Well, the final results today were more predictable and formulaic than they were yesterday, when the winners including the sixth seeded Ravens and the Panthers, a team with a losing record (although I rather expected Carolina to win).
The Bengals predictably lost in Indianapolis to the Colts, and the Lions predictably lost to the Cowboys in Dallas, although the Lions at least made a solid run and came pretty damn close to winning, and kept it interesting until the end.
For Cincinnati, another loss came mostly because of offensive futility. The Bengals defense hung tough and kept the game close. But once the Colts began to get some points later in the game, Cincinnati simply had no answers. They could not move the ball effectively, let alone get into scoring position or convert opportunities. They watched Indianapolis build on a 13-10 lead, to make it 20-10. A Viniatieri field goal made it 23-10. Another field goal made it 26-10, and time was running out.
That sounds like the build-up to an epic comeback story, doesn't it?
Only, no comeback was to be had today. At least, not in Indianapolis, as the Bengals essentially went down without a fight. There were images of disappointed and frustrated players on the Cincinnati sideline, but there were no images on the tube of Bengals players creating huge opportunities or acting out heroics, and the game simply ended. The Colts ran out the clock, and Bengals players walked off the field with another loss, and their season over.
The Colts will now travel to Denver for a showdown between last generation's premiere quarterback, and the quarterback that is beginning to look like the premiere quarterback for the younger generation. Manning versus Luck in the playoffs.
Should be interesting!
In the NFC Wildcard game, the Lions shot out ahead of the Cowboys, scoring a couple of first half touchdowns to take a commanding 14-0 lead. Dallas managed to score a touchdown in the one and only play in that first half when the offensive line clearly beat out the tough Detroit defenders. But even then, the Lions managed to notch a field goal for a little extra cushion just before halftime.
It continued that way early in the second half as well. Detroit kept the Cowboys off the scoreboard, and padded the lead a little more with another field goal, to make it 20-7.
Then, the Cowboys came alive, and had a furious rally in the fourth quarter to not only get back into it but, very late in the fourth, to take a lead, 24-20. Tony Romo looked composed and confident, while the Lions rugged defense suddenly looked flustered and unable to stop the Cowboys from rolling!
It began with a one-yard run from DeMarco Murray late in the third, to make it a one possession game.
A few minutes later, Dallas placekicker Dan Bailey kicked a 51-yard field goal through the uprights, and it was a tight, 20-17 contest.
Finally, late in the fourth quarter, Tony Romo was able to cap off a Cowboys drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass in the middle of the end zone to Terrance Williams, and a Dallas Cowboys lead for the first time in the game.
When the Lions got the ball back, they were unable to respond. On fourth down, Matthew Stafford was brought down for a sack that cemented the win for the Cowboys.
Overall, Romo had a solid game, completing 19 of 31 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns in a solid effort for the Cowboys, who will now travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers at Lambeau Field.
One thing should be mentioned, however, was that there was a very controversial call that went against Detroit late in the game. Anthony Hitchens of Dallas was defending Detroit's Brandon Pettigrew when Stafford threw a pass to him. It was 3rd down and 1, and the Lions clearly needed to convert. Hitchens was all over Pettigrew, and prevented him from even having a chance at completing the catch. Initially, the refs called it interference and then, rather suddenly and inexplicably, that call was reversed.
For the Lions, this defeat establishes a NFL record eight straight franchise playoff games without a win. That is the kind of record that no one wants to have, of course.
Here's an article of mine that was published on the Guardian Liberty Voice yesterday:
Bengals Handed Yet Another Loss in the Playoffs:
http://guardianlv.com/2015/01/bengals-handed-yet-another-loss-in-the-playoffs/
Monday, January 5, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Wildcard Weekend Day 1
Well, another interesting and unpredictable Wildcard weekend so far!
There must be something about losing teams qualifying for the playoffs, because the 2010 Seattle Seahawks barely scraped by to get into the playoffs with a 7-9 record, but ended up knocking off the 11-5 New Orleans Saints, who happened to be the defending Super Bowl champions. No one saw that coming, and it came as a complete shock to me.
Today did not come as such a shock to me. The Panthers had won their last four games in a row, while the Cardinals had lost four of their last six, including the last two of the regular season. Their morale surely was lower than it needed to be, while Carolina had to be flying high.
And it showed.
The Panthers resurgent defense really shut down the Cardinals yesterday, containing them to a rather stunning 78 yards total on offense, en route to a 27-16 win. Arizona probably would not have made it nearly as close as it was, except that Carolina kept making mistakes and shooting themselves in the foot with silly mistakes in the first half. Despite very limited offensive production, the Cardinals held a 14-10 lead at the half, even though the Carolina Panthers clearly looked like the better team statistically, and were playing better, save for the mistakes.
Once they eliminated the mistakes, they took over the game, not surprisingly. The Panthers wore down the Cardinals, earning a victory that will send them to Green Bay if Detroit wins, or to Seattle if Dallas should win.
The second showdown was a divisional battle between the hosts, the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Ravens, who won the Super Bowl two short seasons ago.
Much like Carolina, Baltimore's defense was truly intense.
For most of the game, the Ravens had shut down Pittsburgh's potentially explosive offense - although it should be noted that Bell was not playing in the game to add a multidimensional element to the Steelers offense.
Still, Baltimore looked to be in complete control, until a turnover late in the game, when they were trying to run the clock out, got Pittsburgh back into it.
Ultimately, however, it did not work. The Raven shad dominated the game, and they were able to pull away towards the end to preserve a solid road playoff win, which also happened to be their first playoff win since winning Super Bowl XLVII two seasons ago.
Having won that contest, the Ravens will now go to New England to face the Patriots, the team that they beat two seasons ago in the AFC Championship to reach the Super Bowl in the first place. And, much like that game, the Ravens will play this game at Foxboro.
There must be something about losing teams qualifying for the playoffs, because the 2010 Seattle Seahawks barely scraped by to get into the playoffs with a 7-9 record, but ended up knocking off the 11-5 New Orleans Saints, who happened to be the defending Super Bowl champions. No one saw that coming, and it came as a complete shock to me.
Today did not come as such a shock to me. The Panthers had won their last four games in a row, while the Cardinals had lost four of their last six, including the last two of the regular season. Their morale surely was lower than it needed to be, while Carolina had to be flying high.
And it showed.
The Panthers resurgent defense really shut down the Cardinals yesterday, containing them to a rather stunning 78 yards total on offense, en route to a 27-16 win. Arizona probably would not have made it nearly as close as it was, except that Carolina kept making mistakes and shooting themselves in the foot with silly mistakes in the first half. Despite very limited offensive production, the Cardinals held a 14-10 lead at the half, even though the Carolina Panthers clearly looked like the better team statistically, and were playing better, save for the mistakes.
Once they eliminated the mistakes, they took over the game, not surprisingly. The Panthers wore down the Cardinals, earning a victory that will send them to Green Bay if Detroit wins, or to Seattle if Dallas should win.
The second showdown was a divisional battle between the hosts, the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Ravens, who won the Super Bowl two short seasons ago.
Much like Carolina, Baltimore's defense was truly intense.
For most of the game, the Ravens had shut down Pittsburgh's potentially explosive offense - although it should be noted that Bell was not playing in the game to add a multidimensional element to the Steelers offense.
Still, Baltimore looked to be in complete control, until a turnover late in the game, when they were trying to run the clock out, got Pittsburgh back into it.
Ultimately, however, it did not work. The Raven shad dominated the game, and they were able to pull away towards the end to preserve a solid road playoff win, which also happened to be their first playoff win since winning Super Bowl XLVII two seasons ago.
Having won that contest, the Ravens will now go to New England to face the Patriots, the team that they beat two seasons ago in the AFC Championship to reach the Super Bowl in the first place. And, much like that game, the Ravens will play this game at Foxboro.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Welcome to America: Here's a Medical Bill for $200,000
A British couple came to New York City for a visit and were surprised when their child was born 11 weeks early.
Now, I know that some are going to criticize them for coming here that late in the pregnancy, and perhaps it is a point well taken.
Still, the couple got hit with over $200,000 in expenses, predominately medical expenses.
Welcome to America!
Sure, it sounds like a nightmare.
Unfortunately, it also happens to be true.
Especially when it comes to foreigners.
The one thing I believe most Americans feel strongly about, regardless of their political leanings, is how the nation is perceived by the rest of the world. And the truth is that most of the rest of the world does not "get" us, they do not understand Americans, and how things are done here. In particular, they take exception to the political thinking and practical realities here, and this is especially true when it comes to the one area where Americans absolutely stand out from the rest of the industrialized world: healthcare.
As I have mentioned quite a few times here before, we are the only industrialized nation that fails to provide it's own people with an adequate system of affordable, universal health coverage. You may hear some Americans boast that in the United States, the healthcare system is the best in the world.
This might not be entirely untrue. Some of the best doctors, facilities, and technology is here, after all.
But when people from those other nations look at healthcare in the United States, they do something that Americans fail to do, and that is judging it by the weakest link in the chain. What is that weakest link? It is that tens of millions of Americans cannot afford healthcare, and that the costs of medical care here, from prescription drugs to services rendered, tend to be far, far more costly than they are in the rest of the industrialized world. It is glaringly obvious to them, although it seems to elude Americans at large.
Why? Because Americans are so used to hearing how their nation is the "shining city on the hill" and the "leaders of the free world," that it never occurs to them that maybe the nation is not leading as much as it should in certain areas. Important areas, too. Areas like freedom and democracy, where not that long ago, we used to rate a lot higher than we have lately. Areas like alternative energy research and development, and the environment in general, where we have long trailed other nations. And, of course, areas like healthcare, where we have lagged far behind other industrialized nations as well.
Although conservative Americans tend to boast about seeing and judging things based on the weakest link in the chain, the fact of the matter is that they fail to actually see things in quite this way when it comes to their perceptions of themselves, and certain aspects of the country. Where people from other industrialized nations see the healthcare system as inadequate and unaffordable, Americans only see that doctors, technology, and facilities are supposed to be second to none, and they hear horror stories of waiting lists for medical procedures in other countries. They hear the words "socialized medicine" when referring to healthcare in those other countries, and terms that have been associated with them from fear mongering political commentators on the radio and television are conjured up. Why, that's socialism, a step away from communism! We can't have that here, in the land of the free, and the home of the brave!
People buy into it, too. Time and time and time again, they vote against their best interests. Even while standards of living have continued to decline here, and the rest of the world keeps catching up and, in some cases, surpassing us. Like they have in Scandinavia, in Canada, in Australia, in Switzerland, and probably elsewhere, as well. Countries like Germany seem to be doing much better than the United States right now. The economy is strong, strong enough at least to bail out entire nations where the economy hinged on this relief. In Germany and in Australia (and the rest of the industrialized world), they not only have affordable, universal healthcare, but they have affordable childcare, as well. Most of those nations have stronger education systems in place as well. Pretty much all of them have significantly more vacation time, too. Germany and Australia have six weeks apiece, and France has five weeks, as do many other countries. All of those countries have better environmental records than the United States, too, even though they have weaknesses and need to work on tougher environmental standards.
In other words, those countries all have things that Americans, if they were not so filled with assumptions of superiority and notions of grandeur, might actually be envious of. Envious enough, frankly, that they might begin to see that those systems work in those countries, and better than things tend to work here, often times.
For many, it begins with healthcare, and the fact that this British couple had the misfortune of having a premature baby while here in the United States is a case in point.
The baby is in a hospital that is holding him, and not permitting him to leave until he is medically cleared. The problem, of course, is that the British couple cannot afford the astronomical prices that these institutions are asking. Plus, they are stuck here, where they cannot return home and work and make money.
What to do?
Well, they began to share their horror story with newspapers, to try and gain publicity, and public support. Also, in hopes to raise some funds that might help them get through this. They need to have $200,000, and right now, they have no real money at their disposal. These are not rich people, after all.
And as we Americans know already, when you are not rich, you are pretty much screwed. That is especially true when you are talking about healthcare. If you do not have money, you are pretty much screwed, and that is all there is to it. That's the reality.
Is it pleasant? No, certainly not. But that does not mean that it is not reality.
And if we have any measure of real objectivity, and we rate our healthcare system against that of the rest of the industrialized world by the weakest link on the chain, then we would have to admit that, for the majority of Americans, our healthcare system fails the very people that it is supposed to serve, far more than the healthcare systems in other countries fails them, precisely because it is not affordable.
When stories like this British couple come out, it shows the rest of the world our American weaknesses, as well.
Read what Stephen D. Foster has to say about it in his article on this story:
"How are people supposed to take care of their kids if the hospital takes all of their money to pay for the birth? Furthermore, why should any resident of another nation risk traveling to the United States at all if they could easily become poor by having to stay in a hospital here? In the eyes of the world, our healthcare system is still pathetic despite the fact that ObamaCare has made it better for millions of Americans. But the fact is, compared to the rest of the world, we are far behind. We may have the best doctors and the best facilities in the world, but private ownership and greed has turned our healthcare system into a financial disaster for patients."
This is the kind of thing that more Americans need to read and hear. When foreigners do not understand the way Americans do things and see things, this is what they are talking about.
Healthcare may have issues in those countries, but the one thing that is never seriously discussed is whether or not to adapt the American model of healthcare.
But we are the "leaders of the free world," right? The "shining city on the hill!"
Why wouldn't they want what we've got?
Well, here's why: because a British couple that would have been far better off if that child had come while they were in their home country of Britain now have to deal with the consequences of having had their child here in the United States during the visit that was supposed to be brief, but has instead turned into a long nightmare. Having a premature child obviously complicates matters, because of the health concerns, and it is stressful enough. Having a premature child in a foreign country, and having the hospital not allow your child to be released would present financial strains, because the parents are not simply going to go back home and resume life as normal while their child remains in a hospital in a foreign country.
But having the misfortune of having a premature child here in the United States added far more stress and financial burdens, because they are being asked o pay $200,000, and that is obviously not the kind of money that most people can pay for medical expenses. In any other industrialized nation, where there are price controls, they would not be asked to pay that much in medical expenses.
Here is America, however, where de facto corporate supremacy is the order of the day, insurance companies rake in tons of money, and average people pay tons of money compared to other countries. There are no governmental price controls in this country of deregulation and - surprise, surprise! - this is being exploited by any and all who can profit from it.
What an absolute shocker! Who would ever have guessed it?
That is why in those countries, they simply do not ever seriously think about going to the American system of healthcare, because they know that, for the average people, the system is not kind, and does not work. There may be issues with healthcare in other industrialized nations, but regular people being asked to pay astronomical prices is not one of them, as it is here in America.
And here is yet another shocker: here in the United States, where we are repeatedly told that our healthcare system is the best in the world, the system comes under scrutiny, and is debated, time and time again. Fiercely debated. It is a major issue in almost every election.
Why? Because it does not work. Not, at least, for the people. It works for the insurance companies and for the big pharmaceuticals, who rake in the profits, literally off of people's pain. To me, that's the very definition of evil. But it is not about to change, so long as Americans are quick to suspend their own skepticism and objectivity as soon as someone calls on national pride and how great it is to be an American.
It does not have to be that way, of course.
But Americans always want to be exceptional. Collectively, they always seem to want others around the world to acknowledge that superiority, even when it is not there in any real sense.
No, it does not have to be that way. But when those that stand to benefit from the system as is throw out the fears that those countries are "socialist" countries, and that adapting a healthcare system more on the European model is a step towards dreaded "communism," even when that is clearly not true, it is enough to convince Americans. That is why this ridiculous and clearly inadequate way of life continues to get worse, year after year and, yes, now decade after decade, with no clear end in sight.
In the meantime, citizens from those other countries with "socialist" healthcare systems, nations well known to be on their way to evil "communism" such as Canada, Britain, and Australia, to name just a few, will continue to see horror stories like this and be thankful that they do not have to deal with the inadequacies, or perhaps even the criminality, of the American system.
They may even be thankful for what most Americans would be aghast to hear: they may be thankful not to be American. The very thing that Americans tend to want to feel is exceptional is the thing that others are starting to feel is America's biggest vulnerability in the first place.
The worst thing is they may be right. And until we get past our own desire to always be "exceptional" for everyone and everything, the more we will continue to be "exceptional" for all the wrong reasons.
For a long time, Americans enjoyed the highest standard of living in the world, and maybe they had good reason to feel proud and, yes, exceptional. However, standards of living have been on the decline here for a long time, and there are reasons for that. It is no longer enough to simply be happy and proud to be American and leave it at that, with the assumption that things are, and always will be, better here than everywhere else. That simply is not true anymore, and if we want to collectively be able to take real pride in being American again, we need to get past ourselves, and start focusing on fixing some of the things that are broken here.
And we should probably star with two things, both of which are related to health: the environmental and stronger regulations for a healthier planet, and the healthcare system that has failed the people that it is supposed to serve.
Here is the link to this story:
British Couple Gets Hit With $200,000 Medical Bill Because Their Child Was Born During Their Vacation In NYC by Stephen D. Foster, January 2, 2015:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/02/british-couple-gets-hit-with-200000-medical-bill-because-their-child-was-born-during-their-vacation-in-nyc/
Now, I know that some are going to criticize them for coming here that late in the pregnancy, and perhaps it is a point well taken.
Still, the couple got hit with over $200,000 in expenses, predominately medical expenses.
Welcome to America!
Sure, it sounds like a nightmare.
Unfortunately, it also happens to be true.
Especially when it comes to foreigners.
The one thing I believe most Americans feel strongly about, regardless of their political leanings, is how the nation is perceived by the rest of the world. And the truth is that most of the rest of the world does not "get" us, they do not understand Americans, and how things are done here. In particular, they take exception to the political thinking and practical realities here, and this is especially true when it comes to the one area where Americans absolutely stand out from the rest of the industrialized world: healthcare.
As I have mentioned quite a few times here before, we are the only industrialized nation that fails to provide it's own people with an adequate system of affordable, universal health coverage. You may hear some Americans boast that in the United States, the healthcare system is the best in the world.
This might not be entirely untrue. Some of the best doctors, facilities, and technology is here, after all.
But when people from those other nations look at healthcare in the United States, they do something that Americans fail to do, and that is judging it by the weakest link in the chain. What is that weakest link? It is that tens of millions of Americans cannot afford healthcare, and that the costs of medical care here, from prescription drugs to services rendered, tend to be far, far more costly than they are in the rest of the industrialized world. It is glaringly obvious to them, although it seems to elude Americans at large.
Why? Because Americans are so used to hearing how their nation is the "shining city on the hill" and the "leaders of the free world," that it never occurs to them that maybe the nation is not leading as much as it should in certain areas. Important areas, too. Areas like freedom and democracy, where not that long ago, we used to rate a lot higher than we have lately. Areas like alternative energy research and development, and the environment in general, where we have long trailed other nations. And, of course, areas like healthcare, where we have lagged far behind other industrialized nations as well.
Although conservative Americans tend to boast about seeing and judging things based on the weakest link in the chain, the fact of the matter is that they fail to actually see things in quite this way when it comes to their perceptions of themselves, and certain aspects of the country. Where people from other industrialized nations see the healthcare system as inadequate and unaffordable, Americans only see that doctors, technology, and facilities are supposed to be second to none, and they hear horror stories of waiting lists for medical procedures in other countries. They hear the words "socialized medicine" when referring to healthcare in those other countries, and terms that have been associated with them from fear mongering political commentators on the radio and television are conjured up. Why, that's socialism, a step away from communism! We can't have that here, in the land of the free, and the home of the brave!
People buy into it, too. Time and time and time again, they vote against their best interests. Even while standards of living have continued to decline here, and the rest of the world keeps catching up and, in some cases, surpassing us. Like they have in Scandinavia, in Canada, in Australia, in Switzerland, and probably elsewhere, as well. Countries like Germany seem to be doing much better than the United States right now. The economy is strong, strong enough at least to bail out entire nations where the economy hinged on this relief. In Germany and in Australia (and the rest of the industrialized world), they not only have affordable, universal healthcare, but they have affordable childcare, as well. Most of those nations have stronger education systems in place as well. Pretty much all of them have significantly more vacation time, too. Germany and Australia have six weeks apiece, and France has five weeks, as do many other countries. All of those countries have better environmental records than the United States, too, even though they have weaknesses and need to work on tougher environmental standards.
In other words, those countries all have things that Americans, if they were not so filled with assumptions of superiority and notions of grandeur, might actually be envious of. Envious enough, frankly, that they might begin to see that those systems work in those countries, and better than things tend to work here, often times.
For many, it begins with healthcare, and the fact that this British couple had the misfortune of having a premature baby while here in the United States is a case in point.
The baby is in a hospital that is holding him, and not permitting him to leave until he is medically cleared. The problem, of course, is that the British couple cannot afford the astronomical prices that these institutions are asking. Plus, they are stuck here, where they cannot return home and work and make money.
What to do?
Well, they began to share their horror story with newspapers, to try and gain publicity, and public support. Also, in hopes to raise some funds that might help them get through this. They need to have $200,000, and right now, they have no real money at their disposal. These are not rich people, after all.
And as we Americans know already, when you are not rich, you are pretty much screwed. That is especially true when you are talking about healthcare. If you do not have money, you are pretty much screwed, and that is all there is to it. That's the reality.
Is it pleasant? No, certainly not. But that does not mean that it is not reality.
And if we have any measure of real objectivity, and we rate our healthcare system against that of the rest of the industrialized world by the weakest link on the chain, then we would have to admit that, for the majority of Americans, our healthcare system fails the very people that it is supposed to serve, far more than the healthcare systems in other countries fails them, precisely because it is not affordable.
When stories like this British couple come out, it shows the rest of the world our American weaknesses, as well.
Read what Stephen D. Foster has to say about it in his article on this story:
"How are people supposed to take care of their kids if the hospital takes all of their money to pay for the birth? Furthermore, why should any resident of another nation risk traveling to the United States at all if they could easily become poor by having to stay in a hospital here? In the eyes of the world, our healthcare system is still pathetic despite the fact that ObamaCare has made it better for millions of Americans. But the fact is, compared to the rest of the world, we are far behind. We may have the best doctors and the best facilities in the world, but private ownership and greed has turned our healthcare system into a financial disaster for patients."
This is the kind of thing that more Americans need to read and hear. When foreigners do not understand the way Americans do things and see things, this is what they are talking about.
Healthcare may have issues in those countries, but the one thing that is never seriously discussed is whether or not to adapt the American model of healthcare.
But we are the "leaders of the free world," right? The "shining city on the hill!"
Why wouldn't they want what we've got?
Well, here's why: because a British couple that would have been far better off if that child had come while they were in their home country of Britain now have to deal with the consequences of having had their child here in the United States during the visit that was supposed to be brief, but has instead turned into a long nightmare. Having a premature child obviously complicates matters, because of the health concerns, and it is stressful enough. Having a premature child in a foreign country, and having the hospital not allow your child to be released would present financial strains, because the parents are not simply going to go back home and resume life as normal while their child remains in a hospital in a foreign country.
But having the misfortune of having a premature child here in the United States added far more stress and financial burdens, because they are being asked o pay $200,000, and that is obviously not the kind of money that most people can pay for medical expenses. In any other industrialized nation, where there are price controls, they would not be asked to pay that much in medical expenses.
Here is America, however, where de facto corporate supremacy is the order of the day, insurance companies rake in tons of money, and average people pay tons of money compared to other countries. There are no governmental price controls in this country of deregulation and - surprise, surprise! - this is being exploited by any and all who can profit from it.
What an absolute shocker! Who would ever have guessed it?
That is why in those countries, they simply do not ever seriously think about going to the American system of healthcare, because they know that, for the average people, the system is not kind, and does not work. There may be issues with healthcare in other industrialized nations, but regular people being asked to pay astronomical prices is not one of them, as it is here in America.
And here is yet another shocker: here in the United States, where we are repeatedly told that our healthcare system is the best in the world, the system comes under scrutiny, and is debated, time and time again. Fiercely debated. It is a major issue in almost every election.
Why? Because it does not work. Not, at least, for the people. It works for the insurance companies and for the big pharmaceuticals, who rake in the profits, literally off of people's pain. To me, that's the very definition of evil. But it is not about to change, so long as Americans are quick to suspend their own skepticism and objectivity as soon as someone calls on national pride and how great it is to be an American.
It does not have to be that way, of course.
But Americans always want to be exceptional. Collectively, they always seem to want others around the world to acknowledge that superiority, even when it is not there in any real sense.
No, it does not have to be that way. But when those that stand to benefit from the system as is throw out the fears that those countries are "socialist" countries, and that adapting a healthcare system more on the European model is a step towards dreaded "communism," even when that is clearly not true, it is enough to convince Americans. That is why this ridiculous and clearly inadequate way of life continues to get worse, year after year and, yes, now decade after decade, with no clear end in sight.
In the meantime, citizens from those other countries with "socialist" healthcare systems, nations well known to be on their way to evil "communism" such as Canada, Britain, and Australia, to name just a few, will continue to see horror stories like this and be thankful that they do not have to deal with the inadequacies, or perhaps even the criminality, of the American system.
They may even be thankful for what most Americans would be aghast to hear: they may be thankful not to be American. The very thing that Americans tend to want to feel is exceptional is the thing that others are starting to feel is America's biggest vulnerability in the first place.
The worst thing is they may be right. And until we get past our own desire to always be "exceptional" for everyone and everything, the more we will continue to be "exceptional" for all the wrong reasons.
For a long time, Americans enjoyed the highest standard of living in the world, and maybe they had good reason to feel proud and, yes, exceptional. However, standards of living have been on the decline here for a long time, and there are reasons for that. It is no longer enough to simply be happy and proud to be American and leave it at that, with the assumption that things are, and always will be, better here than everywhere else. That simply is not true anymore, and if we want to collectively be able to take real pride in being American again, we need to get past ourselves, and start focusing on fixing some of the things that are broken here.
And we should probably star with two things, both of which are related to health: the environmental and stronger regulations for a healthier planet, and the healthcare system that has failed the people that it is supposed to serve.
Here is the link to this story:
British Couple Gets Hit With $200,000 Medical Bill Because Their Child Was Born During Their Vacation In NYC by Stephen D. Foster, January 2, 2015:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/02/british-couple-gets-hit-with-200000-medical-bill-because-their-child-was-born-during-their-vacation-in-nyc/
Friday, January 2, 2015
RIP, Mario Cuomo
Well, it is very early in the year, yet we already lost someone very memorable.
Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo died, after battling a serious illness for quite some time.
He was a famous governor, and for a time, seemed to be a leading contender for the presidency, although he never actually ran. Maybe he would have had a chance in 1988, or even in 1992. Remember that in 1992, hardly any major candidate on the Democratic side ran, because at the time, George H. W. Bush looked untouchable.
Obviously, things changed. In part, that was because Bill Clinton had a very strong Democratic National Convention in New York, and one of the most memorable speeches was from Mario Cuomo.
But his most memorable speech came in 1984, when I was admittedly too young to appreciate it (surprisingly, I am not entirely sure my parents were watching it). It was known as the "Tale of Two Cities" speech, and was a strong rebuttal to President Ronald Reagan's vision of America as a "Shining City on a Hill" for the world to marvel at, and take inspiration from.
I personally remember his great speech in 1992, which really stirred me considerably, and probably helped Bill Clinton to become president.
He never did run for president, but he remained a prominent and articulate voice of reason in an age that needed such a voice very badly. Truth be told, I would have preferred seeing him in the White House more than most of the men that I have seen occupy the Oval Office.
But alas....what might have been.
Below are some video tributes to Mario Cuomo that I found on Youtube, and added here for this blog entry.
Mario Cuomo. May he rest in peace.
Video footage of some of the famous "A Tale of Two Cities" 1984 Democratic National Convention speech:
Here is the audio of the speech in it's entirety, in four parts:
Here is the speech from the 1992 Democratic National Convention, which I do personally remember, and which had a strong impact on me. Cuomo really was a great public speaker!
Some news footage on the story of Mario Cuomo's death:
Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo died, after battling a serious illness for quite some time.
He was a famous governor, and for a time, seemed to be a leading contender for the presidency, although he never actually ran. Maybe he would have had a chance in 1988, or even in 1992. Remember that in 1992, hardly any major candidate on the Democratic side ran, because at the time, George H. W. Bush looked untouchable.
Obviously, things changed. In part, that was because Bill Clinton had a very strong Democratic National Convention in New York, and one of the most memorable speeches was from Mario Cuomo.
But his most memorable speech came in 1984, when I was admittedly too young to appreciate it (surprisingly, I am not entirely sure my parents were watching it). It was known as the "Tale of Two Cities" speech, and was a strong rebuttal to President Ronald Reagan's vision of America as a "Shining City on a Hill" for the world to marvel at, and take inspiration from.
I personally remember his great speech in 1992, which really stirred me considerably, and probably helped Bill Clinton to become president.
He never did run for president, but he remained a prominent and articulate voice of reason in an age that needed such a voice very badly. Truth be told, I would have preferred seeing him in the White House more than most of the men that I have seen occupy the Oval Office.
But alas....what might have been.
Below are some video tributes to Mario Cuomo that I found on Youtube, and added here for this blog entry.
Mario Cuomo. May he rest in peace.
Video footage of some of the famous "A Tale of Two Cities" 1984 Democratic National Convention speech:
Here is the audio of the speech in it's entirety, in four parts:
Here is the speech from the 1992 Democratic National Convention, which I do personally remember, and which had a strong impact on me. Cuomo really was a great public speaker!
Some news footage on the story of Mario Cuomo's death:
Thursday, January 1, 2015
A New Direction in 2015
2015 is finally here! Good riddance to 2014, and a nice welcome to the new year of 2015!
I was not overly happy with 2014, and it is not a year that I will personally remember with much fondness. There were just many surprises, and most of them were admittedly unwelcome.
Still, we survived to see another year.
One of the areas where I felt 2014 was a pretty decent year was with my writing. I applied to a few jobs in September, and got an answer back from one publication, the Guardian Liberty Voice.
Within a few weeks, I was taking their two-week training course for writer's, which culminated in what they called "Hell Day." This was a vigorous day that required prospective writers to commit an entire day to writing online articles, using their protocol. Sox articles in all, start to finish, within a 24-hour period, with no mistakes allowed!
It was exhausting. Draining. Nerve wracking.
Yet, in the end, I managed to pass, and it was probably the biggest professional accomplishment in writing in my life to date. There are goals that I would like to achieve someday, but that was an actual accomplishment that felt good. Given the difficulties in so many other areas in my life last year (boy, it's good to be able to refer to 2014 in the past tense, finally, since it felt cursed!), and that these were particularly relentless right around the time that I was going through the training, I felt proud, and still feel that this was justified.
Financial problems became the norm throughout 2014, and at that time, it seemed like my ex-wife and our son were about to be evicted from the apartment complex. I had to step in financially, and it was absolutely draining. At the time, I had just about begun to recover and get back on my feet from some trips taken over the summer, when it felt like the rug was swept out from under me.
Those financial problems added to, or in some cases were a major sources of, other problems in my life. Another one that was suddenly a major threat, and potentially draining distraction, were the relationship problems with my girlfriend, who understandably was tired of hearing about the problems with the ex. We are still together, but it sure looked like it was not going to last in October.
October was the month that I went through the training, and it was around that time that I realized, fully, that there would likely be no strong financial recovery within the calendar year of 2014. The commitment that it took to go through the classes in writing prevented me from working days at my part-time job, and it seemed for a while that I had essentially lost that job. That would have meant going from never having lost a job under my own terms, to losing two in the same calendar year and this, of course, added to my depression and sense of misery.
So, coming out of that class managing to do something that most who attended the class did not manage to do was, for me, a big thing. It felt good, and I was committed to making it work. I actually still feel good about it.
Then, of course, there is this. The Charbor Chronicles. I have been active here on this since late in 2010, but each year grew progressively more active. There were 3 blog entries in 2010, although really, there should have been more, late start or not. In 2011, there were only 24, which given that it was a full calendar year, was a shamefully slow and inactive year. But in 2012, that number rose dramatically to 356, just under one blog entry per day. In 2013, I almost doubled that, with 709 blog entries published.
But in 2014, I had a record year posting blog entries, actually eventually publishing more blog entries in that year alone than all of the previous years combined!
That, too, felt like a major accomplishment, albeit in a very different manner than what I did with Guardian Liberty Voice. But an accomplishment nonetheless, and that, after being forced to scale down my writing for those two or so weeks that I was going through the training. Plus, there were those vacations over the summer, when I had very limited access to the internet, and was not able to really publish anything on The Charbor Chronicles.
Plus, I made some real progress in both writing and editing with my personal writings, particularly the fiction works.
So, given all of that, I feel that I have a good reason to feel particularly proud of the year in writing in 2014, which was otherwise a pretty bleak year for me.
That said, I wanted to say right away that this year, I intend to scale down the blog entries a bit from last year. Part of the reason why I had so many last year was because every day, I tried to publish a couple of entries, including the On This Day in History series, which was not unique to me. But I will not be doing those this year. Maybe they will return some time in the future, but I will make these more fully my own if that does happen. The thing is, it takes a tremendous amount of work to do each one, and to do that every day might just be too grueling.
As the numbers grew last year, my desire to add more and more, to see the final tally be something that kind of took my breath away, grew as well. And I was rather taken by the increased numbers of page views, as well! It feels like just yesterday that I was thrilled with 30,000 views. It felt wonderful to reach 50,000!
But the numbers went up in a hurry! Suddenly, while I was on the trip to the South, it reached 100,000!
As I write this, there have been over 146,000 views, and growing!
There was one particular blog entry that I take pride in especially, which was published early in 2014 (January 23rd, to be precise). It is not the blog entry with the most views, or the most comments. Indeed, it is a movie review, but the movie is not a huge blockbuster, or anything like that. Yet, it is a movie that I wanted to see for a long time, since I first heard about it coming out. It never seemed to be showing around me, and then, one day, I saw it for sell on Ebay, and decided to go ahead. I watched it, then wrote the review for it. The movie was Orania, an award winning movie about a small town in South Africa where the residents et up an Afrikaners only town, which some believe translates to apartheid living on in a tiny enclave in the heart of South Africa. I actually promoted it on Facebook by going on the movie's page, and advertising there. The director, Tobias Lindner, apparently saw one of these, and clicked on the link to check out the article for himself, and promoted it! That was a huge victory for me! Please check it out for yourself by clicking on the link below:
http://charbor74.blogspot.com/2014/01/movie-review-orania-by-tobias-lindner.html
Since this is my personal blog page, and I cannot keep up with the big boys in the news or bigger media, and also since I have done virtually no advertising or promotion, other than occasionally adding a link to a blog entry that I took particular pride in, it felt great to see the numbers of viewers, or page views, rise like that!
Yet, still, my focus this year will be more on the quality of blog entries, and less on the quantity. There are ideas that I am playing around with, and this gives me a platform that other venues, such as the Guardian Liberty Voice, or the other writing projects, cannot present. So, I do intend to take advantage.
Just not as many blog entries this year as last year.
Here are some pictures that I took yesterday, the final day of 2014, that show the distribution by top ten countries with most views in the first picture, the page views by country at one particular moment in the second picture, and each has maps as illustration.
Thanks again for being a part of this!
New Year's History & Keeping Your Resolutions
Well, 2015 is finally here!
Out with 2014, which I already mentioned in a previous post had been pretty much a terrible year for me on many levels.
In with 2015, which will hopefully be so much more.
Of course, with each new year, people will tend to look for new beginnings with new hope. There is just something about the artificial end of one year according to the Gregorian calendar, and the beginning of a new one, that allows us to mentally wipe the slate clean and focus on new expectations for a brighter future.
Naturally, resolutions are notoriously short-lived. Some people manage to keep them longer than others. But in many cases, if not most cases, they do not last long into the new year.
However, I ran into a couple of links that provide some tips on how to keep your New Year's resolution, if you are interested.
Also, I wrote an article in the Guardian Liberty Voice (GLV) on the history of New Year's Day celebrations, a tradition that actually dates back some 4,000 years ago. This was the last article that I wrote and published for the GLV for 2014, and it took a considerable amount of research. But I felt proud once it was done, and happy when it was published fairly quickly after I submitted it. It was a fascinating and revealing article to write, and I hope everyone will take a look by clicking on the link below:
http://guardianlv.com/2014/12/new-years-in-history/
How to fulfill your New Year's resolutions By Jacob deNobel, Times Staff Writer December 28, 2014:
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/features/ph-cc-new-years-resolutions-20141228,0,5847777.story
Why 2015 might well be mankind’s happiest new year
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/12/why-2015-will-probably-be-the-best-year-in-human-history/
New Year’s Traditions and Facts: Do You Know How It’s Celebrated Around the World?
http://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/new-years-traditions-facts-around-the-world/
Out with 2014, which I already mentioned in a previous post had been pretty much a terrible year for me on many levels.
In with 2015, which will hopefully be so much more.
Of course, with each new year, people will tend to look for new beginnings with new hope. There is just something about the artificial end of one year according to the Gregorian calendar, and the beginning of a new one, that allows us to mentally wipe the slate clean and focus on new expectations for a brighter future.
Naturally, resolutions are notoriously short-lived. Some people manage to keep them longer than others. But in many cases, if not most cases, they do not last long into the new year.
However, I ran into a couple of links that provide some tips on how to keep your New Year's resolution, if you are interested.
Also, I wrote an article in the Guardian Liberty Voice (GLV) on the history of New Year's Day celebrations, a tradition that actually dates back some 4,000 years ago. This was the last article that I wrote and published for the GLV for 2014, and it took a considerable amount of research. But I felt proud once it was done, and happy when it was published fairly quickly after I submitted it. It was a fascinating and revealing article to write, and I hope everyone will take a look by clicking on the link below:
http://guardianlv.com/2014/12/new-years-in-history/
How to fulfill your New Year's resolutions By Jacob deNobel, Times Staff Writer December 28, 2014:
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/features/ph-cc-new-years-resolutions-20141228,0,5847777.story
Why 2015 might well be mankind’s happiest new year
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/12/why-2015-will-probably-be-the-best-year-in-human-history/
New Year’s Traditions and Facts: Do You Know How It’s Celebrated Around the World?
http://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/new-years-traditions-facts-around-the-world/
Happy New Year's in Languages All Around the World!
AFRIKAANS gelukkige nuwejaar
AKPOSSO ilufio ètussé
ALBANIAN Gëzuar vitin e ri
ALLEMAND ein gutes neues Jahr / prost Neujahr
ALSACIEN e glëckliches nëies / güets nëies johr
ARABIC عام سعيد (aam saiid) / sana saiida
ARMENIAN shnorhavor nor tari
ATIKAMEKW amokitanone
AZERI yeni iliniz mübarək
BAMBARA aw ni san'kura / bonne année
BASAA mbuee
BASQUE urte berri on
BELARUSIAN З новым годам (Z novym hodam)
BENGALI subho nababarsho
BERBER asgwas amegas
BETI mbembe mbu
BOBO bonne année
BOSNIAN sretna nova godina
BRETON bloavezh mat / bloavez mad
BULGARIAN честита нова година (chestita nova godina)
BURMESE hnit thit ku mingalar pa
CANTONESE sun lin fi lok / kung hé fat tsoi
CATALAN bon any nou
CHINESE (MANDARIN) 新年快了 (xin nian kuai le) / 新年好 (xin nian hao)
CORNISH bledhen nowedh da
CORSICAN pace è salute
CROATIAN sretna nova godina
CZECH šťastný nový rok
DANISH godt nytår
DARI sale naw tabrik
DUALA mbu mwa bwam
DUTCH gelukkig nieuwjaar
ENGLISH Happy New Year
ESPERANTO feliĉan novan jaron
ESTONIAN head uut aastat
EWE eƒé bé dzogbenyui nami
EWONDO mbembe mbu
FAROESE gott nýggjár
FINNISH onnellista uutta vuotta
FLEMISH gelukkig nieuwjaar
FRENCH Bonne et Heureuse Année a tous!
FRISIAN lokkich neijier
FRIULAN bon an
FULA dioul mo wouri
GALICIAN feliz aninovo
GEORGIAN გილოცავთ ახალ წელს (gilocavt akhal tsels)
GERMAN ein gutes neues Jahr / prost Neujahr
GREEK Καλή Χρονιά / kali xronia
GUJARATI sal mubarak / nootan varshabhinandan
GUARANÍ rogüerohory año nuévo-re
HAITIAN CREOLE bònn ané
HAOUSSA barka da sabuwar shekara
HAWAIIAN hauoli makahiki hou
HEBREW שנה טובה (shana tova)
HERERO ombura ombe ombua
HINDI nav varsh ki subhkamna
HMONG nyob zoo xyoo tshiab
HUNGARIAN boldog új évet
ICELANDIC gleðilegt nýtt ár
IGBO obi anuri nke afor ohuru
INDONESIAN selamat tahun baru
IRISH GAELIC ath bhliain faoi mhaise
ITALIAN felice anno nuovo / buon anno
JAVANESE sugeng warsa enggal
JAPANESE あけまして おめでとう ございます (akemashite omedetô)
KABYLIAN asseggas ameggaz
KANNADA hosa varshada shubhaashayagalu
KASHMIRI nav reh mubarakh
KAZAKH zhana zhiliniz kutti bolsin
KHMER sur sdei chhnam thmei
KIEMBU ngethi cya mwaka mweru
KINYARWANDA umwaka mwiza
KIRUNDI umwaka mwiza
KOREAN 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (seh heh bok mani bat uh seyo)
KURDE sala we ya nû pîroz be
KWANGALI mvhura zompe zongwa
LAO sabai di pi mai
LATIN felix sit annus novus
LATVIAN laimīgu Jauno gadu
LIGURIAN bón ànno nêuvo
LINGALA bonana / mbúla ya sika elámu na tombelí yɔ̌
LITHUANIAN laimingų Naujųjų Metų
LOW SAXON gelükkig nyjaar
LUXEMBOURGEOIS e gudd neit Joër
MACEDONIAN Среќна Нова Година (srekna nova godina)
MALAGASY arahaba tratry ny taona
MALAY selamat tahun baru
MALAYALAM nava varsha ashamshagal
MALTESE is-sena t-tajba
MANGAREVAN kia porotu te ano ou
MAORI kia hari te tau hou
MARATHI navin varshaachya hardik shubbheccha
MARQUISIAN kaoha nui tenei ehua hou
MOHAWK ose:rase
MONGOLIAN Шинэ жилийн баярын мэнд хvргэе (shine jiliin bayariin mend hurgeye)
MORÉ wênd na kô-d yuum-songo
NDEBELE umyaka omucha omuhle
NGOMBALE ngeu' shwi pong mbeo paghe
NORWEGIAN godt nyttår
OCCITAN bon annada
ORIYA subha nababarsa / naba barsara hardika abhinandan
OURDOU naya sar Mubarak
PAPIAMENTU bon anja / felis anja nobo
PASHTO nawe kaalmo mobarak sha
PERSIAN سال نو مبارک (sâle no mobârak)
POLISH Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!!!
PORTUGUESE feliz ano novo
PUNJABI ਨਵੇਂ ਸਾਲ ਦੀਆਂ ਵਧਾਈਆਂ (nave saal deeyan vadhaiyaan)
ROMANCHE bun di bun onn
ROMANI baxtalo nevo bersh
ROMANIAN un an nou fericit / la mulţi ani
RUSSIAN С Новым Годом (S novim godom) Поздравления с Новым годом 2014 (Happy New Year 2014)
SAMOAN ia manuia le tausaga fou
SANGO nzoni fini ngou
SARDINIAN bonu annu nou
SCOTTISH GAELIC bliadhna mhath ur
SERBIAN srećna nova godina / Срећна нова година
SHIMAORE mwaha mwema
SHONA goredzva rakanaka
SINDHI nain saal joon wadhayoon
SINHALESE ශුභ අළුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා (shubha aluth awuruddak weiwa)
SLOVAK šťastný nový rok
SLOVENIAN srečno novo leto
SOBOTA dobir leto
SOMALI sanad wanagsan
SPANISH feliz año nuevo
SRANAN wan bun nyun yari
SWAHILI mwaka mzuri / heri ya mwaka mpya
SWEDISH gott nytt år
SWISS-GERMAN es guets Nöis
TAGALOG manigong bagong taon
TAHITIAN ia orana i te matahiti api
TAMAZIGHT assugas amegaz
TAMIL இனிய புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் (iniya puthandu nal Vazhthukkal)
TATAR yaña yıl belän
TELUGU నూతన సంవత్శర శుభాకాంక్షలు (nuthana samvathsara subhakankshalu)
THAI สวัสดีปีใหม่ (sawatdii pimaï)
TIBETAN tashi delek / losar tashi delek
TIGRE sanat farah wa khare
TSHILUBA tshidimu tshilenga
TSWANA itumelele ngwaga o mosha
TULU posa varshada shubashaya
TURKISH yeni yılınız kutlu olsun
TWENTS gluk in'n tuk UDMURT Vyľ Aren
UKRAINIAN Щасливого Нового Року / З Новим роком (Z novym rokom)
URDU naya sal mubarak
UZBEK yangi yilingiz qutlug' bo'lsin V
IETNAMESE Chúc Mừng Nǎm Mới / Cung Chúc Tân Niên / Cung Chúc Tân Xuân
WALOON ene boune anéye, ene boune sintéye
WALOON ("betchfessîs" spelling) bone annéye / bone annéye èt bone santéye
WELSH blwyddyn newydd dda
WEST INDIAN CREOLE bon lanné
WOLOF dewenati
XHOSA nyak'omtsha
YIDDISH a gut yohr
ZULU unyaka omusha omuhle
These were largely taken from the following website:
Also, I wrote an article in the Guardian Liberty Voice (GLV) on the history of New Year's Day celebrations, a tradition that actually dates back some 4,000 years ago. This was the last article that I wrote and published for the GLV for 2014, and it took a considerable amount of research. But I felt proud once it was done, and happy when it was published fairly quickly after I submitted it. It was a fascinating and revealing article to write, and I hope everyone will take a look by clicking on the link below:
http://guardianlv.com/2014/12/new-years-in-history/
http://www.wishesquotes.com/new-year/happy-new-year-in-all-languages
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)