I webbed the news today, oh boy. What a sense of deja vu. I've been noticing that a lot of late. A week old story suddenly reappears on today's headlines. Doesn't seem to matter if it's CNN.com or YAHOO.com or MSN.com. There no longer is a read-by date for news apparently.

I think this is natural fallout from the 24 hour news cycle. Let's face it, unless you drill way down, there really is not that much news out there. The logical extension of the recent direction of the news where anything can be turned into a story, is to start repeating...repeats are cheaper than original.

To me this is just further proof of the decline of western media. At least with Internet news we have the option of not clicking on the MORE link.

Of course, if I considered conspiracy theories, I could probably make a case for the Cloning of the Media. It's a proven fact that media outlets are now owned by a smaller circle of bigger companies than ever before. With RSS inter-connectivity, it's easier to fill online space with repeats of the news than digging out news that is actually new.

The nucleus of both the Great Depression of 1929 and Our Depression of 2008 was the financial markets. Stock market shenanigans in '29, sub-prime mortgage abuses in '08.

In both cases, excessive greed by the insiders, the elite, the moguls, the ruling class, whatever you want to call them, was the reason for the economic collapse. Too much rape and pillage of the common man, joe sixpack, the little guy and the system ran out of money.

The big difference is the approach to getting ourselves back on track. In 1929, FDR created "make work" projects, which paid the unemployed for doing work that may not have been necessary. The classic example would be to hire person A to dig a hole, and person B to fill in the hole. Even if that was 100% the case, 100% of the time, I find it better than the 2008 solution of bailing people out by giving them money for having screwed up.

While they both have merit (up to a point) in putting money back in the economy there are two significant differences. One: In 1929 the money went to the little guy, the worker. In 2008 in went to the the bankers, the financiers, the brokers. Two: The message in 1929 was that if you worked, you got paid. This is an enormous part of self-confidence and feelings of self-worth. The 2008 message was that if you were rich and screwed things up, the government would throw money at you. And allow you to take bonuses for having done "such a good job." Not only does it breed resentment within the working class, it breeds an sense of entitlement in a group of people who are failures...as human beings and as corporate executives.

What happened to the American work ethic? Listening to ESPN radio while at work, is not working. If you were my employee, you'd be fired on the spot. There's far too much political correctness and far too little common sense.

Here's the important thing. You need to see this video (trailer below)...it's an amazing collection of facts, opinions, educated guesses, and most importantly, survival tips. Because, my friends, with the clowns that are in charge of things today, we haven't seen anything yet. Our economy is on its absolute last legs. So watch the trailer of The Fall of America and the Western World and decide for yourself...are you willing to bet your future on those who are in charge of our country's financial policies? Because, if you're not, you owe it to you and your family the get this tape. To do nothing is to risk everything.

The seamy side of politics has never been exposed so blatantly as what we've witnessed during the health care debates. It's clear that many of the votes have been bought and paid for by the insurance companies, the existing bill is a travesty that holds little promise for improving health care, and that Ted Kennedy is rolling over in his grave. To even consider fining someone who can't afford health insurance for not having health insurance is government hypocrisy at its worst.

As things stand there are no winners (except the insurance companies)...we are all losers. While I identify with the spirit of the public option, I shudder at government administering health care. What's needed is a realistic look at the problems and non-conventional thinking about solutions.

There are plenty of examples of health care systems that work in this country. Kaiser Permanente is a prime example. Their premiums are cheap, their service is excellent, and out of pocket co-pays are minimal. Most importantly, Kaiser makes money, so it is a sustainable model.

Let's look at how they do things: first and foremost, Kaiser emphasizes preventive medicine...let's fix the problem before it becomes something major. I concur. But I think we can do better.

I've long thought that the role of the Federal government is as follows: each citizen of the United States gets born for free, buried for free, is provided free education and medical (including dental and vision)offerings (or can choose to go to private schools or use personal physicians and pay out of their pocket) and if they are willing to work 40 hours they can earn enough to rent lodging, have money for food, and be able to afford payments on a second hand car.
Anything elective (like private school, abortion, plastic surgery, cosmetic dentistry) comes out of the citizen's pocket.

The key is to have rational limits on what is covered under this health plan. Here's what I propose: childbirth, annual physical checkups, flu shots, childhood vaccinations, emergencies (heart attack, broken leg, gunshot wound, etc) dental fillings and crowns are covered with a $50 co-pay. Plastic surgery, cosmetic dental work, abortion, liposuction, and other optional treatments are not covered but can be purchased for additional money.) Doctor visits for routine (non vital) ailments like colds, ingrown toenails, poison ivy would have a nominal doctor visit of around $50. Generic prescriptions are filled for cost plus $5. Brand name prescriptions are filled for cost plus $25.

Lab and testing costs need to be factored in. They need to be reduced to reasonable amounts because in this model, our tax dollars will be paying for these lab tests. There are certainly economies of scale that can be arranged to make this so.

The final key to this business model is the scale in which physicians get paid. Currently, the range in pricing for a doctors visit to doctors with private practices is very wide. Depending on the doctor, a visit can range from $50 to $350 for the same thing. To make the plan work, doctors would receive the $50 co-pay plus a reasonable fee for any additional medical treatment (surgery, etc.)

As much as Obama wants to use health care as a signature event in his administration, this bill is not acceptable.

I webbed the news today, oh boy. It seems the Kennedy dynasty has run its course. The four brothers, all dead in service of their country. The golden sun, also dead at the wheel of his private plane. The shining daughter, who recently disclosed political ambition but withdrew before running is left to carry the torch, or at least hold it aloft until a generation can be skipped and a new prince emerges.

The Kennedy's three, John, Robert and Ted has charisma and social conscience and wished to make America a better place for all who lived here. JFK's brief presidency was defined by standing up to the Soviet Union while not going to war, fighting organized crime and obtaining civil rights reform. Civil rights was passed in honor of his sacrifice.

Robert stood for stopping the war in Vietnam and treating our country's poor with more equality. He too was assassinated. The war in Vietnam ended, but not in his honor and the plight of the poor remains poor.

Teddy was up next...never as charismatic as his older brothers, Teddy ran himself off the road and off the discussion for president one night in Chappaquiddick and settled for becoming the most productive senator over the next forty years. For over the last two decades, Ted Kennedy championed a national health plan to cover everyone. For two decades, the lobbyist won. Will Ted's death be honored with passage of the National Health Reform? Stay tuned....

So far the political battle of health care has been one of the ugliest political brouhahas I've ever seen. The lies and distortions and hate that have been unleashed by the far right and United Health are blatant. As was the position of the Republican party on this issue. Put into plain speak the Republican partly line is "Fuck the health plan, let's roll out our hate mongering political bag of tricks because we can bring Obama down on this issue if we spin it right."

So far, fixed news, the christian right, and some inane senators have done a powerful job of delusional sound bites that have been repeated often enough that America seems to have lost its mind, or at least its common sense and swallowed them whole. From death panels, to no options, to limited service, to immigrants being covered for free, the far rights is pushing buttons with a fury. The lobbyist whose pocket these grand ol' elephants are riding in is throwing money like confetti.

If the National Plan included an option to open up Kaiser Permanente Clinics around the country, the problem would be solved immediately. For those of you who haven't heard about there medical insurance go to kp.org (note, they may not have a clinic there but pick anyone to see plan details). I've been using Kaiser since the early 1960's and have yet to come across a medical program that makes more sense, offers so much, for such a low premium. Those foolish enough to believe the urban myths about Kaiser are losing out...Kaiser doctors are among the best I've ever seen. They are truly focused on making you well.

I webbed the news the last few days, oh boy. It seems Obama is a citizen of Kenya and Death Panels are being formed as we write.

Of course, in order to believe this crap, we have to overlook the FACT of Obama's Hawaii Certificate of Live Birth (which IS what the State of Hawaii issues as a Birth Certificate) AND we have to overlook the fact that this alleged Death Panel is comprised of three people who pass judgment on all medical treatment for the 100 MILLION Baby Boomers coming down the pike. Disregarding the fact that there is NO Death Panel, we Baby Boomers would die of old age before said Death Panel ever got around to our case.

It's gotten so brazen that Republicans were openly stating that there opposition to Obama's health care plan was not based on disagreement with the policies of the plan, but rather on their political calculations that they could defeat the health plan legislation and cripple Obama. In other words, fuck the American citizen, it's all about me.

This is reminiscent of the Fear Tactics that led us into the ludicrous Iraq war, where we eliminated our one Muslim ally in the war against Al Qaeda and turned the country into a unstable, civil war ravaged nightmare.

If the Republicans expect sane Americans to start taking them seriously, they ought to stick to the facts and drop the fear mongering.

I saw the news online today, oh boy. It was about China having more internet users than the United States has people. Envision for a moment a command going out to all of China from Party central that on such and such time and day, everyone in China who has access to a computer must go to (INSERT TARGET WEBSITE HERE). This would have to be the ultimate denial of service attack. Sort of like Mao's approach to the fly problem, issue fly swatters and let China's enormous population go to work.

Closer to home, it brings to mind the childhood prank legend of everyone in New York City flushing their toilets at the same time, exploding the pipes through the area. The science behind both scenarios probably doesn't make sense, but they are interesting to contemplate

I lived and worked and played in Boston and Cambridge from the late 60s through the mid 70s. Besides Vietnam, the other political issue at the time was school busing. No one cried louder than the liberals from Boston and Cambridge about the need for busing to be implemented in the South. Finally, it came to pass. Ironically, the courts found that all of the United States, including New England was subject to the busing laws.

The fury of the liberal when confronted with his own folly is right up there with the fury of a woman scorned. In 1975 the police took to the streets with unauthorized road checks. None of the police were wearing their badges or any form of ID. I got on the next plane out of there.

The point is not to shine further light onto the Boston areas less than spotless reputation when it comes to race relations, but rather to say that while in general I agree with the liberal point of view, there are times where that view just doesn't work in the real world.

In the real world, I don't see any advantage to rewarding terrorists with the protections of the Geneva Conventions (to which the terrorists are not signatories). The problem is that this of course leads to racial profiling (most terrorists ARE muslims) which comes with its own set of problems. And here, the liberal is apt to get pissed off if some figure of authority takes themselves too seriously in their presence.

The trouble with political correctness is shit happens. At that point, political correctness should be the least of our worries. It would be nice to tone down the politics as well, and I'll wait patiently for G. Gordon Liddy's apology for questioning Obama's United States citizenship.