…where jack sometimes does stuff, but mostly not

The current national discussion of health care has been marked by awful lies and incredible stupidity. Trying to keep up with the debate is a mentally punishing task. I mean, who can stand having to listen to stuff like this?

This is the level of deep thinking displayed by opponents of healthcare reform.

Elsewhere, other health care reform opponents are engaged in flat-out lying and fearmongering about universal health care systems elsewhere in the world, and making absurd declarations that our current system is “the finest in the world”.

Our health care system is not the best, nor even close, on any objective measure.

• We have shittier outcomes for things like life expectancy and infant mortality than any number of other “civilized” countries
• We have hordes of uninsured people without regular access to preventive care, which is of course cheaper than emergency response care
• We have even more middle-class folks who are underinsured and can be driven to bankruptcy and family disaster by medical costs
• Even people with wonderful health insurance (like me) are constrained from changing jobs or starting small businesses because health insurance is tied to employment, and you often can’t change insurance if you have a “pre-existing condition”.

For the privilege of maintaining this shitty, unfair, godawful system, we pay twice as much for healthcare as the rest of the world.

Don’t mistake me for a fan of the currently proposed reforms; they don’t go nearly far enough, and any serious attempts at reform will be blocked by craven “centrist” Democrats, not by the universally despised Republican congressional minority. This is not a Democrats-vs-Republicans, liberals-vs-conservatives question; neither group wants to upset their corporate donors by disrupting the profit flow to HMOs and the like.

The question is: will we build access to health care into the basic infrastructure of our country, like roads and schools and law enforcement? Or will we punt and keep our terrible, unfair system in place for another 15 or 20 years before reform can be considered again?

Why can’t a fella buy some non-stupidified kitchen tools, huh?

I’m trying to make some quark and I need a nice sterile place to put 5 quarts of fermenting milk. I have a few 5-quart bowls, actually, but I’m going to use 5 quarts of liquid and it needs some sloshing room, so I really need a 6 or 7-quart vessel.

I can’t use my 6-quart pot because it is still recovering from something incredibly dangerous and very stupid that I did to it the other day (that would be another story).

This would be a good time to get an actual stockpot, thinks me. Easy peasy.

You’d think!

Sears had bupkis (lovely sale on flat, cast-iron prybars, though).
Kohls had any number of N-piece kits (8 < N < 15) for between $99 and $300, plus a standalone Paula Deen-branded stockpot for something like $175.
Gordman’s had a $13 stockpot that wasn’t worth $0.13; the inner surface was flaking off and seemed to involve paint, or some other coating so cheap and nasty as to seem paint-like.
Wal-mart had a perfectly serviceable set of options. So I ended up spending my money at the Wal-mart.

This is all to my chagrin since I am, theoretically, opposed to Wal-mart. I mean, yeah, shady employment practices, union-busting, destroying local businesses, homogenization of local culture, etc., but I really just can’t stand how slowly their checkout lines move.

Anyway, my milk products are happily fermenting now. But I am still wishing for the opportunity to buy kitchen junkses without grinding my teeth to nubs in the process. Alton Brown keeps telling me to shop at restaurant supply stores, but I can’t find any such thing around here. I guess that’s why they invented the webternets.

Also: where the hell do I buy cheesecloth?

On a happier note:

Haha, take that, haters! Ah, I just couldn’t leave the bitter angry stuff at the top of the ol’ blog page.

Here’s what I wrote to my state senator (with variations to my state rep, speaker of the house, governor, etc):

Hi Senator Dvorsky,

I’m writing to tell you how pleased I am at today’s Supreme Court ruling affirming the rights of Iowans to marry regardless of their sexual orientation. I am happy for my gay and lesbian friends and neighbors, and proud that Iowa continues its long tradition of bravery and leadership on civil rights issues.

Please work with your Senate colleagues to ensure that this civil rights gain is not overturned. I know that opponents of this important decision are once again pushing a state constitutional amendment banning state recognition of marriages between same-sex partners. As was the case with the recent Proposition 8 fight in California, the legislative battle is likely to attract attention and money from organizations that would seek to restrict the rights of Iowans. Such organizations have proven their willingness to abuse civil law to impose their religious beliefs on others, against their will.

Unlike California, Iowa has had the good sense to set a relatively high barrier to constitutional amendment. This policy recognizes that constitutional rights should not be subject to political whim. The personal rights defined in the Iowa Constitution include such bedrock principles as the right to life, property rights, freedom of speech and press, religious liberty, and equal protection under the law. I am glad to live in a state where the whim of 51% of the populace may not deprive the other 49% of these rights.

High barriers notwithstanding, I hope and expect that you will oppose any attempt to pass a Proposition 8-style amendment through the state legislature. I do not want to see such a measure pass even one step in the process toward constitutional amendment.

Today the Supreme Court has considered a difficult and divisive question and has come down squarely on the side of justice and liberty. Please know that this constituent appreciates that and hopes that you will help to protect it.

Thanks,
(my address and contact info)