Reform We Cannot Afford

Staying on my political soapbox just a while longer, I was just sent the following from a friend, a concerned American like myself, and I found it absolutely shocking and eye-opening. With facts and astounding numbers like these, why in the world are we not all screaming for the repeal of ObamaCare???


John Fleming, M.D. represents Louisiana's 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House. He is a family physician, Republican, a student of our Constitution and he is vehemently opposed to our one year-old healthcare legislation. Periodically, he sends updates such as this to keep his constituents and others informed about the reasons this law must be repealed.

FLEMING HEALTH CARE REPEAL UPDATE

The New Health Care Reform Law One Year Later and Getting Worse by the Day

Today, on the one year anniversary since government-approved health care was signed into law, a look at the implementation of the new health care reform reveals how the legislation has failed to deliver on costs, premiums, spending, and preserving Americans’ existing coverage: 19 — States where parents can no longer buy child-only insurance policies as a result of the law 30 — States suing to block the law from taking effect, or requesting waivers from its requirements 51 — Percentage of American workers who will lose their current health coverage by 2013, according to the Administration’s own estimates 1,270 — New bureaucrats requested by the Internal Revenue Service to implement the law this year $2,100 — Increase in individual insurance premiums due to Obamacare, according to the Congressional Budget Office $2,500 — Premium reduction promised by candidate Obama “by the end of my first term as President” 6,578 — Pages of new regulations issued implementing Obamacare through March 14, 2011 800,000 — Reduction in the American labor force due to Obamacare provisions that “will effectively increase marginal tax rates, which will also discourage work,” according to the CBO 2,624,720 — Total individuals in 1,040 plans granted waivers thus far exempting them from the law’s insurance mandates; nearly half of whom participate in union plans 7,400,000 — Reduction in Medicare Advantage enrollment as a result of Obamacare, resulting in a loss of choice for seniors and millions of beneficiaries losing their current health plan 40,000,000 — Firms subject to the health law’s new 1099 reporting requirements, which the National Federation of Independent Business called a “tremendous new paperwork compliance burden” $118,000,000,000 — New costs imposed on states to implement Obamacare—budgetary costs that will lead to reduced services for other state programs like education or to higher state taxes $310,800,000,000 — Projected increase in health costs due to Obamacare, according to the independent Medicare actuary, who called its promise of lower costs “false, more so than true” $552,200,000,000 — Amount of higher taxes Americans will pay if Obamacare remains in place $1,390,000,000,000 — Federal spending on new entitlements during fiscal years 2012-2021 according to the CBO, a 48 percent increase from an earlier estimate WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU: Even though we have seen only a few of the law’s initial provisions take effect, American families and businesses are already facing higher costs, economic uncertainty, and loss of their current coverage. THE DOCTOR’S DIAGNOSIS: The new health care reform law is the prime example of how the Democrats’ tax hikes, spending spree, and heavy-handed government policies are hurting our economy and making it harder for small businesses to create jobs.  Removing these barriers will provide the businesses that create new jobs with the certainty they need to hire new employees and get our economy back on track.I remain committed to reducing healthcare costs by providing access and choices for every American, protecting the patient-doctor relationship, and keeping the government out of the exam room.  I will work aggressively in Congress to repeal what I firmly believe to be an onerous and unconstitutional health care reform law and support market-based solutions to our health care needs. Sincerely, JOHN FLEMING, M.D. Member of Congress

The Anointed One

I hope I'm not the only one to take this from the following photo, but is the media attempting to make our esteemed President look like an angel? The Holy One? The Anointed One?

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

I've seen photos with Obama framed in this way before and formed the same opinion then. Actually, the photo sickens me because of the blatant attempt at glorifying the one holding the office of President of these United States. Gimme a break, Washington Press Corps; it'll take much more than an angelic-looking photo to make this guy holy, in my humble opinion. 

During eight years of the most recent Bush presidency, I don't recall ever seeing such a framing of his likeness, do you? Hmm...just an oversight by the press, I suppose. 

If there are good reasons to respect the President, he will certainly have my respect. Photos such as this will do just the opposite—I see it as a poor attempt to make the old silk purse out of a sow's ear. It just doesn't wash and I'm not buying it. 

Seedlings for the Garden

I'm expanding our little garden this year, doubling the size actually, so I've started some seedlings in the hope warmer spring weather will visit us soon. We've passed by the vernal equinox, just a week ago, so the days are getting longer and I'm sure it will begin warming soon.

My "Grow Station" in the basement consists of an old wire display rack, with a suspended fluorescent light fixture containing two GroLight bulbs to offer the little buggers the widest spectrum of light available on an artificial basis. With that, I'm using a heating pad, set on the middle setting, to warm the potting soil and seeds just a bit.

Our basement growing station containing four tomato varieties,
three peppers and collard greens.

I added a sheet of aluminum foil to each side of the planter, trying to direct as much light as possible to the little seedlings. With heat, good soil, moisture and adequate lighting the miracle of life continues.

It's time to take the scissors to these starts, thinning them
down to just one or two of the healthiest plants.

The planter shown below was started on March 6th, so these seedlings are just three weeks old. This planter contains broccoli, claytonia, two varieties of onions, three types of sweet bell peppers, purslane, chives and sorrel.

I need to thin a bit more, as you can see. I've done that once already, but I've found it's hard to cut out what seems to be a perfectly healthy little plant. Without doing that, though, the roots just wouldn't have room to spread and grow well.

This planter is now sitting in an east-facing window,
trying to catch as much of the spring sunshine as possible. 

The lack of real sunshine has a few of these plants pretty spindly; I hope our warmer weather and some actual sunlight will remedy that problem.

Not all seeds will be started indoors. In just a couple weeks, some cool-weather crops will be sown directly into the garden soil outdoors. Lettuce varieties—we love fresh salad greens—spinach and sugar peas will be planted as soon as the soil warms up in early to mid April.

It is exciting to see these plants come to life with the hope and promise of delicious, healthy harvests to come.

Mini Rant on a Pet Peeve

I receive many interesting, humorous, anger-inducing, and touching emails from well-meaning friends. Quite often, I pass them along to others for their enlightenment or enjoyment—in some cases AFTER checking the facts with Snopes.com to be sure whatever the message states is true.

But dear friends, please consider that it takes only 10-15 seconds to highlight and DELETE the normally l-o-o-o-n-g list of who sent the message to you, who they got it from and who that person sent it to, who they got it from and forwarded it to, and on and on, ad infinitum!

Please...don't make me scroll down through 10, 15 or more FROM/TO/SUBJECT headers to get to the meat of the message...I don't care where the thing has been! In addition, I'll bet John Jones, Insurance Adjuster, Lotsa-Money Insurance in Kansas City, Missouri (the guy at the bottom of the list) doesn't want 127 other people to know HE is the one that got that message rolling along through cyberspace!

There, end of rant. I just had to get that off my chest and I feel so much better for it. Whew!

Of course, now no one will dare include me when passing along one of these messages! Oh well, that's the price one has to pay for being an old fart and speaking their mind, eh?

The Red Picnic Table

My Mom was a wonderful lady and I love and miss her dearly. She's been gone for close to 30 years now, but the memories and the things learned at her knee will be with me forever.

Now, understand that my Dad was a stern and stubborn individual at times. A trait he picked up from his father, honed by his time in the U.S. Army as a First Sergeant, and polished as a plant manager for a large corporation. However, when Mom set her mind on something one may as well lift their hands in surrender—and that included Dad.

Our duplex unit in Kramer Homes had a kitchen/dining area that must have been all of 12' x 12'...pretty darn small, especially by today's average home standards. When I was in my early teens, Mom decided she wanted a genuine wooden picnic table as our dining table. I have no idea where this idea came from, but once Mom set her mind to something a speeding locomotive had no chance of going against her.

Oh, she and Dad discussed the table and I can still recall him saying (rather emphatically) "I will NOT put a picnic table in this house!" Well, guess what? The table was sitting in that kitchen within 24 hours! Mom picked it up and got it home strapped somehow in the trunk of her car. Then she had me and a couple friends carry it into the house (Dad was right; HE didn't have to put it into the house!).

Shortly thereafter, Mom painted the table a bright red and you know what? It looked pretty doggone Better Homes and Gardens-ish sitting there in our kitchen! I'm not sure that Dad would agree with that assessment, but he knew when to give up and give in.

Final Round

My Dad loved playing the game of golf. He enjoyed the game as far back as I can remember.

Those memories include the time my friend, Dana, and I took a couple of Dad's clubs out into the field in front of our home in Kramer Homes and proceeded to swing at dandelions in full seed. It was pretty cool to hit the seed head directly and have hundreds of seeds "poof" into the air. Well, it was cool until Dana and I swung at the same dandelion...

It was amazing to see how far the head of Dad's favorite driver flew as the shafts of our clubs connected! That was one of the first and most fear-filled "oh shit!" moments in my young life. Then, to only make matters worse, I simply placed the broken club back in his golf bag, perhaps hoping one of my sisters would miraculously get blamed for it...nope, didn't happen.

Note to Grandkids:  its much, much better to admit 

to the crime immediately, 

rather than attempting to cover it up. 

Dad's golf clubs never looked better than they did that summer as yours truly meticulously cleaned and polished them after each round Dad played—usually every Saturday morning all summer long. Lesson learned!!!


Fast-forward to February 2003. During one of our winter escapes to Englewood, Florida to visit Dad and his wife, Beulah, I encouraged Dad to join me in a round of golf at one of the local courses. It took much prodding—"my hip is bothering me again" and "I haven't golfed in three years"—but Dad finally relented and we headed to Myakka Pines Golf Club, just a few miles out in the country from Englewood.

We rented a golf cart and were placed with a couple of nice fellows from Ohio to complete the foursome for our nine-hole round.

Ready for the first hole. 

Dad tried to drive from the first tee, but experienced some pain in his hip. From then on, he would hit any short, approach shots and do most of the putting, while leaving the longer shots to me. I noticed it was difficult for him to retrieve the ball from the hole on the greens, so I made sure to stand close-by to grab each one for him. I told the guys playing with us of Dad's limitations and they were totally understanding of the situation.

I have no earthly idea what kind of score we shot that day...that wasn't the point and held no importance for us. We had a terrific time, Dad really enjoyed himself and we teamed with a couple of patient, understanding guys. As we sat at the "Nineteenth Hole" enjoying a cold one, Dad said, "well, that's the last time I'll try that; I'm just too old". As things worked out, it was indeed his last outing.

I'm both proud and honored to have been with him for the final round of the game he loved so very much.

Aprons...the first multitools

My wife passed this great memory-provoking piece along to me today. Memories of Grandmas and their always-worn aprons from days gone by are brought to mind.

But also pay attention to the last couple lines...have we, as a society, gone "germ crazy" or is there a reason for the seeming plethora of germs we guard against in our lives today. Perhaps it's simply ultra-successful marketing by the manufacturers of hand sanitizer, eh?

 I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was

to protect the dress underneath,

because she only had a few,

it was easier to wash aprons than dresses

and they used less material,

but along with that, it served as a potholder for

removing hot pans from the oven.

 It was wonderful for drying children's tears, 

and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, 

and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

 When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

 And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms.

 Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow,

bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.

 After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

 When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much

furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

 When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron,

and the menfolks knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

 It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that

'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked

apple pies on the window sill to cool. 

Her granddaughters set theirs on the

window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

 I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

                                                                                                             Author Unknown

Dad, Meet Your Grandpa

Towards the end of my first journey into our family history, in late 1996, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to take my Dad to visit—for the first time in his life—the grave of his paternal Grandfather in rural Knott County, Kentucky. Dad was born in 1918, while his Grandfather passed away in 1898, so obviously he never knew him. John Elliot Griffe (Griffith) died at the young age of 37 years and was buried on a rural hillside, as was the custom in those days.

During my genealogical search, I was extremely lucky to meet a local gentleman, Mack Holliday, who had been "mapping" local cemeteries as part of his own genealogical work. Mack diligently scoured the hills of Knott County and one day gave me the exciting news that he'd found my Great-Grandfather's grave-site. The tombstone was in a small family plot, halfway up a hill, above a coal mine tipple, just outside of the tiny town of Mousie, Kentucky.

John Elliot Griffe tombstone. 

These stones were obviously carved by hand and this one had withstood nearly 100 years of wear quite well. It was a matter of great pride and much joy for me to be able, with Mack's abundant assistance, to in effect introduce my Dad to his Grandfather, a man he had never met.

This Is Detroit

Detroit---Motown---The Motor City

Then and now. 

If the Motor City is your hometown, here's a trip down memory lane. 

If it isn't, you can still enjoy Seger's music in the background. 

I'd like to think this once-great city will come back one day...time will tell. 

Kudos to the Brewmeisters!

My nephew and his wife have been "brewing their own" for a while. They recently began a blog, The Dailey Brewing Company, and occasionally report on their latest batch o' brew, equipment addition or new process.

Last Saturday, they entered the 22nd Annual Dredhop Competition at the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver. I'm excited with them to announce their Hail to the Heffeweizen took third place honors in the German Wheat and Rye Beer Category!

The Dailey Brew's Hail to the Heffeweizen
with it's Third Place Ribbon.

My heartiest congratulations to these aspiring brewers! As they like to say, "Drink your Dailey Brew Daily!"

On the Lighter Side

I've posted a couple pretty crappy stories of late—sorry, couldn't resist—so today let's just ponder a couple things on the lighter side of life.

Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times. Mark Twain

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The easy way to teach children the value of money is to borrow from them. Anonymous

Eeewwwww!!!

Reading the morning news headlines, I trip across one that really grabbed my attention:

STUDY REVEALS GROCERY CART GERMS

So, being a curious fellow, I read the article—read it and see video here—to find that a (somewhat limited) study of grocery carts found that 72% of them tested positive for FECAL MATTER. Now, everyday germs are one thing, ladies and gents, but fecal matter fer cryin' out loud!!! I'd like to think this originated from a leaking baby diaper rather than the hands of a fellow grocery shopper, right? Whatever, whichever...eeewwww is right!

I know, germs are everywhere and our bodies deal with most of them just fine, but this has definitely convinced yours truly to take advantage of the germ-killing towelettes stores provide near the carts from now on. Can't hurt, eh?

BEWARE the innocent-looking grocery cart!

A Beautiful Mother-Daughter Pose

I've always loved this photo. I'm not sure if it's the similarity between sister Judy and Mom, the two blond hairdos, the fact that it was probably taken to send to Dad when he was in the South Pacific during WWII, the setting in front of a Christmas tree, or what. Whatever it is, this photo is one for the ages and will always be one of my personal favorites.

I assume this would have been taken around 1944 when Dad was away (Judy...help me out here!) fighting for our freedom against our Japanese opponents. Had it been after 1947, my cute likeness would have been included, of course!

There are certain things in this life—an aroma, a taste, a  piece of music, or a photo—that can bring back sweet memories in an instant. Things of such a nature that remind me of Mom are near and dear to my heart. She was a unique, life-loving, people-pleasing and extremely special lady; you would have liked her.

San Francisco Stinks

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This just in from SFGate.com:
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Low-flow toilets cause a stink in SF

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/28/BAVP1HUSUD.DTL&type=printable

March 1, 2011

San Francisco's big push for low-flow toilets has turned into a multimillion-dollar plumbing stink.

Skimping on toilet water has resulted in more sludge backing up inside the sewer pipes, said Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the city Public Utilities Commission. That has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park and elsewhere, especially during the dry summer months.

The city has already spent $100 million over the past five years to upgrade its sewer system and sewage plants, in part to combat the odor problem.

Now officials are stocking up on a $14 million, three-year supply of highly concentrated sodium hypochlorite - better known as bleach - to act as an odor eater and to disinfect the city's treated water before it's dumped into the bay. It will also be used to sanitize drinking water. That translates into 8.5 million pounds of bleach either being poured down city drains or into the drinking water supply every year.

Not everybody thinks it's a good idea.

A Don't Bleach Our Bay alert has just gone out from eco-blogger Adam Lowry who argues the city would be much better off using a disinfectant like hydrogen peroxide - or better yet, a solution that would naturally break down the bacteria.

As for whether the supposedly environmentally friendly, low-flow toilets are worth the trouble? Well, according to Jue, they have helped trim San Francisco's annual water consumption by about 20 million gallons.

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Let's see, 20 million gallons of water saved per year vs. $14 million for a three-year supply of anti-stink serum...is it any wonder California is going broke???