Kissing Healthcare

No, this is not about communicable diseases spread through smooching. It's got nothing to do with love, or sex. It's a commentary on the complexity of healthcare reform.

Now, for those of you still reading this, here it is (and you are probably way ahead of me):

Keep It Simple Stupid

We've all heard the rumors of 1000 page drafts of multiple bills in the House and Senate. Imagine the veritable army of interns spending all night every night reading, writing, and creating synopses for their bosses. The Washington, D.C. pizza delivery industry must be booming.

Now that, my friends, is too complex. And that is what my fellow Democrats are doing. They are the Anti-KISS.

The Republicans? They are taking KISS too far - they aren't doing anything. I'll give them this, that approach is economical of effort and allows them to store up energy for tea parties and disruptive outbursts at presidential speeches. But it's not helping us fix any problems.

Healthcare reform should be kept to it's simplest goals:

Ensure every person gets care that will help and not hurt (physically, emotionally, or financially). The principle should be that nobody will be allowed to stay sick or die in American because they couldn't afford the care. And 'afford' means the ability to pay without sacrificing too much - it will not mean paying for care by not eating or losing your home or not sending your kids to college.

Ensure care is guaranteed to persist through job changes, periods of unemployment, and long illnesses. The care you need will always be available, even when you can't afford to pay the healthcare premiums. (This is critical if you intend to require everyone have coverage). And nobody will be denied because of prior conditions, genetic predisposition, or history of illness.

Ensure care is of high and consistent quality. Sure, the Very Rich may be able to buy new, cutting edge treatment sooner than available to the rest of us - that's free enterprise and somebody needs to be the guinea pigs - but once a procedure or a medicine has been approved as a standard of care, it will be available to everyone that needs it.

Ensure care is cost-effective. The cost of care will not increase unpredictably and any taxpayer money spent will either be recouped or justified by increased benefits. We will never again pay more money for worse care.

That's it. Care should be available, persistent, of consistently high quality, and cost-effective. I hope my fellow Democrats mulling this over in Congress can find these 'Four Ensures' within those thousand-page tomes, and sharpen their focus. I also hope the Republicans will start collaborating on this focus, rather than trying to break it.

It doesn't matter whether these goals are accomplished solely through private enterprise, or joined with a 'public option'. It's time to stop 'wrestling' with Healthcare - and just KISS it.

That's Life!

Like most American TV viewers today, I am a fan of shows with action, and with a capital 'A'.

It must come from a desire to be ripped out of our repetitive, over-scheduled, lives. But for whatever the reason, shows with the requisite action get our attention, and those without it, don't.

I am not including comedies in this discussion, since laughing is its own action - sort of. And comedies are seldom more than half-hour shows, while dramas are usually an hour. An hour without action is bedtime, basically.

Which is all too bad, since several shows that deserve my (and our) attention have slipped away. The one which bothers me most is 'Life', which has gone missing from NBC's lineup after two seasons. I only caught a few episodes of it before it went away, usually when the other shows I watched in its time slot were showing a rerun.

You see, by crime procedural standards, the show had little action. If you were swapping channels and happened upon it, you'd be unlikely to glimpse any car chases, shootings, foot pursuits, breaking glass, or bloody gore to arrest your attention. So, like many of the shows fans, I settled on it for a try only when there was simply-nothing-else I wanted to watch.

But the show was good - even great. By the time the season ended, I'd become caught up in the life of detective Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis). He'd become one of my favorite people. The finale was satisfying, and left me wanting more. The supporting cast was first rate, and, even if the writing was only just acceptable, I eagerly anticipated the next season.

Little did I know the decision had already been made to drop the show. (Thank You, Jay Leno)

Luckily for me, the first two seasons are available for download from iTunes. I've been buying the standard definition versions two at a time to watch during plane rides on my iPod. So I can honestly say I've 'enjoyed Life at 30,000 feet'.

RIP Charlie Crews ...

G-Whiz

Our economy may be recovering - or as some have put it, the recession may be 'technically over'. I'm not sure what that really means, but I'm guessing by-the-book and by-the-numbers, it should be over, but it's not.

At least we aren't suffering from inflation. Although I do remember housing prices, way back in the 80's, received (as Albert Brooks put it in 'Lost in America') a 'ride on the inflation train you wouldn't believe'. That probably wouldn't hurt a few homeowners who've lately taken a ride on the deflation down elevator (maybe 'mine shaft').

One thing which seems to be inflating is financial summit memberships. It wasn't that long ago we had the G-7, then a few years ago it was the G-8. Now it seems we have the G-20.

G-Whiz, why not let everyone in on the party and get a real cacophony going. Muammar Gaddafi can be keynote speaker.

Electromagnetic Rain

It never rains in Southern California - except after a fire, when you least need it. But we here in sunny SoCal are continually and voluminously drenched by rain of another sort. And so are you too, wherever you live. Unless you live in an underground bunker, or more than 100 feet deep in the Ocean (the next hot real estate, you read it here first).

The constant rain I am hinting at is electromagnetic radiation. EM radiation. As I sit here, I am bathed in it. Not really so much rain as a cloud, or swirling ocean current. It's everywhere and touches every part of me not shielded by something substantial - lead shorts, anyone?

This EM is made from all those beautiful waves of information that reach our cell phones, radios, and broadcast television receivers. Microwave communications are a big source, and virtually every household, business, and public space has wireless 'hotspots' now. And don't forget high tension power lines and the electric motors in those nifty, frugal Priuses (Priusi?) All good EM.

The jury is still out on whether this stuff hurts us in the long term. Nobody really wants an answer now anyway - the solution if the answer is 'yes' is too disrupting to contemplate. Imagine the Surgeon General telling us 'Okay, everybody. Starting tomorrow, no more cell phones and back to wired connections for everyone.' Yeah, right - starting tomorrow, no more Surgeon General.

What puzzles me is, bathed in all this delicious EM that I am, I can still manage to find a cellular dead zone. Maybe we should all try to find one and move there.

Of course, not content with this man-made web of potentially harmful 'rain', some people would like to intensify the experience by triggering a nuclear bomb high up over us on the edge of space. Giving us a tsunami of EM ( an EM pulse, or EMP) that will, aside from whatever it might do to our bodies, wipe out all electronics, including power grids. And not just for a few minutes or hours, but months or even years. Instant Stone Age.

Scared? Not me. I am reassured by both the Register and the Huffington Post when they tell me the threat is overstated intentionally by freaky conservatives like Mike Huckabee. I can believe that.

So I will continue to obsess solely about the silent, everywhere-around-me kind of EM. Excuse me while I don my foil suit.

Changing The Scenery

It's a time-tested political ploy and it works: when the going gets tough, change the scenery.

With President Obama up between a rock (conservative republican hucksters - or maybe just Glenn Beck) and a hard place (a cacophony of confused dems), the public has begun to view him and his Presidency as, well, perhaps a tad ineffectual. Only a bit - he's built a lot of deserved goodwill, but the doubts have begun to creep in.

After all, he's a Democratic President working with a Democratic controlled Congress. If he can't get a bill passed - even a very difficult one on health care, then what can he do?

The answer is change the channel, pick another subject, and let the stalemate resolve itself (if possible) out of the public eye. So, the President has turned attention to foreign affairs, something he has so far left to Hillary Clinton - who's been conspicuous by her absence from (at least US) news media.

And he's begun with a big move - scrapping the plans to place missile defenses in Eastern Europe. Removing a big obstacle to joint initiatives with Russia, and relieving pressure from those Eastern EU politicos, most of whom were reluctant to host the defenses.

Not content with that feint, the President is jigging further with a plan from the tried and true democratic presidential playbook: get Israel and the Palestinians talking. He's moving to get Netanyahu and Abbas together, presumably to discuss getting some movement towards a form of peace. Good Luck with that one, Mr. Obama- check how well Mr. Clinton did when Netanyahu was last prime minister.

Of course, if these initiatives run up against a wall, fall into quicksand, or perhaps bang into Glenn Beck, the President can always switch back to health care. And leave Hillary to take the heat. Or take on Glenn Beck - she'd 'Hillarize' him, for sure.

Babbleocity 26

What comes to mind while on the road ...

Overkill - The more right-leaning members of Congress apparently have no concept of measured response. I am still having difficulty understanding the perspective and state of mind of the member who shouted 'You Lie' to President Obama. What form of politics is this? Street gangs manage themselves better (well, maybe not, but I am prone to 'overkill' too).

Buzzkill - If they gave an award for murdering the moment, killing the buzz, then Kanye West would have one on his mantelpiece, sized to fit his ego. His crazed interruption of Taylor Swift's award presentation to give a plug for Beyonce was beyond crass, and likely garnered stares from award management nearly as piercing as those shot by Nancy Pelosi towards Mr. Joe 'You Lie' Wilson. Of course, now that I think about it, although both tactless gentlemen murdered their moments thoroughly, their actions led to countless hours of press and TV commentary, so perhaps they ultimately built more 'buzz' than they killed. (Now that's a Buzzkill ...)

Roadkill - Lines have been drawn in what passes for sand in Washington, and both sides are determined to hold their respective ground on the hot subject of the moment - Health Care Reform. There's furious activity, but not much change of territory. This apparent stalemate can't last however. If the Teddy effect doesn't make a difference soon in rallying the Dems around the President's plans, there's bound to be loss of ground. I like watching political gamesmanship almost as much as someone who cares, however we mustn't forget that on every inch of ground lost the hopes of millions of Americans for decent, assured health care are trampled.

As we move on down the road, let's hope for corpse-free, perfectly modulated, buzzy tarmac ahead ...

Poetry Break: Fired Up!

I hate fire

except to cook with

or to warm by on a cold night

or to dispel darkness when electricity fails

I hate fire

when it takes the forest

when it takes people

when it's started by people

who don't want it to cook, or warm, or give light

The More Things Change ...

You know the rest of that line.

One would have hoped the Change envisioned by the people who voted Mr. Obama into office would have, by now, nudged this government into transforming our country into the more tolerant, cooperative place it might have been without 8 long years of Presidential arrogance courtesy of George W. Bush.

Sad to comment, then, it looks as if we are faced with the same old same old. The Republicans can think of nothing new to say or do, they just lash out with any sort of accusation or smear that seems useful in obfuscating the facts, enraging their pet electorate, and frustrating the Democrats. The Dems, in their turn, just sit there and fester internally from left/center/conservative splits - mired in collective indecision.

Meanwhile, those of us who hoped for more - from both sides, are beginning to lose faith. Our optimism is stretched to the breaking point, and we are not entirely sure who or what to believe.

Like I said, same old same old. But I am not quite ready to shovel the dirt on this administration's grave - there's some life left, as evidenced by the President's speech on the Health Care 'Debate' the other day. You, know, the one where that idiot from the other party called him a 'liar'. But that's not enough.

Here's hoping the President finds his way back to his promises and inspiring vision. And let's hope whatever Chicago-bred political adroitness he may have in reserve can be wielded to forge some sort of alliance with the more reasonable of the Republicans.

He/They /We need to get a lot done. And soon.

Swine Flu Coming to a School Near You?

I've just read about a college near San Francisco that has reported upwards of 2,000 students sick with flu-like symptoms. And this just in the first 10 days of that school's semester.

Good Lord, what will the rest of the year be like?

Luckily - for those students and the rest of us, this particular flu is less fearsome than it's been reputed to be. At least until it mutates into something akin to an Ebola Cold. In that event, we are heading for the outback of Australia. I'd like to see any virus survive there.

This is topical, as I am all set to pack my son off to his college. He seems healthy enough. No coughing or sneezing. No errant fluids pouring from normally dry orifices (that I can see). A happy, robust teenager in all critical aspects.

But, I think to keep him 'safe' I will need to prepare a special 'flu' kit to take to college: Antiseptic hand wash is a must, and quite fashionable these days. Also, a surgical mask to wear just in case his entire freshman engineering class comes down with the bug - only in that dire circumstance would he consider wearing it. And last, but not least, a huge supply of powdered vitamin C concentrate. It may be no more effective than the mouthful of vodka before bed that was my freshman antidote to all disease, but it's bound to cause fewer side effects.

Woodstock Memories

Thoughts after watching 'Woodstock, Then And Now' ...

Proximity - I was far away in California and just a little too young for my parents to allow me the freedom to cross the country without them, but I am not sure I would have gone anyway. If I had heard, as many did, that the roads were packed and it was impossible to get through, I doubt I would have tried. I may have been in that generation, but I didn't share the need to congregate in large numbers. To me that was Lemming, not Communal, behavior. My loss as it turns out, although I've seen enough of the festival on film that I almost feel 'muddy'. As noted in the documentary many who've seen the film actually think they were present on Yasgur's Farm. It's true, my filmic memories are almost real, and that's appropriate for the first generation raised on TV. I still share, though, with most of my brother and sister children of the 60s, that nagging feeling that I should have been there, at the one time that young humans proved in mass they could do something better than their parents, than the 'establishment'.

Genius - It's easy to get carried away as a fan and think your particular musical 'God' is the highest of the high. Time usually rips the rosy scales off eyes and restores critical balance. Not so when it comes to Jimi Hendrix. If anything, the talent shining forth on that last Woodstock day is even more astounding when viewed today. Has anyone ever played a guitar with such integration of hand and wood, of strings and heart?

Age - We are all deniers of death and the growing weight of years. The 'Woodstock' Generation has taken this to great heights, avidly seeking the services of plastic surgeons and fitness gurus to rage against the dying of the light. Interesting then, to see how many of the particulars of the Woodstock saga have faired. Some have aged into a different look entirely, with just a family resemblance to their younger selves. Others look familiar, only ravaged a bit. A few look eerily identical, with just a gray hair here and a jowl there to give away the game. Of course, many have passed on, some early from pursuit of the Aquarian pleasures of the time, most from all the common and tragic ills and risks that beset us. I know that watching the documentary took me back to that Drive-In at which I first saw the original film. To the time I saw Alvin Lee 40 feet high, fingers blazing and singing about 'Goin' Home'. It connected me to my young self, yet reinforced the gulf of time.