Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us, the holiday season is here. This day and Christmas are the two big family days of the year. Time to get together, share the joy of the season, and give thanks for all the wonderful things that have come our way. It does not matter if you treat them as secular or religious holidays; they still the two biggies on the list of days to celebrate.

Thanksgiving Day; parades, dinner, Football on T.V., and calling friends to wish them a wonderful day. The smell of turkey cooking in the oven and freshly baked pie cooling in the kitchen. The laughter of children playing, the buzz of voices as everyone seems to talk at once, and the joy of catching up with people we have not seen since last year.

May your day be full of excitement and love, may you have way to much to eat, and may you be truly thankful; for all the good things in your life.

Our Fellow Man

There was a song in the sixties that had a verse that went like this. “The whole world is festering with unhappy souls, the French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Polls. The Polls hate the Yugoslavs, the Yugoslavs hate the Dutch, and I don’t like anyone very much.”

Watch the news, cruse the internet, listen to your fellow man and you will see that our world is driven by prejudice. Don’t say you aren’t because down deep we all feel threatened by people who move into our life, turning it on its ear by being different. They don’t speak our language, they don’t dress like we do, they have different customs and beliefs then we are used to. In short they make us feel uneasy and afraid. They have no right to be the way they are, they need to change and become more like us.

Our world is fueled by feelings of distrust that shape our government, our social life, and the way we interact with our fellow man. Through out history these feelings have lead to laws aimed at forcing “those people” to conform to our way of life. What we fail to remember is that one time we were the ones who were different. Somewhere in our past there were people who spoke the wrong language, wore the wrong clothes, and acted different.

We each think of ourselves as enlightened and able to except people as they are, the truth is we can only do this when they are trying to be like us. When they are being their self we become the one who is different and that is the one thing we will never be able to deal with.

Health Insurance And Care

It’s been a while but I’m back. Due to events in my life I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about health insurance and the medical system in this country.

Let me start by saying that the system needs fixing. We need a health care system that allows doctors to prescribe the treatment they fell is best for their patent, not just the one the insurance wants them to. A system that would allow everyone to have insurance regardless of income or any preexisting conditions. If you can no longer work you should be guaranteed coverage until you can get another job with coverage or qualified for Medicaid or Medicare insurance.

Medical treatment should be based on what is best for the patent, not what is most cost efficient. Giving the best care possible should take president over saving a buck. There should not be one plan for the rich and another for those who are less able to pay for that level of care. Fair and equal medical care should be a basic right of every American just like freedom of speech and the right to vote. It should be “life, liberty, and equal medical care”.

There should never be someone denied help because his or hers insurance leaves them with such a high copayment that they can’t afford it. If it’s good enough for our Senators and Representatives in Washington then it should be good enough for everyone without regard to race, gender, income, or age. I don’t care about a “public option”, I just want the security of knowing that come what may I can have the care I need when and where I need it.