MAYBE THE FUTURES NOT ALL ITS MADE OUT TO BE

DAN SAVAGE IS SOOOOO ON IT!!

I guess it will always get a chuckle out of me when the poor hapless, silly, phobic, and just plain idiotic right wingers go on a rant and thinking they are actually doing gays harm wind up showing themselves to be the morons they really are. So now, if you never imagined yourself the whipping boy, hmmm--maybe I'll try it now--"honey, bring out the old Naugahyde sheets"

AHHHH BARB--ITS BRUNO--ITS SUPPOSED TO BE FILLED WITH BIG PENISES

Sooo, poor Barb went hurling after seeing the latest from Sasha and company---lets see, for how many days, weeks, months have we been bombarded with leaks, peeks, interviews warning us in all shape and color that ITS MEANT TO GROSS YOU OUT IN EVERY WHICH WAY POSSIBLE!!!

If poor Barbara or anybody for that matter is offended--its your fault for allowing your prurient curiosity to overpower your more saintly attributes.

give me a break--watching this movie will not make anyone homophobic any more than me watching Brad(who i think is way sexy) and Angie doing the dirty make me wanna bong Angie or any other raving female beauty. If your a hater, it just gives you another EXCUSE as to why you wanna bash my head in.

LEST WE FORGET

Yes, there are other countries where its corrupt leaders torture, maim, abuse, and even kill their citizens, but its the images taken on cellphones, cams, etc. of the hundreds of common everyday Iranians that just devastates me. How any government can brutalize their citizens and then turn around and proclaim on national TV that the gunshot wounds were self inflicted or caused by unknown foreign agents when its caught on video images is beyond comprehension. Do these cowardly dictators actually believe that the world is watching and believing their lies? Do they not see the terrible images and understand the harm that it does to their international standing?

MAYBE ITS JUST THAT IN THE END--ITS JUST ABOUT POWER AND MAINTAINING IT AND DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP IT. WHATS THE SAYING--"POWER CORRUPTS....?"

Next time your walking down the street and someone looks at you funny or a police stops you and issues you a citation, be happy that for the most part, you are not automatically dragged out of your car, beat to a hairs breath of death, hauled off to some unknown prison where you are tortured and made to confess and then shot, raped, stabbed, or just plain tortured to death and then have them blame your parents for all the trouble you caused and if it would not have been for you jaywalking or going 52 in a 55mph zone--you wouldn't be dead--always the trouble maker.

THE BIG KAHUNA--

Luke Skywalker Champion, our big sweet natured baby that i had the pleasure of sharing a bit of his life with

HMMM, WHATS MORE EXPENSIVE--A GUITAR OR BAD PRESS??!!

STOP ALL THE B.S. AND GIVE AMERICANS HEALTH CARE

I have been listening to politicians extol the virtues of providing affordable health care for everyone for at least the last 30 years and we still are no closer to getting it passed today even with a democratic majority in the house and the senate AND with a democratic president TOO BOOT!! why is it?

-is it because the republicans are in control?--NO

- is it because most major businesses are against it?--NO, ask most any CEO what their fastest rising cost of doing business is and most assuredly it will be health care related

- is it because most Americans oppose some type of universal health coverage?-NO, most polls point to the overwhelming majority of Americans supporting universal coverage

-is it because all such attempts by other countries have proven that universal health care is impossible and not practical?--NO, just a few of the examples: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, Cuba, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France Germany Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan United Kingdom Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, to name a few

-is it because most people in universal health care systems do not like the care, the wait times, the lack of choice, the lack of good quality care? NO- NO- NO- NO--THE REASON, THE ONLY REASON THAT WE STILL CANNOT PASS HEALTH CARE FOR ALL- IS THAT WE HAVE WEAK KNEED, SPINELESS, GUTLESS, AND SELF SERVING FAT ASSED, WELL FED, SUPERBLY INSURED POLITICIANS THAT CARE MORE ABOUT BEING RE ELECTED.

for a fantastic write up that gets down to the nitty-gritty of all the BS, please visit this site and be prepared to be pissed that others around the world are enjoying full coverage and enjoying it without having to sell the kids and mortgage the farm:

Are Patients in Universal Healthcare Countries Less Satisfied?

Let's start with the Health Affairs article Toward Higher-Performance Health Systems: Adults' Health Care Experiences In Seven Countries, 2007[1], a survey on healthcare experiences in the US, versus the universal healthcare systems in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. These systems are highly varied, and I hope to write about their benefits and drawbacks in the next few days. But briefly,

1. the US is a non-universal patchwork of public and private spending, drugs and procedures may be subsidized by insurance

2. the UK is completely single-payer with private care as an option, all drugs and procedures are paid for

3. Canada is single-payer with provinces deciding how health care is spent and strict limits on private care, prescription drugs are heavily subsidized,

4. Australia has a public baseline access to physicians with subsidization of private insurance and option of private care, prescription drugs are heavily subsidized,

5. New Zealand has universal public health care, primary care and prescription drugs are subsidized with some cost sharing, and private care is an option

6. the Netherlands has a system of obligatory private health insurance (like a nationwide Massachusetts system), premiums have a flat rate for all citizens, with subsidies for poorer people who can't afford insurance premiums. Individuals pay for about half, and employers pay for about half, with government making up the difference.

7. Germany has a system of mandatory insurance with purchase of access to one of several hundred "sickness funds" paid for by employers, there is a private option for those who afford it, and those who cannot or are unemployed are subsidized by government.

Each of these systems is very complex, most are a mixture of public and private hospitals, and public and private insurance. Universal health insurance, it should be clear does not mean we have to have a single-payer system like Canada, or like Britain as the anti-reform ads would suggest.

In their first figure, this table is a comparison of the per-capita costs of the different healthcare systems.

Note the United States spends more per capita than any other system and not by a small amount. We spend almost twice as much as the next nearest spender, Canada, and this without covering all of our citizens. We also spend more of our GDP than any other country, almost twice as much as any other country. Note, most other countries have a high percentage of patients enrolled with electronic medical records, a system that makes sharing of information between facilities (currently a major cause of redundancy in expenses) more efficient. Note also that universal doesn't require primary care providers be the gatekeepers. Other systems exist that allow self-referral to specialists.

The Commonwealth Fund, which sponsored this study, has a figure in one of their online chartbooks of health data that summarizes how we spend nicely.

The entire presentation is fascinating and worth a look if you have time. Almost universally we pay more for less. We pay more per capita for fewer hospital beds, we pay more per capita for fewer ICU beds, and pay more for ICU stays despite patients staying for fewer days, we have far fewer long term stay facilities, we spend more on fewer practicing physicians per capita, and for all that we perform worse in indices of mortality, and control of chronic disease.

But are people happy with these systems? Not surprisingly, no one is ever really happy with their healthcare:

Almost all systems have a high number of citizens who think it needs significant changes, although only the US system has a 34% rate of people desiring it to be completely rebuilt, almost twice that of any other country. For the most part, the belief that their medical systems will provide high-quality, expert care, is similar across these countries. This table addresses another critic complaint though. What about wait times? Some countries do have a clear problem with elective wait times for surgery. Canada and the UK are the worst in this regard, but several universal systems have wait times that appear to rival or surpass those in the US. Worse, US citizens complain more of access problems than any other country, with 37% of respondents forgoing care, not seeing the doctor or filling prescription because of issues of cost

Now, on the issue of access, despite claims to the contrary, in most of these systems access to a doctor is rapid, with appointments available in the same day:

In fact, aside from Canada, we were least likely to be able to get an appointment on the same day, and most places could provide access to a doctor in an ER faster than in the US. So is access really worse in universal systems? It would appear that in most universal systems, doctors in clinics and the ER are more available than in the US.

The remainder of the data compares perceived quality of care, and coordination of care between primary care and specialists, and for the most part, the systems are equivalent according to the subjective experience of those surveyed. In the US, there were more complaints about expense of prescription medications, and poor coordination of care - I suspect due to poor penetrance of the electronic medical record.

So, after seeing some data on more than the few horror stories from health systems around the world, are you convinced that universal systems will mean longer wait times? Poorer care? More expensive care? I believe the data suggests more people around the world in these systems experience less of these problems than those of us in the US. We spend more, almost twice as much as any other country. Despite that, our wait times for physicians are worse, we pay far more out of pocket for prescriptions and copays than any other system, we spend more on administration of health care than any other country, we have more people who avoid seeing the doctor for fear of costs, and we are more likely to say we want our system scrapped. In anupdate to this analysis [2] the Commonwealth fund found that in deaths which were amenable to health care interventions the US performed worse than the other 18 industrialized countries to which it was compared. If we performed as well as one of the top three countries, we would eliminate about 100,000 excess deaths a year. Which is the real horror story?

The plural of anecdote is anecdotes, not data, so don't believe the horror stories, look at the total experience in these systems to find a better approximation of the truth.

SOOOOO, LETS REVIEW. We're not happy with what we have, we can't afford what we have-either as individuals or as a nation, something like 46 million are not covered at all and several million of us are barely covered for the bare minimum, we spend countless hours waiting in waiting rooms, can't afford our medications, can't stand our ppo's, hmo's, etc, are told that this or that procedure is not covered, for many uninsured the only access for health care is the emergency rooms which for a simple cut finger(happened to someone i know) cost him a cool $2,300-of which he did not pay as he had no money and on and on and on. AND YET WE ACCEPT EVERYTHING WE ARE TOLD BY THE RIGHT AND PASSIVELY SHUFFLE OFF TO OUR NEXT APPOINTMENT.

ARE THESE YOUR FRIENDS--OR WORSE YET--YOU??!!

AW
Mexico Builds Border Wall To Keep Out US Assholes

THE 3 MUSKATEERS

HONEYBUN2, DEEDEE, AND MY HANSEY.

been a bit busy and havent gotten around to writing much, been thinking about the palen woman, dadt, and health care. should have something up by this evening.

THE 3RD MUSKATEER

Honeybun 2- found my babe 6 years ago when i was looking for a property in inglewood, ca. poor thing was homeless and greasy from living under a car. she's a talker and has a funny smile.

ANOTHER P-FINE CREATURE

My cute DeeDee. Next time, you see her after her injury in her 4 wheeling cart.

MY DEARLY DEPARTED DOXY

my gentle HONEYBUN--she battled kennel cough from the day she came home.

my doxies have always been my best and most loving companions. i have had them since being a child. they are the most silly, playful, energetic, pushy, inquisitive, and just plain all-around hooby-doobies on the planet.

they can also be extremely aggressive and fearless as i experienced many years ago with my BooBoo on a hunting trip in new mexico shooting rabbits. short legs or not she would give chase and once caught a large rabbit and that was the end of that rabbits time. it was an amazing experience-nature at its most raw. many years later, BooBoo went lame in the back legs and i built her a little wheel chair and massaged her back legs nightly and one day bout 2 months later she slittered out of the chair and walked--a bit funny--but continued to walk her funny walk till the day she left us. since then i have built wheel chairs for a large 80 pound basset hound--Sir Luke Skywalker-Champion and for my present DeeDee. You do what you have to do for your babes.

ANOTHER DOGGIE DONE GONE

MY BEAUTIFUL HOBO

OBAMA-GAY FRIEND OR VOTE SUCKING LEACH?

So I'm sitting here at my desk and wondering if our Prez really cares about gay rights or is just romancing us for our money and votes. I remember during the campaign, Barack would go out of his way to include "gay" in many of his speeches and actively courted our vote. He told us about how he would do away with DADT and that even though he did not personally agree with gays and marriage, he stated that we should have all the legal rights and obligations that all Americans have.

Well, do date, i haven't seen much in the way of action in any of the pressing issues affecting the gay community.

i want to fixate on DADT--DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL.

DADT is still being used to throw out very qualified members of the armed forces-many of which have been stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many highly qualified foreign language experts have been expelled at a time when the gathering of intelligence by these very experts are desperately needed.

my nephew, a drill Sergeant with the marines down in san diego, tells me stories of him having to tell his recruits that he cannot help them with their problems because like it or not- if they utter the word gay, homosexual or infer that they have engaged in or have feelings for another man or woman if its a woman-he will have to report it to his superiors and they will be discharged. he goes on to state that these young recruits are as patriotic, as able bodied, as gun-ho as the rest of the group and it pisses him off that he stands the chance of loosing any of them if they so much as verbally hint of any gayness. like it or not, gay people have been in the armed forces of this nation for as long as its been a nation and gays will continue to be a part of the armed forces in spite of these homophobic and discriminatory laws. i am a Vietnam Ear Vet; 1971-73.

my question to President Obama is this--if President Truman was able to sign executive orders #9980 & #9981 back on July 26, 1948-(soon to be 51 years ago) to begin the process of eliminating racial discrimination in federal employment-- why Mr. President, have you not issued an executive order to at least stop the continued implementation of DADT until further review? when for the first time, support for this is growing across America and even Colin Powell and senator Sam Nunn are coming around--why is the Obama administration hiding in the closet and so afraid to step on some toes?

back in the day when Barack was still a candidate, i had to argue till the cows came home that Barack was the person who would keep his word--THAT WE JUST NEEDED TO HAVE FAITH.

i still have faith in Barack Obama's keeping his word to gay people--I'm just to the point that my cries and those of others who campaigned for him when many thought it was impossible, have become louder and louder with every passing day. maybe its that he wants to do it correctly and bring about a majority of those in the armed forces behind him. bi-partisanship is great and all that--but sometimes the president just has to take certain big heads by the collar and tell them that he- as the commander in chief- is where the buck stops. your our president, our leader, the big potato-please act like it and to hell with bringing everybody on board.

ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

morning, its a beautiful afternoon, suns out, birds are chirping-haven't seen any but I'm sure their chirping somewhere. I'm gonnna take a trip north to the Montana area for some rest and relaxation combined with lots of hiking, fishing, maybe hunting, biking, jogging, etc--DID I SAY REST AND RELAXATION??!!! Hopefully, I'll be keeping you guys updated with pics and things.

Here is the link for the cabin if your curious:

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p212693

As for today, not much has passed through my noggin to stir my loins to make me write it down on this jog. Haven't heard any MJ music-haven't seen any MJ FAM MEMBERS parading on the telly and that's a nice change. Somehow or nother i miss my Sarah Palin and her amazing ability to pull complete b.s. from places unknown and present it as intelligent thought.

JUST A QUICKY

dogs are snoring and I'm slowly sliding down the leather sofa as I'm typing away. time to hang it up for tonite.

just a quick question--why is it that if you go on xtube or some of the other x rated video sites, you run across countless vids that have the following caption '' straight guy" this or that. Am i really supposed to believe that if the vid says "BROKE STRAIGHT GUYS" and you see two dudes going at it--am i supposed to really think its two straight guys from the neighborhood pub down the street who find they can't pay the rent or give their wife a couple of bucks to buy a box of tampex and figure the only way to bring in some needed cashola is to get last nites chili bowl smeared all over their winnie??!! or to have a guy stuff his oscar mayer down his gullet(RIP--POOR OLD OSCAR M. JUST PASSED ON TODAY)??!!

WHAT A THRILLER OF A DAY

sooo, it's been a couple of days and I'm still in the dark about how to set up certain things... oh well.! today was basically the day when everybody stopped what they were doing and turned on the telly and watched the MICHAEL JACKSON MARATHON FUCK FEST. i understand that Mikey was one hell of an entertainer and all that and that he sold like a gazillion records, cds, and maybe even some 8 tracks in some backward country. BUT COME ON PEOPLE--do we have to completely saturate the airwaves non-stop when I'm sure that maybe--just maybe-- there are people still being tortured in Iran, our Prez is talking to the Ruskies trying to keep them from hating us and building up their missiles, and yes, we still have that pesky nutcase over yonder in n. korea who thinks he is THE BOMB and threatens to wipe us off the face of the earth with like a couple of scud missiles!! AND THEN THEY HAD TO BE COMPLETE EGO FREAKS AND PUT MIKEY'S POOR LITTLE GIRL ON AND HAVE HER BREAK OUT IN A TORRENT OF TEARS. THEN AGAIN, I NEVER EXPECTED ANYTHING EVEN APPROACHING A SHRED OF DIGNITY TO FLOW FORTH FROM THE JACKSON CLAN.

Its not like i didn't like his music--i loved him AND his music until he went a bit off and started painting his body white and sticking plastic up his nose and down his chin--DAMN, WHAT A WASTE OF GOOD BLACKNESS --AND SUCH A CUTIE PIE HE WAS!!

Oh well, at least it took us away from the only other tragic and horrifying event of the weekend--THE ANNOUNCED RESIGNATION OF ALASKA'S PRINCESS OF CRAP-SARAH PALIN. Now here's a nutcase that keeps on giving and giving and giving. just when you think that she has run out of bullshit and she has scraped the bottom of her cod liver oil barrel, she manages to pull another fine piece of crap out of her waders and waves it patriotically while at the same time sliming everything that the flag stands for--you know--freedom, liberty, individual rights, etc. so now she tells her fellow Alaskans that she is quitting--oops sorry--i mean "passing the ball" in order to help the "team" succeed. Yea right.

TRIAL RUN AT THIS BLOG THINGY

ain't quite sure how this thing works, so forgive me while i attempt to learn all there is to blogging.

i dedicate this blog to all my doggies that have gone on ahead of us. especially my beloved HANSEY.