I had to enroll a new health care plan today, and in doing so I downgraded the plan I’m on.  My previous plan had risen 18% in the last 2 years.  What goes up 18% a year?!  Certainly not my income.  Fortunately, not my rent.  Not even the price of delicious rice milk and multigrain cereal.  But health care, apparently, does.  Is it due to price of gas?  All that gas they burn….faxing paperwork?

So I downgraded down a few plans and will save $1,715.88 in 2008 that I would have otherwise spent to remain on the current plan.  Unless, of course, I need to use it and the $3,000 deductible sucks out the savings and then some.  So perhaps I need some kind of insurance to protect me if I happen to need my insurance?

It’s not as bad as it could be if I paid for the cheapest plan, a.k.a. hit-by-a-bus insurance.  But I really don’t feel all that insured.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 47 million Americans (15.8% of the population) were without health coverage in 2006.  That’s a staggering number!  In New York City, I probably pass thousands of people each day who are uninsured.  Also…I’m curious whether the remaining insured were actually satisfied with their coverage.

The United States is the only major industrialized nation in the world lacking universal health care.  Here’s a map of the world that indicates which countries have universal health care.  There are people in this country that believe we’ll end up in commie hell if the US implements universal health care!  Seriously.  Print out that map and put a pin in each nation that has universal health care and is commie hell.  Can you honestly pin an awful lot?  For those who can’t be convinced that it would be a good idea for us to join the civilized world, I reserve this gesture:

And this audio:

I mean really!  41st in the world for infant mortality…  45th in the world for highest total life expectancy…  When exactly did the memo get lost that health care is a basic human right not a privilege?

…when doves cry.

There was a mourning dove under my air conditioner this afternoon. It’s call sounded like it was in my living room. Up close, the detail in the call sounds a lot more metallic than the soft sound you hear in the distance [mp3], reminiscent of the mechanical whirr of a cicada’s tymbals, or perhaps Bubo from Clash of the Titans. I tried to record it with my cellphone, but it flew away before I could get the darn thing in the right mode.

A few hours later, I was walking home down the sidewalk from grocery store. A startled mourning dove jumped out of the grass and flew right under my chin. I could have damn near tasted it! When they fly away startled, they make a rapid “woot-woot-woot” sound [mp3] with their wingbeats.

They are pretty common around here, but today’s close encounters were quite welcome. I got pretty annoyed with Wolf Blitzer inviting viewers to “count along” with the shots on that cellphone video. The call of the mourning dove [mp3] suits me much better than the din of media insanity.