RANT: Hey Governor Corzine … … still wanna hear about state cars? … (continued) …

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

You don’t? TOO BAD!

This morning 01 August at 0705 edst on Route 1 thru Pton … …

… … a yellow panel truck td01475 … …

… down route 1 at a leisurely 70 (Your serf speed limit is 55)

… tailgating the poor peon in his way

… never left the left lane

Any way I am sure that he was hurrying to get to I assume trenton to protect and serve me.

Arghhh!


RANT: Hey Governor Corzine … … still wanna hear about state cars? … (continued) …

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

You don’t? TOO BAD!

Yesterday afternoon at 1718 edst on route 295 north milepost 41.6 … …

… … a car sg 21573 … …

… rushed by in the far left lane at a leisurely 75 (Your serf speed limit is 65)

… tailgating the poor peon in his way

… never left the left lane

Any way I am sure that he was hurrying to get to I assume trenton to turn in “his” “my” car after a difficult day of protecting and serving the serfs of the Pepulls Republik of Nu Jerzey. Was he working overtime? So was I paying him to speed, so he could punch the clock, and I could stop paying him. Hmmm.

Arghhh!


RANT: Greedy state government defrauds the taxpayers with an unneeded sales tax hike!

Monday, July 31, 2006

Note that 101.5 today is reporting that only one sixth of the tax increase is going to close the “budget gap”; the rest is for pork! Doesn’t anyone else find that amusing? The politicians pulled another fast one. AND, as I believe I mentioned, back on Wall Street, old Jon would have closed that budget gap with some good old fashioned cost cutting. But he wasn’t spending his money! Vote ’em all out. And, send them to jail for fraud.


RANT: The automatic greeting at the McDonald’s drive up

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Nothing dumber. It is obviously trigger ed by a motion sensor. “Welcome to McDonalds. May I take your order?” Don’t start ordering then because you will just have to repeat it when the clerk’s ready. Dumb!


RANT: Medicine as an exact science

Friday, July 28, 2006

Frau Reinke in the hospital relates the following tale:

***Begin Quote***

They gave me my morning meds, and they told me that they don’t stock the 320 mg version of diovan, so they gave me six 60 mg pills.
***End Quote***

Hmmm, 6*60=320?

Interesting what a precise science medicine is!


RANT: Is there a bigger rip off than tv and phone rental in the hospital?

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Saint Peter’s Hospital in New Brunswick New jersey charges 450 cents per day for the TV rental. That works out to 135$ per month. The TV ain’t nothing grand. The content provision is poor. Talk about sticking it to some poor people. Phone service is unavailable in the ICU. But, I suspect it will also be 450 cents per day for unlimited incoming and unlimited local outgoing calls. It can’t cost anywhere near that. I wonder how much this all adds to the bottom line of the hospital? For laughs, I think I’ll complain to the BPU. That should be a real waste of time.


RANT: Hospitals are no place if you are sick or need a rest.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Frau is in the hospital. Once again, I take up my keyboard to rant about what passes for “health care” today. Of course, I blame it ultimately on the gubamint. I have some direct and indirect reasoning. My rant goes like this:
(1) A hospital is basically a hotel for sick people. One should get “sicker” by something you catch in the hospital. I remember reading that Doctor’s ties were a residual source of infection, reinfection, and cross patient infection. Seems like we need a new “uniform” for doctors, nurses, orderlies, and housekeeping. A suit and a tie doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence. In my hospital, I’d have turtlenecks. And, colors to differentiate roles.

(2) When I go to Marriott, Hilton, or such, everyone is falling all over to satisfy me. When I pay at the checkout, they are interested if I’ll be coming back. Hotel rates are very competitive. At the hospital, no one much gives a rip. It’s an a la carte process with no holistic care. If a nurse needs to take everyone’s bp, then wake up the patient sleeping to get one’s tasks done. That wouldn’t happen at the local Marriott. Meals, cleaning, testing, doctor’s visits, all revolve around the service provider; not the client!

(3) The gubamint’s wage and price controls in WWII led companies to offer “medical insurance” as a back door way to evade the controls. That one thing has done more to mess up American medical care than anything I can think of. I remember when my Mom had to pay cash for my appendix operation. Care was first rate. Everyone was so helpful. That’s the thing we forget, the golden rule, he who has the gold makes the rules. In this case, it’s the gubamint and the insurance companies making the rules.

(4) The gubmint, via its Medicare and Medicaid rules, has inserted itself directly into the medical decisions of everyone’s care. Everyone! Even if you’re not covered by Medicare / Medicaid, they establish a standard of care. The insurance companies use that. They have coding and such that they piggy back on. Needless to say it’s a mess.

(5) So in a Libertarian America, the government would have NO role in medicine. The truly free marketplace would serve us all. You have the GOLD and make your own rules. One can foresee certain OBVIOUS market accommodations. Hospitals would be more like a hotel and less like a prison. Doctors would be holistic orchestra leaders working at keeping you healthy.  Insurance companies would be working to satisfy you, not your employer. Hence, the premiums would reflect your needs; into the government’s; not the employers.

(6) True charity care would be provided. Just not by the gubamint at the point of a gun. Remember that hospitals were CREATED by the religious and fraternal organizations. As were insurance companies. I remember when you bought Life Insurance from the Knights of Columbus. We need to return to that simpler time, when we VOLUNTARILY organized to solve problems.

(7) If one looks at the inefficiency of a government program or a government-regulated industry, one has a HUGE infrastructure cost of checking and rechecking. One analogy for medical care I read was give the government a dollar for 25 cents worth of service that they decide you can have. Let me keep my buck and I’ll bet I can get more than 25 cents worth of service for it. And, it will be the services that I want. And, people will be falling over themselves to have me pick them.

The free market is people having their needs and wants satisfied by greedy people in a very efficient and effective manner. No checking needed. No overhead required.


RANT: An interesting way to treat the menatlly ill … lie to them, beat them …?

Thursday, July 27, 2006

http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8825

***Begin Quote***

A man was beaten by workers of an electric company after they, together with the police and passers-by, persuaded him off a power tower as he planned to commit suicide, Beijing Times reported today.

***End Quote***

I’m not so sure that if I’m the next nut job there that I’d beleive promises made next time. It such a tragedy the way we treat the mentally ill. If there is such a thing as “mental illness”? Fine line between genius and madness. The validity of the “insanity defense”. It all flows from our lack of respect for, appreciation of, the value of life.


TECH: “OUTLOOK” does a lookout again!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

(1) Apparently, LookOut (Microsoft’s Outlook’s evil alter ego) doesn’t honor the don’t send until flags. Argh!

(2) Apparently, Microsoft in its infinite wisdom has decided that now before I can click a link in an email, I have to say ‘mother may”. That’s is it turns off all links and it takes two clicks where one would do! Arghhhhhh!!!!


LIBERTY: USF … yet another gubamint joke … but the jokes on us!

Saturday, July 15, 2006

http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/76234

USF: The Bureaucrat’s Dream
Fraud, waste, and no oversight
Posted on 2006-07-11 08:48:54
*** QUOTE ***

We’ve long illuminated the fraud, waste and dysfunction inherent in the FCC’s USF and E-rate systems, which you pay into each month via various bills to help fund rural telecom deployment. Because the system is poorly monitored by the FCC, some allege it’s at best a slush fund for the incumbent telcos.

*** QUOTE ***
And, this is a surprise! Eliminate the FCC; the marketplace will organize itself faster, cheaper, and better.