Saying Good Bye To a Dear Old Friend, Part II

Tonight, I will recall with fond memories my early childhood years on the
family farm. It's a beautiful piece of property, measuring 160 acres in
size in the northern part of Illinois. Mostly clay soil, good for crops,
but a little sandy soil too.

When I was small, like any kid, I was curious. This got me into trouble at
times, particularly when I wandered out into the middle of the busy road on
which the farm is located. When I got into trouble, my parents put me in an
outdoor play pen they had built. That's something you couldn't, necessarily
do in the city.

I wandered out and played around the equipment, yeah, suffering my share of
bumps and bruises. Probably the two most serious things that happened to me
were when I fell over a wagon hitch one time when I was little and hurt my
leg. While I remember being in quite a bit of pain, X-Rays found nothing
broken.

The second most serious thing that happened was when I was riding my bike at
the age of about 9 or 10, and rode it straight into a hay rake. Now for
those who do not know, a hay rake is what puts hay and straw into piles to
be baled using another piece of equipment called a hay baler. If you have
ever been anywhere and seen or sat on bales of straw, those were made up
using a hay baler.

Well, the rake had to put it into piles in order for it to be baled. I got
cut up pretty good on its sharp blades, but thank goodness I didn't have to
go to the hospital for that one, although it was close.

You see, while I had my share of accidents, that was what was so great about
the farm. My parents let me explore and learn what was dangerous and what
was not, sometimes the hard way. When you are around heavy machinery and
big animals early in your life, you develop a healthy respect for them, let
me tell you. Like all of the times when I was six or seven and tried riding
on the back of a pig. Heck, I figured, if horses like to be ridden, pigs do
to, right?

Wrong. The pig riding escapade ended when I conked my head on an overhead
pipe. I discovered pigs don't like to be ridden.

Then there was the time over at the neighbor's farm when I put my foot into
a cow pen, only to be kicked by the darn cow. Guess she didn't like that!
Ouch, it hurt!

Good Bye Dear Old Friend, Part I

This week will bring a series of blog entries that are very very sad. I
feel as though I'm sitting by the bedside of a dying relative as I write
these entries, sharing memories of the person. This analogy fits because,
we're talking about the death of yet another family farm.

I was born in the mid 1960's to parents that lived on a farm in the Northern
part of Illinois. When I grew up, my Grandpa tended the farm while my dad
worked in town. As a small child, I remember the days following Grandpa
around and many times, getting in his way as he fed the pigs, took care of
the cattle and planted and harvested corn and soybeans. Grandpa was always
pretty good natured about the whole thing, and through getting my share of
bumps and bruises, I learned the farm can be a dangerous place especially
for a small child who is blind.

My dad took over the farm in 1973 when Grandpa retired. He has been at it
for 36 years. Every year he has put in countless hours, blood, sweat and
tears to raise a high yielding, high quality crop. For many years he raised
pigs until it got so unprofitable he couldn't afford to stay in that
business.

I'll share more memories throughout this series, for later this week, the
farm and much of what is there in terms of equipment, buildings, and
memories will be sold at a farm sale. More on saying good bye to my old
friend later this week, as well as how the impending sale makes me feel.

Internal Virus Database is out of date.
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4:35 PM

Final 4 All Set

Well, just two weeks ago, 65 teams were announced as participants in the
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and the madness began. As of this
afternoon, we're down to the final four who will compete next weekend in
Detroit, Michigan for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

The National Semifinals will be next Saturday, April 4. It will start at
about 5:00 in the afternoon. After what I will have been through that day,
I'll need the escape of the games but more on that as the week progresses.

The first game will be between Michigan State University and U-Conn.
Frankly, I am surprised that either of these two teams are there. While
U-Con was a number 1 seed, I felt they were the weakest of the number 1's
and would have been knocked out. Jim Calhoune is a great coach and he's
been here before.

This game matches two great coaches, Calhoune and Michigan State's Tom Isso.
Both know what it takes to win at the Final 4. While I think this will be a
close game, I give a slight edge to Michigan State. They just seem to be
better on defense and they will, practically, be playing at home as the
Final 4 is being played in Detroit. If they can bring their defensive game
like they did today against Louisville, they should beat U-Conn. Don't
count Calhoune out, though.

The second game pits the University of North Carolina against Vilanova. It
would be easy to look at this game and say, of course, North Carolina.
Don't do that. While North Carolina has been playing very well during the
tournament, Villanova came in hot and have stayed that way. They also are
battle tested as they play in the rugged Big East conference.

Looking at this game, I give the edge to North Carolina. While I think this
will be a close game throughout, Carolina's experience will prevail in the
end.

So my National Championship game pits Michigan State against North Carolina
on Monday, April 6. Here, too, I'll pick North Carolina. While Michigan
State has had a great tournament run, and while if they won the national
championship it would not surprise me, I again think Carolina's experience
will rule the day.

Only three games to go and the madness will be behind us for another year.
As usual, it has been a great tournament. Once the madness is behind us,
it's on to baseball.

We Should Run from Universal Health Care As Fast As We Can

President Obama will tell anyone who wants to listen, repeatedly
as well as those of us who don't want to hear it that we need to
reform health care. He talks about bringing down costs, mostly,
and tries to sell it as saving lots for money for American
families and businesses.

Don't be fooled! What Obama and liberals like him want is
universal health care. They want the Government, not you, not a
private insurance company, but some uncaring bureaucrat who
probably is a political appointee making health care decisions
for you and me.

As a person with a disability, this scares the shit out of me.
Words like cost controls and such are code to me which means some
people are too expensive to keep around. Many with disabilities
who require ongoing, life sustaining care would fit into that
category. No one will say it, but there are those who believe
they would be better off dead.

I resent anyone saying I or any other person with a disability is
too expensive to care for. Where is the compassion in that you
liberal pukes?

People say, countries like Canada and Great Britain have
universal health care, so why shouldn't we? A lot of good the
Canadian system did for Natasha Richardson didn't it? Why did she
end up dying in a New Yolk hospital? Probably because she
couldn't get the treatment she needed in Canada because some
Government pawn wouldn't approve it. Why, if Canada's system is
so good do people come over the border into the states for
treatment in droves? I understand this to be the case in border
areas like North Dakota.

Don't get me wrong, there are things which we need to do to drive
down health care costs. Before listing some of them, I ask that
President Obama keep his campaign promise when he said, if people
are happy with their health care, that's great. I'm happy with
my health care, leave it alone.

First, to reduce costs, we must allow Medicare to negotiate for
lower prescription drug prices like major health plans do. This
was an aggregious omission when Medicare Part D was passed in
2003. The Government has tremendous buying power and could
command lower prices, no question about that.

Speaking of Medicare, let's truly look at it from top to bottom
and eliminate fraud, wasteful spending and needless paperwork.
One way to do this is to continue to encourage the filing of
claims by electronic means. As long as stringent privacy
controls are in place, this can be done very safely.

Let's allow small businesses to pool their resources and get the
same discounts on health insurance that big businesses do. Small
business is the life blood of America, and if they can reduce
their health care costs, they can create more jobs.

Let's stop providing any health care to illegal ailians, except
for emergency care. How much does it cost the rest of us to
support these law breakers through higher insurance premiums and
taxes? Maybe if they can't get free health care they will think
about going back to where they came from. Of course, this won't
happen under the liberal piberals because they need the Hispanic
vote.

Let's promote healthy lifestyle choices. No, not by regulating
everything, but by encouraging people to live healthier which
will drive down costs. We already do a lot to encourage people
to quit smoking. Why not have health plans pay part of the cost
for health club memberships and weight loss programs to encourage
people to exercise more and lose weight? This would have to be
tied into some requirement that people actually use the partially
paid for memberships and programs. Start in school with healthy
eating education so children learn early, with reinforcement at
home what is good for them and what is not. Let's also get our
kids outside, playing ball, riding bikes and having fun and not
try to put them inside a plastic bubble. We can help to do this
was capturing the permanently locking up sexual predators, most
of whom are male.

Finally, let's put sensible caps on pain and suffering damages in
malpractice lawsuits. If a person or a person's family member is
injured or killed due to medical malpractice, that's a terrible
thing. Certainly, those who are wronged should be compensated
for economic damages. Pain and suffering is hard to put a price
on; after all, no amount of money will bring someone back or make
them whole again. Clearly, those who committed malpractice need
to be punished so they don't do it again. A cap of say, $1
million, would accomplish that.

We don't need universal health care. What this country needs to
do is implement common sense practices as I have indicated here
which will drive down costs and improve an already excellent
health care system. Our nation has the best health care in the
world. Let's not ruin it with over regulation.

I Hope For Spring To Be Here Soon

Here we are in the middle of March, and looking at the calendar
it says that Spring soon will be here. Now I live in the midwest
and am smart enough to know that just because the calendar says
it's spring doesn't make it so.

Spring, to me, brings hope. We have had a terrible winter in
this part of the United States, with lots of snow and brutally
cold temperatures. Soon, however, we will hear the crack of the
bat and two of my favorite words, "Play ball." We will hear birds
singing, and see leaves on the trees. The unmistakable sounds of
a lawn mower and the smell of newly cut grass will fill the air.
And the days, well, they'll just keep getting longer.

As a person who is blind I don't feel I miss out on much of the
beauty of the spring season. I can hear the birds and smell the
flowers and plants as "you come to life. I can feel the air as
it warms up, heading us toward summer.

There is, one thing however, about this spring that will be sad
for me. For over 35 years, my father has looked forward to
spring for getting into the fields, working the ground and
planting the crops. He won't be doing that for the first time in
all those years this year. This is because he has decided to
retire from farming and will be having a farm sale very soon.

Not only has the farm been where my dad worked tirelessly to
plant, tend to and harvest his crops, but it also is where I grew
up. It's where I learned how to ride a bike, weed a garden, and
many other things. The farm held me close as I grew from a boy
into a man. With the farm sale will go a large piece of my
childhood.

So as I look forward to Spring this year with enthusiasm, that
enthusiasm will be tempered a bit by what this spring season
means to my family and the place I grew up and still call home.
Will will devote at least one blog entry to the farm before the
sale.

Let The Madness Begin

We're coming to one of my favorite times of the year, the start of the NCAA
Men's Basketball Tournament. Let the madness begin.

What an exciting tournament field we have this year. We have four well
deserved number one seeds, including three from one conference. I predict
that Pitt will win the overall national championship.

As usual, we can quarrel with some of the the committee's choices. Why did
Wisconsin, a team which has been up and down all year get in, but North
Western which played very well, especially in the non conference did not?
Why didn't the University of Florida get in? Oh well, the choices are made
and now the madness can begin.

Yes, there will be several upsets, you know there are. I really wish I
could take this first Friday of the tournament off so I could watch game,
after game, after game.

Let's tip it off and watch the brackets!

Who Is Going to Bale Me Out?

Just a bit over a year ago I believe, my retirement savings were
nearly twice what they are today. I just looked at my retirement
account yesterday and determined how much I have lost.

The Federal Government is baling out the big banks, auto makers,
irresponsible companies like AIG, and on and on. Meanwhile, I
and millions of other Americans who did the responsible thing are
suffering.

I did what many others did. I have saved my money, and thought I
made wise choices about how to invest it. I chose to invest in a
reputable fund family. Others did too. Yet, here we see our
retirement savings dwindling down and down and down.

My question to the President and Congress is, so who is going to
bale us out? Who is going to help us recover our losses so we can
actually retire sometime and enjoy a well earned leisure life
after working hard for many years? I know the answer and it
pisses me off The answer is nobody is going to bale us out, we're
just taxpayers who, by the way, are expected to bale everyone
else out. This sucks and it better stop and stop now!!!

Obama Continues To play Loose with Taxpayer Dollars

Well, President Obama is at it again. Today, he has, by
Executive Order, lifted the ban on using Federal funds for
embryonic stem cell research. By doing this he continues to play
loose with yours and my tax dollars.

Obama's actions today were not necessary, although he did not go
as far as he could have which I appreciate. Embryonic stem cell
research has been permitted; all that was banned by the Bush
administration was using Federal dollars to pay for it. This
policy struck an important balance between allowing research to
move forward while respecting the rights of tax payers like me
who have ethical concerns with it.

If I could be 100% sure that the embryos being used truly were
those being discarded by invetro fertilization clinics, I could
support Federal funding of this kind of research. Neither I nor
anyone else can be sure this is 100% true. I fear we are heading
down a slippery slope with today's decision. You just watch!
Congress will soon act to repeal the law that bans creation of
embryos for research purposes. Then, we're really in trouble!

We need to support and fund ethical medical research. Many
tremendous medical advances have come about thanks to research on
stem cells, adult ones. I support mothers saving cord blood for
the cell contents it contains for research. The destruction of
embryos, however, crosses an ethical line and I do not want my
tax dollars used to pay for it. Let those scientists who plan on
conducting this research apply for foundation or other grants to
do it. Let them seek money from states which allow state dollars
to fund this kind of research. Scientists have said they have
alternatives to embryonic stem cells, such as adult skin cells.
Since embryonic stem cell research presents ethical questions,
Federal dollars should you be used to pay for it and I am
offended that President Obama and others feel my ethical concerns
do not matter, that they can spend my tax dollars as they see fit
for this research!

Great Progress on H.R. 734, Keep It Up!

I'm pleased to report that we've made great progress in signing on
co-sponsors to H.R. 734, The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act <a
href="http://thomas.loc.gov">Click here to learn more about it</a>. We've
got 81 co-sponsors, but more are needed.

Go to the <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov">Thomas Site</a> type in 'hr734'
into the search box, click the radio button for bill number and click the
search button. Once you have done this, click on the link that says
'Co-sponsors'.

If your representative is on the list of co-sponsors, contact their office
and thank them. If your representative is not on the list, call their
office and ask them to sign on.

Thanks, pedestrians everywhere are depending on you to help get H.R. 734
passed so we can make the streets safer, even with the growing popularity of
quiet cars.

Back To Reality

Tomorrow, it's back to work for me, back to reality. While I have had a
very good vacation, accomplishing what one wants to do in re-charging my
batteries, it's normally, always a little hard to get back into the swing of
things.

It's not quite as hard at this time, though. This is because as I look at
the current mess our country's economy is in, I am thankful that I have a
job. There are many out there who do not have a job and don't know when
they will get another one. Some of these folks are probably having trouble
putting food on the table, paying for housing, or whatever. I've been laid
off before and it is a scary thing to go through. I was laid off in better,
albeit not great economic times.

So tomorrow I'll go back to work thankful that I am able to make the money
to help keep us safe, warm and fed. But I pray those out there who are
jobless will find work soon.

The Economic Mess Is Obama's Problem Now, Stupid

I'm back and I'm angry! What did we hear in the news this week?
Well, we heard GM may be forced into Chapter 11 Bankrupsy
protection and should bee in my opinion. The Federal Government
is contemplating throwing more money down the sewer which is AIG.
My answer is no. On Friday, we heard that the economy lost some
651,000 jobs in February, sending the nation's unemployment rate
to over 8%, worse since 1983.

Things continue to go from bad to worse in our economy, even
after President Obama took office. It's his problem now, and he
needs to deal with it responsibly! No longer can Obama claim he
inherited this mess, because the mess continues. However, the
left wing liberal nut jobs and the main stream media will
probably let him continue to do so at least for a short time.
Americans like me aren't going to buy it. We're not going to buy
stocks just because Obama decrees that owe should, at least I'm
not.

It's time for people who know financials, and not politicians to
be put in charge of trying to help our economy. The economy is
cyclical, and will recover and prosper again, even without
Governmental intervention. It sure as hell doesn't need the
kinds of out of control, deficit spending we are seeing to help
it. The sooner people like Obama and his treasury Secretary who
doesn't even know how to pay his own taxes figure that out and
get the hell out of the way, the better for America.