For Now
We will wait withering in the brush
sleeping on the hallowed ground of consciousness
clinging to the resolve that we will rise and walk out from this place
when it is time

We will listen to the stirring rhythm of the heart meekly
awaiting the grace of touch that raises the blushing pulse with hope
for tomorrow and a step that balances both poise and spirit
whose rising freshens the gift of breathing

We will furtively look at the eyes and lips of the damned as though this was the greatest passion
holding steadfast withered hands, stroking the troubled brow of the stooping shoulders, grasping a hold, aloft the spirit
of compassionate vision of tenderness

for the last shall be first and the wandering vagabond will rise sitting on the right side of the feasting wayfarers.
Her rambling will be foreseen testimony of the days of remembering, keenly aware of the treasure of each one
preserving and persevering as long as two hearts beating as one in mine

though you are gone we will hold a place for you forever a single heart aching with the blushing rose.

Look Now to the horizon of peace
crossing the escaping darkness that settles down and sinks in the recesses of the mind
Mood Letters of forgiveness for memories of sorrow that stole away dreams of friendly shores

lapping waters we danced on the fringes of the drowning surf as sea going vessels floating in the tepid waters washing back and forth in the tidal pools
we stayed afloat for eternity awaiting the tide to carry us out to sea

But this sultry day the peace is kept rising inside the secret place of our restorative presence in the weeping mist
shrouding the darkness and protecting us from judgement either inside or out
making our sense of freedom and passion a shining chorus of longing

Come now and sit with me and hold hearts that beat as one
be still and rejoice verily I come to you as a warrior
holding up shoulder to shoulder all of those who join in the arc of this circle and marching on holding one another aloft
for the true merit of a valiant sentinel is the spirit of devotion and serenity in accepting the peace

Let us rise, let us rise and march on, and marching as one linked hand in hand a ribald band calm and focused on the single aspiration that we walk on together
through all adversity, accepting this day and each that follows in its wake as a way, a means to live judiciously and humbly as a gift to each other

We are born to give and receive and live in connection with the earth, and when we lay our head down it is done, we close our eyes and tremble
that the mantel of the sheath of lands envelops us and takes us home to sweet surrender.

Never more await to see with whom you commune because there is no one else more faithful and real than thee
You look to your sacred heart aching in the gift and the joyous chorus of the gurgling, overflowing living waters of tenderness

There is no where to escape, no noise to make, no place to hide because all of the world is inside out, upside down and backwards as one moment
convening here and forever vibrating and tremulous, a synergy of the gaping mouth longing for lips to press and breath in the universe.

These ramblings are gone and yet, remain here inside out .....................

How will H.R. 4872 Impact Us?

The most important factor in making a decision before I vote is how this legislation will impact the hard-working people. H.R. 4872 will positively impact all of us. Listed below are benefits of the health care reform legislation:
• Guarantees 16,800 residents who have pre-existing conditions to obtain coverage.
• Provides insurance coverage for 95% of Americans, including 94,000 uninsured residents.
• Improves coverage for 396,000 residents with health insurance.
• Provides tax credits and other assistance to up to 160,000 families and 17,500 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
• Improves Medicare for 85,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
• Protects 1,700 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
• Allows 58,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
• Provides millions of dollars in new funding for 18 community health centers.
• Reduces the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $20 million annually.

________________________________________

Key Provisions of H.R. 4872 Take Effect Immediately

During these tough economic times people and small businesses need help and they need it now. I am proud several important provisions take effect immediately and many more in 90 days to help people pay for and obtain health insurance coverage.
1. SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available to firms that choose to offer coverage. Effective beginning for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2014, the small business tax credits will cover 50 percent of premiums.)
2. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE—Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010. Effective for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2011, institutes a 50% discount on brand-name drugs in the donut hole; also completely closes the donut hole by 2020.)
3. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER MEDICARE—Eliminates co-payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program. Effective beginning January 1, 2011.
4. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a temporary re-insurance program (until the Exchanges are available) to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64. Effective 90 days after enactment.
5. ENDS RESCISSIONS—Bans health plans from dropping people from coverage when they get sick.Effective 6 months after enactment.
6. NO DISCRIMINATON AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS—Prohibits health plans from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Effective 6 months after enactment.(Beginning in 2014, this prohibition would apply to all persons.)
7. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health plans from placing lifetime caps on coverage.Effective 6 months after enactment.
8. BANS RESTRICTIVE ANNUAL LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Tightly restricts new plans’ use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care. These tight restrictions will be defined by HHS. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, the use of any annual limits would be prohibited for all plans.)
9. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER NEW PRIVATE PLANS AND MEDICARE —Requires new private plans and Medicare to cover preventive services with no co-payments and with preventive services being exempt from deductibles. Preventative services include cancer screening, diabetes screening, colonoscopies and mammograms. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2018, this requirement applies to all plans.)
10. NEW, INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS—Ensures consumers in new plans have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal decisions by their health insurance plan.Effective 6 months after enactment.
11. ENSURING VALUE FOR PREMIUM PAYMENTS—Requires plans in the individual and small group market to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services, and plans in the large group market to spend 85 percent. Insurers that do not meet these thresholds must provide rebates to policyholders. Effective on January 1, 2011.
12. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL)—Provides immediate access to insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition - through a temporary high-risk pool. Effective 90 days after enactment.
13. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE—Requires health plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment and may be applied retroactively.
14. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for nearly a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.
15. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS—Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.
16. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SALARY—Prohibits new group health plans from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees. Effective 6 months after enactment.
17. HEALTH INSURANCE CONSUMER INFORMATION—Provides aid to states in establishing offices of health insurance consumer assistance in order to help individuals with the filing of complaints and appeals. Effective beginning in FY 2010.
18. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long-term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled. Effective on January 1, 2011

Escaping From Poverty
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Even though there's no magic bullet, experiments with
jobs and schooling gleaned promising results for
improving the lives of the poor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/opinion/25kristof.html?th&emc=th

Before I ask for a drumroll and reveal “the secrets” of fighting poverty, a bit of background:

For a quarter-century after World War II, the United States made great progress against poverty. Then in the 1970s, we fumbled. Over the last 35 years, our economy has almost tripled in size, but, according to the United States Census Bureau, the number of Americans living below the poverty line has been stuck at roughly 1 in 8.

One reason is that wages for blue-collar and other ordinary workers peaked in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A second is the breakdown in the family and the explosion in single-parent households. A third is the quintupling of incarceration rates beginning in 1970, making it harder for impoverished young men to play a role in families or get decent jobs.

When those factors converge — a young woman with a 10th-grade education trying to raise a couple of kids as a single parent — poverty proves almost inescapable. Often the cycle is transmitted from generation to generation.

Still, there’s a reason for hope: We’re getting a much better handle on what policies can overcome poverty. We’re now seeing more experiments, modeled after randomized drug trials, that measure carefully whether an approach works and how cost-effective it is. Partly this reflects the rise of economists (at the expense of political scientists and do-gooders) and the rigor they pack in their briefcases.

“To make a difference, we have to do things that actually work,” said Gordon Berlin, the president of MDRC, a research organization that pioneered the use of randomized trials to evaluate poverty-fighting strategies. “In the last 15 to 20 years, we’ve begun to build a compelling body of evidence that policy makers and program operators can act on.”

Here’s a peek at some of the interventions that seem to make a difference (and there are many more):

• High-quality early childhood programs, before kids get behind. Much-studied examples include the Perry Preschool program in Michigan in the 1960s and the Abecedarian Project in North Carolina in the 1970s. Both worked with impoverished children who had much better outcomes than control groups. For example, those who had been through the Perry program were — as adults, decades later — only half as likely to go on welfare and much less likely to be arrested.

• Intensive efforts in the ninth grade (which is well known as education’s Bermuda triangle, swallowing up poor students). A program called Talent Development in Philadelphia gave ninth graders a double dose of math and English and reduced absenteeism and significantly improved performance for at least the next couple of years. Tentative results suggest it is also improving high school graduation rates.

• Career academies. These keep students engaged in high school by teaching around career themes and partnering with local employers to give kids work experience. Eight years of follow-up research suggests that graduates are more likely to hold jobs and earn more money.

• Jobs programs. One of the most successful is the “jobs-plus” demonstration, which trains people living in public housing to get jobs and gives them extra incentives to keep them. Participants thrive — and the gains continue even years later, after the program ends.

The two most important interventions seem to be education and jobs. Schooling programs pay off from early childhood all the way through community college. And jobs programs lift entire families: even though one might worry about children getting less supervision with parents working, studies suggest that children then do better at school.

All this underscores a long-term cost of this recession: there are cuts in both education and schooling, harming the two most effective stairways out of poverty. That’s tragic, and I hope we consider schooling and jobs every bit as important as our multibillion-dollar surge in Afghanistan.

In effect, what’s needed to overcome poverty in part seems to be a change of culture, to break self-destructive behaviors — resignation to unemployment, self-doubt, alcohol and drug abuse, disintegrating families, lack of engagement in children’s education — that create self-replicating cycles of poverty. The Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy, a charter school where third graders from a disadvantaged neighborhood outperform their peers around New York City and New York State, offers a shining example of what is possible.

This wave of research suggests that there’s no magic bullet, that helping people is hard, and that even when pilot programs succeed they can be difficult to scale up. But evidence also suggests that we increasingly have the tools to chip away at poverty. We know what to do if we just can summon the political will.

What the state legislature is working on through the Poverty Reduction Task Force, which I am a member, is to somehow find a way to cut poverty in half over ten years. This is a worthy and significant change in the way that we address a fundamental disparity of responsibility and purpose of government. Business and industry does not bother with remedying this disparity. And the public at large looks as though people who suffer from a lack of basic necessities are responsible for the failure to provide for their needs.

When government exercises true value and responsibility for its citizens than we have the opportunity to lead a life of peace and prosperity because we live by the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would do for yourself." I applaud this editorial on what we must forge to eliminate the barriers for poor people. As Mr. Kristof states simply, "There is no magic bullet," and yet, given the fundamental choices of government to intercede on behalf of the poor this is what we have to accomplish to make a just society work.

I'll be the first to admit, cooking brown rice is not as easy as following the directions on the back of the bag. The slow cook time of brown rice plus added time for altitude, made for several mediocre pots of rice.

However, I've come across a new method that works. And, now you can (if you haven't already) partake of the pleasures of brown rice - the added nutritional benefits and the extra oomph in flavor.

Guesswork is removed in a technique that involves using an excess of water then draining it off . . . . Read more, view more photos & recipe.

About Andrea
Andrea Juarez is an award-winning writer. She writes on a variety of topics, however, her food blog ForkFingersChopsticks.com is the nexus of her love for food, research and culture. There you’ll find recipes for cooking an ingredient several ways. She makes cooking both fun and interesting.

HOPEY, CHANGEY THING WORKS
By Helen L. Burleson, Doctor of Public Administration

The answer to the hopey, changey thing was demonstrated on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

Despite all the vitriol generated by the semi-literate Sarah Palin and her semi-literate band of profligates, the majority of Democrats proved that using intelligence, logic, information and a humane concern for all of their fellow Americans, they passed a landmark health reform bill. For a hundred years, presidents and cabinets had tried to address the issue of health care for all Americans. In 2010, these Democrats under the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Congress majority whip, James Clyburn and President Barack Obama, put politics aside and lead a reform that was in the best interest of the people they represent. That is Democracy at work. Democracy is a representative form of government as mandated by the Founding Documents of the United States of America.

The tea baggers and the other semi-literates would not know that because they have filled their void of knowledge with bias and hatred. There is no room left in their diminutive brains to think rationally or to have compassion for their fellow man.

Though they claim to be “right to lifers” they do not hesitate to kill physicians who perform abortions. The few physicians who do perform abortions, heal and save thousands and thousands of lives, but the feeble minded do not look at that. They are so blinded with hatred borne out of their own self loathing as a result of their deficiencies which cause them to follow any piper regardless of what tune that piper is playing.
I have never seen this same group of “right to lifers” condemn war where thousands and thousands of people are killed. I have never heard this group embrace peaceful negotiations and compromise in dealing with adverse situations. As a pragmatist, I realize that sometimes the only recourse is a physical show of strength, but that should be the last resort based on a true and pending danger, not imaginary or false pretences.

Now when these semi-comatose people go so far as to threaten the safety of our representatives, they have gone too far, often with the urgings of some members of the Republican Party. The sanctioning of that kind of behavior has no place in a Democracy. Acceptable behavior for a hypocrisy, is not acceptable behavior for a Democracy.

Feeling that they had not gone far enough or created enough havoc, Representative John Boehner tried to whip undecided Democrats into a frenzy delivering the darkest, most melodramatic, intimidating speech I’ve ever heard. His reviewing a taping of his maniacal performance in Congress should cause him to refrain from every displaying such ignorance again. Were he in a contest for the best performance as a twisted, contorted villain, he won the award.

Hope and change bring a calming and reassuring atmosphere which the tea baggers and the extreme right-wing try to bring down. In case some don’t realize or understand the reference of the Republicans vow to make President Obama’s presidency his Waterloo, I will refresh or jog your memory. In 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the epic battle that spelled Napoleon’s doom, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Seventh Coalition and a Prussian army. This put an end to the tyrannical rule of Napoleon, the emperor of France. What these ill informed people also failed to note is that Napoleon had previously been defeated and driven out of Haiti by Toussaint L’Ouverture which resulted in the liberation of Haiti.
The mood in America is ugly and nasty. This systemic poisoning of the American environment started anew during the presidential campaign when a sardonic, sarcastic, superficial Sarah Palin introduced the concept of “death squads” killers of special needs babies like Trigg and the legitimacy of the birth place of then Senator Barack Obama. The official birth certificate issued by the American state of Hawaii was denied by the “birthers.” One attorney of suspected limited mental capacity even said she possessed the official Kenyan birth certificate of now President Barak Obama.

Much of this unrest, discontent, distrust, borders on anarchy and can be laid at the feet of some Republicans and the right-wing lunatic fringe. This does not bode well for America and her future. As the whole world watches us disintegrate into a semi-lawless nation, we are losing the respect of the world’s people, all the while, our president, President Barack Obama through hope and change is trying to restore our rightful place on the world’s stage.

We need not fear outside terrorists, for the right-wing nuts are trying to destroy American Democracy from within.

"None of the issues facing the poor goes into effect until 2014. At that time everyone will be required to pay premiums. Maybe the amount will not be much but that will not change anything for them. Health care access will still be mediocre."
Commentary

“For Consumers, Clarity as Health Care Changes” By Tara Siegel Bernard
New York Times Monday March, 21, 2010.
The uninsured are clearly the biggest beneficiaries of the legislation, which would extend the health care safety net for the lowest-income Americans.
The legislation is meant to provide coverage for as many as 32 million people who have been shut out of the market — whether because insurers deem them too sick or because they cannot afford ever-rising insurance premiums.
For people already covered by a large employer — most Americans, in other words — the effect would not be as significant. And yet, just about everyone might benefit from tighter insurance regulations.
“We think it’s a big step forward,” said Bill Vaughan, a policy analyst at Consumers Union. “It’s going to provide a peace of mind that many Americans who really want or need health insurance will always be able to get a quality product at a reasonable price regardless of their health or financial situation.”
There would be costs to consumers, too. Affluent families would be required to pay additional taxes. Most Americans would be required to have health insurance and face federal penalties if they do not buy it. And it is still unclear what effect, if any, the legislation would have on rising out-of-pocket medical costs and premiums.
But there is no question that the legislation should benefit consumers in various ways. Beginning in 2014, for example, many employers — those with 50 or more workers — could face federal fines for not providing insurance coverage. Several of the other changes would take effect much sooner.
Six months after the legislation is enacted, many plans would be prohibited from placing lifetime limits on medical coverage, and they could not cancel the policies of people who fall ill. Children with pre-existing conditions could not be denied coverage.
And dependent children up to age 26 would be eligible for coverage under their parents’ plans — instead of the current state-by-state rules that often cut off coverage for children at 18 or 19.
And within three months of the law’s taking effect, people who have been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition would be eligible for subsidized coverage through a new high-risk insurance program.
That special coverage would continue until the legislation’s engine kicks into a higher gear in 2014, when coverage would be extended to a wider part of the population through Medicaid and new state-run insurance exchanges.
Those exchanges, or marketplaces, are meant to provide much more competitive, consumer-friendly online shopping centers of private insurance for people who are not able to obtain coverage through an employer.
In 2014, people with pre-existing conditions could no longer be denied insurance, all lifetime and annual limits on coverage would be eliminated and new policies would be required to meet higher benefit standards.
Even sooner, in 2013, affluent families with annual income above $250,000 would be required to pay an additional 3.8 percent tax on their investment income, while contributing more to the Medicare program from their payroll taxes. And eventually, the most expensive insurance policies would be subject to a new tax.
Here is a look at some of the main ways the health care overhaul might affect household budgets. Uninsured
Although most Americans who do not obtain health insurance would face a federal penalty starting in 2014, many experts question how strict the enforcement of that penalty would actually be.
The first year, consumers who did not have insurance would owe $95, or 1 percent of income, whichever is greater. But the penalty would subsequently rise, reaching $695, or 2 percent of income.
Families who fall below the income-tax filing thresholds would not owe anything. Nor would people who cannot find a policy that costs less than 8 percent of their income, said Sara R. Collins, a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund, an independent nonprofit research group.
EXPANDED MEDICAID More lower-income individuals under the age of 65 would be covered by Medicaid, the federal health insurance plan for the poor. Under the new rules, households with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $29,327 for a family of four, would be eligible.
EXCHANGES AND SUBSIDIES Most other uninsured people would be required to buy insurance through one of the new state-run insurance exchanges. People with incomes of more than 133 percent of the poverty level but less than 400 percent (that’s $29,327 to $88,200 for a family of four) would be eligible for premium subsidies through the exchanges.
Premiums would also be capped at a percentage of income, ranging from 3 percent of income to as much as 9.5 percent.
EMPLOYMENT FLEXIBILITY The exchanges would also help people who lose their jobs, quit or decide to start their own businesses.
“If you lose your employer-related insurance, you will be able to move seamlessly into the exchange,” said Timothy Stoltzfus Jost, a professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
Moreover, people of any age who cannot find a plan that costs less than 8 percent of their income would be allowed to buy a catastrophic policy otherwise intended for people under age 30.
Those With Insur
EMPLOYER COVERAGE People who receive coverage through large employers would be unlikely to see any drastic changes, nor should premiums or coverage be affected. But almost everyone would benefit from new regulations, like the ban on pre-existing conditions that would apply to all policies come 2014.
There might even be cases where people would be eligible to buy insurance through an exchange instead of through their employer, Professor Jost said: those who must pay more than 9.5 percent of their income for premiums, or those whose plans do not cover more than 60 percent of the cost their benefits.
CHANGES IN MEDICARE One of the biggest changes involves the Medicare prescription drug program. Its unpopular “doughnut hole” — a big, expensive gap in coverage that affects millions — would be eliminated by 2020. Starting immediately, consumers who hit the gap would receive a $250 rebate. In 2011, they would receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs.
HIGH-COST INSURANCE Starting in 2018, employers that offer workers pricier plans — or those with total premiums of $10,200 or more for singles and $27,500 for families — would be subject to a 40 percent tax on the excess premium, said C. Clinton Stretch, managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte. Retirees and workers in high-risk professions like firefighting would have higher thresholds ($11,850 for singles, or $30,950 for families), pegged to inflation.
Although the taxes would be levied on the insurer, experts expect the assessment to be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher premiums or reduced benefits.

he turned to the crowd in front of Browns Chapel Methodist, Church, the thousands of whites and Negroes from Alabama and around the country who were congregated for the march, and said:

"You will be the people that will light a new chapter in the history books of our nation. Those of us who are Negroes don't have much. We have known the long night of poverty. Because of the system, we don't have much education and some of us don't know how to make our nouns and verbs agree. But thank God we have our bodies, our feet and our souls.

"Walk together, children, don't you get weary, and it will lead us to the promised land. And Alabama will be a new Alabama, and America will be a new America."

Sometimes the achievement is to make it through to the blessing on the other side of your challenge! Listen to the wisdom of George Washington Carver, the great inventor and innovator who took the peanut and made it shine. He wrote:

In these strenuous times, we are likely to become morbid and look constantly upon the
dark side of life, and spend entirely too much time considering and brooding over what
we can't do, rather than what we can do, and instead of growing morose and
despondent over opportunities that are shut from us, let us rejoice at the many
unexplored fields in which there is unlimited fame and fortune to the successful explorer.

Explore the "can-do" things in your life and move, thrive and live abundantly!

SpectrumTalk Blogger James Fouther, Jr.

James Ellis Fouther, Jr. is the inspirational architect and spiritual leader of the United Church of Montbello. This northeast Denver based, progressive community of Christians embraces and welcomes folks of all backgrounds, races and levels of need. The church itself has been a groundbreaker in many ways. It has led the effort to feed hundreds of families and individuals through the Montbello Cooperative Ministries Food bank and sponsored refugee families from different parts of Africa.

While James is a pastor who embraces the need for ministers to be serious scholars, his bachelor of arts degree is from Illinois Wesleyan University, his master's degree is from the Chicago Theological Seminary, and his doctorate degree is from Eden Theological Seminary. James comments on current issues as well as spiritual, motivational, religious and funny matters on SpectrumTalk as well as his own blog site at http://revjamesfoutherjr.blogspot. com.