HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day that's the beginning of a FANTASTIC year!

(btw, I didn't carve the pumpkin pictured above but I did have to click a few times to get it so it's kind of like I did.)

Lowering The Bar... Again

When I heard that President Oboma had won the Nobel Peace Prize I literally laughed out loud. The wife, watching in the other room, asked if he had won because he was black. I assured her it had nothing to do with his color. She then asked, "why then?"

Good question, I thought. He has only been in office for ten months. His popularity in the US has dropped significantly since he took office. He has yet to accomplish anything of importance, at all. Most of his campaign promises are now being watered down because they are either not realistic or would be a disaster if he were allowed to carry them out.

Unlike President Carter, the worse American president to date, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace between Israel and Egypt, Obama's biggest claim to fame is the beer summit he had at the white house to broker peace between a professor and a police officer.

So why did Obama get the award? Mostly because he's not President Bush. Also because he's a liberal. Now the Nobel Peace Prize falls into the same category as the Oscar, and the Emmy and a lot of other once honorable acknowledgments. Not given on merit but instead to those with the most liberal agenda. The award committee has done nothing but cheapen the prize for all those who have won it before and will receive it after. Worse they did it for political reasons. They used the award to send a message to former President Bush that they didn't like him and they wanted to embarrass him. Petty, as well as sad.

The first reactions I'm seeing from most Americans, Obama supporters and opponents, is disbelief. It left me wondering if the people of Pakistan feel they are getting peace as Obama authorizes bombs to be dropped on them? Or, if the people Afghanistan feel peace is on its way as Obama will neither commit to securing their country or pulling out of it? Does Israel seem to be embracing Obama's push for peace? Do the Palestinians? The North Koreans are rebuilding their nuclear facility as Iran admits it has more nuclear capacity than we thought. Where is this peace the The Nobel Peace committee speaks of?

Like our news media, the Nobel committee has taken something precious and made it into a joke, which is exactly why I was laughing when I heard about it.

Caught, NOT looking

The other night at the gym, my partner mentioned a bodybuilder he saw on TV. I thought one of the signed photos, hanging on the wall in the gym, was of the guy he mentioned. So I walked to the front of the gym to look. The problem was I couldn't make out the name on the photo. Looking up, I squinted, turned my head, tried looking at it from every angle to get a good look. I spent a few minutes trying but I never could make it out.

When I finally gave up and turned around I noticed a guy across the gym staring at me. I mean really staring at me. I knew the guy but not that well. I took a few more steps and checked, yep, still staring. By the time I made it back to my partner I realized why he was staring. See, he had just competed in a local bodybuilding contest last month. He did well for his first contest so the gym honored him by putting his picture on the wall last week, with all the famous bodybuilders. The picture of him, posing in only a banana hammock, (this kind, not this) was hanging right next to the picture I was ogling, for so long.

I can only imagine what he was thinking as I appeared to be looking at his photo from every possible angle. Now every time I see him in the gym he gives me this awkward look. I want to approach him and say something like, "hey, um... do you know who's picture that is hanging on the wall right NEXT to yours? Because I was looking at that one, not yours, the other day." But I know I would just be digging a deeper hole.

Of course my partners thinks the situation is hilarious. It's not. Well, if it happened to them it would be, but it didn't. What kind of luck does it take to be not looking at a guy's photo at the exact moment he is in the gym paying attention to who's looking at his photo??? Which again, for the record, I wasn't. grrrr!

Cockadoodle doo

The other day, while in the shower, I heard a rooster crowing and crowing and crowing.... It was very loud considering I was on the second floor with the water running. It was very odd considering I don't own a rooster. When I headed out to go to work two roosters were coming down my neighbors drive. He doesn't own roosters either. We have no idea who's they are or why they have picked our house to settle in at.

For the last two days these guys have been literately circling our house. I now know how Custard must have felt. The Wife is terrified of them for some reason. Something about their beady eyes and tag teaming her on a flanking, all out pecking attack.

Now, we have another decision to make. Keep the roosters, get some chickens and have fresh eggs. hope they find their way to the pond so the gator can have a special feast or try to shoo them home. Wherever that is. Funny thing about roosters, ha ha grrr, they don't just crow in the morning. No, they crow all.day.long. Did I mention how loud they are?

This is a picture of my pond looking back at my house. It's here because I loaded the wrong picture but I like it, so I left it.

Our new friend

This little guy showed up in our pond the other day. Sure he's cute. And where are the kids going to get a chance to watch an alligator grow this close? He's about 3' long and isn't afraid to get within a few feet of us.

Still, he will get bigger and you can not tame an alligator. We're having a tough time deciding if we should remove him now, wait until he's big enough to be dangerous then have a trapper remove him... or we could just eat him. They taste like chicken you know. (just kidding, but we have had people offer to catch him for the meat)

I don't know, I guess for now he kids can brag about their pet gator.

ASIMO. The future is now?

I've been following Honda's robot ASIMO since it was first introduced. Although it is an amazing feat of engineering, I can't help but wonder if I'm missing something. Didn't these people see Terminator, The Matrix, iRobot? The list of movies made to warn us that one day computers, and by extension robots, will one day rule our world is extensive.

When ASIMO first came out I thought it was cute. Now it's starting to creep me out... really creep me out.

What's a second worth?

I watched the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" last night. Not a great movie but good. It made me think a bit. There was one scene though that made me shed a few tears. Odd how or experiences make us see things that might go unnoticed to others.

I've played a similar scene out a million times in my head before I ever saw this film. Strangely, I took comfort in knowing that the writer had thought about it too. How different our lives might be if just two or three seconds where added or subtracted at any given time? How an insignificant incident can set us on a path of destruction, enjoyment or enlightenment.

After the movie I went up stairs where the wife had gone to bed hours before. I gave her a little kiss as she slept. Then I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. A sleep I haven't known in years. And I dreamed, I dreamed a gloriously happy dream. The first good dream I've had in a very long time.

Cheers

Recently a story lit up the news wires that not only caught my attention but the attention of President Obama as well. About a weeks ago the the Cambridge police received a call from a concerned neighbor that she might have witnessed a burglary in progress by two men. With this information officers were dispatched.

Upon entering the house the police discovered the man, who had been seen forcing the door open by the neighbor, was the resident of the house. The man, who was black, was asked to step outside. He was very irritated that the police had entered his house without authorization and refused to step outside claiming the officer, a white man, was a racist. After finally following the officer out of the house, the officer warned him twice to calm down. When Mr. Gates refused, he was handcuffed, arrested and taken to jail. The charges later dropped.

After hearing about the arrest President Obama, a friend of Mr. Gates, said in an interview that the police had acted "stupidly". He went on further to suggest that Mr. Gates was profiled because of his race. This was only hours after the arrest and before many facts were known about the case.

After the president realized he had said too much with too little information he called the officer involved in the arrest. The officer suggested the three of them have a beer and smooth things out. All accepted.

Now this beer event is being touted as a "Teaching Moment" to highlight the racial profiling of the professor, Mr Gates. WTF??!!!! SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME ON WHAT PLANET THIS MAN WAS ARRESTED BECAUSE OF HIS RACE??PLEASE... SOMEONE... ANYONE?

The definition of racial profiling according to the ACLU is as follows:

Racial Profiling:"Racial Profiling" refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.

The officer was dispatched to the scene, so no individual was targeted. The neighbor who made the call never mentioned the color of the people she saw. The officer had no idea what type of person he would find in the house, so no perceived notions. After arriving at the house the officer followed standard protocol. Other than Mr. Gates calling the officer a racist where was race a factor in the arrest?

So my only assumption here is that the lesson of this "Teaching Moment" is that EVERYONE can be guilty of racial profiling because that is exactly what Mr. Gates and the President did. THEY saw a white police officer, attached all the history and stereo types they've been taught and experiences and played the race card before they knew the facts. The very definition of "racial profiling" if you ask me. If that's the message that's going to be delivered after a few rounds of beer then I say, "cheers!"

But for some reason, I just don't see that in the cards.

My two trillion cents worth

Since the election I've been keeping my mouth shut about our new president. Believe me it hasn't been easy either. I like to think I'm a "give em a chance" type guy. His newest proposal, one he ran strong on, is health care reform. Something I agree desperately needs changing.

Of course I wouldn't go about it the way he's proposing... big surprise huh? There are so many options open to try before we hand over health care to the government. You know "the government" who can't run the schools, the post office or public transportation. Even for twice the money and half the quality of similar private institutions.

Here are a few things I would try before nationalizing health care.

Step One: I would implement something called True Cost Billing (I just made that up *pat on the back*) With True Cost Billing a patient could only be charged the actual coast of a procedure or medicine plus a set cap on profit. Say 30% max? So a 10 cent Tylenol would cost a patient no more 13 cent instead of the 6 dollars they maybe charged now.

Instead of the cost of those who can't pay being added to the cost of those who do, a person is only paying for the services THEY RECEIVED. Doing this will DRASTICALLY lower insurance rates. Under this system more people may actually feel than can afford to pay their bill. A lot more people can pay a 600.00 hospital bill rather than an over blown 4,000.00 bill they may just walk away from. That's less collections and less people having their credit destroyed.

"BUT WAIT" I think I heard someone scream. "Who is going to pay for all the people who can't afford care but still need it?" Ok, I didn't hear that but I'm sure someone thought it, very loud. Well, with True Cost Billing insurance rates should fall to a level where more employers can afford health insurance for their employees and families thus eliminating many of the non-payers. "What about the rest?" you may ask. That's where step two kicks in. Follow me...

Step Two: Tort Reform. Place a cap on how much one person can sue a doctor or hospital. "OMG! That's not fair!" that same mysterious voice just yelled. It is fair. If the doctor makes a honest mistake then there should be a limit to damages BUT if the doctor does something criminal then the caps come off and the damages are wide open. Besides, if the government takes over health care do you really think you can sue them for mistakes? Ask someone who uses a VA hospital how that turns out. So with tort reform, medical malpractice insurance goes way down and with it the cost of providing health care.

Step Three: Stop giving away health care to those in this country illegally. Harsh? Yes, I hated to even type it. I'm not advocating turning anyone in need away. There are ways to do this in a humane way. I would suggest a pay or go away plan. That means if you come to the hospital for care and you can pay no questions will be asked about your legal status. But, if you can't pay and you are in the country illegally you will be deported, after treatment of course. Cruel? Not when you consider that Mexicans alone send an estimated 17 billion dollars back to Mexico each year. Some of these people have the money to pay for their health care. If you use the system you should help pay for it.

Step Four: Cut the fraud. With all the computer technology I find it hard to believe someone can't right a program that will identify fraud in Medicaid and Medicare. It should be as easy as finding the average billing of services for a doctor or institution. If a doctor or institution submits payment for more than 10% of average then it would trigger an audit. Seems simple to me.

Step Five: Let companies shop for insurance across state lines. This will increase competition and cut premiums. Another no-brainer from where I sit.

I'm sure there are a few flaws in my steps but smarter people than me could work them out. I just can't see building a new system with all the same problems still there, except this time they're built into the system. Especially if the government is going to be in charge. I mean do we really want the same people who have our financial files to have our medical records too? Come on hippies of the sixties, where is all that paranoia of the government when we need it? Don't give into "the man".

To me it's like a boat that won't go because the anchor is out. So you build a bigger boat and tie the anchor to it. Hell, why not try just pulling the anchor up first?

Pick, Plow, Growl

After my May 12Th post I planned to take a little time away from blogging. I wanted to get back to the life that I had exiled myself from for the last five years. So it's wasn't much of a surprise that I haven't been here. What has surprised me is the STUPID reason I was away for so long.

In a word Facebook (or is that two words? Idk) Actually, it wasn't even Facebook but rather a stupid little game in Facebook that someone asked me to play, Farm Town. Before you laugh (to late I'm sure) remember one thing, I grew up when video games were just coming out. I stayed up all night when my best friend got pong. I played Pac Man before there was a miss Pac Man. From the time I was ten I taught myself to study video games for their weaknesses, then exploit and destroy.

Farm Town, it sounds so innocent doesn't it? All you do is plow, harvest and plant. With the money you make you can build your farm bigger. I laughed it how stupid it was when I first saw it. It is suppose to be a slow relaxing game. Crops can take up to four days to ripen. It's designed to be slow. Then I realized you could also score points. That means you can win. Game on, and on, and on.... After scoring triple the points of all the people playing with me, I have reached the last level. It's over, I'm done. I'm putting that stupid, time, wasting, addictive game behind me. I leave my fellow farmers to toil in the soil, to beg at the market and baby sit their crops. bah!

Of course it wasn't all Farm Town. Work has been keeping me busy, as well doing more with the family. Summer brings in hours of yard work too. Hopefully I'll be around a little more often now. Writing down my thoughts is a hell of a lot more productive than Farm Town. And I don't even have to worry about how many points I score. Bonus!