0006 - 15OCT12 - Soap box...

Sports… The Tigers are already killing my Yankees (2-0). The Yankees have been my team forever (I was born during the 6^th game of the 1952 World Series when the Yankees beat the Giants – again); on the other hand, although I have admired the Tigers since the late ‘60s, I’ve come to appreciate them more in recent years, and they have several Venezuelan players in their roster, one of them being the triple-crowned Miguel Cabrera… That means that I will be rooting for the American league in the coming World Series… Football-wise, went to Rome, GA this past weekend to watch a game between the Ave Maria University Gyrenes (Div. III) and the Shorter University Hawks (Div. II). You see, #77 of the Gyrenes (Gyrenes, by the way, it is an old – circa 1894 - yet valid name for Marines), their Left Offensive Tackle, on the blind side, is Jesse Temperilli, my confirmation God-son; the Gyrenes lost, but #77 made a superb account of himself! On the NFL, Dolphins, Bucs, and Giants won and Dallas lost; all is good! The stinkin’ Jets and Bills won; all bad! The Gators (new #2, baby!) took care of business against a local favorite, Vandy …and, oh yes I almost forgot, UM North and Michigan State also won, while UM South lost (‘Noles don’t matter)…

Politics… No comments on the VP debate (does it really matter?) Looking forward to the next Presidential debate tomorrow…

Soap Box Issue: Health Insurance… When my first daughter was born, 32 years ago, my out-of-pocket costs were $10, out of a total of over $1,400; when my last one came around, 11 years later, my out-of-pocket was over $3,700 (and I forgot the total cost!). A friend of mine’s daughter recently went to the hospital with an unidentified pain; after four hours of tests and treatment, her bill was $25,000. My 3^rd daughter, brand new in the work force and as healthy as a 22 years old can be, can only afford insurance with a deductible of about 6.67% of her annual gross salary (Obama would have to pay $27,000 and Mitt about a cool $2,000,000 out-of-pocket before their insurance would kick in; what are the odds of that?). A hospital in the West Coast bills the insurance companies $4,200 for an MRI; the negotiated discount rate (what the hospital gets from the insurance company) is $2,200 (and they get to declare the other $2,000 as loss); however, a walk-in patient can get one done, as long as they pay cash, for $200. So, if they can do it for $200, and still make money, why do they bill $4,200 to start with? You ask a doctor about the costs, and they tell you that it is driven by the cost of insurance; you ask a hospital and they tell you that the costs are driven by the cost of insurance and the cost of caring for the indigent; everybody is making money hand over fist, and the ones making the most, in obscene fashion, are the insurance companies… Now, there are many good people among us who say there is no need for Health Care Reform and oppose it vehemently; they argue that, with a deregulated market and open competition (more deregulated and open that now, how?) these same insurance companies will take care of ‘self-regulating’ and ‘the market forces’ will bring the cost of Health Care to a level affordable by all… Never been one to indulge in, but I certainly would love to take a hit – or two - of whatever they are smoking!

Trivia… For those of us who think we do not have enough diversity and that we are not a melting pot of all sorts of people, I have this story for you: did you know that there is a Medical Doctor who is also an US Representative for an electoral district in Georgia who said – in a public gathering - that the whole evolution theory is “hog wash from the pit of hell” and that the earth is only 9,000 years old, as the Bible implies? This is an US congressman saying this, ladies and gentlemen… Do we have them in all kinds, sizes and colors, or what? Furthermore, and here is the kicker, this US Congressman sits in the US House Select Committee for the Advancement of Science and Technology; do you think are we going anywhere fast in this area? You be the judge…

Food for thought…

“Not gold, but only man can make a people great and strong; men who, for truth and honor's sake, stand fast and suffer long.”

 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, keep your values straight, my friends…