Definition

Even in the shade of the pines, birch, poplar, maple trees it is still hot. Climate change? All I can say is every summer seems to be getting hotter. This July was hotter than H-E-double toothpicks. TOO HOT to do anything productive. At least that is my excuse. Without air conditioning I measure the heat by how many tee-shirts need to be washed.

Speaking of washing had another ‘duh’ moment. Dropped a load in the bin with a pod, hit the button and …. Nothing? Press the button again and…. Nothing? Call the repair guy for I will run out of dry clothing soon in this heat. Then the mind wonders if I should just unplug it and see if that helps, but the appointment with Steve has been made. He arrives at the rendezvous hour and diagnosis the problem. Turn of the circuit breaker. Wait a minute. Turn on the circuit breaker. Voilà! For the price of $72 I paid for stupidity.

The summer hasn’t been a total waste of time. (?) Yes, it has. Wake up in the morning sweating, quick ride to the rehydration center and a taste of cool air then sit in front of triple degree heat blowing on you while listening to constant news of icebergs melting, animals dying, crowds of protest, politicians balking and everyone talking.

The thought for today is ‘definition’. At an age when listening and reflecting to constant news one starts to define what is being said and how it comes across. To the point of being annoyed by all the “Ah” and “well” and other pauses to the breath breaks from jamming all the words in to keep the meter running.

Some people are vocalist and some are speakers. There are comedians and there is stand up comedy. There are singers and there is karaoke.

My thought is how we define what we say. All sorts of things are referred to helping the listener understand the reference. Insert a writer or a book or an article to verify your comment. Insert a philosophizer or a scientist or doctor or teacher or a verse from the Good Book to make your comment relevant.

There are many experts who can back up a statement or opinion or decree with numbers and reports and studies that will backup your view, until…

Social media gives us a variety of opinions, accusations, pontifications, information and trash. Even the sidebars and the off comment can sway the reader’s education.

If I don’t hear your personal reflections rather than what is in your library; I may question your conclusion.

Still it is steamy and I’ve just spilled my bowl of lunch on the floor, so I’ll leave it at that.

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Minority Majority

Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we are a diverse nation. Well let us redefine that to ‘country’. For we are the ‘United States of American’ but that is just north America, including Canada. The continent is called the ‘Americas’ including lots of influences and cultures.

Not only did we invade…. Or colonize the land from migrants from religious persecution from their homelands to travel across the sea.

They (we) brought ideology and traditions foreign to the indigenous people. These explorers were not the majority.

The Anglos pushed the indigenous people back with superior weaponry and false contracts.

Needing more labor than procreation could provide, the importing of ‘people’ from the Dark Continent being colonized by Europeans spreading the ‘word of God’ to the savages, gathered up and shipped them to the America colonies like grain or cattle.

So as the country grew declaring itself free from the ‘mother country’ expansion went westward across the land. Others on the land were either suppressed, enslaved or slaughtered.

The balance of power continued until…

Was it a revolution?

All the people who have been intermingling with the acceptable culture became aware. Women, gays, people of color, disabled, mentally ill, addicted, etc. who had been repressed wanted a voice.

All the people who had been in the shadows or the background demanded recognition. Housing, education, healthcare, religious equality became issues and headlines.

White supremacy is cracking but as long as there is still an economic disparity, they will hold their ground firing bogus propaganda out of fear.

Having forgotten the assimilation of Irish, Germans, Jews, Hindus, French ‘we’ now want to detain, deny, incarcerate, imprison as with the Japanese. Muslims, Latinos, etc. are becoming banned from entering the border while they have been manning our call centers, picking our crops, putting on our roofs, cleaning our bathrooms?

Do ‘we’ welcome our neighbors or keep segregation until the next revolution?

How long before the animals rise up?

Regulation, Anticipation, Degradation, Participation, Manipulation, Fornication and Atonement

Life is like that. We cannot find out way without regulation.

Got a problem?

Gun control, climate change, migration, consistent wars, domestic violence, animal abuse, infrastructure, corruption, collusion, conspiracy, education, health care, sharks, drugs, electric scooters…. You name it.

There is plenty to go around.

So how do we solve these problems?

Regulation

It is easy. First form a committee or council or study group and make sure it is diversified to cover all aspects of opinions. Next start gathering data. Have some town hall meetings to get the publics thoughts. Make a multi-page report or study or findings with charts and graphs and pitch it to a legislative official. Then tweak the words and paragraphs to satisfy others to get the bill out of committee. Once everyone (or at least enough) vote for it and pass a bill it will go to the president to sign or veto.

Once it is approved and becomes law, the word is passed down to all the states to follow the new regulation. Speeches are made, signs are constructed, and websites are upgraded to inform the public.

 Will these regulations be followed?

Look at stop signs or speed limit signs. Gun licenses or permits and background checks (with more holes that Swiss cheese). Underage dating. Alcohol and smoking age limits.

Unfortunately many regulations require cultural changes or fake IDs.

Still we expect the regulations on clothing and food and medicine to keep us safe. The same for our vehicles and restaurants and building construction…the list goes on and on.

If that doesn’t work, the judicial system does what it does to slap on the wrist with a fine or bring before a judge for final regulation of punishment for bad behavior.

Rinse and repeat.

Anticipation

Now we expect every Black Friday to find some new bargain or latest gadget to spend our hard earned cash. We swipe through online dating hoping to get lucky. We hope every year the boss will call you in for another raise. The meds the doctor orders will fix you up.

Everyday brings the hope for a better future, but unfortunately life doesn’t always meet expectations.

Anticipation of a better day keeps us going.

Maybe tomorrow will be better?

Maybe a new law or ordinance will solve all our problems?

Degradation

Unfortunately life also throws some slings and arrows. Too short, too tall, wrong color, wrong sex, poor, ugly…. Again the list goes on and on. Wherever you live and whomever you meet and greet, there will be someone else who judges you.

Again you may never meet acceptations in the eyes of others.

Degradation squashes anticipation.

Not to worry, there is a law or an act or a regulation that requires us all to be friendly.

Participation

Join the club. Be part of the team.

It is better or more secure to roam in a pack than a solo participant.

We feel better in packs. We may feel wearing the same clothing and enjoying the same music or going to the same dining establishments will make us acceptable.

There are regulations for groups are allowed to do to meet community requirements.

Manipulation

It is easy to do. Advertising, social media, robo-calls and many more will persuade that the latest song or clothing style or dance or food or make-up is worth the cost of being popular and able to participate.

Friends and social media make the regulations. The government doesn’t care how you dress or what your hair style is as long as there are profits in the bank.

Atonement

Forgive me for I have sinned. That is what religion is for.

The regulations for the spirit require payment to the path of the eternal salvation and the government has nothing to do with it. It is a pay as you go.

What about this?

Fornication

Oh, I just threw that in to get your attention. We’ll discuss that later.

NPR rebranding

Here we go again.

First you broke up the station to a ‘News’ station and a ‘Music’ station but I could coop with that, but then you rebranded.

You are no longer than ‘WCVE Community Ideal Stations’ to ‘Virginia home of Public Media’.

Does every organization have to be defined by three letters? Is that the new form of identification?

Been a proud listener and contributor for over a decade I’ve noticed the changes. More commercials and program changes are oblivious. Some of the familiar voices are no longer there.

I’ll adapt to the new formats for you are the only station where the news is honest and the music is pure.

Healthcare for All

Sounds good to me. Wouldn’t it be nice to get a boo-boo and just go to the nearest doc-in-a-box and get fixed up. Then walk out, no questions asked.

Who is going to pay for all this?

Just think if your social security card or your driver’s license declared you lived here and was eligible to the fineness healthcare on the planet. Whether you needed a vaccine shot or an MRI brain scan, you (the patient) could just get whatever the doctor ordered without a co-pay or deduction.

Too good to be true?

If you want healthcare for all, it will cost you. What it will mean that everyone from the pregnant mother to dying cancer patient will get the best care possible in the area without waiting for an approval from an insurance company of what is covered.

What about those insurance folks?

If the government is going to take over paying everyone from the EMS to the specialist surgeon to the Emergency room nurses to the folks mopping up the blood, the insurance folks won’t be needed to go through Plan A or Plan B or sub-coverage under special cases unless declared on certain days with pre-existing conditions. Maybe they can get a job at Amazon?

Sounds like a mighty big task?

So is the military. If you are under attack from missiles or aliens, you expect the government to send in the folks to protect you and get things back to normal. You don’t buy insurance for protection against the bad guys. Well you do with your taxes.

TAXES!!

If you are really scared, you can purchase protection of your home and family and stuff with cameras and surveillance or locks or even buy a gun, yet the community offers police protection if you pay your taxes. If you don’t pay your taxes when you call 911 will anyone answer?

But what about healthcare for all?

Seems that healthcare for all would mean the U. S. of the A. would take command of paying for all the doctors and hospitals bills. Whether you have a shark bite or in a car crash or a facelift or an abortion, the government will pay for it. This would be like VA. taking care of our veterans. How is that going?

What about prescriptions?

Imagine if you will, your doctor prescribes some pills that will keep you alive. You bet, but what does it cost. Don’t worry about it, the government is going to pay for it, just like all the bombs and bullets.

Could this start a corruption within the government?

Silly, there is already corruption with ‘drug’ companies feeding the lobby industry. Remember the FDA is also a government agency and they approve these things.

What about mental health?

What is mental health? Who defines crazy? Is it the person who buys a weapon of war with some anger issues and moze down shoppers at WalMart or the kid wandering through the supermarket without looking up from his phone? Clean up on Aisle #9. Who pays for that?

So this healthcare for all will cover everyone everywhere?

Sure. From Kansas to Florida, you get sick or broken; the U.S. of the A. will take care of it. Shoot, if you travel to France or Yemen, you are covered.

How will the government handle all of this?

Oh there will probably be another department or agency or commission to hire accountants and computer programmers and a bunch of bureaucrats to beg congress for more and more money allocations. Maybe those Blue Cross and Anthem folks can do the task?

What is this healthcare for all insurance?

Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.

An entity, which provides insurance, is known as an insurer, insurance company, insurance carrier or underwriter. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as an insured or as a policyholder. The insurance transaction involves the insured assuming a guaranteed and known relatively small loss in the form of payment to the insurer in exchange for the insurer’s promise to compensate the insured in the event of a covered loss. The loss may or may not be financial, but it must be reducible to financial terms, and usually involves something in which the insured has an insurable interest established by ownership, possession, or pre-existing relationship.

The insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insurer will compensate the insured. The amount of money charged by the insurer to the Policyholder for the coverage set forth in the insurance policy is called the premium. If the insured experiences a loss which is potentially covered by the insurance policy, the insured submits a claim to the insurer for processing by a claims adjuster. The insurer may hedge its own risk by taking out reinsurance, whereby another insurance company agrees to carry some of the risk, especially if the primary insurer deems the risk too large for it to carry.

Sounds too good to be true?

No problem. Look at how the government handles your taxes. Just a simple deduction from your paycheck to cover that newest ambulance or prescription is all that is needed. Out of work and on the mend? Don’t worry the rest of us will cover the cost. If not, the government can just print up some more money or like the usual budget arrangement, borrow.

What about the states?

It will free up their budgets along with private businesses to set aside funds for medical plans approved by unions. Whether you live in West Virginia with black lung or Florida with skin cancer, you are covered. Just send the bill to Uncle Sam.

What if I don’t get sick?

Sorry sucker, but you are paying premiums (taxes) that you will never recover. It is all a hedge bet that you lose.

Long-term healthcare?

We are all getting up in years and can’t expect the youngins’ to be paying for our wheelchairs and walkers. It has to end somewhere.

Hospice care is a type of care and philosophy of care that focuses on the palliation of a chronically ill, terminally ill or seriously ill patient's pain and symptoms, and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs. In Western society, the concept of hospice has been evolving in Europe since the 11th century. Then, and for centuries thereafter in Roman Catholic tradition, hospices were places of hospitality for the sick, wounded, or dying, as well as those for travelers and pilgrims. The modern concept of hospice includes palliative care for the incurably ill given in such institutions as hospitals or nursing homes, but also care provided to those who would rather spend their last months and days of life in their own homes.

In the United States the term is largely defined by the practices of the Medicare system and other health insurance providers, which make hospice care available, either in an inpatient facility or at the patient's home, to patients with a terminal prognosis who are medically certified at hospice onset to have less than six months to live. According to the NHPCO [National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization] 2012 report on facts and figures of Hospice care, 66.4% received care in their place of residence and 26.1% in a Hospice inpatient facility. In the late 1970s the U.S. government began to view hospice care as a humane care option for the terminally ill. In 1982 Congress initiated the creation of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which became permanent in 1986. In 1993, President Clinton installed hospice as a guaranteed benefit and an accepted component of health care provisions. Outside the United States, the term hospice tends to be primarily associated with the particular buildings or institutions that specialize in such care (although so-called “hospice at home” services may also be available. Outside the United States such institutions may similarly provide care mostly in an end-of-life setting, but they may also be available for patients with other specific palliative care needs. Hospice care also involves assistance for patients’ families to help them cope with what is happening and provide care and support to keep the patient at home. Although the movement has met with some resistance, hospice has rapidly expanded through the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere.

So after the last breathe, then what?

Well the funeral industry is a whole different thing. They are not focus to keeping you alive but for disposing your body. Families and friends enjoy this ceremony of depositing the body into the ground with much ceremony and sadness so let that be a personal preference.

What about those who don’t get sick? Is there a discount?

Like all insurance, if your car doesn’t crash or your house burn down you pay your premiums and don’t get any returns. This is not a CD with interest. A deadly insect or fall off a mountain climb could still without your permission sting you. Who’s to say? It is a crapshoot.