What I did this summer:  My cat died so we decided where to bury it and spent a day making a nice grave.  That was the highlight.

LW #1: You cannot change other’s behavior.  You can only change your reaction to it.  You can leave the room when he does this, talk to him in private giving very specific examples, suggest counselling, etc.  I would encourage you to figure out how to change the dynamics but you also have to think about and then what.  What if he will not change.  What will you do?  Are you better off staying or leaving?  Make sure you know that before you take any action.  Maybe counselling for yourself since you got yourself into this relationship — what attracted you to him and what resources do you have?

Deber - so do you think it is a good thing that the wording of the proposed bill has been changed so that ANYONE trying to get health care must provide proof of citizenship, which leads to the need for a national identity card?  When you show up at an emergency room, you had better have your government issued proof of citizenship?  Every single person must have an identity card?

The current issue of Newsweek has an interesting article comparing health coverage in various developed countries.  They make the point that the US is the only developed country in which people go bankrupt because of major illness.  Equal access to medical care should be a given.

For every bad story of mis-managed health care in another country, I am sure there is one in the US as well.  We do not rank well when comparing statistics of outcomes.  People in the US seem to have the notion that we have the best health care in the world.  Perhaps for some illnesses, but for health in general, the answer is that we are far from the top.

Yes while travelling with a colleague who had a very serious illness in the middle of the night in England.  She was able to call me to her room.  I called the hotel, they called for help.  Four very nice medics showed up within minutes, figured out her problem (unknown to me, she was diabetic and was going into insulin shock), got her insulin levels straightened out, ordered her a sandwich from room service, stayed while she ate it.  Made sure she had a nice cup of tea to go with it and that I was not too worried about her.  All in all, they were there over two hours.  At the end she asked how she paid for all of this.  The head medic responded, "No worries, dear.  This is how we do things here.  It’s on us."  They even talked to the hotel and told them not to charge her for the sandwich because it was part of her medical treatment.  Left her with detailed instructions of what to do if she still had problems and went on their way.

Sorry, I can’t lighten up on this particular topic, not when they are finding women stuffed in the walls of a secure building because someone decided to murder them, or any other series of violent actions.  I just don’t think we need to encourage anyone to have violent fantasies, no matter how light hearted you find this particular topic.  As someone who has been attacked by another person, this topic has no lightness to it at all.  Lin has it right - you might be the target of someone’s top three list.  And if they then decide to act on that list, it would be the scariest moment in your life.

Wow, offing people?  Sorry, can’t participate, even theoretically.  I’d rather use those ergs of energy to see if I can contribute to world harmony.  I can’t change others, I can only change myself, I guess so that someone doesn’t plan to off me.

Hi Scarlett, I agree that going to any one site for information is not the best way to find a balanced view so I read many.  I picked up that piece because I actually saw the original and it was quickly changed.  I was trying to figure out why the original inflamatory statement wasn’t the one that NBC led with in their news report last evening.

I could accept that it was the passion of the moment if he had not come prepared with insulting comments on cards to hold up during the speech.  The man has no respect for the office of President.

I am unbelievably concerned about the protests over health care reform.  What concerns me most is that the majority of these people seem to be completely over the top with anger over things that are not true: "death panels," health coverage for illegal immigrants, etc.  And they are so unclear about what they want.  The nation cannot afford the status quo but they cannot articulate one way to make it better.

I see that NBC swapped out a quote from one of the protesters. 

A protester at Saturday’s Tea Party on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. made clear that she was afraid, saying "We are losing our country, we think the Muslims are moving in and taking over."

NBC has replaced this woman’s comment about Muslims with a less inflammatory comment: "I’m scared to death for my country. I believe Obama is running this country into the ground."

This appears to be the only edit made to this online video. Footage of her previous comment does not appear to be posted. The original video was broadcast Saturday evening, Sept. 12, 2009, on NBC Nightly News.

(above from Huffington Post)

Is this ultimately what it is all about?  Simple racism?  I know there are a lot of ultra conservatives who would do anything to get President Obama removed from office and refuse to accept that he is the legally elected president.  I would hope that these people would stop and think a little logically about this.  First, he is President so we should all accept this.  Second, for those who say we are moving too fast on health care, you might want to examine the last 30 years since that is how long we have been discussing this issue.  Third, if you are so opposed, where is your recommendation (that is not pushed by the insurance giants who very much want the status quo which is fueling their enormous profits)?

We cannot seem to get people to put aside the emotion and have a rational discourse on this very important topic.

What I’d like to see on this site is a discussion about how to have these debates in a logical and thoughtful manner without all the emotion.  Facts only, not internet rumors.  Real discussion, real compassion, real reaching out for concensus.  How can we get away from this anger-fueled shouting?

Phyllis - you have a great future as a movie reviewer.

I guess since Sarah Palin still wants to be in the limelight, "insider" information is still going to be of interest to people.  This is the era of reveling in salacious rumors and embarrasing details.

hah - I live in Michigan.  Our summer has been terrible and the vegetable crop is almost non existent.  Rather than being a problematic bounty this year, every single bean and zucchini and tomato is precious!

Rachel - wow - a real leap here.  It is hard to know why anyone leaves a marriage, whether a spouse gets sick or there are other problems.  From the outside you just never know what is going on in a relationship.  To make that judgement about John McCain and his two spouses is kind of over the top.  You have no idea why his first mariage broke up (although he has spoken about his regret for how it happened) and you have no idea what drives his current marriage.  How sad that you jump to the conclusion that he stays with his current wife because of money.

Wait Marjorie.  Just use facts as your basis.  What a debt?  The present administration did not create the debt.  The Bush administration came in with a surplus and spent it all, putting the country into massive debt.  Certainly the current congress continues to spend, perhaps on different things trying to get us out of a recession, but do not blame the debt on dems.  The republicans had the presidency, house and senate and I didn’t see them fix things.