Thursday, September 26, 2013

Excerpt from: Ode To Coffee By William A. Pricé, " Oh, thou most fragrant, aromatic joy, impugned, abused, and often stormed against, And yet containing all the blissfulness that in a tiny cup could be condensed! Give thy contemners calm, imperial scorn— For thou wilt reign through ages yet unborn!"

Yay! It's Thursday, September 26, 2013, time to wake up and smell the coffee, latte, hot chocolate, or whatever it is that gets you up and going. I typically wait until I get to the office for my first cup. Yes. You would be correct. That does take an inordinate amount of discipline. And, it would be very easy to get one to go with that unit sitting right there and those little pop in Community single serve cups on standby. You know. Don't leave home without it. However, as a diabetic, I typically check by blood sugar before I start lighting up the works with caffeine. Some say it impacts the result and I suppose there is a reason they tell you to not partake before drawing blood. At any rate, it does give me some keen motivation for that thirty minute drive, conjuring up the image of a steaming cup of hot, black, and strong Community at the end of the rainbow. Too much? I thought so too but since I'm working on my third cup even as I slap around the keyboard, it more or less comes with the territory. Welcome to what I have to deal with all the time here in my world. What's that you say? You hope I am exaggerating. Well, one would hope, but to tell the truth, you don't know the half of it.

As if we don't have enough to worry about, the new health care system is about to change life as we know it. Based on everything I have read and not just the heated rhetoric by the vocal flamethrowers, this reboot of the entire health delivery mechanism looks to be a disaster in the making. An editorial in the Las Vegas Review Journal Newspaper opened with these words: "This is going to hurt, America. But you already knew that." Another editorial from the online edition of the Lancaster Pennsylvania News said this: "In the case of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, at least one unintended consequence already is emerging: Obamacare threatens to accelerate the redefining of the American work week from full time to part time." Bottom line, at least thus far, indicates higher costs, less coverage, and folks who have full time jobs are being cut to part time to avoid the consequences of having to cover them. Even with the heroic efforts of Texas US Senator Cruz and a few others, let's face it, defunding is not going anywhere because the Democrats control the Senate and the White House. My way of seeing it says about the only way forward is to start trying to make changes to it that will bring some sanity to its implementation. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, you and I, the common voter in this nation must sit and observe all the backroom deals that have been cut, entire groups being exempted, special provisions made for Congress and their employees, and give-aways galore to special interest groups. Sadly, all of this will be paid for primarily by the folks in the middle. We will end up footing the bill for the 30 million previously not covered along with all the special deals that were cut. That's not bellyaching. That's reality. Why does it work this way? Because the largest amount of people who pay taxes are found in the middle class, (Up to 65% depending on which model is used). The President and his supporters believe the pain will yield to a system that will eventually be loved and appreciated. That's their hope. Sorry, but I can't get on that bandwagon. At the same time we are not without hope because we still live in the greatest nation on earth and we still have God as our Father. Amen.   ....More later.

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