I'll start by saying that I feel very, very badly for anyone that doesn't have health insurance. I do know how that feels. I don't want to rub it in anyone's face, but I do want to vent a little.
So, in Oklahoma, believe it or not, we have state subsidized health insurance for those people who make below a certain, mandated, amount of money. Last year, my husband qualified for it, based upon his, and my income. Even though I have my own insurance, both of our incomes are calculated into the equation.

Anyway, fast-forward to this year. My husband is an unknown "dog whisperer." He's no Cesar Millan, in that he doesn't believe that what he does is special. He works at a dog daycare facility, but has a reputation as being one of the best dog people in the area. He has many, many clients who wouldn't bring their dogs to the facility if he didn't work there. That doesn't matter, because he doesn't have employer sponsered insurance; his boss won't spring for it, even though the state pays a portion of it. So, last year, he applied for the Oklahoma insurance. We qualified. It's good for a year, and it's good for the basics. But you must re-apply each year. I did his re-application this year, and lo and behold, we were denied because we made too much money. My husband got a $.50 raise in January (because he'd have quit otherwise). This is what caused us to make too much money. We make about $34K per year-I'm a grad student. I make just above poverty wages, and I only get paid 9 months of the year. Again, I realize I'm very lucky...this is just my situation. Please don't vilify me for it. I grew up desperately poor, so I sure as shit know what it's like to be worse off.

My husband, as of April 1, will have no health insurance. He is 36. Adult onset Diabetes is hereditary in his family, but luckily, he's in phenomenal shape. Strokes are also prevalent (his brother had one at 38). He's a mountain/road biker. I will not let him ride until he gets new insurance...which may not be until I graduate and get a job or he changes jobs.

Fuck the Democrats and Republicans who have stalled, stymied, blocked and lied. I would give up my US citizenship, unapologetically, to assure that the love of my life has insurance.

take care out there...this storm looks like it could be a doozie.

Westboro Baptish Church members will be protesting at the University of Oklahoma's Hillel House today, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&...

Oh, I can't stand these fuckwads. I have many gay/lesbian family members, and many Jewish family members. These people make me nuts.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...

Can a Mother Lose Her Child Because She Doesn't Speak English?
By Tim Padgett with Dolly Mascareñas / Oaxaca Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009


Cirila Baltazar Cruz comes from the mountainous southern state of Oaxaca, a region of Mexico that makes Appalachia look affluent. To escape the destitution in her village of 1,500 mostly Chatino Indians, Baltazar Cruz, 34, migrated earlier this decade to the U.S., hoping to send money back to two children she'd left in her mother's care. She found work at a Chinese restaurant on Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

But Baltazar Cruz speaks only Chatino, barely any Spanish and no English. Last November, she went to Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, Miss., where she lives, to give birth to a baby girl, Rubí. According to documents obtained by the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, the hospital called the state Department of Human Services (DHS), which ruled that Baltazar Cruz was an unfit mother in part because her lack of English "placed her unborn child in danger and will place the baby in danger in the future."

Mexico under siege
The death toll is spiraling throughout Mexico as a war between the country's government and the drug cartels intensifies.


MEXICO CITY - When Mario Anguiano successfully ran for mayor of Colima three years ago, no one much cared that his brother and cousin were in prison on drug charges.

Now that he's running for governor of Colima state, a banner appeared in the capital city mocking Anguiano's family ties by linking him to the Zetas, a gang of drug hit men:

"Welcome to Colima! Soon to be territory of our boss of bosses, Mario Anguiano Moreno. The Zetas support you, and we are with you until death."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31439524/ns/wo...