one of the reason i love the affordable care act:

At Risk: Pre-Existing Conditions Could Affect 1 in 2 Americans:

if you have been denied coverage or are paying a higher rate due to a Pre-existing Condition you can get into a Pre-existing Condition Insurance Pool (PCIP). That hyperlink will take you to healthcare.gov where you can learn how to get into a PCIP in your area.

According to a new analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services, 50 to 129 million (19 to 50 percent of) non-elderly Americans have some type of pre-existing health condition. Up to one in five non-elderly Americans with a pre-existing condition – 25 million individuals – is uninsured. Under the Affordable Care Act, starting in 2014, these Americans cannot be denied coverage, be charged significantly higher premiums, be subjected to an extended waiting period, or have their benefits curtailed by insurance companies.

Health Reform Ends Discrimination Based on Pre-Existing Conditions – Without It, Insurers Would Be Back in Charge

A central element of the Affordable Care Act, passed by the last Congress and signed into law by the President, is a new set of patient protections that prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to Americans because they need it. Starting in 2014:

• Insurers can no longer use health status to determine eligibility, benefits, or premiums;
• Individuals and small businesses can choose from a range of private insurance plans through competitive marketplaces called Exchanges in their States; and
• Annual dollar limits on coverage will be banned in group and new individual market plans, critical benefits will be covered, and out-of-pocket spending will be limited.

These new protections add to a strong set that have already been put in place to increase access to health care coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions such as:

• Insurers can no longer limit lifetime coverage to a fixed dollar amount;
• Insurers can no longer take away your coverage because of a mistake on an application;
• Insurers can no longer deny coverage to a child because of a pre-existing condition;
• Thousands of uninsured people with pre-existing conditions have enrolled in the temporary high-risk pool program called the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, which has literally saved people’s lives by covering services like chemotherapy.

Rescinding the new health insurance protections would, now and starting in 2014:

• Reduce the health care and health insurance options of the 50 to 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions;
• Take away, for the 32 to 82 million people with both a pre-existing condition and job-based insurance, the ban on lifetime limits on benefits, restrictions on annual limits on benefits, new protections in the small group market from discrimination based on health status, and the security of knowing you can change jobs without losing your health coverage and care;
• Lock older Americans into their current coverage if they have it, since up to 86 percent of people ages 55 to 64 have some type of pre-existing condition;
• Limit insurance options for the parents of the up to 2 million uninsured children with pre-existing conditions, who today can no longer be blocked from purchasing individual market insurance due to their pre-existing condition.

things i love: e-motion rollers

i know that things shouldn't really be loved. if i was being more zen, i guess i would try and rid myself of the wanting mind and hold peace with what i have. but maybe that is what i am doing, because i have these amazing rollers that i am SUPER in love with.

joe helped me set them up in the basement (read: joe set them up in the basement) and then helped me get used to riding on them. it is crazy.

basically this is going to change the way i ride. you have to have a really balanced cadence and have you balance on the bike perfect or your ride is all over the place. it was crazy, joe had to really hold the bike or i was going to fall off and ride into the wall.

i road again today and i am SO amazed at how different my riding all ready is. it is still hard, and i feel off a couple of times, but man . . . i can feel it in my core. all that balancing comes from your core, which is what i'm really supposed to be strengthening right now . . . in fact most of us need stronger cores.

so, they are expensive. but i figure it is much cheaper than a gym membership and the convenience factor is amazing. i know it is going help me work out more. i already am. so . . . anyway, i'm super in love with these and if you are into cycling, i highly recommend them!

here is the promo video:

arizona is the mississippi of the civil rights fight of today's america

its disgusting and horrible. they act like they are trying to build democracy but they are making it so dangerous that only THE MOST narcissistic will apply.

this article really made me think! Arizona's Long Dark Night Continues

alan grayson wrote a beautiful tribute to congresswoman gabby giffords:

A reporter called me a little while ago, and told me that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been shot at a public event. She is in critical condition.

I'm going to let others comment on what this means for America. I just want to say what it means to me.

Gabrielle Giffords and I served together on the House Committee on Science and Technology. She was the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, and I was a member of that subcommittee. Her D.C. office was one floor above mine.

I saw Gabby dozens, if not hundreds of times, during our two years together. And nearly every time that I can remember, she was smiling.

Gabby is one of the most cheerful, charming and engaging people I have ever known. She's always looking on the bright side. She has something good to say about pretty much everyone. Bad news never lays a glove on her. She loves life, and all the people in it.

No matter what is going on in your life, after fifteen minutes with Gabby, you'll feel that you can touch the stars.

Everyone knew that Gabby would have a tough race in 2010. (She actually won with 49% of the vote.) But I always thought that if each of her constituents could spend that fifteen minutes with her, and see what she is really like, then she would win with 99.9% of the vote. (Same thing about Harry Teague of New Mexico, who lost, and a few others that I could name.) You would want her as your Congressman, because you would want her as your friend.

I know nothing about the man who shot Gabby, and what was going through his mind when he did this. But I will tell you this -- if he shot Gabby out of hatred, then it wasn't Gabby he was shooting, but rather some cartoon version of her, drawn by her political opposition. Because there is no way -- no way -- that anyone who really knows Gabby could hate her or hurt her. She is a kind, gentle soul.

My heart goes out to Mark Kelly, Gabby's husband, and the many, many people who love her. Gabby, we don't want to lose you. Please stay here with us.

"As I write," says long-time author and social critic Gregory McNamee in Tucson, "it is not clear whether Representative Gabrielle Giffords has been killed or has survived being shot, along with at least a dozen and perhaps as many as twenty other victims." McNamee adds:

"What is clear to me, at this chaotic moment, is that no one should be surprised by this turn of events. The bullets that were fired in Tucson this morning are the logical extension of every bit of partisan hatred that came spewing out during the last election, in which Gabrielle Giffords---a centrist, representing well and faithfully a centrist district---was vilified and demonized as a socialist, a communist, a fascist, a job-killer, a traitor, and more.

Anyone who uttered such words or paid for them to be uttered has his or her name etched on those bullets.

With what we have seen today, the rest of us must declare that we will tolerate no more lies, no more hatred, no more violence---and that never again will we spend a single dollar on the wares sold by those who perpetrate them.

If not now, when?"

Lunch Line

Lunch Line Trailer from uji films on Vimeo.

this looks really interesting. i think i'm going to go . . . not sure which day

the teaser:

LUNCH LINE reframes the school lunch debate through an examination of the program's surprising past, uncertain present, and possible future. In the film, six kids from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago set out to fix school lunch and end up at the White House. Their unlikely journey parallels the dramatic transformation of school lunch from a weak patchwork of local anti-hunger efforts to a robust national feeding program. The film tracks key moments in school food and child nutrition from 1940s, 1960s, and 1980s to the present – revealing political twists, surprising alliances, and more common ground than people realize. Along the way, Senators, Secretaries of Agriculture, entrepreneurs, and activists from across the political spectrum add top-down perspective to a bottom-up film about the American political process, the health and welfare of its future, and the realities of feeding more than 31 million children a day.

if you are in the dc area, Parents for Better DC School Food is sponsoring two free showings of the movie. they say:

Join us for a Focus In! Film Series screening at Busboys & Poets of the nationally-recognized documentary LUNCH LINE, which reframes the school lunch debate through an examination of the program's surprising past, uncertain present, and possible future. After the film, stick around for a discussion with parents and school food advocates to find out more about what's happening with school food in Washington and how you can get involved.

WHEN: Sunday, January 9 at 8:00 pm
WHERE: Busboys & Poets -- 1025 5th Street, NW (5th & K/ Mt Vernon Square)

*-- OR --*

WHEN: Sunday, January 23 at 8:00 pm
WHERE: Busboys & Poets -- 2021 14th Street, NW (14 & V/ Ust)

Contact Tara Flakker at tflakker at gmail dot com with any questions or
for more information.

lemeno if you are going . . .

also, i think i might be going to hawaii next week. man, the year of love is starting out awesome!!!

welcome to the year of

i will properly wrap up the year of zen, because it deserves a proper wrap up. but ali is here, and i just didn't get to blogging yesterday to wrap it up in time. but just because last year didn't get its bow, doesn't mean i can't start this year yet. so . . . i am very happy to welcome you, my year of

i am learning a couple things about these themes . . . once chosen, you are committing yourself to a year of lessons in whatever that theme is. so in l'année de l'amusement i learned heaps about fun. it was super fun! the year of zen . . . simply put, i learned to find a center and to find peace in some crazy situations.

so this year i'm hoping to learn more about love. i took a class in college call "the psychology of love". it was super small: six students. we read a book called the art of loving. it was interesting. we discussed and wrote about all the forms of love phileo, agape, and eros. this year i hope to make a living practice of them.

each theme comes with its mantra . . . you may remember (as a refresher on how this all works) that in the year of awesome, when faced with a dilemma i asked myself, "what is the most awesome thing to do". this year, i'm going to ask myself how to feel and demonstrate love in all situations that come along.

this year, as part of my learning how to love better experience, i will do things like:

• reconnect with old friends
• be kind to all the people on the other side of "the counter" or cash register
• be honest and real in dating relationships -- most of them don't have much love in them, and i'm going to work at seeing each of these guys as people who are looking for the same connection i am.
• etc etc

ideally, i would be able to meet the man of my dreams or what have you. i know that all of my failed relationships have taught me a bunch about love. it is this interesting combo of loving self and other. i think only when i'm really being honest and present with myself am i able to be those things to a partner. in that way, love is a natural outcome or extension of zen.

that is true of all the forms of love. romantic love is only one kind of love, and though it would be great to have that back in my life again, there is plenty of love to be shared, even without that. plus in my ideal relationship, the love within that relationship is more than just romantic love too. finding or creating that love could then mean the creation of family and that would be nice too.

this might sound a bit crazy cat lady-ish, but the kittens have taught me a great deal about love. i think the main things for me was just opening myself up to them. even when i was just considering getting them, i could feel a change happening in my heart. i softened.

it is scary sometimes to love. if you aren't loving that person, job, bike, pet, etc; then loosing it isn't a big deal. once you start really loving and attaching to any noun (person, place or thing), then loosing it becomes really painful. i think the fear of loosing keeps me away from loving sometimes. so, i want to overcome that fear and be more open to love.

it should be fun. i feel like, i kinda already switched themes on the winter solstice, and just the bit of practice so far has been fun. i'm really looking forward to this.

most of you readers are people i love. i would really appreciate hearing from you. please, feel free to share your thoughts or feelings about this theme in the comments section. though love is possible in a vacuum, i think it feels best when it is reciprocated. i'd love to hear your thoughts on love.

i'm going to really reattach to blogging as a form of expanding my love. sharing love can happen in a million ways. reciprocation is just one way. but you can share love by telling the stories of loving too. so, this blog will be one of the places to share for me. i hope that you, yeah you that one reading these words right now, will share some of your experiences and thoughts here too.

though don't feel pressure to do it now. if you have had cool thoughts as you have read this, then yes please do share. also, feel free to come back to this space and share anytime, to any post. i would love to hear from you.

one last little tid bit on the exercise of love . . . i believe part of that, in fact a super essential part and maybe the only one you can ultimately control, is loving yourself. one of the things i will be doing soon to extend more love to myself is delete my facebook account. i just don't like it. there are too many people i don't feel like i really know on there and i'm weirded out about facebook's ability to figure me out and steal/share my info. so, next week i will be removing myself from it . . . please feel free to reach me via email though.

here we go . . . i'm opening myself up to love . . . universe, what do you got??