A satiric email phrasing Hank Paulson's giant Wall Street bailout as "Nigerian spam".
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
Thanks to HolyFoolishness.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
My New Doctor - Dr. Prophet
Yesterday, as some of you know, I made my pilgrimage to the office of a new doctor in town, an orthopedic specialist, for him to have a look at my knee and my heel, which have been troubling me for a couple of months. When I made my appointment, the receptionist told me that, since I was a new patient, I should arrive one half hour early to fill out the new patient form. Fair enough. On the day before the appointment, I received a reminder call, which repeated the instructions to arrive early.
I left home in time to arrive at the office a few minutes before 3:00 PM, my appointment having been set for 3:30 PM. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong building. I asked if they knew where the office of the orthopedic specialists was. They asked me the name of the doctor, but - alas! - I had forgotten it. The receptionist was kind enough to look up the names of the orthopedists and call them out to me until I recognized the name. Then she called their office to make sure that I had an appointment with them. Do you think she thought I was senile? Now my memory helper for the doctor's name is one the prophets in the Hebrew Testament, since his name is a variation of the name of that prophet. How's that for cleverness after forgetting his name? Here, I'll call him Dr. Prophet.
Once I found the right office, it was 3:15, so I was late for my pre-visit arrival. I began filling out the medical history form. It took me 35 minutes to finish. Toward the end, I felt as though I was taking a very long school test, and I was writing whatever popped into my head first just to get to the end. The spaces in which to put the information were so very small that I had to squeeze in the printing, making some of it nearly illegible. I know that this information is important for the doctor to have, but when it's so long, one does get worn down.
I handed in my form at around 3:50 and proceeded to read my book Constantine's Sword (an excellent book) by James Carroll, at 600+ pages excluding notes, references, and index, of which I had read half, and which I knew would carry me through any wait for a doctor visit. 4:00 came; 5:00 came. I went to ask the receptionist, very politely, if they had forgotten about me. She said, "No, they're reading your medical history." 35 minutes to fill it out and one hour and 10 minutes to read it. Priceless. In between those times, I began thinking of elderly folks who decide to forego medical care because they are old and are going to die anyway. It began to seem an understandable and somewhat attractive idea. I'm a bit hospital and doctor phobic, anyway. It's even hard for me to visit people in the hospital.
At 5:10, I was called in. The nurse apologized to me for the wait and said that they were still behind trying to catch up after Hurricane Gustav and that they were scheduling more patients per day than usual. I understood that. I'm still catching up, too. She x-rayed my knee and foot, and moved me to an examining room. There the wait there was only about 5 minutes, and I clocked the doctor's arrival at 5:25. My math may not be exact. He said, "I'm so sorry you had to wait." I said, "I believe you may have broken my record for waiting in a doctor's office. But wait! No! Once I was left stripped topless and forgotten in an examining room. I had to open the door wrapped in my sheet and remind them I was still there, and they had, indeed!, forgotten me."
They don't call us patients for nothing.
He proceeded to examine me very gently, while we talked of his name and how I had forgotten it, and about my prophet's name memory helper. He looked at the x-rays and gave me my diagnoses of osteoarthritis of the knee and plantar fasciitis of the heel. He said that there were several treatments that he could try, before he would suggest a knee replacement. What a relief! He has no idea what convincing it would take for me to have that surgery. He gave me a steroid shot in the knee, and, when I squealed a little, he said that it was only pressure and not pain. How does he know? I told him his comment reminded of a man talking about the pain of childbirth. He said, "Oh, I never do that!"
Then Dr. Prophet said that he was sending me to a physical therapist. I was overjoyed, because I had been wanting a referral to a therapist from my family doctor, but he never sent me. He asked if I had been to any PTs, and I gave him the name of the therapist who worked with me after I broke my shoulder several years ago, mentioning that he gave wonderful massages. He said that he had one in mind who loved to do feet. He loved working on feet and doing foot massages. I said, "Oh yes! Send me to the foot fetishist!" So, I'm on my way to the foot fetishist, with the hope that he will help my knee, too, soon and very soon.
I must confess that, despite the long wait, I fell a little in love with Dr. Prophet. He was kind, gentle, and caring, and he took time with me to talk to me and answer all my questions. Unfortunately, not all, or even most doctors are like that today. With some, I feel that I'm being rushed through for them to get to the next patient. Doctors reading this, I am not referring to you. I'm sure that you're all like Dr. Prophet with your patients.
Sigh.... Another all-about-me-post. Skip it if you like.
I left home in time to arrive at the office a few minutes before 3:00 PM, my appointment having been set for 3:30 PM. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong building. I asked if they knew where the office of the orthopedic specialists was. They asked me the name of the doctor, but - alas! - I had forgotten it. The receptionist was kind enough to look up the names of the orthopedists and call them out to me until I recognized the name. Then she called their office to make sure that I had an appointment with them. Do you think she thought I was senile? Now my memory helper for the doctor's name is one the prophets in the Hebrew Testament, since his name is a variation of the name of that prophet. How's that for cleverness after forgetting his name? Here, I'll call him Dr. Prophet.
Once I found the right office, it was 3:15, so I was late for my pre-visit arrival. I began filling out the medical history form. It took me 35 minutes to finish. Toward the end, I felt as though I was taking a very long school test, and I was writing whatever popped into my head first just to get to the end. The spaces in which to put the information were so very small that I had to squeeze in the printing, making some of it nearly illegible. I know that this information is important for the doctor to have, but when it's so long, one does get worn down.
I handed in my form at around 3:50 and proceeded to read my book Constantine's Sword (an excellent book) by James Carroll, at 600+ pages excluding notes, references, and index, of which I had read half, and which I knew would carry me through any wait for a doctor visit. 4:00 came; 5:00 came. I went to ask the receptionist, very politely, if they had forgotten about me. She said, "No, they're reading your medical history." 35 minutes to fill it out and one hour and 10 minutes to read it. Priceless. In between those times, I began thinking of elderly folks who decide to forego medical care because they are old and are going to die anyway. It began to seem an understandable and somewhat attractive idea. I'm a bit hospital and doctor phobic, anyway. It's even hard for me to visit people in the hospital.
At 5:10, I was called in. The nurse apologized to me for the wait and said that they were still behind trying to catch up after Hurricane Gustav and that they were scheduling more patients per day than usual. I understood that. I'm still catching up, too. She x-rayed my knee and foot, and moved me to an examining room. There the wait there was only about 5 minutes, and I clocked the doctor's arrival at 5:25. My math may not be exact. He said, "I'm so sorry you had to wait." I said, "I believe you may have broken my record for waiting in a doctor's office. But wait! No! Once I was left stripped topless and forgotten in an examining room. I had to open the door wrapped in my sheet and remind them I was still there, and they had, indeed!, forgotten me."
They don't call us patients for nothing.
He proceeded to examine me very gently, while we talked of his name and how I had forgotten it, and about my prophet's name memory helper. He looked at the x-rays and gave me my diagnoses of osteoarthritis of the knee and plantar fasciitis of the heel. He said that there were several treatments that he could try, before he would suggest a knee replacement. What a relief! He has no idea what convincing it would take for me to have that surgery. He gave me a steroid shot in the knee, and, when I squealed a little, he said that it was only pressure and not pain. How does he know? I told him his comment reminded of a man talking about the pain of childbirth. He said, "Oh, I never do that!"
Then Dr. Prophet said that he was sending me to a physical therapist. I was overjoyed, because I had been wanting a referral to a therapist from my family doctor, but he never sent me. He asked if I had been to any PTs, and I gave him the name of the therapist who worked with me after I broke my shoulder several years ago, mentioning that he gave wonderful massages. He said that he had one in mind who loved to do feet. He loved working on feet and doing foot massages. I said, "Oh yes! Send me to the foot fetishist!" So, I'm on my way to the foot fetishist, with the hope that he will help my knee, too, soon and very soon.
I must confess that, despite the long wait, I fell a little in love with Dr. Prophet. He was kind, gentle, and caring, and he took time with me to talk to me and answer all my questions. Unfortunately, not all, or even most doctors are like that today. With some, I feel that I'm being rushed through for them to get to the next patient. Doctors reading this, I am not referring to you. I'm sure that you're all like Dr. Prophet with your patients.
Sigh.... Another all-about-me-post. Skip it if you like.
On Ringtones - Don't Blame Me, Blame David
David is wicked, wicked, wicked, in many different ways, but sometimes I cannot resist his evil influence.
Congress, Please Hear The Voices Of Dissent!
Will the Congress, including Democrats, simply roll over and give Bush and Paulson all they want? I'm quite concerned that they will. If you agree, and you have not been in touch with your representatives and senators in Congress, I urge you to contact them. Ask them to heed the voices of dissent to this particular plan, as they did not do in the run-up to the Iraq War, when they signed on to the Cheney/Bush misbegotten plan for "spreading freedom". I'm not saying that nothing needs to be done, but it seems to me that Paulson, a product of Wall Street, and Bush are handing us a poison pill to swallow.
From the New York Times:
As economists puzzle over the proposed details of what may be the biggest financial bailout in American history, the initial skepticism that greeted its unveiling has only deepened.
Some are horrified at the prospect of putting $700 billion in public money on the line. Others are outraged that Wall Street, home of the eight-figure salary, may get rescued from the consequences of its real estate bender, even as working families give up their houses to foreclosure.
Most economists accept that the nation’s financial crisis — the worst since the Great Depression — has reached such perilous proportions that an expensive intervention is required. But considerable disagreement centers on how to go about it. The Treasury’s proposal for a bailout, now being negotiated with Congress, is being cunveiling has only deepened.
Read the entire article at the NYT and ask your senators and representatives to hear those voices and not rush a bad bill through in a state of panic.
UPDATE: Yes, I am nagging you. Its important.
From the New York Times:
As economists puzzle over the proposed details of what may be the biggest financial bailout in American history, the initial skepticism that greeted its unveiling has only deepened.
Some are horrified at the prospect of putting $700 billion in public money on the line. Others are outraged that Wall Street, home of the eight-figure salary, may get rescued from the consequences of its real estate bender, even as working families give up their houses to foreclosure.
Most economists accept that the nation’s financial crisis — the worst since the Great Depression — has reached such perilous proportions that an expensive intervention is required. But considerable disagreement centers on how to go about it. The Treasury’s proposal for a bailout, now being negotiated with Congress, is being cunveiling has only deepened.
Read the entire article at the NYT and ask your senators and representatives to hear those voices and not rush a bad bill through in a state of panic.
UPDATE: Yes, I am nagging you. Its important.
Monday, September 22, 2008
My Living Will
Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room, and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."
She got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.
She's such a bitch...
From a naughty friend in the West.
Johnieb Is Out Of Internet Contact
As I was heading to my doctor's appointment, I received a phone call from Johnieb to say that we are not to worry about him. You won't hear from him for a week or so, because he will not have internet service, but he is not sick again. He left a message at his blog, Here Still Running, too.
When I heard his voice, my heart jumped, because I had sent him my phone number so he could let me know if he did get sick again, and, at first, I thought that was the reason for his call, but it was not. Thanks be to God!
When I heard his voice, my heart jumped, because I had sent him my phone number so he could let me know if he did get sick again, and, at first, I thought that was the reason for his call, but it was not. Thanks be to God!
From True Majority
In an email from True Majority:
Dear June,
Call your Senators right now and urge them to stop the Bush corporate bailout.
In his last days in office, George Bush is trying to scare Congress into giving away the treasury to Wall Street.
Those are extreme words, but not as extreme as the reality -- over the weekend a plan was concocted to give away $1.8 trillion dollars of tax money with NO limits on how it's spent, and no guarantees we'll ever see it again.1 And the Treasury Secretary had the gall to say limiting payouts to executives who created this mess would be a "deal breaker."2
This is a deal which SHOULD be broken. Or at least re-negotiated. Economists have already made clear that this is a bad deal for everyone except the corporations and wealthy investors whose greed created the crisis.3
Tell your Senators to oppose George Bush's corporate bailout:
The Bush administration is trying to ram this through in only 72 hours by claiming there will be dire consequences if we don't pass the bailout exactly as written. Once again they're using fear to scare Congress and the American people into submission. We have to stop them.
Here's a suggested script:
"I am a TrueMajority member calling to urge the Senator to oppose the Bush corporate bailout. It's time that the Government support ordinary Americans instead of bailing out their corporate cronies."
Thanks for taking action,
-Ilya
Ilya Sheyman
Online Organizer
1 cnbc.com/id/26808715
2 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13676.html
3 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13689.html
If the Bush bailout passes as submitted, we, the ordinary citizens, will be screwed, but the leaders of the companies, who by their risky and irresponsible behavior, ran the companies under, will walk away (jobless or not) with their millions (billions?), and we, the taxpayers will be left to foot the bill. It seems that not only US banks will be covered, but also foreign banks, like Barclay and UBS, which are licensed to do business here.
I feel compassion for the workers in lower echelon positions in the companies, who will lose their jobs, as well as for the folks who have or are soon to lose their homes. What about them? What provision will be made for them?
I ask where the president and the Congress have been for the last few years? It was not just yesterday that we learned that the housing market was collapsing. Did no one believe there would be consequences? Why did the powers wait such a long time to face reality. I'm looking at you, Democratic members of Congress. You've been asleep at the switch, too. I'm wondering if Bush is trying to arrange that the country will be ungovernable, because he smells a Democratic victory ahead.
Dear June,
Call your Senators right now and urge them to stop the Bush corporate bailout.
In his last days in office, George Bush is trying to scare Congress into giving away the treasury to Wall Street.
Those are extreme words, but not as extreme as the reality -- over the weekend a plan was concocted to give away $1.8 trillion dollars of tax money with NO limits on how it's spent, and no guarantees we'll ever see it again.1 And the Treasury Secretary had the gall to say limiting payouts to executives who created this mess would be a "deal breaker."2
This is a deal which SHOULD be broken. Or at least re-negotiated. Economists have already made clear that this is a bad deal for everyone except the corporations and wealthy investors whose greed created the crisis.3
Tell your Senators to oppose George Bush's corporate bailout:
The Bush administration is trying to ram this through in only 72 hours by claiming there will be dire consequences if we don't pass the bailout exactly as written. Once again they're using fear to scare Congress and the American people into submission. We have to stop them.
Here's a suggested script:
"I am a TrueMajority member calling to urge the Senator to oppose the Bush corporate bailout. It's time that the Government support ordinary Americans instead of bailing out their corporate cronies."
Thanks for taking action,
-Ilya
Ilya Sheyman
Online Organizer
1 cnbc.com/id/26808715
2 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13676.html
3 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13689.html
If the Bush bailout passes as submitted, we, the ordinary citizens, will be screwed, but the leaders of the companies, who by their risky and irresponsible behavior, ran the companies under, will walk away (jobless or not) with their millions (billions?), and we, the taxpayers will be left to foot the bill. It seems that not only US banks will be covered, but also foreign banks, like Barclay and UBS, which are licensed to do business here.
I feel compassion for the workers in lower echelon positions in the companies, who will lose their jobs, as well as for the folks who have or are soon to lose their homes. What about them? What provision will be made for them?
I ask where the president and the Congress have been for the last few years? It was not just yesterday that we learned that the housing market was collapsing. Did no one believe there would be consequences? Why did the powers wait such a long time to face reality. I'm looking at you, Democratic members of Congress. You've been asleep at the switch, too. I'm wondering if Bush is trying to arrange that the country will be ungovernable, because he smells a Democratic victory ahead.
Prayers, Please
This afternoon, I'm going to see an orthopedic specialist about my knee and my foot. The trouble started a few months ago, as I was heaving myself out of the bathtub. I felt a twinge in my right knee. My right knee WAS my good knee, doing the heavy lifting, because the left knee was weak due to osteoarthritis and the ravages of living past my allotted three score and ten years. I tried to take my regular walk that evening, and came home limping and in great pain. I waited a few days to see if the knee would get better on its own, but the situation deteriorated further, with back and shoulder pain now in play. I went to my family doctor who gave me a steroid shot in my rear to try to alleviate the pain in all three areas. The pain eased, but my knee was not right. I could feel the bones clicking, and the knee felt unsteady. Then, just before we evacuated for Hurricane Gustav, my heel and then the whole bottom of my foot began to hurt, and for a couple of days, I could hardly walk. Then that pain became less, but I determined to see a specialist for help as soon as I could. I believe the foot pain is connected to the knee problems, you know, like in the "Dry Bones" song. All dem old, dry bones bones is connected.
Pray that the doctor can find out what the problem is and that it is easily fixable. Yes, I would definitely like an easy fix. Thank you in advance. I gave you all the boring details so you could tell God exactly what the problem is, in case she doesn't already know.
UPDATE: Thanks for the prayers. They worked. The diagnosis is osteoarthritis for the knee and plantar fasciitis for the heel. The doctor gave me a steroid shot in the knee, and he is sending me for physical therapy, which I have long wanted. That is the very good news. If this does not work, there are other alternatives before resorting to knee replacement. I'll say more about the visit to the doctor later.
Pray that the doctor can find out what the problem is and that it is easily fixable. Yes, I would definitely like an easy fix. Thank you in advance. I gave you all the boring details so you could tell God exactly what the problem is, in case she doesn't already know.
UPDATE: Thanks for the prayers. They worked. The diagnosis is osteoarthritis for the knee and plantar fasciitis for the heel. The doctor gave me a steroid shot in the knee, and he is sending me for physical therapy, which I have long wanted. That is the very good news. If this does not work, there are other alternatives before resorting to knee replacement. I'll say more about the visit to the doctor later.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
A New Old Friend
The Rebellious Rev recently linked to one of my posts and dropped in to wish me Happy Birthday. In his post with the link, he described me as "A friend from another blog life...." Now that is intriguing. Who can he be? I love a mystery, and I'm not in a hurry to know who he is, because I'm having fun trying to guess.
He started a new blog under the new name linked above. He's a Rebellious Rev from Texas! What's not to like about that? You may want to have a look. He is a rebel. Some of my friends and I are already on his blogroll. He works fast.
He started a new blog under the new name linked above. He's a Rebellious Rev from Texas! What's not to like about that? You may want to have a look. He is a rebel. Some of my friends and I are already on his blogroll. He works fast.
And Furthermore, On McCain's Health Care Plan....
John Bassett has left a new comment on your post "McCain's Health Care Plan":
"Well, this little quote certainly does remind us what McCain really believes and what philosophy would actually guide a McCain administration.
But the actual plan he is putting forth should scare most of us. McCain proposes treating employer-paid health care as taxable income. Since the value of that benefit will exceed the credit of 2500 dollars that he proposes to offset it, almost anybody who gets health care through their work will see a significant tax increase.
Now, the aim of this plan is to eliminate the employer-paid plan. Right away, younger employees will seek to opt out of the plan since most are either health enough to take the risk of having no health care or will be able to buy it for cheaper than the group premium. This will leave only older or sicker workers in the pool, and that will drive up prices for the group further. Finally, the employer will want to end the expensive plan altogether. The older or sicker workers will not be able to purchase any meaningful insurance on the market, so they will be uninsured.
But it gets worse. Under the McCain plan, insurers will be exempt from any state regulation except where the plan is supposedly centered. So, the state which offers the fewest protections will be home to the most health care plans. And you can be sure that they will buy the best state legislature they can to make sure this continues!
So, under McCain, you will either not have health insurance, pay more for health insurance, and, when you do buy health insurance, you will discover that you have little, if any, recourse when the insurer decides not to pay your bill. And remember, McCain and his fellow Republicans will not even let you declare bankruptcy if you run up medical bills your insurer will not cover. The only safe thing to do will be to get sick and die.
I do understand the distaste that many working-class people feel for the Gruyere and Pinot Grigio crowd that flocked to Obama early on. But voting for McCain because you do not like them is like drinking sterno because you dislike white wine. It is utter insanity."
Thank you, John. You did the hard work on this one.
"Well, this little quote certainly does remind us what McCain really believes and what philosophy would actually guide a McCain administration.
But the actual plan he is putting forth should scare most of us. McCain proposes treating employer-paid health care as taxable income. Since the value of that benefit will exceed the credit of 2500 dollars that he proposes to offset it, almost anybody who gets health care through their work will see a significant tax increase.
Now, the aim of this plan is to eliminate the employer-paid plan. Right away, younger employees will seek to opt out of the plan since most are either health enough to take the risk of having no health care or will be able to buy it for cheaper than the group premium. This will leave only older or sicker workers in the pool, and that will drive up prices for the group further. Finally, the employer will want to end the expensive plan altogether. The older or sicker workers will not be able to purchase any meaningful insurance on the market, so they will be uninsured.
But it gets worse. Under the McCain plan, insurers will be exempt from any state regulation except where the plan is supposedly centered. So, the state which offers the fewest protections will be home to the most health care plans. And you can be sure that they will buy the best state legislature they can to make sure this continues!
So, under McCain, you will either not have health insurance, pay more for health insurance, and, when you do buy health insurance, you will discover that you have little, if any, recourse when the insurer decides not to pay your bill. And remember, McCain and his fellow Republicans will not even let you declare bankruptcy if you run up medical bills your insurer will not cover. The only safe thing to do will be to get sick and die.
I do understand the distaste that many working-class people feel for the Gruyere and Pinot Grigio crowd that flocked to Obama early on. But voting for McCain because you do not like them is like drinking sterno because you dislike white wine. It is utter insanity."
Thank you, John. You did the hard work on this one.
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