THESE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF THEIR MINDS!

THESE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF THEIR MINDS!

(Ed O’Keefe, Jared Conrad Nagel, Justin Murray)

(Michael Shear, Grant Campbell, Mike Tate)

(Walter Dellinger, Frazer Chronicle)

 

 I’ve gotten dozens of phone calls and hundreds of emails from people that I’ve never heard of…..at first I thought that I was popular, not the case, I now know that my feelings of popularity were wrong, most everybody got the same things that I did. If it weren’t so funny, I’d be crushed, I mean these new found friendships, what can I say…..I like and need new friends.

 

Are we really aware of what is going on in our country…..sadly I don’t think so, both political parties are like a bunch of babies; (I’m going home if I can’t have my way). And it’s the worst kind of act because it involves all of us.

 

The most absurd allegations are being thrown around, like “I personally believe that Senator Reid and the president, for political purposes, want to shut down the government.” Are you serious, what must be going through the mind of the man behind this statement, Republican Congressman, Tim Griffin. Why would anybody want to shut down our government, for what reason, what a smoke screen…..it’s simply not true.

 

And what about Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, “Until they send us a clean bill, we’re going to table whatever else they send us.” Whatever happened to reaching across the aisle, coming to a decision THAT WAS GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY?  

 

Its political posturing pure and simple, with little exception, in today’s political world, our elected officials look for photo-ops, sound bites, and schmoozing up to not only constituents, but their financial backers as well. Very few elected officials today work, it’s a dirty four letter word. Anyways they have staffers to do the lion’s share of whatever comes across their desks.

 

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN(S)

Let’s understand what is about to happen…..in U.S. politics, a government shutdown is a situation in which the government stops providing all but essential services. Except for police, fire fighting, the National Weather Service and it’s parent agencies, medical services at federal facilities, the post office, armed forces, air traffic management and the country’s prisons.

 

The causes can happen when the President, the Senate and the House cannot perform their jobs as a legislative body. The main culprit is of course a failure to agree on a budget financing its government programs for a pending fiscal year.

 

The effects can be catastrophic, beginning with the furloughing of civilian federal employees, military personnel won’t be furloughed, but will not be paid. The exact details of which government functions would stop during a shutdown would be determined by the office of Management and Budget.

 

In Washington D.C. governmental shutdowns affect our nation’s capital differently than any other city in the U.S. Schools are usually closed, and utilities such as garbage collection stop and police and fire-fighting forces can be cut back.

 

 

 

The list of U.S. government shutdowns is surprisingly long, but always for the same stupid reasons…..politics, and (I can’t get my way.) Here’s the list;

 

September 30, to October 11, 1976

September 30, to October 13, 1977

October 31, to November 9, 1977

November 30, to December 9, 1977

September 30, to October 18, 1978

September 30 to October 12, 1979

November 20, to November 23, 1981

September 30, to October 2, 1982

December 17, to December 21, 1982

November 10, to November 14, 1983

September 30, October 3, 1984

October 3, to October 5, 1984

October 16, to October 18, 1986

December 18, to December 20, 1987

October 5, to October 9, 1990

November 13, to November 19, 1995

December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996

 

In total 109 days were lost to government operations do to government shutdowns…..did we every get residuals with regards to wages paid to these jokers when they weren’t working? And why is that, they didn’t work, the doors and windows were shuttered, nobody was manning the switches of our nation.

 

WHAT CAN BE DONE

That’s an easy question to answer…..fired every swinging d---, clean house, they aren’t doing their jobs, they hold membership to political party above what is good for the country. Somewhere in the realm of Camelot those people who are responsible for stoking the engines of a democratic government got lazy, got politicized, and joined the grid-lock league.

 

There isn’t one right party or wrong, they’re both wrong and need to be replaced, probably with a brand new concept.

 

Now if this impending shutdown does in fact happen…..it won’t impact my cable service will it, I can get along without a whole bunch of things, but not without my cable T.V.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

SORRY BUT I’M HARPING ON THIS SUBJECT

SORRY BUT I’M HARPING ON THIS SUBJECT

(New York Times, Asbury Park (New Jersey) Press, Laura Gottesdiener)

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, David Dixon, Amador Ledger, Cecilia Rasmussen)

(Survivors Club, Huffington Post, Chicago Sun Times, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I get het-up whenever I read or hear about another childhood shooting death in our country…..no matter the 360 some million people, the act, the accident, or the mass shootings that are going on today throughout the United States are just wrong. Incidents of shootings are in somebody’s newspaper every single day of the week. They usually don’t make national headlines and that in and of it is a crime, this fact breeds ignorance, and really how much a problem child shootings really are.

 

A typical Chicago, Illinois week-end; Four men are dead among the 26 shot throughout Chicago since Friday evening, capping off a violent week-end. A hot week-end pushed the number of dead and wounded, as shootings happened morning, noon and night.

 

Sounds like a demilitarized zone…..doesn’t it, you know…..where there aren’t any patrol cops for the civilian population to turn to. Is it any wonder that the gangs of Chicago have taken over large parts of the city? Gun advocates don’t have a chance with these street punks, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on, more guns, or no guns!

 

Some kid each and every day in the United States shoots, (by accident) a friend, school-mate, or somebody who is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And we’re not talking about kids who are 10, 11, or 12 years old. No way, these kids can be as young as 3, or 4 years old. The pick up, or find Dad’s pistol…..and don’t even think, they point it and pull the trigger.

 

According to the New York Times, (there is an almost magnetic attraction for firearms among boys, in all but a handful of shooting instances, the shooter was male.) Time and again, boys could not resist handling a gun, disregarding repeated warnings by adults, and sometimes their own sense that they were doing something wrong.

 

You get all sorts of conflicting reporting on gun deaths in the U.S. whether accidental, random acts of terrorisms, gang related, or just some crazy out for a sickly good time. In fact getting correct information nation-wide is really a tough job. People seem to not want to be aware of the actual figures, and then there’s of course the National Rifle Association and their gobble de gook of crap that many times is so far from main-stream thinking that some wonder where their home office is…..Mars?  

 

Accidental shooting deaths are hard to track, accidental child shooting deaths are by far the hardest, usually because the details seem to be so gruesome, and heart rending. However for people to ignore such incidents and statistics are really nothing more than irresponsible. It’s kind of like a city official in any-town American saying something like…..”that could never happen in our town.” Well, Boo Hoo, it does happen and way too often, it’s time we all sat up and take a long look at where we’re at as a nation.

 

SADLY THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM JUST OVER THE PAST HUNDRED YEARS

On July 26, 1764, four Delaware (Lenape) American Indian warriors entered a settler’s log schoolhouse in the Province of Pennsylvania in what is now Franklin County. Inside was schoolmaster Enoch Brown, and a number of young school students. Brown pleaded with the warriors’ to spear the children before he was shot and scalped, the Indians then tomahawked and scalped the nine children in the schoolhouse…..however two survived. In addition to the massacre, the Delaware Indians took four hostages.

 

Beginning in the 1850’s and beyond, there has been mention of mass shootings, rape, pillage perpetrated by Indians, crazy men, and the occasional school student. However after 1900, American’s seemed to kind of refine the art of mass killings. Between 1900 and 1909 there were 26 reported mass murders that claimed the lives of 134 men, women, children and babies.

 

During the first decade of the 21^st century there were 40 individual incidents involving 82 deaths and the wounding of 94. Clearly we aren’t getting better; check the Navy Yard, or the Newtown murders.  We’re becoming more blood-thirsty, and to boot, as a species, we raise little if any resistance to these shameful acts and, in fact, try and rationalize them.  

 

The United States has a whole bunch of mean streets, places you simply do not use at night…..and in some cases in the larger cities, you don’t use them at all, no matter the time of day. However people continue to put up with this form of domestic terrorism brought about by American citizens. These people that are killing people here in America are little more than street punks, drug dealers, and pimps.

 

AND THEN YOU’VE GOT THIS MENTALITY

Of course everybody is entitled to his/her own opinion, but when your opinion resembles coming from what you sit on (your butt) maybe your platform should be taken away. I’m talking about the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and an article by a F.A. Ruecker. It is obvious that this guy likes guns, is a gun advocate, and might even sleep with his gun.

 

Whenever people get shot to death, whether in a group, or single, and for whatever reason, justified or otherwise, one thing holds true…..whoever got shot in a vital place is…..DEAD…DEAD…DEAD, there’s no sugar-coating the incident, somebody is dead.

 

This F.A. Ruecker joker wrote about some biker ruffling the feathers of some senior citizen, and in return getting shot four different times in his upper torso. Through some sort of miraculous intervention the biker lives and is now in the process of suing the old guy. Here’s the deal, the biker wacked the old guy (he’s 65) in the jaw and the old guy proceeded to produce a pistol and opened fire. Was it justified…..absolutely, but it’s not really a very good example of why people need guns to protect themselves.

 

The biker involved was most probably a recognizable individual and had some sort of rap sheet, (people don’t usually go up to complete strangers and give um a shot in the jaw). The better part of valor here would have been for the geezer to call the cops…..and let them do their job.

 

Killing somebody over a traffic dispute is really the way for whoever lives to become close personal friends with Big Willie Wonder in the slam…..it’s where foot-longs are free every day. This incident is really a hard call, but probably one that could have been resolved by the law.

 

What it really boils down to is how precious life is to each and every one of us, and what, we as citizens, are willing to stand up, embrace an issue, and have a voice in. Between 25 and 30 people die every day of the week, that’s more than 10,500 people. Terrorists from foreign countries are you kidding, what is more a threat them those people is us…..against us.

HAVE A NICE DAY!

HUB-BUB ABOUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

HUB-BUB ABOUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nancy Miller)

(Patrick Marley, Joshua Z. Lavine)

(Teapotmom, Frazer Chronicle)

 

What a waste of time, how can we, as mostly a reasonable people, be duped into such an irreverent issue as apparently some women feel the need to address…..at least here in Wisconsin. To me the subject matter is just that, it doesn’t matter! Now the Grand Old Party (Republicans,) who control and run the state legislature, will take up the mantle, waste a bunch of time, and finally for once and all settle the debate of what state high schools can call their athletic teams.

 

Silly frivolous and outrageous are just a few of the words that come to mind for me when I try and explain what stupidity seems to be going on throughout our country. Changing history, jerry-rigging political districts, omitting nick-names, slang terms, or epithets, whether hurtful, bigoted, or just plain ludicrous, have we become so civilized that we need to alter our thinking process.

 

If that was the case, exactly where would all the racists go, how would those people with low-brows find a place to express themselves? And what would happen to those Captains of Industry who play at being benevolent towards their workers of color, I mean where exactly would they meet for the quarterly summits…..ah yes, the problems of a capitalistic society in the 21^st century.

 

I’ve known the Washington football Redskins as that, (Redskins,) all of my life, I used to know the Marquette basketball Warriors who somehow have morphed into the Golden Eagles. And what about the Boston Braves…..Milwaukee Braves…..Atlanta Braves, actually the same team in different eras, yet in each time period, the Braves.

 

I hope by now you’ve figured out what in hell I’m lamenting about…..for me, kind of the end of an era, next will be my old high school nick-name, Trojans, somebody somewhere is gonna get the ruffled feather syndrome and become insulted by the name, Trojan and want the school mascot changed because the name (Trojan) referrers to a contraceptive devise…..will it never stop?

 

Now you take my school nick-name, Trojans, we used to have fun with the name when I was in school, I mean it was harmless, kid fun, that probably today would be stopped, and we’d get our butts kicked out of school. But can you see the humor in “blown Trojans, ripped rubbers, or the very best one, Blown-jans.” School was, and is for learning, scoping the ladies, playing a little athletics…..and in hindsight, learning about life.

 

A school nickname or mascot won’t hinder the basic processes most important to the school experience which is to learn some book stuff, but almost as important, to learn how to carry one’s self, and to react, and interact with adult authority figures and class-mates. School nick-names and the mascot controversy can distract from that basic goal…..and it’s time to stop.

 

OF COURSE THERE’S ALWAYS THE BIZARRE

Weirdness can be the key word when young people are searching out an institution of higher learning, one which can be called home for four years. I remember search schools of interest to me when I was that age…..about a hundred years ago. And during my search through brochures that I’d gotten from my high school I discovered the wonderful world of college sports teams mascot name.

 

The Tufts University Jumbos or the University of California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, how about the Syracuse University Orange, and the Williams College Ephs. All weird in their own right, but can they compete with some of these; College of the Atlantic Black Flys, or the St Louis College Pharmacists, and how about the Concordia College Cobbers, Trinity College Trolls, and last but surely not least, Whittier College Poets.

 

Whoever made up these school’s nick-names, and mascot figures were working overtime, way late into the night, conjuring up all sorts of names and images probably with the help of some adult libation no doubt.

 

Some of the professional nick-names and mascots came from…..well, it actually is hard to say, some simply do not make any sense. The New Jersey hockey team Devils or the Las Vegas 51’s allegedly for area 51 located about 80 miles from Vegas. Other strange mascot and nick-names, the Chicago football Bears, the hockey Blackhawks, and the basketball Bulls.

 

And who could forget the Milwaukee minor league baseball Cream, or the Boston baseball Bees, Rustlers, Doves, Bean-eaters, or Red Caps.  Of course there was the St. Louis baseball Perfectos, Browns, and Brown Stockings.

 

However by far the most colorful of all professional franchises, bar none would be the national league baseball Brooklyn entry, known through the years as the Robins, Dodgers, Trolley Dodgers, Superbas, Bridegrooms, and simply the Grooms, all used before the teams most to Los Angles, California.

 

Like I said, (it’s time for people to get off their soap box about such a silly subject) and get on with their lives. Have some fun…..it’s what non-participation sports are all about. As fans people are supposed to be entertained by what happens on the field.

 

COULD YOU IMAGINE CHANGING THIS SIMPLE DEVICE’S NAME

Okay I got to thinking, and as you can tell, I think all the hullabaloo about changing sports team’s nick-names is a whole lot of busy bunk. The silliness brought on mostly by Indian women…..as detailed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, needs to stop. With little exception high school mascots have absolutely nothing to do with any kind of racial intent.

 

To me the mascots, like warriors Red Skins, Red Men, Chiefs, Braves, Indians or Tomahawks pretty much pay homage to the Native American people. I never thought about the name(s) in a derogatory manner, and when I first heard, several years ago about people denouncing the mascots, I was surprised.

 

So with that spirit in mind, I searched for linked subjects, kind of, to illustrate the problem our society might have if the powers that be decided to change the name of a women’s brassiere. Now I realize that a women’s bra barely correlates to a sports team’s nick-name…..but bear with me; here we go!

 

1. Over the shoulder boulder holder.

2. Double barreled sling-shot.

3. Tit Sling.

4. Flopper stopper.

5. Booby holder.

6. Knocker covers.

7. Glad wear

8. Chest torture device.

9. Double D shoe horn.

 

Now I ask you, what women in here right mind would want the devise that she usually wears each and every day of the week from the time she’s in her middle teens to the end of her days, would want to change the name to anything other than what it’s called, a bra, for whatever it’s worth…..it’s got my vote.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

EEK-CIGARETTES

EEK-CIGARETTES

(K, Zezima, Josh Sanburn, Liz Neporent, ABC NEWS, New York Times)

(JF Etter, Jill Stark, Amel Ahmed, Al Jazeera, Rory Morrison)

(Ruth Rodriguez, Susan Cassidy, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Well there goes the neighborhood, another potential magical solution to a huge medical problem washed down the drain of skepticism by some of our authority figures, State and Federal Government. It’s an interesting word…..skepticism, it can be spelled two different ways, skepticism, or scepticism no matter which way you spell the word, it means to doubt, of that there is no doubt!

 

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, personal vaporizer (PV) and electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) is an electronic inhaler meant to stimulate and be a substitute for tobacco smoking. It generally utilizes a heating element that vaporizes a liquid solution. Some release nicotine, while others release a flavored vapor. They are designed to mimic traditional smoking implements, such as cigarettes or cigars, in their use and appearance.

 

I know of three or four people, who use what I always thought of as fake instruments of smoking, and they swear by them. Since I smoke cigars, maybe three or four a day, I really never gave the things a second thought, pretty much because I didn’t think that they had cigar fakers…..but they do, although I’ll never use one.

 

There hasn’t been a whole lot of either television or radio commercials about the things until lately, and their add content is pretty much innocuous until the last few seconds when they blast the essence of their message.

 

In the television spot, the cigarette looks real; the ash looks real, as does the cherry on the end, right down to the carton of cigarettes. My first reaction was that somebody was breaking the law by advertising cigarettes, and I sat bolt upright and listened.

 

The guy smoking the cigarette looks satisfied, but in short order the announcer says that the smoke is vapor, the cigarette isn’t real, and the ash and flame at the end of the cigarette are simulated…..there not real. The cigarette actually is a NJOY King, the first smokeless, nicotine –delivering, device, and according to the manufacturer “looks, feels, smokes like the real thing.”

 

To say the least I was really impressed…..at first, and then when my daughter and her friend started using them, it got me to thinking about possible side effects, and the USDA, doctors reports, the AMA…..and the list just kept going on.

 

Of course now there are calls by some groups to establish studies, and get government on board with health questions that might be necessary for any kind of approval by the fed, and also to figure out what kind of age limit might be necessary for the things. It’s funny, after man’s ingenuity, the Federal Government steps in after the fact, to law down rules and regulations for product safety.

 

HERE’S THE BIG QUESTION

Can e-cigarettes challenge big tobacco companies, some of which have been established for well over a hundred years…..and either directly, or indirectly employ thousands of employees, growers, delivery services…..and do generate billions of dollars in tax revenue every year.

 

E-cigarette was developed back in 2003 and currently account for less than 1% of the $80 billion U.S. cigarette market. Of course as the word of mouth and the developing advertisement programs will help boost sales, which have doubled every year since 2008, and are projected to reach $1 billion by year’s end.

 

There is a possibility that down the road e-cigarettes may one day overtake traditional cigarettes and it may not be decades in time, but rather as soon as 2020. And the e-cigarette will only evolve and improve as time goes forward.

 

If there comes a time when the e-cigarette cuts into share of traditional smokes, you’d better believe that the tobacco companies will fight back with every single weapon that they posses and some that haven’t be devised yet.

 

The potential for first tax revenue loss, and then a reduction of the entire established cigarette market, which would amount to billions, is real and, I’m sure, scary to some in the industry as well as some those outside it.

 

The big swing with e-cigarettes is that the company’s strategy and professional ideas are to some extent a function of the fact that Craig Weiss doesn’t smoke at all. What NJOY, Weiss’s company, claims is that they aren’t trying to create new smokers! It doesn’t market its product to under aged smokers, quite the contrary, the company says it’s going after only those established 45 million smokers who light up every day.

 

Currently more than 70% of smokers say that they want to quit, and I’ll admit it…..a few years ago I was one of those who wanted to quit. I did in fact quite back in 1997…..cold turkey…..the best move that I ever made.

 

However with these new e-cigarettes, there would seem to be a kind of quick remedy for those who want to quit…..and I’m guessing that the pain (of quitting) would be nominal. Do I think that there should be governmental involvement with the process…..absolutely.

 

So to answer the Big Question, yes, in the long term, e-cigarettes will hurt the American tobacco industry; however there will also be a market for cancer-sticks. Their use, addiction, and health causing issues will be felt long after e-cigarettes of claimed their place in American society.

 

THINGS PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT E-CIGARETTES

E-cigarettes are battery operated nicotine inhalers that consist of a rechargeable lithium battery, a cartridge called a cartomizer and a LED, (light-emitting diode) that lights up at the end when you puff on the e-cigarette to simulate the burn (cherry) of a tobacco cigarette.

 

The costs of a starter kid usually costs between $30 and $100, and the estimated cost of replacement cartridges is about $600. Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day (real ones) costs around a $1000, two packs $2000 and so on. It’s rather easy to see why e-cigarettes would be a bit more advantageous just by the (wallet savings.)

 

The Food and Drug Administration WILL become involved with the e-cigarette question and debate in the direct future, a federal court case decision back in 2011 gave the agency that right. So taxation, regulations and all the rest that comes with governmental agencies involvement will undoubtedly overtake the new industry in very short order.

 

The health risks of e-cigarettes is still being developed, there of course was no initial studies available, inventers, designers and developers don’t do blind taste tests, they invent, design, develop…..it’s their job. They then attempt to sell, sell, sell, so that they can secure funds for their next invention project.

 

The question of whether e-cigarettes help smokers kick the tobacco habit is, as well, sketchy, my daughter so far swears by the product. She’s  been using the thing for a little over a month…..so time will tell, she doesn’t drink so that’s a point in her favor…..you know how touch it can be for smokers who are drinkers favor lighting up, it’s kind of like a Mutt and Jeff thing.

 

Whether the e-cigarette is little more than a gimmick, an instrument that replaces that cancer stick, or man’s yearning to suckle at his mother’s breast…..only time will tell. Also there is concern that young people, teenagers, and even pre-teens just might be able to get their hands on e-cigarette paraphernalia and become addicted to nicotine.

 

I guess I’d have to say that the jury is still out on exactly what properties the process of e-cigarettes, tobacco, and the will-being of man holds for the future with regards to the question of the issue…..TO E-CIGAREET, OR STAY A WEED-BUTT, as with many other issues, the choice is yours.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

THANK YOU SCOTTY…..MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?

THANK YOU SCOTTY…..MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?

(Scott Bauer, Twin Cities Pioneer Press)

(Rockford Register Star, Eric Litke)

(Green Bay Press Gazette)

(Frazer Chronicle)

 

This was an easy one, there weren’t any hidden issues, or overt acts, and it was simply a (bam)….. in your face, don’t like it, tough crap…..it’s done because “I figured it was necessary.” We’ve all heard “it’s the right thing to do” garbage, but in this case, Governor Scott Walker took the phrase a step or two further; he established a program of merit supplemental pay to the nth degree to some state employees.

 

I give politicians a rough time…..all the time, and mostly they deserve the ragging their given, but when a politician goes completely off the rails, you can bet your little bippy that his butt is mine. Politicians figure that they are above scrutiny about an hour after their elected into office, almost no matter the office, dog catcher, sewer control manager, it doesn’t matter, they all mostly get an attitude, and as they say, “it’s the beginning of the end” for any productive activity from these jokers.

 

I’m not sure why there’re two parties in our political system of government, there is little difference in each…..sure I understand that there are other political flavors out there, but at the present time, and in this particular atmosphere of government, there’s really only the Democrats and the Republicans that are running the country. It’s the way it’s been for decades, and it’ll probably continue for another number of decades.

 

I watched with much interest as Scott Walker first ran for Wisconsin’s Governor, and wondered at some of his campaign promises regarding some of the things that he said he wanted to install into Wisconsin’s legislature as well as what he thought should be altered, or done away with altogether if he were elected.

 

When he was elected I watched for the s---storm which I knew was coming, I’ve written on many occasions what I thought which way he was going, and how it ultimately hurt Wisconsinites, not immediately, but down the road possibly for our children’s, children.

 

One of the very first things that Walker and his cronies did was to eliminate some of the public sectors union negotiation rights. Slyly Walker did not touch the police or fire departments union rules, regulations, and how city, county, and state were dealt with by their administrators.

 

However for teachers, local, county, regional and other state employees unions, there was a very brisk turn-off of negotiations…..pretty much there wasn’t any…..I know this for a fact, my wife worked for the city of Green Bay…..and both her and I lived through the storm that Walker brought down on these people.

 

In another day and time, the union, union sympathizers and employees who are sick and tired of some of the shoddy treatment will rise up and kick the crap out of administrators, and governmental officials because of what Scott Walker did…..and he did it in the name of economic austerity, for the good of Wisconsinites.

 

 

 

 

JUST THE FACTS

Walker withstood a recall election, and has been coddled by the Republican Party as a possible presidential candidate, and that’s all fine and good. But here’s where the start of payback begins, you can take this prediction to the bank.

 

Walker has eliminated close to 20,000 government sector jobs, and another 6200 in the private-sector, which amounts to more that the entire country…..between 2011, and 2012. For much of the rest of the years of his time in office, the economy has been flat, and there is little talk today about the creation of 250,000 new jobs in his first term.

 

Much of Walkers activity dealt with public employees in the state government services departments, those services that we, as Wisconsin residents, pay for through our taxes. However Walkers actions dribbled over into the private sector as hundreds lost full-time employment and their benefits were slashed almost to the bone in some instances. Time and time again Governor Walker’s union tactics with public workers were cited as why these benefit cuts were being made.

 

Of course we now come to another in the Walker rule book of the bizarre, paying state employee’s bonuses for doing their jobs. I was never a fan of getting a bonus for simply doing my job, sure I took the money, but I always felt like maybe there’d be a payback down the road somewhere.

 

I always figured that I gave my best effort because that is what I had sold when I was hired, I gave my word to do give my best effort in whatever I was told to do. I think the vast majority figure the same way as I did, to give their best effort.

 

For me, a bonus was kind of like, “oh wow, you really did give a good effort, thanks, oh yeah here’s a couple hundred, or couple thousand for doing your job!” It was kind of like condescending towards me…..of course I did my job, and did it to the best of my ability…..instead of a bonus, how about a raise in my hourly rate of pay.

 

Back in 2012 there was a similar bonus payout that involved close to 4 million dollars, and of course ruffled feathers than. Some departments weren’t included in the bonus plan, and those that did participate in the program voice some anger as to how the graduations of bonus payments were given out.

 

AND NOW THERE’S 2013

Yup here we go again, Walker and his cronies are doing it again…..this time the bonus program will include a whopping $9.2 million…..can I get a witness, I mean wow, holy cow, and a bit of woo, woo, what a benevolent benefactor Walker has become.

 

There are lump sums that are being paid out, some as high as $3,163…..the Transportation Department, and $750, the Department of Corrections. Why the huge disparity…..(see I didn’t even get a bonus, and I question the differences in amounts.) Guess working as a screw on a prison block, dealing with rapists, con artists, thugs, punks and murderers doesn’t count as much as directing traffic, or painting yellow lines on the state’s highways.

 

Tom Evenson, spokesman for the governor said that “rewarding performance is important to the governor, and discretionary merit compensation is a good tool for managers to use to motivate their employees towards outstanding performance.” Give me a fricken break, “motivate, smodivate,” don’t these people go to work the same way I did, to provide for their families, get the hell outta town.

 

To date about 300 employees, state employees, have received merit bonuses’ totaling $4000, gees, that’s like $1.2 million…..I want one of those jobs…..I can stand beside a road project, lean on my shovel and smoke my cigar just as good as any one of those 300, maybe even better, I’ve had more practice.

 

It’s funny, if unions want more, then there’s holy hell to pay, people are pissed off, and WON’T TAKE IT ANYMORE,  However if Governor Scott Walker plays Santa Claus, and gives our money away in the form of bonuses…..it’s okay?

 

Quit thinking people…..it’s just government as usual, prioritizing where our money is going, and it ain’t back into our pockets anytime soon. Those services that our tax dollars pay for…..millions now have found their way into some in the Transportation Department, or some other such departments.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!

MEDICINE IS A WONDERFUL INVENTION, IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT

MEDICINE IS A WONDERFUL INVENTION, IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT

(New Choice Health, Pacific Source, Wall Street Journal)

(Angies List, Jackie Norris, New York Times)

(Heartsite.com, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I took a stress test yesterday, and the test really stressed me, I may be kicking the tires on 70 years of age, but gee, come on, I couldn’t even do the treadmill part, they had to shoot me up with some sort of chemical cocktail that mimicked me working out…..to my heart. Let me tell you, if you take a stress test, try your damndest to do the treadmill, that chemical mix gives off feelings like your having a heart attack for about a minute or so…..worst minute or so I’ve experienced in quite some time.

 

You can’t eat after midnight, no coffee…..water only, and I love my morning brew…..coffee is my friend, but not the morning of the stress test, so right away I’m irritable, and a bit gnarly, wanting that coffee. But the no coffee thing was by far the easiest part of my morning.

 

I read all the directions that my doctor had given me, I followed all the do not take these medications because deal, and like I said (I didn’t have my morning brew), but when I get to the hospital, I’m sittin’, and my stomach’s growlin’ and then this guy starts telling me about his triple digit  blood pressure, and how he drinks two pots of coffee a day, and all I want to do is get this day over with…..and it’s only 8:45 A.M.

 

Thankfully this guy comes for me, we go back to this room and he injects me with some kind of nuclear mixer that’ll show up in an x-ray…..and then he sends me back to the waiting room. Luckily the guy with the race-car blood pressure is gone…..and it’s just fifteen or so minutes later and I’m down the hall to this x-ray room and one of the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of my life.

 

This guy slaps my butt onto this rock-hard x-ray table where I must lay completely still, with my arms above my head while this machine takes pictures of my upper torso. It was the longest 20 minutes of my life…..but I made it, even though I had several back spasms.

 

I next was escorted to the treadmill room where who should I see…..Mr. triple digit blood pressure, two pots of coffee in the morning guy. I lucked out because before he could say a word to me, he was taken around the corner and hopefully shot. I shouldn’t say that, cause he really did seem like an okay guy…..kinda!

 

The nurse made me take off my “T” shirt, a Traverse City, Michigan Beach Bum’s baseball shirt, shaved five or six parts of my chest and attached some electrode type holders, sat me in a chair, hooked me up to a machine, took my blood pressure, (124 over 84) injected me with the heart attacking causing chemical mix…..and, as they say…..the rest is history.

 

After another 20 minute round of x-rays on the dreaded table of torture, I was done, and with a reassuring message from the guy, (Gary) “no news is good news.” I peddled around the house waiting for the doctors call that…..never came, does that mean that I’m in the clear…..only time will tell, but I feel good about the no call thing.

 

WHAT DID MY HALF DAY IN THE HOSPITAL COST

That my friends is the $64,000 question, my wife and I have a decent health plan, the prescribed payment schedules are listed in our policy as well as on our health care cards. However for me that really isn’t good enough…..I want an itemized list of what the charges are.

 

My cost for the stress test through my insurance plan…..out of my pocket is $75, I suppose you could call that (my deductable,) seems pretty liberal to me, since the procedure, here in Green Bay costs anywhere from $950 to $2800. I’m sure that my insurance company has a bargaining agreement with the hospital that my doctor chose. How it happens makes no difference to me, as long as the job gets done.

 

However I can attest to this, I spent four hours at getting my procedure done, and it involved maybe one hour of medical staff assistance, the rest of the time I was on some sort of medical machine manufactured by Sieman Technologies, I looked them up, their really big, the preeminent leader in the industry.

 

What my procedure was, was two basic MRI’s, minimal in size, but non-the-less MRI’s, and I can only guess at their cost, since a full-blown MRI can cost, on average $1,200 here in the United States. Of course there were the two injections, getting hooked up to a scanner that measured my pulse and my blood pressure, oh yeah; I did get my chest shaved in several spots.

 

With all the hub-bub going on about Affordable Care, and Obama-Care…..are they the same, and wasn’t there something passed a year or two ago that was supposed to take care of this issue.. I swear I simply can’t keep these issues straight in my head.

 

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MEDICAL PROCEDURE

For me it’s the Colonoscopy, the test itself is an in and out deal, you sleep through the whole thing, and there are some fine looking nurses to look at you after your in the recovery room. Of course the fluid you drink the night before is the pits…..but the actual procedure is smooth.

 

However the cost…..wow, for me, two years ago, $1350 on my wife’s health insurance from the city of Green Bay. My wife used to work for Risk Management for the city, and she figured that there were upwards of 1000 employees and covered beneficiaries that were eligible for the procedure, that would, in effect break the city’s self insured program. That was several years ago, and my wife switched departments, so I never did hear whether Green Bay’s medical program is busted or not.

 

From the little research that I’ve done on this issue, (the costs of medical procedures) the United States seems to be high on their charges, really high…..like REALLY HIGH! An Angiogram, (blood vessel x-ray) in the U.S. $914, in Canada, $35, a Colonoscopy in the U.S. $1185, in Switzerland, $655, a hip replacement, $40,364 here, in Spain, $7731, (kind of like Spain takes the pain) away, Lipitor in the U.S., $124, in New Zealand, $6 bucks and than that old MRI in the United States, $1121, and in the Netherlands, $319.

 

Now somebody out there is gonna talk about “yeah, maybe the prices are cheaper, but how long does it take a person to get the tests” or the really, really big lie, “maybe it’s cheaper, but how competent is the test.” You know what, that would be right, but I’ll tell you this…..for many, many Americans (me included,) we’d like to find out how long the procedures do take, and how competent are the doctors in these foreign countries, and how really good are these medical plans, and how much do they cost…..I’ll bet a band-aid won’t cost $50 or $75 dollars either.

 

HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGY IN THE WINDOW

People talk about Affordable Care and how it’ll cost billions, trillions, or kazillions, or bazillions, I can’t keep the figures straight in my head. I do know this, for every person out there that is uninsured (medically speaking) it’s a scary situation…..especially if they have kids. I can remember a time in my life when my family was uninsured, and I’d worry about sickness or injury not so much for me, but for my wife and kids.

 

Now I gotta warn you, what’s next is a bit technical, and a bit complicated, however, using my formula of simple, I think you-all will understand the statistics of the facts. This part has to do with medical providers, and how they pile-on as it where, like in football when a runner is hard to bring down. These practices are wide spread, and happen throughout the medical care industry.

 

Upcoding is usually identified with Medicare fraud, where health care providers bill for higher CTP (current procedural terminology). This system was developed by the AMA (American Medical Association) and is used to describe medical services and procedures.

 

Phantom procedures, submitting claims for procedures that were never actually conducted, and is a common method used by physicians to obtain unearned compensation so that they can buy that new SUV or take the wife and kids on that Jamaican holiday or get the girl-friend a new fur coat.

 

Exaggerated claims are used by medical professionals where they exaggerate medical care, or upcoding, just another scam to inflate the bill that is sent to Medicare. Of course there’s the old Unnecessary Services or Unbundling, and a real zinger, Double Billing. What each of these practices do is a way to fool either the Federal Government, or a patient’s insurance company.

 

I’m sure it’s a constant battle out there in the war between health care providers, the Federal Government, and the insurance companies. We seldom hear about it, or miss a story on page five of your local newspaper.

 

There are common practices within the medical provider, and either the fed or the insurance company that experts say is ‘way too complicated’ to explain, however using my formula of simple, I feel confident that you’ll have absolutely no trouble understand my explanation, and grasping and embracing my formula.

 

When you walk into your doctor’s office, and either a cute little blond with some heavy cleavage, or that “all business type” greet you, they don’t see an incoming patient, there’s a “ding, ding, ding” that goes off in their head. The very first thing that they check is your ability to make payment on the upcoming medical event. They are interested in the financial numbers that can be billed to which-ever health care plan that you have, oh yeah, you’ll need to pay that deductable right now.

 

Don’t have a health plan…..no problem, just belly up to the pay window…..cause we except cash in  any denomination, and from several different countries. However writing a check will take several minutes cause we gotta check the balance in your account, “go ahead and have a seat, we’ll call ya when were done.”

 

It’s a brave new world out there in the health care industry, the competition is brutal, and the practices can cut the guts right out of a family in need. I had my stress test, sadly I’m not due for another Colonoscopy for another couple of years…..and by then who knows what it’ll cost?

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!