2010/2/12 Jon wells <test@raytrade.nl>

It makes me ill to realize that we, the richest country in the world, can not care for our sick. We send millions of dollars in aid to other countries in both government and private money, but we fail the people who live on our own streets. Evil corporations move every job they can to India, Mexico, and China to avoid paying enough for people to live on. Other companies hire people who have entered the country so that they can work them like animals and treat them like slaves. Just the money that legal employees would feed into our system by paying taxes would pay for a large portion of any “public option”.

All the people who have no insurance become a burden on our emergency care systems and clinics as well. ER’s can’t turn you away for be uninsured… If the type 1 diabetic I mentioned dies, the government will foot the bill not only for his burial, but also for the continued care and feeding of the family he leaves behind. Over the next 17+ years that will add up…

I say we all watch for who votes down the “public Option” and we make sure NOT to vote for them when they run again. Remember, in the end, WE are the bosses. WE should fire politicians who are not doing the best job for us.

My point is this, he is ramming his personal ideals down the throats of people who have a right to their own opinions. As soon as we give him that power, we give it to others. What if the next guy comes up with “2013, Year of the KKK”? They played a key role in forming our identity as a nation too. Maybe 2014 can be the year of the Nazi? He is induging in an abuse of power and perverting the trust placed in him by the public if he subverts our constitution by blatantly ignoring a core element of who we are as a nation.

A particular faith can not be endorsed by our government without harming the very ideals that we all aspire to. I know that Rep. Paul Broun means well. He thinks that by doing this, he is sharing a special thing with people who are unaware of a great truth. He has good intentions… I think we all know the destination of the road he is paving…

Opinions are like arm pits. We all have at least one and they all stink! Besides, when did a ball of blond, Californian, fluff have this much clout? Let’s face it, no beauty queen has solved world hunger or provided world peace. That makes them failures, right? She is no more likely to actually change anything about the status of gay marriage in either direction no matter how big a stink she makes of it either way. In a few more months, she will be just another bimbo with half naked pictures of her on the internet.

I am going to have to call BS on all counts. I happen to own an ASUS  1000HA. I have it dual booted with Windows XP and Ubuntu 9.4. I also have done various levels of support and repair on Apple computers and laptops for the last 12 years. What Apple fails to admit is that every time they tried to make a small machine similar to netbooks, they ended up with junk. Case in point the Macbook Air… No physical network port? Are they NUTS? (Yes, they are.) Larger machines, they make very nicely (although they are still over priced in the extreme). Ever since they failed at the Newton and the Powerbook Duo, Apple has had a chip on their shoulder for the subnotebook/netbook category. Add to the issue that a refurbished, off brand netbook can easily be made to run the latest Mac OSX and you have a very sore spot for a proprietary company that is used to charging two thousand dollars for a small form factor laptop.

Apple is going to have to grow up and deal with the fact that zealots are not the end all, be all of marketing. At some point, you have to actually give the market what they want to stay in business. They learned that with the iPod and the iPhone. The iPhone is merely a better version of the touch screen phones that Palm, Audiovox, HP, and many others have been selling for years with great success and considerable proffit. The iPod is just an improved MP3 player. MP3 players were popular in the market before the iPod and will always be.

I think they need to stick to actual advantages in their product line rather than propaganda that insults other manufacturers to sell their product. Either that, or admit that they lack to intellect and skill to compete in the netbook category.

Subject: New York State Budget Negotiations – Impact on Hospitals

WE NEED YOUR HELP: The New York State Legislature and the Governor’s Office are now in negotiations regarding the State Budget. While negotiations are on-going, under the current proposals the Medical Center stands to lose significant resources. Other medical centers would also experience significant losses. Cuts of this magnitude will seriously jeopardize our ability to meet the needs of some of the patients who come through our doors each year by forcing cuts in essential healthcare services, as well as limit our ability to invest in the latest medical technologies and make much-needed improvements to our infrastructure.

I urge you to send an email from your personal computer and personal email address to Governor Paterson and key Members of the New York State Legislature, opposing the proposed cuts to Graduate Medical Education (GME) funds to our Medical Center and the gross receipts tax (a tax on our total revenues). The email can simply say:

“Please oppose cuts to Graduate Medical Education and the imposition of a gross receipts tax, as proposed in the New York State Budget discussions.”

Please send your email in opposition as soon as possible to:

Governor David Paterson- www.ny.gov/governor/index.html and go to the bottom of the page and click on “Contact the Governor”.

Speaker Sheldon Silver- Speaker@assembly.state.ny.us

Assembly Health Chair, Richard Gottfried- gottfrr@assembly.state.ny.us

Assembly Member Jonathan Bing- bingj@assembly.state.ny.us

Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh- kavanaghb@assembly.state.ny.us

Senate Health Chair, Tom Duane- duane@senate.state.ny.us 

Senator Liz Krueger:  lizkrueger@gmail.com

You may also want to email your own Assembly Member and Senator about these proposed cuts and ask them to oppose the cuts too. To find your Assembly Member and Senator you can go to the website of the Healthcare Association of New York State at http://capwiz.com/hanys/state/main/?state=NY and put in your zip code.

Your support on this issue can make a big difference in the outcome of the budget negotiations. Thank you for taking the time to voice your views on these important issues.