.

The  planned reduction of  the state’s general fund contribution to AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and other AIDS services, including counseling, testing and home-based care, would also result to widespread HIV infections and deaths.Each year in California, an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people become infected. About one in five are unaware that they are infected. California has one of the highest infection rates in the U.S. with more than 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the California Department of Public Health Office of AIDS.   The state´s ability to identify people living with HIV AIDS is now severely crippled—creating an enormous impediment to the deterrence of new infections and linking those who need it to treatment. Not only will the Governor´s cold-blooded funding cuts devastate those living with HIV/AIDS who rely on the services the state provides to stay alive and healthy, but today’s cuts also pose a serious threat to our shared responsibility to combat the spread of HIV in California.

At the heart of practically every conspiracy theory which involves the New World Order, there is the shadowy group known only as the Illuminati. Today, there is no one group that claims this title, so it is assumed that everything they do is done in secret, therefore impossible to know the identity of any of it’s members. However, certain international think tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group, and the Trilateral Commission are often seen as branch organizations of the group. This article will cover a brief history of the group and a few of the plans they have in store for the world’s population.

In 1776, a Bavarian Jesuit Adam Weishaupt created the original Illuminati organization which consisted of major freethinkers of the Enlightenment era. The group had very close ties with another secret society, namely the Freemasons. During their time they were accused of planning to overthrow the government and some believe they were even involved with bringing about the French Revolution. Their organization was deeply at odds with the Catholic Church which condemned them wholeheartedly. Their short lived group was eventually banned in 1784 when Karl Theodor, the ruler of Bavaria, made all secret societies illegal.

There are many conspiracy theorists today which believe that the Illuminati survived, most likely by hiding itself in the Freemasons. Proponents of these theories believe that major world events are being caused or exploited by this group with the end goal of creating a New World Order. This plan entails a one world, government, currency, religion, and language in many cases. These ideals will be shared with the public as a good thing and a final solution to all the wars, famine, bigotry, and other problems in the world, but the true plan involves a small ruling elite with complete control over large number of serfs.

Some of the better known proponents of these conspiracy theories include radio host Alex Jones, author David Icke, and political activist Mark Dice. While each of these persons expresses belief in the New World Order and the secret societies that are out to bring it about, they all have fundamental differences when it comes to the details. Major world figures who these theorists claim to be in the Illuminati include Winston Churchill, David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski, among many others. Likewise, there are many different groups accused with being affiliated with the group besides the Freemasons including Skull and Bones, The Bohemian Society, and the Ordo Templi Orientis.

If you are interested in learning more about this and other secret societies who are planning to bring the entire world under the iron fist of a global fascist regime, be sure to visit www.theantichristidentity.com. They have compiled what may be the most comprehensive report involving the NWO plan and the major political figures who have a role to play in its inception including Barack Obama, Prince Charles of Wales, and Javier Solana of the European Union. The report pays special attention to Bible prophecy and the identity of the antichrist that is prophesied to be the head of the New World Order.

Very few high school graduates will find themselves in the enviable position to be able to pay for their college tuition as they go. Most college newbies end up getting student loans to fund their education.

The most popular student loans these days is the federal student loan. Many federal loan types exist for students. The ones that are used the most are subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

Subsidized loans are for students that have a legitimate financial need per regulations of the Federal Government. No interest has to be paid on this type of loan while still in school or in grace or deferment periods.

An unsubsidized loan is for students and it is not dependent on financial need. This loan will acquire interest during the loan period. Unlike subsidized, interest is accruing while the student is in school, and during grace and deferment periods.

PLUS (Parent Loans) Loans are unsubsidized loans. This type of loan is one that parents get to pay for their children’s college. Graduates and professional students may also get PLUS loans. Education expenses are paid for by federal student loans. During this time, interest is charged throughout.

You can expect an easy application and approval process. Students are required to fill out a FAFSA. (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) The process has been made easier by submitting it online.

The student application deadline is June 30 of every year. Parents will have to submit their most up to date tax information if they have a dependent student. If the student is not living with their parents, they are required to submit their own tax information.

The monthly payments are bearable on these loans and the interest is low. After you have been away from college for about nine months, repayment will begin. You will absolutely have to pay federal student loans back.

However, if you are not employed after you get out of college, you can get an extension for a certain period of time. Failure to pay back these loans can get the borrower in trouble. The Federal Government has the authority to impose a number of penalties since they are federal student loans.

You can expect the Federal Government to withhold tax refunds, garnish wages, or litigate in court as a penalty for failure to pay back the loan. Student loans cannot be included in a bankruptcy according to the Federal Government.

Federal student loans are some of the best loans for students to have. The best student loan will vary depending the individual student’s financial need.

Who would of thought that survival living would be a reality in America?

We in America are spoiled.  We have so many selections at the grocery store that it is beyond the imagination that food won’t be there.  Although there are plenty of right here in the US who retire to bed hungry on a regular basis, the true food shortages which have sparked riots in other states have thus far escaped the USA.  It is foolish to think we are immune forever.  

Wendell Berry mentioned in his book ‘The Unsettling of America’ 31 years ago that food was too necessary to be used as a weapon.  People have ignored that idea for thirty years because – WE have food on the grocery shelves and it can’t be that bad.  

Society looked the other way as dairy farmers endeavored to hang on to herds of a couple hundred cows and maintain their way of life.  It looked the other way again when small hog farmers were buried under 9 cent hogs, a price that meant ham alone brought twice what the entire pig cost.  Some farmers gave hogs away as it might cost them to sell or keep them.  

This eliminated many alternatives for our food.  While we see now that with oil those who have it can, will, and do dictate the price people don’t see the flashing neon sign that our food supply is in an identical scenario.  Indeed, customers are for the most part so ignorant of it that they continue to buy on cost, generating revenue for the scattering of corporate entities that hold the majority of our survival food storage.    

Archer Daniels Midland – ADM – bills itself as’supermarket to the world’ and had a 67% increase in profits while Cargill – resented by little farmers the world over – had an 86% profit increase.  

Most patrons haven’t any idea what some ingredients in their products truly are.  
for instance, sorbitol is a hydrogenated sugar alcohol derived from corn, which is employed in sugarless gums and candy, as well as being an ingredient in polyurethane.  

As one of the biggest processors of oil seed, ADM produces soybean powder and meal for human and animal use.  Removed from that’s a crude oil used not only for eatable oils, plant oils and lecithin, but also for economic oil, biodiesel, and polymers.  

Cargill – enjoying record profits – has its hands in baked goods, cereals, drinks from alcohol to cola drinks to fruit drinks, candy and chocolate, dairy, health and organic ( think sports drinks, vitamins ), meat and poultry, pharmaceuticals, prepared foods ( seasonings, jams/jellies, side and main dish mixes, puddings, sauces and masses more ) and break foods.  You will not see ‘Cargill’ on grocer shelves overtly labeled just like you will not see the other majority players, but it is’s there and much of what you eat comes from them.  

Rest warranted when it comes to maintaining those record profits that they’ll have that in mind before those too poor to buy their foods.  Cotton farmers in India, pushed out by Monsanto cotton, have committed suicide at the chance of losing their livelihood, and farmers in several other nations do not even desire them as neighbors.  If it comes to their finances or yours – theirs will take precedence.  Monsanto and Cargill each own 50% of a corporation that markets GM foods globally.  

Monsanto eagerly pushes farmers into courtrooms where a small farmer has no possibility of winning, whether they’ve ever planted their seed.  One farmer was held accountable for planting their genetic altered seed on land he didn’t even own – which made no difference in the courtroom.  Absolute power corrupts fully is an acceptable proverb to describe what’s happening.  

With these corporations holding the vast majority of our food supplywhat happens when they raise prices and demand more profits?  We can do without fuel – but we will not do without food.  Sadly, the headlights are approaching and American consumers don’t have a clue to move off the road.  

Corporate America exists for one thing – Cash.  They might give a token amount for charities but profit comes before anything.  Lower costs drive the ‘reasons’ for GMO products, which the majority don’t want to eat and farmers don’t want near their fields.  

If your checkbook is drained and they are showing record profits do you suspect they may barter with you as little farmers will?  Do you suspect they’ll feel sorry and say’here’s groceries until you get on your feet?  Not going to happen – it cuts into their profit.  Farmers have seen it – consumers don’t and are not aware of it.

Attempting to find Ideas For essential survival gear, go to http://essentialsurvivalgearcatalog.com

Some students end up not being able to pay back their loan after they graduate from college.   The amount of debt to pay back from these school loans can be overbearing.   If this is how you’re feeling, then the consolidation of school loans may be something to think about.  

The consolidation of school loans means that you could make one loan by combining all of your student loans.   You would only have to make payments to one lender.   One of the benefits of having just one loan is that you may get a lower interest rate.   Consolidating college loans can also save you money compared to paying for more than one student loan.   When you consolidate your loans, you are able to budget your expenses better.  

There are a number of federal student loans that can be included for the consolidation of school loans.   Your monthly payment will be lower with these loans.  

Listed below is a list of these federal loans:  

•  Federal Direct Loans  
•  National Direct Student Loans  
•  Federal Stafford Loans  
•  PLUS Loans  
•  Loans for Disadvantaged Students  

You have to get qualified for a loan consolidation.   All classes and programs should be completed.   As much information about you as possible should be included in order to receive the proper service for the consolidation request for your college loans.  

Some lenders will meet your needs better than others.   Look at the terms and interest rates.   Another plus that you can expect from the consolidation of college loans is a reduction in your monthly payments.   The negative side to that is that you may wind up paying more in interest.   Before you sign any application, be sure to go over the fine print.   Don’t let anyone rush you through the process.   Don’t be afraid to ask any questions before you sign for the loan.  

Once the approval process is complete, be sure to check everything for errors.   Getting the rate you want and being locked in is key.   Get professional consultation if you find errors on your paperwork.   The goal is to be able to afford the monthly payments without having to go broke doing it.  

The consolidation school loan can be for a term of up to 30 years.   The faster you pay off the loan, the less interest you will pay.   This can help you to avoid those extra monthly payments.

Ms Firoozeh Dumas told stories today. It was a combination book signing (for Funny in Farsi) and speech. The speech was light and lively with a heavy message: tolerance.

Ms Dumas came to Fairfax, VA to speak with social studies teachers about her book, but also with a message about how to view other cultures. She mentioned a possible homework assignment: have students watch the news for a week, and then come to general conclusions about the United States based on the news stories. They will find, she said, that the conclusions will be pretty darn depressing. Now, we live here. We can counterbalance the news with our own experiences. But when there is news of the Middle East, it is all negative, and most of us do not have that experience to provide ballast. And so the stereotype of the Middle East does not include lightheartedness, humor, fun, and playfulness. Uh uh.

Ms Dumas passed on an anecdote of someone who didn’t consider that Iranian children have birthday parties.

In marketing her book, Ms Dumas was told by literary agents that Americans would not buy a funny book about Middle Easterners. People wanted the stereotype — the terrorists, the oppressed, the brutalized and the brutalizers. Not birthday parties. But her book was published, and a funny thing happened: it became a best seller in the US, and a very popular book in Iran. The gatekeepers of American books by and large called it wrongly when it came to what Americans wanted. And stereotypes took another hit in Iran. The people (who, contrary to popular belief in this country, tend to like Americans) ate up the book. The radical Shi’ite government — not so much. She cannot go back to the country of her birth because the government does not share the people’s sense of humor.

The message to educators was about news bias, but also about taking care not to insert preconceptions about kids based on cultural stereotypes.

A note about educators. Maybe because in any situation where someone is at the front of the room talking, that someone is usually the teacher, when we are not up there, we don’t know how to act. Just as teachers typically make awful students (in classes full of teachers, we tend to do all of those annoying things that we won’t let our students do, from the audible yawns to texting in class to talking too loudly), they also tend to be rude audiences. In the midst of Ms Dumas’ wonderful talk, there were teachers on their Blackberries, teachers looking at their watches, teachers holding little meetings. During the question-and-answer session, one woman gave a speech, as if to say, “You are but an internationally acclaimed author and award-winning speaker, but now you have had credibility conferred upon you by an eighth grade civics teacher. You are so blessed!”

Ms Dumas spoke of the need for tolerance and diversity, and told of the nastiness she saw when some people reacted to the Iranian hostage situation in 1979. But fully embedded were glowing testaments to the American system. She spoke in almost spiritual terms about the idea of a library, a place filled with books that one may borrow. In Iran, no library…..no books! Human rights for Ms Dumas are not something to be taken lightly; when she talks to people in Iran, they long to be free to read, to write, to dress, to Cerf the Web as they see fit.

Funny in Farsi is about funny things that happen to a family. It is also a book that takes tolerance seriously. When she addresses groups, she does the same in a very engaging way.

(#1) 450K Doctors Are In Support Of Health Care Reform.

I’ve seen a lot of interviews with doctors who complain about the problems associated with trying to get the private health insurance companies to cover the care that their patients need. Overwhelmingly doctors favor health care reform (in fact many seem to favor a “single payer” system over the “public option.”) Who should we listen to? The doctors that want to make us well or the insurance companies that just want our money?

(#2) Over 10,000 US Citizens Die Due To Lack Of Health Care Coverage Every Year.

This is absolutely a moral issue. If you’re against health care reform then you are for death. Really there’s no polite way to say this. I don’t understand how any American can be OK with their fellow citizens dying simply because they are not rich.

(#3) To Stop Discrimination Against The Sick People & Pregnant Women.

Not only is this a moral issue, it’s also a civil rights issue. Right now the sick and the preganant are descriminated against by health insurance companies who won’t cover them due to “pre-existing conditions.” These are the people who need coverage the most and our system fails them.

(#4) To Keep Growing Costs Under Control.

Right now the US spends more on health care than any other country in the world and gets much poorer results back despite spending all of that money. It’s clear that the US needs to do something to keep costs under control, that’s a big part of what health insurance reform will do. It’s nonsensical to say that health [insurance. What would be too expensive is not having health care reform.

(#5) The US Ranks #37 In The World In Health Care

For a country with the massive wealth of the US it’s absolutely embarrassing that our health care system ranks so lowly and that so many of our people die due to lack of basic health care coverage. It’s clear as day that what we’re currently doing is not working effectively. Read these seven truths about the US health care system to get a better understanding of how screwed up what we have now is.