About a week before I was first tagged for 25 Random Things, I had been sent a lovely poetic prayer that I was urged to email off to friends. I sent the prayer to about 10 people who were, of course, also urge to send it on. I rarely send things out that are chain letter style but I thought this piece was so beautiful it was an exception. Well. A couple people thanked me. But several wrote me back telling me they never respond to things they are supposed to send around and to please refrain from including them in the future. I felt slapped on the hand and a bit embarrassed and vowed never to send anything like this on no matter how much it moved me.

Then I got tagged for 25 Random Things. Although I did find the little known fun facts about my friend interesting, my immediate response was not to participate. I did send a list of things back to my friend and only to her, but no one else. Since then I have been tagged on this meme by many people, people whom I would not expect to be the sort sending out chain-letter like emails and have wondered if I should have participated after all.

I wondered about making up a new list after seeing some of the things people included in theirs. I realized I didn't really have the time. And not knowing who would find this welcome and who would find this annoying I decided after all to opt out.

I just re-watched Sicko last night and once again felt the longing for a life where healthcare was not such a huge worry. It's true that people in countries with Single Payer healthcare pay higher taxes than we do, but the fact is, we all end up paying a high price. Are we not paying a huge price right now to NOT have single payer healthcare? Either we're paying huge premiums or we're going without or we're getting it provided by a company that is so overburdened by it they might lay us off or go out of business. Going without is a pretty huge price to pay! Especially when you're sick or dying.

The fact is, we're all paying a very high price for our healthcare system whether we are receiving any healthcare from it or not. So the question is how to re-work it so that everyone is covered.

Obama has to be willing to stand up to the insurance companies and the drug companies who continue to profit from our pain. Our healthcare system is burdened with red tape that contributes to the high cost. The system could be simplified and streamlined and could be much less expensive without compromising on quality.

Personally I can't stand the time sink of being at the computer for very long. I get antsy. I have too much to do. But I have seen over the years how compelling and addictive it can be to check out of the present and get lost in an online universe. I saw this happen from the early days of AOL chat rooms where, for a short while, I was mesmerized with access to others 24/7. Now that you can twitter from your cell phone the temptation to do that is exacerbated.

My husband, who works in the high tech realm is very tuned into twitter. We were at a nice SF restaurant the other night celebrating our anniversary with a couple of close friends and he was busily focused on his phone twittering about the dinner. Instead of being with us he was twittering about us. It felt rude but I doubt he was aware of that. Reminded me of the comic strip "Zits". I felt like I was with a teenager twittering to his friends while having dinner with his parents. Weird.

Write to the President and tell him what you think. Send him a message:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Hold his feet to the fire. Tell him to support the people who voted for him and stop trying to appease Republicans. Tell him we voted for Change. Remember Change we Can Believe In? Remind him of this.

Clinton failed at Healthcare because he was too much of a pleaser. I'd hate to see the same thing happen with Obama.

We have the power to make a difference. it's just as easy to send a note to the President as it is to write a letter on salon.com. Tell him how you feel. Politely. Respectfully. But tell him.

I'm a rad tech student and I've recently been studying mammography. The fact is, 1 in 9 women currently get breast cancer. Early detection through mammography is saving many more lives because the cancers are detected early when they're easier and less invasive to treat. Digital mammography has much less radiation than film and is more accurate so I would recommend going to a place that has digital equipment.

I do understand the controversy. Depending on one's family history as well as other factors, I think getting a bi-annual mammogram beginning at age 40 makes sense.

My big concern about this recent study is that is driven by cost-saving concerns not life saving concerns.