are you overinsured?

i think that i, personally, am just about insured enough-- except for the part where it's very precarious, and i could easily lose my insurance.

Health Plan to Revive Debate - Los Angeles Times

Most conservatives -- including those in the administration -- believe that the root cause of most problems with the nation's healthcare system is that most Americans are over-insured.

They argue that insurance keeps people from feeling the sting of prices and therefore from being wise consumers. Hence, conservatives' interest in making individuals take more risk and bear more responsibility for healthcare, retirement savings and other social safety nets.

But a wide array of polls reveal that, if anything, people feel underinsured, and have little interest in adding to the financial risks they face.

'The average American isn't interested in having more of his or her skin in the game,' said Robert D. Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute, a centrist Washington think tank. 'They already think they are paying plenty for healthcare and bearing enough of the risk as it is.'

i hate quicken. i also hate my checking account statements. there are a whole lot of things that i hate right now, and all of them have to do with money.

except for red lobster, because i just saw a commercial for yummy looking stuffed shrimp. and it's 1230am, and they're all closed.

and why in the hell is the closing date on my last statement in quicken weird? arrrgh.

has everyone looked at the total cuteness that is

my dogs? because really, you have to. the adorableness. this does not get across the total cuteness of them, but it's a start.

You scored as Sif. Sif 70% Freyr 70% Freya 60% Odin 60% Loki 60% Frigg 50% Balder 40% Njord 40% Hel 40% Heimdall 30% Bragi 30% Skadi 20% Tyr 20% Thor 10% Which Norse God or Goddess are you most like? created with QuizFarm.com

for samuel alito.

Christmas Carols

Children do not always mean
hope. To some they mean despair.
This woman with her hair cut off
so she could not hang herself
threw herself from a rooftop, thirty
times raped and pregnant by the enemy
who did this to her. This one had her pelvis
broken by hammers so the child
could be extracted. Then she was thrown away,
useless, a ripped sack. This one
punctured herself with kitchen skewers
and bled to death on a greasy
oilcloth table, rather than bear
again and past the limit. There
is a limit, though who knows
when it may come? Nineteenth-century
ditches are littered with small wax corpses
dropped there in terror. A plane
swoops too low over the fox farm
and the mother eats her young. This too
is Nature. Think twice then
before you worship turned furrows, or pay
lip service to some full belly
or other, or single out one girl to play
the magic mother, in blue
& white, up on that pedestal,
perfect & intact, distinct
from those who aren't. Which means
everyone else. It's a matter
of food & available blood. If mother-
hood is sacred, put
your money where your mouth is. Only
then can you expect the coming
down to the wrecked & shimmering earth
of that miracle you sing
about, the day
when every child is a holy birth.

--Margaret Atwood

i like this guy. he is a congressman from michigan.

John Conyers, Jr. -- ConyersBlog:

So we are back to Clinton bashing. Which part of the Clinton Administration is it that the right wing didn't like: the peace or the prosperity? I welcome the contrast between this Administration and all of its wrongdoing and the achievements (as well as the foibles) of the last.

i dreamt about the ex last night. i dreamt he sent me email. it wasn't even a new email, it was just a reply in a conversation we were having. yet there the email was, and there i was, pleased and happy about it.

this is probably spurred by the fact that we had a few good interactions last week (all of which were initiated by me) and there is some part of my brain that hasn't gotten the message yet that he isn't going to (whether it's can't or won't is pretty much irrelevant at this point) start reaching out to me. it didn't happen while we were married, it hasn't happened yet, it's not going to happen.

i think i want to have that tattooed on whichever part of my brain isn't getting the message. maybe in glow in the dark ink.

i don't especially need or want sympathy here; it's just a matter of time. but offers of test tube brushes, sporks, or tattoo parlor recommendations would be gladly accepted.

also my dog wishes i would stop beating her, so i must now go do that. (silly silly part hound with the big brown eyes.)

okay, the hippo and the tortoise i can understand.

however, this is beginning to make me think of a certain scene in ghostbusters...

Hamster, snake best friends at Tokyo zoo - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com

witchtrivets tagged me to do the four things meme. i have been assiduously avoiding it so far, but i actually got tagged! (see, this is why you tag people. so they feel all popular and also slightly obligated.)

Four Jobs I've Had
1. page at the library. useful skill picked up? i can now recite the alphabet starting from m, rather than always having to start from a.
2. cashier at antique store.
3. clerk at the local county government. i also got to answer the phone, sometimes.
4. computer geek of various sorts. i now work for the pope rather than for a soulless multinational acronym. the pope gives me more vacation.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

oooh, this one is hard. i am not a movies sort of person. however.

1. buckaroo banzai
2. fried green tomatoes
3. bound
4.

Four Places I've Lived
1. new york city! but i was too small to remember.
2. michigan. i liked michigan. of course, i was six.
3. suburb of st paul minnesota
4. and now st paul minnesota proper!

(i'm skipping a few places)

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch
1. csi
2. er (when will kerry get another girlfriend! oy!)
3. law and order
4. house


Four Places I've Been on Vacation
1. moscow (no, not idaho!)
2. toronto, on
3. detroit, mi
4. seattle, wa

Four Blogs You Visit Daily
1. one good thing
2. dooce
3. Peter's Cross Station
4. my lj friends list

(i check lots of blogs every other day or so. so don't feel sad.)

Four of Your Favorite Foods
1. milk chocolate
2. cheese
3. lasagna
4. salami

Four Places You'd Rather Be
1. at home with the pups
2. russia
3. um. well.
4. gosh. this is a hard one.

Four Albums You Can't Live Without
1. nine inch nails, pretty hate machine.
2. ani difranco, not so soft
3. semisonic, all about chemistry
4. nylons, happy together

Four Vehicles I've Owned
1. chrysler new yorker that used to be my grandmother's. i loved this car.
2. 1994 (5?) saturn sw2 wagon in teal. my very first car that i bought!
3. 2001 toyota prius
4. that's it! i'm driving the prius now!

Four Taggees
um.
1. rivka, she of otters fame.
2. m. socks.
3. van
4. mmpantsless.

okay. NO ONE is allowed to test #4. and lt, apparently you're allergic to me. (see #8.)

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Betsy!

1. The average human spends about 30 days during their life in betsy.


2. Finding betsy on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.


3. The moon is 400 times closer to the Earth than betsy, and 400 times smaller.


4. If you drop betsy from more than three metres above ground level, she will always land feet-first!


5. If you chew gum while peeling betsy then it will stop you from crying.


6. Astronauts get taller when they are in betsy!


7. Humans share about fifty percent of their DNA with betsy.


8. Oranges, lemons, watermelons, pineapples and betsy are all berries.


9. Betsy is the traditional gift for a couple on their third wedding anniversary.


10. Betsy was declared extinct in 1902!

I am interested in - do tell me about
herhimitthem

i am so totally stealing from lauren over at feministe. just so you know.

anyhow. some say this is the best blonde joke ever, but as with lauren, i am much more fond of this one.

Q: What do you call a blonde who flies a plane?
A: A pilot, you fucking misogynist.

after years of not knowing what the hell it was, i am now afraid that i love emo.

oh, dear.

pam noles talks about the sci-fi channel's adaptation of earthsea, and growing up as an sf fan of color. this is a subject near and dear to my heart, as pasty white little old me is hoping to adopt a kid, and if i do, it will likely be transracially.

The Infinite Matrix | Pam Noles | Shame:

Usually it would be just me in the basement sprawled on the floor surrounded by snacks, Legos and books to read during the commercials. If he was off shift, sometimes Dad would come down and join me in his leather recliner by the stairs. Every once in a while Mom called down from the kitchen Are you letting her watch those weird things? And we'd lie in unison, No. If she came down to check for herself, Dad would get in trouble.
Dad had his own names for the movies.
What's this? 'Escape to a White Planet?
It's called 'When Worlds Collide.' I'm sure I sounded indignant.
'Mars Kills the White People.' I love this one.
Daaaaad. It says it right there. 'War of the Worlds'. I know I sighed heavily, but was careful to turn back to the tv before rolling my eyes.

it's blog for choice month. i'm not doing it, but amanda, at pandagon, is.

But the way in was so easy at Pandagon:

Can you imagine a politician saying something like, "I've always been opposed to heart surgery on demand. I think that in order to get it, you have to have a 24 hour waiting period where you really consider why you screwed up by eating fattening food in the first place. And really, it shouldn't be simple--I'm definitely against laser heart surgery, because that makes it too easy on heart patients. They should all have their chests cracked open so they really understand the gravity of the situation."

i expect nice people don't play "i can put my fingers in your mouth!" with their dogs all the time.

i have never claimed to be nice.

those hippie, far left lawmakers, senator lindsey graham (r-s.c.) and senator arlen specter (r-pa.) don't like how president bush is trying to grab more power for the executive branch of the government.

KR Washington Bureau | 01/06/2006 | Bush using a little-noticed strategy to alter the balance of power

"If you take this to its logical conclusion, because during war the commander in chief has an obligation to protect us, any statute on the books could be summarily waived," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

those hippie, far left lawmakers, senator lindsey graham (r-s.c.) and senator arlen specter (r-pa.) don't like how president bush is trying to grab more power for the executive branch of the government.

KR Washington Bureau | 01/06/2006 | Bush using a little-noticed strategy to alter the balance of power

"If you take this to its logical conclusion, because during war the commander in chief has an obligation to protect us, any statute on the books could be summarily waived," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

the myth of moral hazard[1] as applied to health insurance, and why and how it's ruining health insurance in this country.

gladwell dot com - the moral hazard myth

[1] don't worry if you don't know what moral hazard is; i didn't know what it was by name. but there's a good definition in the article.

New Scientist SPACE - Features - 13 things that do not make sense

13 amazingly cool things that do not make sense. the placebo effect, homeopathy, methane on mars, the kuiper cliff, cold fusion, and a few others. this is so neat.

is there any way to tell who is subscribed to this via bloglines? because bloglines is hitting my rss feed like crazy, and now i am wondering if i have sixteen thousand fans that i never knew about who are reading me.

oh, the excitement.