Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 18:11:46 GMT
Hi folks,
I like Sen. Leiberman (D-CT). He just lost the Democratic primary. But he will probably run as an Independent and win the general election.
One thing that I don't like about him is his attacks on Howard Stern. But that's about all.
Politically speaking, I agree with him on 90-95% of the issues, including his feelings on the US invasion of Iraq.
There is also a personal reason why I like Sen. Leiberman. Being from CT, he has done more for Lyme Disease patients than any other politician in the federal government.
He is also Jewish, and I love the Jewish people.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 18:36:13 GMT
Hi folks,
While I am on the subject of Lyme Disease and famous people, there are a few people I want to mention here.
Christine Whitman (NJ's former governor) had LD. Fortunately, for her, it was diagnosed and treated early. I thought she was a good governor.
Howard Stern's dog (not to be confused with Beth's dog Bianca) has/had LD. I don't know if it is still alive. The reason for this is that Howard doesn't like to talk about it. He was very upset over it.
The executive assistant to Staten Island's Borough Pres. Jim Molinaro has LD. I think Jim is doing a good job. His predecessor Guy Molinari (no relation) was a good/great BP also. One bad thing about Guy was his feelings about homosexuals.
Guy's daughter Susan Molinari was our former representative in the federal government (Congress). She was Vito's predecessor. I thought she did a good/great job. Whenever I wrote to her, she responded. She had a "grasp" or "feel" for the issues. She was knowledgable. I know she was concerned about healthcare. In many ways, she was better than Vito. However, many people in the Republican party (her own party) did not like her. She got out of politics several years ago.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 19:01:23 GMT
Hi folks, In this post, I want to discuss Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens. He is one of the biggest f**king scumbags in the history of the human race. For one thing, he is a Christian Conservative. He hates Howard Stern's guts. He is constantly attacking him and harrassing him. Ted was one the biggest supporters of the censorship of FM radio (and Howard Stern). When Howard moved to Sirius satellite radio, Ted tried to censor/regulate satellite radio (which would be illegal and in violation of the US Constitution). Since satellite radio is a pay service, the government can't regulate/censor it. If the government were to regulate/censor satellite radio, that would open up the door for the government to censor/regulate newspapers, magazines, and cable TV. In a 12/28/05 newspaper article (political editorial), the SI Advance referred to Ted as "Sneaky Stevens". There was a bill before Congress that would have provided money for the military and for hurricane relief efforts. At the last minute before the vote, Ted (in a VERY sneaky manner) attached a rider to the funding bill to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska for oil drilling (one of his crusades). Ted is a close ally of the oil industry. He thinks he is doing the "Lord's work" by pushing to get oil drilling allowed in ANWR, so it doesn't matter how he does it. Fortunately, Democrats and some Republicans joined to reject this legislative trickery by filibustering the measure until Ted was forced to remove his offensive provision. I want to thank the editors at the SI Advance for exposing Ted for what he really is - a sneaky, Christian Conservative, cock-sucking, f**king scumbag bastard. Ted does NOT understand the US Constitution, nor does he understand the ideals that our founding fathers had in mind when they created this country. The First Amendment is CONSTANTLY under attack by Ted. He doesn't "get it". He is so blinded by his religion that he must violate the US Constitution and attack the very ideals that this country was founded upon. Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 19:08:45 GMT
Hi folks, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) is another Christian Conservative f**king scumbag. He gives Howard Stern a lot of "shit". This guy has tortured, tormented, and crucified Howard Stern more so than just about any other politician in Congress. He is another member of the Religious Right who wants to violate the US Constitution. He is coming up for re-election in 2 months. I call upon the voters in PA to vote this f**king bastard out of office. Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 19:17:30 GMT
Hi folks,
It has come to my attention that a "religious nut" is running for governor in PA (the state I hope to be living in someday). His name is Lynn Swann. He is a black man, and he is a former NFL player. He is VERY religious - to the point of ridiculousness. In fact, religion is his #1 issue. He is running against incumbant Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.
Pres. Bush recently visited Mr. Swann to raise money for him.
I call upon the voters in PA to see to it that Mr. Swann does not become governor. I don't want people to think that I am systematically and arbitrarily opposed to all black people - because that isn't true. It's just that black religious nuts are even worse (and more fanatical) than white religious nuts. We have enough religious nuts in "power positions" in this country. We need another one like we all need a f**king hole in our heads.
Rendell supports NHCL, education reform, and investing in alternative sources of energy.
As far as I'm concerned, there are no Conservative Republicans running in this election in PA. There is a Christian Conservative (Swann) running against a Liberal Democrat (Rendell).
It is similar to the 2004 presidential election. There was a Christian Conservative (Pres. Bush - masquerading as a Conservative Republican) running against a Liberal Democrat (Kerry).
The current NY state governer's race is the same. There is a Christian Conservative (Faso) running against a Liberal Democrat (Spitzer/Suozzi).
I prefer true Conservative Republicans (like Rudy Giuliani and John McCain) to Liberal Democrats. But I prefer Liberal Democrats to Christian Conservatives. Liberal Democrats are the lesser of 2 evils.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 19:27:52 GMT
Hi folks,
I agree with Howard Stern with respect to overly religious people. He feels that they are like children who can't think for themselves. They need to be told what to do.
Some religious people claimed that I "rant" on the internet. This may be true. But at least my "rants" are based on science and logic - unlike religious people. When religious people rant, it is based on some invisible man in the sky who might not even exist.
I am an agnostic. I don't know if there is a god in heaven. If there is, then my entire life is his idea of a cruel, sick joke. If there is a god in heaven, I'd like to put him thru the f**king wall when/if I get up there.
Praying to god and reading the Bible won't fix the problems in this country. We need leaders who are practical and pragmatic. We need visionaries. We need leaders with new and different ways of looking at things. That is the ONLY way we are going to solve the problems in this country. We must get all of these religious nuts out of our government.
I am a very open-minded person. I don't like it when overly religious people try to ram their religion, their beliefs, their rigidness, and their intolerance down other people's throats. They try to impose their very narrow and very rigid view of the world on other people. As long as no one is geting hurt, and as long as it is being done between 2 consenting adults, then, as far as I'm concerned, you can do whatever you want. You can go f**k a Martian for all I care.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 19:44:24 GMT
Hi folks,
Some people say that we have a "healthcare crisis" in America. I think we are beyond "crisis stage". I think it is a CATASTROPHE!!! We must scrap the entire healthcare system in America and start all over again from scratch.
46 million Americans have no health insurance. And that's not even counting people like me - seriously ill/disabled people who are forced to live in poverty and be on welfare for the rest of our lives just so that the government will provide us with health insurance. What is this...a third world country? About 1 out of every 6 Americans can't even afford to have a prescription filled.
Our federal government recently came up with a "fee schedule" (a list of fines) for different types of fart noises that Howard Stern makes over the air. I'm serious. This isn't a joke. If Howard ripped out a fart that lasted too long (more than a few seconds), he would get fined X amount of dollars. If Howard ripped out a wet fart, he would get fined Y amount of dollars. If Howard farted on something, he would get fined Z amount of dollars. You get the picture.
This isn't a joke. If you don't believe me, then just speak to Howard or his former bosses at K-Rock.
About 1 out of every 6 Americans can't even afford to have a prescription filled, and the Christian Conservative politicians in our federal government have nothing else better to do but waste hundreds upon hundreds of hours of their time debating how many millions of dollars they should fine Howard Stern because he ripped out a fart over the air. I guess they have nothing else better to do with their time. I guess there are no other problems in this country that need to be fixed.
I want to give you just one example of how the lack of NHCL in America is hurting us. Ford and GM must add $2,000 to the price of every car they build just to pay for the healthcare of the workers who build their cars (both current and retired). This hurts America in the global economy because many of our foreign competiters build cars in countries that have national healthcare systems. Our foreign competitors don't have this added cost.
Augie
(continued in next post...)
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 19:53:10 GMT
Hi folks,
The cost of healthcare in America is just completely out of control. Something has to be done.
There are medications that cost more than $1,000 a day.
Healthcare companies, insurance companies, HMOs, and hospitals are negotiating billions of dollars in contracts like they are buying and selling commodities on the floor of the NYSE. Are we talking about the buying and selling of prok bellies on the floor of the NYSE, or are we talking about the healthcare of human beings here?
This is MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!
It's INSANITY!!!!!!!!!!
What are we doing? Where are we going as a society?
We are talking about the healthcare of human beings here.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 20:04:21 GMT
Hi folks,
If the federal government would pass NHCL, the entire healthcare industry (pharmaceutical companies, medical supply companies, hospitals, etc.) would be more tightly regulated. This would bring the cost of healthcare down substantially.
I am a typical example. When I am taking oral antibiotics, my medical bills are tens of thousands of dollars a year (5 digits). When I am on IV antibiotic therapy, my medical bills are hundreds of thousands of dollars a year (6 digits). It is not unheard of for the treatment of a cLD patient to run into the millions of dollars. There are documented cases of cLD patients costing taxpayers and/or health insurance companies $2 million - $3 million. These cases have been well-documented in the medical literature.
Between May 1990 (which is when I became symptomatic) and the day I die, I probably will have cost the taxpayers of this country literally millions of dollars for the treatment of my LD.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 20:14:51 GMT
Hi folks, I don't know how the cost of healthcare in America got so out of control. I have an uncle who used to get penicillin shots a few decades ago. It cost $5 or $10. Today, it costs $1,200 a day for basically the same thing. How did we go from $5 a day to $1,200 a day? What went wrong? IV Rocephin and IV Claforan are basically "suped-up" versions of penicillin. They are third generation cephalosporen drugs. And cephalosporens are synthetic versions of penicillin. IV Rocephin and IV Claforan are essentially the same thing as generic IV penicillin. There isn't much difference. I know that it isn't practical to give IV generic penicillin to a cLD patient because it has a short half-life (too short). Also, the figure I quoted ($1,200 a day) includes all of the extraneous costs (high-tech visiting nurse to change the dressing on the IV line every 3 days, blood work once a week, IV tubing, supplies, etc.,etc.). But still, that's a lot of money. What went wrong in America? How did we go from $5 a day to $1,200 a day? Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 20:41:27 GMT
Hi folks,
In this post, I want to discuss ExxonMobil's former chairman and CEO (who just recently retired). Exxon generated $36 billion in profits last year. Its chairman and CEO just retired. They gave him $400 million just to retire. It was a "golden parachute" or a "golden handshake". It is estimated that this guy made $1 billion while working for Exxon.
This guy did basically nothing. What did he do? He sat in on several meetings and made a bunch of decisions. Big deal!!! Just about anyone could have done that. A chimpanzee could have done that. We're not talking about rocket science here. About 70% of the people in America could have done that. Exxon could have picked out anyone at random from off the streets, and there is a good chance that this person could have done the same thing for Exxon.
I'm a physicist/engineer/computer programmer. I actually would be lowering myself to take a job like that (being the chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil). I think I was "over-qualified".
Obviously, this guy had "connections". Or he (and/or his father) "knew somebody". How else would you get a job like that? You certainly wouldn't get it based on your merits or your ability.
I'm not opposed to people making that amount of money. But they should earn it or be worthy of it. For example, Howard Stern makes $500 million a year. But he is worth it. He earned it in the past, and he still earns it today. Howard busts his ass and goes to war for Sirius. Howard built an empire out of nothing. He never had anything given to him. He had to earn everything he got in life. And Howard has a "gift". I don't know of anyone who can do what he does. I certainly couldn't do it - no matter how much money you paid me.
Another example is Bill Gates. That guy started with nothing, and he bulit an empire out of it (just like Howard Stern).
Bill and Howard deserve what they got. They busted their asses and earned everything they got. They have a unique gift. They did something that no one else could do.
But the chariman and CEO of Exxon was appionted to that position when Exxon was already an established company. It's not like he started the company up from scratch (like Howard and Bill did). It just isn't justifyable to pay him that much money.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 20:44:42 GMT
Hi folks,
I don't want people to think I am a "flaming Liberal" - because I am not. I am actually a Conservative Republican. Compered to other people here in NYC, I am actually considered "ultra-conservative".
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 21:15:47 GMT
Hi folks,
You might think that there is a way that I can get off welfare without the passage of NHCL. Well, there isn't.
Right now, NYS has a program where disabled people can get a job and get off welfare. And they would retain their healthcare under this program. But there are 3 main problems with this program:
1) Medicaid is a state government program, and it is administered by the individual 50 states. This is a MAJOR problem for me.
I hate NYC and SI. I am NOT living here by choice. I am being forced to live here against my will (by my illness). I am miserable here. On the rare occasions I leave my home, I just want to vomit. I don't know how anyone can live here. If anyone actually wants to live in NYC, I'd suggest a good psychiatric examination.
I left home when I was 17 years old. I went away to college in Long Island. One of the reasons for this is that I hate NYC. When I graduated from college, I went away to graduate school in Michigan. Most people travel light, but I didn't. I traveled VERY heavy. I took everything I owned with me. I didn't own much because I was 21 years old, and I came from a middle-class/working-class family. I had no intention of EVER coming back to NYC again. But my illness changed my plans.
One of the reasons that I majored in the fields that I did is because I didn't want to live in (or anywhere near) NYC. I also enjoy those fields.
Anyway, I would like to live in the Pocono mountains of PA (or the Pacific Northwest) someday. I hate beaches and warm weather. I love mountains and cold weather. I have been wanting to live in the Poconos since I was about 5 years old. I love it there. My parents have owned property there since 1972. Threre is no house on it. It is just an empty lot. I would like to build a house on it and live there.
But there is a MAJOR problem here. Medicaid is a state government program. If I enrolled in NY state's program that I mentioned above (where I can get a job and retain my health insurance), I'd be "stuck" in NY state. I'd never be able to leave NYS. I'd be living like a prisoner in NYS. I'd be trapped here.
What do I do when I move to PA? I'd lose my health insurance. When I move to PA, I'd have to go right back on welfare again (so that the PA state government would provide me with PA state Medicaid). Do you see the problem here?
This has to be done on the federal level - not on the state level. But Medicaid is a state government program. The federal government would have to convert Medicaid from a state government program to a federal government program. Then, and only then, could they implement the type of program described above.
There is talk of NY state passing a state healthcare system (similar to MA and VT). This would also be useless to me. Again, what do I do when I move to PA? This MUST be done on the federal level - unless NY and PA both pass (identical) fantastic state healthcare systems.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 21:27:40 GMT
Hi folks,
2) In the program that NYS has, my healthcare benefits would expire after something like 7 or 8 years. I don't live in a fantasy world. I don't think that god is gonna come down in his spaceship in 7 or 8 years, wave his magic wand, and make me all better. I don't need health insurance for just 7 or 8 years. I need it for the entire rest of my life.
3) NY state's program has TOO MANY RESTRICTIONS!!!!! There are restrictions on top of restrictions on top of restrictions - to the point of suffocation. If the NY state government wants people like me to enroll in these types of programs, then they must get rid of all of these f**king goddam ridiculous restrictions.
I'm better off with the deal I have now. Being on welfare is a better deal than enrolling in such a program.
Augie
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Augie
The Fart Meister
Posts: 491
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Post by Augie on Aug 15, 2006 21:56:49 GMT
Hi folks,
There is a possibility that I may be able to work in the future. I'm not sure. Maybe I can, and maybe I can't. But this job would have to meet 3 criteria:
1) I am physically incapable of working outside my home. So, it must be a job where I work from my own home.
2) Because of my illness, I am very limited in terms of what I can do. Some days, I can't even function at all. It must be a job where I work a very, VERY limited number of hours. We're talking about PART TIME (with capital letters).
3A) Let's assume that the federeal government doesn't pass NHCL. It must be a job where I make A LOT of money. We're talking about astronomical amounts of money here. It must be enough money to cover my medical bills. And then I still must have enough money left over for me to live comfortably. My medical bills can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. If I hadn't been stricken with my illness, with my educational background, I'd probably be making about $80,000 to $100,000 a year. I'd be willing to settle for $50,000 to $60,000 a year after my medical bills are paid. This means that I'd have to find a job making at least $200,000 a year (working part-time from my own home). Does anyone know where I can find such a job?
.....OR.....
3B) Let's assume that the federal government passes NHCL (or if NY and PA both pass state HCL). That would make things about 10,000 times easier for me. Then, I'd be able to find a job (working part-time from my own home) making MUCH less money. It would bring things closer to the realm of possibility - instead of "fantasyland". Instead of looking for a job making over $200,000 a year, I'd be looking for a job making only $50,000 to $60,000 a year. That's more "do-able".
Augie
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