Grandparents Day

Yesterday was September 10th on the calendar and was indicated as Grandparents Day. Of course you have to old school and have a printed paper calendar to see this. I don't know who designated this day to celebrate grandparents, but it must have been someone important. Since all my grandchildren probably have never used a printed calendar  as opposed to their cell phone, none of them (or their parents) where aware of this important day. Therefore we did not receive a single shout out let alone a card. That is to be expected since the card makers, particularly Hallmark, do not promote this holiday with specialty cards like mothers day and fathers day.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want nothing for myself, but my wife deserved better, considering all she has done for the children and their kids. I don't blame them, it is just a function of the commercialized society we live in. If there's no money to be made there is nothing to promote. September 11th is also a special day. As we honor all the people who died from the horrific terrorist attack sixteen years ago. Each year we recognize those who lost their lives including the many first responders. This is marked on my printed calendar as Patriots Day with, but I doubt if people call it that. To most everyone it is just 9/11.

I'm sure as I visit my calendar I will find many days designated to events and ideas which have been forgotten or need to be renewed. Both grandparents and those first responders help to keep our country strong.

I'm exhausted

Watching television and the events of the world are "exhausting." Primarily keeping up with the President and the soap opera that's going on at the White House is very tiring. Last month alone there must have been a new story or "breaking news" each day.

There is the never ending story of the Russian collusion story, including both Trump's son and son-in-law, along with a cast of others  from the campaign. Each day something new turns up or some new deflection. A major event was the white supremacist rally in Charlottsville, which was supposedly based on the debate about removing confederate statues. With neo Nazi's and Klu Klux Klan members in the ranks, violence erupted   and am innocent woman was killed, along with two state troopers who were in a helicopter there for crowd control. The woman was run down along with several other anti white supremacist protesters by one of the racist  protesters. In the aftermath of this tragedy our President waffled back and forth his message about the event. Reading a written statement which anyone could see was not heartfelt he denounced the Nazi's and Klan. But off script he said there were good people in the group and that the anti Nazi protesters were also violent.

When rebuked for this he went on the defense. A few days later with another tirade about the situation and the fact that there were good people there. Not willing to irrevocably denounce that those in the protest were in no way representative of who we are as a country. He spoke of protecting the statues as if it was the main issue when it was clearly racism. After a confrontation with the press he went on to express that it is the fake news that is "picking" on him and in some way is responsible for misrepresenting him. In a campaign rally the next week this came out clearly with more falsehoods about what had happened and what had been said.

Other  breaking news included the proclamation by the President that transgender individuals will no longer be allowed to join the military. The pardon of the Arizona sheriff ( Joe, that's all the ink I will give him) who openly practiced racial profiling and the detaining of Hispanics. The court ordered him to stop the practice and he refused. He was then sited for contempt of court. Now keep in mind that there hadn't even been a trial or sentencing. So he was pardoned before he was ever sentenced or served any time. That was just a message to say that the President felt that he was doing "his job" in the way he felt appropriate, and forget the law and the judges. Oh by the way alt right strategist Steve Bannon is out at the White House (what). 

The government also needs to set a budget to keep running and a debt ceiling. The President is threatening not to sign anything that does not provide money for the "wall" between Mexico, which he originally said Mexico was going to pay for (LOL) . On top of all this North Korea is acting a fool  and launching missiles just for the hell of it and the country has just had the most catastrophic natural event, Hurricane Harvey, in modern times. Billions of dollars in flood damages in Texas and Louisiana, tens of thousands of homes destroyed and citizens in shelters. The sacrifices they will now endure and the lives lost is almost overwhelming. 

This is not all of it and just one month. I am watching a great nation crumble before my eyes. I'm exhausted

Let's talk about everyday

With all the political antics and sensational stories going on in the news, sometimes it is good to just step back and look at a day in your life. Lord thank you for "this day." Each morning when I wake I am grateful for being able to do so, while so many others do not.

Now that I have retired my life is pretty simple and I try to keep it stress free. I'm pretty old school so I get a cup of coffee and read the "newspaper" every morning. I go to the gym about three times a week in the mornings, and then settle in for a little book reading or CNN watching in the afternoon. On the days that I don"t go to the gym I do housework, pay bills, or run errands at the stores.

This is the simple life and I'm OK with it. My wife has gone into the teaching profession for various reasons. First, was the fact that like children and she is teaching in elementary schools mostly in grades three through five. She has three daughters and they have eight children between them so she has been around this age group for awhile, and loves the grandkids. Secondly my wife has always had her own income of some kind. Now that I have retired and we are on a fixed income, she needs to have discretionary funds for her many endeavors such as hair, nails, Whole Foods, Macy's, etc. Third, she has a Messiah complex, meaning that she has to fix everyone and the children need her. I may talk about this at another time, but not right now.

Since it is summer and Donna is not working, and she is home with me. After being married for almost twenty years we still love each other and make the necessary adjustments to keep life happy and are best friends. Some days are hard for me because we are different. I don't know how she can handle all the pressure of always being right and needing to check on everything that everyone else is doing. 

I have learned that as I have gotten older my wife believes that I can no longer drive. She has become a constant passenger seat driver, with an ongoing commentary on the other folks on the road. "This person should get over, what no turn signal, they must be sleepy, look out for them they might be texting."  I can't park in the right space, I didn't turn the wheel right, too close to someone else's car, don't follow them because they are going to slow.

Lesson number two has been to not touch the thermostat. this may be a woman's thing but Donna goes through changes of being hot and cold several times a day. I am scolded for turning either the air conditioning or the heat, up or down. It is either too cold or too hot and I will hear about it. Now I let the temperature be regulated by her and in either case I can handle it. 

Last but not least is the laundry. I have been doing laundry all my life, since I had no sisters and a working mother. I don't mind it and even find ironing relaxing. Unfortunately while trying to do my part of the housework I was severely reprimanded for was some of her items, or putting them i n the dryer when I shouldn't have. Now I only wash my things, where they don't become a burden and I can use whatever wash and drying cycle I want.

My wife is not a nagger, but she has a way of letting you know that you have not met her high expectations. She normally talks to you in the third person. Example,."How could anyone go outside and not turn the light out? How could someone not have rinsed out that bottle before putting it into the recycling bin, and how could someone not take the trash out when the trashcan was full?" Only a few examples.

 With all this said life is good, I love my wife and we still enjoy each others company. With so much death, pain, and injustice in the world, my day can be considered a success everyday and always brings a smile to my face at some point. 

Drug and Healthcare Costs

I recently spent some time with my 90 year old mother over the Mother's Day weekend. She currently is being cared for by my 70 year old brother, who actually has a home and family in Florida. I try to give him an opportunity to go home for a week or so, about every other month now that I have retired. Mom needs constant care, and Medicare takes care of her medical bills including having a nurse come by once a week, and occupational therapy, Medicaid provides chore help for 4-6 hours every day.She has a supplemental health care plan to assist with prescriptions, and the things that are not paid for or underpaid for by Medicare. 

As I was going through some of her papers I ran across the explanations of benefits for Medicare regarding her last trip to the hospital. She had to go in for a couple of days due to some heart palpitations. She has a atrial fibrillation heart problem. I knew medical expenses were high, but I was shocked going through the bill. The hospital stay alone was over $11,000 and then there were the costs for the tests, labs, medicine, and just different individuals that she was in contact with. All in all the two day stay was over $25,000. I can see why a person with no insurance and not under a government program would be overwhelmed and not be able to handle these types of cost.

Since I know there is no way to check the cost of prices charged by the hospital  for services, or this prices accurate and reasonable? I would think that since all the hospitals we use these days are "for profit" they probably could be reduced. Many of the service some nowhere close to the amounts which are actually paid or approved by Medicare. I would believe that we could reduce our health care problems by some type of uniform regulations for hospitals. I'm sure that the hospitals are all against that and feel that they have to charge more for their services to provide the best service and cover their insurance costs. Since the cost of going to a doctor and particularly a hospital have been going up as the population ages, the cost of insurance

premiums to cover these people, are also going up.

The drug companies are also part of the problem. When demand is high for products companies raise the price. I'm sure people have heard the tales of companies raising the price of cancer drugs and others. A cancer drug can cost up to $156,000 a year for a patient. A new muscular dystrophy drug that came on the market last year was priced at $300,000 annually for a patient. I guess the money that I have sent every year to help Jerry's kids wasn't enough. By the way after 50 years for collecting for Jerry's kids we still don't have a cure. The drug companies say they need theses prices because of the research money they have sunk into development of the drugs. One reason that health insurance rates are high is because we are subsidizing other's, including my mother, high cost medicines. In 2006 when the Medicare Part D was added, the pharmaceutical lobbyist convinced legislatures not to let Medicare negotiate for drug prices because they said it would amount to price control. Hogwash! What it amounts to is no help for the consumer and a license to steal for the pharmaceutical companies, whose profits are still some of the best among American companies.

To be honest our healthcare system has systematically been destroyed in the name of profits and the shortsightedness of our government to see this.

Waiting for a motive

I guess I'm just getting cynical but it always strike me as strange when listening to the news and I find headlines like "A man attacks individuals at a school, killing one and injuring four others". The individual was killed by the police and we are "waiting for a motive to be determined." Usually the information is available about the perpetrator and their victims. A white male who selectively kills blacks and Hispanics, a black man who kills random whites, whites killing Muslims, and Muslims killing whites. When these are needless and senseless killing the motive in my mind is simple. It is hate. In our country it is illogical to believe that there are not people who believe they are superior to others or have a profound disdain for members of other races, creed, or color.

 

Our country was founded on the proposition that all men, [basically financially affluent Anglo Saxon males"] are created equal. Not women, not people of "any"  other color, sexual orientation, and yes even religion. While blacks have fought from considered being less than human in our country, the underlining feeling in our country his that there is no equality. Sure we had our first African American President for eight years, but rather that bring things together this seems to have split the country more apart. Those in power decided that they would do everything in their power to try and assure that he did not succeed, even at a cost to the country.

 

We now have a. society where the  motive for many people is very clear. Our President demonizes immigrants, as if we aren't all immigrants in this great experiment. He speaks of what has. Been lost since "America was great" and the rich got richer while the poor got poorer. Stop trying to cover up and soften the truth about the racial and economic divide in America.



A Change of Mind

There are so many things and topics rattling in my brain today it is difficult to docs on just one. They all seem to run together. With that being said let me start with the confusion I am having understanding my youngest daughter's current shift in thinking.

 In recent months she has proclaimed  that she has a belief in her self worth. Great!!!!! She is wearing her hair natural, no make up, working out to keep her body in shape, and eating healthy. She also has a new partner and they have had a child together. This is her third with each having a different father. She lost her job and has struggled to pay bill and housing is in jeopardy, as her new partner does not work either. He is a free spirit and is very influential in her life. The first major change was the idea that he and she are no longer African Americans. He has research to show that on his mother's side of the family a member is a direct descendant of the American aborigines that were here before Columbus, and his Alabama parents kept this from him. Now my daughter believes that she too is of Indian descent also and should not be considered an African American.

Now I am glad that she is interested in the history of this country and the fact that Indians were here centuries before the pilgrims and their slaves. While it is not taught, Columbus and his successors did not come to an empty wilderness, but to a world that was more populated than parts of Europe. But what is lost on her is the fact that many of the Indians were killed as an excuse for progress and the annihilation of races by Anglo conquerors and leaders of Western civilization. The Indian relocation Act of 1821 moved most the Indians from what was considered the south. To disavow this facts are hard to imagine. This may have been a possibility in the Western parts of he country where the Indians were displaced and slavery was not entrenched yet, but the likelihood, without evidence, of  being descendants of the Moundbuilder culture are slim. But even if so, we must be aware of the fact that we are "black" and that our  forefathers and their descendants have suffered tremendously in this country.

Not only has she given up on her African American heritage she has also change party affiliation. Not that she was much into politics previously, I did feel that we shared some similar ideology. She is a definite Republican now and totally supports Donald Trump. I can understand that she had a definite distrust for Hillary Clinton and some of the thing that had happened, but to overlook the downside  of Trump is hard for me to understand.  She talks about Obama in a way that supposes that he didn't  do anything for Black people during his time in office. This I attribute to the idea that she and others had that a black president would be a "savior" and straighten everything out for people of color in America. This was a fantasy. Particularly when the country was in the worst recession and financial systems were on the verge of collapse. Having a black president meant more to symbolize that in America you could accomplish something "in spite" of who you are. This President did more to assist "Americans" than many of his predecessors based on results. This was not an Abraham Lincoln moment, particularly when the members of the white race's primary mission was to ensure that this President would fail, and that they would try and block everything that he would try to do. This African American President gave people of the white majority to flex heir muscle and try to move the country back to their ideal of white America first.

Donald Trump is another example of what is wrong with America and adds to its continuum of what our forefathers believed. The Anglo American race is superior to all, and the rich need to subordinate those of lower class and different ethnic groups to make America great. Build a wall to protect us from immigrants, increase the military to maintain control and nation building, when pricing for those with funds get to high forget those who need help and get rid of the Affordable Care Act instead of making it better. How can she believe that things will be better for the poor and just middle class Americans with the view looking up. A privileged white male who wants things to be the way they have always been in American history. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

While I believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, I congratulate her on sticking to her guns about things. These beliefs are the things that create the experiences that make up your life. You have freedom of speech but you do no have freedom from their consequences. We are just a piece of the mosaic that is American and many of these major initiatives will not change things for us at all in the short run, but they will in the long run. Our country has a horrid and brutal past. Slavery and black discrimination are just the worst examples that can be linked to America. I think it is on the decline like the cycle all of the major civilizations go through, but it can be fixed, but only if we see the real past and present history for what it is.

Make America White Again

Yes I said it. Isn't that the thought of a lot of Americans today? When I hear our President say "let's make America Great Again" this is what I actually believes he and his supporters are really thinking. Don't they believe that America was great when there were fewer minorities for whites to take care of or show them their superiority. I can understand why even those Americans who called themselves racially unbiased believe that under the liberal Demoncratic agenda, they are not getting their fair share of the American Dream and have been neglected by their government.

Farmers and people in rural areas don't see life getting better and they remember when it was. Why should we take care of immigrants when we have failing schools, can't pay their bills, and moving I no poverty. It is time we have someone in charge, someone white, who will stand up for white people. We are no longer the land of prosperity and shouldn't take care of the world, but take care of us.

Unfortunately, people of color and the poor are not really considered us. I realize that African Americans want to see change. Many of them wanted President Obama to be our savior instead of our president. If they truly believed that Hillary Clinton was corrupt, that is their right. However, to believe that we are headed in a direction which will be uplifting for minorities is just hard for me to believe. Presidents can set the tone but cannot save anyone. Immigrants that are Hispanic or Muslem will be treated similar to  African Americans when America was great.

Our President shows little regard for his predecessors and any of their actions to bring the country out of the Great Recession, even while the Republicans main objective was to thwart a President Obama every move. There was no attempt for bipartisan work for the American people. Even now with the Republican Party in power his own agenda towards making America white again and internally focused will meet resistance from both sides. With a cabinet of older, rich white men and military personnel the Trump legacy has it's own agenda to rewrite the US government. Term limits would go along way to do this, but that doesn't seem to be of interest. 

What we considered to be administrative ethics or good policy are no longer standards for this President. He is white, rich, empowered, and doing it his way. The way of the right wing, the aryan brothers, and those who just want to stick it to the man. We will just have to see if  this is an Andrew Jackson, a Ronald Reagan, or a Richard Nixon moment in our history.