"No one should go broke because they got sick"

"No one should go broke because they got sick," this was a direct quote from President Obama during his speech on health care reform, and it is a statement that continues to resonate even after I close the tab containing the youtube video. There are thousands, if not millions, who have experienced this first hand. A few years ago I went to the emergency room because my hand was infected; I was there for less than an hour, but that visit cost me over a thousand dollars. What is worse is that the ER misdiagnosed me. Luckily I had health insurance through my parent's policy, but imagine if I didn't.

And many don't. Some have no choice, and others have no sense...but the fact of the matter is this: health insurance is IMPORTANT. This was a running theme in Obama's speech, and for those that don't have the time to watch it, let me lay it out for you

This is Obama's proposal
1) it will be ILLEGAL for insurance companies to drop a person who is sick, during their illness
2) it will be ILLEGAL for insurance companies to DENY coverage for those with pre-exisiting medical conditions
3 it will also be ILLEGAL for people and small businesses (who can afford health insurance) to go without health insurance. Obama talks about how the irresponsibility of risk-takers and small businesses looking for a profit can negatively affect the rest of the tax payers.
4) insurance companies will be REQUIRED to cover routine checkups and preventive care.
5) insurance companies will no longer be able to "cap" the amount of coverage their patients receive
6) he will create an insurance exchange that will encourage companies to become competitive. We, as consumers, will be able to bargain with our insurance providers through this exchange. (Don't really know how this one works)
7) he will encourage insurance companies to become competitive by offering the public a NON-PROFIT option for health care. He makes it clear that this will not be mandatory, but rather a low-cost alternative.
8) now this is the important part: the non-profit option will be a self-sufficient entity. They will be government regulated, but NOT government funded.

Overall, I think this speech was excellent and I think this plan WILL work. Insurance companies, like most big business, are bloated and greedy. We need to hold them accountable and stop letting them control our futures. He also addresses the need to reform malpractice suits and promised to "move forward" in that direction.

Obama ends his session with a quote from Ted Kennedy: "[health care} concerns more that material things. What we face is above all else a moral issue." Yes, a moral issue.

When a child is denied a kidney transplant because his parent's health care is insufficient...that is a moral issue

When a waitress is dropped from her insurance during her chemo sessions because she forgot to list "seasonal allergies" under pre-existing conditions on her insurance application...that is a moral issue

When a 50 year old construction worker loses his house right after losing his wife to cancer...that is a moral issue

And if we continue to let this happen, it would be a moral issue.

Big girl rides mechanical Bull!

This is a great video showing how people can overcome adversity..and ride mechanical bulls.


After laughing till my ribs hurt, I wondered: where the fuck are her friends; why would the let her do that?  I felt kinda bad, because I realized that she probably didn't have many friends...then I clicked the replay button and repeated the process.

UH overcrowded?

Okay, so I pick up today's Honolulu Advertiser, and on the front page I see the headline "UH semester starts with fewer classes, more anxiety"...Now what is all this anxiety from? The fact that the state cut out 70+ million bucks from their budget. Because many classes--and faculty--have been cut, classrooms are overcrowded. So here's my question: Why are we--I'm a UH student as well--paying so much for tuition???

Now you're probably thinking to yourself, "I'm paying the tuition to get an education and support my university you dumbshit!" Correct, we can't expect the UH system to support itself, right? I mean, how can they reduce the cost of tuition AND address the rise of enrollment, with budget cuts? It appears to be necessary...BUT, it's not.

The reason why the UH system is so broke can be summed up with a single word: waste. We have allowed this STATE institution to have too much power. They can do whatever the fuck they want.

A month ago I went to a newly built classroom at UH Manoa (new being less than 5 years old). In this classroom, there were 20 electrical plugs...of these, 10 electrical plugs worked! I thought, alright, maybe it's just this room. The next day we held class in a different room. Again, there were 20 electrical plugs, but this time only 8 worked! Now let me explain how this is "waste".

In Hawaii, we have this idea of Ohana...you scratch my back, I scratch yours. So what happens is UH sells the contract for this building to one of their "friends". This company gets the contract not because they are the best on the island, but more because "eh, I went school wit one guy, who went to dis school where he wen meet one nada guy dat knows da head guy of dis school". And so the work is completed and UH finds out that it's a shit job...but guess what, "no can make stink. I know da guy, who know da guy, who know da boss of da company." And so the work is left as a shit job.

Now this is just one example of "waste", and unless you guys ask for it, I won't bore you with more details. I will tell you what we can do about it, though...Stop going to UH.

WHOA WHOA, what? Stop going to UH? The only way that we, as students, can get any type of power is by going on a "strike" of sorts. I don't know when, and I don't know how, but somewhere the student body lost their clout. Remember, the University is providing us a service...not the other way around. And yet we follow them like sheep. They waste our money and we just look the other way because "ah, there's nothing I can do about it..." But I really think there is. We have to show the UH system that we will not tolerate this.

I'm just a single blogger with no followers, but I really think that passing these type of ideals can help society, in general. UH is lacking in providing quality education...so lets do something about it. Whoever reads this, I don't know who, please tell other UH students to take a look. They may not share the same philosophy, but that's okay...Just trying to spread some awareness.

PS3 Slim confirmed!!! It's about goddamn time

So in today's conference, Sony finally announced the PS3 slim. Hardly a surprise, but it's been a long time coming. Perhaps even more important is this: the price drop. Yes, the PS3 will FINALLY get a decent price drop to $299. While this still makes it the most expensive console, to me it places it in a more competitive seat.

For the past three years, the PS3 has gotten its ASS whooped by Nintendo and Microsoft. Everyone knows that Sony has the best hardware, but that price was just ridiculous; remember, it started out at $600. At $299, consumers can breathe a little easier digging into their pockets...that's about the same price as an iphone 3gs w/contract, and obviously people have had no problem dishing out money for those.

Biggest Pyramid Scam: Universities

Okay, so here's my theory: Universities are the biggest pyramid schemes on the planet! Before clicking on the back button of your browser, hear me out. Lately, Universities have become more focused on money and less focused on quality of education. How much do some of these universities charge? 30, 40, 50K? Are you fucking kidding me? And some of these are state institutions! For that kind of money, they should be producing scientists capable of curing cancer and economists capable of fixing the U.S. depression...right?

Wrong. What the fuck are we paying thousands of dollars for? Some douchy ass professor who has his TA read the papers? Right now I'm in graduate school at the University of Hawaii at Manoa...I am paying three times the tuition, but I'm getting absolutely nothing out of this program! I'm paying over a thousand dollars per class to have a professor give me weekly readings and grade my papers. I could have found these same articles on the internet, and I could have had a friend read and respond to my papers...what's the point?


The point, to those who are still reading, is this: we are taking out massive loans that take away years of our salaries so that we can get a stupid little piece of shit paper saying: "hey, I guess he can read and write...here's a bachelors, masters, or doctorate."

At what point in history did we give so much power to these fucked up institutions? If you're thinking "hey, you can't get a job without a degree", well you're right! you can't get a decent job without some type of degree, but do these degrees mean anything anymore? I say no...I say these degrees mean absolutely nothing, because for the most part these Universities don't give a flying fuck about education...they are just in it to make a buck.

*This is not to say all Universities are like this...but I think that most large institutions have definitely lost focus on what they are supposed to be doing. I had a very good experience at UH West Oahu, but have since had nothing but horror stories.

State of Hawaii needs to get their shit together

So the State of Hawaii is on the brink of destruction, and guess how our governor has decided to deal with the problem! Furloughs, yaaayyyy. Hawaii has no money, so instead of cutting back unneeded services, the politicians have to decided to take away money from the very people that need to SPEND money. What is going to happen when all these state workers get a 13% cut from their pay? Are they going to go out and stimulate the economy, or are they going to stay home and save cost anyway they can? I go for the latter...

We are not like the Continental U.S. Hawaii's economy is SOLELY based on spending; we are a tourist economy, and because this economic depression has hit the entire world, we locals are forced to assume the role of "tourist". This cannot happen, though, if a large part of our population is forced to take a 13% pay cut. We are essentially freezing our market and I will tell you this, unless something is done, Hawaii will reflect the highest unemployment rate in the country. Here's why:

Think about all the new commercial development in Hawaii: Target, Petco, Nordstrom, etc. These are huge buildings selling items for higher-than-walmart prices. In a few months, people (mainly addressing the state workers) won't want to pay more for something that walmart-down-the street sells for 3/4 of the price. These huge stores will then begin laying people off in order to balance out this loss of sales...boom, more unemployment...boom, less people paying for higher priced items...boom, more people laid off...boom, less people paying for higher priced items...boom, well you get the point. Before you know it, the only thing left will be Walmart.

So what can we do? I'm giving a lot of problems with no solutions, yah? There are two things that can save this State: Legalize marijuana and/or gambling

Legalizing marijuana would do two things for this state: reduce crime and increase tourism. Hawaii has become an extremely violent place; everyday, there are headlines of someone being murdered or beaten into a coma. Most times this is due to Alcohol (a legal drug) or Ice (illegal), but marijuana is never mentioned. There are a number of useless commercials out there preaching that marijuana is a horrible, elicit substance, but the one I would like to focus on is this: two guys sitting on a couch, not moving, just staring into space. The commercial then say's something like "my friends used to like to do fun stuff, now they just want to sit around and giggle." Well guess what, sitting around and giggling is a lot safer than half the shit kids do for fun nowadays! If everybody would just sit on a couch and giggle, instead of going to a bar--getting shitfaced drunk--then beating a stranger into a vegetable state, this world would be a safer place. Alcohol makes people extremely agitated and punchy, while marijuana is known for its calming effects...is this really even an argument? Legalizing marijuana would reduce crime.
Amsterdam; the name says it all and Hawaii could become the next amsterdam. Imagine how many people would flock to this state if we legalized marijuana! I use the word flock, because it would seriously look like a migration of birds...in fact, I think our hotel's would struggle to fit all the people! The choice for many college students would be this: Amsterdamn or Hawaii. Not even a choice...mix in the beautiful beaches, the gorgeous women, and the legalization of weed and we would become the ONLY destination spot for millions of people.

And then there was gambling. Yes, I know there are many cons to this source of capital, but there has to be a way to regulate who can and can't gamble. While Hawaii has one of the highest welfare rates in the country, there has to be a way that we could just ban people on welfare from using their cash to gamble. Actually, who cares? These people are stealing our tax dollars anyway, does it really matter if they waste it at the tables? The responsible welfare recipients would use it to support their families, but the irresponsible ones would probably just waste their checks on booze and ice...so either way, it's unproductive. For the rest of us, though, I think it would spark a HUGE economic boost. For comparison's sake, think of Las Vegas. Millions and millions of people travel to a DESERT to spend money at a craps table...let me emphasize: IT"S IN THE DESERT! There's absolutely NOTHING special about Las Vegas besides their casinos! While I am not hoping that Hawaii ever looks anything like Vegas, I am saying that bringing in a few casinos would dramatically boost our economy.

Well, enough of my ranting...what do you guys think?

Send troops home! To their bases!

First, let me say that I have no problems with troops; in fact, I commend them for their service...sure, many are arrogant fucktards, but most are both respectable and respectful. My problem does not lie with the troops...it lies with the military and their use of subsidized housing.

Hawaii is only so big and the island of Oahu holds the majority of the population. Obviously, there is a limit to the amount of houses that can be built on an island...and yet, the state finds room to keep building. Why? Because the U.S. military keeps sending troops here! I am sure that I am not the only person to notice the tremendous rise in military personnel within the past five years. When i'm stuck in traffic, who do I see next to me? a guy with a crew cut wearing fatigues. Has anyone driven into a shopping center near a base during lunch time? I say driven, because most times it is next to impossible to find parking. So what am I trying to say? We are overcrowded...there isn't enough room on this island for the amount of troops staying here. Here's another point to my rant...want to know why traffic is so bad??? because the majority of troops are NOT living on base...

I don't know how many people know this, but troops are given a housing allowance to live off base. We're not talking about a couple hundred bucks...nope, most times the allowance is enough to pay for a nice 2-3 bedroom home. I had a friend who was only a E-4, which is a somewhat low rank in the military; he was receiving 1500 bucks a month for housing. Oh, but he must have had a wife and family, right??? Nope, single guy living in a three bedroom town house with his girlfriend. Oh, but there must have been 100% occupancy on base housing...right? Nope. Most people have overlooked this fact, but on-base housing is EMPTY, and I say this with capitals letters. For those that don't believe, get a guest pass and go ahead and take a look; a few years ago, schofield closed down a golf course so they could build more homes...most of those homes remain vacant. So why do the troops decide to live off base? wouldn't it be an easier drive to live a minute away from their workplace? Well, there are rules when you live on base...and I guess most of the troops don't want to follow rules. So it comes down to this, there are houses on base that WE, the taxpayer, bought...but we have to pay AGAIN for the troops to live off base because they don't want to have to abide by rules. Oh, but thats not the final payment either...

Imagine that you're a landlord; you are charging a local family 1200 dollars a month rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in Mililani. Then the soldiers start coming in and you KNOW that they can afford more than 1200 dollars a month...so what do you do? "oh sorry ah, I gotta raise da rent. You can still pay 1600 a month, ah?" So the rent goes up to 1600 dollars, because of course you want to make more money...that's 400 dollars more in YOUR pocket. By having this subsidized housing allowance, we are allowing the landlords to charge OUTRAGEOUS rent because they know the military can pay for it, but the local family is shit out of luck.

So what can we do? Hell, I don't know. Write to your congressman. Write to a news channel. We have to do something, because this is out of control. I just took my dogs for a walk around the block. Within that block, I saw 10 houses with military people outside, and over 20 cars with base stickers on the front. So I said it before and i'll say it again: send the troops home...to their bases!