I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Anne .. thanks for asking about Tim.  He went back on the road today.  Yay!  I hope he can get some good miles.

Kam .. your flowers are beautiful.

Sunnyflowers .. I tried all kinds of stuff with the deer.  Even peeing to mark my spot. They just don't care.  They are like overgrown pets around here.

Just took something strong for my headache ... back to transcribing!

hugs,

Bren

Kam - I am SO jealous of your garden...gorgeous.  My hollyhocks, transplanted from a friend's garden are about 7 inches high.  They are the CLASSIC english country garden flower - along with sweet williams, aubretia, and foxgloves, love tham all.

BIG BARS OF DIAL soap - lots of them - go to Big LOts or something ike that - really does seem to work.

More thunderstorms today...good thing I'm an optimist - know the sun will shine someday.  Actually, it's a giggle, supposed to be beastly HOT (90's ) and summer humid by the end of the week...

Blue - those grapes look delicious -

Love the garden pictures.  I've always loved foxgloves, my grandmother used to grow them.  I've grown hollyhocks, but never very well.  They always ended up getting something that looked like blight, so eventually I removed them.  In all the houses I've had, I've never yet had a good place for plants that require shade.  Who knows, maybe the next place.

I dearly love craftsman style bungalows, possibly because I grew up in an old craftsmanish style home that was built in the late 1800's.  Hubby grew up in a split level - probably my least favorite home style ever!!  We'll probably end up in a rambler though, as that seems to be where his interest lies at the moment (and my knees really like the idea of no stairs) - and while I is working he is house-hunting.    He was quite willing to go the craftsman route at the beginning of our search, until he got sick everytime he went into one.  They are simply too old here in the NorthWest not to have contracted a mold problem somewhere along the way.  We've agreed that our health is the number one concern of this home, as we want to spend what time we have left (and however much of that is spent in this house) as healthy as possible.

I am SOOOO happy that the ACA is appearing so well in both California and Oregon.  I haven't heard anything here in Washington, yet, but that may be my head being in house-hunting, not healthcare mode.

Gumby ... I sure hope you can find somewhere to live soon.  I love my five acres ... it's great cause I can walk my dogs on my own property and not have to go near the road ... but the maintenance is so hard.  I'm mowing a minimum of three days a week now just to keep up with it.

I have to confess ... I do spend more time caring for the outside than the inside!  Tim was a big help when he was home with the inside stuff ... but  now that he's back on the road, it's my job again.

hugs,

Bren

This is taken at Sissinghurst one of my favourite places in the world.

Sunny -

I'm about an hour from Rosedale, so no problems with me.  Reports are one injured, but there was an explosion and the train was carrying hazardous chemicals.  It'll probably take at least 12 hours to sort out.  We're doing our darndest to ruin the planet, aren't we?

E

Jackie, so what colors are those dragons?

Athena, if you like Frank Lloyde Wright, you need to come visit me and do  a tour of his houses. There are several here in Oak Park. I have a guest room and a littie who will join at various times during the night. Wine flows freely.

Well, well, well......Just for once it would be so nice to be wrong about the good/not good at all GOP.  Un-fortunately you can without fail count on them to show nothing but the highest disregard for their fellow citizens....in and out of government.  Sure am not going to be standing next to them when the karma train comes along. 

It is fact that the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is the law of the land. It is fact that Obamacare implements healthcare reform based on a policy of conservative think tank, Heritage Foundation, using private insurance instead of the much less expensive Medicare for all (single payer) model that most liberals want. It is fact that the Congressional Republicans have voted to repeal Obamacare 37 times and counting. It is fact that even as Republicans attempt to repeal Obamacare they have no plausible alternative to solve the key healthcare problems solved by Obamacare.

Obamacare includes exchanges that provide affordable healthcare insurance to all, secure healthcare insurance that cannot be rescinded, provide healthcare insurance that cannot be denied for pre-existing conditions, and provide healthcare insurance that includes early screening for diseases. If Americans understood the facts about Obamacare, as opposed to the lies and misinformation maliciously being promoted by Republicans and their cohorts, most would be clamoring for it. This is not a game. It is a life and death issue for many. Many Republican governors have seen the light and have done the moral thing. Inasmuch as they claim to not like Obamacare, they have decided to implement it fully by accepting Medicaid expansion.

Given that Republicans have failed at every turn, they are now intent on launching two specific campaigns. The first is a push to have Congress use the debt ceiling debate to attempt to defund the exchanges. The second is a massive and immoral sabotage effort, a misinformation campaign on the health exchanges where the uninsured can go to purchase affordable insurance.

Bloomberg reports this as follows.

Heritage Action for America, the advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation, and the Tea Party-aligned group FreedomWorks will push Congress to cut off funding for the exchanges in the debate later this year over raising the debt ceiling, the Washington-based groups said. The chairman of the advocacy group Restore America’s Voice, Ken Hoagland, said he plans to warn people through advertising about the “dysfunctional” exchanges.

While opposition to the health-care program is nothing new, the tactics are changing. Rather than focusing on repealing the law in Congress and the courts, two avenues that have failed so far, the groups are aiming to prevent the cornerstone of the legislation, the insurance exchanges, from succeeding. Their goal is to limit enrollments, drive up costs, and make it easier to roll back all or part of the law later.

“If you’re committed to making sure Obamacare doesn’t go into effect, you have to focus on the expansion and on the exchanges,” said Dan Holler, a spokesman for Heritage Action. “Once you have people under a program, it’s really hard to change that system no matter how badly it needs change.”

Democratic supporters of the health-care law said critics are afraid that the measure will be a success and are out to prevent it.

[Source]

Republicans are playing a dangerous game. They know if healthy people are scared off from joining the exchanges, then the cost of insurance on the exchanges will skyrocket and likely fail under their own weight. Ironically, under said eventuality, Americans are either taken care of by the taxpayers, increased premiums will be imposed for everyone else, and yes, many will simply die.

Republicans biggest fear, however, is the eventual success of Obamacare. Putting obstacles at every turn slows the process down even as many Americans are systematically hurt by their actions.

Because of the lack of funding from the Republicans’ intransigence in Congress, Secretary of the Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, has had to resort to raising private funds (e.g., Enroll America) to aid in real truthful education on Obamacare and options for every American citizen.

Maybe Republicans should read this. They would learn that government can play a role in making lives better for all without damaging the country’s productivity or work ethic.

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/28/republicans-sabotaging-obamacare-at-the-expense-of-the-middle-class-and-poor/#ixzz2UdbKJFy

Kam, just to note that piece isn't by The Onion. It's just very good satire from the diarist at DK.