Digging out.

Its been a busy week.

I have been working against two deadlines-one at work and one for the course I am taking. Earned Value Metrics, ROI, ROS calculations, contract terminations.

In other words, things that are total and complete bullshit.

What I should have been studying- is a hands-on laboratory on learning the proper methods for Filipina clitoral stimulation. THAT’s not happening anytime soon. Tell me life is fair. I beg to differ.

But it’s done. The next segment is the way a class should be taught-in a classroom at a location different from the one I am living in. Any excuse to travel is a good one these days.

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I wish I could make sense of the whole health care debate. However, I cannot. I do think the President is right to take it on-however I am convinced that thanks to the ineptitude of the current Congress, on both sides of the aisle, the effort is doomed to failure.

Which is just what the insurance companies-who do need to be kicked in the balls-want.

Now I am slightly jaded on the issue at this particular juncture, having spent almost a month trying to undo a mess with the S.O.’s health insurance(which I am paying for)-what with the company arbitrarily trying to drop her from coverage for a whole host of chicken-sh*t reasons owing to the fact that she is a legal alien residing in the United States. Which I had to prove to them-again.

Sure, I’m not keen on the idea of government running the health care system. However, people are only kidding themselves if they think health care is not already rationed in many ways. The top insurance executives were called before Congress-not one of them said that they would stop denying coverage for anything but the ability to pay.

So tell me why I should be sympathetic to them?

Or why I should not feel that people should be compelled to buy health insurance, and companies should be obligated to provide it for their full-time employees.

Health care reform is not going to pass this year. When do we fix it? And yes, I think proper health care is-if not a right-something that should be available to all.

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Sarah Palin is a private citizen again. Boo F-ing who. If it had been a man who up and quit with 18 months to go-ask me how much sympathy he would get. And please, don’t say Obama quit because it is not true.  Palin could have served out her term and still built up her campaign chest. Happens all the time.

But she thinks she is different. When in reality, she is just another pushy woman who thinks the world revolves around her. Shut up and cook my dinner!

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Spike pointed out that  Monocle Magazine once again lists its 25 most liveable cities in the world. Now that’s a pretty subjective thing-because it all depends on your criteria. I mean, after all Shopping Mall could be considered “liveable” if: 1) you really liked the whole Southern Suburban existence, 2) Had a wife that you wanted and made life pleasant and 3) could deal with the fact that there is no nightlife and what they call nightlife requires driving to get to. ( With the attendant road nazi threat on the way home). For those reasons and a lot more Shopping Mall ain’t making any list of great cities anytime soon. Here, however, is the list the Monocle folks came up with. ( Ones I’ve been to are highlighted in green.)

Zurich
Copenhagen
Tokyo
Munich
Helsinki
Stockholm
Vienna
Paris
Melbourne
Berlin
Honolulu
Madrid
Sydney
Vancouver
Barcelona
Fukuoka
Oslo
Singapore
Montreal
Auckland
Amsterdam
Kyoto
Hamburg
Geneva
Lisbon

Personally, I think the list is too Euro centric-and I’m not so sure I’d put Hamburg or Paris in the list-but they do have it right in that not any American cities deserve to be on a such a list. Liveability is not a virtue of American cities, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. Two reasons: crime and NO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. At least not any that is worth a damn. And Honolulu? Nice place to visit-not so sure I’d want to live there.

On the other hand, I could live in just about any of the other ones-provided I had an income stream. No surprise, my top pick would be Singapore. I’d love to visit Stockholm, though. I read an article in the Economist that pointed out that a high tax rate or no, things do work in Sweden. The problem is, “Sweden’s big state works because it is Swedish, not because it is big.” Try to bring it over here? We’d screw it up royally.

Because we can.

But for the most part-I’d agree with most of that list. Notice there are no Chinese cities on the list? I’m not surprised.  Even that Hong Kong is not there-and, I love Hong Kong.

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 Meanwhile, in Japan-they must be preparing for a new round of Filipina nurses and other service industry pioneers to pick up the slack for Japan’s declining birthrate. What’s the best way to prepare for the Tagalog onslaught?

Make sure the money transfer scheme is all set up. Must keep the foreign currency flowing back to Manila.

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And finally, maybe its time I took up yoga: