Appalled?  Really?  I mean really? Albright,Amnapour, and many women have worn headscarves as a gesture of respect to the customs of a country.  Since she is Sec’y of State, diplomacy and respect are primary, & this is not unusual.

Joan Cooney would have made a dreadful Sec’y of State, so thank God she isn’t.  

 In order to even begin a meaningful discussion in any country it’s mandatory to respect customs both cultural,political, and religious.

Maria’s hair detracts from her marvelous personna. It’s dated bimbo Hollywood overlong hair buffed up with additional hairpieces.  These fake "falls" keep sneaking out of a huge mass of hair that accomplishes nothing but distracting from her message.

It’s "in" right now in Entertainment Land,and out in Paris and the real world.  Shriver doesn’t need tons of hair. She’s brilliant and has great ideas that I want to hear. And yes, I find the hair gets too much attention. 

Rachel Maddow is the most refreshingly honest and smart news show around.

She has on opposition, she does her homework, sticks to the facts, and Rachel is fearless.

I admire her tremendously

I was born right into the Depression. I got it about age 4 or 5. Everything out there was grim ,and the needy and hungry were all around us.   My dad lost his money to bank failure.    Then went the house. Then my dad worked two jobs for many years. We moved every year to a new apartment as 3 months free rent was offered with each year’s lease. We moved at least 3 times within 3 years.

Now we are headed towards the same destiny. We don’t even have decent healthcare offered by every civilized country.   Wall Street runs America, and lobbyists and Wall Streeet run Congress.

Unless our youth get behind a movement for real change and take the money out of the elective process ,as most democratic countries do, we will continue to become irrelevant as a propspering democracy.

Depressions and recessions are the result of improperly managed Capitalism without limits or controls. Really.

I wish her well but am not convinced that Whitney H takes responsibility   for her behavior. Her problems were glossed over and this was an Oprah rehab moment.

Whitney obviously has serious issues about self worth which can’t be addressed with facial redo’s,clothes, and publicity.  I felt watching her that she needs help.  Her tendency to gloss over the deeper part of her dark side may not be a TV conversation, but without professional help I can’t imagine how she’ll do.  I heard a part of her album and wasn’t impressed as her voice has taken a hit. She sounds hoarse and has trouble with higher octaves.  I really wish her well but wasn’t comfortable watching this.

On 9/11 I had the morning TV news on. My veternarian assistant came over to tend my cats who were on meds. Within a few minutes of his arrival we watched the first plane hit and thought it was an accident, but when the second hit we both looked at each other and said, "terrorists".

We sat quietly together for hours watching this beautiful clear day turn into horror.   It was eerily quiet for days, and yes we all felt confused,uneasy, and hearbroken for those that perished. I too noticed the hospital staffs lined up to receive the bodies that never came. And like many of us I was transfixed and shocky for days. The city was still and quiet for many days in an indescribable way.

One of my neighbors, an attorney, walked out against the advice of firemen telling him to stay. He’s alive today.  9/11 is a tragedy I will never fully overcome, as my heart still aches for all those that were lost.

Ironically Kennedy was left out of conference and the negotiations for PlanD Medicare RX program when Tom Delay, Billy Tauzin and a group of republicans pushed for three additional votes after midnight to give us the horrendous Medicare Plan D which  for $75.00 per month premium, gives us nothing.  Anyone taking a moderate amount of meds falls into Doughnut Hole after spending $2700 and cannot be reimbursed again despite continued premium payments until they reach $6100. By that time it’s next year.  Considering that many of the meds I take are generic, and many not even covered by Medicare PlanDRX, I pay for literally nothing.

Kennedy was not allowed to participate in this bait and switch  Medicare Plan. Wholesale bulk prices with Pharma co’s would have made this meaningful, but even Obama seems to have caved and understand he’s made a deal with Big Pharma that they pay 80 billion into this plan over ten years. What will this mean? That we will have higher premiums and when in the Doughnut Hole, we will be reimbursed for 50% of what we spend.

Senator Tauzin wound up in  a cushy multi million job for big phARMA where he still is being paid to obstruct any effort for real drug reform and true affordability to those that need it most.

Without a public option there will be no reform, and Obama appears to have caved. The Emmanuels seem to be running this and it has become an unclear and muddled message.  Obama hasn’t provided details because he hopes for compromise? With who?  The republicans are waiting for "their big white hope" and will block any real reform that can be attributed to the democrats.

Republicans are as obstructionist as possible and have formed a bloc against this administration. There are virtually no votes whatever the bill shapes up as that will have their support. Republicans are paid by Insurance and Drug monopolies and their election funds depend on their support..

And er, the Committee of 6 that are thrashing this in the senate with Max Baucus leading the charge of 3 Blue Dogs and 3 republicans are from  sparsely populated states that represent about 1 % of our population.  This is a joke and we have seen no leadership from the White House on this sellout.

The only thing ironic is your denial about the foul practices engaged in by the HMO’s and drug companies. Their profits have increased 400% while citizens are bankrupted by their illness and drug/treatments requirements.  Your worry and concern for the insurance and drug giants can only be measured by  your obvious tone deafness and blindness.

United Healthcare has made billions at the expense of their insured. Drug prices are obscene, as is Medicare RX Plan D with its doughnut hole where by Sept. I will continue paying premiums to AARP and will get no coverage for the rest of the year. Unless of course, in the three subsequent months I become so unexpectedly ill that I can spend around $5000 to become elligible for RX claim coverage. But guess what? Even were that to happen, it’s er….December and a new year…er… starts January 1st when my premiums start all over again. 

So really Medicare RX Plan D is a hype and a gift to the Insurance & Drug Co’s.  But have hope  Liz, as I am sure republicans will figure out a way to obstruct anything positive in the way of reform as they act as   a subsidiary of the Insurance and Drug lobby and are paid handsomely to deny reform of any real sort. 

I had a double mastectomy in 2005 and decided not to have reconstuctive surgery.     As I learned about the proceedure and it’s problems as well as it’s aftermath, I did’t even entertain this as an option.  My surgeon, internist, and oncologist all felt it was a very wise  decision.  After hearing the war stories and seeing the results both physical and psychological in a breast recovery group, I was even more convinced that this is a risky, painful, and costly proceedure was a no no.        But i also realize that many women want to be perceived as "normal" &/or attractive.     I knew what was involved and opted…"No."  But especially for younger women this is something they do for obvious reasons, and of course this is a highly personal decision.

As a result of lymph gland removal I suffer from lymphedema. This painful and dangerous condition must be addressed with massage and lymph drainage to reduce lymph fluid from blocking the lymph system, our gateway to our immune system.  I wear a compression arm sleeve, and have 2 sessions a week with my specialist PT.

If I had permitted reconstruction of implanted material over my mastectomies, my lymphedema therapy would not have been possible and  with other problems resulting from this additional surgery, I would currently be in a very negative position. Again, this is all personal as negative feelings about our bodies are foisted upon us by our culture,and what we expect of ourselves is often distorted towards appearance issues that cannot by themselves make us happy,

Camper,

You may be a camper, but you’re not Grande.

Let’s not jump to conclusions. Maybe they knew and maybe they didn’t. I personally feel it’s far too risky for anyone  to get close to these and any other borders.  But they did ,and they’re out -thanks to a team of people including Pres Clinton who conducted himself brilliantly.   I don’t think the tax dollars involved here get even close to the money spent by the GOP on perks, fighting against the Healthcare program,  and payoffs received from  insurance and drug companies. They hardly represent their constituents who support them with donations and votes.

So you’re worried about rescuing two american gals and what it costs?   Er…my oh my.