US Healthcare Road Has Been Travelled Before

It just amazes me sometimes how completely unable to learn from the past our leaders can be. The direction we're taking on healthcare is but another example. England has been there, done that, and they are desperately trying to unwind the damage that has already been done. This article from the NYT explains how England is trying to untangle the bureaucratic monster they've created...why?..BECAUSE IT COSTS TOO MUCH AND DOESN'T WORK!!
http://tiny.cc/4shs7
What is so hard about recognizing the fact that centralized medicine is an obvious disaster road? Any normal person with half a brain can see this. Is this simply an attempt by our government to extend some healthcare to those who can't afford it at everyone's else's expense? If that's the goal and that's what everyone in the country is willing to do, (knowing full well that not only will our healthcare costs increase but our quality of care will be going down) then fine. I'm all for majority rules. But that's not what's going on here. We're being told that this is not going to cost us more and will not affect our current quality of care. And the majority of Americans oppose it because they know when they're being sold a bill of goods.
And that's what is most insulting, when our leaders think we're too stupid to understand what's happening here. Just give it to us straight. You don't need to be afraid to ask the American people for handouts. We're pretty darned generous when you ask us nicely. It's when you give us the bait and switch that we get ticked off.
And to follow the argument to its conclusion, if you ask us nicely, and we still say no, and you still think you know what's best for us that you rewrap the gift and sell it to us as something else, that's just wrong.
The argument that we ought to find a way to help those people who don't have healthcare becaue they can't afford it is a legitimate one. But the political machinations that erupt in the process are simply grotesque. Both sides are to blame, but I give extra deductions to the left for not incorporating a single Republican idea in the final bill. If they had simply been willing to give the right tort reform, they could have pushed it through by a landslide. But they just couldn't go against their largest campaign contributors, the trial attorneys, and so they shoved the pill down our throats and called it candy.
I honestly don't know how some of these people look at themselves in the mirror at night. But trust me people, if this new healthcare monster doesn't get unwound soon, we'll see the exact same article about the US in about 20 years. Mark my words.

Why Do We Root for Tiger Woods?

First off, I confess that I always root for Tiger Woods. And honestly, I have no good explanation why. Throughout my life as a sports fan I only root for two teams...my home team and the underdog. That's it. And I know I'm not alone in that respect.
So why then do I root for Tiger Woods? He's always the heavy favorite. He has ruined life-changing moments for dozens of underdog golfers. He's arrogant. He's not nearly as nice as we thought he was. He's one of the worst tippers in the game. He's not the family man we thought he was. He throws his clubs. He cusses on the golf course. His spits disgustingly on national TV (a spit you know is just another way of saying, "F*ck me!") He has little apparent respect for his opponents. He often chokes in the big team events when I should be rooting for him. Am I leaving anything out?
The normal thing for me to do would be to root against Tiger Woods. That's what a normal sports fan would do--root for all those underdogs who have failed against him. But I don't and I can't explain it.
When I argue with those few friends of mine who despise Tiger Woods, I know they are right. But that doesn't change anything for me. I still root for him. If he's not playing, I don't even watch. If he's playing but not in the hunt, I don't watch either because we all know he only wins as a front-runner--another reason not to root for him.
To make matters worse, I know there are millions of other fans just like me who are rooting for him too, which is another item for the "Do Not Root" list. I don't root for the Yankees, I don't root for Notre Dame, I don't root for USC, I don't root for the Lakers or the Celtics. In fact, I often despise anyone who does root for those teams unless they are from those towns. There's nothing I respect less than a fair-weather fan. One of my favorite things to do is to say to someone who is rooting for the Yankees, for example, "So, what part of New York are you from?" And when they say they are not from New York then I really let them have it.
I'm digging my own grave here, right? So why on earth do I root for Tiger Woods? I simply have no good answer for that one. Maybe it's time to correct the error of my ways.

I've Always Wanted to be a Blogger - Not!!

My first post. Whoop dee freaking do! The question racing around in my head as I start my first blog post is, "Does anyone really care what I think?" Probably not, but you never know. I've always been the kind of guy who doesn't always share what I'm thinking. The reason being, as I listen to other people talk, I often say to myself, "My goodness, won't this person ever stop talking? Is this what I sound like when I'm talking?" Knowing it's possible that others might feel exactly the same, I tend to hold my opinions in reserve more often than not.

But there's this double-edged sword, unfortunately. You see, I'm in the media world...and being in the media, holding one's opinion to oneself isn't exactly a formula for success. So here I go on my first blog post to answer the $64 million question--"Does anyone really want to hear what I have to say?" One can always hope.

So what do I want to share with the world in this first of hopefully many blog posts? Well, in the simplest of terms I want to share the fact that I very much consider myself a "normal" person. I think normal things, I do normal things, and I respond to people in normal ways. And why would anyone care to read what a normal person has to say? Because normal is getting lost in today's world. I become more astounded every day with how little normalcy is left in the world today.

The media in general is no longer normal. They don't report in a normal fashion. They don't cover normal things. Everything is sensationalized and branded or stamped left, right, far left or far right. So many people I meet anymore are not normal. The world searches to be entertained by things that are not normal. And as a result I just feel like being normal is getting lost.

So that's what my blog is going to be all about. Being normal. I'm going to address issues in a normal fashion and try and express the normal point of view, often with wonder at how that particular issue may have arisen when normal thinking might dictate otherwise.

I do have a wide variety of interests so you'll see me posting about business, politics, the media, sports, hospitality, religion and many other topics. I hope you find my "normal" take on things interesting.