In The News

It's Friday... so let's discuss the news.

_____________________________________________

First up, as you've all heard, President "I Hate Poor Kids" Bush vetoed the spending increase for the SCHIP program. Not a shock, of course, he said he'd do it. Ironically, he vetoed it specifically to keep kids like Tori from being able to use the program; kids who have parents that can technically afford to pay $400 a month (instead of the $63 we would have paid if she had been able to join the Pennsylvania CHIP program), but now can't afford to buy that new car we so desperately need (the engine light is on now in ours--grrrrrrrrreat). Remember, the SCHIP program is actually NOT socialized health care--it is private health insurance that the state subsidizes (and the insurance companies seriously discount).

Happy days.

_____________________________________________

Seriously? This is the shit people get upset about? Obama's fucking lapel pin???

Holy fucking crap. This blows me away. The report I saw last night on ABC News was quick to mention the fact that MOST of the candidates don't wear a flag lapel pin--not even John McCain. People are upset about it? Really?

*burying her head in her hands.* I am so glad we are talking about THE IMPORTANT THINGS.

_____________________________________________

On a happier note, I read the same article Moxie did (apparently; Newsweek?) with equal enthusiasm. Some enterprising folks have created an awesome laptop that runs on only two watts of power (it has both a hand crank and solar power to charge it), a screen bright enough to be seen in full sun, has the world's most sensitive wifi connection, and can be dropped and banged with being killed. And the best part? It only costs $188 to make (the creators are firmly committed to getting the price down to less than $100 a computer).

They hope to spread them around the world so every child, everywhere, can have a laptop. How awesome is that? But sadly, they don't quite have the funding they need (of course)--several handshake deals have fallen apart. They are still committed to the idea, so they will soon be offering the opportunity to "buy one, give one." Meaning, you can buy this awesome laptop for YOUR kid for $400 (still very reasonable) and they will GIVE one to a poor kid somewhere.

I am thinking that we will do this ourselves, giving us a sturdy traveling laptop that we can take camping and stuff and still work next summer. Very exciting!

Projects like this--and like the new micro-loan programs going on around the world (this guy won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work)--prove that business can make needed products and still turn a profit.

Rock on.

_______________________________________________

So, what did you see in the news this week that caught your eye?

Oh, and if you're interested, here are pictures of Tori at her first trip to the aquarium. I'll leave them public until Monday.

Comments

[Am]

Check your manual, Cecily, but my car's engine light goes on and stays on when I fuel up at places that are not my usual gas stations. It may not be that big of a deal.

The SCHIP veto is outrageous! It certainly was a great demonstration of the administration's priorities, though. Assholes.

[Christine]

That laptop is awesome!!! I didn't see anywhere where we could actually buy one though, just do the 2 for 1 thing...I'm probably not looking closely enough.

Your little one is so sweet! Loved the pictures. You can tell she's a happy little girl. That's great to see.

[Joy]

Just wanted to say that I fully support the addition of more "political" talk.

I am a mom of a 3.5 yr old girl and have been reading your blog for at least two years, not usually feeling brave to comment though.

Anyway, I tend to obsess about the current "situation" we find our county in, and it's good to hear a mom, who I think is super funny and interesting, talk the politics...and be as pissed as I am about all that's going on.

Peace + Love

[dawn]

I want to make enough money that we could get one of those laptops for Jessica. She's going to school full-time and working full-time and I know having a laptop would really help but as much running around that she does (she bikes to work), it would need to be a really sturdy one. But that's my aim for xmas!

[Nicole]

Its stupid stuff like GWB pulls on healthcare that make me glad I'm Canadian. Between my state-run health care plus my extended health care through my employer, I'm covered for pretty much everything. According to GW, apparently, its okay to provide health care for those that really need it, but not those that may be bankrupted by exorbitant costs of solely privatized healthcare.

(end rant)

And the check engine light could be something really simple: check your gas cap and make sure its tightly closed (replace the gas cap if you need to - if its cracked, there might not be enough of a vacuum in there to allow the engine sensors to function properly), change your air filtre and try putting some high-octane gas through the engine. It may clean it out.

[Melissa Garrett]

Re: the pictures - my eight year old was looking at them with me and was most impressed - she's never been to an aquariam (hanging my head in shame). Anyway - she couldn't get enough of Tori - you should have heard her oohing and ahhing. SWEET! Kids are great!

[Melissa Garrett]

PS - I *love* your glasses :-)

Sorry - my brain is just too numb tonight to think about any news related events. I'm so out of it (hanging head in shame. yet again.)

GWB is a complete moron. That's all I have to say.

[Katie]

It's not too late for SCHIP! Congress will vote on whether to override the president's veto on October 18. Right now, it looks like the Senate has enough votes to override the veto, but 24 votes are still needed in the House. You can call your Member of Congress toll free at 1-800-828-0498 (this is the switchboard- you need to ask to be connected to your representative's office- see www.house.gov if you need your rep's name).

[charissa]

How about GW's claim that, "Our country doesn't engage in torture." No, I suppose we don't, now that we've changed the definition of torture. Easy out, that.

[leslie]

In my car the check engine light comes on when there's a pressure change - weather or altitude after I've put gas in - so taking the gas cap off and replacing it can make it stop. Driving througha big puddle can cause it to go on to - 96 GMC fwiw - hope it's something similarly trivial with your car!

I thought Bush vetoing the S-CHIP bill showed exactly what he's made of. I emailed the White House (like that would do any good!) saying that claiming to be pro-life and vetoing that bill showed exactly what kind of a hypocrite he is - only cares about the lives of the un-born. Actually it's clear he doesn't car about anyone's lives, just votes.

I hope Congress can muster the votes to override that veto!

[Maura]

To echo Katie's comment, it's not too late to pressure your Members of Congress to override Bush's veto:

1-800-828-0498

Only 24 more members are needed to override. I'll always remember how the infertility/parenting blogosphere mobilized hugely to kill the miscarriage bill in Virginia --- a really big push on non-political blogs for people to rise up and call their members of Congress to override Bush's veto could have a HUGE impact!

1-800-828-0498

[akeeyu]

Now, realistically, Bush doesn't JUST hate poor children. He also hates children of color, Iraqi children, and I'm pretty sure he resents all those kids in countries with socialized health care.

I mean, just look at them! All smug and happy with their affordable access to doctors and medicine and their greatly reduced infant mortality rates! Hrmph.

[moo]

I'm a little late to this party ... and I can't even think about GWB without wanting to shove a pencil in my eye.

So, instead, I went ahead and talked about the story on Yahoo this morning about the "new" father. It's on my blog, in case you have nothing better to do. At least it won't make you pop an aneurysm thinking about the domestic state of our country.

[Ariella]

To me, the most frustrating thing about the SCHIP veto is that the democrats -- aka Clinton or Obama -- didn't take a stand and say, "No, I'm sorry, we're going to overturn this veto."

First, there are enough votes to do it; second, I cannot think of a more sympathetic portion of the population than uninsured children. This would have been a situation where the democrats could have taken a stand and maybe brought some people over to their "side." Instead, everyone is bitching about it, but no one is brave enough to actually DO anything.

And, in the end, it's this kind of inaction and pandering to the widest popular voter base that is going to lose the election for the Dems. I mean, let's face it, this election is THEIRS to win. But I don't think they will win it (though I fervently HOPE they will) because Hilary supports the war in Iraq, and Obama is too fake and too polished. The Dems are going to have the same problems this time that Kerry had last time: they refuse to take a stand on ANY issue, and therefore they're painted as wafflers and ineffective.

It's too bad. I don't want to live in a world where we never have winter and Colorado is oceanfront property. But I guess that's where we're all going to live.

[Charlie]

And WHY again is socialized medicine bad? Because Big Pharma says so?

For the benefit of your readers...a simple solution.

a. De-privatize the pharmaceutical industry. That will eliminate the tropical junkits, the bloated ad budgets, and all the hookers and scotch it takes to bring the latest arthritis cream or erection pill to market. Then maybe research and development can focus on drugs to treat those of us those who aren't flaccid arthritics.

b. Tort reform. No more punitive damages for elective procedures. No huge cash awards because someone didn't like their nose job.

The cash savings from those two points alone could fund national healthcare for all the nation's kids, and most of the adults.

[Essie]

Tori looks like she had a great time at the aquarium...fun!

[Shannon O.]

Lore could of been in Chip, but since Jeremy's insurance is taken out before taxes it looked like we made too much in a month (less than 200 a month)... well our insurance would go from 250 every paycheck to 150... thank goodness she is a healthy little girl doesn't get sick... other wise we would be completely screwed because of the cost of meds lol... if I ever meet bush I am going to smack him in the head... but we are having the same issues with our cars... hugs!

[Katie]

We looked into getting one of the XO laptops too. Just make sure you know exactly what it can do or not do before you get it! For example, it uses open source software and runs Linux. It also has no hard drive - if you want to save something, I believe you have to use an SD card. This may not be a problem for some people, but your average Windows/Microsoft-using person may not be able to do what they want with it.

[Ariella]

b. Tort reform. No more punitive damages for elective procedures. No huge cash awards because someone didn't like their nose job.

I'm sorry, Charlie. Tort reform has very little to do with someone who doesn't like their nose job. Tort reform has to do with people who have been heinously injured in an accident, or by a company (aka cigarettes or asbestos or toxic herbicides), and who no longer have the ability to recover enough money to live for the rest of their lives.

I am a DEFENSE attorney -- meaning I DEFEND the big corporations and insurance companies -- and you better believe that I think tort reform is a bunch of BS. Big companies NEED the sting of large cash verdicts in order to understand that when they do something bad, they cannot just sweep it under the rug.

The suggestion that people who have gotten bad nosejobs, an elective surgery for which you could most likely NOT sue unless the surgeon did something illegal or committed malpractice, are the reason for high jury verdicts is simply uninformed.

[Charlie]

Ariella -
I respect your opinion. However, when doctors in an entire discipline are forced to leave a state because no hospital will insure them, it's time to change the system.

I've also known a people who've brought frivolous lawsuits because they knew that the defendant company would bluff out with a nice cash settlement. And it's worked. Again, time for a change.

[Ariella]

Charlie, I'm sorry you've known people who have committed insurance fraud. I see it every day in my work. But my view is that if some people are committing fraud, it's better to pay them out and give them the benefit of the doubt so that someone who is REALLY injured will have the chance to be compensated, too.

As far as people who have been "pushed out" of a profession, I assume you are talking about OB/GYNs. Usually a doctor will have their own malpractice insurance and the hospital will also insure them. I don't know what you mean by the hospital "won't" insure them, because you can always get insurance -- but it may not be as cost-effective as they want.

You know, I do agree that people sue their OB/GYNs for things that may not be the doc's fault. I also agree that they probably shouldn't sue so often. Let me ask you this, though: if an OB/GYN fails to make an important decision that results in the death of baby, or the death of both the mother and the baby, should we have a cap on the amount of damages that doctor owes?

Once an insurance company has paid its "limit," then they are done with the case. Then it's a personalized thing against the doctor, who may have to declare bankruptcy. I may personally feel sorry for a doctor who has to declare bankruptcy, BUT I also wouldn't want him working on me or my friends or anyone else. I know it's just "one" mistake -- but it's a big one, and it's one that NEEDS to be penalized.

Sorry. I know we disagree, but I think that I may have closer contact with this than you do. Right now I am working on approximately 50 cases, all of which are defense cases for insurance companies. I see the fraud firsthand, but I also see the truly injured plaintiffs firsthand. I don't think they should be shortchanged because a couple people think they can bilk the system.

[Charlie]

Ariella -
Yes, I meant OB/GYNs, and the way in which a hospital can exert force is to madate a certain rate of c-sections. Fail to meet that rate, and the doc is strong-armed out of the practice. I've seen it happen.

As for punitive damages, yes, I think there needs to be a financial cap. Especially for doctors. And even in extreme cases. If a doc's performance is so negligent that it results in the death of a child (as in your example), jail the doc and yank his/her medical license. But putting a dollar figure on that kind of pain seems (to me) wrong.

Again, I have a bit of experience in a similar situation. My right arm suffered a lifelong cripping injury because my mom's OB was either negligent, senile, or incompetent. My parents were just not the kind of people who sue. Of course, when I was a teenager, I would have preferred that they had, because the suit would likely have made us millionnaires.

But now I see their point.

And when Cec and I lost our boys due to undiagnosed preeclamspia, suing the midwives who missed the diagnosis wasn't really a consideration.

Just not how we roll.