Clearly not Sanity*! But very Clear Insanity!

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

-Benjamin Franklin.

As you read you’ll understand why I put this quotation at the top of my post.

As I sit across from the T.V. screen listening to the false misconception that nationalized(socialized) healthcare is what I need to push for because it's best. I take a second(just a second is all it takes) and think; why on earth would I trust the government with my personal healthcare(or with anymore responsibility over my personal life). The same government you and I trusted with our social security. For the last 8 years(some citizens much longer) of my life; I’ve worked and invested and paid the government for my social security out of each and every pay check, yet as sure as day I won’t receive close to 10% of what I put in. It’s actually like someone saying to you, hey give me a cut of your check every week for the next several decades of your life(thousands and thousands of dollars), and them saying I promise I’ll insure that your house will have security for as long as you live. Then, they attach one of those small combination locks to all your doors and then say there you go your safe. Thanks for the money(Thanks for the thousands of dollars for a some $5 dollar locks). And then you’re trying to tell me that I’m suppose to give the government $7,000+ a year in taxes and wages, and that they will surely with a half crooked Smile and a kick in the pants saying there you go. You’ll have top notch healthcare(ya sure, believe if you want to).

I look at the track record(history) of the government(not just America) when citizens put more money in government they do NOT get half of it back in effort or in services. So would it not be ‘INSANE’ to think if I did the same thing now and again, to think that I would get a different outcome! All these years of experience(history) speak loudly saying less government solutions and plans for everything and more individuality and liberty for citizens makes a nation great. Yet, we sit here with our “selective-hearing-earplugs” on, thinking that it might be different this time around. As someone once said: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. And you’re trying to tell me that universal healthcare is better, because like I say again that Universal, Nationalized, Socialized Healthcare , however you flip it, turn it, twist it or whatever type of verbal gymnastics you want to play with it…It still produces a lower standard of healthcare. I do see what goes on in Canada and London places that have these types of healthcare systems, because I have family in those places and I travel a good bit and have seen it with my own eyes. When it comes to important surgeries and major operations individuals much rather come to countries(like America) to have them done, because there is a different standard here then there. Not everyone here hears the story or does the research to see there are waiting lists 50,000+ people long with individuals waiting on major operations in these countries. They do better buying from a private company, and much of them do. But, guess what they still have to pay the government for its lackadaisical efforts of healthcare. It’s like you giving someone $10 to clean your car, and them throwing soap at it and throwing water on it and say there you go.

We do not need nationalized healthcare, we need to put more pressure, restrictions and etc. on big insurance carriers and healthcare providers to actually help those with lower incomes and etc. That’s a solution not bigger government(for every problem that occurs) and more control over mine and your personal life. Would you continue to pay more for less?; I wouldn't and I won’t. Don’t do the same thing expecting a different outcome, it’s apparent what you will get, the same thing. Why do something that has consistently proven to be none effective. The original reason individuals come to our country(America) is because of more opportunity, more liberty, and less government control over their personal life.(Somehow we forget these things….) This isn't a liberal or conservative nor is it a Democrat or Republican issue; this is a issue dealing with the future of us and our children's best interest and well-being at the end of the day(and more governmental control is not the answer).

Long post, lol…but what do you think? About Bigger Government and Nationalized(Socialized) Healthcare?!

-Nathan A. guest

Wal-Mart and Stuff....

I struggle every day with the clutter that my family has accumulated over the last 20 years. After reading an article about Wal-Mart's slipping influence over the retail universe ,I realize they did it to themselves. A quote from the article said, "For the first time in a long time, quality has a chance to gain on price." I truly believe in America's effort to gain more and more stuff we also began to let go of our need for quality. Wal-Mart took advantage of that and has provided us with massive amounts of low quality "stuff" for the last 20 years. Homes are packed to the rim with items that are neither needed and rarely truly wanted. We build more and more storage facilities to house the extra stuff.

I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart 3 months ago and have felt incrediably free. I spend less time in lines, I don't purchase sensless items and my checking acount is a little healthier. Just wondered what everyone else thought about the Wal-Mart era.

School Violence

Another school shooting took place Wednesday in Chicago. Everyday it seems like CNN is reporting on violence happening in our schools. Everyone always seems so surprised. It's always a similar story. A kid is repeatedly bullied, nobody comes to their rescue, and finally they snap. What is so shocking about that? How many times do you kick a dog before it bites you? Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that acting out violently is the solution. I just wish that someone would had paid more attention to the situation before the boy snapped. There had to be signs. It just takes one person to change the path, a concerned parent, classmate, teacher, someone could had prevented this horrible act. We don't need to invest in more security, but invest time and try to be that person with a kind word, an open ear, and prevent people from feeling like that is their only option.

Milk or Cola???

Many Americans in these days are trying to lose weight and get in shape.Studies have shown that people are drinking too much sweetened drinks such as coke,sprite and others.Statistics have shown that Americans have drank 4 times more milk than sweet sodas in the middle of the 20th century.Now the ratio almost reversed.Soda is now considered a junk food.The obesity ration has almost doubled for adults and tripled among teenagers. Scientists say that our body will respond to differently to sodas than it would to food.Its pure calories.After we eat a burger a hormone called gherlin will drop, but with sodas in wont. Supposedly drinking sodas will trigger our appetite and raise our blood sugar really fast.People who are trying to lose wait,forget the sweetened sodas and start drinking WATER.

Bush Veto on Children's Health Insurance

President Bush issued his fourth veto Tuesday on a children's health insurance program. House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., predicted the House won't have enough votes to override Bush. Blunt said Bush was right to veto the bill because it "expands government-run health care without first taking care of uninsured kids from low-income families. " Bush, wanted a $5 billion increase, and told Lancaster-area business leaders that he would offer more money if Congress agrees to focus the program strictly on low-income children. "Poor kids first," Bush said. "I believe in private medicine, not the federal government running the health care system."
There are children that live above the poverty level but their families cannot afford private insurance, which is what this program would help with. I don't have children myself, but I do have a niece and nephew. So I can understand how difficult it is to pay for a child's medical bills.
I thought this was a very important topic and I wanted to see what you all thought about it.

Does Society Have a Responsibility In Media?

From the responses I read to my first post, "The Influence of Media", it seems to be widely accepted that the media does exert a high amount of influence on people. With this being said, the next thought that comes to me is, "Who controls what we hear on the radio and what we see on TV?” Some of you stated that individuals have the ability to control what they allow themselves to be exposed to. A person can simply change the channel. I agree, to some extent.
The average, moral, adult probably does try to make good choices in regard to what they allow themselves to be exposed to. If there is a song playing on the radio that uses the "F-word" as every other word, and they find this offensive, then they can choose to listen to something else.
What about all those people out there, though, that don't fall into the "average, moral, adult" category? There are children, teenagers, and adults with little or no moral integrity. I don't think it is safe to assume that the media will utilize only that which is in the best interest of these people, and I don't think it is safe to assume that parents can control everything their children are exposed to through the media.
The responsibility falls on society as a whole to dictate what is appropriate in the media. That being stated, I would hope then that the numbers and influence of the "average, moral, adult" would outweigh the influence of the others to the point that, on the whole, we wouldn't have to worry much about what was on TV or what songs were playing on the radio. But that isn't the case. Whatever happened to "majority rule"? Has our society really slipped so far down the moral integrity scale that what is played on TV and on the radio is actually widely accepted? Or has society put aside their responsibility?

The Influence of Media

The entertainment industry needs to be held to stricter standards. Why? Because the moral integrity of our society depends on it. Things that we see and hear stay with us, even subconsciously, and whether those things are frightening, immoral, or good, I believe they affect our actions and behaviors.
How many times have you found yourself humming a song and then, after you realize you are doing it, think, “Man! I hate that song! I need to get it out of my head!” Or maybe you’re lying in bed, unable to drift off, and realize that a movie you saw days ago is replaying itself in your mind? These are both probably typical happenings for most people. When you consider the unconscious behaviors that reveal themselves from time to time, and consider where those actions are coming from, you realize that the media, both music and television, have a huge impact on people.
Many people might believe that an individual has complete control over what they allow themselves to be exposed to. To some extent, this is true, but not completely. What about the music that is playing over the loudspeakers in the grocery store, or the movies that are showing on the big screen TVs at Circuit City? When you are conscious of all of the bits and pieces of media that you are exposed to throughout the day, you might not feel that you have as much control as you originally thought you did.
This is a touchy subject because of “freedom of speech”, but I think that if a person realizes the impact the entertainment industry has on people, most would agree that there needs to be controls in place. It would be nice to think that the things we see and hear don’t affect us, or that we can control our environment and our thoughts, but that isn’t always the case. Our society needs to have standards of behavior and they need to make sure that those standards are enforced and abided by, especially in the media.