Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Edward M. Kennedy


I was in high school Spanish class waiting for school to be dismissed early so students could go downtown and see President John F. Kennedy when the world changed. President Kennedy never came to Austin. The school principal announced that he had been shot in Dallas and sent us home. I reached my house in time to see Walter Cronkite announce that President Kennedy was dead.

I don't think I even knew he had a brother Ted then. As I went on to college, I became more aware of the Kennedy clan. I mourned Robert Kennedy even though I thought him wrong to oppose Lyndon Johnson. And I remember Chappaquiddick. At the time, I thought Ted Kennedy got off lightly, but now I know he payed a great price - the Presidency of the United States. I believe that was a just punishment.

The atonement demanded by his great failure made him a great Senator. Over the years, I slowly became an admirer of the Senator. (The New York Times has provided a time line of his life.) He became the champion of what he was not: the working class, the disabled, and the poor. He wanted the nation he loved to provide a good education, a decent working wage and adequate health care for all. He fought tirelessly for those goals.

Senator Kennedy was a man of deep flaws but of great achievement. I think that his greatness was achieved because of those flaws. A more perfect man would have had nothing to prove, nothing to atone for. Sin can be defined as falling short of the target. Senator Kennedy fell short, but in seeking forgiveness, he reached a higher goal, service to others ('I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'), and gave us all hope that in our failures we can find future success.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Lieberman is a Putz


Senator Lieberman thinks we should go slow on health care reform, wait until the economy recovers before we enact expensive programs. He sees no need for immediate action.

I will translate: There are a lot of working poor who don't have insurance. It would be expensive to cover them. If we wait, we will save money because we won't help them pay for health insurance, and many of them will die without health insurance and never need to be covered.

Health rationing is real and has real consequences. I know. See my story.

His remarks can be read here along with an interesting analysis.


Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Garden in August


The battle is on to keep the plants alive until September and cooler weather. We are heading toward a new record for the number of 100 degrees or more days. Great! On top of that a drought has lowered our water supply to a very low level although not as low as when I was a child. With the water level dropping, new more stringent watering rules are going into effect.

As of August 24, 2009, we can only water once a week and not during the heat of the day. The police will be handing out tickets, no warnings. The tickets will be at least $400.00. I can't help but think that a cash-strapped city has discovered a new revenue source. Other cities and towns are only now going to mandatory conservation and twice a week watering.

Unless the weather changes and rain comes, I don't think I will have a fall garden. The problem is that I need to be planting now for the fall and it is too hot and too dry.

I lost my last artichoke and my lavender. The tomatoes are still alive but producing smaller fruit. The cherry tomatoes are now pea-sized. The yellow pear tomato is not producing at all. It looks to be on its last legs suffering from heat and disease. Even the native black nightshade is having problems. This plant has grown at the edge of the garden since spring. The white wing doves love its fruit so I have let it grow. Something is eating the leaves. The plant was already weakened by the heat, so it has a very straggly appearance.

My okra continues to flourish with pods harvested every day. The first eggplant has been picked and eaten. With the dearth of insects including bees, I am now pollinating the eggplant by hand using a paint brush.

The weather forecast is for another week of heat and dryness. We may break the all time record for days in three digits. Oh well, I am going swimming with my cousin.

Photo by faul

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Health Rationing


Let's talk health rationing. That is how conservatives are trying to scare the public about health reform. What the conservatives neglect to mention is the health rationing that they approve of, the system we have now.

The system we have now rations on the ability to pay. I am a perfect example. I have several pre-existing conditions that keep me from getting health insurance except in the state health risk pool. There I pay $807/mo for a policy that has a $2500 deductible and a separate $3000 co-pay. The result is all I have is catastrophic coverage. Oh, I have a low income thanks to the economic down turn.

My insurance has another fabulous provision. If you try to commit suicide, there is no coverage. That means if you survive your suicide attempt, then you are left with all the medical charges: ambulance, emergency room, etc. So when you return home, you are inundated by bill collectors. If you weren't depressed to start with, you will be afterward. I think the insurance pool is telling you not to attempt suicide, but just do it right and die.

Back to rationing. I have a bad knee right now. I actually pushed something solid back into place under the knee cap a couple of weeks ago. I have no money, so I cannot go to the doctor because I can't pay for an office visit and X-rays. The pain has been so bad that it makes me nauseous. Luckily, the knee is slowly improving. I just have to be sure not to bend it going up or down steps.

In addition to my knee pain, my blood pressure is dropping. I stopped taking one of my medications that lowers it. This has stabilized my blood pressure although occasionally it really drops. My heart rate is slowing, too. I should go to my doctor, but, guess what, no money. I will wait until I cannot function. I know from a previous diagnosis that there is a finite chance that the nerve from my brain to my heart is being compressed interrupting the signals to my heart. I certainly don't have money for tests or to see a neurologist. I struggle on hoping my finances improve to the point where I can seek medical care. No money, no medical care. This is rationing.

How many people are like me? How many have insurance that is almost worthless? How many have none? None of us can afford our system. The President of the AMA, J. James Rohack, agrees we have health care rationing now.

People without insurance and those like me plug along until we land in the emergency room or dead. You'll ask why do I bother with insurance? Because the insurance company has negotiated a lower pay rate with doctors and hospitals, so I pay much less than I would without insurance. Of course, when you are broke most of the time, you can't do much.

This system does have an advantage for Republics. Lower income voters tend to vote Democratic. A system that supplies less medical care to the poor and low income increases their death rate. This removes these people and their votes for Democrats. No wonder Republics want to maintain the status quo.

Photo by soopahgrover

Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Garden Survives - Barely

All but one of my artichokes has died. The lone survivor struggles on along with tomatoes that are looking increasingly stressed. Over 40 days of 100 degree weather and no rain are not what a garden needs. As of this week, my lavender is dying, but my herbs seem to be still on track to make it through August.

I figure that if my garden survives August, then the plants will make it into the fall. I am trying to get new tomato plants from two of my present plants. I have planted over-hanging branches into pots of soil so that the stems will root. Once rooted, I will cut them free and plant in a different area. I am not trying to root the tiny cherry tomato. This plant has been prolific, but its tomatoes are so sour that I cannot eat them alone. This tomato was supposed to produce very sweet tomatoes. Oh, well.

My okra is thriving and I get fresh pods almost every day. The blooms look like a yellow hibiscus with a mahogany center. I love raw okra, so the fresh pods seldom make it indoors. Fresh okra and fresh tomatoes - yum.

One eggplant has finally set fruit. I have a whole row of eggplant that seems very happy in the heat, but do not produce. This week the eggplants were attacked by tiny web worms. When I found them, I squished them by hand. One eggplant had a tiny spider working hard to subdue a worm twice his size. I left that plant alone. Today, I checked it - no worms. The spider had succeeded.

I keep hoping for rain. Maybe next week.