700 club supports corporal punishment

I was watching the 700 club today, a christian tv show which I wouldn't normally watch but I figured I should so that I know what it's about. Knowledge over ignorance. Anyway, I was in the other room making lunch for my son (18 months) when I hear them talking about a proposed bill in Massachusettes to ban spanking. I heard several people talking about being in favor of the ban. Maybe it's a little bit harsh that I was surprised a Christian show would back something like no spanking, but I was and I rewound and watched the whole segment.

They had indeed interviewed several people, including psychologists, nurses and parents, who supported the ban on spanking, but don't be fooled.. this did not mean they supported it. Once the reporter signed off the host (an 80 something year old white man) simply shook his head and chuckled, saying that these "do gooders" didn't know what they were doing. God condoned spanking. He said that it said something in the bible about how if you spank you get a good child and if you don't you get an unruly one. (he never gave any verses or passages) This is yet another example of biblical teachings being irrelevant today. The bible also says you should stone disobedient children, but any parent who tried it would be arrested in a heartbeat. In biblical times I'm going to bet they didn't know anything about psychology because if they did then they wouldn't hurt their children.

As I was searching for a picture to use (I find this one particularly horrendous because the child being hit is obviously a toddler, probably about my son's age) I came across a pro spanking website. To spanking they say:

"God is smarter than man and he commands to spank with a rod! Proverbs 13:24; 23:13-14"

"The so called "studies" that supposedly prove spanking is harmful to the children are junk science, agenda driven, opinion papers sponsored by anti-spanking interest groups that dishonestly skew the data. The studies and those who report them are by anti-Christian, left leaning, liberal/democratic products of our immoral modern society. Anti-spanking groups are a cause the significant decay of society. Most of the young kids of these anti-spanking groups are very poorly behaved."

First of all, I'm glad they see liberals as non spankers. This is a compliment to me! Second of all, junk science? No, it's actual science. Every child psychologist will agree that spanking is more harmful than useful. And, no offense, but.. this coming from smeone who's following a book that isn't the least bit scientific? This coming from a person who believe that the world was literally made in 7 days and that there were dinosoars on the ark? Thirdly, Every parent that I know that does not spank their children has very well behaved kids. We (my brother, sister, and I) grew up in a spanking household and every one of us revolted in various ways. I became Pagan and liberal, my brother and sister got home made tattoos, smoked, drank and did drugs, this in addition to my sister who started having sex at age 12 and ran away from home every other day.

Living in a pro-spank home I do believe that it should be seen as child abuse. How many times to parents who spank accidentally cross the line into legal abuse? You can't do that if you don't spank at all. You can dicipline, you can love, you can nurture your kids.. but you cannot hit them.

Raw Foodism

This is a post copied from my DA account (faerykisses.deviantart.com) So the date written will not sync with date posted

At the beginning of the week I was meditating (a fiasco with a friend let me realize that I needed to do more of that) and soon I was floating in a peaceful black void. I could just feel the delta waves (lol). After a while I met a deer and soon I was in a peaceful field with a babbling brook, tall waving grass, butterflies, and that same little fawn. What does it say that my spirit guide is a fawn? I'm sure it means something or another. Anyway, The fawn suggested to me that for the next seven days I should eat nothing but raw fruits and vegetables. After only one day I felt incredible. I usually go to bed at 10 and wake up at 10 or 11 and I'm still tired all day, but after only one day on this semi-fast I stayed up until midnight and got up, refreshed and energized, at 7 AM. That has been the pattern all week.

Soon, a memory popped into my head from the 2004 sci-fi reality show, mad mad house, (which i really wish they'd do more of) and I remembered that they had a naturist on the show, avocado was his name and at some brief point on a single episode, he mentioned that he was a rawist. He didn't really explain this too much but the word stuck and I started looking it up on the internet.

I read dozens of articles for and against rawism. What it means, basically, is that at least 75% of the food that you eat is raw. Mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. The theory is that cooking these things destroys important enzymes, proteins, and fats in the food. I thought, hum, this is basically what I eat already, just without the processed foods and pasta. Now, a not so strict rawist can allow for up to 255 by weight of their food to be cooked so I've decided to still eat eggs, as they are a good source of protein. I've also found that there are a few very rare exceptions to the whole theory that raw foods are better. for example, cooking tomatoes ruptures the cell membranes which releases more licopene. It's also theorized, however, that cooking creates more free radicals, which we all know give us cancer. It's thought that by eating a rawist diet, you can cure and prevent a whole host of diseases, including allergies, asthma, diabetes, obesity (duh), and cancer.

There haven't been any good studies in the US on this type of diet, mainly because there's no profit to be made. God bless the US dollar, right? but there has been a couple of studies done in Finland and studies show that those who eat a rawist diet of high levels of lycopine, betacarotine, essential vitamins and so on. The only negative that was found was a very slow, but steady drop in B-12. This is easily fixed with a supplement. And, overall, the rawists were healthier than the omnivores.

But, you ask, how do you stay full on a diet of fruits and veggies? The answer? You eat more. A rawist has to eat an average of 6lbs of raw foods in order to sustain body weight assuming that you take in an average of 1800 calories. That's three times more than the average omnivore. But perhaps this is the problem with overweight Americans. They probably still consume a good 6lbs of food with way way more calories. Of course, if you're trying to lose weight, you don't really have to worry about that and you can eat less. Honestly, you get fuller than you think you would. Personally, I don't try to ear 6lbs a day, I just eat when I want to and it probably amounts to about half that.

Being Pagan, this rawist diet makes me feel much more in touch with my ancestors. I feel the spirit of the forager. I feel more like I"m living in harmony with the earth, and i'm creating less pollution since I'm no longer buying processed foods which require packaging which creates trash... not to mention the pollution caused by the factories which produce the processed foods.

Overall, I'm definitely pushing the 25% thing, but that's mostly because I'm still new to this diet and still addicted to all of the chemicals in the processed foods. I'm positive it'll get easier over the next couple of weeks.

The benefits of smoking

None, you idiot! There are no benefits to smoking.. not one. It doesn't make you look cool, it doesn't make you look more attractive, it definitely doesn't help your breath or your health. So why do you do it? If i see a normally attractive man or woman out and about they are instantaneously made hideous once they reach for that pack of cigarettes. I made my husband quit when we were dating under threat of leaving him.

Smoking has more than 50 ways of making life a misery through illness and more than 20 ways of killing you. In general, smokers endure poorer health than non-smokers. It has been estimated that, in England, 364,000 patients are admitted to NHS hospitals each year due to diseases caused by smoking. This translates into 7,000 hospital admissions per week, or 1,000 day. [i] In 1997/98, cigarette smoking caused an estimated 480,000 patients to consult their GP for heart disease,20,000 for stroke and nearly 600,000 for COPD. 1

Half of all teenagers who are currently smoking will die from diseases caused by tobacco if they continue to smoke. One quarter will die after 70 years of age and one quarter before, with those dying before 70 losing on average 21 years of life. [ii] It is estimated that between 1950 and 2000 six million Britons, 60 million people worldwide, would have died from tobacco-related diseases. [iii]
One in two long-term smokers will die prematurely as a result of smoking - half of these in middle age. The most recent estimates show that around 106,000 people in the UK are killed by smoking every year, accounting for one fifth of all UK deaths. [vi] Most die from one of the three main diseases associated with cigarette smoking: lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease (bronchitis and emphysema) and coronary heart disease. The table below shows the percentage and numbers of deaths attributable to smoking, based on the latest available detailed breakdown (2002 data).
Deaths caused by smoking are five times higher than the 22,833 deaths arising from: traffic accidents (3,439); poisoning and overdose (881); alcoholic liver disease (5,121); other accidental deaths (8,579); murder and manslaughter (513); suicide (4,066); and HIV infection (234) in the UK during 2002. [vii] World-wide, almost 5 million die prematurely each year as a result of smoking. Based on current trends, this will rise to 10 million within 20 years. [viii]
(http://www.ash.org.uk/html/factsheets/html/fact02.html)

Now, I'm sure you've herad of all that before and, if you're a smoker, ignored them. Now, I'm going to tell you what I think of smokers and what I think of smoking laws in the US. If you're a non-smoker or a smoker, let me know what you think and why you do or do not agree.

What I think of smokers: Smokers are some of the most selfish people on the planet. Constantly spewing poison and and ranting about how they have the right to smoke and no one can tell them what to do, they smoke with complete disregard of anyone around them be they men, women, the elderly, children, babies or pregnant women. Well, you're right.. you do have the right to smoke. But i have the right not to. You'll say, but i'm not forcing you to smoke! Well yes, you are. I have the right not to smoke be it first hand OR second hand.

I was addicted to cigarette smoke when I was six. Everyone in my house smoked- my grandmother, my grandfather, my aunt and my mom. When we finally moved into a house of our own (with just my mom) I was six years old and I went into withdrawl. My dreams were haunted with images of smoking those sweet, wonderful cancer sticks. In my dreams I enjoyed them, i loved them, i NEEDED them. I dreampt of my aunt handing me a pack of her brand and me smoking them with glee. Keep in mine.. I was six years old. These dreams continued for years, though I have never had the desire to actually smoke. Is it any wonder that such a high percentage of children with parents who smoke end up smoking themselves? How much choice do they have when they're addicted before they can walk or talk?

Which brings me to laws concerning smoking. There are aready many bars, resteraunts, and other public areas that have banned smoking. This is wonderful, but I'd like to take it further and ban smoking in ALL public areas, including outside of stores, in parks, parking lots.. basically anywhere that's not your car or your home. When I was pregnant I was constantly angered by walking into the grocery store and having to pass through a cloud of poison. Or trying to enjoy a day at the park with my newborn son and having some ass walk up beside us and light one up. My son does NOT deserve that.

Furthermore, I believe that smoking should be made illegal around ANY child of any age. Parents have their children taken away for all kinds of reasons, drinking too much, drugs, abuse, neglect. So why not cigarettes? After all, they're directly damaging their child's health. An alcoholic doesn't have to physically effect a child to have that child removed from the home. No exceptions, no excuses. No smoking within at least 20 ft of any child, whether that be at a private residence or in a car. It doesn't matter if the windows are rolled down or the fan is going or you've got your air purifier running.. none of those things help much.

No matter how nice the smoker is as a person, no matter how concerned or sweet or caring, they will still light one up with total disregard to you or your children. And no, blowing the smoke out the window does not count. To all of my smoking friends: I love you, I really do and my opinions of your filthy, disgusting habit has nothing to do with how much I love you. But I have never met a smoker that these things have not applied to... even my own mother who started smoking again after 15 years of being clean. Mom, that's the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do, and I wish I didn't lose a little respect for you.

Steps to better health. Part 3

Cancer has ravaged our modern society. Scientists and doctors struggle to find a cure, hoping to save the lives of millions. Wouldn't it be great if we could just change our diet and eliminate our risks? Of course, this is impossible owing to the outside influences on us such as various amounts of radiation, pollution, artificial medicines, etc. But we can make a difference. We can lower our risks. Cancer is shown to be linked with free radicals. These free radicals are hitting you all the time. You can never really be protected. But what causes free radicals?

Radiation: You are hit with radiation in varying amounts at all time. We know that radiation damages cells.. this is the principal behind radiation therapy for cancer patients. To destroy those damaged cells. It's well known that it damages healthy cells as well and this is what happens on a day to day basis. Radiation comes from a few basic sources. The sun for one. Your best defense against this is sun block. Enjoy your tans.. they're killing you. A second source is common background radiation. This comes from many industrial sources. Factories, radiology labs. X-rays from the dentist or the ER. There's not much you can do about these. Another place is your microwave. By irradiating your food, you are creating a greater risk of cancer. Free radicals have also been linked to aging, autoimmune diseases, arthritis, and mental degenerative diseases. Russia outlawed the sale of microwaves in 1976, realizing the problems that they cause. Microwaves have gotten better over the years, but it will never be good or healthy. Try cooking your foods on the stove or in the oven. It may take longer, but it's healthier and may help you lose weight as you can't eat as much or maybe you won't want to take the time to wait 20 minutes for a hot pocket. Not to mention you would eat less microwave meals, thus reducing your sodium.

Tobacco: Sorry, there's no way to get around this but to give up smoking.

Excersise: Sorry all you fitness buffs but it's true. Any process that produces stress and increases the intake of oxygen can lead to an increase in free radicals. I'm not saying that you should be a coach potato, but bodybuilding is not necessary to be fit. Nor is going to a gym every day as long as you control your caloric intake.

High fat food and sugar: Again, there's nothing to do but cut back or eliminate these from your diet.

Cooking: Even if you get rid of your microwave, cooking in and of itself causes free radicals (see my blog on raw foodism). What is considered cooking? If it's heated bove 116 degrees F then it's considered cooked. Again, in the first part of Steps towards better health, I talk about how early man would have mostly been a gatherer. In addition to eating vegetarian most of the time, this also would have been considered a rawist diet, especially since learning to cook your food came much later when weather got colder and meat was depended on more.

What are free radicals? A free radical is an unstable oxygen atom. The atom has a nucleus with two electrons circling it. A free radical is created when one of those electrons gets pulled away and the atom becomes unstable.

What can you do about it? Well, you can start by leading a healthy lifestyle. Stop smoking, use sunscreen, stop using the microwave and reduce your intake of cooked food by eating more raw fruits and vegetables which contain radical fighting antioxidants.

What are antioxidants? Antioxidants are any substances that prevent or slow the oxidation process. Free radicals cause oxidation. Antioxidants work by donating an electron to a free radical so it becomes a stable oxygen molecule. Antioxidants are found in most herbal teas, fruits and vegetables. (this is why a vegetarian or better yet, a rawist, diet is beneficial)

Steps to better health. Part 2

Health problems abound in modern day American and, indeed, much of the industrialized world. In part one, i talked about the health benefits of being vegetarian. Now I'm going to talk about the health effects of eating meat.

First, there's the obvious. Saturated fats. All animal fat is saturated and red meat is 70% fat. Even eating meat moderately, these fats build up in your system, clogging arteries and causing heart problems. Heart disease is alarmingly on the rise in America, mostly owing to our fast food lifestyles and out meat eating attitude.

Second: Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is caused by the breakdown of connections between damaged brain cells and eventual brain-cell death. It is estimated that more than 4.5 million people in this country suffer from Alzheimer's disease and that by 2050, 14 million Americans will have the disease. This disease is brand new. There are no reported cases of anything like this disease 100 years ago. So what's changed in the past 100 years? Studies have linked saturated fats and cholesterol along with the chemicals and hormones in meat products to this disease.

Third: Stroke. Again, this is linked with saturated fats and cholesterol. Though not strickly from meat, vegetarians are at a much lower risk.

Fourth: Impotence. Yes, that's right, impotence is linked with saturated fats. In the same way that arteries to the heart become blocked, so do arteries to the penis. Again, though this is not strickly from eating meat, it is linked. What is directly from eating meat is the hormone inbalances that meat can cause, leading to impotence.

Fifth, disease. Salmonella and e-coli are on the rise in meats such as beef and chicken. Why? The antibiotics given to animals are breeding resistant strains of these bacteria. Which means that if you do get sick from meat, chances are it's already resistant to the medicines the doctors are going to treat you with.

If the health reasons aren't enough to convince you, then think about the economic reasons. It's far more expensive for farms to raise animals than fruits and vegetables. Also, the food used to feed the animals would be much better and more efficiently used to feed people directly.

Also, there's the humanitarian reason. Eating cow or pig or chicken is no better than eating your pet dog or cat. Would you want to see them suffer horribly for your dinner? Would you want to see them take stab to the back of the head and watch them twitch and seizure until they finally die? Or perhaps have their heads cut off with a chainsaw? Or have their throat slit? Why do these other animals deserve it anymore? Would you keep them in tiny cages? Letting them crawl all over each other and crying to be let out? Animals feel pain. They bleed, they cry, they scream. They fear and they love. Killing an animal is no better than killing a person.

Steps to better health. Part 1

Obesity is an epidemic in America today. Studies show that 70% of children 10 years old have a 33% blockage in their arteries. That's a percentage used to not be seen until adulthood. Diabetes is no longer classified as adult onset since it's more and more common in children. What can we do about this? What can I, as a parent, do about this?

For starters, I and my son are vegetarians. Is that healthy? Is that safe? Yes. We get all of our protein, all of our vitamins and minerals.. ALL of our daily nutritional needs without eating dead flesh. Many people say, but people are meant to eat meat! We're naturally omnivores. To these people I say you are only partly right. In the early days of man, gathering was much more common than hunting. During most of the year a vegetarian diet sufficed with people only relying on meat during the winter months. Some recent studies show that early man may very likely have hunted very little on their own, mostly scavaging and even then they would cut the flesh from the bone and discard it, favoring instead the nutrition filled marrow in the bones. Even assuming that this is wrong and man did actually kill most of his own food during the winter months (and we know they did at least some of the time) the human digestive system never evolved to be able to handle this type of protein. Meat is one of the hardest foods for our bodies to digest. It sicks in our digestive tracts for up to eight hours. If you know anything about digestion, you know that this is a horribly long time. Is there any good reason NOT to be a vegetarian? If you have one, please, i would love to hear it.

I've also heard people say that they've never heard of a vegetarian doing anything great. Here's a short list of great vegetarins:
Einstein
Van Gogh
Da Vinci
Pythagoras
Hans Christin Anderson
Susan B Anthony
Buddha
Elvis
Charles Darwin
Ganhdhi
Whoopie Goldburg
Sarah McLachlan
Plato
Jesus- may or may not have been vegetarian. there's much debate on this subject and it's hard to know for sure since so much of the bible is either altered or later added parables., however, some other books such as the dead sea scrolls contain passages where jesus supposedly preaches about a vegetarian diet. (http://www.essene.com/GospelOfPeace/index.html)
Just to name a few

Mind, being a vegetarian means eating properly in order to get all of the nutrients you need. (note: eating meat does NOT mean you're getting all of your nutrients) so do your research.

The health benefits of a vegetarian diet is vast and many. Vegetarians all have lower risk of obesity, hert disease, kidney disease, mental degenerative diseases, cancer and stroke.

Humanity's Inhumanity

To start with, I'll say that i've always had a strong empathy with animals, being raised by a family who did exotic and domestic animal rescue. I've seen horrible things and heard horror stories about how these animals came to be with us. It makes you realize how horrible some people are, but you still retain the basic belief that most people are good. When I was 15 I became a vegetarian, though my friends and family believed it was a phase and often laughed at me, I stuck with it and now, after 7 years, i'm still a vegetarian. I've never been the type of vegetarian to tell other people that they were wrong, that they shouldn't eat meat. It was more like... I do my thing and you do yours. i never realized why a vegetarian, who is constantly persecuted, would try to shove their beliefs on another (puritan symdrome) but now, I believe, I understand. This video: Earthlings will show you why. Please, do not watch this is you have a weak stomach or are overly squeamish.. unless you eat meat in which case you should watch it no matter what.

In watching just the first quarter of this movie i started understanding that the term inhuman, generally reserved for such horrible people as Hitler, Stalin, and president bush, is really quite the opposite. These people aren't inhuman. They are, in fact, human. As much as i would like to believe otherwise, people are NOT generally good or kind.. they are horrible, cruel, and dominating. In this sense of the word it's people like I and other animal rights activists, vegetarians and vegans that are really inhuman. We somehow defy the inate cruelty that is in every human being. I'm sure EVERY person knows someone who is human in this horrible way. My husband' step father... he loves to regal me with tales of hunting and animal cruelty from his youth.

This video explains that speciesism is no better or different from racism or sexism and it results in some of the same genocides. Speciesism is the idea that any species is better than another and has the right to dominate other species. Those who eat meat are the perfect example. Men and women who work in slaughter hosues control every aspect of these animals lives and deaths. They control where they live, how they live, where they will die and how they will die. This holds true for many human=animal relations outside of slaughterhouses. In one clip from the video, two men toss a wounded dog into a garbage truck. The dog is still alive but not for long as the truck crushes it to death (as it does with any other garbage). Pounds and animal hospitals use gas chambers as a cheap alternative to humane euthenasia and in these cases the animals are packed tightly into a small box which is then flooded with poison and the animal dies, taking up to 20 minutes.

and all that is only from the first section on pets. This is only a small portion of how animals are treated by human hands. Humans tend to recognize the fact that other humans should have respect and basic rights but fail to bestow these same rights and respect on our fellow creatures of the earth. Watch the video. If you're not vegetarian/vegan already, this video may seriously change your mind.

Viva la nudity!

Greetings Everyone, especially my nudy friends, I recently came across a youtube video called naked protest, part 1. There's a group of people over in the UK trying to get public nudity legalized, not for sexual or perverted reasons (in fact, it may be easier to catch pedophiles if you see that the old creepy guy watching the kids has a hard on). Many people can't understand the reason behind public nudity. Who would want to go around showing all their junk? and We don't want to see some people naked! hotties only please. These thoughts are a product of social upbringing. There are tribes all across Africa who still go nude most of the time, but do men walk around with erections all the time? Do they walk around sniggering and insulting each other? No, because it's just a normal, natural way of life for them. If public nudity was legal, and better yet, common place, people would really stop noticing. Ever been to a nude beach? No one notices anything. It's like looking at people with their clothes on. The same judgements you may make about a fat woman with her clothes on, you'd make with her clothes off. What's the difference? How many women and men get home from the bag with a random date just to realize that they look far different with their clothes off? A woman's bra is cut to show cleavage, her tight skirt holds in a tummy, that sexy corset is really sucking some stuff in... nudity let's you see people, the real them. They're no longer just pieces of fashion ( or lack there of) passing by. They're human beings. We miss this in our day to day clothed lives.

Some people are concerned that sexual arousal could be a problem, especially in men. Clothes make people into sex symbols.. not nudity. Again, once we're used to nude bodies, they don't become such a big deal. They are no longer something to fantasize about or drool over. People used to be called whores because they showed too much ankle. Today, we're like, an ankle? Well.. it's just an ankle! Whole bodies are the same way. They're taboo now only because they're hidden. Expose them and their lose their appeal, their lust. If, by chance, a person does become aroused because they see someone they're particularly attracted to, then it shouldn't be a problem. Human beings should be comfortable in their sexuality, but if a man is uncomfortable with this or , say, it's that time of the month for a woman, then clothes would be optional. One man posted on the youtube forum that he was comfortable in clothes and uncomfortable being nude and he shouldn't have to be made to go nude. Well, that's true. He shouldn't be made to do what makes him uncomfortable, but in the same way, should someone be forced to wear clothing? Especially in warmer weather.

Where do we get this shame of our own bodies? This.. discomfort in nudity? That's easy. Christianity. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge (note that in the Bible knowledge is seen as a bad thing, Ignorance is bliss. But we won't get into my qualms with the bible now) and then they became ashamed and hid themselves with fig leaves. Shame of our own bodies and other bodies is deeply ingrained in out psychology. It is beaten into us from the time we are young that nakedness is bad and evil and against God.

I won't say anymore on the subject, except viva la nudity!

I cannot imbed the video because it has actual nudity in it, but here is the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zz7g8N30u0o

Tainted Lives

Many companies such as Wal Mart import most of, if not all, of their products from countries such as India, Japan, and China. Recently, i'm sure you've all heard, there has been a rash of toy recalls including dolls which contained lead. Most of the toys have had only minor defects, but the lead filled products, including toothpaste, has terrified Americans. Every time I turn on the news (I try not to watch it, although sometimes Calvin leaves it on) there are new recalls.

Now, you've heard the people who say that foreigners are taking our jobs and that things should be made in the US again. Now, most of these people are bigots who hate foreigners in general regardless of the quality of the products coming from such countries. However, I now agree with them. This morning there was a recall on a toy called Aqua Dots. Tiny little beads that a child could, of course, swallow turned out to contained GHB, similar to that found in date rape drugs. One child slipped into a coma after swallowing several of these beads and having them dissolve in his system. Doctor's were confused and absolutely stumped until the recall.

There is a line, people. When our children's toys start killing them because of poor foreign quality standards, then we need to put our own in place. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean moving the factories here and causing so many Chinese to lose their jobs. It could mean sending American inspectors to China and requiring them to adhere to our standards of quality and safety regulations. This must happen, for the safety of our children.

S-chip

I've gotten behind on this blog so i'm updated it with past blog posts from my myspace account so the date posted will not be in sync with date written.

We've all heard Bush's speeches on "no child left behind" and how we have a responsibility to the poor children of America, but when a bill recently came up to expand government health care to more poor, sick children, he vetoed it as quickly as he did stem cell research. He says that he cares for our children, for our elderly, for us, but his actions don't reflect his words. Luckily in our country the congress can override stupid vetoes. (thank goodness we got a democratic congress) and I, for one, am hoping and praying that they will get the votes necessary to override this particular veto. We will find out tomorrow. I've been watching C-Span all day and I will watch it tomorrow as well so that I can be one of the first to know if our children will stay sick. The bill, if passed into law, will allow 3.4 million children to be added into the S-Chip program. Bush not only vetoed the bill, but plans to CUT funding to the program, eliminating over 800,000 children who are already on the program.

The bill will allow a four person household making less than 84,000 to recieve government assisted health care. Do you realize what 84,000 is to most people? they don't make half that! maybe not even a quarter. The average wal-mart worker makes 12,000 or less a year. You say, yeah, but that's wal-mart. well, in today's economy that's where millions of people work.. places like walmart, kmart, target... service related industries that pay very little and have horrible health care coverage that many people couldn't afford anyway. My husband is a programmer who works in Charlotte and is fairly famous among the programming community, and we don't even make 84K a year. That sounds rich to us, but it's not. It's not even middle class anymore in many communities. The average four person household will pay $750 or more per month for health care. Can you afford that? And that's for poor health care. Health care that barely covers wellness checkups. With Calvin's new job we got excellent health care coverage, full coverage. We have to pay 30%, his emplyer pays 70%. Our 30% is 650 a month. Can you imagine if we were paying full price?

Many of the speakers talked about how families with sick children often have to choose between being able to pay the bills and taking their child to the doctor. When children end up getting really sick due to lack of preventative care they go to the emergency room. And how much does that cost? When my son was sick several months ago I had to do just that. I took him to the emergency room and he received IV fluids for dehydration (due to the amount he was throwing up) and I was shocked when the bill came in to see over $1000. For fluids. We NEED this S-chip. Millions of families need this bill to become a law. Our President has failed us. It's up to the congress now. I hope your thoughts and prayers will be out there tomorrow as they're voting.




Update: Can you believe it?! The S-Chip override did NOT pass. That means that there are some people (probably republicans) in congress that thinks it's a BAD idea to help sick children. Congress does, however plan to introduce another bill which will be almost exactly the same. They will keep doing this until it's passed. (which will probably be when a democrat is in the white house). This is a sad, sad day for america. (though not as sad as the day bush won the election)