Well, it’s a good thing we’re healthy. Thank the Lord. I’ve never been much for doctors, but as I get older I do need a bit more dental care. And the aches and pains seem to come on a bit more frequently! Most of what we need for good health comes from a healthy diet and good lifestyle decisions, I think. It’s a good thing because I recently read that health care costs have skyrocketed. According to a report by MSNBC News, outpatient visits rose 10 percent in the past YEAR. What the?

I don’t understand why health care is so, so expensive. Oh sure, doctors spend a lot of money on education and need to recoup that. Sure. And big techno machines are expensive to make (even in China) and they use up resources, sure. But take something as simple as an eye exam, a wellness eye exam. That and a pair of glasses can leave you $300 in the hole. What is you have a family of 4 or more? So no wonder people are searching for inexpensive health care coverage. Yow.

What do you think? Have you been affected by the increase in health care costs? Are you changing your lifestyle in any way, to avoid such expenses? The media portrays us as dumb oxen, continuing on in self-destructive lifestyles and swallowing the costs. What do you think?

And have you ever wondered where that phrase “healthy as a horse” came from?

Back in the 1980s, Russia had swallowed up numerous “Eastern Bloc” nations. Stalin and succeeding Russian dictators used these nations (and the people in them) to slurp up their natural resources. The Ukraine, once the glorious breadbasket of Eastern Europe, was suffering from food shortages and economic disaster from Soviet policy. The Russians had built a huge nuclear power plant in Pripyat. The city there was much more prosperous than her rural neighbors, housing some of the best scientists and engineers of the country.

Russian leaders were very, very slow to report what happened that fateful day on April 26th. I think it took weeks before we in the United States learned of all the details. We later found out that a power surge within the nuclear reactor facility caused a reactor vessel to rupture, sending explosions and an enormous plume of radioactive smoke into the atmosphere. Russia sent firemen and emergency personnel into the reactor facility to put out the fire. According to some reports, nothing was said to these men about the radioactivity that now contaminated everything. Most of these workers died from radiation exposure or from horrible illnesses later.

The radioactive plume spread across the continent, with most of of the fallout contaminating Belarus, the Ukraine, and western Soviet Russia. My heart just breaks for those people.

They say that the nearby forests were so contaminated that they glowed red. This area is now called the Red Forest.

The Soviets were very, very quiet about the accident. It wasn’t until radiation alarms sounded in Sweden, 1000 kilometers away, that the Soviets admitted something had happened. Politicians in Moscow seemed very non-chalant about the Ukrainian people and their plight. Their stoically encryptic message was this:

There has been an accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. One of the nuclear reactors was damaged. The effects of the accident are being remedied. Assistance has been provided for any affected people. An investigative commission has been set up.

The countries that suffered the worst from the fallout are (in order): Belarus, the Ukraine, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Bulgaria, Norway, Switzerland, and Greece. The wind blew the radiation into the other countries; rain seeded with contaminants fell and adulerated the soil; the Pripyat River flowed into Europe’s waterways and contaminated the waters. And you know what’s really weird— the name Chernobyl means Wormwood. That name is in the Bible, in the book of Revelation:

And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. Rev. 8:10, 11

Today, the area surrounding Chernobyl is a ghost town. People dropped everything and fled. Everything they owned was contaminated, so they could take nothing with them.

Unfortunately, the people and other living creatures were not unaffected. Thyroid cancer is the leading cause of death among afflicted children. Birth defects threaten future generations. The creatures of the land are contaminated, too, some developing young with crippling abnormalities.

The area of the Ukraine was almost entirely abandoned. Some old timers refused to evacuate. And, believe it or not, the Soviets continued to use the other Chernobyl reactors during an energy crisis! Workers could only work for 5 days before evacuating for 15, otherwise they risked radiation poisoning. Who would even volunteer for such a job?! Oh, but wait, this is Soviet…. no volunteers necessary….

Today, the trees and plants are taking back the once neatly patterned fields and streets. The place is a veritable ghost town. Ukranian officials say that the place will be inhabitable for 20,000 years.

If you want to read more about Chernobyl — from the view of a Ukrainian — check out this fascinating site Kidd of Speed. It’s a little dated now, but it’s a good history lesson. Lord, may we learn from history.

Photo credits: skypy.

Have you noticed it yet? Have you been to Walgreens to pick up a prescription only to discover that your Express Script benefits no longer work there? The reason is failed negotiation. Express Scripts basically “wrote off” their relationship with Walgreens, and the existing contract officially retired on December 31, 2011. According to some reports, Express Scripts was demanding too much from Walgreens while pocketing a huge profit from pharmaceutical sales. If there was ever a time to eliminate the middle man, it is now. I am seeing many, many companies end their expensive contracts and going it solo. Kudos to them, because I don’t care for the pricey middle man, either.

Sadly, the prescription benefits for the military are involved in this mess with Express Scripts. According to a press release, Walgreens attempted to negotiate a “meet or beat” deal with prescriptions to continue their contract with Express Scripts military client, but looks like that fell through.

So guess what Walgreens is going to do? They are offering their OWN prescription benefit plan. Currently, it’s at a discounted price. Until January 31, 2012, you can become a member in the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club for only $5 per individual or $10 for the immediate family (including pets!). After that, the prices go up to $20 and $35, respectively.

I like Walgreens. I think they are very customer-friendly and I will continue to support them. How about you? If you are wondering if your prescription plan with Walgreens and Express Script is affected, check out the links for more information, and check out Walgreens on Twitter and Walgreens on Facebook.

***

I don’t like that a lot of my pals are on Facebook all the time and not blogging as much. I don’t like all the “sharing” that goes on there. Nothing against you guys, really, but blog posts, visitors, and comments have reached an all time low on blogs– not just mine but across the board for most people, it seems. I don’t get it. Facebook is a hog! The site steals revenue and attention from our own sites, and FB makes a ton of money off of us, too. And “privacy”? That’s laughable! I think I’d much rather visit blogs and see the videos and share things on blogs. I like FB as a way to FIND blogs and websites, but I don’t want it to replace our own websites and become a catch-all for everything, which it has become. Come back, friends!!! Come back to the good side!!!!!
:iquit:

***

There are lots of rumors flying around about the financial state of the U.S. Postal Service, by news outlets and individuals alike. My husband works for the PO so we kind of have a pretty good handle on why the Postal Service is not doing so good. In case you’re wondering, here’s the poop:

1. The Postal Service is NOT in financial straights because of Internet email. That’s a myth. If anything, the Internet has improved business because people are doing scads and scads of online shopping, and shipping parcels via the USPS. My husband wears out TWO PAIRS of shoes EVERY YEAR, hopping in and out of the postal vehicle delivering packages.

2. If the Postal Service would simply raise their fees on third class bulk rate mail (aka, JUNK MAIL), they’d make a fortune. Even if it was just half a cent increase. But of course, that’s easier than it sounds because of business contracts, etc.

3. If the Postal Service would force all magazines to come wrapped in plastic wrap or kraft paper, it would save mailmen TONS of money and would increase revenue for the PO due to the extra expense for mailers. The USPS is plagued with catalogs and magazines, the bane of the postal system. For one, the loose magazines are difficult to handle, they get ripped, they are hard to case and stuff in boxes. Two, most catalogs and magazines are filled with half-naked women, greatly distracting the mailmen when they should be casing mail. It’s a sad fact of life, but it’s true. My husband finds it VERY ironic that the Postal Service makes a big deal about sexual harassment (they have to watch educational videos every so often) but the sheer amount of readily-available filth that flows through the mailboxes is staggering. Uh, hello?

4. The Postal Service does not receive one red cent of taxpayer money.

5. The Postal Service is union.

6. The Postal Service is forced- -by Congressional law– to pay HUGE amounts of money into health care, perks and pensions for their workers whether the Postal Service can afford it or not. Congress does not give one cent into the fund but forces the USPS to pay it all. No other organization is forced to do this and to pay so much, only the USPS.

7. It’s the massive pension and health care requirements legislated by Congress — NOT email on the Internet — that is forcing the USPS into bankruptcy.

That’s my 2.5 cents.

***

We have only had half inch of snow here in Upstate New York so far! It’s really unbelievable! The temperatures have been pretty nice, too. So far, it’s only gotten as low as the 20s. I like winter, so I am ambivalent. But I LOVE not having to turn on the upstairs (electric) heaters!!! I haven’t had to do it yet. This is so cool!

***

You’ve probably heard that New York State is not the most business-friendly state in the Union. The state is basically run my thugs and unions, with bloated regulations and extremely high taxes, high utilities, and expensive compensation rates. Oh yeah, New York is a great place to work! WHEN THERE ARE JOBS OF WHICH THERE ARE NONE. Hello, NYS government???

Need an example? I got one for ya. lol

Last year, my town got some sidewalks. Some of the residents had been clamoring for sidewalks on the busy street, and they finally got some (after petitioning for more than 10 years). A whole crew of guys with their heavy construction equipment came through, spending WEEKS building these sidewalks. They did a great job. I think the whole project took about 4, 5, 6? weeks.

We found out much later that the company was from Michigan. What?!?!?! A Michigan company came all this way to Upstate New York?! They stayed in hotels, ate at restaurants, and worked in our community for all those weeks?! Why didn’t the town hire a New York State construction company? Sheesh, why not a local company?! The reason was that it was too expensive to hire a New York State company. With the unions, worker’s comp, insurance, etc etc etc, it was cheaper to just pay the Michigan company for hotels, restaurants and their labor.
And that, my friends, is why New York State sucks.

***

I found a new blog friend today. Her name is Susi and she’s from Germany. She emigrated to the U.S. when she was 16. I love learning about things, and a love reading stories and hearing the perspectives from people from a foreign country. Suzi won my heart when she posted a simple “Quote of the Week” at her blog. Tears came to my eyes. Congrats to you, Suzi, on your American citizenship.

THAT, my friends, is why the United States of America under Ronald Reagan was glorious. :wubs:

***

My cat loves the bathtub. She wheedles past the shower curtain and liner, pokes her head in to make sure the spray isn’t running (she hates that), and hops in the tub. Next thing I know, I hear her lapping up the pool of leftover bath water. EWWWWWW.

***

And now I will leave you with a LOL Cat. This one made me smile.

Abortion is a “hot” topic these days. I am against it abortion. It’s killing a baby. Murder is never acceptable. Some people say abortion should be allowed because society has “no right” to tell others what to do. That’s a poor excuse for murder. Society tells us what to do ALL THE TIME. To stop at the traffic lights, to not engage in prostitution, to not steal from the bank, to not kill off your grandmother or your sister.

I have thought about abortion for many, many years. Some say abortion is OK because that fetus is not “life.” They compare a scrambled egg with a fetus, but that’s a deception. For one, a chicken egg is UNFERTILIZED. A fetus is the result of fertilization. Secondly, a fetus is not a blob of tissue. By the age of SIX WEEKS, the baby already has eyes, limbs, a beating heart and measurable brain waves. Most abortions occur between the 6th and 9th weeks.

Abortion also makes me very angry. You see, abortion was made legal in my lifetime. In the first 35 years since Roe v. Wade, over 55 million of MY PEERS have been erased from the earth. These are people I would have known, laughed with, enjoyed my life with. Then the older generation has the GALL to complain that there are not enough workers in my generation to support Social Security. WHAT THE ****??? You killed them off, buddy!

If you saw the video, you saw that people are SO QUICK to judge this issue without really thinking deeply about it. Abortion is a serious issue. It is a shame that it is legal in this country. A SHAME. And don’t go giving me excuses about rape and incest and the coat hanger. I’ve heard it all. Did you know that there are almost 2 million babies aborted in this country EVERY DAY? That’s not rape and incest, people. The most likely candidate for abortions are upper-middle class girls under the age of 25 who abort because they are not married and a baby will interfere with their plans. Of course, it’s the girls who always bear the brunt of it, don’t they? Where are the men, supporting their women that they so proudly and easily knocked up?

Anyway, I’ve written countless letters to the editor, articles, debated with people…. there’s no denying that life begins at conception. That ending the innocent life — for whatever reason, supposedly good or bad — is murder. And that abortion is wrong. A society that accepts murder of a certain type of person is barbaric and is in danger of unraveling into chaos. Abortion is bad all around.

And you never hear from the baby, do you? Do you think that baby wants to be born? Sorry for being so vehement and ranting, but I’ve hashed this issue over for decades and I’m very passionate about it. The facts just don’t change. Who will stand up and defend the babies? I don’t get any personal gain from this and politically, I have some libertarian strain in me. I’m not trying to dictate people’s lives! I don’t like getting insults and threats (yes, I’ve been threatened before). But these are innocent babies we’re talking about!

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. -Isaiah 10: 1-2

Isn’t that a funny video?! It took FOREVER to load, though. Thank God people don’t send earthquake news via YouTube, or we’d be still waiting for the buffering…. :hmph:

Twitter IS pretty speedy. Quite a number of times, I’ve gotten up-to-date news that was not available anywhere. When we had the bad flooding last week and roads were closing and landslides were, uh, landsliding, I was glued to Twitter. My local news station was reporting instant updates and it was SWEET.

Do you Twitter? Follow me at RebeMecomber if you do!

*takes off hat, holds hat to heart*

Photo taken from MSN news who took it from someone else who took it from someone else...

I was on my bed, typing at my laptop (I write upstairs in my room, it’s quieter).

Suddenly, I feel the bed swaying. Just a little. But it’s constant, so it gets my attention. As if someone is rocking the bed just a little bit. I call my son over, who is engrossed in his iPod game.

“Do you feel that?!” I ask him.

“What?”

“The shaking– my bed is moving!”

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Sit on the bed.”

He sits. Suddenly the swaying stops, then shudders a tiny bit again.

“There! Feel that?”

“No, Mom, I didn’t feel anything.”

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if it was my muscles. My sciatic nerve does do wacky things (like try to bend my calf and foot backwards into pretzels but I won’t get into that right now)…. was it that?

“Maybe it was a truck, outside, Mom.”

That’s a scary thought. For one, the trucks around here ARE very noisy and the drivers do clatter about in them. But what’s even scarier is the thought that my 1855 house would shudder from it. I remembered the condition of some of the studs when we renovated the downstairs….

“Maybe it was an earthquake.” I speculated. “Or maybe the house joists are swaying.”

He shrugged and went back to his game. I went back to my writing.

I checked the news about an hour later, and LO AND BEHOLD I was right! An earthquake, by golly! I exclaimed to him when I saw the headline!

Facebook was ablaze with chattering. Very heartily we jested, we joked.

“An earthquake wouldn’t have happened if Hillary was president!” (yeah, buddy, we’d be fire and brimstone by now)
“In retrospect, I resorted to cannibalism rather fast after the earthquake.”
“If you don’t go back to shopping then the earthquakes have already won.”

One conversation went:

Funny! But deep down we all know that if we were living on the left coast, we’d be toast right about now.

There I was, innocently scrolling through the headlines: our nation’s economy on the verge of default… mmhmm…. president taking vacation #875 for the year… mhmmm…. Russia and China making rhetorical threats…. mmhmmmm…. Americans beating each other up over parking spaces…. hmmmm….

THEN I SEE THE HEADLINE.

Is this FOR REAL?? Are these people nuts?!

Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists

It’s from a UK news site. It wouldn’t be promoted here because it might give Americans something to do besides beat each other up over parking spaces…..

It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth’s atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.

This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by a Nasa-affiliated scientist and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.

Shawn Domagal-Goldman of Nasa’s Planetary Science Division and his colleagues compiled a list of plausible outcomes that could unfold in the aftermath of a close encounter, to help humanity “prepare for actual contact”.

WHOA WHOA WHOA. Let’s focus on a few key words here:

pre-emptive alien attack
scientists claim
highly speculative scenario
described by a NASA-affiliated scientist
a list of plausible outcomes
prepare for actual contact

Someone tell me how you can have a “highly speculative scenario” and a list of “plausible outcomes”?

Don’t people have enough video games and movies to keep them entertained?

Why are these guys even bringing this up?
Have there been any conclusive evidences of alien contact?
No.
Have there been any evidences of alien life?
No.
Any evidence of alien life on other plants?
No.
Any evidence that any the zillions of planets we’ve seen can support life?
No.
Heck, is there any real evidence that global warming is from human activity?
No.

This is insane, illogical, makes the brain of any person living in real life go tilt. So they are basically saying: This whole fairy tale that we’ve invented may or may not appear out of thin air, but we should at least THINK that it might happen because we want to be in control whether it does or does not.

The story is written in a way that literally brainwashes you as if real life is a movie or video game. Trilby, Trilby…. Consider the possibilities of absolutely nothing happening…

The dead ringer for the intent of this “highly speculative scenario” is in the final sentence of the news story:

Even if we never make contact with extraterrestrials, the report argues that considering the potential scenarios may help to plot the future path of human civilisation, avoid collapse and achieve long-term survival.

WHY the heck should we consider and plan for something that will never happen, especially when there are so many other things to do???

And avoid collapse of human civilization?!?! What collapse? Are they expecting something to happen?

Unreal.

***

Why are “historical” movies so unhistorical and riddled with errors, even when it’s a very small matter to be historical? Ever see that movie “National Treasure”? In it, the film claims 55 men signed the Declaration of Independence. That’s wrong: 56 men signed it. I mean, why be so inaccurate when it’s such a small effort to be correct? Some people may shrug their shoulders and say “big deal,” but what if someone said you only had 2 children when you really had 3? Wouldn’t that be a “big deal” to correct it? And the Declaration of Independence is *kind of* a big deal.

***

Why does Hollywood spend SO much money and go SO out of their way to be historically accurate with period clothing, hair styles, props, sets, etc etc and then blow the whole shebang by having the characters swear like sailors and act like harlots? Hellloooo… believe it or not, people didn’t act like 21st century people in the 16th century! There were *gasp* repercussions to, for example, fornication– called children and social excommunication! People back then also didn’t have s*x on their minds as much as people in our modern culture. Human nature hasn’t changed, of course, but back then there were boundaries and social expectations of good behavior to keep it under control. Societies understood back then than a licentious society was chaotic and divided. Social order and behavior was much more stringent, but you’d never know it, watching a Hollywood film.

I love history so I am always looking for a good movie about history. I recently saw the movie “Elizabeth” about Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen of 1554, and was disgusted and disappointed. What a lousy movie, full of smut and error! Memo to Hollywood– Elizabeth did not fornicate with Robert Dudley and then become the “virgin” queen because he was so unfaithful! She did not shave her head and wear white makeup to pattern herself after a statue of Mary the mother of Jesus! Duh! Elizabeth got smallpox later during her reign, and it wrecked her appearance. She lost a lot of her hair and her face was scarred– thus the wigs and makeup.

I get upset that Hollywood does stuff like that– they view historic figures and everyday folks through their own lens of self-absorption and immorality.

But the movie costumes and hairstyles were magnificent. :-p

***

I think BBC produces the best historical movies. They are accurate not only in costume but also in behavior. They don’t always have the shiniest, glitteriest props like Hollywood has, but so what? Give me accuracy over shiny props any day. ;)

While I like Cate Blanchette’s acting and I think she resembles Elizabeth I more than any other actress, I think the best Queen Bess was Glenda Jackson in BBC’s “Elizabeth R.” That was a phenomenal series. It was accurate, outstanding, and there was no swearing and no need to depict Elizabeth as a swooning, sensuous barmaid. Don’t get me going about Helen Mirren’s manic depressive Elizabeth… yuk….

***

I’m so so so sick of hearing about the debt ceiling and debt deal. The government NEVER does what we the people want anymore. I can’t believe they’ve dug us so deep into such a financial mess. I have a mortgage and credit card debt, God forbid I couldn’t pay them off, not even a VA refinance or help from FHAHomeLoan.org would help me. But the government can do whatever they want and that’s OK??

My husband made up a very good allegory about the current debt. He said that if our country paid $100 every second, it would take over 4,000 years to pay off the current national debt. FOUR THOUSAND YEARS. Our government needs a tad more education about refinancing on Wikipedia, it seems. The real world operates a totally different way. I’m very concerned with what out future holds, but I try not to think about it too much, or I’ll get an ulcer. And with ObamaCare as our destiny, that makes it all even worse!

***

Our heat wave is over! I have been glorying in cooler weather. Cooler as in mid-80s. Hey, I’ll take what I can get. lol.

***

Why does McDonald’s food make you feel so awful after eating it? The husband came home today with a Filet O Fish for me, as a treat. I haven’t had one in a while and– after eating the real thing (fish) for a while– the sandwich seemed like fake food. After eating, I thought I was going to pass out from exhaustion. What do they put in their food that makes my heart race like a marathon and I feel so exhausted I could konk out? Hmmm…? Anyone know?

***

Do you remember those “Happiness is” snippets from the Peanuts comics? Such as “Happiness is a warm puppy”? I sometimes come up with my own little “Happiness is” phrases. I thought of one today when Livvy came to see me as I typed this:

Happiness is when your kitty clambers up on the bed to see you, nuzzles your face, and starts to purr when you whisper “Hello, sweetheart.”

Have a great weekend!

Part of the problem is that our country is largely ruled by unelected bureaucrats. The government has set up numerous, impermeable bureaus that regulate a heck of a lot of our lives with absolutely no accountability to Americans: IRS, TSA, NSA, FBI, CIA, NASA, DOHS, etc etc etc. The Federal Reserve really gets my goat. I don’t believe for a second that they are bumbling around, not knowing what they are doing and making “oopsie” mistakes. Their “ineptness” seems more like calculated agendas to line the pockets of global bankers with power at the expense of our country. Doesn’t it seem *kinda* suspicious that the government hands out trillions of borrowed U.S. dollars secretly to various people/companies/corporations? And then has the gall to say old folks won’t get their Social Security checks because the federal government can’t pass a balanced budget? What the heck is going on here? And that’s just scratching the surface!

Anyway, I already know everything is going to **** in a handbasket. The Powers That Be have been bold enough to announce it from time to time. They’ve reduced manufacturing, dairy farms, and ruined our currency. They have raised taxes and the cost of utilities like water, gasoline and oil to squeeze us out of our homes and into debt, where we are slaves to the banks. I don’t think it’s a big secret, what they are doing. Honestly, I’m not too concerned if I have no TV and only one car… I just don’t want to be a slave to the bankers and I don’t want my liberties eroded.

Why can’t some people be happy with their billions and billions of dollars, and live on their estates in contentment? Why must they rule the world, control the population, and regulate our every action? Why can’t they leave us alone in peace? As I think about it, it’s obvious that the “old fashioned” wars over land and sea are a thing of the past. It’s now a war to conquer the human mind and soul through the economies of the nations. Sheesh.