Monthly Archives: September 2007

Tug of War Over Children’s Healthcare

Hello Kittens - 

This post is also posted today by me on DC Metro Moms (www.dcmetromoms.com). I am cross-posting because I think this issue is so very important and hope everyone is paying attention……so here it goes….. 

Nary a day passes when I don’t wonder how this President of ours can wake up and actually face himself in the mirror. As if the death toll in Iraq and hiding of the dead soldiers in caskets when they return to the US isn’t enough but hey – how about the economy?

Or how Hurricane Katrina victims? Or wait – how about censorship of live television?

How DARE Emmy-award winner Sally Field question him on the War? http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jFeiXKwcMM-AgMVN1HZAPMkVleIg 

I mean, really, should I keep going?

OK good, because I will. Just when you think this man cannot damage himself any further, politically, he is doing it again. He is threatening to VETO the House and now Senate-passed bill to increase funding for state sponsored children’s health care.

You got it. He is AGAINST providing health insurance for more poor kids.

I mean – isn’t that like hating Santa and putting a bounty out for the head of the Easter bunny?

How very conservative of him. So in case you weren’t following, he is FOR spending a billion dollars a day in Iraq indefinitely, but he is AGAINST spending $2 billion more a year on covering uninsured poor children.

Of the 48 million uninsured Americans (shameful), 9 million of them are children. Earlier this week, the House passed legislation that would provide insurance for an additional 3.5 million children each year. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092501474.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2007092502249

How is it that the man that has increased our budget every year for six years, thereby defying fiscal conservatism, is suddenly tightening the reigns and making poor uninsured kids the victims?

The Senate passed the bill last night, according to the Washington Post and the President has threatened to veto the bill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/27/AR2007092701038.html?hpid=topnews

I could be wrong but by my estimation, this would mark only the THIRD time the President has vetoed a bill during his presidency. The first came in 2006 to veto federally funded stem cell research (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/washington/20bush.html) and the second came earlier this summer to veto a bill that would have forced a time line to bring the troops home from Iraq (http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/01/congress.iraq/index.html).

So what does this mean, exactly? It means that nothing in Washington is as it seems. It means that the White House is hiding behind rhetoric that they believe this expanded coverage would provide free health care to children in families that are not considered poor.

Whatever. Look – it is a disgrace that there are 48 million uninsured Americans and it is a disgrace that there are 9 million uninsured children in this country. If children do not have access to health care when they need it, how can we expect them to grow and develop into thriving, successful adults? What is the point of government and taxes if it isn’t there to protect those that need it most, like children?

How can a man who based two campaigns around morals and values threaten to veto increased spending for children’s health care?

The list of contradictions coming out of the Republican party never cease to amaze me but on this one, Bush is alone. I’m sure it’s going to pass the Senate and make its way to the President’s desk. And you can be sure my claws are out and will be sharpened on the day he vetoes it. 

Uninspired

Kittens -

I’ve just been uninspired lately. There’s really nothing going on and nothing has fired me up. These are good things. I seek out an uneventful, drama free life – but it means that I have nothing to rant about on KT. Boring, I know.

I haven’t even had any deep thoughts lately to share with you. Shocking, I know.

As for the world of celebrities and fashion, I’m even moderately bored there. We can wonder, is JLo preggo and if so, is she pregnant with twins? Her fashion choices lately certainly suggest she is pregnant.

http://perezhilton.com/?p=6143

How about Salma having a baby girl – who LOVES the name Valentina? Fabulous. Love it. Fabulous.

http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2007/09/salma-hayek-wel.html

Britney’s body guard actually became a heated discussion in my house the other night. We are really smart.

My husband questioned the body guard’s motives and why wouldn’t he reveal these things in private. My counter-point is that there is no way it would be kept private. Britney plays her life out on a public stage for us all to see therefore her divorce and custody battle is a public spectacle and so why would her body guard handle it any differently.

As to his motives – are they really as simple as he is concerned for the children? Is he getting paid? I guess I don’t really care. I predicted a while ago that one of these young Hollywood ladies would end up dead within five years (Britney, Lindsay, Paris, Nicole) and at this rate, it seems that it sadly might be Britney if she doesn’t get the help she needs:  http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20058350,00.html

And then there’s Jenny Garner. She’s all over the press now due to her movie “The Kingdom” and the new play she’s starring in with Kevin Kline. I love her. I consider her my celeb twin in that I think she is a mother much in the way I would be if I were a famous star and had gobs of money, I’d always be at the farmer’s market and park as well. I just like how much she talks about loving motherhood, how fabulous Violet is, how she kept weight on while breastfeeding, she just strikes me as so normal. And again, unlike ridiculous Katie Holmes, she is not dressed for a Vogue fashion shoot whenever we see her out and about with her daughter. For more on Jenny Garner:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297921,00.html

And then how about shoes. You know how I love me some shoes. Well, one of my dear friends sent me a link to some shoes on sale at Nordstrom, which then sucked up like an hour of my time as I perused all the shoes on sale. And I was left feeling in a quandary. I need new boots, we’ve covered that before, but there are so many fabulous summer shoes on sale for practically nothing.

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2958229/0~2376788~6002242~6007715~6007726?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6007726&P=3

So – instead of the boots, do I purchase a few pair of fab shoes for next summer at a great deal? I mean, I’m only thinking of my future self here.

And I am always faced with this dilemma. I LOVE starting a new season off with a pair of shoes in my closet that I’ve had tucked away for months and purchased for a great deal.

BUT – will metallic still be in in Summer 08?

How about espadrilles? I mean, if you are tracking the publicity shots of the S&TC girls shooting the movie, it might suggest that the shoes SJP is wearing in this shoot are going to be the summer look of 08:

http://popsugar.com/gallery/138423?page=0,0,18

Or these:

http://popsugar.com/gallery/137190?page=0,0,1

So what does a gal do? Shop now on discount for next summer or focus on this fall? I could purchase under the guise of timeless fashion pieces being added to my wardrobe? I think Tim Gunn would concur.

I’ll love you the most if you say “Do both!”

And finally, while I was looking for links to include, I stumbled up on this news on the disappearance of that little British girl Madeleine:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20058636,00.html

Welcome to KT’s Book Club

Kittens -

Sorry I have been quiet this week, I mainly have been uninspired but alas – no more. I have decided to start a KT Book Club. I don’t know about you but I’m always on the look-out for a great book, the sort that I can barely stand to put down (“Kite Runner,” “Red Tent,” anyone?). While my voracious reading has slowed a bit since having darling daughter, sometimes a little time on the couch with a good book is all I need to recharge.

And with that, I went out and broke a personal rule – I purchased a book in hard back. It’s called “The Godmother” by Carrie Adams and it’s so big and heavy that it’s a little hard to lay in bed and read it:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2007-09-17-godmother-review_N.htm?csp=34

Mainly the review in USA Today piqued my interest and well, I’m hungry for a good book. It seems that the characters are all flawed and struggling with some of the same issues many of us are dealing with – managing kids, careers, single friends, married with children friends, the whole kit and caboodle.

So kittens, if you’d care to join my book club, then perhaps you should splurge and we’ll chat more about it next week. If I’m the only one reading it, well then, hopefully it’s a good book and you’re still going to hear what I think about it….

Bon Weekend, kittens. 

Bone to pick

I’ve got a real bone to pick with some celebrity mama’s. This is something I’ve been chewing on for a few months now but the interview with new mom Jamie Pressly on Sunday night’s E! Red Carpet Show about threw me over the edge.

Obviously one of the main concerns when pregnant is the dreaded idea of losing the baby weight. When pregnant, we all suffer from these mis-guided notions that it will just “fall off” and we’ll be back in our pre-pregnancy clothes by the time we’re done with maternity leave. Sure we might not say these things out loud but we think them. We’re not going to be like “that woman” with her wide child-bearing hips and muffin top! Mais non!

But then reality hits and we have this baby and sure, a lot of the weight does just sort of fall off. But then there’s that last 10 pounds or so. And there’s that way your body changes, in particular, that way your hips widen, after you give birth.

But see, there’s more. Then there’s that reality that you are at this baby’s beckon call, every few hours, day and night, feeding her, changing her, bathing her, tending to her, calming her when she’s fussy, that time warp that is new mommy-hood.

Which brings me to celebrity mom’s. Not all are guilty – but some are. And Jamie Pressly is the top of my list. She is back to her pre-baby body a mere 4 months after giving birth and I am not saluting her.

You know why?

Because it’s NOT NORMAL PEOPLE.

How DARE she get on the red carpet and tell the nation that she worked out two hours a day every day around day 10 of her kid’s life? And furthermore, drone on and on about the cabbage soup diet as a cleansing diet?

GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK.

Last I checked, when I had a 10 day old, I was going on minus zero sleep, I had trouble walking around the block, and lord knows the last thing on my mind was hitting the gym. So let’s be clear – if you are working out 2 hours a day with a 10 day old at home, you have a BABY NURSE (or two or three) that is tending to the needs of your child while you get the precious sleep you so badly want, while the rest of us do not. The rest of us are up dealing with and tending to our babies.

So instead of lauding this woman for so swiftly returning to her pre-baby body and holding her up on a pedestal, let’s just stop. OK – because it actually just makes the rest of us feel bad even if we know she’s doing it for her professional career.

And then there’s the cabbage soup cleansing detox diet.

Umm..hello….for those breastfeeding mothers out there, exactly how does that diet benefit the health of them and their children?

So once again, we are sending terrible mixed messages to mother’s out there – the first is that you are a lousy mother who doesn’t care about your child if you don’t breast feed, but the other is that you should be lauded and held on a national pedestal for returning to your fabulous pre-baby body within months and sacrificing and having the discipline to diet and exercise so fastidiously after you’ve birthed this child.

I don’t know about you but it really fires me up. I am so sick and tired of reading about all the praise heaped upon these women for how thin they are post-baby – it is depressing and a kick in the face to the rest of the new mom’s out there who are sleep walking through life.

I’m tired of it.