Health Care

Health Reform, what does that mean to the average person. There are so may fighting this change and then there are those that have been fighting it for years and now realize there must be some sort of change. We need to begin to change the health care and pharmaceutical industries, the average Americans are consistently going broke behind medical expenses. We are not going to get it right with the first bill, but that is why there are amendments, and they will be necessary.

It is so frustrating that all that corporate is concerned with is the bottom line, the profit, but look at the casualties this sort of thinking gives rise to. It is actually embarrassing to this country. I don't believe that the average Americans would mind paying higher taxes if they are the ones that reap the benefit from the revenue, but the working man is not the one that benefits, those corporate heads are the ones that benefit. Once the tax is raised you never hear any more about what the money is being used for.

Obama is not trying to raise taxes he is merely trying to impose a tax system that is equal for all according to one's income and then channel those revenues in programs that are actually working. Health care reform is something that has been on the table for many decades but not much is ever done and that is just no long acceptable.

I read this in the LA Times earlier this week and it is unbelievable.

How could Obama still win Republican support for healthcare reform?

He should finally realize that we need to reform our insane malpractice system. The U.S. is spending between $60 billion and $200 billion a year on protection against lawsuits. I used to be a doctor, I know how much is wasted on defensive medicine. Everybody I practiced with spends hours and enormous amounts of money on wasted tests, diagnostic and procedures -- all to avoid lawsuits. The Democrats will not touch it. When Howard Dean was asked why, he said honestly and explicitly that Democrats don't want to antagonize the trial lawyers who donate huge amounts of money to the Democrats.

It is unbelievable that these doctors are not willing to do the necessary test on a patient. I am glad that doctors have some fear in being sued. If that is what it is going to take for them to be sure of the cause of a patient's complaints. It has been my experience that doctors either want to dismiss your ailments or over medicate.
It is even hard to find a good health care provider these days.

I long to see some drastic changes made, and hopefully this will in fact be the year that reform and regulation of these two industries begin.

Renewed Fashion Sense

For many years I have loved beautiful clothes and that is mostly because my mother was a really sharp dresser. I loved shoes and bags most of all, but honestly I loved it all. I realized later that I was not a shopper at all I was merely a buyer. I would walk in the stores where I shopped and if I saw something on display that I liked I would ask if it was in my size. Then there were sales ladies that knew me from being a frequent customer and they pull things for me, but I was never one to look through racks of clothes and put things together. Actually I didn't know how.

I grew up and only child and went to private schools all of my life. So I wore a uniform to school for 12 years of my life. Unlike the public school kids, who didn't wear a uniform to school everyday, they learned how to put their outfits together for school and mix and match things to change the look. This is something that I never learned and I didn't have any sisters to play dress up with. I guess you would think that I am whining about this, but I am not, just stating the facts.

I never looked through the magazines watching the trends, but back then fashion magazines were not as informative as they are now. It seems as though fashion was only for those that was in the industry, and it was even hard to find out how to get into this special group of people. Now every designer, fashion magazine, stylist, and anyone else involved in this elite group has a website. When looking through these fashion magazines who knew that the clothes the models were wearing were selected by what is now known as a stylist.

Now after raising a daughter and getting her through college, I am finally learning how to shop. Well part of this is because of my daughter. I have continued to love nice clothes and owned my share of them, but this shopping thing is fun. Now I am shopping with a purpose. I know some of your are saying 'whatever', but I am serious. Thanks to my daughter and the fashion websites, fashion magazines, and all of the fashion conscious people in Los Angeles, I am learning how to actually shop. I must say I am having the time of my life. The greatest thing is that I don't just buy something because it is appealing to me. I actually think about my purchases and how the new items will fit in with what I already own. Even better is when I go out shopping I already have in mind what I am looking for, and I rarely buy anything else, unless it will fit with my other wardrobe pieces and it is a great price and great quality.
This may all seem sophomoric to some, but it is freeing to me. It just goes to show you how something that many have been doing all of their lives can still be new to someone else.

I think a great deal of this has come about for me because I am now really looking at my life. Getting to know who I am and the best way to express who I am. Expressing myself through my style of clothes, through my writing, through my photography, and even my choice of vocation.

Renewal and discovery is where I am in life right now. It is like I am learning to breathe.

Who Says You Can't Be Fashionable on a Mobility Scooter

If you think I am speaking of a motor scooter you are wrong, I am talking about a mobility scooter. While I was at a red light on Van Nuys Blvd. waiting at the corner where there were two people on mobility scooters. The woman was parked ahead of the man and they were waiting for the light to change so they could cross the street. She was constantly turning back to talk to him which indicated to me that they were actually together. The lady was wearing a apple red cowboy style hat with a red leather hip length coat. Since she was sitting, I could not tell you much about the other clothing that she was wearing other than that they were dark in color. She was also wearing a ring on every finger of her right hand. I knew that because she was waving it around as she spoke to her companion. Of course she had perfectly decorated fingernails and I could see that red was on them somewhere along with a few other colors. Yes they were long enough for multiple colors.

The man was also on a mobility scooter and he was wearing a leather cowboy hat and a black leather jacket. The rest of his clothing was also black, and I could see that he was wearing a large Gold belt buckle. I guess he had that whole cowboy thing going on.

When the traffic light changed I proceeded on my way and I am assuming that they both did the same. All I could do was to smile. Of course I found this a little comical but my next thought was that it was also inspirational.

My second thought was that just because you face a challenge in your life doesn't mean that you stop living, regardless of how debilitating this challenge may be. Some times we have challenges that we can't change so we need to learn to continue to live in spite of them.

You continue to Move even when you are mobility challenged.

My Daughter the Stylist

It is amazing how our children grow up and you can see parts of yourself and other members of your family. And when you let them evolve naturally they surprise you and make you proud at the same time.

My daughter has always been a pretty girl, of course I am a bit bias but even from a baby she was often told how pretty she was. Now yes she did go through that awkward pre-teen stage as we all do, and then she once again blossomed into a very pretty young woman. She has beautiful features, skin, and hair, but she was never a diva. She really didn't care what she wore to school, if you bought it she would wear it. She was not really picky. When she went off to college, she wanted to look cute for obvious reason, college boys. Who would have known. We have all been there.

After the first year, she got into the wrinkled jeans and t-shirt stage and stayed there for quite some time. Then she cut off all of her hair and started wearing it curly, her natural texture. She also did what we all do and that is gain those college pounds.
Still wearing t-shirt, jeans, and short curly hair, she started to get into reading the fashion magazines, watching the fashion trends on television, where there are programming like Project Runway, Rachael Zoe, who has become her idol, and so many other programs. She has also been researching fashion on-line and reading the various fashion blogs. She has now decided that this fashion world is fun and that she wants to be stylist somewhat like Rachael Zoe.

After her visit to Los Angeles and seeing all of the options available in fashion, she went back to Savannah, started shedding those college pounds and making things happen. She is not as much into the Hollywood Glam as Rachael is, but she does like the style of Hollywood in the 50's. She has always loved vintage clothing and jewelry. Even before her visit to LA, she first started working with costume styling for a local play in Savannah, and got her accolades for that. So she is interested in working with costume designers and styling for tv.

She is now working with a local photographer in Savannah that is also trying to build a portfolio for himself in fashion photography.
She is having the time of her life and she is making it happen for herself and I am so very proud of her.

Whitney will also graduate from college this year with her bachelors in Mass Communication, which also gives her the option of working for a fashion magazine, possibly as a fashion editor.

Can you say 'Proud Mother"! Well yes I am and it is wonderful to see your children evolve and most importantly be happy with their choices for their lives. She is grateful to me for being the kind of parent that allowed her to grow her way, with guidance of course, but allowing her to be true to herself, and not necessarily my dreams for her.

Colmbus Day - An Insult

I don't understand how this country celebrates Columbus Day with all of the catastrophe that is associated with this so called discovery. First of all he is not the first European to even come to this land, The New World, Leif Ericson touched this land and built settlements here almost 500 years before Columbus. I guess because Leif didn't run back to Europe with the idea of getting the support to develop this new land, he does not get the credit. It appears as though Leif was amazed by the beauty of this new land and its people and possibly wanted to preserve as oppose to destroy, under the disguise of Christianity and Colonization.

When safe land passage to China and India became difficult, Columbus was merely trying to find a shorter passage between these countries by sea. This was all in a time when it was believed that the earth was flat.

On his first voyage, three large ships departed in August of 1492 and on Oct 12, 1492 they spotted land, which is now known as The Bahamas. Columbus called the island San Salvador, but the natives called it Guanahani. So why did he rename it, this was an established and cultivated land with human inhabitants before he got there. So who gave him the right? Well that is the questions that will be asked for many years to come in reference to the many things done by Europeans in the name of Christianity and Colonization. Before leaving this island, Columbus left 39 of his men behind to settle an area that is now known as Haiti, and captured up to 25 natives, most of which died before reaching Spain. Therefore if he was the founder of anything it was enslavement.

We may as well celebrate the pirates of The White Lion, the first ship to bring Africans to North America, specifically Jamestown, Virginia. The Africans were pirated from the slave ship, St. John the Baptist, while sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. It was headed to Vera Cruz in Spanish America.

So what are we celebrating?

Lazhanae- one of thousands failed by their Country

Violence among our youth starts when they are babies. They have no value for the lives of others because they don't value their own life, and why is that, because they have been taught that life has no value. This lesson is taught to them by the ones that are put here to care for them, and then those that are appointed to care for them when their parents can't or won't.

Many of these children are born to parents that don't want them, as Lazhanae was. Her mother was a substance abuser that gave birth to at least 8 children, and her intentions were to give them away, and she feels that she was doing them a favor by not aborting them. No I am not advocating abortion here, but doing them a favor, really. She should have done them a favor by not conceiving them if she did not want them or could not care for them. If she had enough sense to feel like abortion was wrong she should have known that this was also wrong and opted for some type of sterilization, or birth control. She was well aware of her life style and the circumstances of such a lifestyle.
What is even more appalling than this, is the fact that many of these children are placed in foster homes that should have never been foster homes at all. Some of these places are not fit for anyone to live in, and then there are times when these children are used and abused again and again. How do many of these people become foster parents? What is the criteria? What is the goal? What is the process?

It appears as though these kids are placed where ever someone would take them, regardless of where it is, as long as it is a perceived roof over the head and promise of food to eat.

A few years ago two children were award to their biological uncle after their mother died and he was a convicted sex offender. So he molested both the boy and the girl for about five years before anyone noticed. One day a lady that was familiar with him and his family knew that he was a convicted sex offender, she saw him with these children and called Child Protective Services. Now how in hell did that happen. This sort of thing really infuriates me.

We want to know why children are killing each other, they are only displaying what they know , what they have been taught, by the supposedly responsible adults of this nation.

It is known that Hurt People often Hurt People

Women At A Certain Age

There is a new movie out entitles, 'Men of a Certain Age' but nobody seems to want to talk about women of a certain age. With the amount of changes that a women's body goes through in her life time it is still surprising that in this date and time it is still mostly ignored. Well we can at least say that it stays out of the mainstream. Well I am a women of a certain age and it can be devastating when a women reaches this certain age. My understanding of the changes that takes place in a woman's body is so much better now, but there was no warning.

I understand now why there are some women that reach the age of 50 and want to still dress like they are 20. Why there are so many women out there that has a hard time accepting their aging. Well even though I am accepting this aging process, and I have no desire to be 20 again, it is not an easy process.

First society does not like the aging woman but is in totally acceptance of an aging man. Our body changes inside and out and it is a bit devastating to the ego. I believe it is mostly because of the lack of acceptance. Our aging men want us to continue to look like we did 20 years ago and that is not possible. Not only are these physical changes challenging, but there are a great deal of emotional changes that are mostly brought on by our hormones. Menopause is quite different for every woman and can be cataclysmic for others.

On either end of the spectrum, it is definitely life altering and something most of us are not equipped to handle, and as much as it is talked and written about it is not nearly enough. There are still those that tell you that everything will be alright. That is funny to me, because you don't feel like things are going to be alright. You often times feel like hurting someone. Often times you are so out of character until you don't even recognize yourself, and that to me is disturbing.

There are all kinds of things on the market to help with the hormonal imbalance that treat the symptoms but not near enough out there to help you understand what it is that you are going through. The constant shift of emotions that your are dealing with or trying to deal with. People look at you like you are crazy when you talk about it, and there are times when you feel you are possibly losing your mind, and yes, losing your grip has been a reality for some women.

So understand that this is a difficult time for women and even with all that is written about it, it is very personal.

Bantering with Tommy Davidson

Today while shopping on Ventura Blvd. near Laurel Canyon, I was sitting outside of Starbucks enjoying my pumpkin spice latte as Tommy Davidson walks out of the Starbucks. I didn't notice him sitting inside while I was inside, but he was obviously there. When I sat down outside I noticed a beautiful Siberian husky puppy tied to a pole and a lady came out and petted this puppy. A few minutes later Tommy came out and was standing right in front of me and finished his drink and reached down to untie the puppy. I then said to him, " How are you doing?" He turned around and said, "hello how are you." I then said, "I noticed that you are getting a bit of gray hair up there is that why I have not seen you on tv lately" He said, "I'm on tv, where have you been." I then asked him what channel was he on and he told me Showtime, then I told him that I didn't have Showtime. Then he said, " don't be giving me a hard time because of your cable deficiencies". We both laughed and I told him I guess I am going to have to get Showtime, and laughed. We then said take care to each other, and he got his puppy and went across the street, jumped into this beautiful convertible Jaquar, smiled and drove off. That was really cool to me, he was nice.

About three minutes later Eric Benet walked up to the crosswalk, and then looked around and behind him, which is where I was sitting, to see who was looking at him, and I made sure that I was not looking in his direction. I am not very fond of this guy. Every since he violated his marriage vows with Halle Berry and had the nerve to want alimony, I lost what little respect I did have for him.
Even though this was all fun, I enjoyed my shopping as well.

A New Direction

I believe that we all reach a point in our lives when we are tired of the status quo and want something a bit more meaningful. I have always been told that when you serve others that your life is more meaningful to you and to others. It is just time to stop thinking of what I want and start thinking of what I can do to make the world a little better place. This has been on my mind for quite some time, especially since I moved to Los Angeles. Unfortunately I had to fight some demons and realized that these demons had deep roots. So the process of slaying these dragons is still ongoing, but as they say, "I can see the light".

When I see how bad this economy is and how little I am really affected by it and how gravely so many others are affected, it compels me to do something. I am struggling to find my place in this. I still have to make a living and I am trying to decided how much I am willing to sacrifice to give back. I don't want to just give money, which is the easiest thing to do, and many do that and yes it is necessary. I want to give of my time and my heart. So many people just need someone there for support and encouragement to move to the next place in their lives. Then there are many that need necessities that we often take for granted. Things like housing, food, clothes, health care, school supplies and time from others. The things that makes everyday life bearable and often possible.

I find myself wanting to do something for children, because they are our future and they are the innocent victims in all of this madness. They often need guidance, encouragement, love, and often times just a hug.

A few of years ago when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected President of Liberia, I felt compelled to help her be successful in her country. Liberia's history states,'

Liberia, "land of the free," was founded by free African-Americans and freed slaves from the United States in 1820. An initial group of 86 immigrants, who came to be called Americo-Liberians, established a settlement in Christopolis (now Monrovia, named after U.S. President James Monroe) on February 6, 1820.

Thousands of freed American slaves and free African-Americans arrived during the following years, leading to the formation of more settlements and culminating in a declaration of independence of the Republic of Liberia on July 26, 1847. The drive to resettle freed slaves in Africa was promoted by the American Colonization Society (ACS), an organization of white clergymen, abolitionists, and slave owners founded in 1816 by Robert Finley, a Presbyterian minister. Between 1821 and 1867 the ACS resettled some 10,000 African-Americans and several thousand Africans from interdicted slave ships; it governed the Commonwealth of Liberia until independence in 1847.

These facts makes it very personal for me for obvious reasons. President Sirleaf appeared on Oprah and talked about her being educated in the states, how she was in exile, and the significant sacrifices she made for her country. The thing that touched me the most is the amount of children that wanted to go to school and could not afford to go, and the price tag was less than 300 dollars per year, for tuition, clothes, and school supplies. The tuition at the time was only 75 dollars per year. The difference that I saw with these children in comparison with many in the states is that these children really wanted to learn and when they had the opportunity they worked really hard as did their parents. The other key ingredient, was that they had the support of their parents.
I discovered that one of my co-workers was from Liberia and I told him of my idea. He put me in touch with his brother in law, who emailed me information along with a picture of a 12 year old girl, and wanted me to send a little less than 300 dollars for this child. Well I didn't do that, because I don't know this person and have no reason to trust them. Another reason is that some of the worst scams are from the continent of Africa. Preying on those who want to help. My idea was to go to Liberia myself and see children that needed help and wanted to go to school and personally sponsor them by buying their clothes and school supplies and paying their tuition directly to the school. I have talked to a couple of my friends that were also willing to sponsor a child through me. Not just for that year but every year until they finished school. This way I know every dime is going to the child, because I was to take care of my own expenses. I would go back yearly to check on their progress and make sure that the money is for the reasons intended.
Unfortunately, I have not done this as of yet, but it is still something that I plan to do. Within the next year I truly hope to make it happen.

Yes I know that there are many people in need right here in the states and I intend to find these opportunities as well, but President Sirleaf is the first African female President and I want her to be successful and I want her efforts to be successful, and one of those efforts is to educate the children in her country.