IRAQ: It's not Over Yet!

Secular Strongman Allawi Beats Iraqi PM Nouri Al-Maliki in Election Upset - AOL News

Iraq is back in the news as predicted. The elections establishing a “democracy” are not a done deal and as I have said many times over, may not be something that is possible although I do hold out a glimmer of hope which I have not up to this point.

A democracy in the Middle East is anathema to many people living there. Iran prefers a THEOCRACY like it has; rule by clerics. Iran also prefers the Shiites to be in charge. Saudi Arabia prefers the Sunni to be in charge just like under Saddam Hussein? The Kurds are staying quiet and gaining military strength for when both come after them and their oil.

The election results gave a victory (2 seat edge) to AYAD ALLAWI who is a Shiite BUT is leading a SECULAR (non-religious) party of BOTH Shiites and Sunnis; how about that.

Allawi beat out NOURI al- MALIKI, the current Shiite office holder who has no support among Sunnis.

Recently there has been a lot of carnage in Baghdad and vicinity with the aim at destabilizing the whole political process because there is a power vacuum until a stable government is formed.

A little history note, most political powers crumbled specifically because they could never mount a peaceful transition from one power to another. This is where the US is not only different but that difference has made the US great; peaceful power transitions. Remember Bush and Gore? In other countries that would have led to civil war but not here – ever!

Most of the attacks are credited to the remnants of al-Qaeda who would lose out to a stable Iraq. Iran may be helping al-Qaeda try to disrupt the power struggle to get the clerics in Iraq to assume theocratic power based on the inability of the secular parties to stop the violence – get the picture?

This is pretty complicated and Iraq is at the focal point of going one way or another; stability or civil war. We know what the people want (peace and stability) but they don’t hold the power as in a true democracy; it’s the people with the guns and the bombs.

Our troops are ready to pull out by September so it is all up to the Iraqis and if they have the people’s greater good at heart and a bright future for Iraq or if it is all about personal power, religious power, control of the oil wealth, etc.

Can we guide this pivotal moment? I don’t think so. It is sink or swim for the Iraqi people and I hope the leaders in this game think of the future and not just about today!

VATICAN: The Pope is guilty of what he condemns?

How pitiful is this; a priest molesting deaf boys at St. John’s School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin. The poor boys could not hear the pedophile coming and then could not scream loud enough when he was molesting them. The boys covered their heads with their blankets and cried.

The culprit was the Reverend Lawrence Murphy who was a powerful priest there from 1950 to 1974.

This is like one of those old Bing Crosby movies (Boy’s Town) but with a sick twist.

The reason I am even bringing this case up is the direct relationship of this case with the current Pope. Benedict was then Ratzinger the Cardinal and in charge of reviewing complaints about pedophilic priests, etc.

Evidence suggests that the Pope not only did nothing about the complaints against Murphy but may have blocked a secret canonical trial that may have at least dismissed Murphy from his position (and telling the cops about this never entered their minds at all).

So here we have what you might call “a situation”. Is the Vatican a sovereign country or entity and therefore its members protected from local prosecution? Can the Pope be tried by the Vatican and dismissed if found guilty? The Papacy has a long history and I actually took a course on Papal history so I know there have been some pretty bad actors in the Papal office but I don’t remember any being removed from office; I think a few were assassinated but not legally removed.

I feel this whole sex abuse cover-up by the Vatican is too big to be ignored by the Vatican itself or the Catholic world at large. Yes, the Vatican has been very successful at hiding skeletons in closets for many, many years (centuries) but could this be a skeleton they no longer can hide?

Here again the Vatican can just ignore the entire hubbub and say they only answer to God so bite my ass; so the only way to reach the Vatican and force it to take responsibility for its actions or lack of is for the Catholic faithful of the world to rise up and demand action and change. I do not feel optimistic that this could happen but I feel somewhat buoyed by Germany’s PM Merkel saying she is going after the priestly criminals and will make them pay.

This whole situation is historic and as you have noticed, I am fascinated by it because as a history nut and especially a Catholic history nut, this is my ultimate cup of tea and I will be staying close to the action…

Pope Allegedly Knew About Wisc. Pedophile Priest - AOL News

Pope Allegedly Knew About Wisc. Pedophile Priest - AOL News

HEALTH CARE REFORM: Republican Bullshit Cometh...

The health care reform bill will be signed into law by President Obama today but the Republican fury at its passage is bordering on the absurd but don’t be fooled, the fury is calculated to win votes in November so are they on to something?

In our state of Michigan, our Attorney General Mike Cox (who is running for governor) is joining other Republican Attorney Generals by challenging the constitutionality of the federal health insurance mandate. I am no constitutional lawyer but judicial history tells us that federal always trumps state so basically they are pissing up a rope.

I just wrote Cox a letter saying what the hell are you doing? You represent the state of Michigan and its citizens and no one gave you permission to challenge the federal government and especially waste our tax dollars doing it.

But he is a consummate politician and Republican. He had his mandatory public confession of adultery with his Republican wife standing behind him in total support. He is now embroiled in a controversy involving our crooked as they come, former mayor Kilpatrick. He white-washed an investigation into a strip party and a fight at the Mayor’s mansion that eventually led to accusations of murder of a stripper who performed at the party. Cox obviously did not want to be on the wrong side of a mayor that controls the black vote in Detroit and potentially could help him in his bid for governor.

Anyway, back to the Republican backlash. I mentioned before that I have never seen such vitriol on both sides of the political isle (but mostly Republicans)(did you see crowds calling Lewis a Nigger and calling Frank a Faggot?) but historians tell us that this has happened before (many times) but now with YouTube and Twitter and 24 hour news, we keep seeing the angry and rude outbursts over and over and over again till we think the whole country feels that way. FOX News is famous for trying to make people believe the whole country is up in arms even if they have to show protest clips from protests having nothing to do with health care reform – and they get away with it!

Can the Republican spin machine convince the rest of the nation to believe in their deliberate lies and over-reactions? Well, they can if the Democrats don’t get united and start fighting back with FACTS!

One thing to remember is that any bill can be changed if parts of it are deemed not to work well. If you remember, our Constitution was not going to be ratified until the writers agreed to a Bill of Rights; same with the health care bill, some parts are just not going to make it in the end but the parts that make sense to MOST people of both parties, will be left in place so the sky is not falling like the Republicans want you to think so let the process begin.

THE REPUBLICAN SPIN MACHINE NEEDS TO BE CHALLENGED AT EVERY TURN – PUSH BACK THEIR BULLSHIT WITH FACTS…

HEALTH CARE: The Day After!

Well here we are the day after the big health care vote. People at work were asking what now? How is this going to affect us? What will it do to our business?

It is remarkable that this debate has been going on for so long but practically everybody I speak to today about the subject know next to nothing about the details. I believe the same of the people that scream at the top of their lungs against Obama Care yet don’t really know what they are screaming about.

The one thing I noticed about the debate in Washington, DC is how vitriolic it has become. You may disagree with the legislation but don’t make it out to be the end of the world and don’t make out your opponents as murdering scum not fit to be Americans; what the hell has possessed these people?

The political division among parties and hell, even intra-party has become palpable and people are getting turned off by it saying it is rude, stupid and does not serve the country well. In fact many are saying Congress is worthless as a governing body, filled with only self serving hypocrites that want TV time to show their constituents what a great job they are doing.

I think Congress is behaving like many Americans are behaving. Remember the town hall meetings where people shouted idiotic comments at Congressmen trying to discuss the health care plan which basically stopped all meaningful debate right then and there. Congressmen are following the lead of these morons by acting just like them.

I think something has changed in this country and I don’t know why. I can’t blame it all on FOX News but a good portion of the blame is theirs and their Glen Becks of the air waves. I have family members that watch FOX religiously and believe every word coming out of that network while Jon Stewart of the Daily Show keeps catching FOX in blatant lie after blatant lie.

I will have more on the changing scene in America, what influences us the most and I will be following the health care plan’s evolution to see what the impact on us all it will really have.

You must admit that we are living in truly interesting times…

White House Still Negotiating With Abortion Foes For Health Care Votes -- Politics Daily

White House Still Negotiating With Abortion Foes For Health Care Votes -- Politics Daily

RELIGION AND POLITICS: Stupid Stupak?

It's the Priests vs. the Nuns -- Again -- Politics Daily

I have spilled my vitriol on Bart Stupak in the past but here in the closing minutes of the healthcare debate, I have to do it again because the man just pisses me off so much and that from a fellow Polish-American and Michiganian.

His uncompromising anti-abortion stance in the health care debate is pure lunacy. The fact that medical abortion is the law of the land does not seemed to make a difference to him. His rabid Catholicism is the only law he is willing to obey and to me that is simply un-American and illegal.

Stupid Stupak does not want taxpayer’s money to fund abortions but what if the woman needing a medical abortion deemed necessary by her doctor but is poor and cannot afford one? Is this not where Medicaid steps in? How can Medicaid be prohibited from paying for a needed medical abortion? But here, why am I trying to use logic to argue my case when men such as Stupak do not depend on logic to back their anti-abortion stance; it’s all holy-roller mentality and does not have to make any sense and maybe that is what pisses me off the most.

Did you ever find it a little ironic that it is the men (males) that have a problem with abortion? The article I have included a link to in this blog talks about Catholic nuns who support the current health care reform bill (abortion funding and all) and the Catholic Bishops who oppose the reform strictly because of the abortion issue.

The nuns see the reform as helping poor women get the medical care they need and deserve. The Bishops don’t see real people, they see a dogma that they must defend (how Christian can you get).

If nuns were allowed to have some power in the Church instead of being Church slaves, we may have avoided all the priestly sex abuse cases from ever happening which would have been good for the Church but think of all the innocent young victims (real people); it’s not just about the Church.

I blame the Catholic Church for obstructionists like STUPAK and for keeping our society in the Dark Ages.

VATICAN: The Pope apologises to the Irish; sort of?

Pope Apologizes to Irish Catholics and Orders Vatican Probe - AOL News

The long awaited Papal letter to the Irish about their devastating priestly pedophile scandal has finally arrived.

Yes, he apologized but the letter did not contain the words that were expected and I, for one, knew that the Pope and the Vatican would just gloss over the fundamental problem that is the Church itself.

One thing he wrote I know will tick many people off. He implied that Ireland brought this on itself by becoming more secular and abandoning their old-school Catholicism. Here is where an important Irish person (maybe the president?) needs to tell the Pope to eat shit.

The Pope and the Vatican cannot be allowed to make imbecilic statements like that and get away with it. Intelligent people from around the world need to stand up and condemn the Dark Age superstitious mentality that can no longer be tolerated in our day and age.

The Pope went on to blame the Irish Bishops for the whole problem. He did not call for the removal of said bishops or their prosecution by criminal authorities. He did not blame the Vatican or the Church for anything and he made it seem like this was an Irish problem, skipping over the scandal in the U.S. and the recent discoveries of priestly child sexual abuse in his homeland of Germany where he is personally involved together with ongoing investigations in the Netherlands, Austria and Brazil.

He did not announce that from now on, all cases of priestly sex abuse will be turned over to the local police. One has to assume that the cover-ups that have been going on for ages will continue.

In other words, I did not here anything of substance from the Pope. I heard more of the same spin that has been coming out of the Vatican for a long time now. The Church just does not get it; the Vatican is still in denial, unwilling to admit that the Church is the problem and not a lack of prayer and devotion.

HEALTHCARE: Mandatory insurance or die?

The Democrats are trying to pass their healthcare bill this weekend and I kind of doubt they will do it; too many forces against them for now and they may have to resort to passing bits and pieces of the bill as I have suggested in the past.

The Republicans are being the assholes they tend to be these days and playing a tired ole’ tune saying the federal government is trying to force Americans to have health care insurance; imagine that.

Years ago, I stated that no healthcare reform will ever be successful if you don’t make health insurance mandatory just like auto insurance! The Republicans are trying to use this option as the threat of big brother telling you what to do.

Well, I will make you a deal. The federal government will not force you to get health insurance if you promise that when you get sick and desperately need medical care you don’t go to the nearest hospital, you just stay home and die; you got that? That is the only way healthcare reform will work. Are you willing to make that deal shithead?

I will say again that the Republicans, by using these mindless, obstructionist statements show quite clearly that they don’t care about America or Americans but only about themselves, getting back into political power and staying in power (just like the Democrats); fuck them all!

VACATION: Death on Hilton Head Island!

I have spend some great times visiting with our North Carolina friends on Hilton Head Island and we are talking years. So it was with some alarm that I read about a jogger, jogging on a beach we undoubtedly were on once upon a time, killed by a plane trying to make a landing on the beach.

The report said that the plane’s engine quit and the plane was gliding (no engine noise). The pilot’s vision was imperiled by oil that was squirting onto the windshield.

But here is the biggie, the jogger was listening to his IPOD and would not have been able to hear anything coming up on him from behind, even a gliding plane.

I don’t know if not having the IPod in his ears would have saved this jogger’s life but I am always amazed at people running or walking along the beautiful beach and not allowing nature’s sounds to enter their ears especially when you are from a big and noisy city like Chicago?

EDUCATION: Texas' stranglehold on our textbooks!

I wrote all the way back in March of 2009 about the inordinate influence of the Texas School Board on the contents of our textbooks. Well, they are back…

I mentioned before that because they buy so many textbooks, they basically control what 80% of the states buy.

This group of right-wing, Christian Fundamentalist conservatives feel that education is too left-wing and needs balance by injecting some right-wing ideology. Some say they are rewriting history and I agree with them but what can be done to stop them.

Most of the media has sounded the alarm about what is happening but the board in Texas just scoffs at the liberal media’s attempts to keep education progressive and liberal.

What are they trying to change? Well, for one, they want to downgrade Thomas Jefferson as a leading intellectual of our founding period. He was a deist (believe in God but not man-made religion) and the author of the “Separation of church and state” legal theory in our Constitution. They will replace him with Catholic Theologian St. Thomas Aquinas who at the end of his life suffered a stroke when his house of cards of reasoning for the existence of God, collapsed.

The school board wants the children to know that this nation was founded on Christian principles or better yet, was founded as a Christian nation. This is absolutely not true. The founders were mostly deists who scoffed at organized religion because they saw what a problem organized or state religions have been through history up to this point. The French Revolution was in one case, a rebellion against the heavy handed Catholic Church’s grip on French society (off with their heads).

This assault on historical fact, wisdom and truth is hard to fathom in our day and age. I guess one has to be thankful for the existence of the internet which more and more students use to get their information. The internet can also play loose with facts but the truth is there also and hopefully teachers will steer their students to sites that are objective and factual.

I still am pissed that one state’s school board and actually one man, a dentist named Don McElroy who is just a dentist but can instruct history teachers on what they should teach; just unbelievable!

UNIONS: Federal Contracts to Union Only Contractors?

The Detroit News as well as the Wall Street Journal have reported on a move by the Obama administration to award government contracts ($500 Billion a year) to be awarded NOT to the lowest bidder with the best proposal but to “responsible contractors”, read unionized contractors.

I have been telling you that even though I voted for Obama and a change from Bush and the Republicans, he is not exactly making me feel good about my vote.

Unionism was good once upon a time but now it is not good at all. To award government contracts to union only shops is not only wrong but it does a disservice to the taxpayers who would be footing the bill for basically welfare to the unions. Why would anybody in their right minds pay a premium for work that can be accomplished just as well for much less?

This is a situation where people calling the Obama administration a bunch of socialists have a point. This is a blatant push to make the unions strong again by forcing them on companies that do not want them and workers that don’t want them.

I think the “right-to-work” movement that is so strong in the South needs to enter Northern states like Michigan and obviously needs to send a message to the Obama administration that the American people will not put up with this nonsense because that is all it is.

Here in Michigan, we remain, for all intents and purposes, a union state; change will take a long time so my writing to my senators is basically useless (I will try anyway) but other states need to step up and smack Obama upside the head to clear his head as to what is good and what is bad for the country.

CATHOLIC CHURCH IN IRELAND: Burn them at the stake!

You need to read this story to realize how totally brainwashed of all humanity and common sense are leaders of the Catholic Church. These so-called leaders appear not to be even human but consider themselves somehow above common human laws of behavior.

They care nothing about the young, human victims making them promise to never reveal that they were ever molested thus preserving the totally false image of the Church and its leaders as somehow holy and above reproach.

Even more troubling is the concept that these perverted acts were not considered crimes to be reported to the local police but something to be handled internally through the Catholic system of justice (?). That is why I am saying the whole Vatican needs to be investigated from the ground up from lowly priest to the Pope to make sure other crimes have not been hidden.

I SAY BURN THEM AT THE STAKE just like they used to burn anybody and everybody that disagreed with them.

Ireland's Roman Catholic Cardinal Sean Brady Won't Resign Over Child-Molesting Priest - AOL News

RELIGION: Has the revolution started?

Detroit buses who ply their way around Detroit everyday sell advertising space on their sides; its actually a good way to get a message out to Detroiters who usually are out and about the city.

I was intrigued to hear a news story about an organization that paid for the buses to carry their message which read: DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD? YOU’RE NOT ALONE. I have a sticker just like that from the AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION.

The fact that an organization is actually doing something like this really piqued my interest and today I heard a story on our local news saying vandals have damaged the signs displayed on the sides of the buses (the bus company will replace them free of charge).

Who would damage these signs? Well, obviously, people that feel threatened by the signs. People that feel that a sign that reaches out to people that feel religion is a bunch of baloney and the idea of a God, any God, is a leading cause of trouble in this world, threatens their livelihood. How can they make money telling people that religion is the only way to fix what ails this earth when others are saying that religion may be a major factor in causing problems on this earth?

I feel this group is willing to spend money to tell people that their feelings are shared by others and that maybe they would want to join like minded people to discuss this feeling that God is only a human construct and has been that way since the beginning of time.

The ad is definitely a shout out to people that may think they are alone in their thinking and scared to discuss their beliefs in the midst of a society that accepts the existence of God as a given, an absolute given, with anything contrary to the given not even entertained as sane. Well Hallelujah, there are people that think like me and are tired of putting up with this religious garbage.

I applaud the organization that had enough balls to sponsor the bus signs and I applaud their gumption for wanting to start a revolution in God’s country and yes, they could also use more paying members to spread the message and reach out to more unbelievers!

VATICAN: A Reformation is Needed!

The Vatican is complaining that people are attacking Pope Benedict (The Holy Father) a little too aggressively over his role in allowing pedophilic priests to continue to molest children when he was an archbishop in Munich, Germany years ago.

How could our Holy Father, who talks to God directly and knows what God wants, be so ignorant and stupid as to think that pedophilia could be cured by sprinkling the person with Holy Water and telling him, go forth my son and sin no more and that is that!

How could our Holy father, who preaches to us with the certainty of God on his side, how to behave in all circumstances, be so imbecilic as not to know that a celibate priesthood is a magnet for homosexuals and pedophiles? Why did God not tell our Holy Father what was happening to God’s precious children in His own House?

Well children, the reason for this disconnect between the Pope and God is because the Vatican made up God and as a made up God he is only a figment of imagination; he does not exist and as a figment, cannot really do anything but what He is told to do by His creators.

This trick has been used since the beginning of time by shamans, witch doctors, voodoo priests and of course today’s Christian ministers and catholic priests including the top priest; the Pope. They convince people that they actually know what God wants and we better listen to them or God will get mad and punish us.

In many cases, the shamans were quite smart and great actors but unfortunately our Holy Father is old and not so smart and hopes that all of us are as dumb as we always have been and believe that somehow he is “above” all such earthly bullshit and only concerns himself with what is above the clouds as he walks above the earth in his cute little red slippers.

The time has come to end this absurd charade once and for all. Yes, I know humans need religion or some type of a belief system but why put up with a dangerous and misguided leadership such as the Pope and the Vatican? Yes, the Vatican has existed forever but did you ever read the history of the Vatican? It is obscene! Why are Catholics putting up with this deception?

I have respect for traditions and we should keep those traditions that still work but those that do not – out the door. The Vatican has been a closed-door society for too long, we need to throw the doors wide open, get some transparency in there and start a reformation, a reformation that will undo the totally absurd rule of celibacy; the only way to keep pedophiles and other perverts out.

To make the reformation possible, the American Catholic Church will have to threaten to secede from Vatican authority like other churches have done throughout the years. Will something like this happen? Probably not, people are basically sheep and will blindly follow their so called shepherd because they have forever without giving it any thought just like they do every Sunday, stand, sit, kneel, answer, shake hands, take Communion and then go home; time, after time, after time forever…

DETROIT: The Saga Continues...

I have been writing about the corrupt, incompetent black political culture in Detroit for a few years now. Things have gotten better with some honest, smart people replacing the twits of the past but the saga does continue…

Detroit’s former Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick is still in court defending why he is living the high life in Texas but cannot afford to pay the city what he agreed to pay as a condition of his court sentencing for screwing the city and its citizens.

The federal prosecutor is not finished with him or his family, as new facts are coming to light involving bribes taken by the mayor himself, his father and now his mother, Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury (a family of crooks?). To think that these people would still be running the city and enriching themselves if it was not for some ill-advised text messages between Kwame and his chief of staff (lover) that implicated him in lying under oath.

Another player in this saga is Monica Conyers, the wife of Representative John Conyers, who pleaded guilty to asking for and receiving bribes for her vote; she was caught on tape. This was 8 months ago and yesterday, she went for her sentencing (plea deal was for under five (5) years) and she received three (3) years. BUT she decided to retract her guilty plea in the face of overwhelming evidence at the last minute, made a scene in court and stormed out blaming the media for her demise.

The corruption and incompetent political culture runs deep in the city. The elected Detroit Public School Board which has demonstrated their corruption and incompetence for many years is now fighting for their political life against an appointed school manager that is cleaning house. In November, Detroit residents will vote whether to scrap the elected school board and let the mayor (Dave Bing) run the school system. This will obviously prevent board members from using the money allocated for students in the school system for their own use and also prevent them from hiring family members that get paid but never show up for work.

Here is a bit of irony, the president of the school board who is fighting the emergency school manager for “academic” control of the Detroit school system, has been shown to have a scholastic deficiency; he cannot write a coherent sentence. This was front page news but what the hell do you do with that; he claims some medical problem that prevents him from writing properly but he was probably just promoted from grade to grade (like the norm here called social promotion) without learning anything (which is also the norm in Detroit).

I have a lot of faith in our new Mayor and in the emergency school manager appointed by the governor of Michigan BUT the entrenched black political culture of the past is still holding on and can thwart any real progress if they convince Detroit voters that they are loosing control to the white man even though all the players in this saga are black; its all about the perception after the spin is applied.

IRAQ ELECTIONS: A PYRRHIC VICTORY?

You may have been reading in the papers and watching on TV news about the elections in Iraq and declaring VICTORY as if a goal has been achieved.

I will admit that the fact that an election took place is remarkable. The fact that people actually voted (60 %+) despite the bombings and killing is remarkable. The Sunnis did not boycott the election as predicted which was good; maybe they realized that the Shiites were going to take over no matter what so better to participate and get at least something other than nothing.

I know I adamantly posited that democracy is impossible in a land where the people are divided into three distinct groups even if all are Muslim. Even if the Sunni and the Shiites decide to share power for awhile, the Kurds will not unless a miracle happens or a miracle leader emerges that can join all parties.

The reason I am skeptical about a united Iraq is also because of the role that IRAN is playing in Iraq. Unless the people of Iran overthrow the clerical dictators that run the theocracy that is Iran and behave like normal, peace loving people (who they really are), I will remain skeptical.

As to calling the Iraq elections a VICTORY; have you ever heard of the term PYRRHIC VICTORY? It was a battle (280 BC) fought between King Pyrrhus of Epirus (Greece) and the Romans. Yes, he won but at such a high cost that he lost the war (Another victory like this and I may go home alone since all my soldiers will be dead).

Bush and Chaney should never have invaded Iraq. We lost 4,000+ American lives and countless BILLIONS of dollars and thousands of Iraqi lives and for what? More importantly, because Bush and Chaney decided to pull out of Afghanistan and concentrate on Iraq, we are now loosing more lives in Afghanistan because Bush and Chaney allowed al-Qaeda to regroup and get stronger (10 years now).

I will admit that if by some miracle, democracy takes hold in Iraq and sets an example for the rest of the Middle East to follow (separate state from religion), then that will be a very good thing but that is only a very slim possibility and one has to ask if the invasion of Iraq was worth it; the answer has to be and remain NO – it was a blunder of monumental proportions and Dick Chaney needs to have his balls cut off.

HEALTHCARE DEBATE: What now?

The healthcare debate is finally (it seems) coming to a head. Obama has called for action, one way or another. I think everyone agrees that some healthcare reform is desperately needed and I have offered suggestions for now a number of years (yes, it’s been going on that long).

Some are saying to scrap the bill that passed Congress and start over. Well, that is bullshit since if they can’t agree now they will not agree later so quit pretending that a truly bi-partisan bill is possible – never happen!

I have not read the current bill (>2,000 pages) as most people have not so it is scary passing something we really don’t know much about. I do know that the moron from Michigan (Stupak) cared only that abortions won’t be funded by taxpayers but its OK for taxpayers to support unwanted babies for life; he is a true twithead and I hope he and his Catholic ass gets thrown out at the next election but I rather doubt it since his constituents are probably just like him.

Please forgive the rant but anyway, if I don’t want to start over again what is it I want to happen?

I think only parts of the bill should be passed and not the whole, colossal bill. It should never have been written as a bill that creates a whole new healthcare structure, they should have done this piecemeal and they may have to anyway.

First and foremost, the health insurance industry needs to be allowed to compete on a national level; competition is good for all involved. Competition will bring down costs and the price of insurance and will enable many who have no insurance to get some basic coverage which is not available right now because of state laws.

The next thing to enact is to get everybody that legally can get Medicare and Medicaid to actually get it. Did you know that there are millions who are eligible for the above programs but because of ignorance or something, do not sign up? That in- itself will bring down the number of uninsured which are the real root cause of cost escalation?

If you pass just the above measures and wait to gauge the outcomes, you will be on your way to solving our healthcare dilemma.

Then, you tackle the remaining uninsured with mandatory coverage but that is another debate we will get into once the other measures take hold; Rome was not built in a day…

ECONOMY: New elections / government unions

Yesterday, a lady came to my door asking for me to sign a petition to place her husband on the November ballot for state representative. She said he is a small businessman and has never held public office.

He is running for state office because he is fed up with the way our state treats small businesses making the state small businesses unfriendly and as we know, small business is the largest job producing sector in our economy.

Our state SAYS that Michigan is business friendly but they do not specifically say SMALL business friendly.

I wished her husband good luck and said that I could support someone fighting for small businesses to grow and prosper in Michigan.

I believe our state spends way too much on bullshit. Our governor does not have the balls to cut spending. Just recently, government labor unions received a 3% raise as part of their contract and the state legislature had a chance to deny them that raise since Michigan is in such colossal economic straits but NO, they just could not do that.

Unions of all kinds have hurt this state over and over and continue to slap the state and its residents even when the state is down. Yes, long ago they created a middle class that was the envy of the world and attracted every Tom, Dick and Harry from around the world BUT those days are gone and we need to realize that.

Government employee unions should be made illegal. We pay government employees their wages and we do not want our state to negotiate labor contracts with their unions; they serve at the government’s pleasure and the taxpayer’s pleasure and can be fired for not performing their jobs adequately but because of the unions, it is impossible to fire a government employee (civil service).

That needs to change. If we are ever to bring our economy back from the brink, we need to contain our costs (spending) and that starts with government employees.

I support electing independents that can get the job done because they are not beholding to any party or special interest group. If that is Tea party talk then I applaud it…

LIFE: A Beginning!

This is my second grandson. His name is LUKE. he came in at over 10 LBS; nearer to 11 LBS but they lose some weight once they are out and about.

At my age, the cycle of life has more meaning or at least causes me more reflection than in the past.

Spending time with my aunt dying of cancer and waiting on the final step like waiting for a bus; hoping it comes soon and ready to get on.

On the other side is Luke. Now three (3) days old, eating and pooping with not a care in the world. It is for us to look at the little creature and imagine the future and knowing we will not be there to see it all.

My mother, who is 87 has seen me and my siblings through most of our lives and knows how we turned out, our ups and our downs. I think she is lucky as hell and I hope I get that chance with my kids but the grandkids - enjoy them as much as possible and play as big a role as you can for as long as you can - and the cycle will continue...