WARNING!..The following entries are as a result of thoughts held captive by guilt and fear. These are the thoughts aged like a fine wine and ripened through life experience to form opinions. We assume, as we've been told, that we are "entitled" to them. Indeed, the familiar adage, "Everyone's entitled to their own opinion" sounds as though it may have been carved in stone someplace like one of the ten commandments. But, in my opinion that old adage makes about as much sense as a pet rock. If opinions are to be considered an "entitlement," than so should we consider breathing. None-the-less, it seems that most consider opinions an entitlement granted to the bearer upon approval of said opinion. We should all read the fine print in the opinion entitlement thing; You can have them, just don't voice them unless specifically solicited. I consider opinions as natural a function as breathing, and I'm about to black out from holding mine. But, there are no Tic Tacs for "bad opinions", and the general reaction to "bad opinon" is not so benign as the general reaction to bad breath. In fact, it can often be downright retaliatory and violent. Therefore, I've held my opinion in fear of being permanently denied the entitlement of breathing. I will be using this forum as my "breathing space." Consider yourself WARNED!

May 26, 2002: Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and I can't help but feel a deeper sorrow in the sense that we have begun to sacrifice the sacrifices of those whom we honor on Memorial Day. So many have made the supreme sacrifice, and so many more have benefited from those sacrifices offered in the name of Liberty; a benefit that is without question the ultimate, priceless gift to every free man and woman. And now this priceless gift is being shoved deep to the back of the closet, making way for the big box that tempts and intimidates. It's all wrapped up in patriotic trimming, bearing a tag marked "God Bless America." I don't trust big boxes with tempting gift tags. I once received a very large box bearing a tag that read, "A little moonshine to make your day." Was I dissappointed to find a bare-assed midget inside! Now the American people have been offered a big box with a tempting gift tag. All wrapped up in red, white, and blue, and delivered by a guy dressed in full "Uncle Sam" regalia singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the tag reads, "Defending our Nation Against Terrorism." We've made room for it, shoving the precious gift of liberty to the rear. What's inside? The "USA PATRIOT Act of 2001" ... another bare-assed midget. GOTCHA!! Only most don't see that they've been had. The Patriot Act will give enormous, unwarranted power to the executive branch unchecked by meaningful judicial review. This new authority could be used against American citizens in routine criminal investigations unrelated to terrorism, immigrants within our borders legally, and those whose First Amendment activities are deemed threats to national security by the Attorney General (uh...this would be the same Atty. General who breaks out into uncontrollable fits of singing self-authored songs and believes that cats are reencarnations of the devil).
But the American people have taken the bait wrapped in patriotic trimmings, and it certainly seems a tempting bargain at such a quick fix. It's sort of like picking up some terrorism protection at a drive-thru window. Want fries with that?
The great sorrow I feel on this Memorial Day? Memorial Day 2002, we are poised to sacrifice the very liberty for which these men and women whom we honor had sacrificed their lives.

HMO's, The Third Reich, and other ways to rid the earth of undesirables:
The other day I sat alone with one captive thought confined to solitary. I've always felt that if I ever let this one loose, I'd be promptly constrained in a one size fits all straight jacket. Then I happened to read the article; Managed Care: The German Experiment by Hugh Gallagher, and I'm ready to grant this thought full pardon.
I've long held the entire concept of "Health Maintenence Organizations" in a seething contempt. Insurance is one thing, and entirely different than HMO's. Health insurance is supposed to protect the insured against financial catastrophe with respect to health related expense. HMO's protect HMO profit; a profit that is generated by exploiting the very basic human need to live healthy and preys on human fears of life-threatening or serious illness. The manner in which HMO's profit is repulsive to me. I find the premise no different or less repulsive than child pornography. I have always wondered why, in a society that draws limits and defines what is or is not appropriate with regard to "making money," HMO's have not been placed in the same category as prostitution or grave robbing. After all, it's not about earning a living managing the health of human beings; doctors used to do that. HMO's make money deciding and denying medical treatment... decisions based upon fiscal reasoning. To me, HMO's are the pimps of physical well-being; the madams of managed care; and the whores of health. There,... I've said it, and the borderline unhealthly contempt I harbor for HMO's is no longer a secret.
It is in acknowledging the contempt I've felt for HMO's, that I've suspected my other thoughts regarding HMO's might merely be a delusionary symptom of the depth of that contempt. Having read the above referenced article, I'm gaining back a bit more confidence in my rationale. What is beginning to make sense and become clear, is the bigger picture. Profit is only part of the HMO picture. The other part? Weeding out the sick and infirm from society; the economic burdens who drain our resources. What better way to achieve this goal than to deny the sick and infirm the treatment they'd need to live, and how American to do it through profit?
I'm fully aware of how "Oliver Stone-ish" and paranoid this theory might sound to others. But the evidence is mounting. It's piling up in the cemetaries and television ratings. The cemetaries are filling up with those denied life saving procedures by HMO's, and are no longer a drain on profits or the economy. The high television ratings for shows like "Survivor" and "Six Feet Under" are indicative of a society numbing to the inevitable reality of death, and attracted to the "Survival of the fittest" attitudes. The HMO procedures and policy have become alarmingly similar to the Nazi medical ethic of curative medicine being replaced with preventive medicine so as to apply health care dollars with respect to cost/benefit rather than health benefit. The Nazi ethic dictated that "Physicians had a responsibility to their society." The Hippocratic Oath became out-dated, and physicians were expected to determine whether the costs of treatment could be justified in benefiting society. Sound familiar? The only difference I see in comparing the Nazi medical ethic to the ethics of our current health care policies, is that the HMO has taken the place of the physician.
So, that is my escaped thought of the day; HMO's, the Third Reich, and Child Pornagrahers.... they all give me a very sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

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