Ouch. Migraines suck. Too many attempts to kill it and nothing’s worked so far. I have upgraded to my prescription pharmaceuticals I have for emergencies such as this. Die. Die. Die. My mouth now tastes like Fioricet because I didn’t get it down the first time. That’s one evil taste, let me tell you what.
I have changed commenting to require registration due to the tons of spambots attacking the blog. I got four just while I was starting to type this message. Sorry about that, but for now it’s going to have to be. If you have trouble commenting, you can always write me for assistance.
Less links are broken in the blog as I’m fixing them as fast as I find them. Sadly, some links are coming in from posts that have changed names or seem to have vanished. No idea what’s up with that. I’ll eventually figure it out but not today.
My website on the NHL’s Florida Panthers www.panthershockey.net got a nice upgrade today. The Den of Honor page has been added to the menu bar and re-themed to match the rest of the site. The Panthers Road Trip story, previously at darsys.net, has been moved here where it fits in far better and also re-themed to match. The whole site now has a Panther background that’s long been missing. I’ve also updated some content, though gave up due to exploding head syndrome. Speaking of the Den of Honor, there’s a new picture of me with Stu Siegel and Cliff Vimer the ‘managing partners’ of the Panthers that Josh L took unbeknownst to me.
I always joked that I wanted a police escort at my funeral. In fact, my will so requests one. Just found out this very moment that Miami is one of the cities that doesn’t do that sort of thing. Then again, I don’t technically live in Miami. The article’s over at USA Today’s site if anyone wants to read it. I can’t even die in peace.
And because Paul sucks, he made me feel especially old with this link from CrunchGear. There’s a photo of a 1980 IBM 20GB hard drive array (8 @ 2.5GB each) that costs $650,000 in 1980 and weighed 4,400 pounds. Juxtaposed with it is a picture of one 32GB Micro SD card that costs under $100 and weights .001 pounds. The red power button on the IBM unit is bigger than three of the Micro SD cards. I immediately thought of Dave Higgins when I saw this picture.
And for some politics. I just want to reiterate that ObamaCare is a bad idea. I’ve never been for this healthcare “reform” because it’s really not reform. So many people who are for it just don’t get what it’s about. This is not the system that they have in Canada or England (which sort-of works depending on your point of view). ObamaCare was a visionary but mediocre plan which the politicians have changed and changed again into some stupid joke that I can’t believe anyone is even considering. Once special interests get hold of your legislation, it’s doomed.
Many point out that this same sort of outcry was heard when Social Security and Medicare were implemented, and that may be true. Still, we are a republic, and we bear the responsibility for having sent to Washington our respective idiots. They seem to not understand that when vast majority of the entire country — all walks of life — is telling you they don’t want something, and you ram it down their throats anyway, that should raise a red flag. I’d love to rail about how partisan this is, but it’s not. The republicans don’t want it. The moderates don’t want it. Not even all of the democrats want it. It’s not a panacea. It’s a pile of festering shite that will cost you more money.
Obama has become so desperate to prove he’s done something with his administration, he’s about to move himself into that rare threshold of “failed” presidents. This will be his Waterloo. I predict, sadly, Obama’s presidency will guarantee a victory by anyone the republicans put forward and guarantee it’s going to be a lot harder for any minority to get elected to the Top Spot. Having said that, I must point out that it’s a logical fallacy that because Obama sucks, the next black/Hispanic/etc will also suck, but that’s how groupthink works. And most people in this country are incapable of thinking for themselves.
Obama’s administration — which you will recall I originally supported — made many promises. They are now under the gun having been in the office and not done jack-shit. I am extremely disillusioned with them and how they’re doing (not doing) things. Unless the republicans really screw this up and nominate Palin, I’ll probably support the republican candidate. While I have supported republicans in the past, it’s never been for president.
Yes, everyone wanted a change — even republicans agreed our current health care system is broken. I’m not sure this is what anyone wanted. I think even the democrats in charge don’t want it, but since it’s all they got, they must pretend they do want this so they can prove they’ve done something. I am sure poor Ted Kennedy is rolling over in his grave. He’d have said something about this being a sham, a farce, and a disaster. And now they’re trying to tell us it will reduce the deficit? Yeah, right. How? By making you pay more, me pay more, and the businesses already struggling to meet current health care premiums to pay more? Probably. It’s absurd.
It’s shit politics and Bush spent eight years doing this sort of thing. Maybe now the republicans will understand that just because it’s legal and constitutional doesn’t mean it’s right. I hope you have Vaseline™ because you just had a big, fat telephone pole full of splinters shoved up your rectal cavity.
What ultimately happens is (for example) you and I are going to end up subsidizing a bunch of people for insurance who might not have otherwise qualified. Will our premiums go up because of this? No and anyone who tells you so is lying. A larger pool means rates stay down. The bill appears to be pretty well organized as written to keep premiums from going nuts. The people saying this will raise premiums are wrong. It will raise the premiums of those executives in large corporations on the high-end POS and PPO plans, but that’s a very small group. This will nationalize the debt for indigent care and instead of it being paid by the community where administered, will spread it over the country.
There will be shortfalls of course, especially up front. Those shortfalls will be made up by Uncle Sam. What happens when Uncle Sam needs more money? He raises taxes. Who pays those taxes? We do. You. Me. Your friends. Your family. There is no free ride. Ever. SOMEONE PAYS. That someone is YOU.