Reform is a good thing.

I figured out why people who watch Fox News want to retain the right to die or go bankrupt if they need medical attention. They are conservative, and change frightens them. They are willing to protest loudly to keep things the way they are, or better yet send things back to the way they were. Glenn Beck is rallying the right wing troops to take things back to the beginning of America when things were so great. Let me clue you in; things sucked back then for average citizens. Apart from the top tier of society, people were repressed and led miserable existences until we had reform.

In the past, before any major reform occurred in the U.S., be the issue slavery, civil rights, or labor rights, brave people had to stand up for what they believed in and often suffered for doing so. They suffered at the hands of those that wanted to maintain the status quo benefitting their interests. Whose interests are the conservatives defending this time? Pharmaceutical companies are supporting health care reform, so it seems only insurance companies have something to lose. So, why are average people protesting the mere attempt to improve our health care system? The only logical argument I have heard is that it may further burden the deficit. Obama stated plainly that he would not sign a bill that increased the deficit, so why not hold him to that and let congress try?

Beck’s solution for America’s problems is to incite people to gather together to make sure nothing gets done. Um…what? Seriously, he is telling his automatons to protest any legislation until Washington promises to not be corrupt anymore. What a charlatan.
Politics have not gotten more corrupt since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. There have always been corrupt politicians and there always will be, because positions of power attract the corrupt. Luckily, the founding fathers were bright enough to put checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution, but they didn’t have all the answers back then (e.g. blacks were counted as 3/5 of a person for census purposes). All we can do is try to make our country a little better each generation. Please don’t protest progress just because you fear change.

H.R. 3200, Stick to the Facts People

The spokespeople for middle America are a pack of fickle mush-heads. Instead of offering alternatives to the health care bill or saying “Hey, we think adding this or getting rid of that part would be a good idea,” all they can come up with is misinformed, fear based rhetoric. Those protesting the Health Care Reform Bill apparently think there is nothing to fix. If you like your health care, what are you protesting? No one is trying to take anything from you, because all current coverage is protected under the bill.

Those people with signs depicting Obama likened to Hitler have never read the proposed bill. I know this because a mind that could make that connection is clearly illiterate. I have read much of the bill (it's over 1000 pages), and I assure you there are no provisions for “death squads”. What the barely-literate Ms Palin was referring to is offering people the opportunity to speak with a physician or nurse practitioner in order to make informed decisions about long term care. This would include providing information about services and benefits, living wills, hospice, etc. - sounds like the Gestapo, right? My only concern is that the bill does increase the availability of vaccines, so the mind control drugs that our government infuses in flu shots will be more widespread. In truth, it is a very good piece of legislation that protects our rights, and the majority of Americans should be applauding it to drown out the extremists.

Critics of reform are saying, “We already have the best health care in the world.” True, the United States has the best technology and the most skilled surgeons, but that argument is being made by those that can afford it. Now, because Pres Obama wants to offer a little of the best to the poor, he is being called a racist socialist. Excuse me?! Because there are more rich white people than rich minorities and he wants to tax the rich, apparently that makes him racist? His mother is white for hell’s sake. It is not socialism, because no one is talking about leveling the playing field. The wealthy will still be wealthy and in control, but I think it’s great that the IRS is finally cracking down on hiding money in foreign accounts. Don’t get me wrong because I love capitalism, but our Constitution was created to promote fairness in all things (when you include the amendments, of course).

Idiots and lobbyists (is that redundant?) are clamoring so much that the White House is backing down from insisting on a public option. The public option is the only way to give all Americans access to decent health care. Anything less would just be a reshuffling of the current failing system. Just as I feared, it seems we are going to get some watered down reform bill that will be criticized for not doing enough even though it will be the fault of the critics if it doesn’t.

By the way, Limbaugh and Beck…get bent.

Way to go Bill

Fitness Tip

Don't dive into cold water with overworked muscles.

I found this out the hard way last weekend. A couple of friends and I hiked in about 7 miles to an alpine lake. Prior to this, I was sedentary for about three weeks due to having minor surgery. It was a beautiful day and when the fish weren't biting, we decided to go for a swim. I swam out to an island and felt great until I started back.... Both my calves completely knotted up and I had to flail back to shore using only my arms. The hike out was excruciating and I'm still sore.
The only way I'll ever sign on for a triathlon is if it involves a heated pool.

Gender Relations

I was reading Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States," and it describes the culture of the Iroquois Indians, which is fascinating. The Iroquois had a matrilineal society, which should not be confused with matriarchal. Family lines were traced through the mothers and when a man would marry he joined the family of his wife. Chiefs and tribal leaders were men, but they were selected by the women and could be ousted by the women. If a woman wanted a divorce, she simply left her husband's things outside the hut. Women grew the crops and men hunted.
I reflected on this and thought... maybe they were on to something.
What if our society functioned like that? What if men held all the political offices, but only women could vote? I'm not advocating it, but I think it could work.

Men would govern, but if they deviated from the will of the women they would be replaced. It would provide a balance like two kids sharing a dessert; one gets to cut and the other gets to choose the first piece.

Some feminists want everything to be exactly equal for the genders in every aspect of society. No rights denied, but also no special treatment. The Equal Rights Amendment was never ratified because rational minds prevailed. It is OK for men and women to be different, because we are different. I'm not just talking about extra appendages or lack thereof. We are wired differently. Women are more empathic and therefore better able to console an upset child. Men are stronger and are better able to build things and defend their families. Obviously, these traits lie on a bell curve. There are women out there who could kick my ass, and there are men out there that weep openly when a fictional character in a movie loses a loved one. I'm talking about the gender differences of the majority, which are many and beneficial to our society; I say embrace them.

It’s Time to Stop Coddling North Korea

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I am aware that we are fighting actual wars on other fronts, but the North Korea threat must be addressed.

We spent years negotiating the shut down of N. Korea’s nuclear program, but they obviously never had any intention of giving up their nuclear ambitions. It is likely that they have acquired enough weaponized plutonium to make a few nuclear bombs, but they do not have the technology to deliver a nuclear attack by missile…yet. Maybe, just maybe, we should nip this one in the bud.

As if the nuclear issue was not enough, Kim Jong Il's government in Pyongyang is currently holding two American citizens prisoner for possibly stepping over their border. These female journalists have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor. Why are we standing for this?

Also, N. Korea recently launched a cyber attack aimed at shutting down U.S. and S. Korean government websites, and it’s not the first time. How is that not an act or war, or at least cyberwar?

Nearly all of congress backed Cowboy W. when he said we should invade Iraq based on: they probably have chemical and biological WMDs; this foreign country’s leader had threatened the United States; and the leader of this dictatorial government was brutally oppressing his own people. I think the argument against N. Korea is far greater. I am not suggesting that we repeat our mistakes and go it alone, but we need to do much more than politely suggest the world should tell them they are being naughty. We need to economically pressure China to force N. Korea to back down. Maybe we should launch a cyber-counteroffensive. President Obama announced he would appoint a chief cyberguardian, but maybe what we need is a Secretary of Hacking Jerk Countries. The best defense is a good offense.

Something needs to be done now, because if we don’t, then our greatest fear of the Cold War could be realized. We could have a psychotic, dulusional supervillian with his finger on the button holding the world hostage.

People Who Need to Go Away

Sarah Palin- bless her she may by trying. Please don’t resurface in 2012. You are a joke of a public servant, and your offspring should be poster-children for sterilization, not abstinence.

Dick Cheney- you had your chance and you f#$ked up America. Now sit down and shut up! If you are that bored, go back to your lair, put on a monocle and hatch plots against Adam West, but leave Obama the hell alone.

Joe Jackson- this man is one of the most worthless humans alive. We’ve all heard the stories about how he was physically and mentally abusive to his children, and that he exploited them for profit, but he has sunk to a low off the charts on Newsweek’s Indignity Index since his son’s death. A reporter asked how he was holding up and he said “Great…but we lost the world’s biggest star.” Not his son, but his meal-ticket. To another reporter he used the moment to hype his newest record label-disgusting. I was never a Michael Jackson fan, but I do pity him and blame most of his immaturity and narcissism on his father.
So media, please let him rest in peace after the memorial. I really hope they aren’t digging up dirt for the next year. It’s not a slow news year-there are plenty of relevant things on which to report.

Lastly,
Thank you Norm Coleman for going away gracefully (if not expediently), and not taking your legal challenges any further. Coleman had every right to take it as far as he did; it’s just unfortunate that MN has been missing a senator for 8 months. Congratulations to Al Franken. You are good enough, smart enough, and doggonit, people might eventually like you, Senator.