White Christmas

This isn't how we planned to spend Christmas this year. My Lady Love and I are sequestered in our cozy little nest while a raging blizzard blocks all the exits. We were scheduled to attend Christmas Eve services at our church last night. It is always a very special service, with a candlelight segment, and I always enjoy blasting out the high notes when we sing the Lord's Prayer. Because of the weather, the church cancelled all of the services. Then, today we had planned to travel to our daughter's home and celebrate with her family. Not to be. Instead, we occasionally look out the window and watch the snow blowing around, knowing that we won't be going anywhere until the storm stops and we can dig ourselves out. It is easy to feel sorry for yourself, but I can't help noticing how absolutely spellbinding the landscape is outside our window. Everything is fresh and clean, with no trace at all of the dirty slush that filled our streets just a couple of days ago. We should enjoy this pristine, wild beauty while we can.



You guys all know that I am an old fogey, don't you? Well, let me tell you about the Big Blizzard of 1947, a storm that would dwarf this current storm by somewhat. I was about eight years old, and we had rented a farm house that was located in the center of a section of land. A section is a measurement of land that encompasses 640 acres, and each side of the square is one mile long. Since we were in the center, the lane to our house was one-half mile long. My brother and I had to walk this lane every day to catch the school bus. I remember that the temperature was so cold that if we wanted to go outside, we had to wear about all the clothes we owned, or at least several layers, with a dishtowel wrapped around our face leaving only our eyes exposed, and a couple of pairs of Dad's heavy work socks for mittens. The snow was so deep that it covered all the fences, and the wind blew a big drift against the south side of the corn crib. My brother and I were able to climb to the very peak of the roof and slide back down on a piece of a pasteboard box. I don't think Mom knew what we were doing, or I'm sure she would have had a fit. Our car, a 1932 Chevy coupe, was buried to within a few inches of the top of the roof, and the inside was completely packed full of snow. The house itself was slightly more than a shack, and I remember that the wind blew snow through the windows and made little drifts on our bed. We had a pot-bellied heating stove in the living room and a wood burning stove in the kitchen to cook on. To keep warm at all, you had to keep very close to the stove. We certainly didn't have much money during those times, but we had novel ways to keep food on the table. Before the storm, Dad would set traps and snares around the house and would catch rabbits and squirrels (and an occasional skunk or opossum). Since we didn't have a refrigerator, he would hang the carcasses from nails around the edge of the porch, where they would freeze and be preserved. I remember that when the storm came, the pheasants that had hunkered down to keep warm poked their heads up out of the snow. This was a Bonanza for my hunter-gatherer father, who just had to grab the bird by the neck, give it a little twist and add it to the critters hanging around the edge of our porch. There were huge drifts, ten or twelve feet high, on the county road in front of our house, and it was about a week before they were able to open it up. The farmer we rented from eventually brought over his tractor and scoop and dug out our lane. Finally our life could slowly get back to normal. Ah, the good old days!!

Merry Christmas, and may God bless every one of you.
Grandpa Ron

Win for the Tea Party

I saw a poll the other day that asked the public which party they favor. Overwhelmingly, the Tea Party won, with 41 percentage points. The Democrats came in second, with the Republicans slightly less in third place. Inasmuch as there is not an official "Tea Party", this poll is relatively worthless. However, it does a great job of reflecting the mood of Americans in general. We are really getting tired of "politics as usual" that is going on in Washington now. Other than spending like drunken sailors, the Republicans did OK during the first six years of the Bush administration. Unemployment was at 4.6%, and the Dow reached 14,000 for the first time ever. The argument could be made that things went to heck when the Democrats took over Congress in 2006. But, the recession did start during Bush's watch, so I guesss the Republicans get blamed for it. The Democrats are now in power and seem to want to bring about radical change, spending wildly and expanding government to such an extent that the average American, as well as several foreign countries are starting to lose some sleep over it. In the old days, I guess, people didn't really pay much attention to politics. But now, with 24 hour news channels and with everyone carrying small communication devices, we are much more aware of what is going on around us. The politicians are finding it harder and harder to pull the wool over the eyes of the people on Main Street. The people are no longer uninformed and apathetic, and are demanding that their elected officials toe the line.

These newly energized and enlightened folks are the ones that have started the Tea Party movement. This is a grass roots organization that has strong conservative principles at its core. They want to reduce the size and influence of big government. They want lower taxes in order to stimulate the economy. They want the government to quit squandering the taxpayers' money and become fiscally responsible. They believe that the politicians were hired to represent THEM, and not a political party, and they expect to be listened to. They are tired of being lied to and want the spinning to stop NOW!

There are some that think that a conservative candidate, possibly like Sarah Palin, could attach herself to the Tea Party and run as a third party candidate in 2012 against incumbent Obama. My view is that this would be a terrible idea with terrible results. The Republicans and the "Tea Party" would end up splitting the electorate and leaving the left-wing Democratic party intact to take home the election. From my standpoint, the only option is for the Republican party to adopt all of the conservatism of the "Tea Party" and run vigorously on those values. Shouldn't be that hard to do. The "Tea Party" people have made it very clear what they stand for, and the mainstreet folks have made it clear that they like the message. Sounds like a "Slam-dunk" to me.

Ben Done Us Wrong

Last Sunday, I attended a "Give Ben the Boot" rally. Our Senator, Ben Nelson, had just sold his soul to Harry Reid and agreed to vote for the health care bill. He had been loudly proclaiming that his pro-life beliefs would not allow him to sign on to any bill that allowed for government payments for abortions. Well, Harry evidently came up with the magic amount of monetary incentive, and Ben put his moral principles aside and caved in. At the rally, which drew 1800 people on very short notice, featured speaker Mike Huckabee gave a rousing speech to an enthusiastic crowd, calling for us Nebraskans to vote Nelson out of office at the earliest possible opportunity. He recalled that two thousand years ago, Judas also succumbed to the lure of money and sold out Jesus to the Romans. In the end, it didn't work out too well for Judas, either.

So, why is this such a big deal? Polls here in Nebraska show that we are against Harry's bill to the tune of 67%, so if Ben was representing his constituents, he should vote against the bill on that basis alone. Also, his stand on abortion should have been inviolable, not subject to negotiation. Publicly he has said that if our Governor Heineman asked him not to accept the pork present, he would reject it. (I don't remember if he said he would change his mind about his yea vote.) Gov. Heineman was on "On The Record" last night and said that we Nebraskans wanted absolutely no part of the bribe money, and that he should give it back. Bully for him!!

Here is my view. I don't know anyone that doesn't want to reform the health care system. What we want are changes that will actually improve the way we receive our medical care, and we don't want to bankrupt our nation in the process. People who agree with me are really angry with the partisan, closed-door, secretive process that spawned this bill in the first place. We don't like the fact that special deals were cut with the pharmaceutical industries, the insurance companies, trial lawyers, labor unions and others just to move the process forward. This bill should die on the vine and we should start over. It would be a good thing to introduce more competition amongst the insurers, maybe by letting companies sell across state lines. Let's get the employers out of the business of providing health care. Employers are just one more layer of insulation between the insurance company and the insured. The person to be covered should be the one that makes the deal with the insurance company. Ending frivolous lawsuits could save billions of dollars a year. This could be as easy as stipulating that the loser must pay all the fees and court costs. It works in Texas. I like the idea that you cannot be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, even though this would mean higher premiums. I have mixed thoughts about setting up a separate pool for people with high-maintenance health problems. The insurance companies could use this as a convenient loophole to get rid of anyone with even a marginal problem. Anything I have mentioned could be handled on a step-by-step basis, and we could keep the costs down to an amount we can afford. You get the point - there is definitely another way to go about this. Unfortunately, unless Ben does the right thing, Harry's ridiculous bill will be voted in on Christmas Eve and it will be too late.

Iran, the Mighty

Well, the nutjob-in-chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran seems to want to raise the stakes in his quest to become Supreme Ruler of the Middle East. First, he conducted a test firing of the new rocket that has a range of 1200 miles. We all know that he wants to be able to wipe out Israel, which is easily within the range of this missile. But, we shouldn't forget that this range also includes all of our interests in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is especially dangerous, because it appears that they have improved the guidance system to the point that that they could actually hit something. The Iranians don't have a nuclear weapon yet (we think), but an accurately delivered conventional weapon can still do a lot of damage. Scary stuff - but what are we are we going to do about it? As I see it, we could do two things. We are probably too late to do the first one, which is to get behind the protesters and see if we can change the regime. Last summer, when the masses took to the streets in Tehran, our own nutjob-in-chief chose to distance himself from the movement. I don't know if our support would have tipped the balance, but now we will never know, will we? Obama didn't want to do anything that could possibly interfere with future negotiations between the two countries. How's that working out for us, now that a little time has passed? The second thing we could do is to encourage Israel to take action. I don't mean a few quiet meetings in secret with the Israelis. I mean we should make it known that we plan to back Israel all the way, and we won't back off until Iran no longer poses a threat in the region. It wouldn't hurt to punctuate the statement with the Sixth Fleet cruising around the Straits of Hormuz. For Heaven's sake, we are the most powerful nation in the world - why don't we act like it? You see, Israel's time to act is very limited. Iran has purchased a bunch of missiles from Russia, similar to our Patriot system, that will soon be deployed. If they become operational before Israel strikes, it will be infinitely more difficult for them to reach their targets. I look for the attack to come within the next few weeks - they have no choice.

The second thing Iran did was to cross the border into Iraq and take control of an oil well. That was just yesterday, I think. Iraq's response was to say, "We strongly disapprove of your recent action. Please give us back our oil well, and we will forget it ever happened." The proper response should have been to send in an assault helicopter full of Special Forces, grab the infiltrators quick while they had their noses to the ground facing Mecca, haul their butts back to Baghdad and give them a very public trial. That is how Iran is handling the three hikers that wandered across the border. If it works for them, why wouldn't it work for our side?

It is time for some decisive action over there. Are we going to get it? I wouldn't hold my breath!

Mano a Mano

A couple of things happened since I last posted here. President Obama held a jobs summit, gave a speech on jobs at the Brookings Institute, and I bought and read Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue". I haven't been able to find out what went on at the jobs summit, but I did watch his speech on TV. Also, I went to the White House website and read the speech again, because I didn't want to miss something important. Mostly, he outlined proposals to spend a bunch of money to "pay for" jobs that he wants to create. But, he finally added that he was going to propose a couple of tax incentives (something the Republicans have called for since day one) to help the businesses expand and hire new people. This was the only bright spot in the speech. Of course, he whined again about the last administration leaving him a mess, and he bragged about how his enlightened team had saved the day. Once again, he went on about saving or creating 1.2 million jobs with his stimulus package. I just don't see how he rectifies that with the fact that roughly 4 million more jobs were lost since he took office. All in all, it was a typical Obama speech, carefully written to avoid addressing the problems, and giving himself a lot of credit for whatever, if any, successes there were. Oh, what I wouldn't give for an honest politician!!

Now, about Sarah Palin. I will admit that I didn't know what to expect when I bought the book. Since it was number one on the best-seller list even before it was released, I was fully prepared to be disappointed by either poor writing or just a lot of boring, chronological facts. Happily, the book turned out to be a terrific read, written in the straight-forward, and sometimes humorous style that we saw when she was on the campaign trail. She has a degree in journalism, you know, and it shows in the way she put this book together. When I finished the book, I knew all I needed to know about her upbringing, her work ethic, her devotion to her family, her faith, and the ambition she brought to her life in public service. As far as being poorly "handled" in the campaign, she tells it like it was, and she makes it clear who the bad guys were.

Fast-forward to 2012. These two charismatic icons could feasibly face each other in the presidential election. By then, I know that I will have had all of Barack Obama that I could stand. I am already tired of the partisanship, the lies and misleadings, and all of his questionable dealings and relationships. It is hard to imagine that the folks in general will not have seen through his far-left agenda by the time they need to decide about another term. On the other hand, Sarah's conservative message will be well received, and she will no longer be perceived as a ditsy outsider from the Far North. People will know that she has a solid record of governing achievements under her belt, and the fortitude to deal with any of the problems facing our nation. I, for one, would be very excited to see a nose-to-nose face-off between these two. Let's just hope that there is still a country left to be President of.

Apology

I apologize for not posting recently, but a flurry of commitments and activity has pushed the blog off the front burner. It is not that I couldn't have found an hour or two to put a post together. For me, right now, it is a mental thing; I have so many other things I am involved with that I can't come up with the anger or excitement it takes to write a good piece. Hang in there and keep checking. I'll be back!

In the meantime, find out all you can about FairTax and get behind this important grass roots fueled tax reform movement. We can make it happen! www.fairtax.org.

Change the Tune

Try as I might, I just can't get away from the idea that we aren't on top of things in this world today. Our nation has always stood up for the good things, such as freedom, liberty and success, since it was founded. Yet, now we find ourselves reviled in so many areas of the world. No nation has expended as much treasure and blood as we have to help the downtrodden victims everywhere. Still we seem to be losing the battle. Sometimes even terrorists are more welcome in certain societies than we are. It doesn't make sense. Maybe fighting wars and donating aid to these countries isn't the answer. Could the solution be something as simple as "Propaganda"?

I read "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen a while back, and was struck by how much he accomplished as an American in a very inhospitable part of the world. After a mountain climbing incident in the Himalayas, he was helped by villagers in the remote mountainous region of eastern Pakistan. To show his gratitude, Mortensen offered to help the village in any way he was able. The answer was simple; the village wanted a school so the children could receive a well-rounded education and thus have a chance to make a success of their lives in the future. Mortensen set to work, and was eventually able to get the school built. He found some financial backers in the U.S., and then worked with the villagers to do the actual construction. Oddly, to me anyway, he was not to go to our government for any help, because of anti-American sentiment in the area. Over the years he got several more schools built, the program was successful, and all the local people loved him. The point to this little anecdote is that while Mortensen had to work so hard to get a few schools built, his competition was having better luck. Almost as an aside, the book noted that the Saudis had built 3800 schools in Pakistan. The schools he described were more like compounds, large in size and enclosed by high walls. We know these schools as "madrassahs" and we know what kind of education the students get there. The Saudis build these "schools" wherever Muslims are found in the world (yes, also in America), and make sure that Wahhabi teachers are part of the deal. Any more questions about anti-American sentiment and where it comes from?

My view is that we Americans can do the same thing. Not only "can do", but "must do". The primary reason that madrassahs exist is to indoctrinate the young people with the Wahhabi message. We, too, could promote schools that provide not only a good general education, but our own values as well. All of these countries receive aid from us - we should make the schools a part of the deal. I know you wouldn't get far trying to teach Christianity there, but you sure could teach the value of life, honesty, responsibility, and lots of other things (like reading, writing and arithmetic, for instance). And I don't think we should be shy in letting the natives know who is sponsoring the school. We won't be able to improve our image if we don't tell anyone what we are doing, and why. The effort would certainly not be something we should apologize for.

I think the project will be mind-boggling difficult because our adversaries have such a huge head start on us. We have been told by countless leaders that the fight against terrorism can't be won on a battlefield. Victory for us will come only when the people have the knowledge and the desire to choose our side. Educated people have the tools to make any of several good decisions. Indoctrinated people are likely to make only one.

Do What is Right

It is hard to follow the daily news stories without getting all worked up. I guess one alternative would be to just quit the news cold turkey and spend more time in the shop building bird houses. But, someone has to keep track of what the lunatics are doing, and it just as well be me. There is no shortage of hot-button items, and I have no trouble getting agitated over any one of several of them. Today, though, my thoughts have gravitated to the problems in Israel. This tiny country has had to mix it up with all its neighbors since it became a homeland for the Jews in 1948. In spite of having to spend so much time and effort defending itself, Israel has still managed to become a world leader in commercial and technological enterprises. At one time or another, all of the failed states surrounding her have taken their shot, but without success. It is hard for me to understand why they feel it is so important to bring Israel down. Instead, why don't these countries ask themselves, "If Israel can make a go of it in this part of the world, why can't we be successful, too? Surely we are as intelligent and industrious as a Jew". Oh, but we are not dealing with rational people here. I suspect that envy is the driving force behind all the hatred and agitation, and these nations just can't stand Israel being successful while they themselves are such miserable failures. And they won't admit that that their failures are their own doing. I read once that when Hamas took over Gaza, there were 340 operating factories there. That represented a lot of jobs and put a lot of bread on the Palestinians' tables. It took just a matter of a few months to completely tank Gaza's economy, and we all know it wasn't the fault of the Jews. The Hamas leaders were more concerned with lobbing rockets across the border than with providing a livelihood for their citizens. And somehow these idiots have managed to sway a huge amount of world opinion in their favor, portraying themselves as the poor victims of the ruthless Jews.

Well, since you asked, here is my view. We have already asked the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a legitimate state. They answered with a resounding NO, so the ball is now in our court. It is naive to continue talking about a "Palestinian State", because the Palestinians have vowed not to co-exist on an equal basis with Israel. So, I would do it the old-fashioned way; I would assemble all my military forces and I would march in and CONQUER them. That would make any charters they have null and void, because they would now be subject to Israeli law. There would be a lot of kicking, screaming and the gnashing of teeth, but once they started eating regularly and providing for their families again, they would come around. Also, I would tell some of the other neighbors that the spoils of the 1967 war are now ours - we won them fair and square, so live with it.

You know, Israel is the most powerful force in the neighborhood, and I think they deserve some respect. It is time that the snot-nosed runts learn that it is not wise to thumb your nose at the big guy who could mop the floor with you.

Sarah Has a New Book

The other day, as I was perusing the news items on the Google toolbar link, I saw that Sarah Palin was about to release a new book. I clicked on the first article, read it, and then followed on down to about sixty comments below. There were about two favorable comments and the rest were the same hateful negative crap that we had to put up with during the 2008 campaign. I thought that the source of the article was probably just a typical left-wing rag, so I clicked on the next news source. This turned out to be a repeat of the first, with the comments being about the same ratio of hate/support. The "haters" never tire of calling her naive, stupid, inexperienced, hypocritical, and even worse. Ironically, these are the same people who backed Barak Obama for President, and it turns out that these same descriptions fit him remarkably well (with the exception of "stupid" - after all, he did win the election). All you have to do is look at Obama's record so far. He has rejected any and all of the methods that have worked in past recessions. We continue to lose huge numbers of jobs. Other than a slight upturn in the stock market, the general economy has shown no sign of improvement. Iran and North Korea are openly thumbing their noses at us. Britain, France and Germany, our staunchest allies, are losing patience with us and are starting to openly question our "appeasement" policy toward the dictators of the world. They look to us for leadership and they aren't getting any. Our outlandish spending has eroded the confidence in our dollar so much that we have to send delegations to China to beg them to buy our debt. I personally don't like the way he blatantly plays up to the unions, lawyers and organizers like ACORN. And then, there are the lies. Remember what he said about taxes? About bi-partisanship? About transparency? I have said it before - the means justify the ends; you say and promise whatever is necessary to get elected.

But, I have digressed. I wanted to say something positive about Sarah Palin. Just how stupid and inconsequential is someone who receives $7,000,000 advance on a book that has become #1 on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble just two days after it was announced? Since she left the governorship, she has over a thousand offers pending for speaking engagements that she must sort out. These go for about $100,000 or so apiece, so she shouldn't have to worry too much about paying for all those frivolous lawsuits that were brought against her. Yes, I think she is a force to be reckoned with, and the Democrats know it. That is why they keep going after her. I attended one of her rallies, so I know first hand how electrifying she is. She has won the hearts of Mainstream America, and this is no small matter. However, I don't think she will ever capture the admiration of the likes of Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, David Letterman (who has problems of his own), or James Carville. Tough! They will still be drooling over Obama, the President who could have been relevant.

Alinsky Factor

Have you ever heard of Saul Alinsky? Hannity, Limbaugh and Beck seem to think that he had some influence on Barak Obama and his advisers. Not being one to take someone else's word on it, I wanted to find out for myself. As luck would have it, Barnes and Noble had one copy of "Rules for Radicals" on the shelf, so I spent the evening enlightening myself. What I found cost me several hours of sleep last night. I should have just got up and written this blog instead of just lying there stewing about it. Pretty sobering stuff, because now I have a better idea of what is going on and how we got there.

Saul Alinsky wrote the book on community organizing, literally. "Rules for Radicals" was published in 1971, one year before he died. In the book, he enumerates all the principles of the process of being an effective community organizer. Although the book is a veritable textbook with a lot of details, I will dwell on just a couple of points, and how they relate to the current administration. There is quite a bit about "ends justifying the means", which in effect means that if you have identified your goal, you must do and say anything necessary to achieve it. Remember that Candidate Obama promised that 95% of the citizens would not have their taxes raised. Remember that he said that lobbyists would have no influence in his administration. I could go on and on, but the point is that he was deliberately making such misleading statements with the sole purpose of winning the election. He would deal with the truth after he was in the White House. Another point is that the organizer must identify and attack an enemy that is mistreating an underprivileged segment of society. Remember how Obama successfully portrayed the rich as oppressors and should therefore pay all the taxes. Remember how he in turn named big business, the oil companies, Wall Street executives, and now the insurance companies as the villains who must be brought down. It is important to portray the enemy as 100% bad and your solution as 100% good. This sort of cuts the idea of compromise out of the deal, doesn't it?

Alinsky had this to say about dealing with an enemy. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. The treatment of Sarah Palin stands out in my mind. Here was a person who had done all the right things in her life, and actually had a great resume to present to the American people. The hatchet job that Obama and his minions pulled on her and her family was absolutely complete and absolutely devastating. The army of lawyers and reporters that Obama sent up to Alaska found absolutely nothing against her, but the ruthlessness of the onslaught had the desired effect. Every liberal friend I have cannot stand her, and even my ex-wife in Germany hates her. Joe the Plumber also fell prey to the Obama machine just because he asked an embarrassing question.

Why am I making such a fuss about this? Mainly, I am concerned that the president we now have has been so obviously influenced by this man, who calls himself a community organizer, but in my day would have been called a "Rabble Rouser". I remind all of you that Obama's civilian career is listed as a "Communty Organizer". After reading the book, this seems to me to be a pretty scary recommendation. But don't just take my word for it. You should all read the book for yourself and make up your own mind. At least, Google "Saul Alinsky" on the internet and read what you find there. Not that I'm trying to imply anything specific, but it would not be the first time that a radical wrote a book that influenced a country to adopt a whole new system of government. "A Communist Manifesto" and "Mein Kampf" come to mind.

Rock Star in Chief

Since my blog is mostly political, I usually start my day in front of the TV trying to pick up some bit of news that will inspire me to pour out my heart to you. I was greeted this morning by a clip of Obama giving a rousing campaign speech to a meeting of the AFL-CIO labor union. They were responding enthusiastically, as one might expect, because our leader was promising with fire and brimstone fervor that he was going to take care of them on the healthcare issue, soon to be acted upon in Washington. He didn't need the Acorn organizers with this bunch because they were already on his side, and were in large part responsible for getting him elected. Just another case of a special interest group getting its wheels greased, not an uncommon practice in politics these days. Whoops, that just touched another one of my hot buttons, campaign reform, desperately needed to insure honesty in government, but a subject for another day.

Today, I should keep to the subject of Obama and the healthcare issue. In my heart of hearts, I cannot figure out why he is so adamant about pushing for a government plan (and eventually a single-payer system). He is undoubtedly worried about crossing Harry and Nancy and the rest of the hard left members of his party. But, he doesn't seem worried at all that public sentiment is running 2 to 1 against a government plan. Hasn't he been paying attention to the town hall meetings or the polls?

My inspiration for writing today actually stemmed from an appointment I had at the Creighton School of Dentistry to get a filling. My dentist is a very nice young lady in her senior year, who has been handling my dental needs for some time now, and does a great job. Normally, politics is a taboo subject in such a setting and I am always willing to change the subject in a hurry if it starts to become uncomfortable. But we had some time and she felt like talking this morning, and I was more than willing to listen to her perspective on the healthcare issue. To set the stage a bit, she and her husband are in the later stages of their education and will soon be starting their careers in the medical field. They take their education very seriously and work hard to excel. They have a son who is about a year old, so they have to be concerned about a family as well as a career. She shares my opinion that a government plan will displace private insurance and will result in the government setting prices and wages. She admitted to me that one of the reasons she chose to be a dentist is so she can make some good money and have a nice life. Why else would she put herself through such a demanding and expensive education if she wouldn't be rewarded with a good income when it is over? And, looking at the bigger picture, fewer people will be interested in becoming dentists or doctors, meaning fewer professionals to take care of larger numbers of patients, which would lead to lower quality of care and rationing of services. She and I agree that adopting the Obama plan would be a terrible thing and would destroy a proven system that, in general, works very well. It just needs to be improved in certain areas, and not discarded, as Obama wants to do.

My heart goes out to my young dentist who has shown such determination to make a success of what she has chosen to do. How tragic it would be if our rock-star president, who prefers adulation to caring for the people, would dash her hopes and doom her to a life of mediocrity. She deserves better.

Spin City

I have been sitting at my computer for the last couple of hours, catching up on the latest treasures from the Sunday news shows. Of course, the big topic is speculation about what the President plans to tell the joint session of Congress. Well, I still don't know, because all I heard was a bunch of artful side-stepping, orchestrated by the powers that be, that was designed to tell us nothing at all. I could not help but think about all the wages that are wasted on such worthless exercises. Why not just give a straight answer to the questions? Why go on the stupid program in the first place if you don't have anything to say?

Actually, I know the answer. People in politics have such a low opinion of the people that they feel we have to be manipulated to form our opinions. You know, we don't have the intelligence to figure things out for ourselves, so they have to tell us what our opinions are supposed to be. All I really want from these people is a straight answer. I'm a big boy. I can handle it. If Obama would appoint a "Straight Talk" czar, maybe that would be a step in the right direction.

Vacation's over

On Tuesday, Congress will come back to work after having six weeks off to mull over the future of the healthcare overhaul that is still hanging fire in their hallowed halls. One thing is certain, after hearing the people's concerns at the Town Hall meetings all over the country, they will not be able to push through the 1100+ page monstrosity they were considering before the break. The people have spoken loud and clear that they do not like this bill as it is written. And if the Democrats try to railroad it through on a strictly partisan vote, their political careers will be in serious jeopardy. Even the densest among them should know that it is not wise to vote against the will of their constituents. Even Obama should realize that the "mandate" he thought he had regarding healthcare reform no longer exists. I heard that he now wants to sit down and propose his own version of "reform" and submit it for consideration. This will probably really tick off Nancy and Harry, who thought that they were the ones that were supposed to write the bill. At any rate, it promises to be an uncomfortable situation, because they should have all been on the same page in the first place.

OK, here is how I would handle healthcare reform. First, I would potty-can the bill they are considering now. It is too big, has too many components that the people don't like, and is written in incomprehensible language. Then, I would include the items that the people said they want to see in a bill; namely, tort reform, ability to buy insurance across state lines, eliminate the pre-existing illness provisions in current policies, and attack fraud and waste that costs billions of dollars. I don't know all the ramifications, but it seems to me that electronic records would be a good thing. My Lady Love and I both deal with the VA system, and both also have doctors in the private system (for our own good reasons). I would like them to have full access to both sets of records for obvious reasons. And I would write the bill in plain language that is easy to understand, probably in a couple of hundred pages. At this time, I would take a minimalist attitude to the bill, knowing that our country doesn't have any money, and we can't do the whole hog and go broke. If we can do a couple of things that aren't expensive, let's do them and leave the expensive stuff until the economy improves, then have another look at it. As far as the government option plan goes, I can understand that there are people out there that would find it attractive, but I know that with the government price controls and mandates, private insurance would not be able to compete and would cease to exist, leaving only the government plan. The people are scared to death of this scenario, so I don't think it should be a part of this plan.

You have probably noticed that this proposal is pretty much in line with what the Republicans have wanted all along, but it is also what the grass rooters have been talking about at the Town Hall meetings this summer. If Obama were smart, he would adopt the measures that I have laid out, he would have bipartisan support and he would get a bill passed, and he might just have a ghost of a chance at a second term. But he won't - mark my words - because he is more worried about crossing his special interest groups than serving the people he has sworn to represent.

Sticks and Stones

You may or may not know that I serve as an usher at our church , two Sundays on, and two Sundays off at the late service. I get a real kick out of it because it gives me a chance to interact with all of my friends who attend the service. There is more to the job than just greeting people, and we have a lot of duties that we have to do while the main business up front is going on. However, when the pastor starts the sermon, we get to sit back and relax for a bit. Since I am hard of hearing, I sort of look forward to this quiet time to think about other things. Chances are I can only pick up one word in ten, so I don't bother to pay attention. This is the time I can use to think about mowing my lawn or what I'm going to do on the job tomorrow or what I could write about in my blog. Last Sunday was just a little bit different. Evidently I didn't allow my mind to wander as much as usual, and I did manage to pick up a few words toward the end, and they really caught my attention.

The pastor closed his sermon with the phrase, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can break my heart". I had never heard it that way before. Harsh and unkind words, especially aimed at someone dear to you, can really damage your relationship, and you may never completely recover. When I was in basic training, my best friend happened to be black. He was an element leader, as I was, so we had a lot in common and spent quite a bit of time together. One day, we were sitting on our bunks polishing our shoes, and I off-handedly made a comment that my shoes shined like a black man's heel. Of course, my insensitive reference included the "N" word. I noticed a heavy silence, and when I looked up I knew that I had deeply offended him. He said, "Ron, I didn't know you felt that way". I apologized, and tried with all the persuasion within me to convince him that I didn't mean anything by it, but it was too late. The damage had been done, and I lost my friend. Our pastor said it's like trying to get toothpaste back into the tube after you have squeezed out too much. Once you let your words come out of your mouth, they are out there, and there is no way you can put them back.

Town Hall Meeting II

I almost missed it, but I rallied myself in time to attend most of Representative Lee Terry's (R-NE) town hall meeting yesterday (Saturday) morning. According to Mr. Terry, he normally hosts 5 - 10 people at his meetings, but yesterday, over two hundred showed up. When I arrived, a good-sized crowd was assembled on the sidewalk in front of the small diner where the meeting was held. Terry did a great thing by deciding to stay an extra hour and run the overflow crowd in for a whole new meeting. After watching what the media wants you to see of the other town hall meetings, I was half expecting to hear a bunch of angry name calling and chanting, although deep down, I didn't really want to be a part of that scene. None of that happened here, although there was applause and cheers when a popular point was made. Terry began with his set presentation, which was a non-partisan explanation of the bill for the most part, but he did point out where he stands on the various issues. The crowd probably had a few more Republicans than Democrats, but after all, this is Nebraska. When asked if he had actually read the bill, Terry said that he had read it all except the last fifty or so amendments which he had only just received. It was clear that he understood what he was talking about, and that raised him considerably in my estimation. All in all, it was a great experience, and I think everyone gained something from it. Whether Terry goes back to Washington and uses all that he learned remains to be seen.



Inadvertently, the best possible town hall meeting occurred at our Sunday school class this morning. Our scheduled presenter wasn't able to do his program, so we just mentioned the town hall meeting, and the ensuing discussion developed a life of its own. The thing that made this program so special is that we are not allowed to talk politics in our church. Not that we are forbidden to do so - it is more of a consensus thing. Heaven knows we can find enough to disagree about without throwing politics into the mix. So now you can see why I thought this was such a great meeting. We pretty much discussed everything that they talk about at the political town hall meetings, but everyone was very careful not to offend anyone who had a different view. Honestly, our group could have written and passed legislation that would have worked for everyone. I know from talking to our various members that they all have definite political opinions, and on a one-to-one basis are not shy about expressing them. I wonder how productive our representatives in Washington would be if they could put their partisanship aside. If you think about it, that is probably the only way that they could ever get anything accomplished. I wonder if they know that......

Town Hall Meetings

Tuesday, because of a delivery delay, I had the morning off. I chose to spend my free morning catching up on the news on TV. As it turned out, all of the major cable news sources were covering Arlin Specter's town hall meeting in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Specter actually deserves a lot of credit just for showing up, after the disaster the week before when he co-hosted a meeting with Kathleen Sebelius. At that meeting, the crowd was brutal, and the co-hosts quickly found out that the folks didn't show up just to have the hosts force-feed them a bunch of talking points from the administration's propaganda machine. The co-hosts came off looking like fools. At the meeting in Lebanon, Specter's people randomly handed out thirty numbered cards, and these lucky people were the ones that were allowed to voice their concerns to the Senator. There was a lot of passion, a few tears, loud applause, and some very vigorous points made. For the most part, Specter just listened and occasionally commented on his position on certain issues. There was no doubt that the crowd had gathered to voice opposition to the healthcare bill now under consideration. Only one of the carded people spoke out in favor of the bill - 29 to 1. In my opinion, this meeting turned out just like it should have, with a cross section of the Senator's constituents conveying to their representative the concerns they have regarding the proposed healthcare reform bill. To me, there was a crystal-clear message that Specter should go back to Washington and insist that the bill be thrown away, and resubmitted with the provisions that the people want. The crowd was not concerned only with healthcare; they want Congress to quit spending, NOW, they want the lawmakers to honor the Constitution, they don't want to be lied to anymore, and above all they want to have their voices heard. To me, none of this sounds unreasonable. Specter was only one of dozens who held town hall meetings, and from what I saw in subsequent newscasts, the messages were all the the same. It kind of puts the lawmakers in a hard spot, I would imagine. If they don't consider the wishes of their constituents and pass the bill as it is, they won't get past their next election. And if they change their stand on the bill, they won't be getting along with their friends Nancy, Harry and Barak back in Washington. One thing - they all know now that this is serious.

Well, the media had a heyday! But what did they cover? The real concerns of the people that made their wishes known? Not really! There was one poor soul at Specter's Lebanon meeting who was put out that he was not issued a card so that he could make his point. He made his point anyway, and accepted an invitation to leave the hall. This was disruptive, of course, but the media was all over it, like stink on poop. The clip was shown over and over again on all the channels. If you were to tune in after the meeting, wondering how things went, you would come away thinking that there was nothing but outrage and pandemonium. Nothing is further from the truth. There were a lot of valid points made in the meeting, but you wouldn't know about it if you tuned in late. I was so mad at the post-meeting coverage that I wrote to Fox News about it. They completely ignored an interview that David Lee Miller had with a guy just after the meeting. The guy was articulate, gave an accurate assessment of the meeting, and pointed out a couple of things that he wished had been brought up. But, no - that clip was evidently thrown in the trash bin so they could air the "disruptive" clip. By the way, this fellow who was asked to leave showed up as a guest on MSNBC. The poor guy was a bit challenged and had a hard time making his point. I think MSNBC was trying to portray him as the typical conservative hack that plays into the conservative game. I felt sorry for him.

My view is that there probably won't be enough momentum gained to make a lot of difference in changing the healthcare bill, much as I would like to see it happen. Too much inertia would have to be overcome. I hope I'm wrong.

From the Afghan Front

I am going to try to paste a post from Seraph I from the Albawaba.com Forum. You don't get this kind of information very often. Here goes.












taliban popped from 1 mile away
Author: Seraph1 Date: 08-08-09 14:07
Crackshot squaddie kills Taliban warlord from one mile away Glad they're on our side. Well done, gentlemen! Corporal Christopher Reynolds shot the high profile Afghan drug baron dead during ferocious fighting, notching up the longest range confirmed kill in Afghanistan. The 25-year-old waited on a shop rooftop in southern Afghanistan for three days to take out the top-level Taliban commander - called Musa - who co-ordinated dozens of attacks against British and US soldiers. Cpl Reynolds, of 3 Scots, The Black Watch, has already killed 32 other Taliban fighters during some of the hardest fighting of the Afghan campaign. His comrade, Sergeant Daniel Buist, carried out another amazing attack on the Taliban. He killed one of their snipers - who spoke with a Birmingham accent - who was shooting from a tiny hole in a wall more than half a mile away.( snipers killing snipers is the acme of the craft) Cpl Reynolds, from Dalgety Bay, in Fife, took out his target from more than 1500 metres away. He said: "We were in a bazaar in Babaji for days in some very heavy fighting and had taken up a position on a shop roof to observe the surrounding area. From the first few minutes after we landed, we came into contact with the enemy. Trajectory "We were taking fire all the time. We were observing down the valley and I saw a group of five Taliban. I identified one straightaway as the commander because I watched him through the scope and when he spoke on the radio, the other one would do what he said. "I saw that he had a weapon, an AK47. We did all the calculations for range, windspeed and all that. I have to admit the first round landed next to him. We were so far away that he didn't even realise he was being shot at. "We changed our aim and when I took into account different factors like the trajectory of the bullet, my gun scope was actually aiming at the top of a doorway. I fired and the bullet went off, coming down and hitting him in the chest. "He dropped straight away into the arms of a fighter behind him. "The guy just panicked and dropped the leader and ran away. "He had been given a lead sleeping tablet. I was quite proud of that shot - it is the longest recorded kill in Afghanistan. I am going to use that fact as a chat-up line in the pub when I get back home." Lance Corporal David Hatton, 20, from Castlemilk, serves alongside Cpl Reynolds. He said: "We had been in position for three days when he made that shot. I was the spotter on that job and I was giving him the information about the target. "He did a top job that day - but we are all sick about him going on about it and telling us what a great shot he is." Another Scots soldier in the same unit, Sergeant Daniel Buist, carried out another amazing feat using a state-of-the-art Javelin missile launcher which costs pounds 70,000 each time its fired. Sergeant Buist used his Javelin to kill a sniper who was shooting through a tiny hole half a mile away in the bandit country around Babaji. He said: "The guy was getting more accurate with every shot and his bullets were starting to land among my guys' feet. "We could hear through our communications gear that he was speaking English at times. It was thought that he could have been a Brit as he may have had what sounded like a Brummie accent. Smoke "We got in touch with our snipers who told us that he was using a wall with a hole dug through it, to shoot at us. "He had made a mistake when he fired and a puff of smoke appeared from the wall. I could see the shape of his head and shoulders and the outline of his gun. "I fired and the missile went straight through the hole that the Taliban had cut out the wall to fire from. "It was a real bullseye. The missile never even did any damage to the other wall - it just took out our target. "A patrol later went to the position and confirmed the kill. There was nothing left but a lot of blood and rags. The remains had been dragged away by other Taliban. It can be gruesome but I had to stop that guy from taking out my men." Nice job. Count the blood stains, divide by 4, carry the 2. Reach out, reach out and touch someone....

Healthcare Model

Let's talk some more about health care. I am on record as saying that the administration plan to dismantle and remake the best health care system in the world is an ill-conceived proposition. My view is that we need to re-work what we have to make it more affordable, fair and efficient. And I believe that the government's track record in managing what is already under their control is a pretty sad testimony. There are Conservative options out there, but the Democrats in power, with their blinders on, are having none of it. So, we have an 1100 page bill under consideration, full of really scary fine print, that probably won't be fully dissected before Congress gets to vote on it. Even if a compromise is reached by the committees that are working on it, the resulting bill will be much less than a good one. They need to completely scrap the darned thing and start from scratch.

I watched Greta Van Susteren the other night. She devoted a good portion of her show to a tour of the Cleveland Clinic, a very large, well-run hospital. As Greta said, maybe such a tour would be a good start for our legislators who aspire to provide us Americans with a state-of-the-art health care system. Here are some of the highlights.

The doctors are on salary there and are part of the hospital staff.I imagine they are paid pretty well, so getting rich wouldn't be something they have to worry about. Advantages would be a set work schedule and being incorporated into the hospital's administrative services. According to the CEO, the doctors enjoy being part of a team that works together to deliver the best results. The other employees are encouraged to contribute ideas to make their output more efficient. The CEO said they are self-insured, so they do all they can to make sure the 6000 employees have a healthy lifestyle. With company encouragement to lose weight, the employees lost 40,000 pounds over a given amount of time. (I think that figure is right.) In the cafeteria, only healthy foods are offered, with nutrition labels posted for every item. According to their statistics, obesity shortens the average (obese) person's life by twenty years. Roughly 70% of the total health care costs go to treating patients with lifestyle problems, such as overeating, smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, etc. You can see why it is important to emphasize healthy living as a vital part of one's total health care treatment. The hospital has a first-class gym, with basketball courts and exercise machines that are available to anyone who works in the hospital.

In other areas, the hospital has a high tech setup to handle receiving and storage of all their supplies.. In some instances, robot carriers deliver supplies to specified locations. One large problem remains and is in the process of being solved. The records are still mainly in paper form, with work ongoing to transfer them to an electronic format. The CEO showed us the store room where the records are kept. I imagine the records we saw would easily fill a boxcar. And these were only the active files.

My point with all this dissertation is that here is a well-run hospital that is delivering high quality care, is profitable, is efficient, and is providing an appealing workplace for its employees. Our legislators should make a trip to this hospital with their notebooks and take the same tour that Greta took. Wouldn't it make sense to base your program on something that is proven to work, rather than on the pipe dream of a group of neophytes?

In Indiana, Again

President Obama is on the road again, this time back to Indiana, to speak to the masses with a message of hope ---and a check for 2.4 billion dollars. The money is supposed to be used to develop a new generation of batteries that will be used in electric vehicles that could also be built in Indiana. This sounds good to the hungry ears of the poor unemployed souls that he is talking to, but I, who keeps his senses peeled for signs of innovation, think he is missing the point again. Evidently, he hasn't heard about Tesla motors in California, which already has a plug-in car with a range of 244 miles. Would they be willing to manufacture their vehicle in Indiana or Michigan rather than California? Might be a question worth asking. By the way, one version of the Tesla car will go from 0 - 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. This kind of acceleration could give you whiplash. I've written before that a company in China has been manufacturing a line of electric cars for over two years. The batteries that power their vehicles have an electrolyte that you could swallow. Maybe part of that 2.4 billion dollars could be used to buy manufacturing rights for technology that already exists, and jobs would be created at a much faster pace.


I only listened to the first little bit of his speech, because I pretty much heard it all before. His message of "Hope" always includes how tough the times are, and there won't be any immediate relief, and how the empathetic government is on their side and ready to help them out. A few months ago, Mike Huckabee did his television show from Elkhart, Indiana. He featured the local people, including the mayor and local businessmen, who told how they were coping. A number of the people had to rework their businesses to produce different products; for instance, one company that normally made upholstered seats for the RV industry used their fabric inventory and started to produce high-fashion handbags. The message from the Huckabee show was one of upbeat optimism, and no one thought it was the government's job to bail them out.

Here is my view. I think that if you would put up a "prize" of , say, fifty million dollars, for the person who came with a viable 100+mpg green car, you would get some takers. You would get the same results and you would have 2.35 billion dollars left to offer incentives to other would-be entrepreneurs. You know, the carrot approach. It has worked before.

Indian Medical Tourism

My Lady Love and I just spent another exciting evening at Barnes and Noble. Bashing Obama didn't appeal to me for the moment, so I shied away from books by Mark Levin and Glenn Beck. Instead, I picked up a copy of Forbes Magazine to find out what lies ahead in the investment world. Steve always writes an editorial in the first few pages, and I like to get his take on what is going on. Along with a host of other gems, he made mention of the fact that excellent health care is available in countries like India, Malaysia, and Singapore, to name a couple, and might be a viable alternative if one is paying for the treatment out of his own pocket. I had run across an advertisement a while back which invited people who needed major surgery or other treatments to come to India to have it done. The ad said that you could travel to India, get your procedure done, enjoy a nice vacation, and still spend only a fraction of what you would have to pay in the U.S. I found that I wanted to know more, so I turned to my trusty computer to enlighten myself.

The first hit told me that, in general, the Indian public health care system is really pathetic. The main problem is that, while there are very good hospitals, they are all in the cities, and the bulk of the populace is in relatively remote rural areas. People who may need treatment are generally in circumstances that make it very difficult to get to treatment centers. When they get there, they have to endure long lines, shortage of medicines and doctors, lack of sanitary facilities, and months-long waits to see a specialist. The situation is what you would find in a typical third-world country.

On the other hand, the major hospitals in the major cities, which cater to foreigners and the middle to upper classes in their own country, are top of the line, first-class operations. Steve (Forbes) mentioned some statistic that their infection rates are substantially lower than those found in U.S. hospitals. This would be really important to me. I checked out the web sites of a couple of the hospitals, and pretty much found that the care would be on a par with what we find here in the States. ( My personal doctor is from India, and I have complete confidence in him.)
Anyway, I came upon a page that listed the prices that they charge for various procedures. This is a novel idea, I thought to myself - actually knowing what the charges are ahead of time. Then I remembered that the patient pays his own bill, and it couldn't be any other way. One of the surgeries that was on the list was a heart bypass operation. One hospital charged $8941 and the other $10,000. This compared to $130,000 - $140,000 in an American hospital (their figures). The good news, beyond the price, is that the operation would normally be done within 7 - 8 days after first contact. They get a lot of business from Europe and Canada.

Anyway, I thought this might be of interest to you. Here are a couple of web sites if you want to check them out for yourself: www.allmedical tourism.com, and www.indiaprofile.com/medical tourism.

G'night!

Health Care

President Obama is at it again today, this time with a tele-conference with the AARP. I have pretty much heard it all before, so I'm not going to waste my time tuning in on it. No doubt the talking heads will disgorge the highlights, if any, over the course of the evening news. He probably thinks that if he stays in our face with this stuff, we will come around to his way of thinking. In my case, its not goin' to happen.

OK, here is my view. We need to do something about health care in our country, but we do not have to completely dismantle and remake the best care in the world. Directly put, we simply do not have the money to do what Obama wants to do. And, this is so complicated that it should not have to be approved by this weekend, without the scrutiny that such legislation demands. Instead, let's just put all this into the wastebasket and start over. So, how could we just improve on the system we have? I have said before that having all the records on an electronic database is a good idea for a number of reasons. Doctors would benefit greatly from this setup and should be willing to ante up most of the money to convert to the new system. The doctors would have a bit more money to spend on their records if their malpractice premiums were not so high. It would make total sense to put some restrictions on potential lawsuits. Obama has said flat out that he would not consider tort reform in his plan. Can't tick off all the lawyers that contributed to his campaign to get elected - what other reason could there be? And maybe we need to put a few more watchdogs on the payroll to make sure that all payments to providers are legitimate ones. I heard that fraudulent claims on Medicare and Medicaid alone in New York City are estimated at ten percent of the total claims paid there. If the public has to pay for the health care of poor people anyway, let's figure out a way to do it somewhere other than hospital emergency rooms.

This is just a beginning list of things that could be done to improve and cut waste from the system we have now, and it wouldn't bankrupt our country in one fell swoop. I really get nervous when I hear our representatives talking about taxing everything including soda pop and candy bars just to pay for this wild boondoggle that most of the American people don't want. That is true - the polls are showing that the people are overwhelmingly against the package that is now under consideration. So, if this is really a government of the people, by the people and for the people, the powers that be have no choice but to hit the "Delete" button and start over.

Government Fiasco

When President Obama came back from his trip to Europe, he found a microphone right away and chastised Congress for not passing his hurry-up health care reform bill. And I thought to myself that he must think he is their boss or something. If I were a member of Congress and I had been working all hours to put the thing together, I would take strong offense at such an admonition. In fact, I would probably tell him what he could do with his lousy bill and without my vote. Obama really does think he is in charge, and he uses a lot of "I", Me", and "My" in his speaking. Granted, the President has a lot of responsibilities, but in reality, he can only "suggest" that Congress pay attention to his wishes. It is strictly up to them to write, debate, and vote on legislation. Obama's actual participation can only take place after all the work has been done and the bill winds up on his desk for a signature. I know this is overly simplified, but if he were the "boss" there would be only two sides to the triangle of checks and balances. Add to this a rubber stamp Supreme Court, and we would have what is commonly called a dictatorship.

On paper, our system of government ought to work like a well-oiled machine. We voters elect the members of Congress and our President to represent our concerns in Washington. It is expected that problems come up, propositions are presented, all our representatives work together to find a solution that works for everybody, and the President signs the bill and we have the situation handled. Next problem, please. It doesn't work like that, does it? Actually, we have sent a bunch of unruly children to Washington and all they do is fight and squabble, and don't get anything done. What does get done doesn't seem to be what we the people want, need, or are able to pay for. We, the people, are getting a royal screwing. It is time to let this bunch in Washington know that we are on to them and won't take it anymore. They have until the next election to straighten things out, or else! We are the "boss"!

Back From Niobrara

My Lady Love and I just returned on Friday afternoon from a four day vacation at Niobrara State park in northeastern Nebraska. We were joined by our daughter and her family, so there were eight of us altogether. Our cabin had two bedrooms, air conditioning, a full kitchen, living room, bath, and a wonderful screened-in porch.It was furnished and equipped, so we weren't exactly roughing it. If you need a TV or a telephone to get along, you are out of luck here. Even a cell phone will work only if you use it on top of a hill. As you can see from the picture, the park is hilly and well forested. The last thing we did every day was to drive slowly around the loop road just at dusk to see the deer. We saw so many on our second day that we lost count - probably eighteen or twenty. During the day, wild turkeys and rabbits are to be found all over the place. The animals don't get too spooked if you are in your car, but if you are on foot, it is hard to get close. I walked the loop road every day for exercise. It measured 3.2 miles and gave me a pretty good cardio workout on the hills. I timed myself on two of the walks - 62 minutes - just a smidge over 3 mph. On my first really hard climb, I could tell I was pushing myself pretty hard, and had to stop for a moment to catch my breath. It occurred to me that if I had difficulties in the boonies at the far end of the park, I would just have to lay on the trail until someone happened past. Not too smart on my part, but happily, my heart and lungs held up well and I was able to make it back OK. One of my favorite memories of the trip was going out when it got dark and looking up at the Milky Way. There are so many lights in the city that you can't see it. I spent four hours Wednesday visiting the Ashfall excavation site. It is a state park, and you can watch archaeologists unearth prehistoric skeletons. Evidently, a monster volcano erupted almost 12 million years ago in southern Idaho. The ashes were carried by the wind and a heavy layer was deposited in this area. The dig site was a water hole where animals came to drink. They breathed in the ash, which eventually ruined their lungs and killed them, and they were subsequently covered by the ash and preserved. I found it interesting, and read every placard. It would have bored my wife to tears. Afterward, I met the family at the Green Gables restaurant on a county road south of Ashfall. I don't know how they do it, but they do a huge business. Of course the food is great and the decor is Quaint. Their peach pie ala mode is to die for, as I can personally testify.
We have been keeping up with the Tour de France, and are very happy that Lance Armstrong will probably end up in third place overall. The race winds up tomorrow in Paris. Lance is 38 years old and still able to ride with the younger cyclists. Of all the tours that we have watched, this one had the most outstanding riders. There are eight or ten that have what it takes to win the race.
Now I have to get back into watching the political game, so I can criticize, criticize, criticize.

Hiatus

No, my dear friends, I haven't abandoned you. Nothing in the news has really tripped my trigger lately. I really don't find it worth the time it takes to follow the debate on Judge Sotomayor, since her approval is a foregone conclusion. Bor - ing! I would like to know what is happening in Iran. It seems like the opposition movement still has life, but with the Mullah's crackdown on media, it is hard to get any worthwhile information. The Michael Jackson fiasco is still going on, but it is not worth watching. Are there really people out there who care about this crap? Obama is still spending the public's money travelling all over to push his health care and cap and tax programs. And I'm still waiting for our elected officials to put some clamps on him. Why do these bills have to be over a thousand pages huge, why are there so many pork projects in them, and why do they need to be pushed through in such a hurry? Believe me, there is nothing good in any of this, and we, the people, are on the short end of the stick. It was not uncommon to see "WARBI" written in various places when I was in the service. That stands for "We are run by idiots". Kind of describes our situation right now.

I am mourning the loss of Walter Cronkite. He came from an era when we could respect a newsman.

Liz Cheney made my day when she said she is interested in a national elected office. I like her stand on the issues and the way she will not be intimidated.

Remember me telling you about investing the stimulus money we got in GM? It looks pretty shaky right now, and I'm down about 60%. I'm not really complaining - I knew what I was getting into. Like I said, this is money I could afford to lose. But, I did learn something along the way. For one thing, there is no more GM. My shares are now listed as Motors Liquidation Corporation. The GM that Obama talks about is a brand new company that is planning an IPO in the short future. So, rather than a reorganization under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, what we have is a "sale" to an entirely new entity. I and the other shareholders could end up with as much as a 10% share of the new company. I guess I would settle for that. When I hear that GM has "emerged" from bankruptcy, it sounds like double-talk to me.

As regards the absence of recent posts, I simply was having trouble finding the time. I have to spend a couple of hours following the news, and it is always pretty late when I sit down to write. And, if I don't get enough sleep, I notice it the next day. An extra hour of sleep is pretty cheap medicine to keep my heart on a steady beat - something I have to watch out for. See you soon.

Truth

We had our Bible study class this morning, and I had done enough studying so that I was able to participate without seeming too clueless. I wouldn't describe myself as being overly religious, but I do have sort of a thirst for knowledge. I know that there are millions of people who rely heavily on what they find in the Bible to guide their lives, and I guess I could do with a little guidance myself. The lesson today was on the book of Jeremiah. He was a prophet whose main assignment was to inform the people of Judah, and Jerusalem in particular, that they were about to be ravaged by the Babylonians, and they should prepare themselves for the destruction that lay ahead. Jeremiah was not well received because, even though truthful, his message was one of doom. To add to his problems, there were other prophets who were painting a rosier picture, and they were finding more willing ears among the populace. Jeremiah knew that he was the true prophet (he was working directly with the Lord) and that all the others were false prophets. Which brings me to what I wanted to write about today. How do you know what is actually the "truth"? To translate this into today's relevance, let's consider the stimulus package that became law in February of this year. One group of prophets claims that the bill is exactly the right answer to all the economic problems facing us today. The other prophets say that the remedies put forth in the bill will change for the worse life as we know it. Our dilemma is that we don't know which of the outcomes is the "truth". Jeremiah lamented that no one paid any attention to his true prophesies, but willingly listened to the lies put out by the persuasive arguments of the false prophets. The question did come up - how are we to know who is giving the "true" message?Jeremiah put this question to the Lord, and the Lord answered that when the foretold event comes to pass we will know who was telling the truth. Needless to say, this answer doesn't comfort me one bit, because if the false prophets have their way, an awful lot of damage will have been done and it will be too late to fix it. Is there anyone out there who actually knows if the stimulus package is going to work? I sure sure wish he would come forward and put an end to our anxiety. ---But, could we believe him??

Mother Teresa on Abortion

I still have to do some studying for tomorrow's Bible study class, but I didn't want to leave you with nothing to read from me. When I changed clothes after work today, I noticed a folded-up napkin with writing on it on a shelf in my closet. It is not uncommon for me to scrabble around for writing materials if I find something that is worth keeping. Evidently President Carter had written to Mother Teresa, and the following is her reply.
Calcutta, 11-17-79
Dear Mr. J. Carter,
God love you for the very beautiful message of love that you have sent.
Right from the beginning of the work --your people through Catholic Relief Services - have shared the joy of feeding the Hungry Christ, clothing the Naked Christ and giving a home to the Homeless Christ. In all these years, nearly 30 years, your people have always been there. Thank God.
You will be glad to know our sisters are with the "shut-ins" at 335 East 145 St., Bronx, and in Detroit and St. Louis.
Your people suffer much from very deep poverty. The poverty of loneliness and fear of the shut-ins -- and the murder of the unborn child through fear of having to feed one more child --educate one more child -- the child must die. I was so very surprised. The other day, when in my prayer, I realized that it was the unborn St. John that lept with joy in his mother's womb when Mary, the mother of Jesus, brought Him in her womb to his home. I ask you for a gift. Abolish this law of abortion in your country and you will have peace. How will you meet God --What will you answer Him for all the murders of innocent unborn children done in your country --God has entrusted to you -- Open your heart to the cry of the children.
I am praying for you that you may hear their cry and do something -- that God may give you the light to see, the love to accept it, and the courage to do it.
My prayer is with you.
God bless you,
M. Teresa

No Time Tonight

Sorry, but once again I have left too much for the last minute, and I haven't enough time to come up with something to write about. Michael Jackson has finally been laid to rest and now we can get on with our lives. Yes, we know that Sarah Palin resigned and ruined everything. The Obama entourage has finished up in Russia and is heading home. The Obama charm wasn't working on the Russians, and they didn't get the rock star treatment there. To the Russians, Obama is just another president of another country come to call. Anyway, I have to prepare for my Bible study class on Thursday AM - I haven't even started yet.

Bomb, Bomb Iran

There was important news in the last couple of days regarding Israel's plans to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities - maybe..... Two separate news releases this weekend caught my eye. The first was Joe Biden's interview, in which he said that if Israel decided they wanted to bomb Iran, we wouldn't interfere. He said that Israel is a sovereign nation and we couldn't tell them what to do. At about the same time, we heard that Saudi Arabia wouldn't prohibit Israel from using its air space in carrying out the bombing run. It sure seemed like a green light to me, and I was pretty excited. Israel is the only power that could carry out the destruction, because of all the threats coming from Ahmadinejad, calling for Israel's obliteration. Then, today, there were more releases. Arab News reported that the Saudi government denies that it had dealings with Israel to use its air space. Later, someone in our State Department said that the U.S. would not give the green light for Israel to carry out such an attack. So, is that the end of it? I doubt it. I think that the U.S. and Israel came to a deal. All of a sudden, Netanyahu agreed to the idea of a separate state for the Palestinians, something he has always been against. And the U.S. position has always been (publicly, at least) that Israel should not atack Iran, because that would foul up future negotiations. Hmmmm... Then I found two other items. Israel now has a submarine prowling between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, one that probably has missile-launching capabilities. Also, the Israeli Air Force is about to commence training exercises in the U.S. and Europe, with emphasis on long-range missions involving refueling. Even if all that is happening now never ends up in a bombing run, it should serve as a strong warning to Iran that things are serious. We will keep and eye on this one.

Patriots

Since this is the last day of the Independence Day weekend, I thought I would tell you about some of the people that served in the military in my own family. My father was born in 1907, so he was only a boy when we fought in the First World War. However, he had five older brothers that signed up and went to war, a fact that made the newspapers at that time. I remember Uncle Pete, who was a victim of a poison gas attack, and also had an ugly wound on the underside of his left arm that left him with a disfigured elbow. Pete would have terrible coughing fits that seemed to me would be the end of his life right in front of me. He did live to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, though, probably because of the judicious use of "medicine" that he hid in drawers, closets, the outbuildings and his tool box. One of the brothers, Matt, was the image of spit and polish, and even though he lived to be an old man, he always had a ramrod-straight posture and kept his hair cut short. I was about four when my father went to Sioux City to enlist for WWII. He was anemic and had suffered a nervous breakdown, and because of that was rated 4-F. I remember how angry he was when he came home, because he sure thought he was healthy enough to serve his country. My mother's brother, Everett, got in on the last of the fighting in Germany in 1945. In fact, he claimed that he had fired the last shot of the war. After the armistice was signed and the fighting stopped, he and a couple other soldiers went out into the forest to shoot a wild boar for a change of diet, when they were fired upon by some Germans who had not yet heard the word. Everett returned fire, didn't kill anyone, but claimed the last shot. I think it was all BS, but he made a great story out of it. His oldest brother, George, was a cook, and I loved to watch him break four eggs at a time. Brother Lloyd was in the signal core, and hurt his back when he came down too fast from a pole. Lloyd and George never made it overseas. My wife had three uncles who saw a lot of action in the Navy in the Pacific. I don't know their stories, but two of them had their ships shot out from under them and spent time in the water. That had to be pretty scary. On the other side of the coin, my first father-in-law fought on the German side. He told me that at one point he thought he was playing a joke on his comrades, and inadvertently captured several American soldiers. He had no idea what to do with them so he turned them loose again. My first wife's Uncle Karl was terribly wounded, by the Russians, I think. He took a round from the rear that went through his tailbone and pretty much destroyed his genitals. There were complications, probably infection, and he spent a long time in a field hospital near death. He made it, though, and he and I got to know each other really well. It was an honor to know this man.
I served in the Air Force in Germany for over three years, but I was never in any danger. When the Russians built the wall in Berlin, I was working at a site just a couple of kilometers from the border. From my vantage point I could see the show of force by both sides and all of the planes in the air. Because of the sensitive nature of what we were doing there, we were told to be ready for evacuation at a moment's notice, but it never came to that. There was a lot of saber rattling when the Russians shot down Francis Gary Powers, but nothing came of that either. When it was time for me to muster out in 1963, the rumor mill about being sent to the conflict cranking up in Viet Nam was in full swing. It didn't affect me, though and I was sent home and discharged. Over the years, I have always wondered if I could have held up in battle. Some obscure little corner of my brain still wishes I could have been tested, maybe so I would have something to write about now. I will never know.

Independence Day

Celebrating Independence Day on the Fourth of July normally includes getting together with family and friends, having a nice meal and watching fireworks. The fireworks remind us that in the beginning days and years of our country, those flashes of light in the night sky were actual shells and bombs exploding. This independence that we celebrate today was not easily won. We have watched in the last couple of weeks how the people of Iran made a stand against the heavy hand of their own government, and were gradually beaten down into submission. Even though their cause may have been a just one, I don't think they wanted freedom bad enough to really go for it. I didn't see any strong leaders; there was a desire, but no plan laid out to replace their repressive government. They only used stones and slogans to combat the guns and clubs that were wielded against them. They were doomed to fail.
Our own fight for independence was a different story. Even though the idea of declaring independence was not overwhelmingly popular, our leaders felt strongly enough to forge ahead. They knew that under British rule our country would never accomplish all that we were capable of. Up to that point all of our efforts had gone to enrich an oppressive power thousands of miles away, who didn't really care that much about America's welfare. Imagine what the drafting and sending of that declaration of independence must have entailed. The colonists knew that as soon as the declaration was delivered, there would be an immediate and terrible response. It was, in effect, a declaration of war, and there was a good chance that they would not prevail against the strongest military power in the world. But the resolve was there, we won the war, and the rest is history.
My view is that there is a type of oppression that is being waged against us right now. Our elected representatives no longer look out for our well-being. Special interests and politicians are treading on our rights, and the time is coming that we must stand up and be counted. But, we don't have to go to war to make it happen. Our first leaders put into play peaceful means for us to insure that our rights are honored. All we need is a small amount of the resolve that our founding fathers showed when our nation was first born over two centuries ago. It is called the vote, and we can do away with unjust leaders without having to shed a drop of blood. God Bless America!

'Bye, Sarah

Sarah Palin dropped a big one on us today by saying she is resigning as governor of Alaska at the end of July. The announcement caught everyone by surprise, and all of the news pundits had opinions all over the place. Of course, the left-wingers were quick to label her as a quitter, and went on and on about her political career being over. I followed it on Fox news, hoping for the real story, but I didn't get much out of their reports, either. At this point, nobody knows, and Sarah delivered a very carefully crafted speech that was meant to keep everyone somewhat in the dark. (Obama isn't the only one capable of a "carefully crafted" speech.)
Anyway, here is my view, and I admit there is some conjecture here. First, I think she was right when she said that answering all of the allegations brought against her was interfering with her ability to do her job. She said that legal fees had already reached $500,000, which pretty much dwarf her $160,000 annual salary. I am sure financial considerations played a large role in her decision. Also, giving the job to her lieutenant governor at this time will give him enough time to establish himself as a strong incumbent when the elections come around in 2010. So, her resignation might be a genuinely selfless move to make sure that the Republicans stay in power in Alaska. Her next moves could still put her in a good position to run for President in 2012. She has a book ready to be published, so she will spend the next months travelling all over the nation on promotion tours. There is no better way to be in the public eye, and that will help her tremendously. I hope she makes the cover about 11" x 14" with a big picture of her face on it, so it will be plastered all over the bookshelves like a billboard. Watch for her to become a contributor on Fox News; that should also help buy groceries and Pampers. And now that she is not a sitting governor, she can be quite a bit more open in criticizing the Obama administration, thus strenghthening her strong conservative principles. She said that she wants to be able to help Republican candidates wherever she can, and now she will be free to do so. The media will still be watching every move she makes, but now she can thumb her nose at them. If they get on her back now, they will just look stupid. Don't write her off just yet - I think she has a plan. If I were Sarah, I believe I would take my family on an extended moose hunt and just enjoy some quality time.

Way to Go, Helen!

Helen Thomas, who is always to be seen at the White House press briefings, got off a good one on Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. She called him on the fact that at the recent town hall meeting, all the guests were pre-screened, as were the questions that were posed to Obama. Gibbs tried to chuckle it off, but you could tell he was really uncomfortable. Have you ever watched Tony Blair or Gordon Brown before their houses of Parliament, when they had to answer a barrage of questions, mostly unfriendly? These guys gave rapid-fire answers to rapid-fire questions, and they needed to know what they were talking about! When I watch Gibbs, Axelrod and Obama himself try to explain even the simplest things, they falter, stutter, and struggle. None of them can respond on anything beyond their prescribed talking points, and it shows. Axelrod is probably the most obvious - his throat gets dry and he has to swallow a lot. Hooray for Helen! Seeing a really honest questioning session would make my day!
It was another dreary day for the economy. The unemployment figures came in at 467,000 jobs lost, the rate now stands at 9.5%, and the Dow fell 223 points. Our President can talk till he is blue in the face about how his programs are improving the economy, but until I see something positive happen, he is just blowing smoke.

Propaganda?

I was watching the O'reilly Factor a few minutes ago, and caught an interview with Bill Burton, Deputy Press Secretary (I think that's his title) for the White House. Juan Williams, who was standing in for Bill O'reilly, asked him questions about the Cap and Tax bill, the health care plan and Obama's promise to not raise taxes. I swear - it was just like watching Baghdad Bob telling the audience that the Americans were nowhere near the capital city, while buildings were burning over his left shoulder. On Cap and Tax, supposedly the average family might see energy costs rise by as much as $175 annually. And this would not be a tax, but merely the energy company passing on the extra costs to the consumer. (He evidently forgot that Obama himself said that the price of electricity would skyrocket.) He added that the primary purpose of the bill was to create jobs. On the health care question, he answered that the bulk of the costs would be paid for by shifting around money that is already in the current system, with no details given. He prefaced every answer with, "The President has made it crystal clear.....". The only thing that was crystal clear was that he, Robert Gibbs, and that heavy woman that gives interviews on a regular basis (senior moment - I can't remember her name) evidently have a very narrow range of answers that they are allowed to give.
I know I've mentioned this before, but I have noticed this same kind of crap when I check out the North Korean News Agency reports, or when I tune into Iranian state-run Press TV. I expect it from them - they are wild-eyed dictatorships that feel they have to fabricate untruths in order to stay in power. The most important ingredient in this formula is that the rulers feel that the citizens are too dumb to try to figure out the truth. Unfortunately, it seems that Obama has that same opinion about us. In his campaign he had promised openness, accountability, no pork in the bills, and bipartisanship. He hasn't followed through on any of it and nobody is calling him on it. Somehow he has managed to push through several major bills, loaded with earmarks and costing trillions of dollars without allowing time for our elected representative to read them before they voted. On the Cap and Tax thing, 350 pages of amendments were brought in at 3:00 AM on the day of the vote, and yet it passed. I say that those in Congress should be ashamed of themselves for going along with this kind of stuff. Where in the heck are their spines? We are the big losers in this. We voted these clowns in and they forgot about us, leaving us unrepresented. There are a bunch of Tea Parties scheduled for this weekend - maybe we should find one and join in.

Census and Kurdistan

Sorry I didn't get around to the blog last night. I was busy doing the nation's business until almost midnight. The bureau of the census had sent its questionnaire to us the other day, and I had laid it aside. And then I got a note telling me to get it done right away. The instructions said that it takes only 38 minutes to complete, so I got on it. 2 1/2 hours later, I finally finished it, but I was burning mad. I was expecting the usual stuff about who lives in the household, marital status, etc. What I found was more like "Big Brother is Watching You". Why would they need to know the street address (with zip code) of the client I worked for last week? They also wanted to know the value of my home, the cost of taxes and property insurance, the amount of my electric, gas, and water bills for the last 12 months. There were questions about my income (including interest and dividend income, no matter how small), and they asked extensive questions about my health care. This outrageous incursion into my privacy has to be part of Obama's attempt to control everything, because it certainly has his touch. I can see this happening in Cuba or Venezuela, but it shouldn't be happening here in my beloved America. Oh, I meant to tell that there is a law that says I have to fill it out, with a reminder that there is a substantial fine if I do not comply. The forms I had to complete might not be the questionnaire that everyone else has to fill out; it is called the American Community Survey (Obama's administration is good at assigning innocent-sounding names to their nasty programs). Now I only have to worry about an IRS audit if the questionnaire doesn't quite match my Form 1040, or I might get lucky and only receive an ominous call from the Acorn people.
Something I doubt you have heard in the traditional media - the United States is in very serious negotiations in Iraq to establish three large military bases in the Kurd-controlled northern part of Iraq. The U.S., the Iraqi government in Baghdad, and the powers that be in Kurdistan are evidently in agreement about the bases, so it is probably a done deal. All parties involved have a lot to gain from such an arrangement. No doubt this can be traced back to the Bush administration, because Obama wouldn't have thought about it. If you didn't already know about this, remember - you heard it here first!