August 4, 2013

That is a really pretty spot.

So quiet and secluded. A great place to get away from everything and everyone!

August 2, 2013

Eight Insurers Seek to Participate in Pa. Health Exchange

Eight insurers seek to participate in Pa. health exchange

By Alex Nixon
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Published: Thursday, August 1, 2013, 10:45 a.m.

Uninsured Pennsylvanians who will be required to buy health coverage for the first time are likely to find plenty of options this year when they go shopping in a virtual marketplace being set up by the federal government.

Eight insurance companies are seeking to sell multiple health plans to individuals in the marketplace, known as a health insurance exchange, which will start open enrollment on Oct. 1. A list of companies was released on Thursday by the state Insurance Department, which reviewed the plans.

Final approval is still needed from the federal Health and Human Services Department, which is overseeing implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

The exchanges are being formed as a safety net to provide health insurance coverage for individuals whose employers are not required to provide coverage under the Affordable Care Act or who lack coverage because they are self-employed or unemployed.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/4460850-74/health-state-plans?printerfriendly=true#ixzz2aqyAgCFM

August 1, 2013

A sad turn of events....Mini-vibes needed.

My hamster escaped his cage last night and is missing. I sent the dogs in there to sniff him out but they just looked worried and confused. I just set a Havahart trap--- that was confounding and frustrating as hell! First it wouldn't spring shut and then it sprung every time I looked at it!

All tiny little hamster-sized vibes are requested. Thanks very much.

Dammit.... the curse of 2013 continues!

July 31, 2013

Yes, also having a bad year.

In the first two months, I went to 3 funerals. Then in March I ended up in the hospital and missed almost 2 months of work. My son also was in the hospital around the same time.

Things are finally looking up.... but I'm almost afraid to exhale. It's funny because at the beginning of 2013, I just had bad feeling about "the curse of 13." Only 5 months to go! Better luck to us all!!!

It isn't as bad as 2001 though. That really was the "year from hell" for us.

July 30, 2013

Remembering former Governor Bill Scranton--- He was a "Kennedy Republican"

Former Pennsylvania governor William Scranton Jr. dies
July 30, 2013 9:46 am
Post-Gazette

By Timothy McNulty / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bill Scranton, a moderate Republican governor and presidential hopeful in the mid-1960s who remained a national presence in public and business life, died Sunday of a cerebral hemorrhage at an assisted-living facility in Montecito, Calif. He was 96.

Pennsylvania Republicans were despondent in 1962. They had lost the past two major statewide elections to Democrats David L. Lawrence and John F. Kennedy in the gubernatorial and presidential races of 1958 and 1960, and for the first time they were out-registered by Democrats by nearly 200,000 votes. With reluctance, Mr. Scranton -- a freshman congressman representing the city named after his family -- met with former President Dwight Eisenhower at his farm in Gettysburg.

The patrician World War II veteran was seen as a "Kennedy Republican" who voted with the administration on urban renewal projects, the Peace Corps and the minimum wage. As governor he would later raise sales and liquor taxes, build the community college system and cut the state's unemployment rate in half, but first he had to be persuaded to get into the race.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/politics-state/former-pennsylvania-governor-william-scranton-jr-dies-697325/#ixzz2aZFVEGOZ

July 27, 2013

15,000 posts!

I just realized it.

July 26, 2013

Black swallowtails :-)

I found some of these guys eating my parsley and dill plants:



They will become these lovely creatures:

July 23, 2013

My thoughts on the royal baby. No sniping allowed.

I didn't want to post this last night because I was tired and cranky.

I don't understand why people cannot be happy for the "royal" family. Are they jealous or just mean-spirited? I get it that people have no use for a "royal" family but that is another country and that is their history and heritage. It has nothing to do with us.

Celebrity babies always get a lot of press. Remember Blue Ivy and North West? Why do people feel the need to snipe, make nasty jokes, and just be miserable about such events? If it makes them so dang irritated, can't they just ignore it and let those who choose to feel happiness alone?

Human nature is a mystery at times, especially to the introverts among us. If you cannot reply with nice thoughts, please refrain. Thank you.

July 18, 2013

This will be my Nast post on DU:

July 14, 2013

The Voter ID Law case begins Monday, July 15 in Commonwealth Court:

HARRISBURG — The state's capital city is “ground zero for voting rights” in the North, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous told a Capitol crowd days before a trial is to start on Pennsylvania's voter identification law.

Jealous spoke at a rally in advance of the case that opens on Monday in Commonwealth Court. Dissecting Act 18, the state's voter ID law, may take as long as two weeks.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Public Interest Center of Philadelphia, and a Washington law firm will argue before Judge Bernard McGinley, a Democrat, that the law must be overturned.

The Pennsylvania Department of State, represented by the Attorney General's Office, the Office of General Counsel, and a Philadelphia law firm will defend the law that Gov. Tom Corbett signed in March 2012.

Read more: http://triblive.com/politics/politicalheadlines/4326544-74/law-state-pennsylvania#ixzz2Z2Ya5Ggs