Was just reading, in one of my forums, a link to an article about a Canadian hospital that has refused to do an operation on an infant who has been in a vegetative state almost since he was born. The reasoning behind the refusal is that it would not save the child's life, but only prolong it for a few months.

What confused me were the arguments from some who thought this surgery should be done. They're calling it a 'ruling by a death panel'. (Because it's happening under the Canadian universal health plan.) I really do not understand why anyone would want to prolong the life of an infant who is going to die any way. I mean, he will never become an adult, will never even attend school or become a 'contributing member' of society. Because of the nature of the the condition with which he suffers, even in a vegetative state, he must be in some pain. If his condition is going to kill him within months any way, why prolong his pain?

I remember having very similar arguments with my mother-in-law throughout the summer of 1998, when my husband was dying from cancer. She couldn't seem to understand the suffering he was experiencing - pain caused by the cancer, further pain from the 'treatments' he had gotten early on. She honestly couldn't seem to understand that none of the treatments available would save his life and would in fact do no more than prolong his pain. Just as the parents in this case (and those arguing in their behalf) cannot seem to understand that their CHILD is in pain.

Understanding vs not understanding

Since when is it some sort of "crime against others" for me to not understand something?

I've been involved in a discussion on rape on city-data. The discussion was supposed to be about what kind of 'responsibility' a woman has to protect herself from rape. Smart things to so and not-so-smart things they should maybe not do.

Yesterday, I replied to a post about single girls dressing alluringly and heading to their neighborhood bars. All I stated was that I had never done so and that I really don't understand women who would do so. And I really don't understand why any woman would wear skimpy clothes and go into that kind of environment. Especially going alone.

Instead of explaining it, all of a sudden everyone there was attacking me, claiming that I was attacking other women!

Why?

I have had no credit cards since I filed bankruptcy in 2005. So why do I keep getting calls about my "current credit card account"? With my caller ID, I should be able to simply not bother picking up when such a call comes in, right? Wrong! They never come from the same state, much less the same number! Just got a call and the caller ID merely read the number and 'Seattle, Washington'. Having several cousins and other distant family members living in Washington, of course I'm going to pick up the phone, thinking it might be one of them trying to reach me for some reason. So, I answer the call and hear the start of this recorded message about my non-existant credit card account! The only person in this home who has a credit card also has his own phone number. (two separate numbers, in fact!)

One of these days, I'm going to listen to the entire spiel and see if I can figure out where they are originating from and just what the purpose behind them is. Then I'm going to see if there's anything I can do about getting them stopped! Once I have more info (like the company name and maybe the name of someone to contact) I just might contact the local TV station's 'help line' to see if they can at the least do a story about this nonsense.

Health Insurance

Okay, three years ago, Ford/UAW changed the retiree insurance and required a $10/month payment that I couldn't afford, which shunted me automatically to the 'catastrophic coverage'. That was bad enough. Now they've changed it again, this time with no warning at all. Beginning next month I will be getting a bill from BC/BS for $15/month! And I still have to pay the first $170 before the coverage even kicks in! And, should I have to fill a prescription, each will cost me $10-25, depending on whether there's a generic available or not. And the 'catastophic coverage' is no longer offered. So I have no choice at all unless I'm willing to have no health insurance.
Oh, if I were covered by another plan, I could waive this one. Whoopee! I can't afford this one! How the hell do they think I would have anything else?

Steven King books made into movies

Just wrote out a list because Ray was asking me what movies I was interested in. Really didn't realize that most of Kings books and several stories have been made into movies! I have four of them on DVD (The Stand, Secret Window, Hearts in Atlantis and Rose Red) and three on VHS (It, Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile). The list I gave Ray has The Shining (two versions), Salem's Lot, Carrie (two versions), Cujo, Dead Zone, Misery, Dolores Claiborn, Needful Things, Christine, Tommyknockers, Dark Half, Desperation, The Mist, Langoliers, Dreamcatcher and Thinner. Several of them were actually made for TV and I can't believe I forgot to add Storm Of the Century. (There are actually only three of them I haven't at least seen - Thinner, Dreamcatcher & The Mist.) If I had the money to spend, I would be on Ebay looking for all of those! And a few of Dean Koontz's books that have been made into movies/tv mini-series. Anyone ever hears of a tv mini series or even a series of movies from King's Dark Tower books, be sure to let me know!
Right now, instead of buying DVDs, I have to figure out if I can afford to get my water filters changed.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Son took me out last night to see the latest Harry Potter movie. (1st time in 15 years I'd been inside a movie theater!)

I had been looking forward to seeing this movie, but there are a few things that not only disappointed me, but confused me as well. I mean, what was up with having Harry and Dumbledore meet at a muggle coffee shop? I don't see the point in leaving out Kreacher and the Dursleys. Kreacher is very important in the next part of the story and it should have at least been mentioned that Harry had inherited him from Sirius along with the house on Grimauld Place..

And what was that garbage about death eaters showing up at the Burrow and the Burrow being set on fire? Are they planning on leaving out all the scenes at the Burrow from the next movie? What about the wedding scenes where the death eaters show up, precipitating Harry, Hermione and Ron's sudden departure? Or are Bill and Fleur also going to be cut and, if so, where is Dobby supposed to take them when he helps them escape from the Malfoy's cellar? Or is Dobby to be left out of that movie as well?

I don't want to leave the wrong impression - I did enjoy the movie and look forward to purchasing it when it's released on DVD. But I still wish they hadn't changed so much of the story and left so many important characters out of the movie.

My life=My choice

Why is it that some people cannot seem to understand other people's choices in life? And that many things in another's life are NOT a choice?

For instance, I'm in the midst of a discussion/debate on health insurance right now on a political forum. I've explained that at one time I thought I had decent insurance and that I had thought that coverage would be for life, because it came from my late husband's employer. Reading the documents I was sent at the time of his death, it stated that, while, when I qualify for social security, my pension would eventually reduce to $0, my health insurance would remain in effect for the rest of my life. Then, 2-3 years ago, they 'restructured' the retiree/surviving spouse insurance to the point that I ended up with nothing, because I cannot afford to pay for it.

I haven't been to a doctor in 10 years, because I was never one to head for the doctor's office for every little ache or pain. Now, even if I felt I needed to go, I cannot afford it. My income is just high enough - and with two other adults living in my home - I cannot qualify for medicaid or even food stamps.

So, what do the fools say to me? They actually accuse me of 'choosing' not to afford health insurance! What do they not understand about the fact that if I could find a company that would insure me, it would likely take ALL of my very limited income? What do they not understand about the simple fact that most health insurance companies would likely deny me coverage because I haven't been covered now for several years, and thus may in fact have a 'pre-existing' condition of which I am unaware BECAUSE I haven't been able to afford even a cursory examination, much less any kind of complete physical?

And it's not like I haven't looked into insurance. I've heard too many 'horror stories' from friends about their health insurance and what it will and will not pay. I have one friend who was forced by circumstances to switch insurance companies and suddenly her 'pre-existing' diabetes and the necessary insulin and testing equipment weren't covered for a year! I have another whose husband was forced by the economy to change jobs in the last year. He went from an insurer who would pay 90% of all medical bills to one who only pays 50%. Since he works and she doesn't, suddenly his glasses and medical exams became more 'important' than her's in their budget.

Between that and my extremely limited income, I just cannot see spending half or more of that income on insurance for something I might never need.