Caring about Health Care

A big topic of discussion right now is health care and the proposal that Obama is hoping congress will come up with.

I have never claimed to be an expert. I am just one person with an opinion and a blog. The things I write about are things I care about, and I am always open to your interpretation of things when given constructively.

I have a very strong opinion on this topic, having lived in the U.S. for four years with no health insurance, and then having lived in a country with public health insurance for two years (Germany).

I'd like to address some of the common arguments against a public option, or "socialized medicine" that I've heard. Please tell me what I am missing, I'd like to hear other arguments.

It would force taxpayers to fund abortion.
To this, my response is that yes, you will have to pay for abortion to some extent because abortion, whether you like it or not, is currently legal in many states. I have to pay taxes that fund a war that I don't support where innocent lives are lost.

Keep government out of my business! This is socialism!
I think this kind of cowboy, fend for yourself attitude is unrealistic. I don't care for the type of people that would rather let their neighbors starve than have a government that lends a hand. The government is already involved in Medicare, medical care for the military, schools, libraries, fire departments, police forces, etc. People who think this step will mean socialism for the U.S. are ignoring the fact that the government is already involved and can be involved for good. Even if you don't agree with that, currently health care is dictated by the whims of health insurance companies and their shareholders. How is this any better? These people profit most when they give less care. Their incentive is to deny your care.

There will be long waits for health care like in frightening Canada and terrifying France!
From what I have personally experienced and from what I have heard from others, the wait in countries with public health care is not significantly different than that of the U.S.

Ostsee

Photos taken in Rostock, Germany last week (click to see full image).

Still Worse

As further proof that it can't get much worse than being an atheist in the eyes of believers, the Friendly Atheist blogs about an atheist ad that was rejected by a company for being offensive.

You've all probably seen this billboard by now:


The amusing and somewhat baffling thing about all of this is that the same company accepted the following billboards:


I find this amusing given the fact that most Christians think that sexuality will be the doom of our society. But apparently atheists are still #1 on the threat list.

To Twit or not to Twit

Well, I suppose it's called tweeting, but really, what do I care?

I've been fairly active lately with the twitering-tweetering-twatering, so if you are on twitter we should make a twitter bond.

I know some people are totally anti-twitter, but I love it for sharing interesting links and being shared interesting links with. I sometimes grow weary of my feed containing only atheist- and liberal-related content, and so I enjoy trying to mix it up and get a variety in there. I also try to share links on a variety of topics.

And of course, I wouldn't want to disappoint you: there are also the occasional updates on my mood and what I had for breakfast.

So if you are also on twitter, feel free to promote yourself to me and...well, probably just (who am I kidding?) in the comments.

Oh, and here is a post by vjack about the benefits of using twitter as a blogger.

Immodesty

I was reading a blog post* where someone was very offended by the fact that people walk around with very little clothing on, namely women showing cleavage or wearing bikinis.

If everyone just stopped dressing like a street walker we’d be one step closer to fixing what’s wrong with this country.

For some reason this really got my goat. Maybe because I think people shouldn't be allowed to forbid things just because they are offended by them. Or maybe because our country has a lot of other huge frigging problems that need solving besides this person's discomfort at seeing a breast. How very typical of conservative-types (and I'm making an assumption here about their political affiliation which I doubt is inaccurate) to think that the biggest problems in our society have to do with sex instead of the fact that our schools suck, people don't get health care and meanwhile in other countries around the world people are suffering and dying in terrible, degrading ways.

There is only one way that I can partly sympathize with this, and it is that I feel women are overly-objectified and feel they need to show their bodies while men do not.

However, I do not think that women should be forced to cover up. I think people should wear whatever they like as long as it does not endanger people around them. And that does not include hurting your feelings or making you feel squeamish.

I was raised Baptist and also am from the U.S. so I understand the gut reaction of squeamishness. I still experience it sometimes at the sight of a naked body or something sexual. But I now realize it is unnatural to feel such shame about something so natural!

Just last weekend I was visiting the Baltic Coast and saw my first nude bather. As an American and a former prude I was initially shocked by it. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed completely natural and the more my feelings seemed to be ignorant.

I suppose if you are unwilling to accept to the fact that we are animals then you may not agree with this point, but what could be more natural than the human body and why should it be hidden? Why should we be offended at the very sight of it?

If we were exposed to more nudity we would not have such shame surrounding our bodies. If we were exposed to average people nude we would not have such unnatural and unrealistic expectations about beauty, instead of only being exposed to airbrushed and surgically enhanced bodies. We would see all shapes and sizes, and stop feeling such shame about our own.

So to respond to this blog post, I would like to say that if everyone started walking around nude and getting used to the sight of the naked human body we’d be one step closer to fixing what’s wrong with this country.



*At the end of this post the blogger stated "Am I out of line here?" seemingly inviting responses, and so I responded in a comment to the effect of "Not everybody thinks that the human body is shameful and should be covered up. Since you asked, yes I do think it is out of line to try to dictate what others should wear because you are offended by it."

Apparently encountering somebody on her blog who did not share her world views was too much for this blogger and she quickly made another post apologizing for "ruffling feathers" because she got one comment politely disagreeing with her.

I seem to have ruffled some feathers with my last post. Sorry "me" but I don't think that if I'm sitting you down at my counter and putting makeup on you that I should have to look at your breasts. I agree with you that the human body is beautiful but there is a time and a place and we seem to be forgetting that. I wear shorts and tank tops just like everybody else but I make sure that I have my personal belongings inside my outfit. Sorry if that offends anyone....was just blogging my feelings on the day after seeing way too much.

And now, her blog is inaccessible. Deleted? Address changed? I have no idea.

The Burka

From Atheist Media, the Big Question discussing whether the burka should be banned in Britain.

First of all I want to say I am disgusted by the things the woman in the Burka is saying.

My biggest problem is with her insisting it is about freedom of choice, and her right to wear what she wants.

BULL! I'd like to hear her say that to all of the women in the world who have NO freedom of choice and are forced to wear the burka for fear of death.

I think her silence when asked why men shouldn't wear burkas was very telling. She kept insisting it wasn't about the subservience of women, but she had no answer for that.

I also think it is incredibly ridiculous to let women wear these costumes in public places. If a man wore something concealing his entire face and identity, the cops would be called on him!

Atheist Blogroll

I mentioned the Atheist Blogroll in a previous post, I have finally gotten around to applying.

You can check out the scrolling marquis with lots of awesome blogs written by atheists and agnostics in the side bar.

It is managed by Mojoey at Deep Thoughts, which is also worth a look.

Enablers

A great op-ed in the New York Times about the Right's silent (and sometimes not so silent) enabling of hatred, violence, and even terrorism.

It makes me pretty disgusted when I hear all the sensationalist and ridiculous lies that some on the Right are spreading. They are appealing to a very low and hate-filled segment of our population and I think that hate-mongers like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh should be accountable for violent acts like the murder of Dr. Tiller and the security guard at the Holocaust museum.

The fact that at a GOP fundraiser, Jon Voigt could say his wish was to "bring an end to this false prophet Obama" and then be praised for it by those present, is sick and frightening to me.

Vaccine Debate

Was reading Mojoey's Deep Thoughts blog and he introduced a new blog on the Atheist Blogroll (which I am meaning to join...any day now) called Ziztur.

Started by reading an entry about the vaccine debate and I really enjoyed it, so I will be following this blog in the future.

I liked a few points that were made about the silliness of the argument that pharamaceutical companies are profiting off of poisonous vaccines or by suppressing homeopathic remedies that work.

It was suggested that treating the illnesses would probably be more profitable for the pharamaceutical companies than selling vaccines for them. And that pharmaceutical companies could easily enter the homeopathy market and drive out the smaller companies, who, by the way, aren't necessarily struggling in their industry and are also making huge profits. Just as they claim that pharmaceutical companies have something to gain from driving them out, they also stand to profit from giving pharmaceutical companies a bad reputation.

Speak American

Found this very interesting list of correct American pronunciations.

Ashamed to say that I pronounce the following words incorrectly:

• grocery (I say GROH-shuh-ree)
• irony (I say EYE-ur-nee)
• medieval (I say mid-EE-vul)
• often (I pronounce the t)
• parental (I say PAR-en-tul)
• semi (I say SEM-eye)
• spontaneity (I say SPAHN-tuh-NAY-i-tee)

They also have some interesting quizzes about regional American accents at that site.