An Ibo American’s view of Obama’s Marxist & Socialist roots in dreams of his father..www.freedomOk.net/wordpress

Hope and Change?
Hope and Change?
Interesting viewpoint by a first generation African American woman whose cultural roots are Igbo from Nigeria. The following article is from The American Thinker. She comments on President Obama’s post- colonial cultural (socialist/ Marxist) roots. The apple, Obama, did not fall far from the tree, i.e., his father’s values, she says.

My view: Given the 15 + Czars that President Obama has created so far (more coming) to run the government the way Obama wants it run – not what We the People want – Obama’s despotic, undemocratic values are readily apparent. Given that we really have a One Party government – the Democratic Party — currently Obama can push through his despotic appointments – his multitude of Czars. These people, his minions, answer only to Obama. They should answer to Congress and to We the People. Congress holds the power of the purse. But it is a Democratic Party controlled purse.

When will Our Representatives wake up? Well, since Our Representatives are mostly concerned with their own re-election, only when MORE people COMPLAIN vociferously …. then and only then will things change. So even if you live in a overwhelmingly Democratic district – make your voice known regularly.

Rationing of everything by the government is President Obama’s goal. Control of the private sector is President Obama’s goal. Reducing America to a third world power is President Obama’s goal. How? Destroy the power of the private sector. And that is what his policies seek to do.

What has Obama done in 6 months? He took over a couple of car companies. He seeks control of the financial institutions. Bank of America was forced by his administration to take over Merill Lynch. We are trillions of dollars in debt – which will be passed on for generations. Obama seeks Cap and Trade so that private companies have to pay to use energy. That will drive the cost of energy up. Look at Spain with 18 percent unemployment. Spain is the most visible example of a failed “green” economy.

Is this what Americans sought when they embraced HOPE and CHANGE?

Per the Wall Street Journal editorial page today, Obama wants rules so that a 100 year old mother will “learn” from her family and doctor that she should accept pain meds instead of cost ting society for the surgery of a pacemaker. That statement tells it all. This is a real story and the woman now age 105 is has spirit and doing OK with her pacemaker. Let “society”and “government” decide what is best for the elderly according to Obama. Obama waffled and did not answer when asked whether he would seek the best (i.e. most expensive) care for his own family…

President Obama is one cold, arrogant man who dislikes American democratic values. He wants the power to re-make America in his image of how society should run. That’s my view. cameronjacks@gmail.com

contact leikenga@gmail who writes the following article:

“Had Americans been able to stop obsessing over the color of Barack Obama’s skin and instead paid more attention to his cultural identity, maybe he would not be in the White House today. The key to understanding him lies with his identification with his father, and his adoption of a cultural and political mindset rooted in post colonial Africa.


“Like many educated intellectuals in post colonial Africa, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was enraged at the transformation of his native land by its colonial conqueror. But instead of embracing the traditional values of his own tribal cultural past, he embraced an imported Western ideology, Marxism. I call such frustrated and angry modern Africans who embrace various foreign “isms”, instead of looking homeward for repair of societies that are broken, African Colonials. They are Africans who serve foreign ideas.

“The tropes of America’s racial history as a way of understanding all things black are useless in understanding the man who got his dreams from his father, a Kenyan exemplar of the African Colonial.

Before I continue, I need to say this: I am a first generation born West African-American woman whose parents emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970’s from the country now called Nigeria. I travel to Nigeria frequently. I see myself as both a proud American and as a proud Igbo (the tribe that we come from — also sometimes spelled Ibo). Politically, I have always been conservative (though it took this past election for me to commit to this once and for all!); my conservative values come from my Igbo heritage and my place of birth. Of course, none of this qualifies me to say what I am about to — but at the same time it does.

“My friends, despite what CNN and the rest are telling you, Barack Obama is nothing more than an old school African Colonial who is on his way to turning this country into one of the developing nations that you learn about on the National Geographic Channel. Many conservative (East, West, South, North) African-Americans like myself — those of us who know our history — have seen this movie before. Here are two main reasons why many Americans allowed Obama to slip through the cracks despite all of his glaring inconsistencies:

“First, Obama has been living on American soil for most of his adult life. Therefore, he has been able to masquerade as one who understands and believes in American democratic ideals. But he does not. Barack Obama is intrinsically undemocratic and as his presidency plays out, this will become more obvious.

Second, and most importantly, too many Americans know very little about Africa. The one-size-fits-all understanding that many Americans (both black and white) continue to have of Africa might end up bringing dire consequences for this country.

Contrary to the way it continues to be portrayed in mainstream Western culture, Africa is not a continent that can be solely defined by AIDS, ethnic rivalries, poverty and safaris. Africa, like any other continent, has an immense history defined by much diversity and complexity. Africa’s long-standing relationship with Europe speaks especially to some of these complexities — particularly the relationship that has existed between the two continents over the past two centuries. Europe’s complete colonization of Africa during the nineteenth century, also known as the Scramble for Africa, produced many unfortunate consequences, the African colonial being one of them.

The African colonial (AC) is a person who by means of their birth or lineage has a direct connection with Africa. However, unlike Africans like me, their worldviews have been largely shaped not by the indigenous beliefs of a specific African tribe but by the ideals of the European imperialism that overwhelmed and dominated Africa during the colonial period. AC’s have no real regard for their specific African traditions or histories. AC’s use aspects of their African culture as one would use pieces of costume jewelry: things of little or no value that can be thoughtlessly discarded when they become a negative distraction, or used on a whim to decorate oneself in order to seem exotic. (Hint: Obama’s Muslim heritage).

On the other hand, AC’s strive to be the best at the culture that they inherited from Europe. Throughout the West, they are tops in their professions as lawyers, doctors, engineers, Ivy League professors and business moguls; this is all well and good. It’s when they decide to engage us as politicians that things become messy and convoluted.

The African colonial politician (ACP) feigns repulsion towards the hegemonic paradigms of Western civilization. But at the same time, he is completely enamored of the trappings of its aristocracy or elite culture. The ACP blames and caricatures whitey to no end for all that has gone wrong in the world. He convinces the masses that various forms of African socialism are the best way for redressing the problems that European colonialism motivated in Africa. However, as opposed to really being a hard-core African Leftist who actually believes in something, the ACP uses socialist themes as a way to disguise his true ambitions: a complete power grab whereby the “will of the people” becomes completely irrelevant.

Barack Obama is all of the above. The only difference is that he is here playing (colonial) African politics as usual.

In his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father — an eloquent piece of political propaganda — Obama styles himself as a misunderstood intellectual who is deeply affected by the sufferings of black people, especially in America and Africa. In the book, Obama clearly sees himself as an African, not as a black American. And to prove this, he goes on a quest to understand his Kenyan roots. He is extremely thoughtful of his deceased father’s legacy; this provides the main clue for understanding Barack Obama.

Barack Obama Sr. was an African colonial to the core; in his case, the apple did not fall far from the tree. All of the telltale signs of Obama’s African colonialist attitudes are on full display in the book — from his feigned antipathy towards Europeans to his view of African tribal associations as distracting elements that get in the way of “progress”. (On p. 308 of Dreams From My Father, Obama says that African tribes should be viewed as an “ancient loyalties”.)

Like imperialists of Old World Europe, the ACP sees their constituents not as free thinking individuals who best know how to go about achieving and creating their own means for success. Instead, the ACP sees his constituents as a flock of ignorant sheep that need to be led — oftentimes to their own slaughter.

Like the European imperialist who spawned him, the ACP is a destroyer of all forms of democracy.

Here are a few examples of what the British did in order to create (in 1914) what is now called Nigeria and what Obama is doing to you:

Convince the people that “clinging” to any aspect of their cultural (tribal) identity or history is bad and regresses the process of “unity”. British Imperialists deeply feared people who were loyal to anything other than the state. “Tribalism” made the imperialists have to work harder to get people to just fall in line. Imperialists pitted tribes against each other in order to create chaos that they then blamed on ethnic rivalry. Today many “educated” Nigerians, having believed that their traditions were irrelevant, remain completely ignorant of their ancestry and the history of their own tribes.
Confiscate the wealth and resources of the area that you govern by any means necessary in order to redistribute wealth. The British used this tactic to present themselves as empathetic and benevolent leaders who wanted everyone to have a “fair shake”. Imperialists are not interested in equality for all. They are interested in controlling all.
Convince the masses that your upper-crust university education naturally puts you on an intellectual plane from which to understand everything even when you understand nothing. Imperialists were able to convince the people that their elite university educations allowed them to understand what Africa needed. Many of today’s Nigerians-having followed that lead-hold all sorts of degrees and certificates-but what good are they if you can’t find a job?

“Lie to the people and tell them that progress is being made even though things are clearly becoming worse. One thing that the British forgot to mention to their Nigerian constituents was that one day, the resources that were being used to engineer “progress” (which the British had confiscated from the Africans to begin with!) would eventually run out. After WWII, Western Europe could no longer afford to hold on to their African colonies. So all of the counterfeit countries that the Europeans created were then left high-and-dry to fend for themselves. This was the main reason behind the African independence movements of the1950 and 60’s. What will a post-Obama America look like?

Use every available media outlet to perpetuate the belief that you and your followers are the enlightened ones-and that those who refuse to support you are just barbaric, uncivilized, ignorant curmudgeons. This speaks for itself.

“America, don’t be fooled. The Igbos were once made up of a confederacy of clans that ascribed to various forms of democratic government. They took their eyes off the ball and before they knew it, the British were upon them. Also, understand this: the African colonial who is given too much political power can only become one thing: a despot.
L.E. Ikenga can be reached at leikenga@gmail.com.

For more go to: American Thinker

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Ten minutes south from Aptos: Monterey Bay Caterers Deli in Watsonville has great lunches. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Monterey Bay Caterers Deli staff
Monterey Bay Caterers Deli staff

There are 2 Monterey Bay Caterers!!! One is caterers and the other catering.

The one I like is located in Watsonville. MBC CaterERS has a small counter that holds about 8 persons. Most people get their food to go.

The cook and owner usually comes out for a break around 1:30. He chats with staff and customers about whatever. G

Good, fresh food. They will give you exactly what you want. No over eating unless you choose. The place has to die for meatloaf and gravy. Try the brownies for a $1.00.

Below is the CORRECT link for MBC Caterers. You can find out what he lunch specials are ahead of time.

MBC Catering in Watsonville, CA

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Aptos psychologist: surfing soothes many children with autism. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

surfing calms autistic children
surfing calms autistic children

Santa Cruz is an ideal spot for children with autistic spectrum disorders to experience the healing and calm by surfing in Monterey Bay. We need something similar to Surfers Healing which is located in southern California. See below. If you are interested in starting such a camp or know of children who might benefit contact: Cameron Jackson, licensed psychologist 831 688-6002 cameronjacks@gmail.com

More info
For more information, contact Jennifer Tracy, camp coordinator, at (949) 370-1083 or go to www.surfershealing.org

The roar of the ocean surf lures thrill-seekers and adrenaline junkies to ride the waves. But many autistic children, like 8-year-old Alex Acebal of North Las Vegas, find the crashing waves a calming serenity to their normally jangled restlessness.

By the age of 3, Alex showed typical signs of autism such as failure to make eye contact, delay in learning to talk and throwing tantrums that went beyond the typical “terrible twos,” his mother, Shanea Acebal, said.

After being diagnosed with autism, Alex was enrolled in the school district’s autism program, but his parents were looking for other ways to break him out of his shell, his mother said.

Then she learned of Surfers Healing, a nonprofit foundation that runs free day camps for children with autism that allows them to ride a surfboard with a professional.

Israel “Izzy” and Danielle Paskowitz have run a for-profit surfing camp for 37 years. They started the Surfers Healing foundation and camp in 1999, after seeing the effect surfing had on their autistic son, Isaiah.

About 60 autistic children from the Las Vegas Valley are scheduled to attend the camp in San Diego on Aug. 5.

Many autistic children suffer from sensory overload. Simple sensations could overwhelm them, but for some reason, being on the water helped Isaiah to focus, Izzy Paskowitz said.

With Isaiah on the front of his surfboard, and his father steering from the back, the two spent the day surfing together.

“There’s something magical that happens that still, to this day, freaks me out,” he said. “It’s the surf of the ocean, but it’s really bigger than that.”

Now 18, Isaiah Paskowitz is surfing on his own and his behavior is stable enough to where he can be in public without having fits, his father said.

“I don’t think his behavior would be as consistent as it is now,” he said. “I know when he was in the water, that just helped him calm his nerves.”

Shanea Acebal saw a similar response in her son, Alex, though the first time at the camp was highly emotional for both mother and child.

“My son was screaming. He did not want to go into that ocean. He did not want to go with the surfer, and I was sobbing,” she said. “I was frightened for my son to see him crying.”

Alex’s mood did not change as he and the surfer paddled out over the waves to a spot beyond the breakers, where the water was placid.

They sat there for about 10 minutes and Alex showed he was no longer scared.

“We saw them paddling in and they were about to catch the wave. I saw my son’s face and he was smiling and he was excited. He was happy,” Shanea Acebal said. “When they came on the shore, he was calm, he was focused. Throughout the entire afternoon, he just sat still, which is very rare for a child with autism.”

More than 2,000 autistic children attend Surfers Healing camps on both coasts each year, Izzy Paskowitz said.

“Parents just have to let go and just let them try,” said Shanea Acebal, who helps the foundation organize Las Vegas families to attend. “There are parents who struggle on the beach and have a hard time seeing their child cry, but it’s worth it. If they try it once and they don’t like it, OK. But at least they tried it.”

Surfers Healing has teamed with Opportunity Village to raise money for the children with disabilities it serves locally and to provide autistic children the chance to attend the surfing camp.

The two charities are hosting a fundraiser from 3 to 9 p.m. on June 24 at Marie Callender’s, 600 E. Sahara Ave. Proceeds from a raffle will benefit Opportunity Village, and the restaurant will donate 15 percent of all sales to Surfers Healing.

This summer, Shanea and Alex Acebal will attend the camp for the sixth year.

Alex looks forward to surfing and on a recent family trip to Southern California, he was playing in the water and loving it, his mother said.

“He did ask, ‘Do we have a surfboard?’” she said. “He was in the water and he wasn’t scared.”

For more info go to: Surfers Healing surfing

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Autism screening & treatment paid for by insurance in some states. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Michigan Class Action Settlement on Autism Treatment Hailed as Landmark Case
The article below discusses a recent class action case in Michigan wherein insurance co has agreed to pay for ABA treatment for autism. Hopefully, other methods such as P.L.A.Y. and FloorTime – softer approaches than ABA — will also be covered. Contact Easter Seals for P.L.A.Y. in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. If you are interested in Floor Time — a way to spontaneously interact with children there are a several therapists available in the Santa Cruz and Monterey area.

In my opinion as a psychologist it is crucial that parents be in the driver’s seat and make decisions they think in the best interest of their child. Too often parents defer to others (this therapist, that therapist) and are slow to voice their concerns. There are many treatments for autism and autistic spectrum disorders. Parents need to decide what is best for THEIR child.

Emial cameronjacks@gmail for more information. Dr. Cameron Jackson, licensed psychologist in CA PSY14762

June 23, 2009
In what plaintiffs lawyers are calling a landmark autism case, a Michigan insurance company has agreed to reimburse at least 100 families for costs involving treatments for their autistic children.

The $1 million class action settlement from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan comes amid a legislative wave in which a growing number of a states are passing laws that require insurance companies to pay for autism treatments and screenings. To date, 13 states have such laws, the most recent being Connecticut, Colorado and Nevada. New Jersey is currently considering an autism bill, and Pennsylvania’s law goes into effect July 1.

The June 17 Michigan settlement, meanwhile, has autism advocates hopeful that insurance companies will stop claiming that behavioral therapy for autistic children is experimental, and start paying for it.

“It is a significant victory for the families, obviously, and it marks a trend, hopefully, that insurance companies will start to look at autism treatment differently,” said Areva Martin, an attorney at Los Angeles-based Martin & Martin who is currently handling about 30 autism cases. She believes the labeling of autism treatments as experimental is “absurd.”

“It’s a neurological condition similar to a patient that has a stroke,” Martin said.

In the case, Johns v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, filed in the Eastern District of Michigan, the family of an autistic child sued Blue Cross for allegedly failing to acknowledge that a treatment known as applied behavioral analysis is scientifically valid. ABA therapy attempts to change behavior through positive and negative reinforcements.

In the suit, the plaintiffs alleged that Blue Cross’ pattern and practice of characterizing ABA as “experimental” was arbitrary, capricious, illegal and contradicted by many years of scientific validation.

Blue Cross sought dismissal of the case, but a judge permitted it to go forward.

The case settled shortly after plaintiffs counsel obtained a court order requiring Blue Cross to produce documents that validated the effectiveness of ABA. Among the documents obtained was a draft of a 2005 Blue Cross Blue Shield medical policy, which stated: “Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is currently the most thoroughly researched treatment modality for early intervention approaches to autism spectrum disorders and is the standard of care recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, National Academy of Sciences Committee and the Association for Science in Autism Treatment, among others.”

Blue Cross’ documents also stated: “The earlier the disorder is diagnosed, the sooner the child can be helped through treatment interventions.”

“I think we had ’em. Their files were so damming,” said Gerard V. Mantese, of Troy, Mich.’s Mantese & Rossman, one of two lawyers who represented the plaintiffs. “We kept hearing from Blue Cross that this is experimental, we’ve researched it. So when we sent our discovery requests saying, ‘Show us what you have,’ their file looked almost like my file. It had paper after paper supporting ABA therapy.”

Under the settlement, Blue Cross will pay for behavioral therapy rendered to more than 100 children in the past six years. Mantese believes this is the first such lawsuit settlement where an insurance company has agreed to pay for autism treatment.

“We’ve searched across the country for similar cases. This is the first one that we’re aware of,” said Mantese, who is getting calls from numerous attorneys handling similar cases. “I’m getting calls from all across the country. They’re encouraged. They’re pleased with the settlement, and they’re motivated to fight for these families and these children.”

Jeffrey Rumley, vice president and general counsel for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, issued this statement: “We knew we could resolve this matter to the benefit of the families involved, and are pleased to be able to conclude this matter in a manner that puts the families first who received services from the early intervention program,” Rumley stated.

Separate from the lawsuit, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan announced on May 11 that it will offer its customer groups the ability to purchase coverage for autism treatment programs that provide intensive early intervention. The new benefit option involves coverage for children aged two to five years old who use ABA, although the insurance carrier said that it still considers ABA an investigational and experimental treatment.

The coverage will begin on July 1.

“We saw a need in the community and moved to find a way to address it,” said Thomas Simmer, M.D., Blues Cross Blue Shield of Michigan senior vice president and chief medical officer, when announcing the new coverage last month. “We developed this coverage option as part of our commitment to improving the health and wellness of all Michigan children and families.”

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Aptos psychologist: Take a look at $100 mo subscription for ABA for autism www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

The link below takes you to an About Us page for Rethink Autism which has sample lessons using ABA techniques. There re a handful of free sample lessons. The subscription cost is $100 a month WITHOUT professional assistance. There is an additional monthly charge for professional assistance.

The good news is that you as parent have complete control of how the ABA program is done. You know how much stress your child can tolerate. You can tailor the lessons to fit the needs of your child. Certainly, $100 a month seems very reasonably priced.

One of the complaints I hear regularly about ABA is that outsiders come in to the home. The “work” is done in a separate room and the child is isolated from parent involvement during the session. Frequently some kind of sugar reward is used to motivate the child to do the work. All of those kinds of complaints are addressed with this program. No strangers. No isolation, Use of praise and hugs for a reward.

I looked at the sample for teaching imitation. It is clear and something a parent can do readily. Like telemedicine this program might be quite helpful for certain kinds of families.

In California because of budget issues the Early Start program (ages 0 to 3) may be drastically cut. Use of this kind of a online subscription program might be a helpful adjunct for some regional center clients who receive Early Start services.

written by Dr. Cameron Jackson, Ph.D., J.D. Licensed clinical psychologist cameronjacks@gmail.com

Rethink Autism

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Obama’s health care would deny a pacemaker to a 100 year old woman because of her age and need for rules and rationing end of life care. Agree?

pacemaker for a 100 year old mother?
pacemaker for a 100 year old mother?

The essence of Obama’s response 6-24-09 to rationing of health care:
Maybe that 100 year old mother should take a pain pill and not get pacemaker surgery said Obama 6-24-09 when two doctors questioned his plans for rationing health care. This remark was made in response to a question by one of the doctors concerning a a real 100 old mother who is now 105 and living with vitality of spirit says her daughter. The daughter helped her get a pacemaker when first denied. Take a pain pill old woman!! No pacemaker for you!!

That strikes me as a cold, calculating remark. Obama will cut health care costs on the bodies of the old. Once a person is no longer making money in Obama terms that person has lost value. By the time a person is a 100 the value of that person has shrunk to barely above zero. I guess that is why Obama when a Senator could support third trimester abortions. He probably thinks that the fewer the people there are in the world the fewer people the government has to feed, cloth and provide health care for.

Obama sidestepped and did not answer when asked whether he would opt out of the health care program he and Congress get if he had a loved one that needed a procedure not covered by the NEW plan Obama wants.

The following is from:

Views on Government-Funded Health Insurance
According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, 62 percent of Americans support creating a government-funded entity to offer health insurance to those who don’t get it elsewhere. But if that caused many private insurers to go out of business because they couldn’t compete, support plummets to 37 percent.

The White House has shown some flexibility about a government-run plan. In a meeting with a bipartisan group of governors today, the possibility was raised of states offering public plans of their own instead of just one federally administered plan, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting. And White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told Democratic senators Tuesday night that the president was open to “alternatives” to the public plan.

Sawyer asked Ron Williams, the CEO of Aetna Insurance, “Is the president right that you need to be kept honest?”

Williams said he disagreed with the notion of a public plan.

“It’s difficult to compete against a player who’s also the person refereeing the game,” Williams said. He proposed working to “solve the problem as opposed to introduce a new competitor who has rule-making ability.”

Gibson pointed out that the president constantly makes the argument that if you like your insurance you won’t have to change it. And yet from the audience, John Sheils, senior vice president of The Lewin Group, a health care policy research and management consulting firm, estimated that up to 70 percent of those with private insurance would end up on the public plan.

“There are a whole series of ways that we could design this,” the president said, arguing that employers would be given a “disincentive” to shift their employees to the public plan.

Another neurologist, Dr. John Corboy of the University of Colorado Health Science Center, asked the president, “What can you do to convince the American public that there actually are limits to what we can pay for with our American health care system and if there are going to be limits, who’s going to design the system and who’s going to enforce the rules for a system like that?”

Obama, however, didn’t directly answer the question.

Related
WATCH: Obama’s ‘Uniquely American’ Health Care PlanWATCH: Watch Full ‘Prescription for America’ ProgramTRANSCRIPT: ‘Prescription for America'”If we are smart, we should be able to design a system in which people still have choices of doctors and choices of plans that make sure that necessary treatment is provided but we don’t have a huge amount of waste in the system,” he said.

He said he had “great confidence” that physicians “are going to always want to do right thing” if they have the right information and a payment structure that focuses on evidence and results and not tests and referrals.

“We should change those incentive structures,” the president said. “Our job this summer and this fall,” he said, is to “identify the best ways to achieve the best possible care.”

The president cited the Mayo Clinic as an example of a medical center where experts had figured out the most effective treatments and eliminated waste and unnecessary procedures.

Sawyer said that e-mails ABC News had received argued that “the Mayo Clinic is exactly the point,” indicating that private companies are solving this problem, and raising the question as to why the government needs to get involved.

“And, unfortunately, government, whether you like it or not, is going to already be involved,” Obama said, citing Medicare and Medicaid.

One questioner — Marisa Milton, vice president of health care policy for the HR Policy Association, a public policy advocate for human resource executives — said that “other industrialized nations provide coverage for all their residents” with “high quality care” without spending more money.

“A lot of those countries employ a different system than we do,” the president said. “Almost all of them have what would be considered a single-payer system in which the government operates what is essentially a Medicare for all.”

The president said he didn’t think it wise to attempt to “completely change our system root and branch” since health care is one-sixth of the U.S. economy. It “would be hugely disruptive,” he said, arguing that citizens would be forced to change their doctors and insurance plans “in a way I’m not prepared to go.”

End-of-life issues were raised as well; right now it is estimated that nearly 30 percent of Medicare’s annual $327 billion budget is spent on patients in their final year of life.

Jane Sturm told the story of her nearly 100-year-old mother, who was originally denied a pacemaker because of her age. She eventually got one, but only after seeking out another doctor.

“Outside the medical criteria,” Sturm asked, “is there a consideration that can be given for a certain spirit … and quality of life?”

“I don’t think that we can make judgments based on peoples’ spirit,” Obama said. “That would be a pretty subjective decision to be making. I think we have to have rules that say that we are going to provide good, quality care for all people.

“We’re not going to solve every single one of these very difficult decisions at end of life,” he said. “Ultimately that’s going to be between physicians and patients.”

“End-of-life issues were raised as well; right now it is estimated that nearly 30 percent of Medicare’s annual $327 billion budget is spent on patients in their final year of life.

Jane Sturm told the story of her nearly 100-year-old mother, who was originally denied a pacemaker because of her age. She eventually got one, but only after seeking out another doctor.

“Outside the medical criteria,” Sturm asked, “is there a consideration that can be given for a certain spirit … and quality of life?”

“I don’t think that we can make judgments based on peoples’ spirit,” Obama said. “That would be a pretty subjective decision to be making. I think we have to have rules that say that we are going to provide good, quality care for all people.

“We’re not going to solve every single one of these very difficult decisions at end of life,” he said. “Ultimately that’s going to be between physicians and patients.”

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The Word Shop: Come for books, discuss books & share cup of tea

 

The Word Shop and Alliee DeArmond
The Word Shop and Alliee DeArmond

Alliee DeArmond, with the help of many volunteers, operates  The Word Shop in Aptos, CA.  As of 2016, this book shop has been operating for 21 years.   831 688-6607   Monday – Fridays  10-6 most days.

Alliee recently applied to be on the Board of Directors for St. John the Baptist  Episcopal Church in Aptos, CA. Alliee write regularly for a newspaper.  Her column In the Spirit publishes in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.  Various activities related to books occur routinely at The Word Shop.

Quite an accomplishment for all the women and men who have been  involved.

Back in 2009  — when this post was first  written -there were Literary Parties.  What’s going on is always changing — but always about books.

“These Literary Parties are a real blast! We choose a genre–mystery this month–everyone brings a book or two in that genre and we take turns waving the books around and saying why we like them. Then people usually have comments and conversation ensues until I bellow, “next.” We’ve done one every month since January–usually somewhere between a half-dozen and a dozen folk crammed into our back room. Quite fun.”

The Word Shop is located at 246 Center St. # A. This is a small book store located near entrance to Seacliff Beach. For more info contact Alliee DeArmond at adbooks@aol.com    831-688-6607

The Word Shop
The Word Shop with Alliee DeArmond

Use the SEARCH function (top right) to find more information about The Word Shop.  Live near or around Aptos?    Join  #aptosia

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Gitmo is a country club and some members do not want to leave. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Step up to the plate Muslims worldwide! There must be some Muslim communities who can take in a handful of Chinese origin Gitmo detainees.

What does a released convict do when life in prison looks better than life outside? He/she commits another crime and goes back to prison. Simple. But what kind of criminal act? The usual one that got them to prison. It is easy to do familiar acts. For Gitmo detainees, terrorism is a familiar act.

That’s why these detainees no longer enemy combatants will need a very short leash. The best Big Brother is their own Muslim religious community. They need a loving Muslim religious community where justice rolls down from the hills. Where Muslims are required to love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with their God.

One hundred nations have refused to take any Gitmo detainee.
These 22 Ughurs refuse repatriation back to China. They refuse the few offers made: to Algeria, Tunisia, Syria and Uzbekistan.

Twenty-two Chinese Ulghurs detainees have been de-classified as enemy combatants, some as early as 2003. These are Chinese Muslims combatants picked up in Afghanistan.

Where have they gone? Four went to Bermuda which sits in the Atlantic east of North Carolina. Bermuda, a territory of England. Now Palau, a tiny South Pacific country, has offered.

The ones assigned to go to Palau refuse to go. Palau has no Muslim community. As they have to Palauan blood they cannot be a citizen. As Palau has not ratified the international refugee conventions they cannot get travel documents.

So where are some loving, structured Muslim communities that will step up to the plate? Who will take in these Men without a Country?

And if not Muslim, then any religion that teaches love, not war, peace not enmity, justice not injustice, rights for all persons,not just a few. But them those Muslims would have to convert from their radical brand of Muslim faith. Would they do that? Not likely.

Until some Muslim or other religious community offers refuge or some country is willing to take our dime to support them – they stay in Gitmo. Gitmo is a country club. A rather nice one.

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St. John’s moves from Capitola to Aptos ….

Services were held for the first time in St. John’s new building in Seascape. St. John’s is located near the entrance to Seacliff Beach.

ALL are welcome! Services are at 8 am, 10 and 11 on Sundays. For youth activities and more information go to: St. John’s Episcopal Church

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Last reading of last service on Depot Hill for St. John’s episcopalian church moving to Aptos

Portions of second reading read by Alliee DeArmond last Sunday:

“So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord – for we walk by faith, not by sight….For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil….

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view, even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation, everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! from 2 Corinthians 5: 6-17

For information about The Word Shop go to Company of Saints Alliee DeArmond is on Twitter

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