i have had a home, and therefore, insurance for 15 years. in that time, i have never had a claim. i have certainly had the opportunity too, with a couple floods and the like, but they were always below the deductible.

so. it was with great disappointment that i opened the renewal of my insurance bill, to find a 20% increase. i called them. nothing changed. everything stayed the same. all my scores were the same. everything was as it was. yet the insurance went up 20%. just because.

guess i’ll be shopping… again… thank you illinois. you’re the best…

so. i listened to some, but not (as yet) all of the health care summit today. i was quite taken with the passion that the president and the rest of the democrats during what i heard. i was, as usual, not impressed with the republicans. why? because they brought nothing new to the party. nothing. same props. same tired lines. they say they want to do a do-over. because, they say, that the american people want a do over. so. i was trying to figure out, in my mind, what was meant by saying that the american people want a do-over. they base it on polls, so i went to the net to try to determine just what the numbers really mean. here is my best shot. please feel free to tear it apart.

let me first say that i made a ton of assumptions here. but hey. everyone does when speaking of polls.

so here goes. using the 2000 us census, the united states consisted of 281,421,000 persons. in ranges, they broke it out as follows:

i would suggest right mouse clicking on the picture, and then opening in a new window or tab, so that you can follow along with my logic… or else not.

essentially, gallup polled 1009 people. i divided that by 50 states, and rounded to 20 total, because even though i believe that rush or glen are only part human, you just can’t use a piece of anyone really.

take the total population, and figure out what age groups could be represented in numbers. again. i took some liberty here as well, because i am unsure of the quantity of young adults in the 15-24 range. so i simply divided it by 10 and took the number from 18-24. then i figured out the quantity based on my unscientific count of the population per state. then. using my numbers for all including a forecast of the split of ages, i had at it.

bottom line. of the 281 million people that were available in 2000, assuming that this was really the count for today, .00581443% of the population want this health care bill to fail. that is the tiniest of numbers. it is based on a poll of 1000 people. and though none of this is scientific or even near factual, in my humble opinion, i just am unable to see where anyone can say that based on the poll numbers, the population of the united states isn’t for health care. it’s just not possible.

ok. so that was me taking a look at the whole population and basing things on the numbers en mass.

but. here is the real deal. the following is based on gallup. look how far out you have to go to get the percentage to even begin to register?

i’m supposed to believe that the .0000234 blah blah blah figure means that the people of the united states don’t want health care? no fuching way.

my bottom line? fuch the polls. they don’t mean anything. they might be able to produce a temperature, but even then, they are highly suspect. ever had a friend say… hey. when you get the questionnaire from my company, please make it the best ever? and when you did, did you really tell the truth? if not, then you also could have been one of the people polled and said what you thought they wanted to hear instead of how you really felt. i can guarantee you that i could go out, right now, and find 100 people for and against the health care bill. and. i also bet that those people would be able to recite the talking points verbatim, but not be able to deliver any facts that back the points up, at all.

so. forget what the polls say. read and listen to some neutral media. there is some out there. but for petes sake, make up your own mind. don’t be swayed by either side.

if you are against what you consider socialist health care, then simply deny getting into any of the government run options that will be available in your older years. pay the cash out of pocket on what ails you. go ahead. you can’t take it with you anyway. might as well just spend it so that others get rich.

yep.

that’s the ticket!

on the wall. apparently someone had a sneeze and left a ‘present’ on the wall above the urinal. later. someone spent the time to create and tape up a ‘wtf’ note right next to it.

now. that wouldn’t be so bad except that on the list of ‘wtf’ moments, that would be a low priority moment for me.

a much higher priority would be that it also seems that our office has a number of blind people that use the urinals. seriously. there are times where i swear that a small lake has been formed. for me, that is a much more important ‘wtf’ moment. i mean. geez.

and then there are the people that grab a towel or two, and at the same time let one of two hit the floor. how can you not take a moment and pick up your mistake? it just takes a sec. why not spend a sec? why?

i can only imagine what the bathrooms of these people look like at home.

i don’t blame president obama. he gave the congress a job, and they went at it. unfortunately, there are so many congress-people with their own agenda’s (not the peoples) that it just won’t pass like i would like it to. i most certainly blame the old guard. those congress folks that have been in place for far too long. i think that there should be term limits. i think there should be a way for them to then get and be able to use the feedback from their districts in more ways. i am tired of listening to them say that they don’t support something. they are supposed to be the mouths of us, and their personal opinions should carry little to no weight.

but that’s just not the way it is. so. the next voting season for me will be to work on getting the current out and a new breed in, if there is one. if not, i will simply keep my vote in my pocket. i will however vote for president obama in the next presidential election, unless he does something that no longer warrants that vote. again. i don’t blame him. i think, instead, that he has allowed the short comings of both parties to come to light.

and that light, is considerably dull.

We are not less safe. If you think we are, where’s your proof.

The health care system is more or less, a large monopoly that takes your money, and changes your terms, at will. And you are worried about what the government takes?

The free market that we once backed as Americans, is now solely on our backs, and frankly it hurts.

The cost to produce in the United States has gone up because corporations realized just how much money they could make. Then, when we got tired of being paid little for all the work, the corporations said, ‘Yep, you’re right. We’ll just let you go and find somewhere cheaper to make the same goods that you will buy for a higher price to support our shareholders and executives.’

Sure taxes are high. We like freshly paved roads. Bridges that support the weight of more than a donkey cart. A military that is second to none anywhere in the world. Medicare. Medicaid. Social Security. Educational Funding. Various other programs designed to enhance and make better, our daily lives.

President Bush is a good man. But he allowed us to be lied to, often. It was during his administration that the employment and economic meltdowns began. His administration was given a surplus of cash and they screamed through it like a 12 year old in a Toys-R-Us.

Would you rather that President Obama let the car companies go down the tubes (the last of what manufacturing we still have, that we can call our own.)? Would the loss of many more financial institutions have made you happy (as you watched everything that you had saved or put into stocks and bonds loose all value right before you’re eyes disappear)?

Had these things, and more, been allowed to happen, you would be screaming about how he doesn’t do enough. How he let our country go into financial ruin and the worst depression ever. How he is destroying the country.

All of the things you are saying today.

It is so very easy to find fault in others when you are certain that you are right. And, you might even be right about somethings. But fortunately, you are in America, where you can say, without worry, whatever it is you want to say, whether it is based on fact, or, fiction. And certainly, you will be able to find an audience in either case.

This country is the greatest on earth. We have simply gotten greedy. We used to create, and now we purchase and use. We can go back to creating and being a leader in the world by simply working together and getting back to what we did best. Lead with compassion and brilliance. And frankly, under the leadership of President Obama we have a very good chance of doing that if, and only if, people, like all of us, allow him the chance to work at it a bit. He’s only been in office for a little over 10 months. Do you think that you could have fixed all of this by now? If so, why didn’t you run for a seat in the government?

Two last things to say.

If you were on a deserted road, and got into an accident, with your family, and as you opened your eyes and saw them hurting and bleeding, I would think, even hope, that you would be wishing for someone… anyone… to come by and find you. What if that someone did come by, looked into your car, smiled and walk away. That is what you are suggesting by not at least attempting to look at Health Care Reform with an open mind.

Here is an idea for helping to save someone from that situation. It’s not mine. I am certain that I heard it somewhere else. A dollar a month. Just one single solitary dollar donated by every man, woman and young adult put towards an open account that would help with the care of others would raise enough money to protect the 30 million or so people that are less fortunate than those of us that have the ability to afford health care. Lets say that there are 200 million of the 300 million populous that could contribute that amount per month (cause paper routes are a thing of the past, so kids should get a pass.) That would be 200 million a month, or 600 million a quarter, or 2,400,000,000 a year. That would be a step in the right direction. And all of us probably loose that in change in a month anyway.

That’s it. That’s all I have to say. Sure I’ll get some grief for it, but it pains me to believe that we live in a time where a person that is trying to make a difference, with a couple houses of old, tired and out of date people that do nothing but try to protect themselves from becoming obsolete, can convince us that these things are wrong. (last dig… term limits should apply to all the elected house of the federal government as well as the state government).

Take care all. I mean that. Really. I might be walking by your car one night.

God Bless the USA and the troops that are fighting for our security and freedom day in and day out to protect your right to disagree.

President Obama in Dover

my wife and i hit our 16th year of marriage. we celebrated by taking in a show and then returning home for a meal that i cooked for the family. it’s a family affair, these anniversaries. there is nothing wrong with that. they all have been a part of the past years, so having the family celebrate is a good thing. i love my better half. she makes the ride most bearable!

my son jon spent most of the week enjoying his first homecoming week. bonfires, school color classes, a visit to the school from dan hampton with the week capped by the home coming dance.

for his birthday i got him a suit for the dance. i know. crappy present. but he liked it! here he is in all his glory…

homecoming 2009 oswego east high school

he went stag to the dance, not unlike his dad all those years ago. at around 10p, i received a text asking if i could drive his date home after the dance. date? he didn’t have one.

turns out that his dates, date, had some change of heart during the dance, and the next thing you know, he’s got a date. nice girl. hanna is her name. apparently they are boyfriend/girlfriend. we’ll see how long that lasts. he had a good time and looked good to.

then, on sunday, jon spent his 15th birthday just hanging out. he graciously helped me around the house, and we enjoyed a cake at the end of the night. i’m starting to feel really old.

my wife finally got her student teaching paperwork. she’ll be working in a school in plainfield. though she wanted to work in oswego, that was not to be. but knowing that she is placed, has lightened her load a bit. congrats michele. i am so very – very proud of you and the work that you are doing.

this week also included balloon boy. what a stunt. kid floats away in a helium filled balloon. uh. i don’t think so. but virtually every news organization on the planet followed this to it’s conclusion. this was such a non event. it was never even plausible to me as i have had a 6 year old. they are pretty heavy. the balloon wasn’t that well built to have carried him away. i just never believed it. today, it appears charges will be placed on the family and the costs of the search recouped. damn straight. what goofs.

health care seems to be moving along but not, as they say in poker, all in. it seems that the public option has been left somewhere, and not anyplace that seems useful. this troubles me. and, unlike any number of people, i blame the house and senate for this. the president did what he said he would do. let the folks that last time, during the clinton years, the house and senate wanted. to be involved. well. look where that put us. a watered down version of a public health reform bill. as to the media involvement, if you’re smart, you can simply go out and find the answers that you want on any of the governmental sites that are available. if you believe what you are told by the likes of beck, hannity, rush or the like, then you are simply not informed but rather entertained. but really folks. this isn’t a movie or a half hour entertainment show. this is our lives we are talking about here. there are very few things that are as important. so. go out and get your own answers. then make an informed decision. and stop listening to the entertainers.

afghanistan. lets take our time, and get it right. move the military that are in indefensible outposts in to more populous cities and regions. there has been a ton of talk about how many al qaeda are in the country. i keep asking myself how we, or anyone knows this. they don’t wear tags or name badges. so how do we know how many of any faction are in the country. i just don’t understand. and if we really do know how many there are, then this should be easier than it is. and since the election in country is so up in the air, we should probably wait until it is settled correctly, before we allow any more of our country men and women to serve in that country. so taking all the time required seems like the prudent thing to do. we can’t leave. pakistan is too close. anyone over running their country would be a blow to the entire middle east. so we must figure out a way to protect and server the region. but again, not until there is a government in place.

that’s about it. i’m done with the soap. i guess i just needed to vent.

ok.

here is what it says:

1: to instruct in fundamentals or rudiments : teach
2: to imbue with a usually partisan or sectarian opinion, point of view, or principle

this definition can be placed with any number of people or groups, as it is expressed by the dictionary. my opinion on just a few of those, are listed below:

boy or girl scouts
church
the military
community groups
indian guides
anti-government groups
gangs

now. not all of these groups are bad. and, since we live in the united states, all of them have an equal right to exist.

however. to accuse the current administration of ‘indoctrinating’ our children to believe that they should help others and be involved in their community in a good way? nothing wrong with that.

the thought that the current administration is ‘indoctrinating’ any person within the united states to do anything other than what they might want to do, is ludicrous. in my mind, we have spent years, more than the 8 brought forth by the bush administration, spending time being self-centered and obsessed with our own personal world, that we have forgotten what made our country great all those years ago. the fact that we helped and supported each other.

the go west folks back in the day, helped others build lodging, fences, banding together in wagon trains across this great land. we did it together. we picked each other up and helped each other along.

for the administration to want to help us go forward and help each other is a bad thing, is just wrong. often, i will see stuff laying in the middle of the street. like a bag of someone trash. it only takes me a minute to stop and grab it. thus keeping it from further messing up my neighborhood. i have tried to teach my kids that same type of service. why? because it benefits us all.

so. indoctrinate me. make me think of all the things that i can do to help my neighbors. my fellow american citizens. i haven’t a problem with that at all.