About Me

Name: Purplegimp
Biography
Loading...

Create Your Own Blog Find Other Townhall Blogs

Comments

Archives

Search

Chicken Feed

Posted by Purplegimp on Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:01:01 AM
The gimp wonders why these oddities fascinate her so much. First a little back ground. While on our little jaunt to Jerusalem I noticed that a lot of people (none of us) sort of bob their heads down to meet their fork or spoon while eating. I didn't give the issue much thought until I got home from my first hospitalization and read in a column in our weekly local nespaper 'Ask the Rabbi' a question on the very subject.  Judaism has rules for just about every human bevavior you can think of, along with detailed explanations for them.  For this particular one we are supposed to bring to untensil all the way to our mouths and not bob our heads down to meet it because that movement is the way many, if not most animals eat, minus the fork or spoon, and that we are to differentiate ourselves from animals by not bobbing for our food. Ok. That makes sense to me, and explains why I always thought it odd that people do that little bobing thing that makes them look a bit like chickens pecking for their lunch.
Then, this evening on Fox, they showed a very unflattering clip of Mr. and Mrs. Obummer eating. And there was Mrs. Obummer's head bobbing up and down just like a chicken feeding. What more can I say about them? Phewy. Chicken feed.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (129) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Random musing on The Day After

Posted by Purplegimp on Thursday, November 06, 2008 6:34:51 AM
The gimp wonders what is going happen next. Obama won the election. How nice (not) and will be inaugurated on January 20. Yes, he is the first African American to be elected to such a high office. AFRICAN American. I still wonder just how true the African part is. It seems possible that he, in fact ,is the first African to be elected. I still wonder about the American part. I have thought more than once that the man seems to not know whe is. Fair enough. I am not sure who he is either.  In fact his election reminds me in some ways of Ehud Olmer's election here. Obama's campaign was based on promising change and hope. Olmert's whole platform was based on his having been Ariel Sharon's number two man. Now, there's a brilliant strategy if I ever saw one. Obama's was about as logical. No one knows what either of them means. We found out soon enough what it meant to Olmert. We'll soon know what it means to Obama. There are more than enough hints, if not, straight out statements as to what Obama means. .
I am not in the mood to hear any "I told you sos" about his win.  I also find it interseting that both the House and Senate did not end up with overwhelming majorities of Democrats. Granted, the worst of the Democrat lot were not sent home this time, but, neither was the balance of power irreparably changed.
I don't know how all this will play out, but it certainly will be interesting to watch. The mid term elections in 2010 should be very interestig indeed. As Congress repeatedly misses getting the message voters try to send them, 2010 just might be a vry good year. I am looking forward to more grass roots initiatives similar to the one over illegal immigrants and border security. The gimp wonders if Congess will listen. It will, unless all those half deaf, completely delusional Congress Critters want to get sent home. I am also not thrillled at the idea of someone I strongly suspect of being a closet Muslim having access to information terrorist organizations and sponsor states would kill literally kill to get their hands on. In case you haven't quite figured it out yet; I do not trust him, and think it's just a matter of time until there's big big trouble. The gimp wonders just how long it will take.
The gimp now wonders how long it will be before there's knock on the door and her internet connection removed.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (27) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

A quick pre election after thought

Posted by Purplegimp on Monday, November 03, 2008 6:28:54 AM
The gimp wonders if maybe, just maybe all the pre election panic by the conservatives over a possible Obummer win could possibly be a Devine Warning about what could happen in the event that McCain loses. Are we going to learn the lesson the hard way, or see the Writing On The Wall in time to turn things around?
I just read some comments at St. Gracies' about having more faith in Our Creator. While I quite agree with those posters, I come at from a Jewish perspective rather than a Christian one. In the end it all boils down to the same Lord. I am desperate to believe that this a warning about what could happen if..........But, in order to ensure that is merely a Warning, everyone must vote. It's not enough to leave it up to G-d. We have to part to make sure that the disaster that is Obummer doesn't cime to pass. Our founding fathers had a profound belief in G-d and made no bones about it in the Declaration of Indepence, The Constitution as well as their daily lives. Have we moved so far from those basic beliefs that we are ready to throw them away to the likes of Obummer?
Having already voted myself, all I can do now is pray that all is not lost.
Who is it that helps those who help themselves?
VOTE AND MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE YOU KNOWS DOES TOO.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (10) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Universal Health Care

Posted by Purplegimp on Sunday, November 02, 2008 4:43:09 AM
The gimp wonders how much thought any of you have given to mandatory universal health care. The only such systems I've seen referred to are the European, British, Canadian, and Cuban systems. Israel's is conveniently ignored. But it is the one I am intimately familiar with. Back in the 90s a few bright bulbs decided that absolutely every Israeli must have health insurance, so they passed a law requiring our National Insurance Institute (Social Security) to collect payment for all the health plans, while allowing us to decide which one to belong to. There are four to choose from. Some are better than others, but all can be trained. Ok, so, now all Israelis have health insurance and the Ministry of Health decides what health services and medicines are included in 'The Health Basket'. The monthly premium is bbased on gross earnings. There is also supplementary insurance that reduces the price of many medicines and grants the privilege of having certain treatments done at private hospitals rather than those run by the government or the health funds themselves. Within the health fund clinics you are allowed to choose your primary care doctor, as well as specialists. You can even do what I do with my orthopedic doc, and go to him in a clinic in a different town as long as the clinic is part of the same system.
I'm one of the lucky ones. I've been in the same plan for many years and now have them well trained. I often hear 'newbies' arguing over approvals that I get without a fuss because I already did the hard work. They don't  bother trying to get out of things I need because every time they did that in the past, they lost and I won. I don't even have to appointments to see the doc, have blood drawn, or anything else. They all learned the hard way that it just isn't worth messing with the 'mean gimp'.
One thing that might be hard to get used to is that clinic doctors see patients in the clinic only, while hospital doctors only work in hospitals, except in the case of some specialists who come to the clinic once a week or so and refer people to the hospital they work at. Regular family practice doctors from the clinics never see their patients who are in hospital. That means that the doc who reffered you to a hospital has absolutely no say in a patients treatment. It's all up to the hospital docs.
Another strange thing is that it is a very good idea to have someone who can spend a lot of time with you in hospital unless you are a big mouth with a good idea of what's going on around you. The nursing care can be haphazard at best.
I have gotten used to the system here. It's not great, but, it could be worse. I wonder what they'll come up with over there if Obummer wins.
 
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (28) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive
« Previous1Next »