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Where to Find Happiness

The world of those who are happy is different from the world of those who are not.
–Ludwig Wittgenstein

Happiest Countries

1. Denmark
2. Puerto Rico
3. Colombia
4. Iceland
5. North Ireland
6. Ireland
7. Switzerland
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Austria
11. El Salvador
12. Malta
13. Luxemburg
14. Sweden
15. New Zeland
16. U.S.A.
17. Guatemala
18. Mexico
19. Norway
20. Belgium
21. Britain
22. Australia
23. Venezuela
24. Trinidad
25. Finland
26. Saudi Arabia
27. Thailand
28. Cyprus
29. Nigeria
30. Brazil
31. Singapore
32. Argentina
33. Andorra
34. Malaysia
35. West Germany
36. Vietnam
37. France
38. Philippines
39. Uruguay
40. Indonesia
41. Chile
42. Dominican Republic
43. Japan
44. Spain
45. Israel
46. Italy
47. Portugal
48. Taiwan
49. East Germany
50. Slovenia
51. Ghana
52. Poland
53. Czech Republic
54. China
55. Mali
56. Kyrgyzstan
57. Jordan
58. Greece
59. South Africa
60. Turkey
61. Peru
62. South Korea
63. Hong Kong
64. Iran
65. Bangladesh
66. Bosnia
67. Croatia
68. Morocco
69. India
70. Uganda
71. Zambia
72. Algeria
73. Burkina Faso
74. Egypt
75. Slovakia
76. Hungary
77. Montenegro
78. Tanzania
79. Azerbaijan
80. Macedonia
81. Rwanda
82. Pakistan
83. Ethiopia
84. Estonia
85. Servian Bosnia
86. Lithuania
87. Latvia
88. Romania
89. Russia
90. Georgia
91. Georgia
92. Bulgaria
93. Iraq
94. Albania
95. Ukraine
96. Belarus
97. Moldova
98. Armenia
99. Zimbabwe

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
–Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Happiest US States

1. Utah
2. Hawaii
3. Wyoming
4. Colorado
5. Minnesota
6. Maryland
7. Washington
8. Massachusetts
9. California
10. Arizona
11. Idaho
12. Montana
13. New Hampshire
14. Vermont
15. Virginia
16. Nebraska
17. New Mexico
18. Oregon
19. Connecticut
20. Alaska
21. Texas
22. Kansas
23. Georgia
24. Wisconsin
25. New Jersey
26. South Carolina
27. Iowa
28. North Dakota
29. Maine
30. Florida
31. Illinois
32. Pennsylvania
33. Alabama
34. North Carolina
35. New York
36. Delaware
37. Rhode Island
38. Nevada
39. South Dakota
40. Louisiana
41. Michigan
42. Tennessee
43. Oklahoma
44. Missouri
45. Indiana
46. Arkansas
47. Ohio
48. Mississippi
49. Kentucky
50. West Virginia

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
–Abraham Lincoln

Really want to find happiness? Look inside yourself. And if you don’t look hard enough, you won’t find it.

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Dennis the Mennis

This past weekend, 39 House Democrats voted against the health care reform bill. It’s not surprising that 31 of the 39 defectors came from districts carried by John McCain in the presidential election. Here is an interactive graphic table from the New York Times that shows some interesting numbers: House Democrats Who Voted Against the Health Care Bill.

One democrat who voted against the bill is worth mentioning. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio voted no, because the health care reform bill did not go far enough. He stated on his blog, “America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America’s businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals.” Kucinich’s full explanation of why he voted against the bill is worth reading: Dennis Kucinich Explains Why He Voted No On Affordable Health Care for America Act.

This guy caught my attention during the presidential campaigns. Before the Presidential Primaries, I took one of those on-line political quizzes to see which presidential nominee matched my own political opinions. Although I supported Clinton at the time, my opinions lined up almost exactly with Dennis Kucinich. I also agree with Dennis regarding health care reform. In fact, the main reason I supported Hillary over Obama in the primaries is because Hillary had a better health care plan.

So, why didn’t I support Kucinich? I did not support him, because I didn’t think he had a chance of winning. Maybe not a good reason, but the game of politics is not an easy one to play. While I understand that Kucinich voted no on principle, it’s a darn good thing that his no vote did not cause this bill to fail.

One thing I’ve learned from having children with special needs is that sometimes you have to ‘play the game’, even if the game is stupid and unfair, and sometimes you have to compromise. This bill is not the answer to our health care problems, it is only a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, there is no way Kucinich’s own bill would ever pass into law at this time in history. But something has to change and some change is better than nothing. This bill includes a public option which is a key component to a better future for American health care.

Here is a list of the House Democrats who voted against the bill:

John Adler (NJ)
Jason Altmire (PA)
Brian Baird (WA)
John Barrow (GA)
John Boccieri (OH)
Dan Boren (OK)
Rick Boucher (VA)
Allen Boyd (FL)
Bobby Bright (AL)
Ben Chandler (KT)
Travis Childers (MS)
Artur Davis (AL)
Lincoln Davis (TN)
Chet Edwards (TX)
Bart Gordon (TN)
Parker Griffith (AL)
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)
Tim Holden (PA)
Larry Kissell (NC)
Suzanne Kosmas (FL)
Frank Kratovil (MD)
Dennis Kucinich (OH)
Jim Marshall (GA)
Betsy Markey (CO)
Eric Massa (NY)
Jim Matheson(UT)
Mike McIntyre (NC)
Michael McMahon (NY)
Charlie Melancon (LA)
Walt Minnick (ID)
Scott Murphy (NY)
Glenn Nye (VA)
Collin Peterson (MN)
Mike Ross (AR)
Heath Shuler (NC)
Ike Skelton (MO)
John Tanner (TN)
Gene Taylor (MS)
Harry Teague (NM)

On to the Senate!

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Society | cindy | | Leave a comment |   Affordable Health Care for America Act Congress Democrats Dennis Kucinich health care reform bill House of Representatives politics Senate Vote

Swine ’09

These days, we are over-saturated with news 24/7. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish facts from hype. There has been plenty in the news about H1N1 (Swine Flu), but I honestly didn’t pay much attention to it. Remember all the hype surrounding the Bird Flu? Then all of a sudden, some sort of flu-like virus started spreading like crazy at Grafton High School where the twins go to school.

Every day last week, more and more kids and teachers were out sick. My boys were out Wednesday with upset stomachs, which I think had more to do with my cooking than any type of flu. By Thursday, 236 students (about 36 percent of the total student body) were out sick. Friday, 46 percent of students and 43 percent of the faculty were sick.

Since the regular seasonal flu was nowhere in the area, it seemed pretty clear that it was the Swine Flu spreading throughout the high school. The school had to be closed early at 11am on Friday and will remain closed until at least next Wednesday. During these four days, the school will be thoroughly cleaned and the students were told to not mingle with other students in order to try to halt the spread of this virus.

On Friday, two students tested positive for H1N1 flu, which means that this is the most likely cause of all the absenteeism.

Grafton High School is the only (or at least the first) school in the entire state that was forced to close because of the Swine Flu. What are the odds that we would be right smack in the middle of this epidemic? So far all three of my boys are fine.

I also got a call from the collaborative where Anthony goes to school. They asked me not to send Anthony to school on Monday and Tuesday, because his brothers attend Grafton High School. So, all three boys will get a mini-vacation. Well, it will be a ‘vacation’ assuming that they don’t get sick…

It is so strange to see our small town the focus of all the local news surrounding Swine Flu. And this was all going on while President Obama was visiting Massachusetts. He got back to Washington and declared a national emergency!

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Dear John, I Support a Public Option!

Dear John Boehner,

Public Option Fact Check
*All three House committees that have passed health insurance reform bills this session have included a public option. [Washington Post, 8/2/2009]

*Polls continue to show that two out of every three Americans support health insurance reform that includes a public option. [Kaiser Family Foundation, Quinnipac, WSJ/NBC News, September 2009]

*American physicians support a public option by an even greater margin—nearly three out of every four US doctors supports the inclusion of a public option in health insurance reform. [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 9/14/09]

I support a pubic option!
Cynthia Bissell, RN, US citizen

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A Country Divided

Here is today’s headline from CNN: “Does ‘strengthening diplomacy’ warrant Nobel? Americans split” OK, I’ve just about had it with the conservatives in this country. Here’s the real deal, we are a country divided. It is really quite amazing how polarized we are as a nation. Maybe this is caused by our two party system, I don’t know. But I do know that President Bush made matters much worse.

So, Obama gets elected in part because Bush was so bad the majority of Americans realized we needed big “change”. The conservatives are saying he doesn’t deserve this award, because he hasn’t done anything to deserve it. Gee, why is he struggling to get things done…because half the country is fighting against him. Obama’s biggest mistake – in my opinion – has been trying to work with the right and bring the country together. Yes, a noble idea (or should I say ‘Nobel’ idea), but it isn’t going to work, at least not at this time in history.

Sadly, if Obama really wants to accomplish anything, he is going to have to ignore the republicans and work with the house and senate majority. The conservatives are so pissed off right now that they are not going to back Obama on ANYTHING! This has become so obvious that it’s actually laughable. The really crazy right wingers have even said publicly that they want our president to fail. Isn’t that nice!? So, it comes as no surprise that America is split on Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Of course he deserves this honor. Even though half of America disagrees, a vast majority of the World knows that he deserves this award. Why was he given this honor? According to the Nobel committee, Obama was given the prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” To understand this, you need to look beyond Fox News at the rest of the world. In just one year, he has changed the world’s perception of the US from one of arrogance and belligerence toward one of understanding, mutual respect and peace. President Obama has inspired millions around the world with his message of hope and peace; that alone is deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Congratulations President Obama!

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