I have to have two teeth pulled. It’s a long, sad story that I’m not going to get into, but the point is, that I’m not very happy about it for several reasons:
1. – I have had work done on my mouh my whole life (literally), and have tried very hard to take good care of my teeth, so it seems just sad that the teeth I cared for need to go.
2. – It’s going to be painful as hell.
3. – It would be cheaper for me to pay for my own funeral.
Now, let’s zone in on #3… My dental insurance only help to pay for 1 implant per lifetime. That’s right – if you had your whole face knocked off, it would only help pay for one tooth (so choose the right one). Pulling teeth is one price, but trying to keep your mouth in the correct shape by adding teeth (which seems kind of necessary if it’s part of your smile) is a whole other price. Tooth implants cost about $14,000 each. If I need two… well, think of it.
My plan is to write to President Obama, and our lovely Senator Max Baucus to get on the health care plan, and quick! I’m in college for pete’s sake. When are we going to change the health care industry from the corrupt, money-sucking business that it is to what it should be: affordable and non-intimidating? People shell out thousands of dollars a year, and these big names build lovely high rises with the money. Well, eff that. I’m not suicidal but if it saves me money, then what the heck?
As a poor college student, totally vehicle-less, it’s kind of ridiculous to want to go home for the weekend when you don’t have a car, and none of your friends or acquaintances are going in that direction. Moreover, I refuse to pay over $30 for a bus ticket for what should be a two hour drive but will actually take five hours. With Obama’s infrastructure investment plan, he wants to repave roads and remake bridges. With urban areas, the public transportation section will be revamped too. But what about rural areas, like Montana?
A majority of the Montana’s population lives in the southern half of the state. It’s great that Amtrak actually runs through Montana, but if it doesn’t actually go through any major towns, then no one around here can count on it. A significant amount of money goes into Montanans’ budgets just for traveling anywhere. I know I’m not the first to want this.
It’s not my idea – I am reiterating it because I think that it’s important. Building a southern rail line would create new jobs. Think: the train conductors, service on the train, train stations being revamped and decked out and turning into the fanciful things they once were. If the trains were electric, then it would help to green-up Montana. There would be fewer drivers on the roads, fewer accidents caused by ice (and drunk driving). People could get a pass and hop on the train any time they wanted, see the beautiful scenery without worrying about the whole driving aspect.
Here’s my vision: the train route would be from Missoula to Miles City. There would be a major stop in Helena (being that it IS the capital) and from Helena, people could switch to another route from Great Falls down to Butte. It would hit virtually all the places in Montana that have PEOPLE – not just the north.
Anyway, that’s my rant. But more needs to go into it than just dreaming for anything to actually be accomplished.
ah ha!!!! what did i suspect!!!!????
iran – they outrightly criticized obama’s choice of rahm emmanuel (pro-israel). they are reading too far into it. they shouldn’t judge someone by their religion and culture. at the same time, i do think that obama should have thanked ahmedinejad for his congratulatory message. obama open to dialogue? if he can’t even send a thank you note, how the hell are we supposed to talk about nuclear stuff?
come on US. the enemy of my enemy is my friend. iran does not like the taliban or al-qaeda. they can help us with stabilizing both iraq and afghanistan!!!
yes we can. open dialogue. thank ahedinejad… i want to be a tourist in iran. come on.
So, there are a few “friends” that I have on Facebook who are pro-life for life, and thus are also pro-stupid government. One person posted this link, an article from LifeNews. He also exclaimed at what a feminist Palin was – pro-life and pro-women!!! Yeah… right…
Palin is a member of Feminists for Life of America — a venerable but little known pro-life group that focuses on the pro-woman reasons for opposing abortion…
‘Feminists for Life is dedicated to systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion—primarily lack of practical resources and support—through holistic, woman-centered solutions,’ [The president of Feminists for life] said.
‘We recognize that abortion is a reflection that our society has failed to meet the needs of women and that too often women have settled for less. Women deserve better than abortion,’ said Foster.
Or maybe abortion is a reflection that our society is clinging to religion and enforcing it on others – saying that abstinence only sex education is the only correct education. Maybe it’s a reflection that our society thinks that kids aren’t curious about their bodies. It’s a reflection that our society is afraid of sex. But clearly, with the fact that Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant herself shows some sort of conflict with that.
According to BBC, the US ”is estimated to have some 750,000 teenage pregnancies a year.”
More than 80% of births in this group “were unintended, meaning they occurred sooner than desired or were not wanted at any time”, the CDC said
I think that the GOP would benefit from endorsing condoms. Let’s think about it – if condoms were way more accesible for teens, and sex was actually talked out and understood, then there would be less young parents on welfare. If there are less people living on welfare (paid for by our taxes) then taxes could go down, which is what every Republican advertises.
Get this:
Governor Palin herself has said she opposes funding sexual-education programmes in Alaska and has supported abstinence programmes in schools.
I wonder what Palin’s reaction was when her daughter told her she was pregnant.
I was reading this morning about wind farms… and how they are lethal for bats. I am just wondering though – out of all the options we have, which is the lesser evil: coal and oil or air, water, and solar power? As I was reading about the cons of wind farms, I did get a little disheartened. Apparently, when the huge arms of the wind turbines rotate they change the atmospheric pressure in front of them. Birds are not affected by this pressure change, but bats are. When bats fly near them, the don’t get hit, they just die from internal hemorrhaging (um, ouch). But let’s think about it – there are plenty of ways to deter bats from wind farms. Bats rely on an echo navigating system, and some research groups have supported a radar system that would act as a bat scare. Granted, it’s not natural (nothing really is), but in my humble opinion, it’s a lot better than burning ancient mulch and dead dinosaurs. We can save the bats! No matter who wins the election this November [Obama, please], both are campaigning for more green energy . With science and time, perhaps he can earn the name Batman for his efforts to save our furry little blind friends.
That’s a big yes. BBC reported that an 8-year-old girl was preparing to go to court to get a divorce.
A court in Saudi Arabia is reported to be preparing to hear a plea for divorce from an eight-year-old girl who has been married off to a man in his 50s.
The Saudi newspaper al-Watan said the girl had been married off to the man by her father without her knowledge.
The child’s mother is thought to be pushing for the marriage to be annulled – though the father opposes the move.
Child-protection groups say children are often given away in return for hefty dowries, or as a result of old customs in which a father promises his infant daughters and sons to cousins out of a belief that marriage will protect them from illicit relationships.
Okay – I am more than willing to assume that young girls get promised away a lot more often than young boys do. I am just disgusted that any one person would actually be willing to take an 8-year-old into their bed with them (the marriage has to be consummated, you know). These sick and outdated traditions just need to go away.
