Oct

31

I just bought a 64mb iPod Touch today. Pretty amazing device. It has a nice screen. Very cool touchscreen controls. I can access the internet, search Google using the Safari browser. Most sites are not setup for such a small screen, but there are not many websites that are mobile browser friendly. This is really an area that has potential for traffic. The following is a list of mobile friendly websites.

I synced up 5500 mp3 songs from my laptop, no problem. The video is exceptional. And, like the commercials, there is an “app for that.” The app store has tons of quality free apps, and others for 10$ or less. I downloaded one from nasdaq that allowed me to track my stocks. Google Earth zoomed right in to the location of our house to which my wife replied “That’s creepy. Don’t you think thats a bit big brother?”

I was looking for a replacement that would do all the things my 30gb Zune did (stash a large part of my mp3 music collection, play videos, and I also wanted internet access. Originally I was set on the Archos, but I read enough disgruntled customers on Amazon to be turned away. I was looking at iPhone and Blackberry but was turned off by having to pay another $30 bucks a month for web access. There are enough free wi-fi spots and I already have wi-fi at home.

I looked at the new ZuneHD but did not find the browser as well healed as Safari on the iPod Touch. Essentially the iPod touch is an iPhone without the camera and phone service. But, it does have a skye app. All one needs to do is plug in a headset and they can make a call. Not exactly a cell phone, but would do in a pinch. Oh, and did mention this thing is 1/3 the size of my 30gb Zune that served me well for the past two years (and also fit in my pocket).

I am not much into games, but I was tickled by the action games you could play.

The evolution of the digital world has been fun to watch. I think we are still a long way from the ultimate appliance that can fit into ones pocket and will be the be all end all, but technology sure has come a long way.

Oct

25

Health care reform must involve healthy choices in our diet and a healthy lifestyle. Diet and exercise. These are choices we must make as individuals, and choices we must make for our children. I could spend pages extolling the need for reform in our food growth and supply chain. But, this is a waste of breath as the only thing that is going to change what is on the grocery shelves and served in food outlets is a change in consumer behavior.

This is capitalism plain and simple. Expect nothing less. The evolution and growth of organic foods and businesses like Whole Foods have happened because of demand in the marketplace. With more demand for healthy foods businesses will change their ways.

I recently watched “Super Size Me” which I have never seen. This movie needs to become ressurected as the rallying cry for a change in your behavior (and mine). The movie synopsis in short: A very healthy young man goes on a McDonalds-only diet for 30-days. Throughout this timeline he has blood work and vitals done. We watch him gain 25 pounds during this time. We see him go from a clincally healthy individual to becoming very sick, putting his life at risk.

This movie came out in 2004 and not much has changed since then. We have largely become a nation of obese and unhealthy people. Our national diet now consists of food high in fat and high in sugar and sodium. Diabetes and heart disease are two of the most prevalent diseases crippling us as a nation and taxing our health care system.

We fail to connect the food and beverages we put in our bodies with the state of our health. No group is guiltier than this than the medical community. If they don’t seem to care, or only pay lip service why should we care? After all, they have medical degree and are the professionals.

For such an advanced society, for such an educated nation, we certainly are a bunch of dumb-asses on this matter. Would you put anything other than gas in your car? 

NO! Why…

The engine would breakdown quickly. Unfortunately the engines in our bodies do not break down so quickly.

We have come to a point where we need to look in the national mirror and realize where we are at. But, the choice for a healthy lifestyle is not up to your Government or up to big business. It is up to you.

 

Oct

22

This has nothing to do with Hannity, O’Reiily, or Beck. They are not news.

The recent position by the White House has caused me to watch some Fox News. Over the past four days I watched about three hours of their news and did not find a single thing I could consider as biased or slanted reporting.

Fox channel clearly has an agenda, but give me a break. MSNBC has Olbermann, Maddow, and Ed in their lineup. All three are very liberal in their politics. The big difference I see with these three and the three mentioned above is that the MSNBC folks back up their positions with facts. This makes them credible whether or not one agrees with their point of view.

The White House has every right to call out any media outlet or organization that supports their positions with incorrect or baseless information. We have seen way too muchy of this lately. But, I believe their position pertaining to actual news programming on Fox is wrong.

 

 

 

Oct

20

Thirty U.S. Senators voted no for the following ammendment. The ammendment was brought to the floor based upon litigation between Halliburton and Jamie Leigh Jones.

Sec. 8104. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any existing or new Federal contract if the contractor or a subcontractor at any tier requires that an employee or independent contractor, as a condition of employment, sign a contract that mandates that the employee or independent contractor performing work under the contract or subcontract resolve through arbitration any claim under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any tort related to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, or negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.”

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

To be CLEAR, they voted against the specific ammendment above. What I have posted is the exact and complete text of that ammendment. 

Ms. Jones was gang-raped by contractors while under the employee of Halliburton in Iraq in 2005. The rape (vaginal and anal) was substantiated by Army doctors. Halliburton is a governement contractor. Halliburtons contract with its employees called for mandatory arbitration in lieu of litigation.

I believe I have put the facts forth in a simple and accurate manner. I did a fair bit of research into this matter and welcome any information that I am not aware of that would put this matter in a different light.

Based on my research I am absolutely floored why these thirty Senators would vote no.

 

 

Oct

13

Guy comes in with a healthy soda. They all taste it and like it. But, they tell him the cold hard reality that the big boys have the distributors locked up and will eat him alive. They rip him a new one, and all bow out except for one. The others are so adamant they they rip her a new one as well for considering investing in him. Truth is, guy has a good product and a market for it.

The reality is these guys knows he has little chance. We live in a marketplace that is dominated and controlled by money, not innovation.

We once had small mom and pop shops. Now, the nation is littered with Wal-Marts. Our food supply is genetically engineered and tightly controlled. We have lost so much diversity in the name of mass production.

Another truth is the sharks are venture capital investors, and their number one goal is making money investing their money.

These two guys came in during the same show with this “rockin’” virtual reality sphere. They had already sold ten at 35,000 each. No one would bite even though they thought the idea was cool. One even got in the sphere and his reaction sold the product.

It was a fascinating watch. It really spoke to if we left innovation and forward progress soley to these guys we would still be living in caves.

Oct

12

Today the insurance industry issued a report that concluded that the Senate’s health care legislation would drive up costs to consumers.

Why did they do this?

So Congress will include a public option in their bill.

NO, I am not kidding.

The legislation on the table would require the insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and no longer allow a maximum cap on health services.

This will cut into their profits.

They want a public option so they can cherry-pick the healthy patients and leave the patients with higher liability to the government to cover.

Are insurance companies evil?

NO.

They are engaged in a for-profit business, accountable to their shareholders. They are acting in a way that maximizes their profits and reduces their overhead.

 

Oct

11

First, anyone that suggests or thinks we would be in the same place or a better place than we are now had the Federal Government not stepped in for a bailout of the private sector is a damn fool.

Second, we truly lack strategic thinking in our political and private sector leadership. The notion that we can only work on healthcare, or education, or climate change, or jobs as singular problems is absurd. ABSURD!

Third, our national infrastruture is crumbling (MetropolisMag Article , History Channel Episode ).

Folks, education, healthcare, climate change, national infrastructure…. all of these tie to jobs. The key to long term sustainable recovery is and has always been in government taking stimulus and tax revenues and investing and reinvesting into these four area.

How many jobs have been created in the private sector due to the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956? A similar investment in green energy will pave the way to private sector growth for our future.

There is much more we can be doing. First, we need some vision and strategic thinking. Next, we need to tactically put these plans into action. I thought I had voted for a president that had some good strategic vision. Maybe he still does and has just met the Washington guantlet. At this point I am just not sure.

Oct

11

Why?

Partisanship should be for the collective forum of ideas that leads to outcomes and changes that move us forward as a nation or solve problems we face. In the current political climate what we have is one party pandering to their base by trying to twart any attempts to do anything other than the status quo.

Independent voters have sat in the middle. We have looked at what is happening. We have witnessed baseless attacks by the right on the plans of the left. Do you think we are not smart enough to see through the bullshit of death panels, and crap like that? And, if you do not like the plans of the left, what are your plans for change? Most of the media is just as pathetic in just covering the fight as if we would prefer watching Jerry Spring instead of seeing substantative journalism. I personally just change the channel.

Most in the other party including our current administration continue to attempt partisanship in a way that is not solving our problems. It is the swing of the independent voters that determine who governs us. I can assure you we will vote Democrats out if they do not bring us the real change they promised during this administration. You will NOT be voted out for making changes in a partisan way, when we can clearly see the other party is not participating.

We voted the right in for change. If you deliver us half-hearted change your tenure in power will be short.

Wakeup Democrats!!!! There is a reason you are now in the majority in all three branches. From what I see you are currently screwing this opportunity up. The people put you in this position for a reason. Deliver the things you promised and do so in a fiscally responsible manner. If not, you will find yourself in the minority once again.

Oct

8

For the past twenty three years I have worked in healthcare. I want to tell you two first hand stories that speak to our healthcare problems. Back during the Clinton administration I was working with a hospitals data and saw a charge for $12 for one aspirin. I learned that this was the standard price. We are talking mid-nineties here.

You may seem outraged by this. But, consider this. If you show up in an ER they are required to see you and to treat you (ata minimum to stablize you before sending you on your not so merry way). What other business do you know of that this is the case? Show up at the grocery store and they are required to give you a bag of groceries?

Goods and services cost money. One can only write-off so much before needing a means for some form of compensation. Most of our ER’s today are not really ER’s, but have become the portal for healthcare for folks that do not have some form of insurance coverage.

Back during the elder Bush administration I was in a hospital taking a tour. At the time I was teaching biomedical engineers how to design and install medical telemetry systems. One was kind enough to give me a tour of his hospital. At the time I was new and under the impression telemetry was only used by patients so they could ambulate (move about). As he took me through one of the telemetry wards I was dumbfounded. I passed patient room after patient room. Patients with chest tubes. Patients that were so incapacitated they could not possibly get out of bed. I asked him why these patients were not on hardwired EKG monitors. His reply as he looked me as if I was a naive rube (I was)…

“Eric, the insurance companies only pay for so many days post surgery for a hard wired monitor. We still need to treat these patients. What are we supposed to do, treat them for free?”

The government and the insurance companies can dictate to healthcare providers all they want. At the end of the day the healthcare providers are going to do what they need to treat the patient as best as they can. Medical institutions are going to do what they need to do to stay viable and solvent.

Healthcare has been in crisis for quite some time. As boomers continue to age we will soon hit the tipping point. Fact is, you and I have been paying for everyones not so quality healthcare for quite a while now. It is time to stand up to the insurance companies and make changes that are needed so we can also participate in the constitutional goal of “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

How exactly does 125+ people that die each day because they do not have access to appropriate healthcare fit into the “life” part of that equation?

Healthcare should be a fundamental right for ALL Americans. This is a moral and ethical issue.

Oct

7

Your special comment on health care reform rocked. You spoke for many of us that are passionate about this issue. Keep up the fight.

I have been fortunate most of my adult life to have had quality military care and health insurance. I would gladly pay an additional 5% in taxes if it meant everyone would have access to healthcare.

My wife was diagnosed a month ago with Breast Cancer and goes in for surgery next week. We are blessed that it will be covered. If it was not? Without thinking about it for a second, I would take out a second mortgage wiping out ALL the equity in our home to pay the bill. We are lucky to have the financial means to deal with this. 40 million of my neighbors are not so fortunate. This is flat out wrong.

Until we reach retirement we now have to deal with a pre-existing condition. This issue has really hit home for me recently. It is soboring. My wife can be denied coverage without a second thought.

Again, thanks Keith and all you others in the public eye for taking up this cause with such passion and intelligence!

 

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