Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

     Just when you think President Obama has abdicated his leadership, he comes through with something to indicate that the ability is down there waiting to assert itself. For example, witness the flurry of progressive activity that he has got through the Congress since his party's “shellacking” on November 2 (see Dec. 23, “An Early Christmas for the President”).      Now he has done it again. According to the New York Times, an early December Medicare regulation deals with annual wellness visits, and includes "voluntary advance care planning" as an item that will be covered. Beginning January 1, Medicare will reimburse physicians who advise patients, in voluntary discussions, about their preferences for end-of-life care treatment during their annual Medicare "wellness visit." By having Medicare cover these voluntary consultations, beneficiaries will be able to get information that will help them make their own decisions about their care and what they would or

     In his column this morning, Andy Rooney asked the question, “What is the best Christmas present you ever got?” In thinking about it, I don't know the answer. I do know that I have had many very good Christmases, but I also realize that the good/bad rating of Christmas had nothing to do with what gifts were received.      When I was three years old, I went to live with my grandparents on the farm because of the Great Depression. I don't know where my grandparents got the tree, but I do remember filling the bucket from the coal bin to hold the tree. Next the bucket had to be wrapped in tissue paper, usually red, and filled with water. That was supposed to keep the needles from falling off, but it didn't work very well - there were needles all over the place when the tree was taken down.      Then the lights had to be strung. It was necessary to test the lights first, because if one bulb was burned out, the whole string went dark. You had to check each individual bulb i

     Apparently Santa Claus has decided not to wait until Christmas Eve to start making his annual deliveries. President Obama, in particular, has received an early visit from the Christmas Eve flier, raising the conjecture among Washington's “in” crowd that the sprightly old elf is a Democrat. Be very careful, Mitch McConnell, you may wind up on the naughty list.      As evidence of St. Nick's presidential visit, observe what has happened since the “shellacking” the Democrats received in the mid-term election. Along with almost everyone else, I expected that the remaining two months of the lame-duck Congress would exhibit a gridlock that would make Los Angeles freeways look like kids playing with toy cars in a sandbox. But lo and behold, the Congress came up with a bipartisan output that must have had Mitch wondering whether the “party of no” members had all gone home for the holidays. Observe:      Congress passed a two year extension of the Bush tax cuts. The President had

     I came away from my recent trip to the Western Caribbean with a few impressions I would like to share with you.      Of the three places I visited - Roatan, Belize and Cozumel - I got the best vibes from Cozumel. It is too bad the big ships have so few places to dock on the islands; like the railroads always go through the seediest places in town, the ships always dock in a not too nice area.      Roatan and Belize have managed to “beautify” the area directly adjacent to their docks, but unfortunately, once you leave that immediate vicinity you have to go through the slums to get anywhere.      On Roatan, some really nice houses have been built, mostly by immigrants. High points both figuratively and literally, these spacious and luxurious homes have a breathtakingly beautiful 360 degree view of the entire island.      I also visited a tropical beach: a showplace complete with the obligatory fine white sand, palm trees, an outdoor bar, and of course, a luxurious hotel. I could

     I will be offline, or perhaps I should say “unplugged” for the next three weeks. We are leaving Sunday to drive to Georgetown, Texas, where we will visit friends over Thanksgiving. On Black Friday we will drive with our friends to Galveston, where we will see the sights on Saturday, the 27th, and on Sunday we will take a cruise to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. After the cruise we will drive home.      Check back for more blogging about December 13th. In the meantime, if you get bored, buy the book. ******      The fact that there is a great deal of controversy regarding the physical creation as outlined in the book of Genesis is not new, and the disagreement will probably continue for a long time, perhaps forever. So I will ignore the details of physical creation and concentrate on the spiritual matters related in that wise book.      The Wisdom of Genesis – The Spirit Runs Through It. The book or a free download is available in  paperback or on Kindle .

     I guess I am no different from most other men – I like gadgets. I know there are some wonderful toys that I am missing, but if I am sure I have no use for an iPhone, xBox, and the like, I don't buy them. And I decided that even though the ultimate toy, my car, is 10 model years old, it's in good shape, and I don't need a new one. However, we are driving from Pennsylvania to Texas next week, so I did spring for a GPS, and it's really fascinating.      I downloaded the owner's manual and after perusing it, sort of (owners' manuals are to use when you can't figure it out otherwise), I entered my home address into the instrument. I had to test that, so I drove a couple of miles, turned around, and hit the “Home” button.      I was a bit disappointed in the results: it got me home OK, but it didn't take the shortcuts I would have taken. It did keep saying “recalculating” a few times, and when I got within a block or two of the house, it found just the

     President Obama's bipartisan commission on deficit reduction has released a draft of some of the things the full panel is considering. The final report is due December 1st, but members of the panel are not sure that they will be able to agree on provisions of the magnitude of those in the draft by that time. In any event, if Congress were to vote on the full proposal (which is doubtful), the vote would be non-binding.      The commission is apparently doing a good job, because there is plenty for everyone, regardless of ideology, to hate.      Liberals positively loathe the idea of cutting back on the (usually) annual COLA adjustment for Social Security recipients, raising the retirement age to 69 by the year 2075, and making a larger portion of Social Security benefits subject to Federal Income Tax. For example, the President of the AFL-CIO commented, "The chairmen of the deficit commission just told working Americans to 'drop dead.'"      And Conservativ

     NBC Nightly News is reporting that President Obama will not be visiting the city of Bangalore during his current trip to India. To learn why, a little background information is required.      Joe Pitts (R), our district representative to Congress, submits a weekly column to our local newspaper. A few weeks ago Rep. Pitts was complaining about the uncertain playing field the Obama administration has created for businesses. This uncertainty is a major contributor to the lack of available jobs. According to Representative Pitts, if businesses would know what to expect in the way of taxes, healthcare, environmental costs, etc., they would immediately set about creating jobs galore. In addition, they would invest in more efficient software, equipment, new products and all sorts of wonderful things.       What has not made the news lately is that businesses are already investing heavily in software, automation and efficiency. They are also investing heavily in new jobs – in Bangalore

     I know that deep down, all people who subscribe to either of the two major political ideologies, liberal or conservative, want the same things: prosperity for America and its citizens; they differ only in the means of achieving these ends. What most people do not realize, however, is that either ideology unchecked by the other would result in chaos; the two are complementary.      Those who have read my book, The Spirit Runs Through It , are familiar with the principle that every instant of creation is determined by the immediately preceding one, and becomes the raw material for the creation of the following one.      Two things are necessary: the raw material and the creation. Their operation is both simultaneous and linear – raw material...creation...raw material...creation...etc. Nothing comes from nothing. Can you imagine the chaos that would result if objects suddenly appeared out of thin air and disappeared just as mysteriously? (It is worth noting that creation in this sens

     During the past few months the Republican Party has come out with some interesting policy statements. Here are a few examples:       On July 3rd Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia delivered the GOP response to President Obama's weekly radio address. His entire discussion concerned the national debt, “one of the most dangerous threats confronting America today.” He went on to say, “At some point we have to say 'enough is enough'” The entire address is available on youtube.      On July 11th Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona said, "You should never have to offset [the] cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans."      The very next day Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, backed up Senator Kyl's statement with the following, “So I think what Senator Kyl was expressing was the view of virtually every Republican on that subject.”      Apparently this is the official position of the party: We can't afford to do wh

     I think most people would agree that a candidate for U.S. Senator or Representative should have some modicum of personal responsibillity, although some of the current crop seem to be lacking in that respect. So when I saw the responses that the GOP senate nominee from Delaware, Christine O'Donnell, made on a nationally televised debate, I thought I would take a quick look into her background.      She was born on August 27, 1969, and has been a marketing consultant, worked in public relations, and appeared as a political commentator on several news media outlets including Fox News. In 2006 and 2008 she ran for Senator in the primary elections, and was soundly defeated both times.      In 2010 she scored a surprising primary upset against nine-term Representative and ex-governor Mike Castle. Her victory was due to backing by Sarah Palin and an infusion of cash in the amount of $150,000 from the Tea Party. Her campaign also received a boost when a political consulting firm hir

     An escapade by a magisterial district judge made headlines in the local newspapers, but was probably relegated to page 10 in other areas.      In Pennsylvania such judges conduct criminal arraignments and preliminary hearings, issue arrest warrants and search warrants in some cases; hear civil disputes involving $8,000.00 or less, and Landlord-Tenant disputes other than matters involving title to real estate; issue temporary Protection from Abuse Act orders; decide traffic, game law, and fish and boat code cases; conduct marriages, administer oaths and affirmations, etc. They are elected for six-year terms, and draw an annual salary of $80K.      The judge apparently thought it was funny to hand out acorns stuffed with condoms to women near the State Capitol. Two of the women he approached disagreed with his humor, and complained to the Capitol Police. The judge was arrested forthwith and charged with disorderly conduct.      Resisting the temptation to pass such judgments as “

      As I write this, the nation is celebrating its number two spectator holiday: the baseball playoffs and World Series. (Number one is the Superbowl.)       In addition to being the national pastime, baseball has at various times been called a game of inches, a game of skill, a game of strategy, etc., etc. But at its major league level, baseball consists of a bunch of young millionaires playing a boy's game: hitting a round ball with a round stick.       (I don't understand a new thing which has sprung up in the past several years. In football and basketball the teams high-five each other at the end of the game, but in baseball the winning team high-fives itself. Is this a new form of sportsmanship?)       Anyway, I love baseball, and I like to think of it as a game of reconciliation. Whether one is liberal, conservative, libertarian or green; whether one is Protestant, Catholic, Jewish or Muslim; whether one is young, middle-aged or elderly; whether one is male, female o

     Recently a friend told me she didn't understand why so many people are opposed to President Obama's healthcare plan, especially since it was one of the major programs he championed during his highly successful campaign. I told her that the main reason is because it has been so rigorously badmouthed by the conservative right (along with every other program the President has presented). Joseph Goebbels said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”      A major objection voiced by the party of “no” is that requiring everyone to have health insurance is unconstitutional – the government cannot force people to buy something they don't want.      There is one major argument that says it can: all states require that drivers buy liability insurance to protect the innocent driver from incurring expenses which are not his fault. It's an easy step to apply the same logic to health insurance – through either higher medi

     In 2001 the Bush administration passed an income tax bill which lowered the tax rate for all taxpayers. The lowest tax bracket was decreased from 15% to 10%, and all other brackets were decreased by 3 percentage points except for the highest one, which decreased 4.6 points. In addition, all taxpayers that filed a return for the year 2000 received a rebate ranging from $300 for single filers to $600 for married couples. Capital gains taxes decreased from 10% to 8%. Child care credits were increased, and the exemption for the Alternative Minimum Tax was increased. Additional adjustments were made in 2003. In order to get the bills through Congress, President Bush agreed to let them expire on January 1, 2011.      Now there is a huge disagreement in Congress – Republicans want to extend the rates, etc. for all taxpayers, and Democrats want to extend them only for families with income of more that $250,000 ($200,000 for single taxpayers). The Republicans are saying that if rates are

     It seems there are two competing definitons for the term “small business”; to no one's surprise the Democrats are using one and the Republicans are using the other. For the convenience of anyone who doesn't know which party he prefers, here are the definitions: 1.) A small business is a business which is not very large, e.g., a corner grocery, a machine shop with a couple of employees, a mom and pop enterprise, etc. Most Democrats use the term in this context. 2.) A small business is a business which operates as a pass-through tax entity, e.g., most of the businesses in def. 1.) plus most mega-farms, some manufacturing firms, and practically all high-tech and professional firms. These organizations use the individual proprietorship, partnership, S-corporation, limited-liability company (LLC), etc. tax reporting format. Under this definition the business could have anywhere from one to thousands of employees. For example, with over 163,000 employees worldwide, the eighth l

     Recently I purchased a Philips “GoGear,” a gadget that holds music and/or pictures. It is 1-1/2” x 2-1/2” x 1/2” in size, and holds up to 900 songs or 1,500 pictures. If you have read previous entries in my blog, you know of my interest in music. I don't have 900 songs in it – yet - but I do have almost 800. Younger readers probably would not recognize the artists in my collection.      The GoGear not only holds the songs - they can be replayed either in the order they were entered into the device, or by individual selection. One can also replay them in random order, or by artist, album, or individually tailored playlist. The gadget cost me $40 at Walmart.      Now I am telling you this because the device is an example of the rapidly increasing amount of information which can be stored in smaller and smaller volumes. When I was young (a contemporay of Alley Oop), a collection of 900 songs would have required a minimum of 450 “records.” Assuming each record was 1/4” thick, th

     The primary election season is over, and experts are scratching their heads as to what the effect will be on November 2nd. Two months ago the Republican party had stood to gain many seats, possibly enough to gain control, in both the House and the Senate. However, with the nomination of Tea Party candidates in Nevada, Kentucky, Alaska, Colorado, Florida and Delaware, no one is sure how this shift to the very far right will affect the voters.      Not all Republicans, including most of the party leaders, are enamored of the Palin/Limbaugh/Fox line – will those voters stay home on election day, or will they reluctantly decide to vote the party ticket regardless of who the candidate is?      Meanwhile the Democrats believe that the further to the right the Republicans move, the better their own chances. I am not sure if that is true, but they have their own problem: so far their members appear unenthusiastic about the election. Will the apparent turmoil within the opposing party st

     Although people have rung in from all points of the political spectrum with complaints about President Obama, there is one big argument in his favor: he has kept his campaign promises. He promised a tax cut, and his stimulus package delivered a cut (conveniently forgotten by the opposition) of $282 billion over two years. He promised to get troops out of Iraq – only 50,000 remain. He promised to agressively advance the war in Afghanistan – he has done so. He promised to create a universal healthcare plan – there is no doubt that he has done that. And he promised to bring the parties together for peace talks in the Middle East – the talks began last week and are continuing tomorrow.      But with all that, why has his approval rating sunk so low? As Bill Clinton said, “It's the economy, stupid.” Obama wasted a huge portion of his political capital on a stimulus that was way, way too small. I have written several times about the inadaquacy of the stimulus and the coming economi

      As I mentioned in my posting of August 26, Americans always need to find some event about which they can disagree. Another such event has come along in the last week.       Terry Jones, the pastor of a church with a congregation of about 50 in Gainsville, Florida, threatened to burn 200 copies of the Quran. He feels that this is an evil book - one which incites its followers to kill non-believers. (In that respect, it is similar to certain sections of the old testament.)       As with the proposed civic center and mosque near ground zero in New York, there is no doubt that this kook has the right to do so, but having the right and doing the right thing are two completely different subjects. The trigger for his attitude is really the proposed center.       I have always felt that if one does the same as one's opponents, one is lowering himself to their level, and this is one of those cases. Pastor Jones saw an opportunity to gain his 15 minutes of fame, and he has succeeded

      As I mentioned in my posting of August 28, the difference between a fact and a belief is, “When an event, idea, system, theory, etc. is supported by evidence, we accept it as a fact; when there is no supporting evidence we have a belief. Notice: we accept facts, we have beliefs.” Today I want to further explore the relationship between the two.       Facts can affect beliefs, but beliefs cannot affect facts. It is an asymmetric relationship: it applies in one direction only. Although it rarely happens, one's beliefs can be changed by facts. Here is a well-known example: Throughout the Middle Ages, Ptolemy, who died in 168 C.E. was considered the reigning authority on astronomy. His system explaining the movement of the heavenly bodies was based on the idea that the earth was the center of the universe, and everything else revolved around it. It was a belief held by everyone; the church in particular would allow no other explanation. Using his home-made telescope, in 161

      A born again Christian once asked me if I believe in evolution. My answer was, “Evolution is not something one ‘believes in’ like one believes in a religion. I accept it as a fact because the evidence for it is overwhelming.”       Of course, no amount of evidence could convince my questioner that evolution is a fact and “creation science” is an oxymoron. But the conversation did cause me to ponder exactly what the difference is between a fact and a belief.       The difference can be explained in one sentence, although really understanding it can take a long time: When an event, idea, system, theory, etc. is supported by evidence, we accept it as a fact; when there is no supporting evidence we have a belief. Notice: we accept facts, we have beliefs. Here are a few examples: (1) I do not believe that birds fly – I accept it as a fact. I have seen pictures of flying birds, I have seen them fly and I have read articles on the physics of flight. The evidence is overwhelming. (

      At all times Americans seem to need some controversial topic on which to disagree - Heaven knows, there are certainly enough of them at the present time. I have selected three of them to discuss briefly – two of them have been around for several years, and one is current. I offer no solutions, but I have tried to boil the discussions down to questions to ask ourselves, or in one case, a metaphorical description of the topic.      Scientists have been making us aware of global warming for several years. Most people believe it is happening, but the mechanism behind it is controversial: is it caused by manmade greenhouse gases, or is it a naturally occurring phenomenon? In either case there are some things we can do to alleviate the problems. Washington politicians have elected to argue about the cost of safety measures, as a result they do nothing. Bloggers and pundits have been asking variations of the following question: Don’t these politicians have grandchildren? A Muslim imam

      The disagreement between climatologists and deniers goes on. In a 2009 survey, 97% of respondents who listed climate science as their area of expertise, and who also have published more than 50% of their recent peer-reviewed papers on the subject of climate change, agree that human activity is "a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures."       In a recent CNN poll of the general public, when the question “. . . from what you have heard or read, do you believe increases in the Earth's temperature over the last century are due more to the effects of pollution from human activities, or natural changes in the environment that are not due to human activities?", 50% replied human activities, 46% said natural causes, and 4% were unsure.       There seems to be a general mistrust of the findings of science, which I believe is due primarily to the constant barrage of false information put out by organizations with a vested interest in main