Stuff

It was explained to me that the uproar is because the country can't afford it and something about it's against the law to force everyone to buy insurance. The thing is, in order for the insurance companies to afford to pay out on the sick people is to have all the well people sign up and pay into it too. How are you going to get them to do that without incentive? Apparently Indiana has decided to join with the states that are trying to sue the government.

I bought seeds today. Tomato, peppers, cucumber, dill, radish, basil. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans. I don't think we'll be moving this year.

We watched Public Enemies the other night. It was pretty good. It was neat seeing Crown Point in the movie. Dad put the ductwork in there when it was being renovated years ago. I will have to ask him for more details. It's too bad the beautiful First National Bank in East Chicago (that Dillinger robbed) was demolished. I thought the movie started out a little slow, but it picked up momentum.

YES WE CAN!!!

Have universal health care! It was voted on tonight, still needs to go through the Senate, though. Some people are screaming that it takes away their rights. Huh?

Ok, it takes away my right to be denied insurance because I have pre-conditions. It takes away my right to be terrified that I might have a serious illness while uninsured, in which case I would need to empty my savings account to get care, and when the money is gone, go on Medicaid, which is a spend down program, so forget about those savings.

Woo.

Tell me why I should be against this?

I want to add---if we had this maybe my dad would have gotten care sooner, and been able to live longer, same for my mother-in-law. Two dear people lost too soon because they delayed to get care because they didn't have insurance.

Star Trek

We watched the new Star Trek movie. For an old Star Trek fan like me it was a real adventure, although I couldn't quite wrap my head around the baby-faced young Spock. Well, Nimoy as Spock was always my favorite, so I guess I'm being a little extra critical. But it was good, and packed with action. And Nimoy does make an appearance!

Someone posted a picture of the old and new cast here:
http://www.rollanet.org/~vbeydler/van/3dreview/star-trek-old-new.jpg

Stardust

Tonight I learned that gold is star dust! I love the History channel program "How the Earth Was Made". So much new stuff to learn. Anyway, I always assumed that gold was just an element of the earth. But it turns out it was created by an exploding star, a huge supernova that rained gold particles through the universe. When the earth formed, some of the particles were captured. Gold always stays gold. It doesn't change, like iron turns into rust or uranium decays into lead. So the gold on your finger came from a faraway star, billions of years ago. That's even more enduring than diamonds made from coal. Who said diamonds are forever? Awesome.