Wow, two posts from me in one day...this is an historic day!
Seriously though, a friend shared a link where he found good, solid information about the anticipated effects of the new healthcare legislation.
I won't pretend the sources are unbiased. (There is no such thing as an unbiased source. Sorry folks.) But they are reliable sources and include The New York Times, Newsweek, and New Yorker Magazine.
So if you want a sense of what to expect personally, take a look at the website below and read the linked articles.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1595405/infographic-of-the-day-what-does-the-new-healthcare-bill-mean-for-me
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Pomp, Circumstance, and Party Lines
I just watched President Obama sign healthcare reform into law.
I'm not saying I am an expert or that the above sums up the bill in its entirety. I am confident there will be parts of the bill I don't like and/or which do not benefit me personally. But I like what I saw. I don't know if the bill as a whole will be good for America as a whole or not. I do know that this is not (or at least should not be) a matter of "party lines."
Healthcare is inherently a social issue, not a political one. Healthcare reform in America is intimately linked with issues of wealth and poverty, and the God of all is intimately concerned with such issues.
So in the small space of my personal blog I will say that I support healthcare reform regardless of party lines and that it is my sincerest hope that this historic day will prove the benefit of the many impoverished and working poor among us.
I love watching presidents sign bills. The pomp, the circumstance, the way they use multiple pens. It sends thrills down my spine to watch history happen.
My undergraduate degree is in history and political science. One of my favorite subjects was the American constitution, its formation, function, and the intent of its authors. So a day like today really gets my blood flowing. I have had conversations about the nature of our Constitutional Republic, the specific task of our elected officials to govern for us, and the correctives of the democratic process.
But not once have I discussed my views on the bill itself. This is a dangerous topic. One which will get you labeled and vilified in 60 seconds or less. I have no interest in engaging a hate-filled debate over things most of us (myself included) know only from the loudest propagandists.
As I watched the signing and listened to the President speak about elements of the bill, I heard things I had not heard before today. I am a pretty savvy consumer of news and keep myself fairly informed, but my own knowledge of the bill itself was so limited that I did not know if what the President was saying was true or not.
So I went in search of some good information. Most everything I found was news reports or websites written by proponents or opponents of the bill. I could not find one thing that I could confidently say was written by a relatively unbiased source. So I began looking for consistent pieces; stuff everyone was saying was part of the reform. The following statement is a good summary of what I read on nearly every site and confirmed what the President said this morning:
"Starting this year, health insurance carriers would be forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, and from canceling policies because someone gets sick. Parents would be able to keep older kids on their health insurance coverage up to age 26. A new high-risk pool would offer coverage to uninsured people with medical problems until 2014, when the coverage expansion goes into high gear. Major consumer safeguards would also take effect in 2014. Health insurance providers would be prohibited from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more. Health insurance carriers could not charge women more."
I'm not saying I am an expert or that the above sums up the bill in its entirety. I am confident there will be parts of the bill I don't like and/or which do not benefit me personally. But I like what I saw. I don't know if the bill as a whole will be good for America as a whole or not. I do know that this is not (or at least should not be) a matter of "party lines."
Healthcare is inherently a social issue, not a political one. Healthcare reform in America is intimately linked with issues of wealth and poverty, and the God of all is intimately concerned with such issues.
So in the small space of my personal blog I will say that I support healthcare reform regardless of party lines and that it is my sincerest hope that this historic day will prove the benefit of the many impoverished and working poor among us.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
CDC Says Sleep
I have the flu.
I have spent a lot of time this winter caring for Boy 2 and fighting off all the small viruses I have gotten from him in the process. Otherwise, I don't get really sick very often. I cannot remember the last time I had flu. But, just like riding a bike, it all comes back to you. The fever, the cough, the aches. Even my skin hurts.
Most people, I am told, sleep a lot when they have the flu. In fact, the World Health Organization, the CDC and the Mayo Clinic all advise flu sufferers to get extra sleep in order to facilitate the healing process. I, however, have not been able to sleep through this. Despite the medications claiming to be "so you can rest" medicines, I have been wide awake since this morning.
Daytime in an empty house when you can't do much because your skin hurts and every move you make threatens to cause a house-wide flu pandemic is amazingly boring.
Lacking the brain power to read, I watched TV for a few hours this morning. Today, Rachel Ray, a little bit of the View. And to top it all off, I watched a full episode of "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader."
Having hit bottom with that last prize-winning show, I clicked off the TV and turned to streaming episodes of LOST. But in an effort to be good stewards we recently reduced our home internet speed, leaving me with more mud puddles than stream.
So here I am, waiting eagerly for LOST to buffer fully in hopes that I can go back to it in its full-stream glory, writing about being bored with the flu.
If any of you out there have any suggestions for inducing sleep in a sleepless flu victim, I am all ears. Or, if you have ideas for passing the time that don't take too much brain power, but do take more than daytime TV requires, I'm listening.
I have spent a lot of time this winter caring for Boy 2 and fighting off all the small viruses I have gotten from him in the process. Otherwise, I don't get really sick very often. I cannot remember the last time I had flu. But, just like riding a bike, it all comes back to you. The fever, the cough, the aches. Even my skin hurts.
Most people, I am told, sleep a lot when they have the flu. In fact, the World Health Organization, the CDC and the Mayo Clinic all advise flu sufferers to get extra sleep in order to facilitate the healing process. I, however, have not been able to sleep through this. Despite the medications claiming to be "so you can rest" medicines, I have been wide awake since this morning.
Daytime in an empty house when you can't do much because your skin hurts and every move you make threatens to cause a house-wide flu pandemic is amazingly boring.
Lacking the brain power to read, I watched TV for a few hours this morning. Today, Rachel Ray, a little bit of the View. And to top it all off, I watched a full episode of "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader."
Having hit bottom with that last prize-winning show, I clicked off the TV and turned to streaming episodes of LOST. But in an effort to be good stewards we recently reduced our home internet speed, leaving me with more mud puddles than stream.
So here I am, waiting eagerly for LOST to buffer fully in hopes that I can go back to it in its full-stream glory, writing about being bored with the flu.
If any of you out there have any suggestions for inducing sleep in a sleepless flu victim, I am all ears. Or, if you have ideas for passing the time that don't take too much brain power, but do take more than daytime TV requires, I'm listening.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
God in Pagan Philosophy
I love the way God powerfully invades His creation. Even in those who do not know God, God can be known.
The ancient philosopher Seneca once wrote, "Let him [the rich man] compare all that he has with what he still covets, and he is a poor man!"
Though a pagan, Seneca's words carry truth for more than mere possessions. When I compare my life with what I still want to accomplish, I feel poor. I yearn for more status, recognition, praise, power.
But when I think of the immutable God I serve; the amazing husband and children I am blessed with; the many other deep, rich, loving relationships I have; the home God gave me in which to nourish those relationships; the opportunities for learning and growth; the spheres of influence for a better world in which I travel; and the innumerable other blessings of my life, I can think nothing but that I may be the richest person around.
So it is that from pagan philosophy I gain a godly truth:
May I not ponder what I do not have as a measure of my life; for in comparison to what I do have, that which I covet fades to nothingness.
The ancient philosopher Seneca once wrote, "Let him [the rich man] compare all that he has with what he still covets, and he is a poor man!"
Though a pagan, Seneca's words carry truth for more than mere possessions. When I compare my life with what I still want to accomplish, I feel poor. I yearn for more status, recognition, praise, power.
But when I think of the immutable God I serve; the amazing husband and children I am blessed with; the many other deep, rich, loving relationships I have; the home God gave me in which to nourish those relationships; the opportunities for learning and growth; the spheres of influence for a better world in which I travel; and the innumerable other blessings of my life, I can think nothing but that I may be the richest person around.
So it is that from pagan philosophy I gain a godly truth:
May I not ponder what I do not have as a measure of my life; for in comparison to what I do have, that which I covet fades to nothingness.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Less is More
It's been a week since my last post. At many points in the week I have thought of things I want to write about, but too much stuff got in the way. I confess there was a time when every week was like that. Jam-packed with things to do, meetings to attend, people to host, commitments to keep.
About a year ago I came to the end of a journey during which God impressed indelibly on my heart and mind the importance of doing less, scheduling less, giving up good stuff and keeping only the best. It was a difficult journey and I grieved over many of the things I left behind, but I have no regrets. In the end I found my life recentered on God and family.
This past year I have enjoyed the fruits of that journey, and it is weeks like this past one that remind me to continue the work of maintaining the simplicity I found. Today life has space for the unexpected and unforeseeable. Unplanned happenings are absorbed into the fabric of everyday without rending that fabric.
So, when Mark called Saturday and said a graduate student was coming Sunday and needed a place to stay for a week, life was not turned upside down by putting him in our guest room. When Boy 1 had a migraine, I had the time needed to take him to the doctor on the same day that I was hosting 30 graduate students for dinner. When a friend called and invited the boys to swim with her boys at the YMCA I had the time to chat for 30 minutes when I dropped them off with her.
And in the midst of it all I still had plenty of time to study, work, hang out with Wee 1, have lunch with a friend, attend a case review session on infant mortality, and enjoy my morning coffee with Matt, Meridith, Al, and Ann.
About a year ago I came to the end of a journey during which God impressed indelibly on my heart and mind the importance of doing less, scheduling less, giving up good stuff and keeping only the best. It was a difficult journey and I grieved over many of the things I left behind, but I have no regrets. In the end I found my life recentered on God and family.
This past year I have enjoyed the fruits of that journey, and it is weeks like this past one that remind me to continue the work of maintaining the simplicity I found. Today life has space for the unexpected and unforeseeable. Unplanned happenings are absorbed into the fabric of everyday without rending that fabric.
So, when Mark called Saturday and said a graduate student was coming Sunday and needed a place to stay for a week, life was not turned upside down by putting him in our guest room. When Boy 1 had a migraine, I had the time needed to take him to the doctor on the same day that I was hosting 30 graduate students for dinner. When a friend called and invited the boys to swim with her boys at the YMCA I had the time to chat for 30 minutes when I dropped them off with her.
And in the midst of it all I still had plenty of time to study, work, hang out with Wee 1, have lunch with a friend, attend a case review session on infant mortality, and enjoy my morning coffee with Matt, Meridith, Al, and Ann.
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