Affordable Care Act

Each time I read that title for that piece of legislation, I shake my 84-year-old head.

Are we really that stupid? Do we really believe the government can provide health care, affordable or otherwise?

Health care is provided by a professional health care provider. Not by politicians, insurance companies, or anyone else.

What good is it to have some third party willing to pay the bill if there is no one to provide the care and present the invoice?

Some 45 years ago, I was heavily involved in private flying. At the time, avionics (electronic communications and navigation equipment), at least those brands with a proven record of reliability, were quite expensive. Then, some manufacturer introduced a lower-priced version of one item. A close friend, a seasoned charter pilot and flight instructor, would have nothing to do with the lower priced equipment. But, I argued, it comes with a guarantee! "Supposing", he replied, "I am flying somewhere in the middle of the night and the thing fails? What should I do... pull out that guarantee, wave it at the failed equipment, and demand that it respond?"

If the ACA is fully implemented and I become ill, can I wave my insurance policy in the air and produce a medical professional to provide care?

Our government wishes to provide medical care to millions more people, while enforcing policies destined to reduce the number of care providers.

Again, I ask... "Are we really that stupid?"

In our music, our entertainment,

you find a snapshot of current social norms. Change those norms, and our music, our entertainment follows.

If you are old enough, you may remember a song titled "My Reverie", wherein a portion of the lyric read:

"...I dim all the lights and I sink in my chair - The smoke from my cigarette climbs through the air..."

Or, a song called Dream:

"Just watch the smoke rings rise in the air, you'll find your share of memories there..."

How about Two Sleepy People:

" ...here we are, out of cigarettes, holding hands and yawning, my how late it gets"

Those songs are gone because they made smoking sound too delightful (which it was until we learned the ravages of lung cancer).

From my childhood, I remember a song which said "Every old crow thinks her baby's white as snow..." 
On the farm, we considered crows a thieving bird. Someone once estimated how much corn a crow would eat in one year's time. We angered, loaded the shotgun and went crow hunting. But that song told us that a mother crow saw her fledgling as, not a thief, but pure as the driven snow. Motherly love.

But, folks came to believe it meant that "white" is better than "black" (the color of crow feathers). The song was racist, had to go.

Do you remember Amos and Andy?  It was a radio sitcom with a white cast acting in a stereotypical way as blacks. I saw the comedy as funny, clean, not degrading. But it was a white cast, acting black. Today, black performers act in a much more stereotypical, often derogatory, often vulgar way. But, it is a cast of blacks poking fun of blacks, which makes it okay.

There was a time when there was not so much hate, a time when most were too busy earning a living to worry about having their feelings hurt... a time when we all recognized our own silly habits and we laughed at ourselves as much as we laughed at each other.

There was a time when our popular music, our popular entertainment reflected those feelings.

Little boys

are interesting creatures. They bring about:

In Dads: amusement and angst. Amusement as we recall our own childhood antics. Angst as we remember that some of those antics brought us dangerously close to disaster.

In Moms: Love and pride. But Moms don't always know about the secret lives of their little boys.

In Sisters: Disgust. Utter disgust.

In other Little Boys: Respect and admiration for their honesty, truthfulness, predictability.

Little boys earn all those assessments. Adventurous and imaginative, they do some really dangerous things. I remember, during my own childhood, some boys who watched a freight train rumbling across a trestle wondered how it would feel to hang onto the underside of that trestle as a train thundered overhead. So, they tried it. They (regretfully, I was not among them!) crawled onto the underside of the trestle and held on for dear life as the train roared over their heads. Fortunately, they suffered no physical harm.

Early on, little boys learn that some of their most enjoyable pursuits are universally frowned upon by adults. It never occurs to a boy to give up something he truly enjoys, so he learns to do it in secret. In secret from adults, that is. Never in secret from each other. As a kid, I remember rolling cigarettes with dried corn silk and smoking them. When they burned too fast, we learned that dried, dead pieces of grapevine are hollow - you can draw air through them. So we cut pieces, three or four inches in length, lit the end of them on fire, then smoked them like a cigarette. We could always trust our friends to keep the secret.

Little boys are open about subjects adults never discuss. I knew one little boy who always checked his stool and classified his excrement as 'floaters', 'sinkers' or 'greasers'. I knew of two little boys who, in turn, dropped their pants and bent over. The other held a lit cigarette lighter near his friend's anus while he farted... just to see if the expelled gas would burn (I never knew their findings). Little boys like to stand on a creek bank and see who can pee the greatest distance. And, of course, little boys are obsessed with the subject of sex - a subject about which they have almost zero knowledge. As they grow a little older, boys sometime boast of sexual conquests with girls, all of which are imaginary. It is this thinking that disgusts girls.

While girls grow to avoid hurting each other's feelings, boys grow into men who delight in insulting each other. If girls/women meet an old friend on the street, each will compliment the other on their makeup, hair style, attire - all the while believing their friend has made stupid choices in each of those areas.

Two boys/men meet and the first says, 'Where'd you get that gut, Hoss... did you swallow a watermelon or are you pregnant?' To which his friend replies, 'Hey, don't criticize my gut...it took many cases of beer to get this gut. And, by the way, you'd better get some suspenders or your pants are gonna fall off your skinny ass!' Whereupon, the old friends put their arms on each others shoulders and head for the nearest park bench to reminisce and enjoy each others company.

It is this kind of honesty that makes little boys appealing. Hopefully, if not persuaded by feminists to become metrosexual, little boys grow into men who finesse their language while retaining their boyhood honesty.

Finally, watch any sporting event and you may conclude that there is still a measure of "little boy" in many grown men.

Imagination

I remember an old song with that title, by songwriters Van Heusen and Burke.. In part, the lyric stated:

"Imagination is funny, it makes a cloudy day sunny
It makes a bee think of honey, just as I think of you"

At my first broadcasting job, my boss was the father of a boy of about seven or eight years. That boy loved to talk, and if you engaged him in a conversation he would launch into an amazing tale of imaginary monsters and battles and victories, in the greatest and most colorful detail. His Dad was concerned about the boy's tall tales, but I thought he had an interesting mind.

Like him, I love to engage in imagination. Sometimes I awake in the middle of the night. I don't want to get out of bed, knowing I should, and would (sooner or later) go back to sleep. So, I imagine things. Deep things, like the origin of man. Understand, I am not so arrogant as to think I know anything about the subject. Was it Creation? Was it evolution? Was it a combination of the two. Don't know. Don't really care. We only know, to some degree, what is now. Let's imagine how it happened.

Genesis 2:27 says God created man and woman in his own image. Let's imagine it happening. He created man with muscular arms and legs, a hairy chest and face. Satisfied with this 'self portrait', he gave man life, reason, courage, integrity, all the things we hope to discover in a 'real' man.

Then, God decided to make a companion for man. But, He thought, let's make this one beautiful. I'll give her more delicate arms and hands, a nicely curved body, long shapely legs. I'll give her a gentle touch and a loving kiss, a companion man can cherish, will protect and provide for all the days of her life. 

When satisfied with this ultimate work of art, He gave woman life, intelligence, grace. He made her enjoy makeup to enhance her natural beauty. He made her to love perfume so man would sense her presence even before she came into view.

Pleased with this creation, He said, I will create no more. I will endow woman the exclusive ability to create more humans in my image. Man may participate only to contribute his genes, but it is woman who will carry and deliver each child. I will give her the exclusive ability to produce milk to nourish her newborn. I will give her compassion and tenderness to nurture her child.

Sometimes my imagination goes on, wondering how He will judge men who may mistreat his special gift. How He will judge women who mishandle the gift of beauty through gluttony, slovenliness, or whatever.

Depends on how quickly I go back to sleep.

More on Smart Politics

If you question the depth of the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, it may be because you have not really studied their actions. I do not claim to be a scholar, but time and again I am impressed with the way matters were handled.

When I first read the Declaration of Independence, I wondered about the term "... pursuit of happiness." Would not life and liberty guarantee the pursuit of happiness?

It seems the real issue was the protection of property. In old, English Common Law, it was recognized that man was never truly free unless he was guaranteed ownership of the fruits of his labor. The Founders wanted this to be a part of American's rights.

But, remember, slavery was very much a fact of life in the late 18th century. The Founders wanted to abolish slavery, but they knew it would have to be done in an effective, and, sadly, a patient way. It was pointed out that slaves were considered 'property' and any language protecting 'property' would be used by slaveholders to argue for slavery as a right.

So, the language was changed to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Who could argue against that? Then, in the Bill of Rights, in Amendment V, the Founders wrote "... nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation." They had protected private property in a quiet, almost after thought way, in the Bill of Rights.

Many state Constitutions do directly address private property. Section IV, the Inherent Rights section of the New Mexico Constitution reads: "All persons are born equally free, and have certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, among which are the rights of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of seeking and obtaining safety and happiness."

I'm sure there are more examples of the Founders practicing 'smart politics', and if I find them, I'll pass them along!

Congress

I've read sme harsh criticism of the way Congress is considering the Syria question. Some say they will dither endlessly, never coming to a conclusiion.

I disagree. I am rather proud of Congress' response. Rather than jump into a politically partisan vote, members seem to be using due diligence to hear all the learned opinions before voting?

That's the idea behind a republic. We elect representatives. We provide them the time and resources to research each question. We trust them with their decision - even if it opposes our own.

Good for them!

Should Employers Pay Higher Wages?

The other night I listened to a hilarious TV debate during which a young, liberal lawyer argued that businesses should pay their employees higher wages. Just to be nice, apparently.

This person has satisfactorily completed elementary education, high school, college and law school, yet still has a total lack of understanding about how business works.

The liberal mind cannot grasp the idea of an individual and an employer agreeing to trade:
   from the employer, a certain number of dollars and other benefits;
   from the individual: a certain number of hours working at some tasks.

Is that really so complicated? To the liberal mind? Yes! If the agreed-upon wages and benefits do not provide the employee with the liberals' notion of "a living", the employer is evil!

With rare exception, if an employee decides to "throw in" some extra effort, the employer will "throw in" some extra dollars, in the form of a raise. I have experienced that phenomena several times. Once I worked for a radio station as an engineer. My employer was in the process of building a second radio station in another community. On numerous evenings and weekends I voluntarily drove to that other community to help with the construction. I did it for the joy of practicing my trade... the satisfaction of seeing something built with care and precision. When my employer found out what I was doing, he immediately increased my salary.

In later years, as an employer myself, I experienced the rarity, and the special value of an employee who truly believes in honest work for honest pay. I learned to bend heaven and earth to more generously compensate such an employee. Often, unfortunately, to my own detriment and to the detriment of that valued employee, and other, less-valued, employees.

Business is about arithmetic. If things don't add up to equal enough profit to keep the company going, the business will fail and everyone will lose. That is a concept which the liberal mind, despite years of formal education, cannot grasp.