Blame it on...

Sinfest, possibly the greatest webcomic ever, (and in my humble opinion (IMHO) the 2nd greatest comic ever) has another great one.

Its never MY fault. Ever. Always somebody elses...

Comic

Inspiration for Atlantis?

Thought this was cool, figured I'd share. Plato might not have had the story correct, but its sounding like some of the "myths" might not be all that far off. Cool!

Another healthcare thought...

One of the concerns of healthcare reform is that the government will have too much of a say in who get's medical care.

Yeah, because the current system of letting corporations driven by profit deciding is working so well....

I'm not saying the government will have a good plan, its just the current system isn't tenable either...

OMG! Football!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!

Yes, I am poking a bit of fun at myself. And yes, its that time of year again. So, here's my opinions on the Bears so far and their prospects.

They're 3-1. That's good. They have a QB who is good. That's good. They have recievers who are actually catching the ball. Very good. They have a good special teams and the D-line is getting at least a little bit of pressure. (Very little, but I'll take what I can get.)

What concerns me. Our offensive line is bad. Just plain bad. Cutler is going to get KILLED by Jared Allen when the Vikings and Bears play. The defense is very meh. Not horrible, but not good either.

Our secondary is mediocre and our D-line REALLY needs to do more. Like I said, they are ok. But ok usually means a 1st round playoff exit.

Also, the Vikings are a better team. Brett Favre may be old, but he has an arm still. And he's being smarter with his passes than he has been. He's not forcing stupid passes. He has an amazing O-line who keeps him safe and breakage free. Oh, and that Adrian Peterson guy is pretty good too.

Their defense is solid and with Jared Allen on the end and the Williams fatboys in the middle, that is tough to get through.

I think they Vikings have a chance to go all the way this year, which would make my dad quite happy.

Plutocracy FTW!

So, just my 2 pennies about the whole healthcare thing. For reform, against reform, doesn't matter.

If health insurance is mandated (or you can pay a fine to not have it) and there is no public option we have just admitted that powerful lobbies own the country.

Just think carefully here. Everyone MUST have health insurance, but your options are completely controlled by a cabal of companies out for profit.

Don't buy into the "everyone has to have car insurance" bit. You don't HAVE to own a car. You are a living person, so, umm, you kind of have to exist. Or, if you cease existing, it doesn't matter anymore anyway.

If we are going to force everyone to buy health insurance then we need to also insure (haha) that affordable, useful options are out there.

Cut rate health insurance won't work like cut rate auto insurance. Heck, cut rate auto insurance doesn't really "work" if you do have a wreck, but it does keep you legal to drive.

So, just remember folks, no matter your views, if our Congress mandates health insurance for all without a viable alternative to private insurance or some sort of regulatory board with TEETH, well, let the nightmare begin.

Getting Older

Well, I normally don't post a ton about my life. I'm a private person and well, I'd rather rant and rave.

This week has been rough. I have a grandpa in the hospital with a mild hematoma. He's 92 and well, the prospect of brain surgery isn't pleasant and the prospect of him living with the current issues isn't pleasant either.

My wife's grandmother went into the hospital after the cliche "I've fallen and can't get up." Sadly, it wasn't funny at all. She was dizzy, had been having headaches, and her heart rate was mid 40s.

The ER she was at almost released her! Thankfully she couldn't stand and my wife and her cousin (both granddaughters) were there to say, um, admit her.

Well, today (3-4 days later) she'd had a CT scan, NO MRI (until tonight) and things hadn't gotten better. In fact they got much worse. Her eye was drooping, her arm and leg hurting.

Finally the do an MRI and she's had a stroke in her medulla oblongata. This would explain the low heart rate, the labored breathing. She's conscious, but now the next step (what is the next step?) Has to be taken.

I'm upset with the hospital, as is my wife, because they didn't seem NEARLY as concerned by the abnormally low heart rate as we were. SOMETHING had to be causing it!

I suspect she had a mini-stroke the first day and a full on one today. That's only what I think. I have no proof of that. My wife is going to lodge a complaint about the ER treatment as they were going to release a 76(?) year old woman with a 45bpm heartrate!

Also, my mom gets to go in for a biopsy monday. YAY! *with as much sarcasm as can be* I'm thankful the doc noticed something and while he says its most likely nothing at all to be worried about, checking is good.

So, please, lots of prayer for the extended Schurter/Maddox families as its been a bad couple weeks medically.

Movies: A Mini Rant

I think about movies too much. This is strange, since I don't watch all that many movies, and most of the ones I do are silly fun action movies, but really I do.

I suppose I do because I expect certain things out of different sorts of movies. Action movies I just want fun entertainment. Sci-fi/fantasy, coherent plot and a decent story.

Drama, well, I don't watch much drama and here's why: Real life has enough drama for me!

What brings on this hatred (not really) of all things dramatic? Well, Katrina rented Revolutionary Road last night. It was critically acclaimed which I'm starting to decide is a real strike against a movie being watchable.

The premise is this. Leonardo Decaprio and Kate Winslet are married with 2 young kids in the suburbs in the 1950s. They hate their lives as Leo works as an ad-man for Knox Business Machines (IBM) and Kate is a housewife who is in community theater.

The movie starts with a huge fight between them and it really goes down from there. Its a litany of 1950s stereotypes, questioning of life, bad behavior and just painful things to watch on screen.
A list of the issues "dealt with (brought up I should say): Consumeristic life in the suburbs, the pointlessness of many corporate jobs, the housewife's lament, the having more kids to prove you wanted the first, abortion, greed, dreams of a different life.

The movie doesn't so much deal with these issues as chronicle them. The life of Leo and Kate is miserable, unhappy, and all too common in America of the 1950s or today.

Which brings me to my point. Why would I want to watch a movie about this? I know people who's lives are like this. This isn't raising my awareness to anything. This isn't making me "deal with" or "confront" any issues.

Its merely a sad depressing tale of two people who's lives didn't turn out as they wanted and who don't seem to really want to work on themselves.

The movie might end great. About 90 minutes into it give or take Katrina hated it enough to give up as well. Or she just wanted to shut my sarcastic comments up. Either way.

Avoid this piece of trash at all costs. Unless you like reveling in other people's misery.

edit- Thinking about this a bit more, I'm not sure the movie was even well made. Its set in the period very well. But, the flashbacks are few, far between and seem sort of an after thought. It, I dunno. Just avoid it.