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.