Iris-Taub blog

Iris Taub ⁽⁷⁷⁸⁾ Blue Level Author

What Has Happened To Our Country That We Have Lost Our Sense of Morality!

Posted Friday, October 02, 2009 (36 days 18 hours ago.) Viewed 54 times.

I think most of us try our best to teach our children to be decent human beings and to respect others and not judge them by their religious beliefs, the color of their skin and more importantly to know right from wrong which at one point was considered to be a moral way of conduct.

What has become of this country when you have a celebrity who sexually abused a minor and flees the country to avoid prosecution and is finally caught after 31 years and then have other celebrities argue that he shouldn't be convicted of that crime after all the time that has passed. I wonder, if those pleading Roman Polansky's case would have felt the same way if it was their daughter or a relative or even a friends child that had been molested. I understand that the child is now an adult and has claimed to "forgive" her abuser but I think that a statue of limitations should not be given to someone who would drug a child and then sexually abuse them. Does it mean that after all this time that he should be forgiven for such a horrible crime?

How about a convicted animal abuser who is also a celebrity athlete named Michael Vick who has admitted his guilt of fighting and torturing pit bulls and running an illegal fighting ring who according to the judicial system, has served his time in prison. Does that mean that all is forgiven for his original crime and that we should forgive him? All of a sudden he is back in Philadelphia playing football as if nothing has happened and now there have been rumors that Nike who originally cancelled his contract representing them back in 2001 is seriously considering using him as a spokesperson for their company.

When one of the local radio stations found out about it, they posted the address for Nike and asked all of their animal lover viewers to write directly to Nike to tell them how they felt.

I wrote and got back a form letter telling me that they did not sign him but will allow him to wear their products like any other athlete. I still feel that even if he isn't their spokesperson, by allowing him to wear Nike products he is endorsing the product and it sends mixed signals to our children that he is forgiven for his acts of abuse. I guess Nike is more interested in making a profit than doing what is right and setting a moral example to our younger generation.

How do you explain to your children that they must follow the rules when it is quite obvious that those with fame and power do not.

We see too many famous people getting away with literally everything and that the average Joe will not only get convicted but pay the price as well.

Does that mean that we have different rules for different people?

What ever happened to paying for a crime that is committed?

I am sure there are those who feel that in the Michael Vick case he did serve time in jail and I understand that the Humane Society has him as a spokesperson as to how horrible it is to abuse an animal, but I don't think that rewarding him with future endorsements and signing him up to play football is fair unless of course he would agree to donate proceeds of his money to the Humane Society to educate people on the issues of cruelity to animals and maybe to a charity. If Michael Vick has truly repented for his sins, let him prove it by putting his money where his mouth is, sort of speak!

Do as I say and not as I do might have worked for the older generation but today's generation is more inquisitive and are not satisfied with simple answers anymore. Let's get morality back on track and set a positive example for the future generations to come!

Iris S Taub

Parkland, Florida

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Hoping For Affordable Health Care For All!

Posted Monday, August 03, 2009 (96 days 17 hours ago.) Viewed 933 times.

I received an interesting challenge from the assignment desk asking me, and I am sure others, if our health insurance is working for us!

Tough question to answer when there seems to be more and more people loosing their jobs and the issue of pre-existing conditions.

Before I won my battle with disability and was forced to stop working due to complications of my fibromyalgia, I was faced with the reality that not only did I not have a job, but lost my insurance as well.

I tried unsuccessfully to get coverage on my own, but due to pre-existing conditions, there were no insurance companies that were willing to offer me any kind of policy.

I was forced to hold my breath for almost four years until I was finally insured again.

First I had the battle with disability after being gainfully employed for almost 35 years and then I had to hire a law firm to represent me. It was a humiliating experience being forced to see doctor's that were trying to prove that I was capable of doing some sort of gainful employment when my own private physicians had documented proof that my fibromyalgia was compromised because I was intolerant to any of the traditional forms of medication that was prescribed to control the symptoms associated with this condition. This ordeal went on for over a year and finally I was told my case was going to trial. Luckily, the judge reviewed my medical records and made an out of court decision that I was indeed disabled and I was awarded disability.

Made it through hurdle number one, however, you still are not eligible for Medicare disability for another two years. I was a total wreak and every time my doctor's wanted to try and prescribe something new to try, I hesitated since I was afraid that if I had an allergic reaction, I would wind up in an emergency room and I had no insurance. After a long two years, I finally became eligible for Medicare and I chose to use a PPO program which would handle the deductible for the beginning of the year, and also had low co-pays. Luckily most of my doctor's accepted the plan so I was more than happy to use it.

Unfortunately, with most PPO's and HMO's the prescription portion of the plans will only cover certain drugs, and recommend generic when available. It might work for some, but in my case, it doesn't cover medication that I am presently taking.

When you are on a fixed income, you rely on your insurance to cover medication that is required to manage your condition. Up until recently, there were not many options out there to try.

My Rheumatologist wanted me to try a drug called Savella which is an approved fibromyalgia drug that has been successfully used in England for at least 15 years. Although the drug has recently been approved by the FDA in this country for the treatment of Fibromyalgia, my insurance company does not cover it and I was informed that even if my doctor wrote a note requesting it, there was no guarantee that they would even consider a co-pay that was reasonable. I was told anywhere between $90 to $180 every three months and that price could change without notice.

It is very frustrating when you are sensitive to traditional forms of treatment and you think there is a light at the end of the tunnel from your chronic pain 24\7. I luckily contacted a company called FreeMedicine.Com. Their number is 1-573-996-333. They were wonderful and for a processing fee of $10.00, they filled out an application for me on my behalf to get the Savella for either free or a very low cost. I received the package today and have a card to bring to my physician and to the pharmacy. Not sure how this actually works since I haven't tried it yet, but I wanted to share with other's that number so that they could get more information on how to get assistance for medication.

We are all facing a crisis involving health care and in which direction it is going. For those who are already insured, they fear that their premiums will get so expensive that they will be forced to drop it and there is no guarantee that they can get insurance with another company either.

If you loose your job, and there is no cobra plan and you have a pre-existing condition, where do you turn?. I know first hand what a nightmare it is to be without insurance and the fear of being ill.

More and more Americans are facing this problem every day and to them, any kind of plan is better than no plan at all.

We listen to the pros and cons of what the president wants to do for those of us who fall in that category and it is easy to say that you don't care if you have insurance but if you lose your job or the premiums are out of reach, it will concern you!

In my opinion if they can finally figure out a way to get something going, either a sliding scale depending on income, an plan for those 55 and over to buy into Medicare at a discount price or even a state plan, I think it would create a healthy competitive edge with the existing insurance companies and give all Americans the choice to have some sort of insurance.

What do you think!

Iris S Taub

Parkland, Florida

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My Wish for Independence Day!

Posted Sunday, June 28, 2009 (132 days 19 hours ago.) Viewed 112 times.

Most of us will either be making or going to a BBQ and looking forward to another day off from work.

Do we think about what the true meaning of what the 4th of July really represents? I wonder! Yes, we can all say we are patriotic and take a moment of silence to think about brave soldiers who are fighting to protect our freedom and those who have lost their lives defending it as far back as the original Independence day during colonial times.

Do we really understand how fortunate we are to be able to live in a country where we can have freedom of speech and practice our religions without fear of persecution? I wonder though if sometimes we cross the boundries of certain rights that are given to us. Sometimes freedom of speech can be hurtful, cause fear and doubt and cause anger, not to mention conflict among those who don't agree with what is said. There are also loop holes that allow those who find them, don't pay their far share in taxes and place the burden on an overtaxed middle class.

I also wonder what went wrong when the government must step in when our ecomony seems to be suffering due to greedy CEO's and businessman who have tried to cheat the system by drawing high salaries and rewarding themselves with a bonus after giving a pink slip to a loyal employee and then, claiming that their company is in trouble and needs to government to bail them out! When insurance companies continue to raise the cost of health insurance as well as homeowners, and car insurance claiming that they are loosing money.

I just don't understand how a small business is forced to close if they have financial difficulties and yet, other large cooperate companies cry and get money from the government without any plan for accountability so that they don't use the money for something other than fixing the problem they complain about.

The banks received money to hopefully help the crisis concerning bad loans that were made before the market dropped and yet, these banks do nothing to help out the struggling homeowner with trying to get them a more reasonable mortgage rate that will offer them some relief so instead of being forced out of their homes, they can make payments and continue to live in their homes. What good is that vacant house to the bank anyway?

When you think you have security in a job that you have worked at for years and finally one day you are told that business is bad and that you are terminated! What are you suppose to do next?

My definition of Independence Day would be the day when we finally wake up and make those accountable for their actions, the CEO's that literally stole money from companies, the banks that used the money given to give relief to the housing crisis for other means like purchasing another bank for personal gain and profit, for employers who try and get government relief concerning tax breaks when they clearly don't deserve it because they are not employing Americans and manufacturing out of the country to "save money". For insurance companies that constantly request price increases in a nation where many are unemployed and can't afford the insurance in the first place. The list goes on and on.

Iris S. Taub

Parkland, Florida

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