Friday, November 12, 2004

Okay, here's what we did right... Mom bought nursing home insurance. No telling how good it will be, but at least it's there. Mom picked out the assisted living facility she wanted to go to before she needed it. Both Mom and Dad saved for many years. Both Mom and Dad worked at paying jobs for many years, so they both have a pension and social security income now. It's higher than most. The good elder care facilities talk to us. If Mom had stayed home, they'd only have half as much. (They actually need about 4 times as much, but this is better than it might have been.) All five of us (kids) are fine, by the way...nobody lost out because Mom got paid. Here's what we did wrong: We didn't get the nursing home insurance earlier. Dad had a stroke in his late 50's. No one will insure him now. We didn't pick an assisted living facility with gradually increasing care levels. They're about to be thrown out of "assisted living" at $3400/month to a full-blown nursing home at a cost of $15,000/month. Neither of them need that yet, but we may have to pay it, and then watch the government run their lives after their savings run out. Intermediate care facilities and full service end of life facilities exist. Find them. Get on their waiting lists. (The best one I found has a 2-year wait.) We didn't protect their money by putting it in a trust. You want an elder care lawyer for this, not a run of the mill lawyer, and go to one who doesn't take a percentage of their total assets. 7:38:20 PM  comment []  Trackback []     Using a New Language in Africa to Save Dying Ones. Linguists see the computer as one important way of saving hundreds of languages in Africa, some spoken only be a few dozen elders. By By MARC LACEY. [NYT > Technology] 7:21:35 PM  comment []  Trackback []     Affluent countries should embrace 'kangaroo' care for preemies [Science Blog] 7:21:04 PM  comment []  Trackback []     I like this guy... 17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists...by Michael Moore. Dear Friends, Ok, it sucks. Really sucks. But before you go and cash it all in, let's, in the words of Monty Python, “always look on the bright side of life!” There IS some good news from Tuesday's election. Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists: 1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again. 2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916. 3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults (Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always wrong and you should never listen to them. 4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don’t approve of the job George W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out. It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.) 5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one. 6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes! 7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut. May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan. 8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly golden and you will be well cared for in your old age. 9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't have to buy now. 10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress, including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates can't. 11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up! 12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away. 13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3 chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the 2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53 chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47 chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber (Montana House) is still undecided. 14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out -- and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his point, avenged his father and kicked our ass. 15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from office. 16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are coming!!! 17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore. Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact, that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November 2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element of surprise in 2008. Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "My Romanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a wonderful country -- it doesn't even need a president!'" But it needs us. Rest up, I'll write you again tomorrow. Yours, Michael Moore MMFlint@aol.com www.michaelmoore.com [What Do YOU Think? Comment on this Post!] [Testify!] [Father Dan] 7:20:20 PM  comment []  Trackback []     Father Dan is extremely irritated...can't blame him. Notice to Americans - Indepence Officially Revoked. Subject: NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA In light of your failure to make the correct decision in electing your President, thus showing you to be unfit to govern yourselves, we hereby give you notice of the revocation of your independence effective as of Wednesday 10th November 2004. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she doesn't much fancy, and is frankly a bit dodgy. Your new Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Tony Blair M.P. (for the 97.85% of you unaware of the outside world), will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated in twelve months time to determine if any of you noticed. To aid your transition into a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: 1. All citizens are to look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. While there, check the pronunciation guide for "aluminium" - this may be surprising for you. Generally attempt to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same 27 words interspersed with "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable form of communication. NB. Look up "interspersed". 2. There is no such thing as "U.S. English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. 3. Learn to distinguish between British and Australian accents. It's not difficult. 4. Hollywood will henceforth be required to occasionally cast Englishmen as good guys. 5. Re-learn your original anthem, "God Save the Queen". Please ensure that you have complied with the first law before attempting this. 6. Stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of "football". What you refer to as "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you aware of a world outside of your borders may have noticed that no one else plays it. Play proper football instead; to start with get the girls to help you - it is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, eventually, be allowed to play rugby, which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full Kevlar body armour. 7. 4th July is no longer a public holiday. 2nd November will be the new national holiday. 8. American cars are hereby banned. They are crap; it s for your own good. When we show you German and Japanese cars you'll understand. 9. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION. [What Do YOU Think? Comment on this Post!] [Testify!] [Father Dan] 7:18:53 PM  comment []  Trackback []     Message From Osama To King George. (From a Canadian Friend) After many rounds of, "We don't even know if Osama is still alive," Osama himself sent George W. a letter in his own handwriting to let him know he was still in the game. Bush opened the letter and it appeared to be a coded message: 370HSSV-0773H Bush was baffled, so he emailed it to Colin Powell. Colin and his aides had no clue either so they sent it to the CIA. No one could solve it. It went to the NSA and then to MIT and NASA and the Secret Service. Eventually they asked Canada's RCMP for help. The RCMP cabled the White House: "Tell the President he is looking at the message upside down." [What Do YOU Think? Comment on this Post!] [Testify!] [Father Dan] 7:17:37 PM  comment []  Trackback []     World's best short analysis of Kerry versus Bush (from Sweden). It's usually said that we Swedes get exactly the sort of government that we deserve. When it comes to the presidential election in the US, one could easily say that the world gets exactly the kind of President that the Americans deserve. Roland Zuiderveld, Swedish Cultural Television On the brighter side, as Roland continues, "To all European Kerry supporters the result may be disheartening,  but never the less, the outcome is a victory for democracy." (Det brukar sägas att vi svenskar får precis den regering vi förtjänar. När det gäller presidentvalet i USA kan man säga att världen får precis den president som amerikanerna förtjänar. För alla europeiska Kerryanhängare kan det verka nog så provocerande, men årets val är trots allt en seger för demokratin.) [Betsy Devine: Funny Ha-Ha or Funny Peculiar?] 7:17:04 PM  comment []  Trackback []

© Copyright 2004 Gail Marsella. Last update: 12/5/2004; 6:40:36 PM.

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