I Had A Dream

All of this healthcare stuff is getting to me … even in my sleep.

Last night, I dreamed that I was standing with Barack Obama outside the White House. He was telling me his plans to help the country. Though I can’t remember any of the details now, they made a lot of sense to me at the time. But as I listened, enraptured, I smelled something burning. Over the President’s broad shoulder I saw smoke coming from the White House.

“Uh, Mr. President …” I said. At that moment the great man put his hand on my shoulder. He said, “James, I need YOUR help. Together, we must do something about our great nation’s housing crisis.” I noticed for the first time that a flock of the President’s admirers were standing on the National Mall. They were all holding building materials – boards, shingles, windows, and more. The crowd stretched out of sight.

“Sure,” I said, “but there’s smoke …” The President didn’t seem to hear me. He gave me a hammer and a saw. “James, together, we will build a gigantic People’s House, for everyone in America.”

“Well,” I stammered, “A lot of people already have houses. And speaking of houses, there’s smoke coming out of …”

But the President wasn’t finished. “Some fortunate people, millionaires mostly, or at least couples making a combined $250,000 a year, have houses. We will recycle the pieces of those houses to make a People’s House that will bestow dignity and security …”

“Hey!” I yelled at a man in the crowd, “That’s my garage door! You give that back!”

The President just looked more determined, and I was ashamed for interrupting. He said, “The People’s House will reduce energy usage and increase the average enjoyment per square foot by …” The smell of smoke intensified, and one of the White House windows shattered from the heat. Flames gushed out.

“Mister President!” I was shouting again, but I felt I had no choice. “Just stop for a second, and look at YOUR house. Don’t you see anything wrong?” The crowd muttered. A few people called me a bully, and one woman even accused me of working for Fox News. I honestly feared for my life. But the President calmly raised a hand and the crowd backed off. He said, “Is there anything wrong?” For a moment the world held its breath. “Yes!” the President said at last, “I see what you mean.” I felt enormous pride, but then he continued: “It could use some guest bedrooms. Follow me!”

“Wait!” I said, “I meant you should put out the fire first!!” But it was too late. Millions of Americans followed the President, and began randomly nailing boards onto the burning White House. Fire spread everywhere.

It was just a dream, but I can still smell the smoke.

Broken Health Care System

Several years ago, my Grandma Ramey broke her hip. She was from the rural South, and by no stretch of the imagination was she “rich.” She had nothing but public programs to rely on. In the hospital, she went into a form of dementia. But within hours of her injury, she had a new hip. The horrible pain started to go away. She came out of the dementia. She lived for almost another decade – healthy, independent, and in her right mind.

Our broken healthcare system in action.

In Canada or the UK, Grandma could have waited for weeks or months for a new hip – if she ever got one at all. In her condition, what would weeks of severe pain (and worse, total helplessness) have done to her? I am convinced the dementia would not have ended. She would have died in that hospital – in horrible pain, terrified, and unable to even recognize her family.

I’ve listened to President Obama. I don’t think that people on his side of the argument are in any way bad or stupid. But the program he’s pushing will mean waiting lists for everyone. It will also cripple medical & pharmaceutical R&D. The hip that kept my Grandma alive, the cancer treatments that give some hope to my family & friends who are fighting that disease, and the vaccine that would have prevented the cancer that killed my sister in her 40s – none of these things were developed in countries that have socialized their medical systems.

We can’t be like Canada. Most Canadians can drive to the US for medical care, if they don’t want to wait in line – and millions do just that. Almost every medical treatment used by Canadians were developed in whole or in large part with research dollars from American companies. When our government crowds private enterprise out of heath care, we will be stuck.

The Man With Two Blogs

I now have two blogs: the one you are reading and this one.

Why?

I could say that I am a complex human being. Maybe a single blog just isn't enough to capture all of my facets

Maybe I've decided that I must produce more blog coverage in today's media-centric world.

Maybe I'm just typing relative nonsense in order to fill the space around the picture that I've attached to this entry.

But the truth is that I've created a second blog in order to double my advertising revenue.

Equate Sterile Saline Solution Aerosol

UPDATE: I finally ran out of the 2 cases I bought last July. The good news is that this is still commercially available. Rite Aid stores are carrying the 12 oz aerosol can, and you can buy this from Drugstore.com and others. The bad news is that the price ranges from $6.25-$7.99 per can, with shipping on top. The price at Rite Aid is $7.99 as I write this, so, for now, I plan to shop there.

Here is the Blairex web site - it has links to Drugstore.com:

http://www.blairex.com/BLBlairexSaline.php

Greenville

I'm in Greenville SC this week. The city has rebuilt its downtown -- I can honestly say I have never seen a more beautiful city.

I'm staying in a hotel within walking distance from the city's minor-league ballfield, an amazing park, and about 100 good restaurants. Seriously, it's heaven. For months, I've been hearing this voice in my head: "You could do your job from here ..."

I took several pictures from my hotel room and posted them on Flickr (link below). The one here is a night shot, a very long exposure. The streak of light on the right is a car driving into the frame.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10335838@N04/

Spring

Okay, it isn't Spring ... it really isn't even close. But it feels like Spring outside. Even weeds are beautiful today.

Mark My Words, Again

I ran across a story in the news today about cars that can drive themselves. As loyal reader of my blog will attest, I am obsessed with this idea:

Driverless Cars

A couple of interesting points: First, GM is trying to design a car that will be compatible with existing roads -- and existing, human-controlled traffic. Second, the time-frame is within the next eight years. Both of these assumptions are way, way beyond anything I would dare predict. I still think it will take 10 years before most people accept the fact that this will happen someday. It will be ten years after that before we see driverless cars on the roads.

Given that this is being researched by a leading innovator like GM, we can expect millions to be wasted on concept cars that never reach the roads. On the plus side, they might thrash around and get Honda or Toyota interested.

The picture above is of my Grandmother Cage, my Dad, and his younger brother and sister. The car in the background is, in my opinion, one of the best looking automobiles in human history.