rambling rosemarie

I found a receipt for my short hospital stay almost 53 years ago. It cost my parents $100.00 to get me out of hock..er out of the nursery and bring me home. I looked up the current costs and found that a baby is going to cost between $6000.00-16,000.00 now. It all depends on whether or not there is need for a C-section and if there are other complications. Thirty-five years ago my friend was without insurance when her son was born. She had the $25.00 a month plan and paid him off in full. Years ago people my age and older actually paid their medical bills like that and it worked. You knew it was your obligation and you paid. I just recently finished paying my portion of my hospital bills from last year. Even paying my 10% was difficult, but I got the job done. Earlier this month I had an MRI. I have insurance and my cost was about $43.00 which had to be paid before I had it done. Because I have insurance the MRI folks who normally charge $2525.00 for this test were willing to accept l...

I am tired of hearing about the economic crisis as if We the People had nothing to do with it. I am tired of hearing about how Barack Obama is going to save us from the mistakes and mishandling of the prior administration. We are living with the aftermath of our own choices. We over-extended ourselves. We needed more square footage in our homes, more nifty gadgets and widgets for our walls and desks and in our entertainment centers. We needed faster cars with more equipment. We bought the goods at inflated prices. We continue to patronize the companies who make enough profit to send their executives begging for our tax money in corporate jets while staying in posh resorts and pretending they are broke. We bought their stocks and we were happy when we were blissfully ignorant and our portfolio numbers didn't come looking like [this]. I am about sick to death of hearing how President Elect, Barack Obama is going to save us from the evil we created ourselves. We are the ones that ...

And so.... Obama has been elected. Something I was sure would happen the moment Oprah decided to put her name behind him, not to mention her money and influence. He was not my candidate. Someone asked me if I objected to him because he is black. Not at all. I objected to his politics and his lack of discernment evidenced by his politics and personal history. I couldn't care less that he happens to have more melanin than me. I have heard some comments that astound me about how electing Obama is a step forward for the United States because of the color of his skin. It infuriates me because it is illogical. How can we be going forward and getting beyond racism when everyone is pointing out the color of the man's skin? Nothing has changed but the geography... it's no longer blacks to the back of the bus, it is blacks can sit wherever as long as you are certain to identify yourself as black and anyone that is not black needs to be certain to notice that you are black. What reall...

A friend of mine sent me a link to a YouTube video and said I should watch it. She always gives me something to think about so I happily sat down with my coffee and clicked THE LINK . She was right, it gave me a good deal to think about and google. I hope it will do the same for you. I couldn't figure out how to embed this particular video or I would have. Hope your Google fingers are ready for a workout!

Thanks to a blog I found , I was finally able to sit and watch the entirety of the Civil Forum held at Saddleback Church. In my previous post titled, " Out of Touch " I questioned who elected Pastor Rick Warren to speak for Evangelicals. Frankly, that opinion hasn't changed. And while I still think his "Purpose Driven" philosophy is entirely too man-centered. I think he did a great job in posing questions to Senators Obama and McCain. (Obama won my coin toss to see whose name would type first this time.) The questions were indicative of the issues being faced by the general public. Warren posed them fairly and without bias. He is an affable fellow and offers a quick laugh and smile that surely would land him on the top of your list for favorite dinner guests. It did appear that he genuinely likes both the presidential hopefuls, but he seems the sort that appears to genuinely like everyone. While we are speaking of being genuine, I genuinely hope that Warren will...