Winning Football Teams

I just watched the NCAA handing out its penalty to Penn State regarding their actions by sweeping child abuse under the rug.  The NCAA premise, that having a winning football team trumps education and the protection of children is wrong.

Thank you for reaffirming that winning a game at all cost is not justified.    

Hearing about the child abuse at the first instance by Penn State and reacting correctly would have only resulted in a mild ripple and people would have stood behind the university because it did the right thing.  But by sweeping everything under the rug and believing that winning a foot ball game is everything and to borrow an army term, collateral damage happens.  Well, I can understand if you are under the gun, but for a foot ball team, absolutely not.

The Time for Gun Control is Now!

When will America have gun control laws to protect its citizens?

The recent killings and wounding of innocent people in Aurora, Colorado begs the questions, why would a sane person need a assault rifle, a glock and a rifle?

Please do not inundate me with the constitutional to bear arms which is the same constitution that gives me the alienable right to pursue life and liberty.  Well, the NRA made the wishes of a few tantamount to the wishes of the majority.  I also blame our spineless congress and senate to stand up to the NRA.

Somewhere along the line, the pursuit of power  became the goal of our congress and senate.  Shame on them for their lack of moral fiber and back bone.

The blame for the killings is on the hapless individual whose synopses misfired, on the NRA for stymieing proper gun control laws and our representatives, congress and senate for being such overt cowards.

Don't tell me, criminals kill guns, not guns.  Someone has to pull the trigger and firing a gun is so very impersonal.

Once and for all, let us address the issue and not mourn for a few days, then shove the whole matter of gun control under the carpet  until the next time the senseless killings occur.  For as sure as the sun rises each day and night descends upon the land, this kind of insanity will happen again and again.

Obama Care

What a touchy subject. The Supreme Court just ruled that Obama Care was constitutional. And the outcry began.

Let's look at the issue without sentiments. First off, it is now that law, so learn to live by it. Second, the current law needs to be tweaked to improve health care. Instead of arguing, yelling that it will be repealed, why not make the law better.

As a homeowner, I am taxed every year by the local hospital district to pay for the indigents that overflow our emergency rooms because they lack insurance. As a county hospital, they are required to treat patients irrespectively if they have insurance or not.

I wish someone with a back ground in econometrics would study what is cheaper, for everyone in this country to have health insurance or continue with the current system that burdens and bankrupts our community hospitals and raises property taxes every year?

The question also that needs to be examined is the income distribution by doctors. The battle cry that the doctors spend so much on their education, therefore they can charge as much as they want is disingenuous. I do not begrudge them their income I am only asking them to wait a couple of years longer.  Instead of five years, wait for ten years and learn to police your ranks.  If a doctor is bad, throw him/her out.

Being old enough, I can remember when Medicare came into to being. The outcries from AMA were terrible and so were all the statements from doctors, and yet I venture to guess Medicare is the biggest money maker for the medical profession.

Case in point, the Congress woman who was shot. I am truly grateful that she received the medical care that she got, but I on Medicare would have not received that level of care, and that is what is wrong.

So, let us examine the law, keep what is good and throw out what is bad. America has the best medical service in the world, the sad part is not all of its citizen have access to it. Lastly, let's make Congress,  the Senate and all the government agencies become part of the same health plan. And why not, after all it is being funded with our tax dollars.  If the individual wants a better plan, go for it and pay for it out of your own pocket.

Reality Shows and why not to watch them

Summer is upon us and with it the customary bottom of the barrel reality shows.  So let's be honest.  Would a TV producer really let a contestant get hurt?  I don't think so.  Even though the participant most likely will have to sign a release and all kinds of stipulation, however we have become a litigious society and as every American knows, we have the inalienable right to sue, whether is makes sense or not.

The drivel dished up is bad and will rot your brain.  What ever happened to a well written show, may it be comedy, drama or whatever rings your bell.  There are many gifted and talented writers, actors, musician and countless behind the scene artist that make a show happen.  Yet we continue to indulge people who have no discernible talent in any artistic field other than self promotion.

Let's grow up and don't live vicariously through other people by watching them debase or make fools of themselves.  Let's stop being voyeuristic.  Once the interest in these type of shows wanes, we will get scripted shows once more. 

I am not a censor or will I tell you what you should like, just think about what happens to you, your children or your life watching such gems as "My Redneck Vacation or Life with the Kardashians."

In the interest of fairness I must confess that my guilty pleasure is: Dancing with the Stars.

Creative Living - - Time

So  much is written about what to do when you are retired, but no one ever addresses time, our currency.

Right now I am sitting outside with the laptop and the CD, Hope for Haiti Now, playing the song "Hallelujah, Hallelujah,"  and I am at peace.  It is 92 degrees with a soft breeze musing up my hair, which soon I will get cut.  My view encompasses the canal to my right and bordering on other side of it, a park, the pool and there is no one around so the music is not low but quite stimulating.

Point for all of this, I've written several pages and I am pleased with how the novel is progressing, because once you are in the flow of the story, it tells itself, you are just the person putting it down.  So tonight when I reflect on my day, I will feel great. 

The reason is simple, time was exchanged pleasantly.  My senses relished the scent of the afternoon and my eyes drank in the blessed peacefulness of the time and my mind created new pages in my novel, A Heavenly Revolution.

Overall I would say I received maximum value for my currency.  Isn't life great? 

Memorial Day

In spite of who I am, a naturalized German, I celebrate Memorial Day.  Why?  Let me give you some history that will explain my feelings about this holiday.

My father was an officer in the German Army and because of who he was, was rewarded with a post in Stalingrad, Russia.  One evening he took his men out on a patrol and my father stepped on a fragmentation mine.  The majority of his patrol died instantly and the survivors were injured and maimed in the process.  Due to his injuries, my father was put on a plane for transfer to hospital behind the fighting lines.  He was fortunate, because his plane was the last one to leave Stalingrad before the city was overrun. 

America resoundly defeated Germany and I am eternally grateful to the many Americans that died in the process of liberating my country.   This does not negate the service of my father because I can separate the two issues.  One, the service of a soldier and the other, the leader that caused the war.  A comparison would be the very unpopular Vietnam conflict.  Americans could not separate the act of a soldier from the leaders that created the conflict.  By the time Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan came, the American people understood that you may disagree with the policy of the government, but you still must honor the service of the men and women fighting the wars.

In the eighties, my father came to visit America.  Driving around the country, he said very quietly, "How could Germany defeat a country like this."  He admired the friendliness and acceptance he was given by people where ever we stopped.

This is why I celebrate my adopted country's Memorial Day.

The Art of Writing, Characters II

Your Protagonist

This is a brief continuation of my protagonist comments.  In the previous writing I stated that the protagonist must be the center of the action and not a sideline participant.  In the fourth book 'Liars all,'  of the Brodie Farrel Mystery, written by Jo Bannister, she again made Brodie a supporting character.  Like in the other three books I read, she made Daniel and Jack the focal points of the story while Brodie wrestled with religion and faith.

Additionally Ms. Bannister has several author's intrusions, something her editor should have caught.  Simply put, it's knowledge of a scene, action etc. only the writer would possess, not the character.