A hiatus of sorts

I will be taking a little time off to work on a project that I have been thinking about for quite sometime. So all of my writing time will be spent on this project but I will let you know when I start posting again on this site.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.
James Madison (1751-1836)


In regards to the 1,000 page healthcare bill currently in Congress that some members have said that they have not and will not read it prior to voting on it (and this goes for both sides of the aisle); James Madison said it much better than I could ever hope to convey my thoughts.

Oh, Mama!

I am an only child and like many us who bear the title we have no understanding of sibling rivalry and the other dynamics that go into multiple children families.

I remember when Paula and I were raising our children when they would get into arguments and say, “I hate you” and other hateful things; I would think that there was some lasting bond to the words and that our future family would be shattered into little pieces. Paula would just tell me to relax because this was the way that siblings acted and reacted to each other in different situations. I eventually came to see and believe that the utterances of youth did not carry a long shelf life to those uttering the words.

One of the other dynamics that I was unaware of but saw growing up was the way that younger siblings had in bringing their older siblings down in size and it was never more apparent that last week at Disneyland.

My family enjoyed a week at Disneyland last week and on one of the mornings we were in an elevator because we needed to transport my granddaughter, Peyton, to the trams from an upper floor parking area. In the elevator also were a mother and her young teenage daughter and a smaller brother.

The teenage girl had a t-shirt on that said, “I Look Awesome” and just to make idle talk I told her that I thought she looked awesome also. Her brother standing next to her was fidgeting a little bit and as the girl thanked me she kind of shoved him a little bit. I am not sure if he instigated the encounter but there was a little contact being made.

I was finished with the short conversation but I heard the girl utter something about her brother being a pain or something like that and the mother was just watching.

Just then…wait for it, wait for it…The brother says in the calmest voice I have heard in awhile,” At least I wasn’t caught in bed with my boyfriend by mom”.

Oh, Mama!

Mom went off like a roman candle on how that was not the proper thing to say in public and as I watched the boy I saw in him a sense of pride in holding his own. To hell with the tongue lashing he was getting, he carried the day and the punishment was minuscule to the smack down he gave his sister in front of total strangers.

I have to say that as embarrassing as it was for the sister; I admired that little guy for taking the chance and accepting the punishment to get his point across. Don’t mess with the little people; they will take you down.

One Year

My mom passed away on her 85th birthday on August 22, 2008. Unfortunately, I was on vacation on that day and was only able to post this now.

One Year

This blog is a little bittersweet because I am overwhelmed with many different emotions that conflict with each other in regards to how I felt about my mom.

First off, I should say that I loved my mom but not as much as I should have but I do think as much as she would let me love her. We were like a dysfunctional teenage couple that date and fight and break up and make up and fight and it just goes on and on until it ends.

When its over and the dust settles you take a look at what just happened in your life and make life assessments regarding the plusses and minuses of the relationship and eventually grade the event and move on with your life. That might sound clinical but think about it because most of us do it that way. If we didn’t then we wouldn’t be able to move on to other relationships.

So my mom has been gone a year today and the time went fast. I remember being there holding her hand as she faded from life and the other subsequent activities of her funeral and burial. It really seems dreamlike now when I look back on it.

So what have I learned or felt in the past year? Actually nothing more or less than I felt at the time of the actual event except maybe that the hurts are a little less traumatic as I remember them now. They still sting but in a different way.

While mom was alive I was able to relive past moments of my youth and the anger would still be there but now I no longer visit those places nor do I allow myself to over think the dynamic between us. With her gone she is in a place that anger no longer touches unless I want it to touch me and I don’t.

So, in effect, her dying set me free to be free from those thoughts and memories that made me upset and angry and that is a good thing. You would have to ask my family if I am different; I don’t feel different but I think I am less stressed and hopefully more at peace with myself.

There will be many more anniversaries of mom’s passing and I hope that I will be able to stop and reflect for a moment on her and what she meant to my life, both good and bad. I still do the same for my dad on June 30th of each year.

The most poignant thing that comes out of this is the thought that life is for the living and I think my mom’s passing probably has driven that home to me more than any other thing. She is now with the ages and I am here and what I do here is the important aspect of my life at this time. What I do with this time will be the legacy I leave to my children and grandchildren and that is an important thing to me.

I can only hope that I can take the life lessons of my mom and make positive memories of myself to my family and also share in such a manner that they will know how much they mean to me. To do anything less would be a terrible waste of this time that I have been given and would show that I learned nothing from my experiences with my mom. That would truly be a shame.

Where Do We Go From Here?

A news tidbit caught my eye or should I say tugged at the wallet I was sitting on at the time.

The federal deficit is now at 1.2 TRILLION dollars and EACH American, man, woman, child, baby, physically challenged, mentally impaired…every one of us would have to pay $4,100 to pay it back. I don’t know about you but I don’t have that kind of cash lying around for the 4 people in my house.

I am an avid L.A. Angels fan and I watch their games as often as I can. The stadium that they play at holds about 40,000 fans. If that stadium was filled to capacity and had to pay their share they would pay $164,000,000 (one hundred and sixty-four million dollars) just that one stadium for that one game and that is nowhere near what it will take to pay this back.

President Ronald Reagan stated one time in a speech that a trillion dollars (that’s with a CAPITAL “T”) in one hundred dollar bills stacked on top of each other would reach from the earth to the moon. The moon is 240,000 miles from the earth and we all know approximately how thick any currency bill is that we have in our wallet.

Please remember that this deficit is PRIOR to National Healthcare which will only add to the deficit as it currently stands.

My mind is absolutely amazed on how we got here. Little to nothing has been done to repair the infrastructure (roads, bridges, airports (unless you are Congressman John Murtha)) and only 10% of the stimulus has been allocated out for projects that will truly put people to work. Most of the allocation to date has been on pork barrel projects for law makers to spend in their districts but the country as a whole is still standing and waiting for Washington to act.

When this all started I actually cheered the stimulus because I knew that it was going to fund projects to fix our bridges (remember Minneapolis a few years ago?) and I thought man, this is a good idea. People will be hired to go to work to make this happen and the economy will heal faster with this type of plan. Well, Washington and President Obama have let us down again and that is a sad fact.

But don’t forget that Congress agreed to fund new airplanes for them at a cost of $500,000,000 (five hundred million dollars) and we all know how much the Speaker Nancy Pelosi has wanted a bigger plane to ferry her family to California.

Congress, both Republicans and Democrats just don’t get it anymore. There is too much money and too much influence and when they spend the money it is our money, not theirs, there is no emotional attachment to what they are doing to their constituents at home. Our system is broke.

So where do we go from here? Simple, we start replacing all congressional elected personnel with fiscally responsible candidates.

Require that ALL lobbyist to move out of Washington D.C. no closer that 300 miles.
Create a lobbyist arm of the government that they will have to register with and account for all contact of any congressional personnel and limit contact both in Washington and outside the district.
Reduce all congressional salaries 10% immediately and all years that have a deficit no salary increases will be given.

That’s a start. Let me think about it and I probably will come back with more ideas.

A Memory of Times Past

When I was a boy, and that was many years ago, our family had a tradition of going fishing off the Seal Beach pier the Sunday of every Memorial Day weekend, never fail. My dad would pack up all the fishing gear and a radio to listen to the Indianapolis 500 while we fished.

I remember as a small lad being in the back seat of the family sedan as we stopped for bait in the early morning hours on our way to the pier. Remember, there were no 605 or 405 freeways but you took Highway 39 (Azusa Avenue) through all of the cities and stop lights until you reached Pacific Coast Highway. I have no idea how long it took because I was asleep in the back of the car.

I remember the pier so well even today as a long, long, long wooden structure that was very high over the ocean, a little scary and exciting at the same time. But the excitement of the day was being with my parents, my dad mostly, and fishing.

Now, my dad had a long pole with a huge reel and it looked like the thing a fisherman would use to catch some big fish and my mom used a drop line. A drop line is just like it sounds, you drop it over the side of the pier into the water, plop, plop.

I was always amazed that my mom caught more fish with the drop line then my dad did with his large casts into open water. He would cast out and after awhile would reel in the line usually with no bait on it. I often wondered if his huge casts flung the bait off the hook as it went into the water since he got very few bites. Oh well, he had fun regardless.

I usually hung out watching this and messed with the bait to the irritation of my dad. As I got older I fished also but never became an avid member of the club. I did have some very memorable fishing times on half-day boats from the pier though in my high school years.

Yesterday, I returned to that pier for the first time in 40 years; man, that sounds weird being able to say that and have it be actually true. My granddaughter Jordan and I had a day at the beach and I took her to that pier so I could experience it one more time with her.

When your parents are gone then you have to go places that they went in order to be close to them and this is one of those places. Sure there are other places also but this place is special to me.

With my mom alive I guess I saw no reason to have to visit but now that she has been gone almost a year now, I went back again maybe to grasp a little bit of my youth again or maybe just to remember a time when my life was less complicated. Either way, I enjoyed the walk on that pier even if I had to carry Jordan most of the way because now I have a new memory to add to the collection…Jordan and me walking the pier just like I did with my parents.

Hey, getting old isn’t all that bad after all.

Just a Great Day...

Have you ever had a day that just went well from start to finish? Everything was in sync and it just felt really good to be alive.

Started out the day attending church and I have to say that having my entire family in church (except Jordan who was at her dad’s house) was really an great thing. Paula and I ushered today and we communed with our family and that just really makes me feel so at peace when that happens.

Jen wore the new top Paula bought her today at church and it has a fetus drawn on the front and she looked beautiful in it. For those that haven’t heard we are expecting a girl, Lilly Marie, in January 2010 and the girls have already started to buy stuff for the baby shower. One thing I can say about our family is that a baby just knocks our socks off.

Noah was an absolute joy and he is so friendly and talks to everyone and smiles so easily. I took a picture of him by the Vacation Bible School robot and he just smiles. He is so easy to be around.

So Brandon and Jen and Noah had to leave after church for an engagement and Holly, Steven, and Peyton came over to the house for lunch and just hanging out with the family.

Peyton in still combat crawling but can go from her stomach to sitting up on her own. She is also interested in pulling up on things and has also become a great shoelace fan and loves to untie the laces, much to my chagrin. She also just loves cords and plugs and anything electrical.

So we hung out and ate lunch and the girls went to the trailer and cleaned it for our 8 day trip starting next Friday and Steven and I watched TV until he took a nap and Peyton lay on top of him and it was just a great thing to see.

So how was your day?

Free Speech

So after a good night’s sleep and a little time to contemplate the cosmos; I woke up this morning still thinking about what I perceive as an uneven application by both sides to the free speech matter.

Then I remembered what an old cohort said to me many years ago…”That the rights of my fist end where the tip of your nose begins”. Say what? How does that apply here?

Well, if I can expand on this, basically that the words I express even though they might be offensive have a right to be said even to the dissatisfaction of the other party as long as they cause no physical harm. Now that sounds bad but really when you think about it “reptile and repulsive” and “racist” are only hurtful if they are true. They don’t “really” hurt anyone, do they?

So as a listener I need to be more mindful of the truthfulness of the word or words and whether they truly apply or not, if they do not then so what and if they do then I can be offended.

So regarding Ms. Garafalo’s “racist” comment; “So What”, it’s not true and she is just blowing a lot of hot air. So Julia has a right to call Republicans anything she wants and I have a right to react accordingly, which I did and Barbra can still be Barbra and so what. It doesn’t matter unless I care and I don’t.

I guess the old adage of “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me” is still true after all these years. Thanks mom for teaching me that one.

So talk on both sides and let the insults and hurtful divisive words continue to pound the airwaves and continue to build on the history of debate in this great country of ours. Although it has gotten more heated over the past eight years it is still an ingrained part of Americana that most other countries can only dream about.

Oh yeah, and I still think liberals are a bunch of lunk heads…man that felt good.

I'm Confused Again...

Well, it’s happened again, I am confused over the First Amendment and how it is applied across our society.

Yep, I have been listening and reading and the pundits have me confused because there seems to be a clear delineation of free speech being applied in current news events.

Now, as a Republican I can honestly tell you that there are certain celebrities that I no longer go to their movies or buy their music, Julia Roberts, “Republicans can be found somewhere between reptile and repulsive” and Barbra Steisand just because she’s Barbra. I really did enjoy these two performers but their political speech offended me and I am sure they do not miss my attention or money. There are more, Sean Penn, etc..

But it brings up a point…Democrats, mainly liberal ones are free to speak their minds in whatever fashion generally in the press or some media outlet and Republicans just have to take it but when the tables are turned then name calling is in order. Such is the order of the day with the current brouhaha on town hall meetings.

When did old folks speaking their mind become labels for neo-Nazis and other rude names? Now, I will admit that they left their manners at the door but so has the other side on occasion.

So Obama who was supposed to bring us together (remember that just back in November 2008, although I never believed it) has polarized us even more because of ill advised programs and rampant government spending that will saddled our kids and grandkids.

But I digress… what bothers me is the Ms. Garafalo can get on TV and call anyone who disagrees with Obama’s policies “racists” but an elected official cannot “take the heat” from the people that put him in office.

I love living in a Republican district because there is no town hall meeting because it isn’t necessary because my congressman has his marching orders and he will do his job.

Unfortunately, the Democrats are having a hard time listening as they are being rushed out out of local town hall meetings to their waiting limousines for their ride back to their gated communities.

So can someone fill me in on just how free speech is applied fairly to all citizens again?

As the World Turns

Well, it’s been another interesting week on the political scene and town hall meetings are currently the rage of the media circuit. Seems that they are getting a little unruly as citizens (you fill in what type you think they are, Republican operatives, neo-Nazis, or just plain old folks) speak their minds in not especially respectful manner to their elected officials.

As I watched these reports it became apparent to me that the speakers were older folks and I had to laugh at the Democrats saying that they were operatives or revolutionary types because anyone who knows an old person knows that they hate their medical provider but they probably hate the government more.

I listened for years to my democratic mother bash Bush and the poor medical treatment that she was receiving and all of the other injustices that the world had put on her in her rest home and I tried to smile through the pain. Why, because I knew in any other country she would have been dead 5 years earlier from lack of medical attention.

One thing I can say for America is there is one thing the medical community fears more than old folks and that is their lawyers if you mistreat them in any manner. If the old person doesn’t get you then the family lawyer will lay you out in court after the fact.

And so I watched and what I saw were people…people afraid that they were going to lose something that they might not like but they felt was better than what they were going to get.

Remember the old neighborhood game where two siblings were carping at each other all day but if you said on bad word to either one of them then you had a fight on your hands from both of them. Well, there is a lesson here…leave the old folks medical coverage alone because they think of it as a sibling and they don’t like anyone messing with it.

I am fascinated that the best minds we elect to run this country have such a poor read on the American population that they call them names and insult their integrity and then ask for their votes in the next election. Listen up…2010 could be a referendum not seen in awhile.

There are two elections coming up soon that will be an indicator, one for Virginia governor and the other in New Jersey. Keep an eye on these races because they just might show a major shift in the independent voters as they finally wake up from the Obama stupor and put their thinking caps back on and vote with their heads and not their hearts.

America…you just gotta love it.

Cooler Head Prevails

I was watching Glenn Beck yesterday and he scared the hell out of me not just in what he was saying but how he was saying it.

He was reporting on the current heavy handed DNC video and the apparent quashing of first amendment rights of the right in town hall meetings. Shown were clips of Nancy Pelosi and other Dems that really put the smack down on the protestors in these meetings.

There were some disturbing comments regarding members wearing swastikas and other signs of terrible behavior. It really disturbed me until I watched Bill O’Reilly.

He seems so calm and detached almost from the fray that I was wondering what little genie in a bottle he had that made the rest of us look stressed and tired. Well, he summed it up in one phrase (and I paraphrase)…”Democracy is an ongoing living breathing thing and this is just a stage of it and it will move back to some central theme in the future.

Man, hearing that was like taking a 15mg Valium on an empty stomach. I instantly relaxed because I know now that “this too shall pass” just like Jimmy Carter and other presidential tenures (and yes, my liberal friends feel free to add your choices also) democracy is growing and it will be changed somewhat but not so dramatically that it will be unrecognizable when this administration is done.

So I watched the news and applauded that the Independents that voted for this president are turning against him in the polls and listened somewhat to the liberal rhetoric and actually had a small smile on my face because I began to understand that this is a process; a painful process for conservatives right now but we will pass through it.

Thank you, Bill O’Reilly for clearing this up for me. I appreciate your effort in this area.

At What Cost Freedom?

The liberal element of the political cycle is beating the hell out of the conservatives right now and it is frightening to me.

The current Republican minority in the congress is so outflanked that there is no possible way they can move to establish a front on any issue. In clear language…there is no more dialogue on any issue.

The current administration has gone right for the jugular of the conservative voter and has quashed any clear dissent. This was done when the media lost its impartiality to issues and threw their hat clearly in the ring of the current President. So now, when we need debate on costly bills there is none and all dissent is seen as mob behavior.

The Democratic National Committee has released a video saying that the current dissent is from well funded Republicans that are basically a “mob”. Jeanine Garafalo has gone on record as stating that the “tea party” gatherings are all because we hate the black man in the White House. She calls us racist and still no angry protest from the press only the casual shoulder shrug.

I am a Christian conservative Republican that believes in the rule of law, on the founding principals of our founding fathers, in fact even though they were flawed in many ways they were pretty good guys and came up with one hell of a government for their constituents. But with the current strong arm tactics exhibited by the “ruling class” in Washington; little can be seen of any type of public discourse on domestic issues.

I do not hate Barack Obama nor do I care if he is President or not, his skin color is of no consequence to me but his stand on issues is of great importance to me as it has been with ever other President. I am greatly concerned with the thug like tactics that is currently being demonstrated by the administration and its affiliates today.

Let us be cognizant of the power of dissent in all matters and how it works to find a path towards the common good. No power devoid of dissent can of itself be grounded in true fact but rather it is based in uncertain terrain that is subjected to the elements of man’s intemperate behavior.

"Difference of opinion leads to enquiry, and enquiry to truth; and that, I am sure, is the ultimate and sincere object of us both. We both value too much the freedom of opinion sanctioned by our Constitution, not to cherish its exercise even where in opposition to ourselves." --Thomas Jefferson to P. H. Wendover, 1815. ME 14:283

I Have a Question...

I woke up this morning to a somewhat beautiful sunrise with a light wisping of clouds in the sky.

I turned on the local news to see the jet landing at Burbank Airport (Bob Hope Airport, really) with the two reporters that were recently jailed in North Korea. On board also was President Bill Clinton who negotiated the release of these two reporters.

The plane is taken into the hangar and the crowd of family and some press are located inside to record the moment with family and friends. Former Vice President Al Gore is also there as a co-owner of the news service that these two reporters worked for when they were captured. It was a real Capraesque moment as the two reporters alighted from the plane into the loving arms of their family and friends. It really was a wonderful moment even for a hardened conservative Republican like me; I misted up a bit especially when the one reporter hugged her child. I wondered how often she wondered if she would ever see her family again and especially that little gift of life that she had waiting at home.

It really was a grand scene and Al Gore was ever present on the camera and hugging the reporters and it really was a good time.

So what is my question? Who are the numbskulls that sent two female reporters to China to report on the North Korean psyche when it is already well know that it is in the dumper under the current regime? Who perpetrated this fiasco not only on these reporters but their families and the American people at large?

Now, being a little older guy; I can honestly say that I remember reporters in Vietnam, and have seen them on TV in Iraq and other war zones, embedded into the fighting units. I understand the importance of that duty and I honor the likes of David Bloom, Bob Woodward, Clete Roberts and the others that have put their lives in harms way to report the battle to the people at home.

But come on now…two women sent to China who eventually end up in North Korea tried for spying and sentenced to 14 years at hard labor seems like a circus stunt for publicity and a dangerous one at that.

Any half-read bumpkin knows that all Americans should stay away from North Korea. All this did was provide them with a publicity forum for the next 6 months and almost got these reporters killed. If you think they would have survived 14 years at hard labor in North Korea then you are a bigger rube than most. Their prison sentence was a death sentence without having to use the term “Capital Punishiment”.

There should be some hard questioning of Al Gore and his cohorts for creating a potentially sad event in these reporter’s lives and for their families as well.

But the current mood of the media today and the love fest of the liberal element in all facets of our lives shows me that only the celebration will be shown and no “hard” questions asked.

In closing, I do thank the administration and especially President Bill Clinton for the work he did in securing the release of these two reporters.

I can only hope that we have learned a lesson here…stay away from the Big Bad Wolf.

No Guarantee of Time

There is nothing more painful then the death of a young person; a person who has their whole life ahead of them with all of its challenges and rewards and yet they will see none of it.

My niece is currently going through a time with a high school friend that has a rare form of bone cancer that has spread throughout his body and his time is drawing near. There is great sadness over this as well there should be for the family and friends have been vigilant and yet all of the time, prayers and good intentions have fallen on barren soil, or have they?

The immanency of death is a harsh reality to all of us and its sting is well documented yet it is what we learn from death that really is the key to any death that we are involved with. Death leaves a trail…a trail of tears and sadness for sure but also a trail of endurance and longevity for the person who has passed through death’s portal.

What we need to look at is the trail of continuance that stays with us long after the grief is gone and the mourning is over; the trail that leads us back to that person in the future years of our life and makes us pause and remember an earlier time and place when they were still with us.

Death is not finality as much as it is transference from physical to spiritual presence and no person that has ever died is truly dead until no one thinks of them again.

I think that it is interesting and very important to remember that we are all physical beings but also spiritual and that is an important part of our mastering of death in our lives. It is in the spiritual that we are allowed to still fellowship with our family and friends and that part of us transcends time and space.

The Native Americans have a saying, ‘Today would be a good day to die” and when you think about that you might be cynical about its intent. But plainly said it shows a far greater understanding of death for in it is the feeling that “I have lived a full life regardless of the time given to me” and that shows a depth of understanding far past most of us.

Time will grow short in all of our lives; some of us will be blessed with longevity and others will not but regardless of the time given; it is the quality not the quantity of time that blesses our lives and blesses those that remember us.

It’s a Question of Priorities…

Ok, so I’m going to rile a few feathers here and not make many friends but there is something stuck in my craw that needs to be spit out…the feeling of many people in America that America owes them something, anything just because ____________.
(you can fill in the blank here)

Anyone growing up and studying American history in school heard stories of the immigrants that came to America and immersed themselves into the process of being American. They sweated and toiled and yes, most of it was at the behest of an industrial machine that treated them like dirt.

But through it all, the immigrant continued forward for himself and his family looking ahead for a better day and life for all of them. This was their dream and it made America what it is today.

Today, we are immersed in a lifestyle of gadgetry and so much junk that we spend a considerable amount of our hard earned dollars on luxuries and not staples. Our heads turn like Linda Blair (the Exorcist) whenever we go into a store full of electronic gear and other toys. We spend and we obtain our goods and we go home to our own enjoyment. We work hard; we deserve these things, right?

I, personally, do not have any problem with anyone spending their money on whatever they want to as long as they have sufficient funds to pay for the staples in life. It is the staples that sustain us and not the luxuries. If we can have both then we are lucky indeed but we need to be cognizant of the balance of life in our financial matters.

Paula and I early on in the relationship set up an agreement that we had a limit that we could spend without asking for approval from the other half and that has worked well for us for 33 years. It also set a boundary that we were well aware of and needed to pay attention to it. We have had our tough times but we have made it through because we both realize that luxuries come after staples and not the other way around.

Also, we understood that you have to save for a rainy day and you can not live at the edge and expect someone else to pick up your slack when things pop up.

As our children grew, both Paula and I kept our focus on what were the future needs of the family and how were they going to be paid. Because we did this our kids were able to go to the places that they wanted to go and were able to participate in what suited them. It wasn’t always easy but having a plan and setting money aside well before it is needed helped greatly in getting things paid for in a timely manner.

I am not saying this works for everyone but I think the base element here is this…you have to decide what is important or not for you and your family. You have to make a plan on how it will be funded and then do it. And most importantly, if you fail to plan and do not have the funds then you need to look at yourself and not someone else to bail you out. That doesn’t mean that you beat yourself up over it but you need to own it so you can understand how you can successfully accomplish your next goal.

So look around and see all that you have and think about what is needed in the future for you or your family and how are you going to accomplish it. Once you get the plan down you will see that you might just fund your luxuries a little less and that you will have more money for the “staples” of life.

It’s a question of priorities and deciding what is important in your life. If you decide that luxuries are more important than staples then be happy with the decision and adjust your life and attitude accordingly but stop the complaining, it won’t help until you decide to change.

I’m Confused…

To anyone that knows me this is not a startling statement for me to make since most conversations that become multi-subject tend to warp my brain cells and I generally get a glazed look and my brain just freezes up on me.

It’s no biggee and I usually can ask a few questions and I can get myself back on track and even sound somewhat intelligent given enough time.

So what is the issue now?

National Healthcare and what I am hearing that is a perception of some people that support this type of coverage. What I am hearing and what I have researched confuses me only in that I am not sure that those supporting this type of coverage really have a grasp on what is entailed in working through the system.

Let’s face it, the current healthcare system has flaws and some major areas of inefficiencies that when looked at screams for attention from someone (and if the federal government is that someone, then so be it). I’m a big boy and although I hate “Big Brother” looking over my shoulder on almost any issue I will give the other side the benefit of the doubt that they might be able to assist some in this area.

But let’s get back to the matter. There appears to be a misconception on the part of some supporters of National Healthcare that just about anything that needs to be done for them medically will be done for them. From the research on England and Canada I am not sure that is a realistic outlook. Now, I am not saying that the U.S. version will be the same as their systems but I would have to believe that there will be some similarities.

Ok, so what?

What I have seen with the two models mentioned above is that both models have a national review board, if you will, that analyzes medical procedures, medications, tests, etc., and makes decisions as to their incorporation into the health plan system or not. I reserve judgment on whether this is a good system or not but from what I have read it can make life miserable for patients sometimes.

A case in point, England recently changes its approach to pain medication for chronic back pain patients by suggesting that they go through a holistic health regimen instead of pharmaceutical route. Now, this seems to me to be really a bad idea.

Chronic pain patients need certain medications to function and to take them off for some other type of therapy does not seem fair or compassionate. Having worked with a doctor who treated chronic pain patients and seeing them first hand in great pain; I side with making sure they receive the necessary medication to allow them some quality of life.

But the main thrust of my argument here is that these systems have a board, if you will, that looks at and makes decisions on what is paid for and what is not and what patient gets the procedure or medication and which patient does not. This is a scary proposition for me because if I have a loved one that needs something and cannot get it through the “board” then I either pay for it or my loved one suffers the consequences.

To be honest, I have not researched the appellate part of the two systems mentioned above but if a single payer insurance company makes you jump through hoops what will on national board do to us.

In closing what I have found in the two plans I have referenced is this; that patients many times are denied medical procedures even life threatening ones because of age or physical condition. Some might call this social euthanasia and although not proven there have been many news articles of people chaining themselves to a gurney until they are seen and other desperate acts.

I guess it will be easier to hate one “BIG” healthcare provider than our own individual carriers, if we have one. At least then we won’t have any other companies to compare our medical care against and that is a frightening thought indeed.

Am I confused again or would this not be a good thing for us?

Where are the Media Values?

Am I the only one that is getting uncomfortable with the media these days? I don’t think so but political reporting has become such a bland diet of no “hard” questioned asked that I am beginning to wonder if the White House hasn’t already nationalized the press and it just hasn’t been reported yet.

Now, I will state here that Bushie was one of the first to cull questions prior to press conferences and I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. Press conferences used to be a high wire act for the President but no longer. Now the questions are seen in advance and a teleprompter is in place with scripted answers…no wonder Hollywood is in love with this guy, he is nothing more than an actor reading his lines. I am sorry but that is an affront to actors since they have to actually memorize their lines before going on to perform.

What would have happened to George W if he had emitted the “stupidly” remark as did our current President? I think it would be safe to say that the press would have laid him wide open and field dressed him right on TV. What did our current President get, basically nothing except more questions on the issue.

So Dan Rather wants Washington to look at the media and actually start a commission to look at media issues and I am asking why. Why should the media want to get in bed with the very people they are charged with reporting on everyday? Why? And where do the American people fit in here with their expectation of “impartial” news reporting?

The press needs to get their heads out of their proverbial you know whats and start addressing the issues in a more “attack” mode or they will continue to see dwindling subscribers as they flow to the Internet to get the news they need to read from the source(s) that give it to them.

Fox News…Fight on!