Thanksgiving 2009

This year the holiday was like one that you would see in a movie.
No, not "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation."
A good movie.
A classic.
Maybe with John Wayne playing me.
No, not John Wayne. I didn't have to kick anyone's a$$.
At the first Thanksgiving Meal (the one we eat at our house), the food was good, the kids seemed to have a good time, and everyone was happy.
Unfortunately Maghan and MJ were with their mother, at least she is trying.
At the second Thanksgiving Meal (the one I eat with my folks) Jason's in-laws ate with us. Jason worked very hard making them feel at home with us and I think that everyone had a good time. Dad even let Jen's parents hold Brittany.

Living

My wife and I walked down to the lake this afternoon and enjoyed a picnic lunch. The day was overcast with a slight cool breeze, and we wondered if it would rain. As we settled onto the bench near the lake the sun peaked though the gloom and bathed us in warmth. We watched the birds fly by and the fish jump, my wife laughed and commented that if we had been trying to fish the fish would not have been there.

I can't help but reflect on the fact that if I hadn't been hurt at work I would not have been able to enjoy the moment at the lake.

Sometimes things which seem like a disaster bring blessings with it.

Dear Mr. President: Please Make a Decision

I'd been meaning to rant about this for a few days now.

This from CNN.com (11/18/09):

President Barack Obama says he is "very close" to deciding whether to send more troops to Afghanistan and will announce his decision within "several weeks". Mr Obama also told CNN in China his new strategy would emphasize an "endgame".

Let me see if I get this right Mr. President:

I know that you you are a busy man, you've made 38 domestic trips (to 28 different states) and have visited 20 nations in the 10 months you've been in office. Also, I know that from you past performance that you take your time to make important decision.

Oh wait.

We had to have an "economic stimulus package" to bail out big business immediately. We could not delay. Hell, don't read the bill just vote on it. Congratulations America, you now own GM.

We have to "reform health care" immediately. Hurry, we must act now. The bill is only 2000 pages.

And yet, when it comes to deciding whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan you take your time? Would not sending more troops strengthen America's strategic position and in the long run save lives? Would this not also strengthen the position of pro-democracy forces in the country by giving them a chance to stand up to those who would subjugate them? Would this also not allow us and our allies to focus on taking out the Al Qaida camps hiding in the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan?

Oh, wait. I think I see now. Your so called "indecision" is actually your decision. By taking your time to decide the American strategic position continues to deteriorate.

And as the public turns more and more against the war, then you can begin to bring the troops home under the pretense that it is because we are losing the war.

Thus, your "Endgame."

Well played, sir. Well played.

Health Care: What Not To Do.

The best way to start this off is by saying that the way that the health care system in this country has its problems. There are things that can be done better.

We have problems that need to be taken care of before things get much more out of hand. I believe that the majority of Americans realize that we have issues with the system, the disagreement is about the way these problems should be fixed.

The first thing that needs to be done is to limit government's involvement in the process. Yes, I said limit.

I'm sorry, did I take you by surprise?

I know that the current trend in our country is towards more government involvement, not less.

Right now in D.C. the current group of thieves is trying take over our health care system because there are people who are not covered by insurance and the cost of insurance is too high and gosh darnitt this is just the right thing to do. I mean, don't you care about these poor unfortunates? The only way to show that you care is to let Big Government come in and just make things all better.

Oh, you don't want Big Government to take things over? Then Big Government says you must be a part of the big money insurance machine who just wants to maximize your profits at the expense of your fellow human beings. You also are more than likely a xenophobic fear monger. You probably like to pull the wings off flies, trip old ladies and torture puppies. Big Government says that you must be a very bad person. Only a bad person wouldn't trust Big Government.

Remember, Big Government is your friend.

Here are three reasons for not allowing Big Government to assume more control over the system.

Big Government is inefficient.

Buried in the Department of the Treasury’s 2003 Financial Report of the United States Government is a short section titled “Unreconciled Transactions Affecting the Change in Net Position,” which explains that these unreconciled transactions totaled $24.5 billion in 2003.

The unreconciled transactions are funds for which auditors cannot account: The government knows that $25 billion was spent by someone, somewhere, on something, but auditors do not know who spent it, where it was spent, or on what it was spent. Blaming these unreconciled transactions on the failure of federal agencies to report their expenditures adequately, the Treasury report con­cludes that locating the money is “a priority.”

The unreconciled $25 billion could have funded the entire Department of Justice for an entire year. (heritage.org)

I can put that amount into perspective using another analogy: according to AssociatedContent.com it costs us about $400,000 a year per soldier in Iraq. Now, with $25 billion we could have put over 62,000 more troops into the war zone. FYI, there are about 140,000 soldiers there right now.

Imagine, this is not money that was spent on wasteful programs (a Bridge to Nowhere for example) $25 billion just disappeared.

Big Government wastes money.

Medicare wastes more money than any other federal program, yet its strong public support leaves lawmakers hesitant to address program effi­ciencies, which cost taxpayers and Medicare recip­ients billions of dollars annually.

For example, Medicare pays as much as eight times what other federal agencies pay for the same drugs and medical supplies.[6] The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently com­pared the prices paid by Medicare and the Depart­ment of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care program for 16 types of medical equipment and supplies, which account for one-quarter of Medicare’s equip­ment and supplies purchases. The evidence showed that Medicare paid an average of more than double what the VA paid for the same items. The largest difference was for saline solution, with Medicare paying $8.26 per liter compared to the $1.02 paid by the VA.[7]

So, a large program is wasteful in its spending because of "public support" (and special interest groups) and the politician's own self interests. Any attempt to fix the problem is perceived as an attempt to deny people what they think they are "entitled" to.

Would an even larger political program with even more "entitlees" be more cost conscious?

Big Government does not care about you or me.

The report, “Building Empires, Destroying Homes: Eminent Domain Abuse in New York,” states, “Over the past decade, a host of government jurisdictions and agencies statewide have condemned or threatened to condemn homes and small businesses for the New York Stock Exchange, The New York Times, IKEA, Costco, and Stop & Shop. An inner-city church lost its future home to eminent domain for commercial development that never came to pass. Scores of small business owners have been threatened with seizure for a private university in Harlem and for office space in Queens and Syracuse. Older homes were on the chopping block near Buffalo, simply so newer homes could be built. From Montauk Point to Niagara Falls, every community in the Empire State is subject to what the U.S. Supreme Court has accurately called the ‘despotic power.’” (ij.org)

A copy of the report is available at: http://www.ij.org/BuildingEmpires.

But wait, why would government condemn the homes and small businesses of individuals for the benefit of the large businesses? Because of money of course. Not only because the big businesses fund political campaigns, but also because the tax revenues that big businesses generate runs the government.

These are just a few reasons why it is a bad idea for Big Government to take a larger role in Health Care. There are many more, of course, like the loss of patient choice, government bean counters deciding who should get care and who shouldn't...wait here's a story from the BBC you might find interesting about just that topic.

A man from east London who began binge-drinking at 13 has died after being denied a life-saving liver transplant. Gary Reinbach, 22, from Dagenham, was given only a few weeks to live after developing cirrhosis of the liver. He was admitted to University College Hospital London (UCL) with alcohol damage for the first time 10 weeks ago.

But health chiefs ruled he should not be exempt from strict organ donation criteria which require an alcohol-free period of at least six months.

Mr Reinbach, who died on Sunday, was too ill to be sent home after his admission to hospital. A statement from NHS Blood and Transplant (note: NHS Blood and Transplant is a special health authority under the English National Health Service) said: "This case highlights the dilemma doctors face because of the shortage of donated organs. They have to make tough decisions about who is going to get the benefit and who is going to take best care of this precious gift."

Let me tell you, if he had been one of my loved ones, I would not want some government agent saying "I'm sorry, we'd pay for and perform the procedure, but he doesn't meet our donation criteria."

Would you want that?

It is my point of view that any system that places more authority in the hands of the government actually diminishes our individual freedoms.

Also, it is immoral to fiscially enslave future generations.

We must act, but these actions must be carefully considered and fiscally responsible. If our actions are not, if we decide to do what is easy instead of what is right, then we are no better than those who made this mess to begin with.

And we will be damned by history as the generation that failed America.

Sea of Yesterdays

Memories.
Crisp as the air on this cool November night.
Adrift on a sea of yesterdays.
Thoughts of today beyond the horizon.

Faces of friends long ago.
Words of the past made present.
Dreams shared.
Adventures relived.

Happy memories only.
No regrets.
Pages slowly turning.
Chapters in the story of my life.

Goverment says one life isn't worth saving

I'm glad I got your attention. Yesterday the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (which I really wish I could say was created by the Obama Administration, but it wasn't) released its new guidelines on screening for breast cancer. The new guidelines say:

*Most women in their 40s should not routinely get mammograms.

*Women 50 to 74 should get a mammogram every other year until they turn 75, after which the risks and benefits are unknown. (The task force's previous guidelines had no upper limit and called for exams every year or two.)

*The value of breast exams by doctors is unknown. And breast self-exams are of no value. (source AP news)

The article goes on to say:

Starting at age 40 would prevent one additional death but also lead to 470 false alarms for every 1,000 women screened. Continuing mammograms through age 79 prevents three additional deaths but raises the number of women treated for breast cancers that would not threaten their lives.

My wife is a breast cancer survivor. The tumor was too small to find in a self-examination, it was found in a mammogram. Thankfully the spot had not spread and the doctors were able to perform a lumpectomy to remove the cancer.

According to these new guidelines my wife would not even have been having the mammograms which found her cancer. And by the time she would have had the mammogram, who knows, it may have spread and it would have been too late.

I know that the government says that only one life would be saved if women started getting mammograms in their 40s. And look at how many false alarms there are, how those poor women have to worry. I know what that worry is like, I worried with my wife as we were waiting for the results of the next test. Well, I know of no medical test that doesn't give a false alarm.

I want to know, if the one life that is saved is a friend, or your sister, or your mother, or your wife?

Or your own?

Isn't that mammogram worth it?

The government doesn't think so.

I do.

Mad Cow 101

I suffer from Mad Cow.

No, not the disease that eats your brain (though some days that seems like that what is going on) and I really shouldn't say suffer, because to me that makes me sound like a victim. I am not a victim.

Let me start over.

I live with Mad Cow.

When I say Mad Cow I am referring to anxiety disorder.

I call it Mad Cow, I am a Boston Legal fan, and one of the characters on Boston Legal, Denny Crane - played by William Shatner - is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Rather than admit that he is slipping because of Alzheimer's he insists that he is slipping because he has "Mad Cow;" Denny eats so much beef he must surely have contracted Mad Cow, at least that is his reasoning.

This just strikes me as being funny, so in a effort to try and deal with my problem I call it "Mad Cow."

Let me explain to you what my Mad Cow is like.

Pick something that you are afraid of, deathly afraid. Let's say, spiders. Now, imagine that you have to reach into a dark closet and there might be a spider in there. Feeling a little uneasy? Ok. Now, imagine that not only is there a possibility that there is a spider in there, but it is a giant and hairy and has fangs and is the size of a small cat. Scared?

That is how I feel going about my everyday life. Anxious about doing the most ordinary things. Going to movies, driving across town, I think you get the idea. It is almost like I'm living inside this force field and it is incredibly difficult to pass beyond it.

But I can pass beyond it - with the help of medication.

And there is only so much medication I can take.

I have good days and bad days.

Some days I feel like I can go out and conquer the world.

Other days I can barely make it down the road.

I am hoping that by talking about this I can help myself and maybe even help others.

Livin in the hood (Part Two)

Three of them outside.
Two of us in the bedroom.
Me with only one usable arm.
"What are they doing out there?" My wife asked with fear in her voice.
I moved towards the curtains to look.
"Be careful they don't see you" she advised.
I turned to reply.
"Shhh. They'll hear you" She warns.
No point in arguing.
I carefully look through the curtains.
Our dog starts barking. Good girl Lucy.
One of the thugs was still by the front door. The other two were down standing by their car. The thug by the door turns and motions to his accomplices. They walk over to our neighbor's house.
Our neighbor isn't home, could they be casing the place?
I begin to wonder where the phone is and how long it will take the cops to get here. I want to ask my wife, but before I can say anything the three thugs get into their car and drive off.
My wife and I hurry to the living room window to make sure they have left our street.
What was that all about?
My wife goes to the front door.
"Ah, mystery solved."
She turns around.
A flier in her hand reads:
5 Star Pizza. Fast Delivery.

Good luck Lou Dobbs

Yesterday Lou Dobbs left CNN.
I was not a big fan, but I'd watch the guy from time to time and generally appreciated his passion if not his point of view.
He was right on a number of things, and one of those things was the way our borders are essentially open doors and we need to not only enforce the immigration policies that already exist but also reform immigration policies.
And this is not a discussion about race, it is about illegal immigration. It is about a system that takes advantage of these illegals turning them into what is essentially a slave class as much as it is about the illegals breaking the law. The Americans who hire the illegals, the cities that harbor the illegals, the "advocacy groups" that encourage these actions, and the illegals themselves are all breaking the law and should be prosecuted.
But that won't happen, we don't want to appear to be "racist."
One of the things that I have learned it observing politics over my lifetime is that when an "advocacy group" celebrates what it perceives to be a victory it means that the rest of have suffered a defeat.
"We had hundreds of thousands of people who said `enough is enough,'" said Alex Nogales, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. "That he is gone from CNN is a great blessing and a great victory for our community."
Yes, it is good that we no longer have anyone questioning the motives and policies of these groups, we don't want anyone pointing out when someone may be guilty of wrong doing.
Sorry Lou, you've become the latest casualty in the culture and political correctness wars.

Livin in the hood (Part One)

I was in the bedroom this morning looking for something in my desk, and I heard someone walking through the front yard and talking on a cell phone.
The voice was not familiar. I assumed the worst.
Must be Jehovah's Witnesses.
I made my way to the window and peaked through the curtains. We didn't have Jehovah's Witnesses, it was worse than that.
We had thugs. Three of them. Hats on backwards, pants down around their knees, use the words "dog" to complete their sentences. And one of them was at my front door doing something to my screen door handle.
And before you start calling me racist these guys were as white as I am.
So there I was, I'm looking out the window at these guys, my mind racing.
There are three of them, one of me, my right arm is in a sling, we don't stand a chance.
We? Wait a minute, where is my wife?
Hell, I can't yell for her, I don't want these guys to know that we are in here.
What I am to do?

I am a whore

Ok. One of the first things we have to establish as we begin our relationship is that I am a whore.
No.
Don't judge.
You are to. Don't deny it, I know you are.
I offer my services for money.
I work forty hours a week, for money.
I create artwork, for money.
I have an AdSource widget at the bottom of my blog, for money.
But money is a very small, very insignificant part of life, if you chose to make it so. And I do.
I hope you will give me the opportunity to share with you some of the more important things in my life.