Don't shoot yourself in NY!
NFL Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress pleads guilty to weapons charge and accepts plea bargain deal to go to prison for two years. That was the way our local newspaper wrote it. In case you've been on a desert island, Burress stuck a loaded handgun in his jogging pants and went to a NY night club. The thing went off, the bullet lodged in his thigh. And he is going to prison.
It is hard to argue with the law. Carrying a gun in a public place in such a way that it accidentally fires is public endangerment, which is, and should be, against the law.
Big mistake, Plaxico. But think of the reason why he did it.
More and more NFL stars are being assaulted by thugs hoping to prove their toughness by beating up someone they consider the very symbol of toughness, NFL football players. Anyone who has ever gone through full military foot-soldier training knows their is a vast difference between being able to stand up to the poundings of professional football play, and being able to survive a no-rules fight with some one interested only in inflicting bodily damage. NFL players are unequaled in the first. Largely inexperienced in the latter.
I remember Army Infantry basic training noncoms trying to explain to we rookies that hand-to- hand combat in war is not a college level wrestling match. Your opponent has one thought in his mind: your death. No rules. No ethics. He will rip your guts out unless you rip his out first.
Playing football has an entirely different mission: stop the forward progress of the ball. Yes, it requires brutally attacking the ball carrier. But when he is stopped, it is "mission accomplished". But the thugs attacking an NFL player in the street want to rip his guts out.
Surely Burress had no desire to shoot anyone, much less himself. But if attacked, he wanted to be able to produce an "equalizer" which would say, "Back off... I can defend myself."
I am a strong advocate of gun rights. I own four guns, all purchased and used for hunting. But I fully appreciate the use of a gun for self defense. Burress' most costly mistake was in not hiring a bodyguard who would have been capable of safely handling a gun and legally licensed to carry one. It was also a mistake to carry a gun and not know how to do it safely.
Therein lies another important lesson to be learned. This year, gun sales have soared. Americans across the country are buying guns because they feel a greater need for more personal security. (I suspect that Plaxico Burress was one of the new gun owners.)
I was in a large sporting goods store recently and witnessed several people wanting to buy 9mm ammunition. The store, they were told, was sold out. That could have been partly caused by government restrictions on manufacture of the ammunition, but was surely acerbated by increased demand.
So, here is the lesson. If you have recently purchased your first gun, do a bit of what we were required to do in Infantry basic training. Learn everything there is to know about the thing. Be sure all live ammunition is in the other room, then play with the gun. Take it apart and clean it. Put it back together again. Operate the safety over and over. Get to know everything there is to know about the weapon. Be certain you can handle the thing in the dark, with your eyes closed, and know exactly what you are doing. Then go to a shooting range or any safe, approved place, and practice firing that gun. Practice all you were taught about safe gun handling, and make sure you know how to hit your target.
Respect your weapon. In Army basic, woe be unto the rookie who got careless and dropped his rifle. He would have to carry it with him twenty four hours a day. Carry it to mess hall. Take it to bed with him. And never, ever let it get dirty.
If you buy a gun, put a trigger lock on it and store it safely somewhere without that period of total, intimate familiarization, you are asking for trouble.
And, above all, protect your gun. In the Army, a rifle is called a "piece". I remember a salty old non-com saying words to the effect that "In civilian life you had a piece (meaning girlfriend) whom you would protect against any danger. In the Army, your rifle is your piece. Protect it the same way." Twice in my lifetime I have let one of my guns fall into someone else's possession. In both instances, they were used in some abusive fashion. It is one thing to learn gun safety yourself. It is another to risk letting some untrained person have access to your gun - even for a moment.
Okay, I apologize for the sarcastic title of this post. I really feel sorry for Plaxico. He made a mistake - a dangerous one. He is being punished severely. Don't let it happen to you.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
What's wrong
with universal health care?
So far as health care is concerned, not much is wrong with the universal health care we now have. Other than being pretty unfair. Every hospital has an emergency room. If you are sick, you can go there to be treated. They would like you to pay. If you cannot, the law says they must treat you anyway. Is that fair?
Supposing you were hungry and ordered a meal in a restaurant. They would like you to pay, but if you could not, should they be required to feed you anyway? Hey... you'll die if you don't eat!
What's wrong with the universal health care being proposed by our government? One word: Government.
Recently I've seen TV commercials for something called "Angie's List". These commercials tell of a plumber who performed far above and beyond what he was paid to do. He is highly recommended. Then there is the painting contractor whose employee, in a pique, stomps off the job tracking paint across the customer's carpet. Avoid this outfit.
We all know about the Better Business Bureau, a private, franchised outfit that catalogs complaints against business establishments in their locality. If you want to hire a contractor, or buy a car from a used car lot, call the BBB. They'll tell you of complaints they have received from earlier customers.
Past performance counts. It is an indicator of how an outfit may perform in the future.
So, we are now offered a health care program by an outfit called the Federal Government. Let's check their past performance.
Benjamin Franklin conceived a postal service as a reliable way for us to exchange letters. To be run by the U.S. Government. Good idea... better than leaving letters at the local tavern for your friends to pick up.
I can't know what Franklin proposed the service would cost. I imagine he believed the service could charge each patron a small fee per letter, which would cover all costs. But each succeeding Congress heaped on more free services for the USPS to perform, so the fee had to be raised. The original objective - delivering letters - had to be somewhat curtailed.
Then Congress decided that a Postmaster, unlike any other business manager, could not fire an employee without hearings, etc., so the easy way was to just keep loafers on the payroll. The USPS became bloated and inefficient.
Throughout my youth, the cost to deliver a letter was 3¢. At the moment it is 47¢. That's a rise of 1,567%, and the USPS is still losing money. $7 Billion this year. Another $7 Billion projected for next year. With our current population, a billion dollars amounts to about $3.25 for every man, woman and child. For a family of four, the $7B Post Office deficit amounts to about $90. a year. That would have mailed 3,000 letters when I was a kid.
Will someone please call Angie's list?
When I was 13 and took my first job away from the family farm, the government informed me that I was now the proud owner of a retirement insurance policy, and that I would pay a premium, a percent of every paycheck I ever earned, throughout my working lifetime. Also, every employer I ever worked for would match that premium. Never mind details like total premiums or eventual benefits - they would work that out later.
Each succeeding Congress became more benevolent. They extended benefits to people who never paid a premium. They added hospital bills and doctor bills, and prescription drugs. They never considered that improved health care would help people live longer.
They needed money for other things. so instead of investing our premiums as private insurance companies do, they spent the money. Now they tell us the system is going broke and they may not be able to pay the promised benefits.
Will someone please call the Better Business Bureau?
Similar stories can be told about Amtrak. Veteran's hospitals. Land management. You name it.
We can debate HR3200 all day. We can read, dissect and quote the Senate bill - if and when it is ever written. But none of that matters. Past performance indicates that any health care program initiated and run by the United States Government is going to swell to unimagined costs, and never, ever provide the benefits it promises.
Does our health care system need reform? Indeed it does. We must eliminate restrictions on buying health insurance across state lines. As Dr. Charles Krauthammer suggested, we must "end malpractice lawsuits." (Quit making attorneys like John Edwards rich, and end costly defensive medicine.) "We must end employer provided health care." (This practice, incidentally, arose when government mandated wage and price controls forbade employers from giving raises to attract and hold valued employees. In lieu of raises, they gave them free health insurance.) "Tax employer-provided health-care benefits and return the money to the employee with a government check to buy his own medical insurance, just as he buys his own car or home insurance."
Let's tackle these problems one at a time. Let's debate them. Let's have knowledgeable people on all sides contribute their ideas. Let's do it right.
What can you do? Call Congress. Write Congress. Then call them again and write them again. Let's keep their computers and their telephones and their mail boxes overloaded until they understand what we insist they do.
with universal health care?
So far as health care is concerned, not much is wrong with the universal health care we now have. Other than being pretty unfair. Every hospital has an emergency room. If you are sick, you can go there to be treated. They would like you to pay. If you cannot, the law says they must treat you anyway. Is that fair?
Supposing you were hungry and ordered a meal in a restaurant. They would like you to pay, but if you could not, should they be required to feed you anyway? Hey... you'll die if you don't eat!
What's wrong with the universal health care being proposed by our government? One word: Government.
Recently I've seen TV commercials for something called "Angie's List". These commercials tell of a plumber who performed far above and beyond what he was paid to do. He is highly recommended. Then there is the painting contractor whose employee, in a pique, stomps off the job tracking paint across the customer's carpet. Avoid this outfit.
We all know about the Better Business Bureau, a private, franchised outfit that catalogs complaints against business establishments in their locality. If you want to hire a contractor, or buy a car from a used car lot, call the BBB. They'll tell you of complaints they have received from earlier customers.
Past performance counts. It is an indicator of how an outfit may perform in the future.
So, we are now offered a health care program by an outfit called the Federal Government. Let's check their past performance.
Benjamin Franklin conceived a postal service as a reliable way for us to exchange letters. To be run by the U.S. Government. Good idea... better than leaving letters at the local tavern for your friends to pick up.
I can't know what Franklin proposed the service would cost. I imagine he believed the service could charge each patron a small fee per letter, which would cover all costs. But each succeeding Congress heaped on more free services for the USPS to perform, so the fee had to be raised. The original objective - delivering letters - had to be somewhat curtailed.
Then Congress decided that a Postmaster, unlike any other business manager, could not fire an employee without hearings, etc., so the easy way was to just keep loafers on the payroll. The USPS became bloated and inefficient.
Throughout my youth, the cost to deliver a letter was 3¢. At the moment it is 47¢. That's a rise of 1,567%, and the USPS is still losing money. $7 Billion this year. Another $7 Billion projected for next year. With our current population, a billion dollars amounts to about $3.25 for every man, woman and child. For a family of four, the $7B Post Office deficit amounts to about $90. a year. That would have mailed 3,000 letters when I was a kid.
Will someone please call Angie's list?
When I was 13 and took my first job away from the family farm, the government informed me that I was now the proud owner of a retirement insurance policy, and that I would pay a premium, a percent of every paycheck I ever earned, throughout my working lifetime. Also, every employer I ever worked for would match that premium. Never mind details like total premiums or eventual benefits - they would work that out later.
Each succeeding Congress became more benevolent. They extended benefits to people who never paid a premium. They added hospital bills and doctor bills, and prescription drugs. They never considered that improved health care would help people live longer.
They needed money for other things. so instead of investing our premiums as private insurance companies do, they spent the money. Now they tell us the system is going broke and they may not be able to pay the promised benefits.
Will someone please call the Better Business Bureau?
Similar stories can be told about Amtrak. Veteran's hospitals. Land management. You name it.
We can debate HR3200 all day. We can read, dissect and quote the Senate bill - if and when it is ever written. But none of that matters. Past performance indicates that any health care program initiated and run by the United States Government is going to swell to unimagined costs, and never, ever provide the benefits it promises.
Does our health care system need reform? Indeed it does. We must eliminate restrictions on buying health insurance across state lines. As Dr. Charles Krauthammer suggested, we must "end malpractice lawsuits." (Quit making attorneys like John Edwards rich, and end costly defensive medicine.) "We must end employer provided health care." (This practice, incidentally, arose when government mandated wage and price controls forbade employers from giving raises to attract and hold valued employees. In lieu of raises, they gave them free health insurance.) "Tax employer-provided health-care benefits and return the money to the employee with a government check to buy his own medical insurance, just as he buys his own car or home insurance."
Let's tackle these problems one at a time. Let's debate them. Let's have knowledgeable people on all sides contribute their ideas. Let's do it right.
What can you do? Call Congress. Write Congress. Then call them again and write them again. Let's keep their computers and their telephones and their mail boxes overloaded until they understand what we insist they do.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
The New Miracle Meat
I saw a TV news story this morning, stating that goat meat is the most widely consumed meat in the world... except in the U.S., where it amounts to only about 2% of the total meat eaten.
However, they say, that is changing. Goat meat has more of the good stuff, like protein & flavor; and less of the bad stuff, like fat and cholesterol. So, goat meat is now called the new miracle meat and is appearing on more restaurant menus.
About time!
I've liked goat meat ever since the first time I ate it at a Restaurant called The Bahamian Kitchen in Nassau. My wife wouldn't eat it because she doesn't like curry! Her loss!
I've liked goats a lot longer. In fact, I have long insisted that the goat, not the dog, is the animal that should be rated "man's best friend." Goats were one of the earliest animals domesticated for agricultural purposes. Uncounted millions of people have survived on goat milk and/or goat meat, while clothed in garments made from goat fiber or goat skin. I understand kid skin was once used to make 'bottles' for wine and is still used to make fine gloves. Goats eat plant material - any of it, including weeds, and are happy to live in the barn. This little animal, since biblical times, has sustained mankind.
I once owned a goat - a little, white nanny. She was a great pet but got me in trouble when she jumped onto the hood of my Dad's new car to nibble leaves from an overhanging tree limb. As a matter of fact, she loved to jump up onto any elevated surface, be it the dog house or a chicken coop. Guess it was some residual mountain goat genes.
Dogs are, indeed, trainable to be seeing eye dogs, and to work cattle or sniff for drugs, explosives and cadavers. They can do guard duty. But beyond that, they are disgusting animals. They pee on your carpet. Crap on your lawn. They bark and they bite. They love road kill and long to smell like it. They lick the nastiest places then lick your face or hands.
Cats are not readily trainable (I say 'readily' because someone out there has surely trained a cat to do something), but I haven't seen any seeing-eye-cats. But they still make cleaner, quieter companions than dogs.
So when it comes to animal friends of humans, goats should surely be first. Dogs edge cats for second place because of their train ability. But, they should always be housed in a kennel. If you want a house pet - make it a cat.
I saw a TV news story this morning, stating that goat meat is the most widely consumed meat in the world... except in the U.S., where it amounts to only about 2% of the total meat eaten.
However, they say, that is changing. Goat meat has more of the good stuff, like protein & flavor; and less of the bad stuff, like fat and cholesterol. So, goat meat is now called the new miracle meat and is appearing on more restaurant menus.
About time!
I've liked goat meat ever since the first time I ate it at a Restaurant called The Bahamian Kitchen in Nassau. My wife wouldn't eat it because she doesn't like curry! Her loss!
I've liked goats a lot longer. In fact, I have long insisted that the goat, not the dog, is the animal that should be rated "man's best friend." Goats were one of the earliest animals domesticated for agricultural purposes. Uncounted millions of people have survived on goat milk and/or goat meat, while clothed in garments made from goat fiber or goat skin. I understand kid skin was once used to make 'bottles' for wine and is still used to make fine gloves. Goats eat plant material - any of it, including weeds, and are happy to live in the barn. This little animal, since biblical times, has sustained mankind.
I once owned a goat - a little, white nanny. She was a great pet but got me in trouble when she jumped onto the hood of my Dad's new car to nibble leaves from an overhanging tree limb. As a matter of fact, she loved to jump up onto any elevated surface, be it the dog house or a chicken coop. Guess it was some residual mountain goat genes.
Dogs are, indeed, trainable to be seeing eye dogs, and to work cattle or sniff for drugs, explosives and cadavers. They can do guard duty. But beyond that, they are disgusting animals. They pee on your carpet. Crap on your lawn. They bark and they bite. They love road kill and long to smell like it. They lick the nastiest places then lick your face or hands.
Cats are not readily trainable (I say 'readily' because someone out there has surely trained a cat to do something), but I haven't seen any seeing-eye-cats. But they still make cleaner, quieter companions than dogs.
So when it comes to animal friends of humans, goats should surely be first. Dogs edge cats for second place because of their train ability. But, they should always be housed in a kennel. If you want a house pet - make it a cat.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
If I were running schools.
We'd be in big trouble because I don't know squat about education. But there sure would be some changes.
I've expressed my opinion about math education. But, again, before we baffle kids with multiplying letters and numbers and adding all sorts of little symbols and new words, like exponential, multiplicand, etc., let's teach the fun part of math. Want to multiply 17 by 12? Write it down and take two times seven, bring down the four and carry the one. Then two times one, add the carried one and bring it down. Or, just teach that multiplying by 12 is to multiply by ten and by two. 10 times 17 is 170. 2 times 17 is 34. 170 and 34 equal 204. Why make it harder? Once they learn the principal, they can move on.
History. In school we read about wars. Place names we cannot pronounce. Generals names we cannot remember. Dates, dates, dates. Who cares. In school I read about a Civil War battle in a place they called The Wilderness. Didn't remember where it was, when it was, or who was commanding the opposing forces. Years after school, I read about that battle in a book by Bruce Catton. A large Union force was moving along a road through a woods when their commanders decided it was time to camp for the night. Strung along the road, the men stacked their arms nearby, removed their boots to rest tired feet, and proceeded to eat what food they had available.
Suddenly, from the woods behind them, a deer came charging down the road. Frightened and confused by the large body of men, the deer should have returned to the safety of the woods from whence it had come. It did not. The reclining soldiers laughed at the animal, and proceeded about their campsite rituals. Suddenly the cause of the deer's panic became known. A huge Confederate force, in a line perpendicular to the camping Union forces, marched out of the woods and assaulted the resting troops. Unable to escape, the Union soldiers were slaughtered and the enemy forces moved on down the road. As the battle passed them by, the woods became silent again, except for the moans and screams of dying men, calling for help that never came.
The Battle of The Wilderness. You can always look up the details. But remember those men and boys, strewn, dying, along that wilderness road. Why don't people ever learn the horrors of war? Because they are never taught those horrors.
Democracy. I would require every child to memorize the first ten amendments to the constitution, which constitute the Bill of Rights. Not word for word, but the spirit of each right. It is easy, really. There once was a TV program called "Eight is Enough". That is how I remember the 8th Amendment: "No excessive fines; No excessive bail; No cruel and unusual punishment." Okay, maybe young kids today never heard of "Eight Is Enough", but surely clever teachers can think up other memory tricks to make the job easy. But kids should know the Bill of Rights from an early age. Can you describe all 10 amendments?
Capitalism. Some years ago a small businessman in Arkansas opened a general merchandise store. His plan was to offer lower prices and better service with the creed that the customer is always right. Sam Walton called his store Wal-Mart. My oldest brother-in-law (now 89), then also from Arkansas, bought a small TV set from Wal-Mart. After a time it quit working and he carried it back to the store. Without condemnation or accusation, the manager of the Wal-Mart asked if he wanted to replace the TV. When the answer was yes, the manager said, "Well, go back to the display and pick up a new one." No cost, no obligation, no questions... Wal-Mart just replaced the defective unit.
My brother-in-law now lives in Texas. Visit him and ask about a good place to buy just about anything. He will point you to Wal-Mart. Honest dealing, low prices and customer service has built old Sam Walton's store into the largest retailer in the world. But today, people are demonizing Wal-Mart. Why? Because Hollywood and the entertainment industry at large, have chosen to attack America's business community. I would beat them to the punch in school. Teach what it takes to start and run a business. The costs. The risks. The hard work. The number of people who fail and lose it all, with no reward.
Geography. Very few Americans know anything about geography beyond their realm of familiarity. Can't we find a way to make geography interesting and memorable?
The joy of learning... and, it's free! My goal would be to make every child eager to go to school each day.
We'd be in big trouble because I don't know squat about education. But there sure would be some changes.
I've expressed my opinion about math education. But, again, before we baffle kids with multiplying letters and numbers and adding all sorts of little symbols and new words, like exponential, multiplicand, etc., let's teach the fun part of math. Want to multiply 17 by 12? Write it down and take two times seven, bring down the four and carry the one. Then two times one, add the carried one and bring it down. Or, just teach that multiplying by 12 is to multiply by ten and by two. 10 times 17 is 170. 2 times 17 is 34. 170 and 34 equal 204. Why make it harder? Once they learn the principal, they can move on.
History. In school we read about wars. Place names we cannot pronounce. Generals names we cannot remember. Dates, dates, dates. Who cares. In school I read about a Civil War battle in a place they called The Wilderness. Didn't remember where it was, when it was, or who was commanding the opposing forces. Years after school, I read about that battle in a book by Bruce Catton. A large Union force was moving along a road through a woods when their commanders decided it was time to camp for the night. Strung along the road, the men stacked their arms nearby, removed their boots to rest tired feet, and proceeded to eat what food they had available.
Suddenly, from the woods behind them, a deer came charging down the road. Frightened and confused by the large body of men, the deer should have returned to the safety of the woods from whence it had come. It did not. The reclining soldiers laughed at the animal, and proceeded about their campsite rituals. Suddenly the cause of the deer's panic became known. A huge Confederate force, in a line perpendicular to the camping Union forces, marched out of the woods and assaulted the resting troops. Unable to escape, the Union soldiers were slaughtered and the enemy forces moved on down the road. As the battle passed them by, the woods became silent again, except for the moans and screams of dying men, calling for help that never came.
The Battle of The Wilderness. You can always look up the details. But remember those men and boys, strewn, dying, along that wilderness road. Why don't people ever learn the horrors of war? Because they are never taught those horrors.
Democracy. I would require every child to memorize the first ten amendments to the constitution, which constitute the Bill of Rights. Not word for word, but the spirit of each right. It is easy, really. There once was a TV program called "Eight is Enough". That is how I remember the 8th Amendment: "No excessive fines; No excessive bail; No cruel and unusual punishment." Okay, maybe young kids today never heard of "Eight Is Enough", but surely clever teachers can think up other memory tricks to make the job easy. But kids should know the Bill of Rights from an early age. Can you describe all 10 amendments?
Capitalism. Some years ago a small businessman in Arkansas opened a general merchandise store. His plan was to offer lower prices and better service with the creed that the customer is always right. Sam Walton called his store Wal-Mart. My oldest brother-in-law (now 89), then also from Arkansas, bought a small TV set from Wal-Mart. After a time it quit working and he carried it back to the store. Without condemnation or accusation, the manager of the Wal-Mart asked if he wanted to replace the TV. When the answer was yes, the manager said, "Well, go back to the display and pick up a new one." No cost, no obligation, no questions... Wal-Mart just replaced the defective unit.
My brother-in-law now lives in Texas. Visit him and ask about a good place to buy just about anything. He will point you to Wal-Mart. Honest dealing, low prices and customer service has built old Sam Walton's store into the largest retailer in the world. But today, people are demonizing Wal-Mart. Why? Because Hollywood and the entertainment industry at large, have chosen to attack America's business community. I would beat them to the punch in school. Teach what it takes to start and run a business. The costs. The risks. The hard work. The number of people who fail and lose it all, with no reward.
Geography. Very few Americans know anything about geography beyond their realm of familiarity. Can't we find a way to make geography interesting and memorable?
The joy of learning... and, it's free! My goal would be to make every child eager to go to school each day.
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