I watched a show a while back about a child who was born with a medical condition (parasitic twin) that required a precision surgical procedure to correct. The child and his family lived in Nepal. They lived in a small one room hut without running water, an indoor bathroom or electricity. They lived miles from civilization and getting to civilization took hours, because they had no transportation and had to walk.

They owned a farm and lived within a means that is typical of other Nepalese families. They were ordinary – with their hammock beds, thatched roofs and tiny shack.

Word of their plight spread and within a few months, Western Dr.’s visited their tiny village and offered help. It was clear that the child needed surgery to survive, so the family opted to accept the help offered and boarded a plane for the first time in their lives for the trip to LA.

Over the course of their stay, the cameras for Discovery Health followed them around and documented their experience.

The baths in the spigot outside the house in LA.

The comments about being homesick.

Missing family, friends, foods, tastes and smells of their homeland.

I remember wondering, before they actually commented about their stay, what they thought of the US. Would the transition back to what they’d come to know as ‘normal’ be hard, after having access to all the things by which we measure success?

Then the mother said something along the lines of: I’m ready to go home. It’s ok here, but it’s not home. I miss the food, my family, my life and my home. She missed her one room, thatched roof home.

The show stuck with me since watching it earlier this year. It stuck with me because it seems, we as Americans seem to measure the ‘fitness’ of a country/community/persons ability to provide for their children by American gluttonous standards.

The ability to afford luxury things like computers, gaming systems and spacious bedrooms with designer furniture has become the stick in which we measure a child’s need to be adopted.

A good example is the child who was airlifted out of Haiti and flown to Miami because of a medical issue after the earthquake. Her parents loved her and wanted her back. What happened was months and months of legal fighting all the while, the arguments were being made about the ‘quality of life’ this child could expect growing up in Haiti. She had a family who loved her and no doubt, her foster family loved her as well – but this child was wanted by her ‘loving family’ back in Haiti and we here in America were busy fighting them based on everything America had that Haiti didn’t.

Obscene.

I read a story about the 12 children from Haiti who were airlifted after the earthquake and sent to Pennsylvania. Already, the politicians are making their elitists statements about life in Haiti and how much better their quality of life will be if they stay here.

Quality of life as measured by who I ask? The mother from Nepal sure didn’t feel like the quality of life we offered here in the US was better than her life back in Nepal.

We sure do think a lot of ourselves – don’t we?

Don’t even get me started on the ‘quality of life’ concerns we American’s have as they relate to tiny children. Apparently, quality of life isn’t an issue for anyone over the age of 18.

This smells a lot like finding children for homes in need…vs. what adoption is really about.

Reuters posted an article regarding Arizona’s new law addressing “Illegal Immigration” that warns Mexican citizens to use extreme caution when traveling to Arizona. One specific paragraph jumped out at me and I suspect, this paragraph (and the assumption) is what is keeping people from being totally disgusted with this new law. The Reuters article isn’t the only place I’ve seen it – it’s being repeated by news websites and stations all over the country.

And it’s wrong.

The law, decried by critics as discriminatory, will force immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times once it takes effect 90 days after Arizona’s current legislative session ends.

The above statement is incorrect – but it’s doing a lot to keep people from revolting – that’s for sure.

It should actually read:

The law, decried by critics as discriminatory, will force everyone in the State of Arizona to carry documents at all times to prove they are in the country legally once it takes effect 90 days after Arizona’s current legislative session ends.

How else will they decide who is and who isn’t here legally if they don’t ask for proof from everyone? The way the first interpretation of the law reads, one would think it’d be perfectly acceptable for someone who is not in the country legally to just say, “Hey, I’m a citizen, I don’t have alien registration documents” – but that’s not what’s going to happen at all – and I tire of reading the law interpreted that way.

The law goes on to stipulate, citizen or not, you could be fined a minimum of $500 plus spend six months in jail if you don’t have your documents with you.

So no, people, I’m sorry, the law does not say, “Go on US Citizen, live your life as you have for decades here in sunny Arizona – we only require NON-CITIZENS to carry their proof” what is says is, you better not be caught out in public without proof you’re a citizen or you’re going to jail and will be fined…

Oh – and if you’re from one of the several states which doesn’t require proof of residency/citizenship to obtain a state ID – I really don’t know what to tell you…other than you better be packing your state certified, raised seal, birth certificate with you at all times while you’re here – or you’re totally screwed.

Also, if you’re one of those, “Well, they won’t do that, that’s just stupid!” folks – then you just wait. Nebraska thought no one in their right mind would bring in their kids when they passed that Safe Haven trash last year – yet that’s exactly what happened and the guy who did it? The guy we all hated for following the law as it was written then hated even more after he got ANOTHER woman pregnant? He was well within his rights…because the law allowed it.

You can’t have a law like this and expect that it’s not going to get abused – this law does nothing more than give Arizona law enforcement the freedom to do harass both citizens and non-citizens alike.

Sounds a lot like Nazi Germany to me!

Also, if you think that the Mexican population is the only “brown skinned” group of folks who are protesting this bill, then you’re sadly mistaken.

Before the insurance/medical stuff yesterday, I was working on a blog post in my head about some news stories I’d been reading in our local paper. The blatant hypocrisy and hate mongering is staggering. The idiocy is, well, idiotic.

This is what we’re spending our money on.

Presidential ‘birther bill’ advances in state House:

The so-called “birther bill” won initial approval from the House of Representatives on Monday, advancing legislation that would require presidential candidates to produce a birth certificate before they can make the ballot in Arizona. The legislation originated from a fringe group that believes President Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and therefore ineligible to be president.

Quackery – pure quackery. On so many levels, I want to scream – but instead, I will point out this: the same group of people who are ‘fighting’ for access to our Presidents birth certificate are the same people who are ‘fighting’ to keep the original birth certificates of adopted adults sealed. I’d also like to point out – since my own birth certificate won’t pass muster with our federal government and allow me to get a Passport – it makes me wonder if bills like this would keep adopted folks from running from office. After all, we can’t produce an unaltered birth certificate…

Sounds like a Civil Rights issue to me…ya know, in addition to the hypocrisy and idiocy. /head>>desk

I got a lot of my mind this morning – medical stuff, people stuff, stuff stuff…you know the drill…we’ll be doing a list post!

• Someone (or some ones) in my office (*waves*) has been checking out my blog on a regular basis. I’m not sure why this feels like an invasion of privacy – but it does. I mean, I know the blog isn’t private etc etc – but I don’t say anything here that I wouldn’t say to someone in regular conversation…it’s just, this person (or persons) never engages me in regular conversation – which begs the question, if you don’t like me enough to actually have a conversation with me…why do you read here? One of life’s little mysteries, no doubt!
• I woke up this morning to a newsfeed full of hate on Facebook. I removed 5 people from my ‘friends’ list and plan to remove several more, if they continue this misguided hate-fest. Related or not – I don’t have to put up with *that*
• My Dr. sent me an email yesterday that was not full of good news. I was really hoping that my numbers would behave, but alas – that has not been the case.
• I still haven’t heard from the hospital regarding the CAT/Biopsy – so either it’s not as bad as they are telling me (requiring a rush of said appointments) or they are really, really, unorganized over there.
• I have no comment on the Russia Adoption stuff.
• I am smack dab in the middle of my “I couldn’t sleep if my life depended on it” portion of my sleep cycle. I hate this.
• I am still getting the stupid political/religion stuff from my dad – it’s a shame, I’d warned him that I’d just start filtering him to trash if it kept up…I finally took that step this morning.
• Thankfully, all he ever does is forward this crap – he never actually sends real email.
• By the way, I’m still looking for the passage in the bible that promotes hate and intolerance – if anyone knows where that is, can you send it to me?
• I think some people are genuinely surprised to learn that the US has no official language or religion.
• I have a crick in my neck and it hurts all the way down to my shoulder blades.
• The kid was picking out his classes for next year and he picked German as an elective. Thankfully, his mentor called me – he’s now signed up for Drivers Ed instead.
• He wanted to take German so he could understand what the soldiers in Call of Duty were saying.
• I am going to buy him an English to German Dictionary instead.
• After that hellish experience last week with that book I was reading, I finally got back to some books written by authors I know and love – so far, I’ve finished two and I’m working on my third – I really do love good books!
• I really think the Myron Bolitar books that Harlan Coben writes would be a great movie – I find myself actually laughing out loud when I read his books.
• I also think that the Jack Reacher books, by Lee Child, would make a great movie.
• I suspect, however, that I’m not the kind of person who is a good judge of this and I’m basing it off of my experience reading their books – when we all know, the books are always way better than the movie (Case in point, “My Sisters Keeper” – ugh)

Anyway – as you can see, lots on my mind today – hopefully, the rest of the day goes a bit better than the morning did.

The one thing I never discuss with others, unless I know where they stand and our opinions are similar is politics. The reason I posted this on my blog is because it gives people the right to chose to read it or not – it doesn’t force it on anyone. I’ve even taken careful steps to ensure that my political comments are below the ‘feed’ on Facebook, so I don’t upset/anger those I know don’t share my opinions.

Be warned now: This is a politically related rant and I’m a Democrat. The ‘X’ icon in the top right hand corner of your screen gets you out of here fast.

A few years ago, I discovered that my politics were dramatically different than my families. Since making that discovery, I’ve gone out of my way to not expose them to my personal opinions and thoughts related to things political. The fact that I am so different from my family is really no surprise – we differ in almost every conceivable way, but when it comes to politics, there is one major difference:

I don’t forward tacky emails related to race. I mean really, if all you have is to comment on someone’s race – that to me says volumes.

I don’t send group invitations to join Facebook groups related to my personal opinions. You may get something funny from me – but you’re not going to get anything political.

I don’t send mass emails that clearly show a bias regarding any specific political group. I may not agree with a lot of Republican leanings – but I don’t want to ‘hang them in the rose garden of the white house’ – racist some?

I don’t send hate mail – because let’s face it; it’s gotten pretty dirty out there…this is a bipartisan problem – we’re all doing it!

Bottom line, I try to respect others by not force feeding them things that may not appreciate, because I know they have opinions that differ from my own.

So please, someone, tell me when I can expect this same type of treatment from the people that I know!?

Stop inviting me to your Tea Party – I barely even know you!

I had an interesting conversation with my dad yesterday. We don’t talk much, a few times a year and our conversations are generally brief and center on our health. Yesterday’s conversation was really no different…but it was most certainly eye opening.

You see, since the signing of the healthcare bill last week, the influx of ‘Democrat hate mail’ has increased tenfold. My dad has been the source of some of this stuff…and when you get things like that, you just assume that if someone is going to support something enough to associate their name with it and forward it on, then they’re going to have researched the information contained so that they’re not making a total ass of themselves.

Not true I discovered yesterday.

I’m talking to my dad, he’s asking about my job, my health and the family and I said something related to my happiness regarding one aspect of the healthcare bill. Something along the lines of, ‘at least I have one less thing to worry about now that the healthcare bill has passed’ and he said, ‘oh? What’s that?’ – and I replied that I was happy that, if something were to happen with my job, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about not having insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Then he said, ‘What do you mean?’ and I asked him if he’d looked at the healthcare bill and he replied that he hadn’t and I said that one of the big pieces of it was the fact that insurers could no longer deny/exclude coverage due to pre-existing conditions and that it took a huge weight off my shoulders, because it was a valid worry of mine – along with the ‘lifetime caps’ for coverage.

His response, “hmm, I hadn’t heard that”.

Hadn’t heard that? Are you kidding me? What have you heard that has prompted you to be so against the healthcare bill? I mean – these two things are pretty big deals – it’s all over the news.

I know enough about my dad/family to not get into these debates – so I let it go…but honestly, this really surprised me. This whole time, I assumed (yes, I know what they say about assumptions) that my dad (at the very least, since he clearly had opinions on it – so much so that he felt compelled to forward me anti-healthcare bill emails) had at least a basic understanding of what the bill was about.

I was wrong. Assumptions…

At any rate – this did prompt an interesting discussion between me and the old man – we wondered why all the people who screamed that they were moving out of the US if Obama was elected always selected a country with universal healthcare – yet they seem to be so against it here in the US.

Strange.

At any rate – I’ve read the bill and I’ve researched it and while I’m not 100% with some aspects of it – I think it’s a huge step in the right direction.

I think it’s great that, if I decide to change jobs, my genetic condition will be covered.

I think it’s great that, if I have to have a transplant and all the care that goes along with it – I won’t be capped at a million dollars, like I am now…and that’s lifetime folks – keeping in mind that I’m already more than halfway there after my hospitalization last August.

What I don’t think is great is all the non-healthcare related items that got forced into the bill in order to get it passed. I realize some negotiating is required in order to get things to happen – but these types of things are the reason why people are so frustrated with the government – regardless of who is in charge.

At any rate – make sure, before you start sending your emails, invites and comments that you’re sending them to someone who shares your thoughts and opinions. Most of the time, the crap that gets sent around is complete rubbish – regardless of which side it comes from. Is it worth your friendships and relationships to send out something you haven’t fully researched for facts?

This is why email is dangerous. It was much harder to write a letter, put a stamp on it and go to the post office than it is to click forward and select every living and breathing human in your address book to send your message to.

Remember – you’re putting your name on the crap you forward – take a minute to research it before you do.

And for the love of Pete – stop sending me racist and rude hate mail about our President. Freedom of speech allows you to share your opinion – it doesn’t always mean you ought to.

[Now, of course, I feel like I must add - these are my thoughts - this is not an invitation to debate. You're welcome to share your thoughts as well - but don't tell me how wrong I am. I honestly believe, if you've researched something enough to form an opinion that differs from mine, then I think that's wonderful - it's part of the joys of living in the United States where we aren't forced to think one certain way. However, if you've educated yourself via Fox & Friends and you've never done any research on the topic - I invite you to keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself. I have no problem with civil decisions related to politics when both sides have taken the time to educate themselves on the topic - but I'm beginning to think that this expectation is unrealistic]