Star Lawrence

My Comments (2196 so far…)

Bullies Threaten Insurers; Is Profitability a Crime? by Liz Peek

Again—there is a misundersanding here. I was referring to the NYT comments—which among other forums are creating a gap between young and old—or if not creating, at least illuminating.

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/health/policy/21housecall.html?sort=oldest

Coming Soon: The Death of the American Lawn

I also have two gigantic prickly pears..Big Mac and Whopper (I did not name them, please, I name for part of my living). Each one is as big as two elephants stuck together. Besides the fact that’s it’s horrible to touch them (though some of the Mexican good cooks around here make salsa of them), I figure if someone takes the corner too fast, BM AND W will keep the car from diving into my bedroom window. I also have had a love-hate relationship with bamboo and its cousin arunda donax…I wish it WOULD be invasive, but no, it has to be a sensitive diva, I don’t like the sunnnn, help meeeee. etc. I originally got it by advertising in the pennysaver—the woman had a 50-foot stand of the stuff…and she said, "Can you take it all?" Uh….no. I dug up a few babies—while a little burro she had kept smacking his hard forehead into our hands to be petted. Ah, the west.

Bullies Threaten Insurers; Is Profitability a Crime? by Liz Peek

Bearing false witness—Is that the same as calling someone a liar?

Kinda—I thought it meant framing someone—you know, Biblically. Since we get into this "words" thing…I thoughtis comment that people in Washington get all "wee-weed" in summer—referring, Gibbsy said, to wetting the bed, was kinda tasteless, not to mention demeaning (yes, we are stupid incontinent children), . Also, yes—the cutoffs…CUTOFFS? Come on. But as I have said, I am not too interested in the wives of these people or their wacky fashion statements.

Bullies Threaten Insurers; Is Profitability a Crime? by Liz Peek

I worked 42 years with no break in service. Sometimes all I owed was FICA (starving writer). But I paid, too—and I pay now for Medicare—you pay for part B, if you get a supplemental (docs ask for that to see you, some of them) and drug plan (even if you don’t presently need it). Yet someone on here said just because I had Medicare I didn’t want anyone else to have health care. I thought that was lame—yet, I see the same comments on the NYT today.

Bullies Threaten Insurers; Is Profitability a Crime? by Liz Peek

The other day on here someone berated me for being on Medicare. I was referring to that.

Bullies Threaten Insurers; Is Profitability a Crime? by Liz Peek

You just can’t stand it that Obama’s making some progress getting us out of the mess Bush and Cheney left us with

Out here in AZ our unemployment is 9.2 with no end in sight. The WSJ says today that the banks are about to be hit with the PRIME mortgages going south. That stupid stimulus, which was legislative lint from the pockets of many Dems who had not gotten those boondoggles thru, is only 10% spent—if they think it is doing so much, give back the other 90% and skip updating a culvert or two or saving a minnow. The wars are BOTH shaky now…are we not supposed to look at that? I ALWAYS wonder what we are not supposed to look at when these people get going on something.

Bullies Threaten Insurers; Is Profitability a Crime? by Liz Peek

I was thinking the same thing—even the govt can tell you aren’t contributing much with your mah jong and golf cart riding, so don’t count on any fancy-schmancy surgeries. Nothing personal—it’s all in the algorithms.

Bullies Threaten Insurers; Is Profitability a Crime? by Liz Peek

Yes, that is the theme of the day—the evil insurance robber barons, the suddenly well-organized Republican party…all trying to hurt people and keep them sick and desperate—and only a "govt option" can "keep them honest." Today the Arizona Republic asked me to write an op-ed on this in Sept and I said, "It may take me that long to find the pieces of my head and glue them back together." Hey, maybe the all-beneficient Medicare, which no one deserves, will help.

What passage or passages from a book, poem, short story or other literary work moved you so much that you've never forgotten it?

LOL. When people tell me a door closes, but a window opens, I say: "So I can jump."

What passage or passages from a book, poem, short story or other literary work moved you so much that you've never forgotten it?

"To burn always with that hard gem-like flame is to be a success in life." Don’t remember where I read that. Even when I am down to a pilot light, it helps. Also, a silly thing I picked up someplace. "Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling?"

Julia Reed and the Discovery of Leonard Cohen

McCabe and Mrs Miller. Ah.

Coming Soon: The Death of the American Lawn

We used to go to a movie theatre on Wisconsin Ave in DC that was next to a funeral home. Standing in line, we noticed that in winter the funeral home lawn was PAINTED green—right on the dead grass. This is just a step away from my tile idea. I need to be stopped.

Coming Soon: The Death of the American Lawn

We can’t have nice native grasses…sedges, etc. Many are considered illegal veggies in AZ—intruders…Also where I live, no grass over 6 inches or the police with nothing else to do come around and harass you and leave you nasty notes and will fine you. They are really obsessed with grass height when they are not rounding up Mexican-looking people.

Coming Soon: The Death of the American Lawn

Face it—men love leaf blowers, the noise, the dripping gas, the uselessness! They also will always coil a hose. They can’t help themselves.

Coming Soon: The Death of the American Lawn

I am in AZ, too—and even when we don’t want grass, it wants us and volunteers. Now, in the summer of our economic discontent, I had a brainstorm—I got some 1 foot by 1 foot and smaller floor tiles left over from some dopey project out of the garage and my daughter, who is artistic, arranged them over the sprouting grass to kill it. Free! No $60 gardener attn required. Yes, it’s a wacky, but we don’t have a homeowners assn. I told my kid it was edging toward gnome territory and without a word, she got up and left the room. Aw—just be that way—I can’t afford a gnome anyhow. I did see a cute t-shirt—GNOMERO UNO with a you-know-what on it.