SUICIDE BOMBERS or SUICIDE MASS KILLERS? WHICH IS BETTER?

No, I am not going to put up a picture.  If I did the great majority would fall into the scientific category of Caucasian, since we're talking about "white" people here, right?  Look it up.  You'll see.
In my lifetime we have gone from the Kamikaze to the Suicide Bomber  to the suicide by cop and to the mass murderer who takes as many as he/she can with the intent of not getting out alive.
Yes, I am writing this because of the Connecticut event.  The reason I am doing this is because it reflects upon our stability as a nation as compared to the stability of other first world nations in the world.  We are very violent as a population.  We are so fixated on fairness, that we find comfort in killing the killer; in jailing the recidivist for life; in overtaxing the retiree; in creating adversity between the employee and the employer.  On the other hand we have a complete disdain for fairness as we find comfort in underpaying immigrants, our own young people, women and the downtrodden.  We have no problem accepting bribes from big pharma, big oil, big finance, big comm, big construction and big Ag to the detriment of the general population.  We are the only first world country in the world where it is against the law to negotiate prescription drug prices as a country.
The United States is indeed a violent country.  It is a country where no one can be comfortable taking a stroll on city streets in the cool of the evening.  To make a point, I and my spouse have strolled the streets of Israel after 8 PM; in Rome after 9.  When I was younger I was unafraid of being out and about in Manila in the wee hours.  I was in a country where martial law had imposed a curfew, but never once was I shot at when out after curfew.  In this country (USA), if someone thinks you're up to no good, you're apt to be found face down in the gutter.
In this country it is dangerous to go to the theatre or even to school, at any level.
I have to admit that it is a challenge to live here in the USA with the level of cultural hatred that is the norm.  It seems that everyone hates more people that he/she loves.  I was in a situation just two days ago when I was in need of a long series of services from a lone clerk in a print shop.  I noticed a customer who was empty-handed and didn't seem like he needed much.  In front of him, I told the lone clerk to serve him since I knew that I was going to require more of her time.  She did.  He was quickly done with his transaction and left, passing in front of me without even grudgingly growling a "thank you."   I am a Caucasian.  But then again, is he?  I know one thing, he is an ass.  He is an image of our hatred - imbued, violent culture.
So,to all of you who are tempted to forward acrimonious, hatred-filled emails to me complaining about violent people from other parts of the globe stop and think of a couple of historical facts:  It is Christian Anglo-Saxons who forced the Cherokee to walk from Georgia to Oklahoma in the winter time; it is the Christian Caucasians who decimated the indigenous people from the midwest and the far west of what is now the United States; it is the Caucasians who separated the Japanese and took away all that they had only a few short 80 years ago.  I haven't even mentioned the horrendous effects of slavery; I haven't mentioned the cruelty visited upon women by denying them the right to vote for well over one century from the time of the ratification of the independence of this country.   The legacy of this thirst for imposing the will of the United States on the "other" populations is still with us.  We lead the world in mass murders.  We trail the world in the production of smart people.  We lead the world in the cost of education; we lead the world in the cost of health care but we are not competitive in life expectancy nor in educational achievement.
Before you call this the greatest country in the world in front of me, think twice.  I've seen a lot of happy people in many other countries.  One of the reasons why they are happy is because they don't have to worry about getting shot down on any given day.

THIS WORLD IS SCREWED UP

The other day I was listening to PBS and there was an interview in progress.  It was a woman who was being interviewed and she was being addressed as "actor."
A week or so before that I heard a woman being called a "hero."
Now look, I am here to tell you that the world is now officially dismantled beyond repair.  I want to know since when women have become "actors" and "heroes."  I also want to know why it is that we can talk about; show about; bandy about; write about; flaunt SEX all day long except when it comes to asking me what my "sex" is. It just so happens that neither I nor any other human being has "gender."  I want to know why we just can't have another "big bang" so that we can start all over again.  I do not have any "gender."  I have sex, and I can prove it.  I do not exist in a grammar book.  I am right here in your face.  For all of you on the face of the earth, let me tell you gently, but irretrievably non-negotiably, I am of the MALE SEX.  Learn it once and for all and join the human race.

On a different note, but not less agitating.  If one more Catholic priest jumps down my throat because I voted for Obama with the retort, "Don't you know that Obama is pro-abortion all the way?  You had to vote for Romney", he had better be sure that I am un-armed.  There have been at least ten of them, to date who have told me that.  They are all off the chart stupid buffoons.  Romney and Ryan are on public record as being pro-abortion too.  Abortion is ABORTION, dammit!  One of the clowns had the temerity to ask me if I knew about the 15,000,000 Evangelicals. If I did know about  them it wouldn't faze me, I retorted, I'm Catholic.  I also know that Romney and Ryan have said that they support legal abortion...right there on TV for crying out loud.

I swear, if you want to know the IQ of the level of the people who vote in this country just talk to one of them for two minutes.  By the time the 120 seconds run out you'll be more than convinced that the quotient will not surpass room temperature.

Do I vote?  Of course I vote.  Does it matter for whom I vote?  Of course not.  So why do I vote?  Here I will repeat myself from an earlier article... I vote so that I retain my right to complain.  Don't forget it.

So, vote for the guys who will outlaw Roe v Wade.  They will do us all a favor by sending the abortion industry back to the old ladies with the knitting needles.  That will cure the problem.  

ROMNEY - RYAN = PRO LIFE? OBAMA - BIDEN? NOT!!! SO???

Paul Ryan, October 11, 2012 on stage during the debate:  I am not in favor of abortion except in the case of incest, rape and to save the life of the mother.
Yaaaayyyyy!  He's pro-life.  We all know that Obama - Biden are pro choice.  They say they are.  Romney - Ryan say that they are pro life.  They say they are.  Wow! Let's vote for them.  The bishops say that Ryan is a good Catholic.  OK!  Let's vote for Romney - Ryan.
To all of that, I say, plainly, simply and forcefully, Stercus Taurorum.
Of the four people involved to a meaningful degree in this presidential contest, there is not a single pro lifer in the group.  There is not one of the four who is against carrying out the direct, deliberate intention of killing or aborting a real human being or a potential human being.  They are, each and every one, in favor of directly aborting a pregnancy in progress.  They each and every one are in favor of war.  They are each and every one in favor of killing terrorists.  Pro-life? Pro-abortion? Pro-choice --- in the absolute, non-politically correct sense of the term --- pro-choice -- yes.
Let's face it, fellow citizens and fellow Catholics, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, choose a reason other than "Pro-Life" or "Pro-Choice" to vote for the candidate of your liking.
If there are those out there who think that Romney-Ryan are pro-life, disabuse yourselves of that notion.  They are not pro-life.  They are pro-winning the election.  That is their sole purpose in life at this moment.  Just as it is the sole purpose of Obama-Biden.  None of the four, including the two so-called Catholics are totally in favor of the Catholic church's doctrine of forbidding the direct, intentional and deliberate killing of another human being, or potential human being.   Stop deluding yourselves.  Wake up and expand the horizons of your moral universe.  Vote your conscience according to your broader vision of what life is all about.
Life, by the way, is broader than getting the approval of the Catholic Bishops of the United States.

PRO-LIFE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

COUNTRY AND WESTERN POTOMAC SONG

I HAVE A LOT -- IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS -- ELECT ME AND I'LL HAVE MORE

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.  (Luke 12;48) Quoted by Marco Rubio in his introduction of Mitt Romney, Republican nominee for the office of President of the United States of America

The crass brazenness of quoting this from the Christian Bible to apply it to a member of the church of Latter Day Saints who has much and protects it in tax havens around the world makes me shake my head in absolute disgust.  The Republican party wants us, the tax payers, to pay the salary of a person who runs away from paying taxes in the very country that he wants to lead.  If it were not that I know that the IRS will still do its job, I would not pay a dime of income tax in the country if he gets elected.

What I want to know is why the American people would even consider giving their hard earned money to the guy.   

Not only will he off-shore his earnings, he has already begun rattling the country's sabers in preparation of being able to create jobs for Republican cronies Halliburton, Kellog, Xe et al by putting more of the people we love in harm's way and wasting the very money that he himself runs away from paying to the coffers.  His idea of diplomacy is to kick ass first and ask questions later...much later.  But, he also does not intend to raise the money to pay for his G.I. Joe fun and games.

That's not all.  The platform that he is running on does not provide for any significant income to the coffers.  Of course, we don't need income in his vision because he will reduce spending in the public sector.  So, he will continue to increase his wealth, taking money from Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Telecomm, Big Finance, Big Agri, Big Fuel, big everything and conveniently padding his offshore bank accounts.  All to the tune of taking his salary out of our pocket.

He will strive to poke holes in every square in of the continent, on shore and off-shore in order to find more oil.  The environment means nothing to this guy.  Fossil fuels are his dream.  The money that he will realize from Big Oil will keep him happy for all four years of the term that he might get.

You've noticed that they talk a lot about religious freedom?  That means that you can do what your religion tells you to do as long as you don't expect us to distribute the wealth derived from your taxes.  It means that we will protect life in your womb, but the hell with the rest.  Once you're born and up and about, you're on your own.  School  teachers will lose their jobs, police too maybe, fire fighters maybe, regulatory systems to protect the air and so many other things.  So, people, be free, but don't expect any help.  Have a good life.  Hope you enjoy Iran and Syria.  We know that you and your employers are going to fund Medicare and Social Security, but we'll take care of you the way we see fit when the time comes.  (This attitude, by the way, is not a monopoly of the Republican party.)

Bottom line.  Romney and Ryan come from religious backgrounds where the sharing of wealth in favor of the less fortunate is a key virtue.  Ryan was publicly denounced by a leading Catholic University for his views on social justice.  Romney says that he tithes but he protects himself from funding the US government, so just because he wasn't denounced by Brigham Young Uni, that's OK.  Consider him denounced from here.  So, we're being promised religious freedom by two buffoons who can't even spell the word!

So, y'all, have fun.  Tune in again next week.  It'll be Obama and Biden time.  

SINGLE PAYER HEALTH COVERAGE

I am presenting you my opinion about single payer health care systems because I believe in them.  I am also here to tell you that we here in the United States have three, yes, three single payer health care systems.  Not only do we have them, they work, and they work well.  They work so well that none of us would want to do without them.  One is Medicare; two is Workers Compensation and three is the Veterans Administration. The two that I know best are Medicare and Workers Compensation.  I therefore leave the comments about the VA to those who are better versed in that area than I am.   

I am considering Medicare and Workers Compensation side by side because both have a lot of exposure to the general population.  One of them is a slave to the traditional probabilistic underwriting system to determine the level of premiums.  The other operates on an experience rating system to determine the amount of premium to be paid by the buyer.  My deep disappointment with the current government team in Washington as well as with the ambitious pretenders is that neither one of them has the purity of morals nor the strength of convictions to do what is right by the people of our fair country.  Health care is not a political issue.  It is a moral one.  We all know what happens when politicians set themselves up as the arbiters and the deciders of how moral issues should be tackled.

So, who am I?

I am a seventy-five year old male who just 5 months ago failed a Low Testosterone test.  I am still at the 65% level of normal hormone level for a man of any age.  I am also a person who worked for more than thirty years managing benefits and safety programs for large and small manufacturing companies in the state of California.  During those thirty years I fought tooth and nail against the arrogant venality of health insurance providers.  As tough and as nasty as I can get, I was never able to come out ahead in the game.  I even went through a period of five years when I created and managed a self-insured program.  For the first three years, I was ahead, but then "medical care inflation" caught up to me too and it became a "wash" between self-insured plans and fully-insured ones.

I am also a person who for those thirty years managed the safety programs of these same manufacturing companies.  As such, I was the person who dealt with the Federal and State Occupational Safety and Health Administrations [OSHA] as well as with the accompanying Workers Compensation insurance providers.  In the second instance, I was able to get ahead of the game and stay there.  We took steps to bring the premiums down.   The administrative system of the workers' compensation health care is managed by the state and is a single payer system that works marvelously well and doesn't succumb to the wiles of the greedy insurance companies.  I tell you this because it is important for you to know that though I am not an expert in the field, I do have a lot of experience.

Finally, while I am telling you who I am, I will declare that I have been a patient in Italy, France, Philippines and Mexico.  They all have a combination government managed single payer system plus private access fee for service systems.  In all those countries, as in just about every other country on the planet, prescription drugs are less expensive than they are in the USA.  In every one of those countries, I walked in to the health care system and was treated competently and effectively without worrying about the bill.  I also got good follow-up care.  Yes, I know single payer systems.  I also know that the US politicians lie about them all the time.  It therefore follows, that simple folk believe the lies of the politicians because they have no experience outside of what they know in the US.  

Now what?

First things, first.  It is my observation that both of the single payer systems that we have for the civilians in the USA are satisfactory to the general population who have access to them.  Medicare operates through private corporation health care providers who bill Medicare for services rendered.  

Workers compensation is also operated by the government through private corporations according to very strict governmental regulations.  In the workers compensation model, the employer chooses the healthcare provider, but pays the premium to the government.  In some states, like California, the employee may elect to have a private family doctor be the primary contact for care.  

Medicare is funded by three distinct revenue streams.  The first is from premiums paid by the prospective patient (the employee) through payroll deduction during the earning portion of a person's life; the second is from the employer who matches the amount of the payroll deduction taken from the employee and submits that amount to the government; the third is from premiums paid by the retired employee, usually as a deduction from the social security benefit on a monthly basis.  At this time this amount is about $1,100 per year.  It is therefore clear that the lion's share of the premiums paid to the Medicare system come from the prospective patient and no one else.  On top of that, Medicare has a co-payment component that is paid by the patient whenever he/she accesses the health care system.  The prescription drug portion of the Medicare system is too grotesque to try to consider in this short essay.  All things being equal, Medicare is not an entitlement program.  Medicare is a contractual obligation that the government has to the people who have paid the premiums, and who continue to pay the premiums until they die.  

Workers compensation is funded wholly by the employer.   In both instances, private corporations are the direct and immediate health care providers.   Workers compensation is organized tightly around legal regulation for the protection of the prospective patient through safety programs meant to protect the employee from injury or bodily deterioration, while Medicare has a very weak wellness component.  

This leads me to my fundamental contention that what we need in this country is a strong single payer healthcare system that is a hybrid between Medicare and workers compensation.  My corollary contention is that if this is done correctly, our national healthcare costs would come down because the prospective patients would have strong monetary incentives to keep themselves healthier.

There is already an element of this included in the Affordable Health Care Act.

You mean "ObamaCare" right?

The short answer is "yes."  The Affordable Health Care Act has an element of "experience rating" in it that is beneficial to the policy holder, or the patient.  It is a provision that says that the insurance company must keep its expenditures for doctors, hospital bills and other activities to improve health care quality to a maximum of 85% of all the premiums collected.  If the insurance company spends less than 85% for all of the above, it must reimburse the amount of money that it took in but did not spend to the payers of the premiums.   The consequences of this provision are important.  Here's why.  

Employer Acme Explosives (Wylie Coyote's Company) has 500 employees.  They have a health care plan with RR Dust Cloud Ltd. (Beep, Beep!)  Last year Acme paid $1,000,000 in premiums.  The insurance company spent $750,000 of it for the items enumerated above.

It is easy that see that they amount spent is only 75% of the total $1,000,000.  In order to comply with the tenets of the Affordable Health Care Act, RR Dust Cloud Ltd. must reimburse Acme Explosives the 10% difference between $850,000 and $750,000 = $100,000.

It is easy to see that under these conditions, the people who pay the premiums have some leverage in the controlling of the cost of their health care.  It is in their better interests to develop healthier lifestyles so that they can save money in the subsequent year.

Not quite workers compensation, but...

The workers compensation model is somewhat similar, but not exactly identical.  Employers strive to keep their employees from incurring on-the-job accidents.  They also train them how to work properly so that their bodies do not develop aches, pains and strains through bad habits in the performing of repetitive tasks.  The fewer the medical claims incurred by the employees in a determined industry, the lower the premiums go because the expenses demanded of the insurance companies are less.  This measure of performance is called the "Experience Modification."  If the companies in a pool have an "Ex Mod" of let's say .85 and Acme Explosives has an "Ex Mod" of 2.0, Acme's premiums will be significantly higher than those who are at, around or less than the .85.  This statistic is maintained on a three year rolling average and is a large positive incentive for companies to focus on.  One company I worked in had an "Experience Modification" of .67.  Now that is a savings!

A "pipe dream?"

I don't think that creating positive economic incentives in the health care arena of employer funded health care benefits is a pipe dream.  After all, the employer has control over the lion's share of the premium.  If employers can teach employees how to work safely, they most assuredly can teach them how to live healthier lives and encourage them to do so.  For years now the cost of an emergency room visit has steadily increased to astronomical heights.  That's negative reinforcement.  Rebates are positive reinforcement.  

I think that the important psychological element of this provision of the law is the personal control that it gives to the payer of the premium who is also the payer of the co-pay.  So now the prospective patient can save two ways: Save the co-pay and work at saving an extra $10.00 per month next year.  Why not?  It is my opinion that this is an important facet of the new law.  It doesn't require government spending and it imposes a degree of prudence on both the insurer and the insured.  It encourages both the buyer and the seller to respect one another because both have a stake in managing the flow of resources to their mutual benefit.

I didn't make this up

I came to know this because I mistakenly opened a piece of mail that was addressed to my son.  It came to him from the insurance company that has the health care account at his work.  It was an eye-opener for me.  I wanted to blame people for not making it known more clearly as it was all developing, but as you can see, it is not an easy practice to explain in a 15 second sound bite.  It is not an easy concept to teach to people.  It is an entirely new concept of how people can manage their health care expenses.  Some of you remember the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) concept from the past.  It didn't work because there was no significant tangible economic incentive attached to it.  It made it too easy to access the primary care physician for "wellness" visits.  Now, under this concept, the incentive is to care for yourself by staying away from the health care system by living under a healthier personal discipline.  I think that this is a good idea.  What we need now is for people to understand it and get on board.  Once we get this under control, then we can attack the immorality of massively expensive prescription drugs.  A strong single payer system would go a long way toward solving that problem.  We've got three systems going already.  Just make them all one.  

HOW MANY TIMES WILL YOU VOTE THIS YEAR?

It all started before I got there.  Two friends were talking about the fact that it is possible that Mitt Romney had not paid any income tax for ten years.  They both were divided on the fact that more than likely, practically assuredly, there had been no laws broken. BUT, one would still vote for the guy but the other not.  I joined in and said that I would be damned if I would  vote to pay a guy's salary who had not shared in the paying of the salary of at least two presidents before him.  Who had not paid a dime towards the wars that had been declared during those years while I had.  I think that it is immoral to expect me to pay your salary when you ducked out of your responsibility, legally, of course to pay for previous presidents' salary and the wars that they declared.  I will not vote for that.
A dear friend of mine said that the only vote that counts is the one that goes into the ballot box.  I told him that if he believes that, he is naive.  He was hurt.
I walked away because I was called to other venues.  Nevertheless, here's why I believe that he is naive:
1. Grover Norquist votes every time someone who signed his "contract" votes.
2. Jamie Dimond votes every time someone to whom who his group has contributed $1,000,000 dollars votes...and there are many
3. The Koch brothers vote every time someone they support votes...and there are many
4. Every time someone who is supported by Big Pharma votes...Big Pharma votes too
5. Every time someone who is supported by Big Comm votes...Big Comm votes too
6. Every time someone who is supported by Big Oil votes...Big Oil votes too
7. Every time someone who is suported by Big Agri votes...Big Agri votes too

I don't have to go on.  You and I know that we are being out-voted.  Every time a vote is announced in the House or the Senate, the money flows and so goes the, money, so goes the vote.  Why?
Easy.  Job security.  The elected need to run for election.  So the bribery system in the United States is constructed around the "Campaign Contribution."  Your elected "representatives" do not represent you, they represent themselves and their families so that they can continue to be employed.  Yes, this is true.  Every politician is bought and paid for... and not in the ballot box.
So, we have the grand total of one vote  and those who can afford to buy the politicians can vote every time their puppet votes.

I do not belong to a political party.  I have staunchly refused to join a union.  I vote in every election because I want to assure my right to express my opinion about the results of the election.  I do know that all politicians are immoral.  If you don't vote, shut up.  If you vote, we can talk, but don't try to bullshit me.

WHY I LISTEN TO PUBLIC RADIO --- YES, EWTN DOES FLUSTER ME

COMMENT FROM ANOTHER BLOG OF MINE:

Why do you still listen to Public Radio? To keep up with what the Evil one is saying? Switch your radio/internet to EWTN or other Catholic radio. It will never fluster you. It is AWESOME!

FIRST: WHY I LISTEN TO PUBLIC RADIO

1.  I appreciate news reporting from Africa

2. I appreciate listening to news analyses about the hardships vexing Africans

3. I appreciate listening to news reporting from the BBC, rather than from the 

     USA news outlets

4. I enjoy the human impact analyses of life in the United States that do not get 

     presented on the USA commercial or cable airwaves -- like the story I wrote 

     about concerning the young lady who had escaped from child prostitution to 

     finally reach the position of tenured professor at UCLA.  (Work of the evil one?)

                      More on the "Evil" one later.

Second:  WHY I DO NOT LISTEN TO EWTN

1. I spend at least 15 hours per week preparing Bible and Theology classes

2. My sources for these syllabi are the following:

             a) The Jerome Biblical Commentary

             b) The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

             c) The Catechism of the Catholic Church

             d) The Code and Commentary of Canon Law of the Catholic Church

             e) The "Osservatore Romano" official newspaper of Vatican City

3. Aside from the intellectual exercises that the above list represents, my daily 

     prayer life consists of the following:

              v. Listening to the daily reading and following meditation from USCCB

             w. 30 minutes a day of community prayer with my spouse taken from the 

                 Breviary, other wise know as the Book of Christian Prayer

             x. Not less than 30 minutes per day of praying the Bible in meditation

             y. Reading and considering the articles of Catholic bloggers from around 

                  the world

             z. "Breakfast with God" from ParishWorld.net

4. EWTN has not been exempt from succumbing to the wiles and the influence 

     of the "Evil one."  

5. When you get to know as much about the Catholic Church as I do, you will 

     have many reasons to get flustered by EWTN.

SMALLER GOVERNMENT or MICROMANAGEMENT GOVERNMENT?

"The land of the free, and the home of the brave."
I'm from Massachusetts where, fittingly, for today and this thought, the state motto is "Sub ense, libertas."
That's right, "Under the sword, liberty."
We have recycled our swords into "Colts".
We have intellectualized them into laws, sub laws, rules, regulations and tribunals.
We have organized them into moneyed special interests.
We have hacked them dull in the deterioration of our educational system through our pandering to the personal demands of the educators rather than honoring the needs of the students.
We have bent then into corkscrews of dishonor, discord, disrespect, dissimulation, disingenuity, contumely and slander.
We have ceased looking for the "quiet peace" mentioned in the uncut, unedited statement of the motto:
         "Manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam 
                        sub libertate quietem,"

We keep a sharp sword at hand, shoulder high and threatening those whom we perceive to be nuisances intruding upon our thirst for complete control over the behavior in which we find comfort.  

The sharp sword comes in handy for carving out sections of the citizenry that are different from whom and what we are.  

We seek to excise those who feel entitled; those who even through no fault of their own, are less well endowed, physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and economically.

We use the flat side for those on our side and the sharp edge for the weaker ones.

These are times when the sword is not a unifier but a divider; not a peace maker but a fomenter of discord.  It is not a tool for the lessening of organized government's intrusion into our personal lives, but a wedge driving government deeper and deeper into our individual private space.  

This sword knows no political favoritism.  It cares not whose hand squeezes the haft.  It cares not whether the hand is right or left.  All it cares is whether there is enough blood on it to show one and all that it knows its purpose and is able and willing to achieve it.  No matter what.

Happy Independence Day.

THE REAL CRIMINALS ARE IN WASHINGTON

"When they jumped the fence they broke the law."  Then the employers paid off the lawmakers who let the fence-jumpers keep the jobs because the bribing employers slipped the lawmakers big dollars under the title, "Campaign Contribution."
If I hear one more politician say that the immigration system in the country is broken, I'm going to jump through the screen and wring his/her neck.  The "system" is not broken.  It has been completely destroyed by the very same criminals who constructed it.  I heard Darrel Issa say on "Meet the Press" [Sunday, June 24, 2012] over and over again that the system is broken.  Bullshit!  Stop hiding behind behind these words.  The system is not broken.  What is broken is the moral integrity of the people who have been mandated by vote of the electorate to make it work.  "Systems" do not govern.  People do.  Enough with the euphemisms already!  Admit it, you're all criminals on the take, trying to get re-elected and you don't give a damn about whether or not a 36 year old law has not been effective.  [Simpson - Mazzoli -- November, 1986]  
I know what I'm talking about.  I was a human resources director from 1987 until 2007.  I enforced Simpson - Mazzoli to the tittle.  I also had the opportunities to look the other way in favor of some rather lucrative rewards.  I never took a dime and I am now a fixed income homeowner with my pride and my straight shooting heart as my treasures.  
Don't talk to me about "Broken Systems."  Talk to me about criminally Satanic lawmakers.

EXTRA! EXTRA! ONE CHEATER OUTS ANOTHER -- GETS BEAT ANYWAY!

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/joel-peralta-caught-pine-tar-nationals-rays-crying-130611107--mlb.html

This is why I stopped being a fan of "professional" sports.
Is it because they cheat?  No.  Is it because they are so much better at what they do than I could ever have become?  No.
It's because when they get called out about their cheating ways by another cheater who knows they the are cheating because he knows that the cheater used to cheat for him when he was the cheater's boss before he traded him away to the cheateer in the other dugout, they cry "FOUL" instead of just sitting in the bushes and waiting for an opportunity to bite back.  It's the "cry-baby" syndrome of shedding tears over seeing one of the myriad of "unwritten rules" broken.  Even though I am now an old man, I cannot get used to the reciprocal righteousness of "hypocrite vs hypocrite" one-up-manship."  I have come to a point where the humor of the situation has grown into disgust.  I humbly admit that men grow old way before they ever grow up, but professional athletes and their "mystique" has become more than what I can stomach.  The story of this episode is made humorous by the fact that the whining, offended cheater who ratted out the cheater who used to cheat for him LOST anyway.  So the cheater who ratted out the cheat by "Wiki-leaking" his propensity for cheating to the officials, got beat anyway.  Now that, I like.  
Then, the cheating boss of the cheater who got "Wiki-leaked" whines and cries about the lack of loyalty of the "Wiki-leaking" opposing cheater to the "unwritten rules" of the game.  This type of behavior, says the winning cheater,  will cause cheaters all over the league to have to change their ways in order to protect their cheating ways from other cheaters who would know that they cheat and how they cheat because they used to share cheating tactics when they were on the same team.  How horrendously traitorous of you!  You have contributed to denigrating and despoiling the legion of professionals of the cheating tricks that they have developed to a here-to-fore unheard of level of perfection.
Now that is A+ stupidity on top of political ignorance.
The winning manager should have said [could have said if he too were not a cheater] is: "I have taken my pitcher aside and had a Dutch Uncle talk with him about the evil of cheating.  The pitcher who substituted for him and won the game proved to the august and honorable cheater in the other dugout that the cheating ways that he espouses and the disregard of the unwritten rules that he practiced tonight could not protect him from the ignominy of defeat at the hands of an honest and straighforward, clean and righteous mano a mano fighter who has been spared of having to work in the cheating shadows of my opponent's salacious locker room.  That's all I have to say."
It reminds me of the Country and Western song, "Ladies, Don't Let Your Sons Grow to be Cowboys." [read: Professional Athletes]
So, last night one cheater beat another.  It happens all the time, because in life, there is always a winner and a loser.  Like it or not.  Take it or leave it.  Honest or crooked.   It has always been so and will ever remain so.  
Amen.

BUSH TAX CUTS LAW, AGAIN --- THE SUN SETS, AGAIN???

Mr. Obama.  This is your last chance at redemption.  This is your last chance to give Grover Norquist and his disciples their well-deserved kick in the crotch.  I, and many Americans who voted for you are wondering when you are going to gird your loins and throw your weight around and get rid of your adversaries.  We are starting to get the definite impression that you like having them around.  I don't blame you, in a way.  They are just like a nagging wife.  They keep reminding you about how they are not going to vote for the next thing that comes up to a deadline.  So you already know what you have to do.  What really gags us is the way you buckle under to them.  You have not once used the weight and leverage of your position to get anything done that WE want you to do.  You have even backed down on stuff that you said that you wanted done.  On this blog alone, I have written some very disparaging things about you.  Well-deserved, I might add.  Now I hear Boehner and Kantor threatening you again about the Bush tax cuts.  You know, the ones that had a ten year life span.  Yep, you caved.  The sun that was supposed to set on that one, rose again.  So, the Republicans gambled and should have lost, but you handed them the win.  You HAVE to stop this crap.  Defeat them.  We want you to defeat them.  Put an end to the Bush tax cuts for EVERYONE.  Wake up, Sir.  The facts are the facts.  The country of fair play and rule of law knows that when a law expires, it expires.  It is only the slick, oily types who try to squirm by the fact that they gambled and lost.  Taking the emotion out of it, look at it this way.
Remember this? πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει,'everything flows and nothing is left unchanged'
Did all of the well-educated, august members of the government who voted for a law with a ten year life span forget this unalterable truth about the universe?  Did they all of a sudden get "tsunami-ed" by this calamitous brain cramp?  Things change, gentlemen.  The sun never sets on the same planet that it visited during the day.  You all know that.  Barack Obama, you graduated from Harvard.  Prove to us that you actually learned something there.  So far you have not done a very good job of that.  These tax cuts have to die.  Grover Norquist and his minions have to be put in their place...back in his vest pocket where they belong.  And remember, I said the cuts go across the board -- to everyone.  NO EXCEPTIONS. Fair play.  Rule of law.
But of course, we know that you are all politicians.  So the truth that you espouse today, is relative, and therefore, exempt from the centuries old law of πάντα χωρεῖ.
I voted for you, Mr. Obama.  The reasons for that are many,  but some of them can be found here.  http://fourinchdevil.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-i-didnt-vote-for-john-mccain.html
I voted for you in '08.  Chances are very slim that I will repeat that mistake this year.  Mistake?  You bet.
1.You took the single payer option off the table before the debate even started
2.Refused to change the law that prohibits the US government to negotiate drug prices with "big pharma."
3.The "Colchicine" bribery idiocy.
4.The contraceptive buffoonery.
5.Yes, I remember the Patriot Act vote to allow big Communications to spy on us
6. I also remember Guantanamo
7. I have Afghanistan in mind -- and your sweet bow to the mercenaries in Iraq, and Somalia as well.
8. Your sweet kiss to the "mooning" Republicans when you should have kicked their ass [not kissed it] into the boards and let them shut the government down.
Yeah, Mr. President, I was hoping that you would be the antidote to GW Bush.  He was all balls and no brains.  You, on the other hand, have a brain but no balls.  Three years ago you said publicly that you just might be a one term president.  Don't deny it, it's on tape.  The convention is approaching.  Why don't you consider giving Hilary Clinton the baton.  She and Bill will get things done.  They will not let McConnel, Kantor and Boehner cow them into oblivion.
So:
a. Stop weeping and whining about what you inherted and DO something.
b. Let the sun set on the Bush Tax Cuts for EVERYONE.  We understand fair play.
c. Close Guantanamo.
d. Fire all the XE mercenaries.
e. Recall all the carpet bagging contractors.
f. Give Catholics a pass,  The US can't afford social services without them.
g. Let the Republicans shut the government down.
h. Make the electorate hate Norquist and his minions.
i. You can't reform the tax code, but you can get the wheels in motion.  Do it.
j. Be careful with your drone attacks.  You're approaching the edge, I think.  Maybe not here at home, but elsewhere.
k. Don't jeopardize your stellar foreign policy record.  President Hilary and Sec. of State Willy would be a nice team.  Now, them I would vote for.


You're out of your league in the Oval Office.  


Paul Dion

FDA LYING ABOUT COLCHICINE

Source of colcrys [colchicine]

A story about bribery and lying.
I sent this email to URLPharma, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

"I have been taking colchicine for 43 years.  I have bought and used colchicine in The Philippines, in Mexico, in Italy, France, Canada and the USA and it has always worked very well. There is nothing wrong with colchicine except that the pharmaceutical companies were not making enough profit from it.   So, you happen to be the ones who invented the right reason with the right wording to make the change.  Then you proceeded to stuff the right wallets with the right amount of greenbacks to get permission to perfect a drug that has a 2,000 year history of satisfactory performance. Nice job.  

I will never buy one single milligram of "colcrys" in the USA for as long as I live.  Take that to the bank."

Click here below for a well written study about colchicine. 

2,000 year history of satisfactory performance. 

Colchicine is a drug that has been used for 2,000 years as a treatment for  attacks of the gout.  These attacks are called "flare-ups" because the pain that the gout causes is like FIRE.  I know.

You will see a picture of the crocus plant from where it comes when it is processed from nature.  Now though, I suppose that the billionnaires who bribed the FDA to let them re-invent the drug probably do it by manufacturing the molecules themselves.  

We live in a country that is so warped that it is difficult to see where common sense, if any exists, starts and where it leads.  So it is said in all the official writing that I have seen, the FDA wants to know if this drug is working like it should.  It has been so long that it has been studied that it has been decided to give a pharmaceutical company the right to market its patented version of it as an exclusive.  Talk about a sweetheart deal!   We can't prove it, and no one will ever admit it, but I personally am convinced that there was a lot of money dumped into some very voracious political deep pockets to get this done.  So now the contract has been delivered and the people with the gout, like me, have to pay exhorbitantly high prices for a drug that should be a dime a pill.

Get ready for the scare tactics now.  

Please be warned that buying colchicine from Canada, Mexico or the Philippines could be dangerous to your life.  

Remember that if you are brazen enough to buy colchicine in another country and get caught with it in your possession upon re-entering the USA that you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

I keep thinking that the FDA is so fully staffed with incompetents that it doesn't know what the drugs that it has cleared for public use are up to. We are lucky that the original manufacturer of Aspirin is a German company.  Beware, though, there is perhaps a pharmaceutical company here in the USA that is dreaming of a way to allow the FDA to let it re-study the properties of salicylic acid so that it can tweak it to make it a new invention and therefore be sold exclusively for $5.00 per pill.  Oh, yeah!  I can see it now.  Isn't this excitingly reassuring for all you takers of Kumadin?  If the FDA doesn't know if it can trust a 2,000 year old drug, what does that say about its grasp of the properties of a 15 year old drug?  I'll bet that there are more people who have died from kumadin dosage over the last five years than have died from colchicine in the whole 2,000 years of its discovery.

The way this country is being run is very disheartening indeed.  I guess I shouldn't complain too much.  I, and you, still have the freedom to write and say what we think without having too much to worry about.  So I guess I will get away with this.  I still have the gout, but I will find a way to buy my colchicine somewhere else on the planet.  

Mr. BIN LADEN, MY APOLOGIES, SIR

Have you seen the email thing about President Barack Obama being nothing but an apologizing wimp who bows to the Japanese?  I'm sure you did.  Did you see the email that went around and accused George W. Bush of being a wimp because he kissed the king of Saudi Arabia?  Hmmm!
Now,don't get me wrong.  Obama is a wimp.  He is a pink-pantied, floppy shorts basketball dude who wanted us to believe that he is really a hockey player who could get things done against the boards.  He is not cut out to be a democratic president.  Where was he when he should have been saying, "You want me to be a one term president?  Good, get me for what I did, not for what you blocked me from doing."  If there is anything that I thoroughly dislike about Barack Obama is the fact that he continues to whine and sniffle that it is not his fault but that it is what he inherited.  Barack: when are you going to wake up and realize that it is infinitely more glorious to get beat after one term for the things that you DID rather than the things that you didn't do?  Stop dipsy-doodling, deeking and jooking and crush the MF against the boards.  Of course, it is too late now.  I voted for you because there was no way that I was going to go for McCain/Palin.  But, right now, you're on my thin ice, dude.  You can check out what I have already written about you.
You have shown that you have no killer instinct.  I suggest that you go back to community organizing somewhere and let someone run the country who is not afraid to kick ass, no matter what the cost.
P.S.  I also hope that all the Catholic schools, universities and hospitals stop taking government money, downsize to what cash-paying customers can bring in and let you Feds and State dudes pick up the tab for the rest.  Good luck, sweetie pie.
One last thing.  I like the Drone thing.  I do have a question about the law that was passed some 40+ years ago about our government not doing foreign assassinations?
Oh, well,  Good luck, Mr. Pantie Waist.

APPLAUSE? JUST ANOTHER CASE OF THE CLAP

Warning:  This is straight from the Kurmujjin.  Neat.  Straight up. No soda.  No water. It has been clear to me for years, years! that very often, applause is the sound of two hands clapping because their brain doesn't know what else to do with them at the moment.
Applause at the end of a movie?
Applause at the end of a list of announcements communicating the week's schedule?  
Applause at the end of a YouTube.com projection?
Save your applause for when I die.  Then I'll know what it means.
I was about 5 years old when my aunt Pearl took me to the movie, "Dumbo, the Flying Elephant."  It was my first time at the movies, and so I fussed and complained and cried when we had to sit through all the preliminary, incomprehensible [to a five-year old] stuff like the newsreel and the introductory cartoon.  It wasn't Dumbo, so I was grousing.  Finally, Dumbo came on and it was rather nice and I behaved.  In fact, I was so docile that it earned me a trip to see the "Song of the South" a year or so later.  I liked the "Song of the South" better than Dumbo. Don't ask me why.  I don't know, "Why," I just know.
After Dumbo, neither I nor my aunt applauded.  After "Song of the South" we didn't applaud.  Many people did.  I asked, both times, "Why aren't we clapping?"  The response was the same both times, "There's no one to clap for.  It's just a movie."  It made sense to me then.  It made more sense to me as I grew older...and older...and older.  It even made sense to me when I was moved to deep appreciation by the story.  I didn't clap for "Shane."  I didn't even clap for my total favorite, "Shawshank Redemption."  I have NEVER clapped after watching non personal phenomena.  I have never clapped at my computer.  
I think that applause is to show recognition to a live person for work well done.  That means that if you do not do good work, I will not applaud.  Least of all, I will not stand.  I have sat still in an audience that was applauding a piece of crap performance.  The performance was so bad that people were talking to one another as it was unfolding.  Then they gave a standing ovation.  They really did!  This happened to me when I was in my early 30's.  The IQ of the masses has a below freezing chill factor.  Some have the gaul to talk during the performance and then sneer at the person who listened in silence, albeit sacrificial silence, and then refused to congratulate the performer via applause.  
I one time had a conversation in which the participant in the conversation asked, "Aren't you afraid to hurt the performer's feelings?"  Huh?  Hell, no.  I suffered though his incompetence, he can suffer through my silence.  I had to pay for him/her to make me suffer.  He/she can suffer though my silence while he/she pockets my contribution to his/her emolument.
This thought came to me this morning when a congregation of which I was a part applauded at the end of a YouTube.com projection.  I enjoyed the show.  I enjoyed the song that it contained.  Applaud?  Are you kidding me?  
Don't tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about.  I have discussed this with numerous people throughout the years.  Their position is always the same: "I liked it, so I applauded.  If I like something I applaud."  That's fairly highly sophisticated thinking.  I applaud myself for liking something.  I never thought of that.  With my ego, I'd have swollen hands at the end of every day from applauding my admirable successes achieved from morning 'til night.  Come to think of it, I'm glad I don't clap because I like something.  I only clap to congratulate others, who are present and who can actually hear my entousiastic expression of satisfaction for their work.


You all have my permission, nay, my invitation, to applaud my departure from the earthly stage, even in my cold, rigor mortified state, right in front of me.  If you do that, at least you won't be crying.

WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION

I totally do not agree with this poster.  It is because it is too simple.  Simple statements that purport to describe complex realities are untruthful.  Let me tell you about REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN THE USA and its definition of being THEFT.



CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS:  If this is not THEFT, what is?
I want to get elected. I don't have the funds.  So you give your money to me and I use it to denigrate my opponent so that I can get elected.  You have been robbed by way of wealth redistribution.


ONE PERSON,ONE VOTE:  CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS are grand larceny because they redistribute wealth and they buy influence, otherwise known as bribery. We, as citizens, are limited to having one vote.  Campaign contributors get three [at least] votes, a-the support by way of the contribution; b-the influence that the money bought [the fruit of the bribe] c-the vote at the polls.


MEDICARE: The government takes 1.45% of everything I make and applies it to the medicare account of the whole country.  Then, when I finally get to be eligible for medicare, the government makes me pay $94.00 per month for medicare coverage.  So did they steal the original 1.45% or are they stealing the $1,000.00 per year that they are taking from me now? Or is it THEFT X 2?


MERCENARIES:  Paying XE for its services is a redistribution of my "wealth" that I definitely consider to be THEFT.  


RECONSTRUCTION CARPET BAGGERS: Halliburton, Kellogg, et al.  Redistribution of wealth on a grand scale.  Grand Larceny scale.


INCOME TAX ON SERIES E "SAVINGS" BONDS: Here's the deal.  Buy $10,000.00 of series E federal bonds in 2000.  Redeem them for 11,750.00 in 2010.  Pay the IRS capital gains tax on the $ 1,750.00.  The government thrives on the income from stolen money.  You let them use your 10 grand for ten years.  They pay you interest and then take back a portion in income tax.
Bullshit!


PROFESSIONAL SPORTS STADIA: Billionnaire Joe Blow who owns the NFL "Sour Nectar Hummingbirds" wants a new stadium.  Does he invest in it?  Hell no!  He steals the money from the residents of his business hinterland and doesn't improve the quality of the team.  Aggravated Grand Larceny.


MILITARY PARAPHERNALIA:  Proliferation of redundant military hardware. The Air Force has the F-xx.  The Navy is jealous, so it wants the N-xxx[2].  The Marines get their noses out of joint and they demand an extra, super deluxe G-AAAxxx, or else.  This Jesse James and Billy the Kid competition has got to stop. I am sick and tired of being RIPPED OFF.
As a country here's what we do:  3 fighters; 3 transports, three helicopters; three drones.  All of them the same color, take it or leave it.


PORK BARREL:  You want pork?  Go kill your own pig.  Leave mine alone.  Redistribute the wealth in your own district.  If you can't steal their money, you sure as hell ain't gonna get mine.


WAR: pre-emptive:  THEFT OF $; THEFT OF CHILDREN; THEFT OF PARENTS. STOP IT.  GET OUT. 


POST-WAR REPARATIONS:  I didn't ask you to go to war. Don't steal my money to fix your mistake.


SELF-DEFENSE WAR:  They started it.  Part of loosing is rebuilding to repair the arrogance of the invader.


INFRASTRUCTURE: Do I have to pay for a road, bridge or port repair 3,000 miles away? No.  So don't steal it from me.


GASOLINE TAX:  You steal 24.8 cents per gallon from me to spread around to my fellow citizens all around the country.  Then you tell me that you can do nothing about the cost of gasoline.  My roads are still full of pot holes and my bridges are still unsafe.  I can only conclude that this redistribution of wealth is GRAND LARCENY.


Remember:  If you charge me to pay again for something that I have a right to own because you took my money in the first place, you are the criminal, not me.  You owe me, not vice versa.  [Cfr. Social Security; Medicare]


Notice that these are the things that form our accustomed way of life.  Let's be honest with ourselves and examine the ways to change them too.

SECRET SERVICE MADAM RAHAB HELPED CONQUER JERICHO

Rahab the madam, Joshua 2

Let me just say that soldiers, spies, secret service assets and many, many more assets are always on the lookout for female assets, paid or otherwise. What do we expect of our paid, non uniformed, para-military goons when they find themselves in a country with legalized prostitution?  It's so normal and so "natural" that we haven't heard a single syllable about "fire the idiots." Even the president of the country has not come down on these miscreants. Everyone I hear is saying a version of, "We're investigating the situation."  How sweet!  How long do we have to wait until a plot to kill the president of the US comes to light, or God help us, to fruition, thanks to a leak due to an act of intemperance with a paid operative of  a foreign government, paid for by an unpaid idiot from the US?  Oh, wait, I forgot. What these guys were actually doing was pulling a stunt from the Bible. The spies go to the friendly madam who saves them and is converted to the point where she makes it into the genealogy of Jesus Himself.  That's what our guys were doing. They went into this gig with their Bibles and their blessings from Papa Joshua so that the president would be protected.  The "ladies" were insulation against the bad guys.  Our guys just paid them double to keep the bad guys occupied while our Commander-in-Chief was on their soil.  You'll see.  Someone will come up with this defense.  It will go down in the books as the Joshua 2 defense.  No kidding.  You'll see.  Heee.
Enjoy it, this is the only place where you will get this kind of information about this caper.

READING THE BIBLE or READING FROM THE BIBLE

All those tabs don't mean a thing

I had an experience today that lasted one hour.  It featured a young man and his Bible and an empty-handed old man.
I had never met the man and I had made a promise to meet him at the church at a given hour.  We were both on time.  We began by a short prayer moment before retiring to a more private corner and some softer chairs.  This young person was ever so polite and so respectful that it was a pleasure to be in his presence.  He told me his story and I listened.  I introduced myself to him and he listened.  Then he said that he had some things that he wanted to talk about and proceeded to open his Bible at the tab that he evidently wanted to serve as the opening of the discussion.  I told him to put his Bible away.  He said that he had to have it otherwise he couldn't make his point.  I said that reading one verse of two from a random corner of the Bible is not making a point.  He was shocked as I repeated my requirement that he put his Bibe aside.  I asked him point blank how much of the Bible he had read.  He said that he had not really read that much of it because he was still fairly new at this.  So he needed it to make his point.  I then asked him if he had spent time reading the first pages of the Bible.  He said that he had not yet done that.  
"So," says I, "when are you going to get around to reading the Bible from the first page?"  
He replied that what he wanted to know was not on the first page.  
"Ah, so you wanted to know what YOU wanted to know.  Did it ever cross your mind that the Bible is the book that we consult to ascertain what God wants us to know about Him?"
Uh?  Hmmm.  
"Did it ever cross your mind that God might have a system about how to teach us about Himself through the  pages of this Book?"
Uh?  Hmmm.
"When you open your text book in college do you generally hunt and peck for what you want to know or do you try to follow the author's system for developing the truths contained in the text book?"
Uh?  Hmmm.

I let him off the hook when I said, "Leave your Bible on the seat.  If you get stuck, I'll tell you the story and then you'll know what God wants you to know."

I won't bore you too much, but I will give you an example of what happened to this young man about 10 minutes before the end of the conversation.  He complained that the older people in his life did not give him any credit for having some wisdom that they themselves might not have.  He then took up his Bible and quoted from Job, [Eliphaz speaks to Job] thus: "Were you born the first Adam, brought forth before the hills?  Did you listen in God's council: is wisdom limited to you?  What do you know that we don't know; what do you understand that is not with us?" 
[Job, 15; 7 - 9]
He looked at me smugly.  I smiled and asked him, "Do you know how the book ends?"  Uh?  Hmmm.  "No."
"I do.  It does not go well for Eliphaz.  I will spare you the quote since I do not have my Bible with me, but you can look it up, if you want."  I paraphrased the story for him.  He wasn't smiling.

For you, dear reader I quote what God says to Eliphaz:
⁷ After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. ⁸ So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”  [Job, 42; 7 - 8]

There was a lot more to the conversation.  My young interlocutor was at a loss to express the lessons that God would no doubt want to teach him.  He will learn just as soon as he accepts the Bible as God's Word.  So far all it is to him is a reference of self-gratifying quotes.