Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 26
November 6, 2012
The New Bike II
Haven't posted about NewBike here in a month plus, so here's the latest news on the bike and the fitness program. NewBike went in for a checkup and came out with a clean bill of health. I'm still very, very happy with it. I'm seeing definite gains in fitness (that really showed up during the NYC trip) though I'm not where I want to be yet.
NewBike has proven itself good on trails and on the street both, just as I'd hoped. I've been able to extend the distance I can ride on the trails on the land (and thus vary the trails) though I still have to stop every few hundred yards (esp. uphill) to catch my breath. But it doesn't take as long as it did, and I'm able to creep the distance up without exceeding the heart-rate I don't want to exceed (or even reach, most of the time.) I now regularly go out with a tool or two in the back (lopping shears, pruning saw, sack of birdseed) and make use of them for our wildlife management project.
As for street riding, I made it to the Post Office for the first time right before the NYC trip; I put an old briefcase in the back basket to carry the mail back. That was probably less than a half mile round trip.. Yesterday I made it (combining riding on back streets with walking the bike across the highway and downtown, as it's not at all safe to ride there) to the bank (a little over a half mile) and back by another route to the Post Office, then back to our house. Two crossings of the highway, one of Main Street (all walked, and one block of Main walked) and the rest riding. Somewhat more than a mile total. That, plus the morning's "land" ride (a circuit of about a half mile) went well. Today I made the same circuit on the land, and a mile (down the street to Main and back) on pavement. I was able to go the half mile up slope from Main without stopping.
Except for concerns about traffic (and I pick the times of day when traffic is minimal) riding on the street is a lot easier--but riding on the land is more exciting. Will I make that turn? Can I steer accurately in the bumpiest parts? Did I prune that tree up enough, or will it slap me in the face? (That happened once, I missed a turn in the trail and rode right into the cactus-y area. But managed to stop before running over or into any cactus. The tree is now pruned up higher.
So...progress. No pictures yet of the expanded range, or street riding, but maybe in another month.
NewBike has proven itself good on trails and on the street both, just as I'd hoped. I've been able to extend the distance I can ride on the trails on the land (and thus vary the trails) though I still have to stop every few hundred yards (esp. uphill) to catch my breath. But it doesn't take as long as it did, and I'm able to creep the distance up without exceeding the heart-rate I don't want to exceed (or even reach, most of the time.) I now regularly go out with a tool or two in the back (lopping shears, pruning saw, sack of birdseed) and make use of them for our wildlife management project.
As for street riding, I made it to the Post Office for the first time right before the NYC trip; I put an old briefcase in the back basket to carry the mail back. That was probably less than a half mile round trip.. Yesterday I made it (combining riding on back streets with walking the bike across the highway and downtown, as it's not at all safe to ride there) to the bank (a little over a half mile) and back by another route to the Post Office, then back to our house. Two crossings of the highway, one of Main Street (all walked, and one block of Main walked) and the rest riding. Somewhat more than a mile total. That, plus the morning's "land" ride (a circuit of about a half mile) went well. Today I made the same circuit on the land, and a mile (down the street to Main and back) on pavement. I was able to go the half mile up slope from Main without stopping.
Except for concerns about traffic (and I pick the times of day when traffic is minimal) riding on the street is a lot easier--but riding on the land is more exciting. Will I make that turn? Can I steer accurately in the bumpiest parts? Did I prune that tree up enough, or will it slap me in the face? (That happened once, I missed a turn in the trail and rode right into the cactus-y area. But managed to stop before running over or into any cactus. The tree is now pruned up higher.
So...progress. No pictures yet of the expanded range, or street riding, but maybe in another month.
November 1, 2012
The Learning Power of Children
The One Laptop Per Child project (OLPC for short) has been giving tablet notebooks with solar chargers to various schools in Africa and testing the results.
They tried a new experiment in two remote Ethiopian villages where no one--adult or child--had ever seen a written word. Delivered boxes--taped up boxes--to the villages and left them. What happened is...well, look:
http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/ethiopian-kids.php
So the take-home lesson on human potential is this: human children are born knowing how to learn. Learning is what humans do. These kids are over-the-roof smart and capable; discovery learning--figuring it out for themselves, self-motivated learning--is part of our human nature.
And we're wasting every kid who--for any reason at all--doesn't learn, doesn't want to learn, is afraid to learn, isn't allowed to learn, is kept from being all he or she could be.
(copied from my post at SFF.net)
They tried a new experiment in two remote Ethiopian villages where no one--adult or child--had ever seen a written word. Delivered boxes--taped up boxes--to the villages and left them. What happened is...well, look:
http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/ethiopian-kids.php
So the take-home lesson on human potential is this: human children are born knowing how to learn. Learning is what humans do. These kids are over-the-roof smart and capable; discovery learning--figuring it out for themselves, self-motivated learning--is part of our human nature.
And we're wasting every kid who--for any reason at all--doesn't learn, doesn't want to learn, is afraid to learn, isn't allowed to learn, is kept from being all he or she could be.
(copied from my post at SFF.net)
October 31, 2012
Yarn Problem
This hasn't happened to me before. Oh, I've had brief yarn problems (a big slub, an inch or so not spun as tightly) but this time....well...look and see:
I had just started the toe decreases on this sock, when suddenly I had not a strand of 4 ply yarn but a cluster of plies. You may be able to see that some of the "yarn" visible on the ball is this stuff, and some (deeper in) is perfectly normal yarn. There's over seven yards of this, (when I took it off the ball to measure it) although I think there's enough normal yarn to finish the toe, after I tink back to a likely area.
In this closeup, you can see the four plies that--in the rest of the ball--were indeed twisted together, but here aren't. I'm trying to tell myself that 7-8 yards of this stuff will be useful. Right now, however, it's a nuisance.
I had just started the toe decreases on this sock, when suddenly I had not a strand of 4 ply yarn but a cluster of plies. You may be able to see that some of the "yarn" visible on the ball is this stuff, and some (deeper in) is perfectly normal yarn. There's over seven yards of this, (when I took it off the ball to measure it) although I think there's enough normal yarn to finish the toe, after I tink back to a likely area.
In this closeup, you can see the four plies that--in the rest of the ball--were indeed twisted together, but here aren't. I'm trying to tell myself that 7-8 yards of this stuff will be useful. Right now, however, it's a nuisance.
October 30, 2012
Writing, Biking, Knitting
Arriving home from the NYC trip and almost immediately falling sick (a flu-like illness, but it either wasn't flu, or the flu shot taken before the trip changed its course somewhat) did nothing to accelerate writing, biking, or knitting. Or, for that matter, house-cleaning, laundry, cooking...or anything else.
However, well at last, I'm back on track in all three areas.
Writing--finished and emailed away an essay for an anthology. Am mentally blocking out the next essay, a foreword for the tenth anniversary edition of The Speed of Dark, and making notes on the changes I thought of for Book V of the current series. Unfortunately the writing I did on the way home seems to have been affected by whatever virus was about to take me down, esp. on the Chicago-to-Texas leg. But ideas are percolating nicely. Biking--ramped up the amount of bike-riding and associated walking (since I can't ride as far as I would like, yet--and pushing the bike along is also exercise.) Today rode almost all the way down to Main and back (almost, because of the broken and uneven pavement in the last 50 yards.) That's almost a mile, and I also rode (or pushed the bike) on the land, for just under a half hour. Heart-rate monitor is helping me track progress and avoid overdoing things. Riding the bike on the land is a lot more fun than the bike trainer indoors. Knitting--the Turquoise One pair of socks aren't finished (they made great progress as far as Syracuse, NY on the train, and I turned the heels at my friend's house in Oswego, but slowed down after that. However, I do expect to finish them before Thanksgiving; they're approaching the toe decreases. (Ideally, finish them AND Red Three, so I can start on Turquoise Two and Purple One.) I'm wearing all six finished pairs in sequence, and I can really tell he difference between the early pairs and the later ones. Want more of the later kind.
However, well at last, I'm back on track in all three areas.
Writing--finished and emailed away an essay for an anthology. Am mentally blocking out the next essay, a foreword for the tenth anniversary edition of The Speed of Dark, and making notes on the changes I thought of for Book V of the current series. Unfortunately the writing I did on the way home seems to have been affected by whatever virus was about to take me down, esp. on the Chicago-to-Texas leg. But ideas are percolating nicely. Biking--ramped up the amount of bike-riding and associated walking (since I can't ride as far as I would like, yet--and pushing the bike along is also exercise.) Today rode almost all the way down to Main and back (almost, because of the broken and uneven pavement in the last 50 yards.) That's almost a mile, and I also rode (or pushed the bike) on the land, for just under a half hour. Heart-rate monitor is helping me track progress and avoid overdoing things. Riding the bike on the land is a lot more fun than the bike trainer indoors. Knitting--the Turquoise One pair of socks aren't finished (they made great progress as far as Syracuse, NY on the train, and I turned the heels at my friend's house in Oswego, but slowed down after that. However, I do expect to finish them before Thanksgiving; they're approaching the toe decreases. (Ideally, finish them AND Red Three, so I can start on Turquoise Two and Purple One.) I'm wearing all six finished pairs in sequence, and I can really tell he difference between the early pairs and the later ones. Want more of the later kind.
October 22, 2012
Why I Don't Watch TV Debates
In addition to the fact that I absorb information much better by reading than listening, the main reason I don't watch candidate debates, including presidential candidate debates, is that they offer nothing useful in making a decision. They're bogus--not real debates--not a real exchange of information supporting opposing views. It's too easy for a plausible liar to look good, too easy for an earnest expression or a forceful manner to hide ignorance or dishonesty.
What I do, in making a decision on which candidate to support, is look at the whole history of that candidate: his/her previous writing, speaking, acting, voting record...his/her claimed value system v. his/her behavior....his/her claimed and acted-out value system v. my value system, and my beliefs about what is best for the country. Has the candidate shown competence in the set of job skills he or she will need? (Does the candidate even have a clue what those are?) Has the candidate shown the base of knowledge he or she will need in that position? (Does the candidate even have a clue what he or she needs to know to do the job well?) Has the candidate shown the kind of character needed for that position?
To get my vote, a candidate does not have to be perfect. Nobody's perfect. I can pick holes in any of them--so could most of us. But there's a difference between a candidate who has, say 78% of the job skills, and 82% of the knowledge base, and 95% of the character traits...and one who has 42% of the job skills, 37% of the knowledge base, and 21% of the character traits. A candidate with whose basic political philosophy I disagree still might get my vote IF he/she shows awareness of the facts, has the job skills, and is of sufficiently strong character to admit when his/her philosophy runs counter to the facts, and shows sufficient respect for those who disagree.
In this election cycle, it didn't take debates to convince me that Romney/Ryan would not get my vote. Neither Romney nor Ryan has the knowledge base to be President, nor does either of them show an ability or willingness to learn anything they don't already "know." Thus they base their policies and decisions on ignorance--not a safe strategy. Neither Romney nor Ryan has the job skills to exercise the duties of President, as their past histories clearly show. Neither Romney nor Ryan has the character suited to leading this nation; both have lied in public statements, shown and expressed contempt for large segments of the population,
Before the presidential candidate debates, it was already clear that Mitt Romney was a practiced and supple liar--a liar willing to continue with a lie proven false over and over because it was a popular lie with his following. His lies, exposed repeatedly in multiple venues, did not slow him down at all--he repeated the old ones and made up new ones all through the campaign. I expected him to lie in the debates, and he did--as fact-checkers pointed out after the first two debates (the third is still going on.) When one participant in a debate is lying, the rest of his/her performance does not matter...the smooth delivery, the signs of confidence, are the signs of a con-man in action, not a principled person.
So I had no reason to watch the debates, only to look at the fact-checker reports after each. I support Obama; I supported Obama in 2008, from the precinct level on up, and I support Obama now...on his record (which is not perfect, but outperforms both Romney's in Massachusetts and projections of Romney's policies forward.) I stand with the "nails ladies" and "animals" and "those people" that Romney's donors think are inferior and "leeches" against the real leeches that do their best to damage those who do the country's work.
It doesn't take any stupid bogus debate to show me who's the better man for the job and for VP.
Comment note: Anonymous comments go to screening and will be deleted if troll-like. Troll-like comments will be deleted in any case.
What I do, in making a decision on which candidate to support, is look at the whole history of that candidate: his/her previous writing, speaking, acting, voting record...his/her claimed value system v. his/her behavior....his/her claimed and acted-out value system v. my value system, and my beliefs about what is best for the country. Has the candidate shown competence in the set of job skills he or she will need? (Does the candidate even have a clue what those are?) Has the candidate shown the base of knowledge he or she will need in that position? (Does the candidate even have a clue what he or she needs to know to do the job well?) Has the candidate shown the kind of character needed for that position?
To get my vote, a candidate does not have to be perfect. Nobody's perfect. I can pick holes in any of them--so could most of us. But there's a difference between a candidate who has, say 78% of the job skills, and 82% of the knowledge base, and 95% of the character traits...and one who has 42% of the job skills, 37% of the knowledge base, and 21% of the character traits. A candidate with whose basic political philosophy I disagree still might get my vote IF he/she shows awareness of the facts, has the job skills, and is of sufficiently strong character to admit when his/her philosophy runs counter to the facts, and shows sufficient respect for those who disagree.
In this election cycle, it didn't take debates to convince me that Romney/Ryan would not get my vote. Neither Romney nor Ryan has the knowledge base to be President, nor does either of them show an ability or willingness to learn anything they don't already "know." Thus they base their policies and decisions on ignorance--not a safe strategy. Neither Romney nor Ryan has the job skills to exercise the duties of President, as their past histories clearly show. Neither Romney nor Ryan has the character suited to leading this nation; both have lied in public statements, shown and expressed contempt for large segments of the population,
Before the presidential candidate debates, it was already clear that Mitt Romney was a practiced and supple liar--a liar willing to continue with a lie proven false over and over because it was a popular lie with his following. His lies, exposed repeatedly in multiple venues, did not slow him down at all--he repeated the old ones and made up new ones all through the campaign. I expected him to lie in the debates, and he did--as fact-checkers pointed out after the first two debates (the third is still going on.) When one participant in a debate is lying, the rest of his/her performance does not matter...the smooth delivery, the signs of confidence, are the signs of a con-man in action, not a principled person.
So I had no reason to watch the debates, only to look at the fact-checker reports after each. I support Obama; I supported Obama in 2008, from the precinct level on up, and I support Obama now...on his record (which is not perfect, but outperforms both Romney's in Massachusetts and projections of Romney's policies forward.) I stand with the "nails ladies" and "animals" and "those people" that Romney's donors think are inferior and "leeches" against the real leeches that do their best to damage those who do the country's work.
It doesn't take any stupid bogus debate to show me who's the better man for the job and for VP.
Comment note: Anonymous comments go to screening and will be deleted if troll-like. Troll-like comments will be deleted in any case.
October 1, 2012
The Modern Paperless Office
Imagine how bad this would be if we were still in the old system, where everyone used paper for everything.
September 27, 2012
The New Bike: The Fitness Project
As I mentioned before, various things led to being a lot less fit than I wanted to be. The mountain bike I was given didn't fit me and was also not suited for carrying stuff around the place when I wanted to work on something like clearing trails. So I went looking for a new bike, with the help of a friend who commutes by bike and knew a really good bike shop. The new bike and I had an adjustment period, but it was much shorter than with the mountain bike (AKA "Grace-the-Assassin-Bike" from my character of Aunt Grace in the Vatta's War books) and today I was ready to ask my husband to take some pictures of me riding NewBike out on the land. NewBike hasn't generated a name yet.
At the starting point, in the north horse lot. The gate to the barn lot is behind me, the gate to the back yard--open--is on the left. I'm at the "inside corner" of the horse lot, about to ride across it to the gate out to the 80 acres.
I've made it across the north horse lot, out the gate, and am starting across the Near Meadow--slopes down to a natural drainage, then back up to an old dredged ditch, where we put in some rock to make crossing it easier with the tractor.
You can just see the shadow line of the dip for the natural drainage behind me, and the more distinct shadow line of the ditch crossing ahead. I cross the ditch and turn gently right to head up to the dry woods corner, the trees in the distance. Upslope all the way.
Coming back from the dry woods corner, downhill to the ditch crossing (straight shadow line lower part of picture. The next shots were with the zoom out, so perspective is flattened. I'm on a mowed path--that was a cow path when we moved here--and the mowed paths are safer than walking in tall grass in rattlesnake country. There's a mowed path that parallels the ditch to the south property line, and then runs west down to the creek woods, past Cloud Pavilion on the way. There's a mowed path all the way along the edge of the creek woods, south to north, and so on.
Making the turn from the path I was on to the ditch crossing and the path back up to the horse lot starting point. Another shot with some zoom lens action.
Over the ditch crossing and partway across the Near Meadow. Today I rode up to the Dry Woods corner and back twice. By this second time, I was getting a bit tired. NewBike also has a front basket (detachable) which I'll be using soon to carry camera & binoculars out to the land, while the rear basket will hold tools--fence pliers, the small lopping shears, folding pruning saw, and the like. And also for local grocery shopping. So after many years without a bike (that would be "many decades"-- actually: haven't had a bike (not counting the police sale of a bike that never worked for me until August this year since I was in college), I'm now back in the ranks of cyclists, albeit the slow end of the pack. And yes, those are gray hairs showing in the pictures. I hope to put many a mile on this bike, riding around the place and back and forth to town for errands to the post office, bank, and small grocery store.
At the starting point, in the north horse lot. The gate to the barn lot is behind me, the gate to the back yard--open--is on the left. I'm at the "inside corner" of the horse lot, about to ride across it to the gate out to the 80 acres.
I've made it across the north horse lot, out the gate, and am starting across the Near Meadow--slopes down to a natural drainage, then back up to an old dredged ditch, where we put in some rock to make crossing it easier with the tractor.
You can just see the shadow line of the dip for the natural drainage behind me, and the more distinct shadow line of the ditch crossing ahead. I cross the ditch and turn gently right to head up to the dry woods corner, the trees in the distance. Upslope all the way.
Coming back from the dry woods corner, downhill to the ditch crossing (straight shadow line lower part of picture. The next shots were with the zoom out, so perspective is flattened. I'm on a mowed path--that was a cow path when we moved here--and the mowed paths are safer than walking in tall grass in rattlesnake country. There's a mowed path that parallels the ditch to the south property line, and then runs west down to the creek woods, past Cloud Pavilion on the way. There's a mowed path all the way along the edge of the creek woods, south to north, and so on.
Making the turn from the path I was on to the ditch crossing and the path back up to the horse lot starting point. Another shot with some zoom lens action.
Over the ditch crossing and partway across the Near Meadow. Today I rode up to the Dry Woods corner and back twice. By this second time, I was getting a bit tired. NewBike also has a front basket (detachable) which I'll be using soon to carry camera & binoculars out to the land, while the rear basket will hold tools--fence pliers, the small lopping shears, folding pruning saw, and the like. And also for local grocery shopping. So after many years without a bike (that would be "many decades"-- actually: haven't had a bike (not counting the police sale of a bike that never worked for me until August this year since I was in college), I'm now back in the ranks of cyclists, albeit the slow end of the pack. And yes, those are gray hairs showing in the pictures. I hope to put many a mile on this bike, riding around the place and back and forth to town for errands to the post office, bank, and small grocery store.
September 24, 2012
Knitting Mistakes
I make a lot of mistakes while knitting. Not as many as a year ago, or as many as when I first started on socks, in January of this year, but still...mistakes. I've learned to fix a lot of mistakes and--on second thought--ignore some mistakes (a twisted stitch in a sock? Ptui. Not worth the time to bother with it.) Dropped stitches are now a routine fix, although--since I have trouble picking up dropped purl stitches on the purl side, but find it easy to pick up dropped knit stitches--I just turn the work and pick up the knit side of the purl stitch. Inadvertent yarn-overs, picking up some other strand than the one I meant to...all routine now. I've purled where I meant to knit, knitted where I meant to purl, slipped stitches I shouldn't have, knit stitches I should have slipped...and become much calmer about the discovery that this line of ribbing moved itself over one six rows ago, and then moved back three rows ago. (It's not a bug, it's a feature. Should that sock ever be stolen, I can prove I knitted it. ("Right there on the back, Judge, five rows down from the cast-on, there's a three row jog in the ribbing.")
But yesterday I made a new, unbelievably stupid mistake...such a mistake that I stared at it last night (was knitting before bed, as I often do) and simply stuffed the sock, five double-pointed needles, and a cable needle back in the sock's personal plastic bag and went to sleep. Surely things would look better in daylight. It didn't, much, but I had some sleep in between and better light to work with.
Here's the problem....
See that strand of yarn running alongside the needle, across the stitches? That's it. What I had done was fail to check that I was starting to knit where the working yarn actually was. The yarn had become entangled in the needles, and I mistakenly started knitting one needle past where the previous work ended. I didn't find that out until I was back where I should have started. The solution, though, was pretty obvious in the morning. Carefully work along the stuff I'd knitted with the "loop", gently pulling it free of each stitch so it wouldn't be too fuzzy to use later, picking up the stitches below as I went along, carefully not knitting with the increasingly long loop this made as the "loop yarn" came free, The J-shaped cable needle held all the stitches on one needle at a time, as I freed them, then slid them back onto the needle they'd come from.
Now everything's back as it should be, six or seven rows on, and the slight unevenness in the first row after starting again will even out when the sock's finished and has been washed a couple of times. I will be very careful to ensure that it doesn't happen again. The most useful tool was that J-shaped cable needle, though a smaller size DPN would have worked too.
Most of my mistakes occur when I'm working in less than perfect lighting. Old eyes, maybe, or still insufficient knitting experience. I'm thinking of getting some of those magnifying glasses with built-in LED lights, when I want to work in part of the house that doesn't have a bright light nearby. But I'm also thinking of writing and illustrating a book of "Knitting Mistakes and How to Fix Them." I don't find fixes for some of the mistakes I've made in the books I've got.
But yesterday I made a new, unbelievably stupid mistake...such a mistake that I stared at it last night (was knitting before bed, as I often do) and simply stuffed the sock, five double-pointed needles, and a cable needle back in the sock's personal plastic bag and went to sleep. Surely things would look better in daylight. It didn't, much, but I had some sleep in between and better light to work with.
Here's the problem....
See that strand of yarn running alongside the needle, across the stitches? That's it. What I had done was fail to check that I was starting to knit where the working yarn actually was. The yarn had become entangled in the needles, and I mistakenly started knitting one needle past where the previous work ended. I didn't find that out until I was back where I should have started. The solution, though, was pretty obvious in the morning. Carefully work along the stuff I'd knitted with the "loop", gently pulling it free of each stitch so it wouldn't be too fuzzy to use later, picking up the stitches below as I went along, carefully not knitting with the increasingly long loop this made as the "loop yarn" came free, The J-shaped cable needle held all the stitches on one needle at a time, as I freed them, then slid them back onto the needle they'd come from. Now everything's back as it should be, six or seven rows on, and the slight unevenness in the first row after starting again will even out when the sock's finished and has been washed a couple of times. I will be very careful to ensure that it doesn't happen again. The most useful tool was that J-shaped cable needle, though a smaller size DPN would have worked too.
Most of my mistakes occur when I'm working in less than perfect lighting. Old eyes, maybe, or still insufficient knitting experience. I'm thinking of getting some of those magnifying glasses with built-in LED lights, when I want to work in part of the house that doesn't have a bright light nearby. But I'm also thinking of writing and illustrating a book of "Knitting Mistakes and How to Fix Them." I don't find fixes for some of the mistakes I've made in the books I've got.
September 12, 2012
One Child: Why We Must Protect Everyone's Health-care
I rarely invite guest posts, but this is a special case...an individual case with national implications. Please listen to Ellen McLean, who sent me and other family friends this email--which I thought needed much wider distribution.:
..........................................................................
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/09/within-hours-mitt-romney-takes-back-everything-he-said-about-preexisting-conditio?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
So Romney announces he'd keep parts of Obamacare like insuring those with pre-existing conditions with David Gregory on the Sunday morning show and then within hours he is "clarified" by one of his minions.
I am the grandmother of an absolutely adorable little boy named Daniel. He has CHARGE syndrome which means he spent the first five months of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He's had eleven operations and has maintained a mostly cheerful attitude the whole time. He was born with a mess of "pre-existing conditions" including half formed semicircular canals in his ears (causes both deafness and lack of internal balance), breathing difficulties that necessitated a trach along with oxygen at night and various inhalent treatments morning and night. He's fed thru a tube in his tummy from a backpack he can wear while moving about.
[PHOTO OF DANIEL DID NOT UPLOAD, THOUGH A BOX IS DISPLAYED IN EDITING WINDOW. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO UPLOAD TO MY SCRAPBOOK THIS MORNING, SO THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG AT LJ. WHAT YOU WOULD SEE--AND WILL IF UPLOAD ATTEMPTS LATER WORK--IS A CUTE LITTLE BOY IN A CARSEAT WITH A TRACH TUBE, A G-BUTTON, INTENT ON SOMETHING IN HIS LAP. E-MOON]
[image error]
Any messing with Obamacare is regarded by everyone in our family as a direct attack on this child. He's already blown thru most insurance companies' lifetime limits. He is a walking pre-existing condition and we are damned grateful he's learned to walk. We want him to stay alive and I'm not about to let any politician claim how pro-life they are and cast a vote to hurt or kill Daniel............................................................
Elizabeth here, adding to Ellen's original email. Daniel's parents knew he would be disabled before he was born: CHARGE syndrome is detectable before birth. They chose not to terminate the pregnancy, something Romney and the GOP claim is the only moral choice. But now that Daniel is alive...Romney and the GOP--the Teabaggers, Rush Limbaugh, all the rest--have no interest in helping to keep Daniel alive and thriving. Both Daniel's parents work at good jobs--something many parents don't have. Both have insurance....but insurance has limits, as all parents of children with serious disabilities have found out. To the insurance company, such families are a liability--they cost money and lower profits. Children like Daniel exceed the limits before they ever reach school age.
Romney--the The GOP would let them die--and blame the parents. Because although they'd force every woman to bear every child conceived in her body, they don't do a damn thing to help with the medical care, or education, or housing, or anything else...never mind if the parents can't get insurance because the child was born that way--never mind if the parents can't get a job, or can't afford the cost of treatment for the child. They should have been rich.
Daniel is just as human as he was in his mother's womb. He didn't become non-human, and thus (as some Republicans have described fellow citizens not in the 1%) an "animal." He didn't become any less a human body, a human soul, just because he was born, and costs money. Failure to cover pre-existing conditions like Daniel's...like my own mother's renal disease...like the aftermath of trauma from being hit by a drunk driver...means condemning real live people--living, breathing, growing, often working--to suffering and death. I will get that picture loaded whenever LJ gets its software straightened out (again!) and then you can see the kind of cute little kid Romney's willing to let die.
..........................................................................
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/09/within-hours-mitt-romney-takes-back-everything-he-said-about-preexisting-conditio?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
So Romney announces he'd keep parts of Obamacare like insuring those with pre-existing conditions with David Gregory on the Sunday morning show and then within hours he is "clarified" by one of his minions.
I am the grandmother of an absolutely adorable little boy named Daniel. He has CHARGE syndrome which means he spent the first five months of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He's had eleven operations and has maintained a mostly cheerful attitude the whole time. He was born with a mess of "pre-existing conditions" including half formed semicircular canals in his ears (causes both deafness and lack of internal balance), breathing difficulties that necessitated a trach along with oxygen at night and various inhalent treatments morning and night. He's fed thru a tube in his tummy from a backpack he can wear while moving about.
[PHOTO OF DANIEL DID NOT UPLOAD, THOUGH A BOX IS DISPLAYED IN EDITING WINDOW. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO UPLOAD TO MY SCRAPBOOK THIS MORNING, SO THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG AT LJ. WHAT YOU WOULD SEE--AND WILL IF UPLOAD ATTEMPTS LATER WORK--IS A CUTE LITTLE BOY IN A CARSEAT WITH A TRACH TUBE, A G-BUTTON, INTENT ON SOMETHING IN HIS LAP. E-MOON]
[image error]
Any messing with Obamacare is regarded by everyone in our family as a direct attack on this child. He's already blown thru most insurance companies' lifetime limits. He is a walking pre-existing condition and we are damned grateful he's learned to walk. We want him to stay alive and I'm not about to let any politician claim how pro-life they are and cast a vote to hurt or kill Daniel............................................................
Elizabeth here, adding to Ellen's original email. Daniel's parents knew he would be disabled before he was born: CHARGE syndrome is detectable before birth. They chose not to terminate the pregnancy, something Romney and the GOP claim is the only moral choice. But now that Daniel is alive...Romney and the GOP--the Teabaggers, Rush Limbaugh, all the rest--have no interest in helping to keep Daniel alive and thriving. Both Daniel's parents work at good jobs--something many parents don't have. Both have insurance....but insurance has limits, as all parents of children with serious disabilities have found out. To the insurance company, such families are a liability--they cost money and lower profits. Children like Daniel exceed the limits before they ever reach school age.
Romney--the The GOP would let them die--and blame the parents. Because although they'd force every woman to bear every child conceived in her body, they don't do a damn thing to help with the medical care, or education, or housing, or anything else...never mind if the parents can't get insurance because the child was born that way--never mind if the parents can't get a job, or can't afford the cost of treatment for the child. They should have been rich.
Daniel is just as human as he was in his mother's womb. He didn't become non-human, and thus (as some Republicans have described fellow citizens not in the 1%) an "animal." He didn't become any less a human body, a human soul, just because he was born, and costs money. Failure to cover pre-existing conditions like Daniel's...like my own mother's renal disease...like the aftermath of trauma from being hit by a drunk driver...means condemning real live people--living, breathing, growing, often working--to suffering and death. I will get that picture loaded whenever LJ gets its software straightened out (again!) and then you can see the kind of cute little kid Romney's willing to let die.
September 10, 2012
Sock Project Report
Well, no, the knitting isn't brief, but the post is. It's just to post a picture of the 5 completed pairs of socks, in order from right to left, first to most recent (the light blue is most recent, for those who, like me, are sometimes right/left challenged.)
The last time I posted a picture of several pairs, it was three pairs.
Two more pairs have been completed and are in use.
The last time I posted a picture of several pairs, it was three pairs.
Two more pairs have been completed and are in use.
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