State Healthcare : A Nail in the Coffin of Democracy
Posted 6:50 AM

I really like the idea that if someone is, say, hit and run by a car, they don't have to go bankrupt paying for hospital bills. That's the kind of state-run healthcare anyone can get behind.... federally funded emergency care for accidental injury.

But that's not what we're going to get. Big pharma is the key lobbying group behind the new healthcare plan. With 80% of health expenditures being paid down in the last 90 days of life, what we have is hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding for keeping dying people alive and on drugs, from atropine to Vicodin for an extra few months.

I don't think people realize what's happening.

Talk to any emergency room physician and they'll tell you that huge percentage of their time spent treating people they are legally required to - but that any reasonable person would see was a waste of time. From saying no to drug addicts and hypochondriacs to keeping people in pain alive that want to die, the problem with healthcare today is that legal requirements and liability issues prevent doctors from moving beyond the treadmill of time-wasting and working on care for patients who need it.

With all that money going to the wrong places ... it's no wonder that healthcare is expensive. The problem is, and always has been, that poor government regulation has driven up costs and prevented real care. Do we think that's going to get better under the new plan? No way. As coverage expands, so will "patient rights" - a codeword for doctor's liability.

Once a person starts taking drugs, they tend to stay on them for life. Schools are currently refusing to educate students that don't take medication after being diagnosed with ADHD. With government support, these drugs will be free. Some kids really have a problem, sure, but it is highly subjective diagnosis. A student who is smart enough to realize that our eduction system is broken could be easily diagnosed. A student who just needs a little more outdoor time could be diagnosed with ADHD. Unfortunately some of the brightest and most creative children in the country are being diagnosed with a disorder because classroom settings are too boring and curriculum is too slow and repetitive.

America is crumbling under the influence of corporate interest and, sadly, this bipartisan health care plan is more of the same.

But we don't have to worry about the population taking to the streets in protest... they'll be too drugged up to notice.

Labels: politics

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Blame the Guy with Money
Posted 10:45 AM

It's embarassing that people are blaming Goldman Sachs, a company who tried to refuse bailout funds, for making money. Remember, they tried to refuse the bailout money, and were forced to by Congress? Then they paid it back in full as soon as allowed by law?

Thank goodness some American companies are making money, bringing it home and spending it here.

When I worked at other companies, i grew tired at how people loved to blame intelligent, hardworking people for "raising the bar" or "making them look bad". Goldman has done just that... made every other bank look bad by proving it was possible, by hiring the best and brightest, to make money in hard times. And just like the watercooler losers who like to rib the nerd down the hall for actually getting work done, American politicians - the true vampires - are busy blaming Goldman for doing their job right.

But the most embarrassing thing is how widespread this is. The biggest problem with America is the sense of "entitlement" it's citizens have. Rather than work to get something, it seems we now demand or whine to have it handed to us. "What about me?" could be our new motto.

Labels: politics

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Light Saber Special Effects
Posted 11:45 AM

I might *tell* my 5-year old that light sabers aren't real, but until he actually *saw* how the effect was made, he didn't really believe me. This tutorial finally cinched it for my son and now he and a few of his friends no longer insist that Star Wars is real (which my son has never seen). I'm glad these few little kids no longer believe that people are, somewhere far away, killing each other by the millions in high-tech space battles with clearly defined "good" and "evil" combatants...


How To: Lightsaber Effect Video Tutorial - The funniest videos clips are here
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Best Gift for a 5-Year Old
Posted 12:16 AM

I'm convinced that there's no way an adult human can possibly read the same story over and over enough to satisfy the developmental needs of a 5-year old. Fortunately, you don't have to.

Buy a Creative ZEN Stone with Built-in Speaker....then load it with smart, well-written young-adult stories like Igraine the Brave and the Dragons of Blueland.

Mac lovers... don't buy the Shuffle for a 5-year old... it looks similar, but doesn't have speakers. Little kids need speakers

1) so they can use their player on their own.
2) so they can share books with friends

We have a family rule that we have to have read the real book once, in person, before it can go on his stone. It keeps me from getting lazy.
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