After this Health Care Debate . . .

The nation is focused on how to provide health care and who should pay the bills.

The writers of the Constitution did not envision a cradle-to-the-grave kind of government that takes care of a citizen’s every need. But here we are.

Those on the political left want health care to be provided, in part or in whole, by a government agency with costs being passed to taxpayers. Those on the right insist they can pay their own bills or take out health care insurance.

After the legislative battles are settled - at least for a time - another gorilla will come out of the woods. With people living longer, the chance of a senior requiring 24-hour care in a facility is increasing. Consumer Reports says the average private room in a nursing home is $181.00 per day or $66,000 per year. It doesn’t take long to use up the savings of a lifetime. It is worthwhile reading the Consumer Reports evaluation of the need for Long Term Care (LTC).

Dave Ramsey says, “I strongly recommend LTC as part of your plan at age 60.” Dave is looking ahead to keep the family estate together.

Under the present system, it is necessary for the person requiring government-paid care to have only a small amount of money. Thus, the client must be reduced to a near-poverty level. The home must be sold and any money in banks dispersed to the patient qualifies for government assistance.

If LTC Insurance is purchased, it costs about $250 per month per person, depending on how early in life the policy is issued. Less than 10% of Americans get LTC insurance because it definitely interferes with buying big ticket items in the here and now.

The same bleeding-heart tax spenders will latch onto this critical need and off we will go for another round spending tax-payers money for something a senior should be looking ahead and thinking about on their own

Can't Get Over It.

My childhood home was a city block off of the old stagecoach route from Sacramento to Stockton, California. There weren’t any stagecoaches in my time, but there were still a few horse-drawn conveyances.

I walked to school each day (.7 mile) and soon learned that glasses were required in order to read or do just about anything. I began using them and kept on wearing them for the next 70 years. Indeed, I was totally dependent on glasses. It was not possible to do anything without them except sleep.

Then in 2008, I had a new-fangled surgery that made glasses unnecessary. My new vision allows me to drive without them. The remaining problem is to convince by subconscious self that I can actually see.

When it’s time to go out of our home, I feel sure that I need my glasses. It is necessary to operate my brain manually and tell myself, YOU CAN SEE. Forget about glasses!

Years back, I read of doctors who did cosmetic enhancement surgery. After healing, patients would return and claim they looked just the same as before surgery. They didn’t, but felt they did. Now I understand what was going on. When we are convinced that something is true, it’s very hard for reality to penetrate the years of mental scar tissue and to enjoy our new condition. But I really do when I think about it.

Now where did I lay my glasses?

America Compared to Rural Africa

We need reminders of how easy we have life in America.

Recently I purchased a pair of sunglasses with an MP3 player built in. This way when I walk, I can listen to recordings that I don't take time to hear at home. The cost was very low and the experience of others with the product has drawn praises.

Then I came across a similar setup invented by a young man in Africa. His Fedora-based power supply is nothing short of amazing. Amazing because ladies there are much more adept at using their heads for carrying loads. Amazing also that he could hook up the entire system and make it work.

How thankful I am that I live where even our music can be enjoyed with a minimum of cost and labor.

Eight Days For a Racial Comment

Recently a man from Battle Ground, Washington was sentenced to eight days in jail because he used the N-word in an email. Racial name-calling is always regrettable, but let’s look at the larger picture.

The holy name of God is used in vain endlessly and without a jail sentence or even a rebuff. We hear it at school, on radio and TV, in the workplace and nearly every place people congregate.

Notice how Israel was warned about using God’s name as a byword:

No using the name of GOD, your God, in curses or silly banter; GOD won't put up with the irreverent use of his name. Deuteronomy 6:11 in the Message version.

This is the same God people in our nation pray to for jobs and good weather. How can a person expect God to hear their prayers when they so disregard his name.

Saying, “I didn’t mean anything by it” totally misses the point. He didn’t say “Don’t use my name in vain unless you aren’t going to mean anything by it.”

Let’s change our words to exalt God’s name and plan to never use it as fillers or strengtheners in our everyday conversation.

Won By a Child’s Love

Abortion protesters showed up when President Obama spoke at Notre Dame. Among them was Norma Covey, the one-time poster child of the abortion movement. Some reports say she was arrested, other reports deny it. Norma was the Roe in Wade vs. Roe.

But in 1995 Norma changed sides. Emily Mackay, then 7 years old, befriended this pro-abortion person, asking questions that were very hard to answer. One was something like, "If you love children, then why do you let them kill babies at the (abortion) clinic?"

Eventually, Norma attended church and accepted Christ as her savior. It was not the solid logic of the Christian position, but rather the little girl who loved Norma and penetrated her heart that brought about the change of direction.


Norma Covey was then baptized by Flip Benham, the leader of “the other side.” Over the years, she has used her life to undo some of the damage caused by her original stance on abortion - something she never experienced for herself.

Clearly, it may be love more than logic that turns a life around.

In His Face

A friend of ours is not noted for his interested in religion. He knows ours and told this story.

Said friend was cruising in his large motorhome with his extended family on board when they were hit hard from behind by a motorist. The story goes that the other driver was drunk and traveling about 100 mph. He hit the motorhome so hard that it knocked the rear wheels off and totaled the machine.

Our friend got the rig off of the pavement and came to a stop with a sign three inches from his windshield. It was the sign for the local Church of Christ. I wonder if that would be forced advertising?

At least, he saw some significance in the sign as he told me the story.

Out of a Curse Came a Blessing

This weekend, I was cursed by the Vundo Trojan. My computer became unmanageable. My virus alarm was going off every 5-10 seconds. Advertising was popping up every few moments. To cure the devilish malady, I hired an online company to clean the machine and they did a wonderful job. Their address is: http://www.onlinecomputerrepair.org/ and Ryan Olson was the tech.

Ryan removed at least 150 files that had come to visit and decided to stay. During my research to get rid of this Devil-inspired disease, I came across OpenDNS. Such a blessing for anyone who takes the few moments to get engaged.

Every time a computer user types a website name in the address bar, the browser goes to the Domain Name Server (DNS) assigned by his hosting company. This is standard the world over. Everybody with a website name is listed and some are MALICIOUS. One somewhere distributes Vundo.

OpenDNS keeps a list of malicious sites and keeps the user from going there. If one of these Satanically-inspired nasties gets on the computer and calls home for its friends to come too (hence the Trojan idea), the nasty can’t reach home and so is rendered useless. Had I been using this service, my hateable trojan could not have done its hellish work.

Further, now I can block all categories of unlovables. The site offers five general levels of protection and each one of these can be customized for the computer-user’s taste. Sites that can be blocked include those adult-related, porn sites and phishing sites. There are dozens of categories. Each user can set up a list to always allow or never allow in addition to the categories. This gives parents a way to control what their children view. It gives the library or school supervision they did not have before.

All of this is free of cost and the change is permanent, but reversible. The OpenDNS site explains how to point your DNS requests to their computers. Visit them at: OpenDNS.com.

Yesterday, the site had over eleven billion hits, so it’s not just my notion.