ObamaCare Showdown… again

       Listening to the Republican rhetoric on ‘Obamacare‘, one would think that the end of the American economy is  at hand. Unfortunately, the republican message is the only one being heard at the moment, and I’ve discovered  it’s the most widely understood. Having world in healthcare for many years, I know the need for universal  health coverage. I’ve written about the disparities in our commercial healthcare system before. I know a change  is needed. With the release of healthcare plan details to companies (and thus to their employees), dialog about  what’s next in health insurance payments has, for once, become a hot topic.  The disturbing thing… the Republican talking points are almost exclusively the ones echoed by my fellow  coworkers and friends. And it’s not a local phenomena.

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Toyota Mechanical Failures and Electronic Transmissions

Akio Toyoda testified before congress today, claiming recent failures were due to floor mats and pedals again, but claims the fix includes pedal replacement, floormat replacement, and electronic reprogramming. They did not directly say that electronic failures were a cause, only a consumer concern. Nice.  Two issues come to mind…

 

Watch out for shopacc.com

Shopacc.com specializes in parts and accessories for electronic equipment. Think twice before ordering from them, however. I recently purchased a replacement cell-phone antenna from them (a very small item). Six dollars for shipping a 3 dollar item was acceptable, until the 6 became an 9. They used a third-party shipping service for the item,   but screwed-up the shipping type. What happens? I get charged postage-due to pick-up the item.

 

Ohio Issue 3 Passes! Casinos coming soon!

Finally, Ohioans were able to get casinos legalized. Unfortunately, it took a constitutional amendment to force it’s existence. And, as written, it only allows casinos in Ohio’s 4 major cities. But, the legal door has been opened for future development outside those areas. The process is started, and that’s what’s important.  Bring-on the crime, drugs, poverty, addiction, and prostitution that comes with it. Oh..I forgot. We already had that, but without the casinos.

To all those detractors, I just have this to say: The wife and I enjoy driving to the casinos near us. People in Ohio always point to Detroit and Niagara to show that problems follow casinos (forgetting that Ohio already has state-sponsored gambling). We have noticed that the only problem with casinos is that they always look equally as good as all other casinos, regardless of the area they’re in.  This ironic image easily fuels the fire of ‘evil-casino’ rhetoric from anti-gambling advocates. It’s bull, but with those types of images, it’s easily believable bull. But, the truth is simpler.

Windsor and Pennsylvania are nice casinos in nice areas.

Niagara  has nice casinos  in a nice city block (don’t go too far).

Detroit has nice casinos in crap areas.

The casinos aren’t different. The areas are.  I’ve complained about these arguments before.   Nice cities will be nicer with casinos. Bad cities will remain bad with casinos.  The only difference is fun.

 

RANDOM RANT: Where’s my Halloween movies?

 

What a crappy Halloween. Sure, the trick-or-treaters were nice, but what about the television? My wonderful Television?

 

ONE ISSUE: Healthcare

With new healthcare legislation, I feel I must re-publish an entry of mine from almost 2 years ago. Though written for the democratic convention to choose the candidate for the upcoming presidential election, it seems as relevant now as it did then.

 

Vaseline MEN body and face lotion and Glue

I want tough skin, but I don’t want to have to do anything to get it. Like..activity. So I try a bottle of Vaseline MEN body and face lotion . “Fortifies”, “build healthy skin resilience”, “more efficient”- whatever. Getting it home, I squirt a little out. Wife liked the smell, but I found something oddly familiar about. Sticky. Strange. Couldn’t quite place it.

Something from long ago..

from childhood..

..Kindergarten?