February 10 was a dreadful day in the great Tundra Land of upstate New York. It started out sunny but cold. Then it started to snow, then it stopped for awhile, then it started up again. It was windy, and the wind was icy. The dry powdery white stuff deposited a thin and deceptive dusting over the treacherous ice. Which inspires me to ask:
Why the hell don't you businesses, property owners and YEAH--churches (!) clean the @#$%^&$#@%^&* sidewalks in front of your properties? Do you want people to slip and fall and sue you???? Do you find it acceptable that mothers are pushing their babies in strollers in the streets all winter long because the sidewalks are treacherous??? Do you find it acceptable that disabled folks on scooters are riding those scooters down the streets instead of on sidewalks????
As I said, February 10 was a dreadful day. I had to buy something at the dollar store, so out I went into the frozen mess. As I hurried along the dry covered walkway in front of the shops, I saw a tall young man slip on the ice and fall in the parking lot. I watched him as he got up and I thought: I have to be careful out there. I didn't find what I was looking for at the dollar store, so I headed home. As I stood on the sidewalk waiting for cars to pass, I saw one of them do an S-shape on the slippery surface of the parking lot. This is the parking lot I had to cross to get home. About halfway across, I slipped and fell. The pain was immediate, in my hand, elbow, and tailbone. I got up and walked; limping to the sidewalk on the outside of the shopping center parking lot. I made my way home, three or four blocks away. I thawed out.
Two hours later, the pain had ramped up, way up; and when the owner of the building came home, I asked her if her daughter, an RN, was home so I could call her and get some free advice. When my friend saw how much pain I was in, she insisted on driving me to the emergency room. She'd have to leave me there, she said, but told me to call her when I was ready to go home.
I got to St. Elizabeth Medical Center at 6 PM. I was finally released at 10 PM or later. I walked through the doors on the emergency room with one sleeve on, one sleeve off. My boots, which my friend had shoved onto my feet, were untied. The pain in my elbow was off the charts, screaming out loud pain. On the smiley face scale of 1-10, it was a twelve. The techs x rayed my back and elbow but didn't bother with my hand. Ten days after the fall, it's my hand/wrist that hurts most, when I open a door or try to pick up something with that hand, or lean on it.
The nurse at St. Elizabeth wheeled me to the doors and sent me on my way with a sling, two Motrins--after I'd asked for them five times from five different staffers--and some folded up sheets to prop up my sprained elbow. The diagnosis: sprained joint/tear in ligaments.
Discharge instructions : Arrange for a follow-up appointment with my doctor in 3-5 days. St. Elizabeth's warm and friendly scheduler at the clinic gave me an appointment for the 21st--11 days later. Thanks a lot! You know who you are, Miss Friendly.
Other instructions: severe sprains often need 3-6 weeks of immobilization to heal completely.
I need both hands to do my job so this puts me out of work and out of money. A fall on the ice brings my already low income to zero. That was an expensive trip to the dollar store.
Now I don't know how much those white hospital sheets are worth, but I sure as hell wasn't expecting the bill that arrived promptly on February 20th, even before the pain has faded away. St. Elizabeth is a non profit Catholic hospital, and in 2006 it got a nice little chunk o' change--$350,000-- from the government, according to a Senator Chuck Schumer news release.
Brother, can you spare $74.63???
With no choice in the matter, I was born into a Catholic family, raised in the Catholic religion, well schooled in the life and times of Jesus, the man who dispensed free health care to the poor, who distributed free food, and said: "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do it to me."
This unholy alliance between a profiteering wealth care industry and a Catholic hospital bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Jesus I was schooled in, and I'll tell you this:
Get behind me, Catholic wealth care pretenders. You sent me a letter threatening to turn my $74.63 bill over to a collection agency, abill that started out $37.32, that you doubled after the fact! What was it that Jesus said to the loan sharks in the temple? Get the #$!! outa here, or words to that effect.
To the faithless, loveless Catholic religion I say: I rebuke you.
To my next of kin, and friends I say: when I'm dying, and breathing my last breaths, keep me OUT of hospitals, especially Catholic ones. Keep those black clad Catholic priests away--far away-- from me. The only religious figure I want anywhere near me as I prepare to leave this world is a genuine saffron or maroon robed Buddhist monk or nun. They don't need to speak English. Compassion is a universally understood language.
Unfortunately, so is greed!
In 1992, as I began my VISTA ( Volunteers in Service To America) year here in Tundra Land, Bill Clinton was running for president. In 1992, this upstate city was economically depressed, with a manufacturing base on life support, a large population of poor people, and a lot of low wage jobs.
It's now 2008, the manufacturing jobs are almost non existent, the boarded up buildings are many, the service and retail jobs pay minimum wage to formerly well paid factory workers. The county office building is crowded every day with poor people lined up for Food Stamps, Medicaid, and cash assistance-- most of whom work for their poverty level incomes.
How in%#!! can a full time worker be poor enough to qualify for Food Stamp?? Follow the money trail. There are tax breaks for companies that hire the poor--and keep them poor.
Here's a thought: pay all workers a LIVING WAGE, tied to the cost of utilities, housing, medical care, day care, and groceries in the region they live in. Then they could buy what they need directly with their own money, and not have to go through third party poverty pimps to access health care, affordable housing, food, day care, heating fuel. Poor people in upstate NY stand in more lines than the folks in the former USSR.
This city, and my country are in a recession, whether BushCorp cares to admit it or not.
Things haven't changed much in 16 years; they just got worse.
You know you're living in tough times when WalMart, the "low price leader," jacks up its prices.
Bottled water is 74 cents this week, up from 68.
But, as a sign on a Teamster picket line said: "Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do."
"Go with your gut," said a young co worker.
I'm going with my gut (and the Teamsters). My gut tells me CHANGE is long overdue.
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
2.20.2008
1.26.2008
Visualize It!
March 22, 2009
The war is over. In honor of the Spring Solstice and in recognition that spring is the time when life begins anew, the new President elect of USA orders immediate transport of all troops to their homes. The UN passes a unanimous resolution to provide necessary food and medical aid to help rebuild war torn Iraq. The U.S. cancels all contracts with Halliburton and its subsidiaries. Cuba agrees to send doctors to the war torn country.
The new U.S. President signs into law the GI Recovery Act of 2009 mandating free, full, and prompt medical and dental coverage for all veterans for life. In addition Congress introduces a bill that will pay housing subsidies for all veterans to make home ownership affordable regardless of the soldier's financial situation or state of domicile. These benefits are retroactive to the beginning of the Iraq War. The President is expected to sign the bill.
The President issues a Declaration of Native American Sovereign Nation Recognition that recognizes the sovereign status of all American Indian Nations. He pledges to henceforth honor all treaties with American Indians, saying "We should never lose sight of the fact that America has an indigenous people, and everyone who settled here after them are immigrants. In cooperation with them we, as immigrants to this great country, can make it a better and stronger homeland for all of us."
Cindy Sheehan is appointed head of the newly established Department of Peace.
In partnership with Jobs With Justice and other national labor organizations, the President signs into law the New Millenium Sustainable Jobs Program. The new program will create jobs in Green Industries, including Green Construction, Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Farming, Bridge Building and Rehabbing, Building Trades, Windmill and Solar Panel Manufacturing Plants. The government further establishes an Office of Documentary Filmmaking, providing jobs and internships for those interetsed in those fields, and will provide funding for the establishment of independent community radio stations and newspapers. In addition, the government will fund studies on the uses and effects of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, acupuncture, and exercise and physical medicine in the treatment of a wide variety of illnesses and conditions.
This summer the President and the UN will send diplomats to the Middle East to broker a legally binding agreement that will result in the chartering of permanent homelands to both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. The borders of the new nations will establish once and for all the sovereignity and right to self determination of both the Israeli and Palestinian people.
The President establishes the Americans in National Service Initiative. Upon reaching age seventeen, and before reaching age fifty-one, every American will be required to devote a year to civilian service-- either in one's home state, or elsewhere in the country. Al Gore accepts his appointment as head of the Environmental Protection Agency for life.
The President appoints a formerly homeless couple, Juan and Cristina Rojas, as co secretaries of Housing and Urban Development. In his Inaugural Address the president declares that "From this day forward it shall be illegal to evict any citizen of the United States or any non citizen working in gainful employment in the United States, from his or her housing. He directs the governors of every state to appoint local mediation boards to settle landlord tenant disputes free of charge to the tenant.
July, 2009. The U.S. Government establishes universal health care. It will be paid for by a federal sales tax, abolishing state sales taxes. Property tax is abolished. The government establishes a federal Housing Insurance Bureau to issue insurance policies for property owners in all fifty states.
A new amendment to the Constitution permanently establishes the 2009 Federal Fair Wage, and replaces the minimum wage. The new wage is permanently tied to the combined costs of housing, energy, food, and transportation in a given region. Food Stamps are discontinued, as it is no longer necessary to supplement poverty wages.
The president outlaws all predatory businesses, including collection agencies, payday lenders, human trafficking, and poverty pimping. All of the above are upgraded to felonies. Marijuana is legalized, regulated by the FDA, standardized to purity, and taxed. It is sold only to those 18 and older with proof of age. Tax revenues raised from the legal sale of marijuana wipes out the federal debt by the end of 2009.
Hundreds of new federal judges are appointed, and in April 2009, the Social Security Administration announces it will immediately begin testing and hiring thousands of disability analysts in every state. Average wait time for approval of a disability claim drops to six weeks by the end of 2009. With the president's new UniverSal Health, Medicare and Medicaid become a non issue.
The government announced that by the end of the year 2009, it will hire 10,000 new USDA food inspectors. It will increase hiring and training of food inspectors every year until the food supply is 100% safe.
A worldwide boycott of the Olympics in solidarity with the people of Burma brought unprecedented economic devastation to the games. A world wide walkout of all workers on day one of the Olympics threatened to topple stock markets around the globe. The UN quickly passed a resolution declaring all war and exploitation to be hazardous to human health, and in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Thousands of unarmed Buddhist monks and supporters, including Hollywood stars, former Olympics gold medalists, Sylvester Stallone, a contingent of VietNam War veterans, and political leaders from around the world stormed the guarded compound where pro democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest for fourteen years, and pushed down the barbed wire surrounding the freedom fighter's house. As the fence came down, Myanmar soldiers set their weapons on the ground, and stepped aside, saying: "We are tired of this unjust government." A teenager with a camera phone sent images of the liberation to news agencies around the world.
After the elections, Suu Kyi was reinstated as President of newly renamed Democratic Republic of Burma. Gen Than Shwe and his cohorts were assigned permanent duties in work camps rebuilding the long neglected country.
This is a work in progress. I'm still in the idealism stage. I don't have all the answers, or even most of them. I do know, like a lot of other Americans, that CHANGE is needed--and soon. If you have some answers, please comment. Like Bobby Kennedy, one of my childhood heroes, I visualize what could be, and ask: WHY NOT?
P.S. "You might think I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." (props to John Lennon)
The war is over. In honor of the Spring Solstice and in recognition that spring is the time when life begins anew, the new President elect of USA orders immediate transport of all troops to their homes. The UN passes a unanimous resolution to provide necessary food and medical aid to help rebuild war torn Iraq. The U.S. cancels all contracts with Halliburton and its subsidiaries. Cuba agrees to send doctors to the war torn country.
The new U.S. President signs into law the GI Recovery Act of 2009 mandating free, full, and prompt medical and dental coverage for all veterans for life. In addition Congress introduces a bill that will pay housing subsidies for all veterans to make home ownership affordable regardless of the soldier's financial situation or state of domicile. These benefits are retroactive to the beginning of the Iraq War. The President is expected to sign the bill.
The President issues a Declaration of Native American Sovereign Nation Recognition that recognizes the sovereign status of all American Indian Nations. He pledges to henceforth honor all treaties with American Indians, saying "We should never lose sight of the fact that America has an indigenous people, and everyone who settled here after them are immigrants. In cooperation with them we, as immigrants to this great country, can make it a better and stronger homeland for all of us."
Cindy Sheehan is appointed head of the newly established Department of Peace.
In partnership with Jobs With Justice and other national labor organizations, the President signs into law the New Millenium Sustainable Jobs Program. The new program will create jobs in Green Industries, including Green Construction, Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Farming, Bridge Building and Rehabbing, Building Trades, Windmill and Solar Panel Manufacturing Plants. The government further establishes an Office of Documentary Filmmaking, providing jobs and internships for those interetsed in those fields, and will provide funding for the establishment of independent community radio stations and newspapers. In addition, the government will fund studies on the uses and effects of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, acupuncture, and exercise and physical medicine in the treatment of a wide variety of illnesses and conditions.
This summer the President and the UN will send diplomats to the Middle East to broker a legally binding agreement that will result in the chartering of permanent homelands to both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. The borders of the new nations will establish once and for all the sovereignity and right to self determination of both the Israeli and Palestinian people.
The President establishes the Americans in National Service Initiative. Upon reaching age seventeen, and before reaching age fifty-one, every American will be required to devote a year to civilian service-- either in one's home state, or elsewhere in the country. Al Gore accepts his appointment as head of the Environmental Protection Agency for life.
The President appoints a formerly homeless couple, Juan and Cristina Rojas, as co secretaries of Housing and Urban Development. In his Inaugural Address the president declares that "From this day forward it shall be illegal to evict any citizen of the United States or any non citizen working in gainful employment in the United States, from his or her housing. He directs the governors of every state to appoint local mediation boards to settle landlord tenant disputes free of charge to the tenant.
July, 2009. The U.S. Government establishes universal health care. It will be paid for by a federal sales tax, abolishing state sales taxes. Property tax is abolished. The government establishes a federal Housing Insurance Bureau to issue insurance policies for property owners in all fifty states.
A new amendment to the Constitution permanently establishes the 2009 Federal Fair Wage, and replaces the minimum wage. The new wage is permanently tied to the combined costs of housing, energy, food, and transportation in a given region. Food Stamps are discontinued, as it is no longer necessary to supplement poverty wages.
The president outlaws all predatory businesses, including collection agencies, payday lenders, human trafficking, and poverty pimping. All of the above are upgraded to felonies. Marijuana is legalized, regulated by the FDA, standardized to purity, and taxed. It is sold only to those 18 and older with proof of age. Tax revenues raised from the legal sale of marijuana wipes out the federal debt by the end of 2009.
Hundreds of new federal judges are appointed, and in April 2009, the Social Security Administration announces it will immediately begin testing and hiring thousands of disability analysts in every state. Average wait time for approval of a disability claim drops to six weeks by the end of 2009. With the president's new UniverSal Health, Medicare and Medicaid become a non issue.
The government announced that by the end of the year 2009, it will hire 10,000 new USDA food inspectors. It will increase hiring and training of food inspectors every year until the food supply is 100% safe.
A worldwide boycott of the Olympics in solidarity with the people of Burma brought unprecedented economic devastation to the games. A world wide walkout of all workers on day one of the Olympics threatened to topple stock markets around the globe. The UN quickly passed a resolution declaring all war and exploitation to be hazardous to human health, and in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Thousands of unarmed Buddhist monks and supporters, including Hollywood stars, former Olympics gold medalists, Sylvester Stallone, a contingent of VietNam War veterans, and political leaders from around the world stormed the guarded compound where pro democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest for fourteen years, and pushed down the barbed wire surrounding the freedom fighter's house. As the fence came down, Myanmar soldiers set their weapons on the ground, and stepped aside, saying: "We are tired of this unjust government." A teenager with a camera phone sent images of the liberation to news agencies around the world.
After the elections, Suu Kyi was reinstated as President of newly renamed Democratic Republic of Burma. Gen Than Shwe and his cohorts were assigned permanent duties in work camps rebuilding the long neglected country.
This is a work in progress. I'm still in the idealism stage. I don't have all the answers, or even most of them. I do know, like a lot of other Americans, that CHANGE is needed--and soon. If you have some answers, please comment. Like Bobby Kennedy, one of my childhood heroes, I visualize what could be, and ask: WHY NOT?
P.S. "You might think I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." (props to John Lennon)
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