The Muppet Felon

I am not sure how this works elsewhere, but when you see a quick, small flash of red on your right whilst driving in Germany, you have been photographed speeding. Within the following six months you would receive a letter outlining your fines and/or points of Flensburg (home of the national database of traffic violations), complete with your picture and a form you can send in if you believe that the person in the picture is not you. Hubby received on of these in September. He is pictured quite clearly, scratching his nose **lol** . I was sitting beside him, but I was blurred out.


Someone driving a British car in Bavaria has had a bit of fun with these speeding cameras. A life-sized Muppet doll (most likely Animal) was placed on the front passenger seat - the driver's seat in continental Europe - and was caught driving 155 kph in a 120 kph zone of the autobahn.

I initially found this funny, but apparently the driver has done the same thing for several traffic cameras. This showed that the driver knew the authorities cannot pursue him/her because of the foreign license plate. Potentially endangering others on the road for the sake of a joke - not funny.

Sexiest. Commercial. Ever.

I am not sure if this spot aired in North America, or even if Rondnoir is sold there, but I think it is the sexiest ad ever. I could not find it in German, but it does not matter. Italian sounds so much sexier than German anyhow. =)

Just listen to that voice! "Una perla, mille piaceri"... Ohhhhh take me now! **lol**

More from the Not-So-Straight-Talk-Express

During my midday news headline check I came across this headline from MSNBC that made me laugh: "McCain: Racism will barely affect election."

Of course racism will not affect the election very much **end of sarcasm** - which is why it was made into such a big deal. For those Republicans out there who will shout at me otherwise: watch videos of the mobs screaming that there is no difference between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden. Notice how half-heartedly the McCain camp counters these cries. Now try to convince the rest of us that the candidates themselves did not contribute to the racist frenzy in this election and that it will not affect the outcome. You can't.

Perhaps McCain should have been more specific. Racism against blacks did not play a large role in his election campaign. That kind of racism is sadly reliant with a small percentage of Americans. The GOP did not need to play on that racist aspect, as that small percentage will categorically not vote for somebody black.

Aside from that, "classic" racism against blacks has become something of a political taboo and, if mentioned out loud, is most likely a political suicide mission. The majority of Americans are no longer afraid of black people, per se. This fear has been replaced with an irrational fear of anything Arabic by association. Note how important it is to McCain's campaign to link Obama to terrorism - unfortunately viewed as an Arabic prerogative in the current, collective American conscience. Hence racism, in that sense, plays a central role in the GOP's campaign.

It is apparent that McCain's statement is really the GOP stepping back from the milk they helped to spill, so that it does not question the legitimacy of their potential election victory.

What I think Americans need to ask themselves as election day nears is whether they want a President who has platitudinal experience but has been divisive from the start, or a President who has very atypical qualifications but fought as inclusively as possible.

(bottom image from perrspectives.com)

Lions and tigers and...

...pot smoking, gay loving Canadians! Oh my!
























(cartoon from mapleleafweb.com)

Making money by not having any sex/babies

No Sex

In Georgia there is currently a marriage contest in progress. An engaged couple can win $10,000 provided they open their wedding ceremony to the public, live separately before getting married and undergo premarital counselling. Oh, and they have to abstain - as in no premarital sex. Supposedly the goal of the contest is to promote marriages which will "really last a lifetime". That some people actually think preventing premarital sex is preventing divorce is beyond reason.

The contest is run by a non-profit organisation called MATURE - Marriage Appreciation Training Uplifting Relationship Education. (I wonder how long it took someone to come up with that?) Since 2006 they received yearly federal grants of $455,510, which will continue until 2011. What a preposterous way to spend tax revenue. Given a choice of having their tax dollars spent on health care or teaching abstinence, I believe most Americans would choose health care.

So how many couples have signed up for the opportunity to replace premarital sex with premarital counselling?

Zero. Shocker.

No Babies

A Louisiana legislator has suggested paying $1000 to women on welfare and food stamps if they have themselves sterilised. This is just WRONG. Never mind the fact that this is a lawsuit of discrimination against the poor waiting to happen. Dangling money in front of the poverty-stricken is not the way to go. They will make the decision based on the fact that they need the money, not thinking of possible future consequences.

Again, this is potentially a waste of tax revenue. $1000 is not going to take the destitute off of welfare or eradicate the less fortunate. This money is better spent on education.

I. WANT. THIS. BRA!!!

I have had four babies in nine years, and in all that time I have not found a nursing bra that exudes sexiness and sophistication. Until now. Gourmandise is a French lingerie company. But of course it took the French to manage catering to the raison de femme - practical AND sexy. English and French speakers can find the bra here, but only the ivory version. German speakers can find both the black and ivory versions here (they are launching their English site soon).


I normally refuse to spend extravagant amounts of money of items of clothing that will serve its purpose for a relatively limited amount of time, but this is worth every cent. Thank you Christina G.! Now I know what I want from my hubby for Christmas.

And now from one form of practical to another, here is the cleavage caddy:

I would never wear one of these, but the idea is funny.

Finding Mommy a new Man

On hubby's flight back home from Switzerland today, he sat a couple of rows away from a mother travelling alone with her two sons. As hubby passed them on the way back from the toilets, the older son, who looked about seven or eight years old, started to converse with him.

The conversation was typical small talk until the mother went to the toilets. The young boy then pulled out a piece of paper, wrote his home number on it and handed it to hubby saying: "My mommy needs a new man, so here's our phone number. Please give us a call if you like".

Hubby was understandably flabbergasted and managed to tell him, before his mother returned, that the mommy of his own kids might not like that. He told hubby to keep the number anyway.

I wonder if this child did this of his own accord, or if his mother gave him the idea somehow. In either case, he has a terrific sense of character. And he really cares for his mother.

Awwwww...

(photo from inmagine.com)

Cooking Lessons from a Convict

This past Saturday we finally had our belated Thanksgiving dinner (or, for the American readers, rather early). Growing up in a Filipino household, we did not observe this holiday as such - for my siblings and me it was like any other P.A. day. We either took our time doing our homework or spent all day playing with our Atari, Nintendo or Super Nintendo (God I am so OLD!).

When I met my husband, I was introduced to the wonderful smells of Thanksgiving. Turkey and potatoes and other "white people food" (I was a naïve child who grew up in a passively, mildly racist home) were such a wonderful change from the usual rice with ulam, and we have stayed faithful to the holiday ever since.

Having discovered the inner-housewife in me, I love to feed people until they need to roll all the way home. So, naturally, I invited our friends who knew what Thanksgiving was along with hubby's family. So far, so good. Then the pressure started - hubby's family and our German friends despised pumpkin. A couple other friends are vegetarian. Our American friend expressed that he was very excited to experience his first true Thanksgiving dinner in a long time. Yikes.

Hubby already knew how to make an awesome turkey with stuffing and gravy. The potatoes, corn, broccoli, etc. were simple enough. I turned to my trusty collection of Donna Hay cookbooks, where I found wonderful recipes for pumpkin and apple pie; easy to follow for a pie-novice such as myself. We adapted certain dishes to create a second that was vegetarian-friendly. All that was missing was an appropriate starter. I searched one of my favourite websites - recipezaar.com - and thus began my "cooking lessons from a convict", as an honourary uncle so graciously described it.

End result? Everyone loved everything! Hubby's turkey was amazing (as always), the pies were delicious (you can never go wrong with Donna Hay), and the convict delivered. Our American friend said it tasted as a true Thanksgiving dinner should. My biggest triumph, however, was that hubby's family and our German friends loved the pumpkin dishes, including hubby's carnivore step-dad who is allergic to most fruits and vegetables (too many vitamins!) and hubby's aunt who hates parsley. (I know hate is a strong word, but that is how she truly feels.)

I have been receiving lovely remarks on the pumpkin soup from friends. Here is the recipe (if you still are clueless as to who the convict is, you will find out now). I replaced the chicken stock with vegetable stock and used five cloves of garlic, and it still tasted heavenly.

Biden got owned by Barbara West?!?!?

Any sane person who watches the video in my previous post would conclude that West was very droll (in the I'm-going-to-make-a-fool-out-of-myself-by-spewing-out-a-mix-of-McCain's-stump-speech-points-and-an-inaccurate-reference-to-Marxism kind of way) and that Biden came out on top.

It is, however, no surprise that things are not the same in bible-thumping Republicanland. Here are some of the comments from those nutheads regarding the West-Biden interview:

Go Barbara West!! Please keep asking the tough questions! Don't back down. It's about time. - dudehead08 (dudehead? What kind of alias is that?!?)

The backlash against the radical left elite media has started! Looking forward to the McCain/PALIN landslide! - AtlasObjectivist

This lady should run for congress and take over as John McCain's Campaign leader. - sah0620

And the absurdity goes on and on. You can read more of that delusion here.

Barbara West happened to interview McCain earlier this month. Her bias was already apparent in the way she lovingly mirrored his stump speech. What a brown-nosing groupie. Watch this video for a comparison:

Barbara West gets owned by Biden

Biden: “Are you joking? Is this a joke? Is that a real question?”

I kept thinking the same thing whilst watching this video. Normally Barbara West’s careless use of the word socialist would infuriate me, but she was so ridiculous that all I could do was laugh at her harebrained and biased conduct.

How in the world did Sweden become part of the interview? How can she portray it to be a worse-off country? I suppose nobody told her that Sweden consistently ranks higher than the US in multiple quality of life indices. This is reminiscent of McCain mentioning Canada and the UK during the health care segment of the third presidential debate.

Thank you modern mommy for starting my day with a laugh =)

Tagged!

I was tagged by modern mommy and now I have to share seven random things about me. Here we go:

1. Hubby's dad and step-mom call me the 'meat-girl'. (When I first moved to Germany, I was not accustomed to having the fourth meal - kaffeetrinken - and found it to be nauseatingly sweet. I used to top it off with some salami, a ham sandwich, or anything meaty to settle my stomach.)
2. I still have my high-school kilt.
3. My alias - deunadiana - is a contraction of deutsch, canadian and filipina.
4. I am in the process of trying to convince hubby to get a eurasian (dog - not mistress!) when our children are grown up and have moved out.
5. I am agnostic.
6. Bargain-hunting is my sport of choice.
7. I live in the same building that hubby's great-grandfather lived in 1905. We discovered this whilst perusing through hubby's grandfather's postcard collection.

That's it for me. Time to tag seven others:
Melissa's Miscellany
Tatiana von Tauber
an american expat in deutschland
Stepford Wife Chronicles
The Humble Pen
My Musings
muudie

Does anybody miss Chretien?

I certainly do. That man had his good share of hilarious moments. Remember his press conference with Clinton on April 8, 1997?

Q: Sir, this is a question for both of you. The records show that there are far more drugs coming over the border from Canada into the United States now than ever before. Can you look into that and maybe do something about it -- both of you.

CHRETIEN: It's more trade. (Laughter.)

Q: More drugs coming in from Canada to the United States.

CLINTON: More drugs, she said.

CHRETIEN: More drugs -- I heard "trucks." (Laughter.) I'm sorry.

CLINTON: I'm glad we clarified that, or otherwise he'd have to delay calling the election. (Laughter.)

How about this gem?



Sigh. You'll never get that kind of stuff from PM Harper and his creepy eyes.

A Look Back at Bill and Bush

WARNING: Not safe for work!

I always endeavour to end my day on a happy note. Thanks to Smashed Frog, who posted the video below on their blog, I was able to do just that.

And this blog is rated....

...R?!?!?!?!? All because the word sex is mentioned ten times, the word kill five times and the word gun one time. Does that make sense to any of you? This must have been created by someone in the US because based on their criteria, this blog would not be rated R anywhere here in Europe. Except maybe at the Holy See.

You can have your blog rated at this website. What do you think? Does my blog deserve an R rating? What is your blog rated, and do you think it is accurate?

Neiman's + Saks vs. Gap + H&M

The current buzz surrounding Sarah Palin is her designer wardrobe and the amount of money spent on it. Quite honestly, I am not bothered by this at all.

When Palin entered the scene, very few people knew who she was. We all know that a good first impression can do wonders and a bad first impression can be equally detrimental. There was a lot of pressure on the GOP to present her as someone substantial and established; someone worthy of a chance at becoming VP. What better way to do so than splurge on her appearance? She certainly needed that boost to cover up her stumbling ineloquence, which she revealed after the RNC.

On the flip-side, you have the Obamas who spend much, much less on their wardrobe and yet always manage to present themselves as substantial and established. This has been character revealing for all parties involved, no?

This works against the hockey mom image Palin has been trying to push forward lately. Despite that, I do not think it would be helpful to adjust her wardrobe now. Picture this: Palin dressed accordingly beside Obama. Now listen to them speak. Ouch for Palin!

As far as McCain goes; it is funny that he spent $5500 on a makeup artist when his party criticised John Edwards for spending $400 on a haircut.

"No, I am not an American!"...

...is something I am sure every Canadian in Germany has had to explain. I realise that with Canada being in North America, Canadians are, in a sense, American. Following that thought, however, would lead to the assumption that one can call everyone in North, Central and South America an American, which we all know nobody does. I am referring to the seemingly widespread interchangeability of Canadian with American.

I can see where this might stem from. The US has played a big role in recent German history. From the installment of the Marshall Plan up until the departure of the Clinton administration, the US was seen as a shining beacon and as THE ideal to be emulated. With all that PR, I am not surprised that Canada was viewed as not much more than 'the neighbour to the north'. I already foresee disagreements with my children's future world history teachers over things like the War of 1812 (if I am not mistaken, it is also known to non-Canadians as the American-Indian War).

Bottom line? Stating that a Canadian is practically an American is something you do not want to do, just as you would not call the Scottish practically English, or the Austrians practically German. For a crash course on what Canadians are proud of, please watch this brilliant commercial:



(Photo from freefoto.com)

The Good Guy and The Mad Guy

I am a proud mama.

I was in a bookstore with our younger daughter and baby today when we came across a selection of books written by or about Obama. (For those of you who do not know us personally, we have four children: a nine-year-old daughter, a five-year-old daughter, a four-year-old son and an almost five-month-old son.) Our younger daughter picked up one of the books, walked over to the pram and showed the book to baby proclaiming:

This is Barack Obama. He's the good guy on tv!

A salesclerk and several other shoppers smiled. Out of curiosity, I picked up a book with a picture of McCain on the cover and asked what she thought about him...

**frowns** He's mad on tv.

...to which she received some free candy from the salesclerk.

I am a proud mama. =)
(photos from senate.gov and washingtontimes.com respectively)

A Man after my Heart

I just read that Michele Bachmann is trying to back away from what she said during her Hardball interview. Huh. After a little more research at this nifty blog, I found out this isn't the first time she has tried to back out of controversy.

But this post isn't going to be about her. I don't need to say much, because Keith Olbermann said what I think most Americans (and most of the world, for that matter) are thinking. Le sigh. Right now, he is a man after my heart.

If I had a top five list of men, like Lainey's list, Olbermann would definitely be on top. Yes, even beating my dear Colin Firth, for now. Watch this oh-so-eloquent rant and enjoy =)

Is Michele Bachmann the new Joseph McCarthy?

I have never heard of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) before today, and already I am deeply disturbed by her. In an interview on MSNBC's Hardball, she essentially equated the terms liberal, leftist and anti-American. Therefore, in her eyes, if you have a left-leaning opinion, you are anti-American. Period. She also called for a probe of Congress for "anti-American views".

She wants to bring back the McCarthy witch-hunts! I swear to God, this woman is McCarthy reincarnate, and I hope that Americans are as equally disturbed by this as I am. Once it starts, where does it stop? In America's super-Orwellian surveillance state there is already easy access to all phone calls, emails, chats, etc. And perhaps more importantly: why is a slightly left-leaning idealism inherently anti-American? Isn't an individual's critical nature a sign that they care? The thought of suppressing critical voices has a bitter aftertaste reminiscent of Stalinism - and who wants to go there?

There are others who have probed their government and populace for anti-nationalistic views and opposing ideologies: the Communists. I highly recommend those in favour of Bachmann's probe to watch The Majestic and, even better, The Lives of Others, and decide if they want their lives scrutinised in the same way.

I suppose the silver lining in all this is that it seems the Republicans are desperate enough to continue this "Obama is anti-American" campaign route. It is absolutely mind-boggling how someone with such outlandish thoughts, such as Bachmann, can even become a voter's choice. Where is the America that held dear the universal ideal of freedom?

You Have Two Cows: US Elections '08

Here is an abstract description of the US political landscape, courtesy of those two beloved cows...








Republican:
You have two cows. Your neighbour has none and is hungry. So what?

Democrat:
You have two cows. Your neighbour has none and is hungry. You vote people into place who address this basic inequality. Taxes are raised here and lowered there, revenues are rearranged, until you have a cow and a bull. You hire your neighbour to milk your cow, giving him the prospect of saving up for his own cow and bull. You feel righteous.

Reform:
You have two cows. You don't know that you have a neighbour who has none and is hungry. You get tax breaks from which you soon have 5000 cows, by which time your neighbour has died from hunger.

Green/Peace and Freedom Party:
You have two cows. Your neighbour has none and is hungry. You increase taxes until you have only one cow left and your neighbour got the cow you had to surrender for your tax burden.

You Have Two Cows: Politics and Social Principles Simplified

This is one of those jokes that I got forwarded to my email. I do not remember who sent this to me, but I thank them nonetheless.Politics Simplified
Feudalism:
You have two cows. Your lord takes a significant share of your milk.

Pure Socialism:
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

Bureaucratic Socialism:
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need. You go hungry.

Fascism:
You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

Pure Communism:
You have two cows. Your neighbours help you take care of them and you all share the milk.

Russian Communism:
You have two cows. You have to take care of them but the government takes all the milk. You go hungry.

Cambodian Communism:
You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you. You would've been hungry, but you're dead.

Libertarian/Anarcho-Capitalism:
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

Social Principles Simplified
Dictatorship:
You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

Pure Democracy:
You have two cows. Your neighbours decide who gets the milk.

Proportional Representation Democracy:
You have two cows. A panel reflecting your neighbours' views argue at length who gets the milk and comes to no agreement. Months later, a compromise is drawn up where everyone gets orange juice.

Direct Representation Democracy:
You have two cows. Your neighbours pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

Bureaucracy:
You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you enough to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

Pure Anarchy:
You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbours try to take the cows and kill you.

Surrealism:
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

See? SEE? Even the cynic who penned this joke knows there is a difference between socialism and communism!!!

(photos from farmpower.com and tlarson.com respectively)

Gay Nader Fans for Peace

Mr. Murphy and his law strike again. My mother-in-law took our older kids for the day to take some stress off of our shoulders, and what happens? I get sick. Ick. I did not get that nice (calm) stroll in the woods with Hubby and baby as we planned, but on the up-side we could catch up on tv shows we like without worrying that one of the kids sneak up behind us and ask why that "ugly man is naked on a table with his tummy open". I also found that I can watch whole episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report in high quality. No more spike.com with their low-quality clips for me!

Last week I stated that the US Democrats are not left-wing on the world scale. I, unfortunately, was not able to find a chart shown to me ages ago that conveyed my point well. Turns out I did not need it. Here is Jon's take on Harper and the Tories:

Stephen Harper, of course, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party. Now, Canada's a relatively liberal nation. Their Conservative Party is the equivalent of our Gay Nader Fans for Peace.

A little exaggerated? Of course! He does, however, display my point from last week - erm - très magnifique! You can watch the clip below, or the whole episode here. I find his choice of clip at the end curious. It is obvious that he refers to Dion's accent, but is he perhaps also slipping in a comment on the Canadian notion of good government? What do you think?

"I'm not Bush!"

Really Senator McCain? Your dance ability begs to differ. =)


(photos from news.bbc.co.uk and news.yahoo.com)

Sex or No Sex?

Ahhh, yes. The fountain of youth. The secret to longevity. Who doesn't want in on such hot news?

Apparently the secret lies in sex, but that's where it gets complicated. I ran into this article about Clara Meadmore, a 105-year-old virgin in the UK. She claims her long life is a result of complete, untainted celibacy. This made me think of Harvard Professor Walter Willett, who stated in 2002 that the key to a long and healthy life is Greek cuisine and plenty of sex.

Personally, and I am willing to bet that almost everyone is with me on this, I prefer option b. A life without Greek food and sex? Scary.

Who are you more inclined to believe - the 105-year-old virgin who is still living her long life, or the Harvard Professor with all of his research? What is the key to longevity - sex or no sex?

(images from flybenji.org, teamsugar.com and menumagazine.co.uk)

What Kind of Nerd Are You?

I found this cute quiz on Modern Mommy's blog. Hubby and I always knew we were nerds, but now we know what kind we are...

Me:

Social Nerd: You're interested in things such as politics, psychology, child care, and peace. I wouldn't go as far as to call you a hippie, but some of you are tree-huggers. You're the type of people who are interested in bettering the world. You're possibly the least nerdy of them all; unless you participate in other activities that paled your nerdiness compared to your involvement in social activities. Whatever the case, we could still use more of you around.

After that, in decreasing nerdiness, I'm a:
Science/Math Nerd
Literature Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Musician
Drama Nerd
Anime Nerd

Hubby:

Literature Nerd: Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and its eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand.

After that he's a:
Drama Nerd
Social Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Anime Nerd
Musician


How about you? Take the quiz here.

(images from m3moore.wordpress.com and roeseann.blogspot.com respectively)

Rich Russians in Denial - Excessive Luxury Craze Continues

Russia is perhaps the most affected by sinking crude oil prices and general financial instability. The rich in Moscow seem to not only have lost their understanding of an average life, but also their perspective related to their own wallets.

For the meager sum of approximately 300 Euros an hour, you can hire a luxury taxi. The one pictured is a Maybach 62 equipped with every conceivable luxury. Even if you cannot understand German, watch this clip. Near the end, the woman cannot find her stowaway desk and recruits the help of the driver to do so. That is how loaded the fleet is. She also scuffs at the contention that the financial crisis will have impacts in Russia. Denial much?

Meanwhile, Russian oligarchs need to return major stakes in Western European corporations for lack of funding. What a world.

(photo from russiafun.net)

Mariecel vs. A flamingpoodle - Round 2

I'm happy to say that flamingpoodle, a.k.a. Garg the Unzola, has continued the interesting exchange of standpoints. For his original rebuttal, click here and scroll down to comments. Here we go!

In fact, taking the Hippocratic Oath is no longer a requirement to become a doctor.
The oath is no longer a necessity in the US? Interesting. This speaks of a sad change in the culture of the US medical community, but is also very telling. In a quick search I was not able to find support for your statement. Would you mind providing it?

Give it a try. Claiming that there are logical fallacies in my statement and actually indentifying them and pointing them out to me are two different things entirely.
Perhaps you did not notice that I indeed address and rebut every position of your statement. But far more interesting is that you ignored a good portion of my points. Perhaps, somewhere deep down, you agree?

You are assuming that someone who suffers from cancer would necessarily be reliant on a social health care system and won't be able to afford private health care.
Either you are ignoring selective phrases or I recommend for you to take a class in logic. I do NOT assume that the patient would not be able to afford private health care - this is indicated with the use of the word 'should' in conjunction with 'on the basis of financial ability'.

By your logic, it is entirely acceptable for me to get a yacht by virtue of the fact that I can't afford it. Or for me to have someone do my accounting for me free of charge, by virtue of the fact that I can't afford an accountant. Where do you draw the line between a fundamental human right and a privilege?
I draw the line where the issue at hand no longer directly affects my physiological and mental well-being. As I said previously, long hair will not kill you, but a cancerous tumour will. Not having a yacht will not kill you, but untreated diabetes will. Not having an accountant will not kill you, but untreated heart disease will.

Are the fundamental rights of those who can't afford health care not the same as those who are qualified to provide health services? If they are, then you can't say the doctor has to provide his services to someone who can't afford them any more tha you can deny me a haircut because I can't afford it.
Yes, I believe they have the same right to health care. That does not mean, by any standard of logic, that I can therefore force my hairdresser to cut my hair. You cannot equate the right to life with a wish for comfort.

Even though I think everyone has the same right to health care, I do not think everyone has the right to the comfort of private hospital rooms or medical practices that are not necessary to the physiological and mental well-being of the patient, such as medically unprompted cosmetic surgery. In most of continental Europe, general health care does not pay for your random nose job, unless it has become medically necessary, i.e. due to an accident.

If they aren't, then all are equal, but some are more equal.
We should all be equal with respect to basic, universal access to health care that treats medical ailments in full according to best practice.

It is a matter of basic equality that anybody, regardless of their financial background, who is in need of a specific medical treatment ordered by a doctor (be that dialysis or a simple break away from stress factors), should have access to said prescribed remedy. If you are lucky enough to be affluent, you can add comfort factors, such as private rooms and exclusive attention from the head doctor of the department, at your own cost.

That's all for now. =)

(images from i-hostels.com, bluebuddies.com, and cartoonstock.com respectively)

My Night with Obama and McCain...

...wasn't as explosive as I hoped. I even popped some popcorn, ready to throw once McCain got into his condescending groove. It's almost 2am - yes, I missed the rerun of the rerun. Thankfully I could watch the whole debate on cnn.com. Here are a few, sometimes trivial, points of piqued interest:

• No pin on McCain! I suppose Palin's pin was big enough for both of them.
• There was Obama looking all presidential with his nice tie and pin, and then there was McCain looking like... a director of a funeral parlour about to give a eulogy.
• Too many mentions of Joe the Plumber - by my count (by name) 15 from McCain and 5 from Obama. Oh, and it wasn't just Joe for McCain, it was "My old buddy Joe the Plumber". If Obama mentions my name 15 times, can I be his old buddy?
• McCain didn't mention "middle class" at all. But then again, that really shouldn't come as a surprise, eh? After all, they are the most important consumption factor in the US today, and are generally neglected by the GOP.
• Obama was a little flat at the beginning, but picked up later. If you weren't sure this was the case, McCain emphasised it with his visibly increasing irritation, negative and angry body language, constantly interrupting Obama, increased stuttering and change of topic when he ran out of things to say.
  
• Glad to see that Obama was no longer reduced to "that one" who "doesn't understand".
• "I'm not Bush" was a brilliant rebuttal, but leaves me wondering who he is. He's changed his position several times on some issues, which made this statement lose a little punch for me.
• McCain referred to his campaign as "truthful". WHAT?!?!?
• It's Obama's fault that the Republicans went extremely negative on advertising, as he refused to do more town hall debates. Boo-hoo!
• Obama spent an unprecedented amount on attack ads. He stole the GOP's modus operandi and beat them at it. Boo-hoo!
• It seemed that every time Obama started to paint a vision, McCain interrupted. Maybe because he lacked his own vision?
• McCain on health care: "If you like that [Obama's plan], then you'll like Canada and England." So? Is he implying that's a bad thing? Canada and the UK (albeit their systems not being perfect) are both ranked higher than the US on WHO's ranking of health care systems, so I'm inclined to believe that's a good thing.

Good night and good luck.

(photo from nytimes.com)

Welcome to the Twilight Zone!

All the household chores are done. I've been to the doctor, went shopping, had lunch and now the kids are letting their imaginations loose on legos whilst baby naps happily. I managed to do everything but WATCH THE DEBATE RERUN!!! I was so surprised when my cell-phone calendar started ringing, reminding me of my doctor's appointment. I hope I don't forget about the next rerun at 6pm.


Today is such a beautiful autumn day, and I think it's lifting everyone's spirits. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but every person I encountered for more than a few seconds jovially chatted me up - very odd in a country that is so often characterised by its inwardly-oriented population. And just when you think I've hit the peak of obscurity - wait for it - nobody asked me where I'm from! **cue theme music from The Twilight Zone**

This experience of being treated as a fellow German as opposed to an immigrant has yet to happen to me in the former East. The former West is much more in tune with a culturally diversifying Germany. I always knew this, but it really struck home for me today.

(photo from stern.de)

From the Canadian to the US Election (nur auf englisch)

I'm not happy with the result of the Canadian election. The first words to come to mind are "waste of time". All that money spent on an election that pretty much resulted in maintaining the status quo. It's a shame the Green Party did not win a seat in Parliament - I was really rooting for May.

I'm sure that there are Conservatives celebrating the win. They now have more seats in the House of Commons. They believe that Canada is becoming ever more conservative. What do they have to say about the all-time low voter turn-out? It speaks to me of the population having lost its confidence in government and none of the major parties having the right answers for the problems at hand. It is possible that the same number of people voted Tory this year as in 2006.

Let's put everything into perspective: The Tories won 37% of the votes of 59% of registered voters which are 69% of the population. That means that 15% of the population supports Harper and 85% does not. (I hope the math makes sense!) Neither do the majorities of the three major urban centres. That is Harper's "mandate".

Oh well. What's done is done. Time to move on to the US!

I'm glad that CNNI runs repeats of the presidential debates. This third one is going to be interesting. The two candidates are going to be sitting down at a table with the moderator - similar to the Canadian Federal Leaders Debate earlier this month. As I said in this post, knowledge of key issues and communication skills will be much more in the spotlight. This might work against McCain, especially with all the name-calling ridiculousness that has defined his campaign as of late. It is much more difficult to insult your opponent whilst you are sitting down with him/her at the table than not facing him on a stage.

McCain needs this win against Obama. What can he do? Hubby suspects that he is going to try to pull off what Reagan did in his 1984 debate against Mondale. He was also trailing in the polls going in. In his closing statement, he did not summarise his plans should he be re-elected. Instead he went on talking a letter he wrote several years before, fondly remembering the beautiful California surroundings whilst he wrote it. He emphasised that the actions of the present will form the world that the people who open the capsule live in. He spoke of destructive powers, preserving freedom, and the "blessed planet called Earth". He used sentences like "...what they will say about us 100 years from now depends on how we keep our rendezvous with destiny", which mean nothing whilst sounding like something. It was sappy. It painted a beautiful picture. It spoke to the populace. And even though he was cut off, it was perfect. He was re-elected.

Reagan was the perfect candidate to deliver such a speech. He had all the training he needed from acting. He knew how and when to control his voice and mannerisms. McCain does not strike me as someone who can pull a similar stunt off. Take a look at this clip, watch McCain saying "Enh? Enh?", and I think you'll be inclined to agree. In either case, if this turns out to be his strategy, it will be interesting to see it unfold.

Now I'm off to bed, so that I can catch the debate re-run tomorrow morning.

Conservatives Win and Colin Mochrie Apologises (nur auf englisch)

No, Mochrie doesn't apologise for the election outcome. This day is just full of bad news and silly comparisons for me (and to top that off I think I caught the bug going around from my hubby) that I needed some cheering up.

So for all of those mourning over Mr. Creepy-Eyes Harper's victory (and for those cheering it, because in the end we're all Canadian), here is Colin doing what he does best - bringing us joy and laughter.

Health Care is the Same as Hairdressing (nur auf Englisch)

Browsing the discussion forums on blogcatalog, I stumbled upon a debate on health care as a right versus privilege. One of the first responses was written by a flamingpoodle:


Health care is not a right, it is a service, just like hair dressing. You have to pay for any service, because someone had to invest their time, money and effort into acquiring the necessary skills to perform that service.

If you can't pay for a hair cut, then you should grow your hair long. If you can't pay for medical services, then you should ensure that you don't get sick.

To say that health care is a right implies that the state has the right to enslave certain health care workers in order to provide this service.


He equates health care with hairdressing! Take a moment to let the outrageousness of that statement sink in... There are so many fallacies in his logic that I don't even know where to begin!

Health care is not a right, it is a service, just like hair dressing.
In short, long hair won't kill you but a large, untreated cancerous growth certainly will. Should this patient be refused treatment, or not receive full treatment, on basis of financial ability, then this amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

You have to pay for any service, because someone had to invest their time, money and effort into acquiring the necessary skills to perform that service.
Of course health care providers must be reimbursed for services rendered. That's what we pay taxes for.

If you can't pay for a hair cut, then you should grow your hair long. If you can't pay for medical services, then you should ensure that you don't get sick.
Wow. What a way to say "F**k Off" to those with cancer, Parkinson's, severe physical and neurological paralysis, etc., as well as to those who are forced into situations that make them more prone to sickness (i.e. needing to work multiple jobs and long hours in order to make ends meet).

To say that health care is a right implies that the state has the right to enslave certain health care workers in order to provide this service.
Because something is a right does not imply that the state has the right to enslave. There are countries where health care is a right such as France, Sweden, etc., and nobody there will tell you that they are enslaved by the state. In fact, when you become a doctor, you consciously "enslave" yourself to improving health in society by way of the Hippocratic Oath. Some doctors, most notably in the US, appear to be choosing to forget it, and practice medicine for obscene amounts of profit. I'm not against profits in the health care industry. I'm against refusal of complete treatment on the grounds of your financial/insurance situation.

A society that hails health care as a privilege tells me two things: they haven't evolved since the Industrial Revolution, and they impose cruel and unusual punishment of the less fortunate for being just that.

(images from iremind.co.uk and distractible.org repectively)