Bostodelphia's Unaccountable Lost Week

Did you miss us?

It's been about a week since we last checked in from Bostodelphia HQ. Here's what we've been missing:

• I, your friendly deadly sandwich, had an editing freak out which threw a wrench into our plans to deliver you Steampunk Mania last week. Fear not, it appears we've salvaged the work and are just tinkering up a revitalized Steampunk-a-go-go to be unveiled any moment now.
  
• Coddy's been sick. It was expensive, he told you about that.
• Ron Paul has significantly scaled back his campaign to protect his Congressional ass seat.
  
• PA's governor may or may not have played the race card against the Obama campaign.
• MA's governor lent some words to Obama's rhetorical arsenal, apparently in good faith as like minded people are sometime wont to do. Someone else wants you to think otherwise.
  

We'll cease belaboring our apology and stick with those five. Now for those of you still tuned into us, this is what we got coming:

• The aforementioned Steampunk-a-go-go. Jake von Slatt. A Steampunk Monstrosity from the twisted mind of Dr. Cod Peace. And from me: a free associative think piece on all this hot air waltzing the waters to the Stooges. (Hopefully this week.)
  
• Some thoughts from yours truly regarding Gov. Rendell's aforementioned hand, if he was even playing. (Mos' Def this week.)
• Having seen it on opening night, I've been wanting to write on Cloverfield since it first came out. With Diary of the Dead in theaters this week, I'll probably be able to do so. (In a couple of days).

That's just what I can think of right now. We're back, and our more unstructured musing are too. First up though, who needs a drink? Have one.

The $400 flu

Between doctor's visits and prescriptions, largely for things like inhalers so that we could continue to breath, the influenza virus that took down my whole family ended up costing me just under $400. Sure, I can draw on my FSA account, but it's still money out the door and the FSA account doesn't last forever.

It makes one wonder what our intrepid presidential candidates would do about sub-par insurance and high co-pays for those of us with at least half-decent health care. As Michael Moore pointed out in Sicko, we all think we have good health care until something big happens and then we discover how screwed we really are. I checked up on the Republicans first since, well, I wasn't expecting much.

First, the presumptive front-runner, John McCain. His prescription: more competition between health insurers and some other reform at the edges while claiming the whole system needs to change. Note: claiming you're a reformer while leaving the whole corrupt system in place is just lies, lies, lies.

Next, Mike Huckabee. His web page accurately notes: "The health care system in this country is irrevocably broken, in part because it is only a "health care" system, not a "health" system." and then goes on to dump on universal health care and provide nothing of substance other than more talk of free markets. Hey Republicans - I DON'T WANT health care competition between insurers, or to pick different hospitals based on which one treats a heart attack more cheaply, I just want to be able to go to my doctor when I'm sick and get needed medications without paying through the nose, and be able to do that regardless of employment status. Seriously, is this so complicated?

Finally, the Dems. Both Clinton & Obama have very similar plans.  Paul Krugman says so.  Both predict that they will lower premiums for the insured, but both maintain the current corrupt and inefficient insurance scam.

It's almost enough to make one want to learn the lyrics to 'O Canada.'