I just thought that was how life was

I just thought that was how life was.  How could I know pain was not the norm?

It's all just shit

Sometimes I think my life has been a replay of the scene in Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dufresne was beating on the sewer line.

A Trip Through Life

This afternoon I took a run into town,  as I was merged on to I-49 south I noticed flashing lights in my rearview mirror.  I didn't worry because the speed trap is the next exit north and I know better.  You do not speed on I-49 north of Opelousas.  It turned out to be an ambulance from Natchitoches, there were two cars following real close, I figured it had to be family.  One car was a late model sedan with a Florida plate with a young man driving it and you could see he must have had all his belongings in that car, the backseat was packed to the roof.  I bet he came in because some one was ill.  I thought to myself that poor family, there must have been someone so ill they were having to transfer them.  I got so emotional my eyes started tearing up.  They kept heading south and I took the first exit into Opelousas.  After running my errands that were more an excuse to get out of the house than anything and as I was pulling back on to I-49 north heading home the DJ on the radio was talking to a young girl that had a song request for her fiance.  The DJ started asking the young lady about her story.  Turns out the couple met when the girl went on a family vacation to the Azores.  While there they visited her father's best friend that had stood as his bestman 25 years ago.  Turned out the friend had a son.  Well long story short, the couple hit it off and he gave up everything he had and moved here to be with her.

So on one little trip into town I experienced the best and worst of life.

Jindal and Medicare

This won't be my most eloquent post, I am having trouble putting this into words.  I want to protect my source.

Due to the crap Bobby Jindal pulled with the medicare funds our elderly are being cut off of their pain medications, with no withdrawal treatment.

Jindal refused to expand Medicare so the state lost it's federal funding.  In Louisiana almost 65 cents of every  medicare dollar comes from the federal government.  Now these elderly in nursing homes are being denied coverage for their medications.

This is an update on this presently unpublished blog.  I posted the following on a conspiracy forum on Aug 20, 2012, I noticed yesterday it had been removed from my profile, just by accident I was looking for something else.  Well today August 25, 2012 it turns up on the forum under someone else's name.  I don't know if I should be flattered or concerned.

I spoke with a nurse from a local nursing home here in Louisiana, she told me her patients painkiller prescriptions are no longer being covered by Medicare. The patients are all suffering from withdrawals and the staff there is not equipped to deal with it.

Bobby Jindal turned down the AHA and Louisiana lost 5 million in Medicare funding because of it. Louisiana is so poor we receive over 60 cents on ever dollar we spend on Medicare from the federal government. The main reason he turned this down was in hopes of getting the VP nomination from Mitt.

I suggest you check on your elderly if you live in a state where your Republican governor turned down the AHA.

Even before this Jindal had made deep cuts into the LSU Medical System which provides low cost care to the uninsured. A friend went to the ER of one recently while suffering a stroke, they had no room in the ICU or a bed on a floor for him so they put him on a cot in the ER for 24 hours to watch him. What he witnessed that night was gorilla health care. A 69 year old woman that has worked as a cook all her life came in with a broken leg. They had no staff to x-ray her so they could not put a cast on her, they were going to give her crutches and a boot but there were none to be found, so the doctors made a homemade splint for her and told her to go to another hospital 150 miles away. They also had no pediatrics staff available, so if you had a sick baby you were out of luck.

This is what our system of medical care has given us. Life saving medical care should not only be for those that can afford a $500 a month premium or are lucky enough to have coverage provided by your employer.

This is what 60 years of the insurance racquet running our medical system has given us. Insurance companies are not in the business of providing health care they are in the business of denying health care.

I hear people say they don't want to pay for someone else's health care, well when people have to seek emergency care and are unable to pay, we all pay for it in the form of higher health care costs. So you end up paying for it one way or the other. Why not provide them preventive health care and bring down the costs? We would have a healthier and stronger nation. When socialized medicine was introduced in Europe employers found there were significant fewer sick days taken resulting in huge savings, not to mention healthier and happier more productive workers.

When the AHA goes into effect in 2014 the cost of insurance premiums will drop. There will be more people in the insurance pool thus costs will drop. We saw the same thing happen when they allowed the auto insurance industry to sell across state lines. This will be an even larger impact due to more people buying insurance and there will be more competition.
Actually when you look at it the AHA is just a big ol present tied up in a bow for the insurance companies.

The way things stand now, when the uninsured can go to the ER and not pay for their treatment, the hospital and doctors just pass that loss on to the rest of us in the form of higher charges. If you don't think you are not already paying for the medical treatment of others you are delusional. At least with AHA everybody will be responsible for obtaining coverage for themselves.

The cost of healthcare in the US is the highest in the world and we are number 37 in quality of care. I don't believe AHA is a perfect answer but it is a hell of a lot better than what we have at present.

How to Chick Fil A a Family

This whole Chick Fil A thing is totally out of hand.
We have had several friends block us and remove us from their facebook friends lists.  These are those tolerant Christians.  One, a preacher I might add, actually posted he was tired of being called intolerant and promptly proceed to remove anyone with a differing opinion, including family.  Even family that had not even engaged him in conversation on the subject.  When I think about it, it was only family that removed us, all of our friends with differing opinions are all still actually speaking and we have all hugged and made up.

My friend let's call him Chris, has cancer.  He has worked all his life paid into the system his fair share, however because he decided he wanted to spend his second half of his life teaching he is no longer eligible for any type of Social Security.  He spent 30 years working in the system and five as a teacher.  He was diagnosed with cancer in January, they gave him an appointment for the end of  February.  Well a few days ago they called and told him it has been pushed back another 6 weeks due to budget cuts.  Now this is not an appointment for treatment, this is just the appointment to discuss the plan for treatment.  Knowing how the system works I'm sure treatment won't start for another 6 or 12 weeks. You see he has no insurance and is relying on the Louisiana State University System.  He was injured by a student throwing a desk at him and was about to return to work when he got sick.  Long story short he lost his insurance.  The way things stand now, he would not be able to afford his share of the treatments on top of an insurance payment anyway.

I do not believe a persons being able to receive life saving treatment. should be linked with a person's ability to pay.

Katrina and Rita

I thinking about what I remember about Katrina and Rita, I live about 2 hours between where both of them hit. I remember the vehicle after vehicle packed with people and the look of absolute fear on their faces and their blank stares. Vehicles piled high with every belonging they could carry with them. People who had no idea what tomorrow would bring but were scared to even think about it because it was too unimaginable. They were heading north, just heading north, they didn't know where they were going, where they were going to sleep or eat or find safety.

I housed several families that lost their homes. Have you ever looked into the eyes of a man that did everything he was suppose to all his life and suddenly had everything taken away. 

These people not only lost homes they lost their communities. Their doctors were gone, the pharmacy that they used for their babies and their eldery, the mechanic that could always get their car running, the grocery store on the corner, everything and everybody was gone.

The communities south of New Orleans like Chalmette, Meraux which were home to the middle class workers of New Orleans, you don't hear about the loss they faced all you hear about is New Orleans.

All of this the result of a barge breaking loose and crashing into a levee.

The suffering I witnessed in those weeks and months following those hurricanes is something I never want to see again.