The Tragedy of Travon

Travon Martin is your child and mine.   His death is not about race or religion or suspicion of criminal activity.  It is America, depicted to the world as a nation trapped in its Wild West mentality, where every man is the sheriff, gun at the ready, to protect the freedom of our land - from each other.

I took a trip to Target yesterday to buy a new toaster oven.  My morning bread was suddenly a warm brown on one side and Wonder white on the other, so I figured it was time.  I didn't pack a weapon or hollow point bullets to protect myself from the other families buying food or a new toaster of their own.  I was not accosted in the parking lot and made it to the store and home without having to kill a child or any other citizen who looked the least bit shady.  My belief in the Constitution of the United States remained intact, despite the fact that it was not necessary to exercise my Second Amendment rights.

The world has gone completely insane when the watchman becomes the hunter.  

I have two sons who have luckily grown to manhood without having to see the barrel of a gun pointed in their direction.  This is not to say that seventeen was a time where they exercised great prudence; where their decision making was flawless or even intelligent.  Seventeen is the time for stupidity.  The time when you think you can put up your dukes and fight out a problem or a stalker. Where you walk in the rain to get a bag of Skittles.   It's the time when curse words color your thoughts, where you think you are immortal, where you fight the boogeyman and get him before he gets you.

 It is not the time to die in the dark; in the rain.  At the hands of a stranger.

Watching the George Zimmerman trial, as the mother of sons, I gave thanks to God every day that it wasn't my children in the dark Florida night.  Not because I live in a better neighborhood, or because my children are white.  I gave thanks for the coincidence that my children never fought with someone armed.  I have no doubts that, like all boys of a certain age, there were times when my children had a little too much testosterone and not enough good sense.  But through the grace of God, they never met a man who vowed to protect and care for his neighbors as long as they weren't walking slowly through the raindrops.

I gave thanks for those who spoke to them, without the use of violence, when they were someplace where they shouldn't have been.  Have we become so disconnected, so fearful of each other, that George Zimmerman could not have identified himself?  Couldn't he have said: "Son, do you live in this neighborhood?"  Might he have informed Travon that he was indeed the neighborhood watch ?  In its most simple form, the touch of a button to lower a car window, to speak as one human being to another, and Travon Martin is home with his mom, or visiting his father or talking to Rachel Jentel on his cell phone.

We think we have achieved justice because we conducted a trial.  We applaud ourselves for the process of having our peers decide whether taking a life with a semi-automatic weapon was justified.  The pundits discuss the rules of law and as always those seeking to further divide us make it an issue of race.

Something at my own core wants to shout: "It's the guns stupid!"  "It's all about the guns."

Paula Deen and the American PC Pendulum

We Americans have a tendency towards extremism and while we share a strong national pride, we have not always had the most stellar history.

Slavery, the Civil War, the deaths of Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy, and our propensity towards violence are not a shining example of "the land of the free and home of the brave."

Even when we self correct, we go too far.

Now, I am not familiar with the life of Paula Deen.  I have seen her a few times on the morning talk shows where she seemed like a cute southern grandmother who liked to cook with lots of butter and cream.  From what I understand, she is quite successful at plying her trade, so there will be no need to run out for additional Kleenex to mourn for her supposed financial setbacks.  

For the past few days, there have been countless of news hours dedicated to the fact that a 66 year old woman raised in the South admitted to having used the dreaded "N" word. Was it last week?  When she was twelve or fifteen?  The Food Network saw fit to cancel her cooking show and the media pundits have shaken their collective heads in obvious destain for her hideous sin of admission.  Suddenly, some woman who can make a good biscuit is the "Hitler of 2013."

 As usual, we have gone way too far.

The American obsession with Political Correctness has undoubtedly given us some important guidelines that have benefitted us in our workplaces, and hopefully have had an impact on sexual harassment. But, there is no doubt that they have also contributed to our social isolation and our inability to communicate or educate each other. We don't really know what to say to each other anymore. They certainly have not put an end to bullying in school or protected our children from gun violence.  In the hysteria of the Paula Deen incident, they will surely contribute to honing our deceptive skills and you can bet that no one will admit that they have  ever used a racial slur.

Ms. Deen is a product of the cultural and social history of the South.  In years past, this history included  the Klan, separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, riding on the back of the bus, and educational segregation, all things too unbelievable for most young Americans to even contemplate.  But, many of us of a certain age do remember.  It doesn't matter if you grew up in Mississippi or Long Island, prejudicial behavior was pervasive everywhere.

Sociologists remind us that all prejudice originates from fear.  Fear of our differences and fear of change.   Indeed, Ms. Deen has stated that one of her relatives committed suicide after the Civil War.  He could not fathom a world without slavery, which was his fear.

As a young woman in the nineteen sixties, I was part of the peace and love generation.  We embraced the ideas of equality for people of every color and for women's rights, which were still in the "back of the bus"stage.  But don't think for a moment that I could have dated an African American boy.  My parents were from a different generation and their fears ruled their lives as well.

It is 2013 now. While we have all been influenced by the social and political mores of our past, certainly Ms. Deen is old enough to have made her own choices in life.  As a young woman, influenced by her parents and social climate, she may indeed have used the "N" word.   I'm sure its part of a very distant past, and I would bet that her children were raised in a climate where the word was not part of the daily vocabulary.

Should we choose to fire every Southern, or for that matter Northern, individual over the age of 50 who has used "the word," at some point in their lives, America would be a third world country.

There is a point where our sensitivities become reminiscent of a lynching.  Isn't this the very thing our ancestors fought and died to avoid?

Variations in Generic Prescription Drug Pricing - One More Factor in Our HealthCare Crisis

As if aging was not hideous enough, a trip past my glass kitchen cabinet where I now store a multitude of prescription drugs, is a constant reminder that I am no longer in the springtime of my existence.

Synthroid for my radiated thyroid, prescription Protonix for heartburn, high blood pressure pills, cholesterol meds, and most recently a bottle of Plavix from having an aortic aneurysm repair.  Oh, Joy and Happiness!

It could be much worse, I guess, and my recovery from the stent placement has proceeded to the point where I can almost, but not quite, cross my legs again - without wincing in pain.  What did make me wince, however, was the monthly out of pocket cost to swallow down the daily doses required to keep me upright.

All this pill popping was a relatively new phenomenon for me so despite my vast experience in managing a number of medical practices, I had no idea how much these colorful and varied shaped disease fighters cost.

My husband's medical plan requires that we pay up- front for our prescriptions.  We then mail the receipts and wait to be reimbursed at 80% of the cost.  The check always arrives in a timely manner, but until very recently, I was shelling out about three hundred a month to the lovely person behind the counter at my local CVS.  I pay less for my 2012 Honda lease - and it's much, much bigger.  One realizes why so many seniors have to make the choice between eating and taking their prescribed medications and I consider myself lucky that I could squeeze our budget to cover these costs without having to eat Ritz crackers for our evening meal.

I decided to investigate and was shocked to find that there was an overwhelming difference in the costs of prescription medication from place to place.  Not just a one or two dollar difference, mind you, but differences so staggering that there is really no reasonable explanation.

Plavix is now available as the generic Clopidogrel.  For thirty pills at CVS, the up-front cost was $157.49.  At Pathmark, the same prescription cost me $11.30.

The generic prescription Protonix was $89.00 at CVS.  Pathmark - $11.00 even.

How can this possibly make sense?   I sent an e-mail to CVS on Friday asking for an explanation and I can't imagine what they could tell me to account for the difference in pricing.   If the drugs cost them that much to purchase and so many patients pay only a co-pay of $15.00 or $20.00, how can CVS afford to stay in business ?   Do the uninsured or self pay patients make up the difference?

I can't claim to know what the insurance companies are reimbursing pharmacies for drugs covered under a co-pay plan, but if it is $157.49 for Clopidogrel, then how does Pathmark afford to stay in business. Do they supply the drug manufacturers with free food?  

There has been much discussion regarding the institution of federally controlled health care, but shouldn't there be some consistency in what patients are charged for services?  In medicine, we cannot charge our patients over and above the contracted reasonable and customary fees.  Shouldn't there be a reasonable fee for medications as well?

The Ryan Voucher System and Sleepless Nights

Simply put; Paul Ryan's "Voucher System," for Seniors keeps me up at night.  After spending twenty years in healthcare I consider myself an expert in the insurance game and can state without reservation that the insurance carriers make Bonnie and Clyde look like The Salvation Army.  Insurance companies  represent an extremely powerful lobby whose influence on Capital Hill makes me wonder how much they contributed to the Romney/ Ryan campaign chest, now and prior to his nomination for Vice President ?

One of the biggest frustrations faced by any practice administrator is the constant battle to receive reimbursement for even the most carefully prepared, cleanest transmitted, and authorized up the gazoo claim !  Working on an accounts receivable can drive the most dedicated and experienced billing employee to distraction.  But I digress.  Let's look at the dynamics behind a voucher system for Seniors and discuss the obstacles that make this system such a poor idea.

Alternative health insurers have spent decades wooing seniors in communities throughout the United States and offering them Medicare alternative plans that would free them from the yearly Medicare deductible and provide prescription coverage with either a small or zero co-payment.  Seniors who found the Medicare deductible a financial hardship and whose prescription costs were skyrocketing signed up in droves.

The first problem was that at least 50% of those seniors who adopted the Medicare alternative plans had no idea that they would be giving up their Medicare Part B coverage.  They presented for care in physicians offices with their Medicare card, without realizing that they retained only Medicare Part A.

Secondly, some plans did require a referral from the patients primary care physician and these referrals were also absent at time of visit, especially for those that presented for an emergent visit, where the staff did not have the time to verify their coverage and in many cases were under the impression that the patient was covered by Medicare, where a referral was unnecessary.  

In addition, patients had no real understanding of which tests and procedures were covered under the new plan and many hospitals that these patients had used for years; hospitals in their own community, as well as some of the hospitals who provide specialized care for cancer treatment, etc, did not accept their new primary coverage.

In short, a large portion of the seniors that were treated in facilities that I personally managed had less than a clue about any of the above problems.  

The practices that I spent the majority of my time managing were all located on Long Island, twenty short minutes from Manhattan, one of the most cosmopolitan and sophisticated cities in the world.  If my patients were confused, can you imagine expecting seniors who live in rural areas of the USA to suddenly start shopping around for competitive insurance rates and to outline their health histories and needs for specialized care, before deciding where to use their voucher coverage?  People, this is just ridiculous!  As an Administrator for Cardiology, it was a herculean effort to staff my front office with enough employees to answer the countless questions regarding testing procedures and physician instructions.  Whose practice, or what organization is going to be responsible for assisting seniors in making their insurance choices?

 I guess the insurance companies can sponsor more breakfast and luncheons, but based on my past experience this will not be an adequate salve for the problem.  As far as the Ryan plan forcing the insurance carriers to become rate competitive, I can hardly keep a straight face!  These companies are big, profit driven, monsters, whose bottom line is profit, profit, profit.  Once rates for companies participating in Ryan's plan are established, trust me, there is no where they will go but up.  Is Ryan going to assure us that there will be a cap on voucher costs?  I think not!

Campaign rhetoric is full of the promise that Medicare is no longer a viable system and will collapse in the years ahead.  Those who oppose the Obama Health Care Plan tell us that small businesses will go bankrupt providing health care coverage for their employees.  Perhaps I live in the age of the dodo, but we baby boomers most often chose our jobs based on the benefit package available, including health care coverage, which, by the way, was most often free of employee contributions. Companies who did not offer coverage were often stuck with the lot of substandard employees who had a hard time finding work anywhere.  During the ten years that I worked for Varig Airlines, I was 100% covered by Cigna Insurance after my probationary period was successfully completed.  In addition, Varig matched my pension contributions dollar for dollar up to 6% of my total earnings.   Those were the days, when the CEO of companies based in America collected a fair wage for performance and profits from a hard days work were shared equally, up and down the line.

Today, most companies expect their employees to pay a portion of their coverage and the Obama plan is not asking employers to fully fund health care.  There are inexpensive plans on the market that provide basic coverage, with slightly higher deductibles, that most small businesses should be able to afford, providing that the small business owner does not expect to walk away each week with the lion's share of the profits representing far more than a fair and equitable wage.  The Republican Party is vehement in their opposition of the Obama Plan and threaten to repeal it the moment they take office. Or keep some of it.  That seems to be the latest in the Romney/Ryan plan.  Politicians have been working to come up with an idea for health care for its citizens for the past fifty years, but when a plan is proposed, it is met with a resounding NO.  Eventually NO leads to NOTHING, and this seems to be the hallmark of American politics for the past decade.

When Medicare was born, we had no assurances that it would be a success or fail miserably.  This is true for Social Security, the Head Start Program, and programs that put Americans to work during the depression.  If the Obama plan turns out to be a loser, we can kiss it goodbye.  But to simply deny its existence, or scrap it, in favor of NOTHING?  Is this counter-productive or am I living in the land of the  hopelessly optimistic?   Instead, as the Republicans desire, we should scrap Medicare, and replace it with tickets for coverage.  Tickets?  Just because most seniors remember the early days of Disneyland, where E-tickets gave you the best ride, doesn't mean that we want to take that ride, or save it for ten years for our fellow cronies to use !

Of course, if we made or produced anything in this country anymore, we could offer more opportunities for business to grow and thrive and the question of a business covering their employees would not suddenly seem as if it was a new and nightmarish idea.  All at once, we are proclaiming that the idea of an employer providing his workers with coverage is as horrific as Hiroshima.  When did we develop this sense of memory loss regarding the connection between employment and insurance coverage?  I would have to speculate that we disregarded the fact that it ever existed in the light of our new desire to covet more profits.

Some would proclaim that our jobs are too slim and our population too large to provide benefits that existed for decades in the past.  Well people, if we stopped sending American jobs overseas.  If China paid a fair import tax.  If we did a better job of patrolling our borders, then perhaps American business could put Americans to work, and protect them in times of sickness and health.

Having owned a start up medical practice, it was my job to provide the employees with coverage. I did the research, I paid the premiums, I investigated new plans each year, and was still able to draw a fair salary for the efforts of my labors.  This is not an anti-success idea, nor does it represent a desire to keep small businesses small.  Over the past few decades, Wall Street and the banking institutions have flaunted the fact that their bigwigs brought home billions, while those who made those profits possible; well - who cares!

We have become a society that applauds greed and bulldozes over anyone who dares stand in the way while we plunder our corporations, lay off workers, export our jobs, and do it all with a shrug of apathy.  If we see it often enough, we become immune to the disgrace of it and literally become the fairy tale of '"The Emperors New Clothes."  We keep saying that the king is clothed, while our failures are nakedly apparent.  We might start to solve some of our problems, if just one of our politicians decided to finally tell the truth!

Let us also realize that citizens without adequate health care coverage often present in our hospital emergency rooms, where patients cannot be pre-screened and treatment cannot be denied.  Overwhelming costs for treating the uninsured have allowed thousands of smaller hospitals to be gobbled up by larger health care systems where treatment becomes standardized, and may be inferior.  Forget about bankrupting small businesses; should we ever face the day where our healthcare system is bankrupt, our problems will be far greater than a lack of profitability.  

Those who wish to ignore the poor and disenfranchised fail to realize that they may not ignore us.  As poverty and unemployment increase; when those without jobs or those who are homeless are ignored, it is not speculative to remind ourselves that crime increases.  Desperate people perform desperate acts.  Eventually, there is no ivory tower, or apathy to protect us.

Finally, as a representative of the generation who have or will approach the age where we can avail ourselves of the benefits of senior status, I am far from fooled by the constant blather of those who point out that the reserves for our time will not be available.   Certainly, Obama, Romney, and Ryan can pay the costs for their health care with the spare change that lines their pockets.  Unfortunately, most of my generation cannot do the same.  There is enough blame for both sides of the aisle.  If the politicians are so concerned with the issue of health care coverage for the uninsured, why don't they just give all of us the same Federal Plan, which covers their every ache and pain so effortlessly.

Perhaps the government should rename the baby boomer generation, AIG, or Morgan Stanley.  They might suddenly find a trillion dollars or so to keep the Medicare system intact.

Stimulating The Economy

The 2012 Presidential race is reaching fever pitch.   Both the Republican and Democratic candidates agree that our economy is in the toilet, but neither Romney or Obama seem to be able to communicate exactly what plans they have for economic recovery.  More government, less government, and the grey area in between don't leave any of us in the middle class tremendously optimistic about the future.

The fact is, that despite all of their experience in business or politics, most citizens are fearful that any great idea for economic growth will die on the vine or become the victim of bi-partisan immovability.

Perhaps it might be a good idea to first take a look at the state of the economy, admit some hard to swallow truths and then take action to move forward.  Many of us struggling to maintain our status in the middle class discuss these issues with our family, friends, and neighbors in our community.  It's difficult to understand why the ideas that spring from our conversations have never been previously considered or implemented.  

In this blog post, I will attempt to lay out some of the ideas that spring from the work place and the dining room tables across America.  Agree or disagree with them, but admit that at least our thinking caps are in place.

1.  In order to spend money to stimulate the economy, middle class pockets need to contain more than laundry lint.  It's impossible to buy goods or purchase services if you are barely able to pay the bills or put food on the table.  American banks received billions of dollars in bail out cash, but not one dollar was spent to bail out the millions of Americans who lost their homes, their jobs, and many of their hopes for the future.  One good idea may be the initiation of a state lottery program, administrated by the Federal Government and named,"Free Mortgage Money."

Instead of picking a series of numbers, Lottery players would purchase a $2.00 ticket that would be fed into a computer.  The paid ticket would entitle its holder to enter their names, address and amount of mortgage debt into the "Free Mortgage" computer.  At the end of each week, for every two million dollars played, one million would be paid to the state coffers and one million dollars would be used to pay off up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the winners mortgage debt.  The computers would be set to randomly pick the names of the winners and calculate how many winners would benefit each week, depending on the money owed by the winner and the amount of money collected in lottery play.

The technology would be simple to implement and winners names and addresses could be posted on a web-site each week.  The winners would report to their local lottery office where administrators could assist them in transferring funds directly to the institution holding their mortgage debt.  Perhaps we could use some of the thousands of brilliant law graduates who have passed the bar and remain unable to find a job in their field to administrate this process.    

All parties benefit from such a program:  states get a weekly infusion of funds, the mortgage winner now has the funds to purchase more goods and services, and even the banks who seem to require your first born child before they give you anything, could use the cash infusions to create new mortgage money or to offer low interest loans.  Law school graduates could finally move out of their parents basement, gain work force experience, and have a salary to pay back some of their enormous school loans.


2.   In most of the Northeastern states, property and school taxes are beyond belief.  My own taxes are close to ten thousand dollars a year and most of my neighbors question just what we are getting for our money.  Certainly in other parts of our country there is garbage collection and snow removal for less than ten grand a year.  Our roads in New York are filled with potholes and many of our public and parochial schools are using desks from the 1950's.  For the most part, our homes are modest and many of us have a lot that measures 40 by 100, so its not like we are paying for an estate that holds our collection of Arabian ponies.  If you have ever traveled to other parts of our country and looked at the sizes of homes and lots, you have no doubt shaken your head in disbelief when you become aware that you are paying double or triple the taxes of your fellow citizens.

Yes, wages may be higher in the Northeast and job opportunities more plentiful, but the disparity between salaries and the prices of homes in our neighborhoods are not what they used to be when our parents moved from the cities to suburbia.  For those of us whose kids are grown and gone from the nest, enormous school taxes are especially hard to swallow.

Perhaps it might be more equitable to offer a tax rebate or reduction to homeowners whose children are no longer enrolled in the school system.  A 50% reduction in school taxes for these families seems fair and solves an even larger problem.  Currently those who rent in a community are exempt from payment of school taxes.  This includes those who are not yet citizens, or are in the country illegally, as well as those who are not home owners.  If your children are registered to attend schools in the community, you should be responsible to shoulder some of the costs of their education, despite the fact that you do not own property.  

3.   Those currently unemployed for more than six months should be required to perform some form of community service in order to receive a weekly check.  This should also be true for those who collect welfare and are not caring for young children or a sick family member.   Teachers can offer tutoring or mentoring services for schools in their community.  Those in the legal field, who have lost their jobs, or who cannot find a job, can provide free assistance for a certain number of hours each week for those citizens who require and may not be able to afford such services privately.

We have seen the large number of individuals who turn out each winter to clear snow from stadiums or streets.  Thousands have shown up for these jobs to earn $12.00 an hour.  With our employment rate holding steady at 8%, why can't we create jobs for individuals to shovel snow for seniors who register in advance for these services at their local town halls.  In spring and summer, these same individuals can be trained to make street repairs or to clean and refurbish our parks, many of which are unfit for use by the community.   This is certainly a solution to work for welfare and does not cost the Federal or local governments additional funds.

Construction companies who have suffered from a lack of projects due to the economy could receive a government grant to rebuild and refurbish the large number of abandoned buildings that are found in and around the New York area and other parts of the country. Thousands of new jobs would be created  and these buildings could be turned into low cost housing so that none of our citizens are forced to live in the cars or on the streets of our nation.

All such buildings should be manned by adequate security forces such as those that are utilized by the tonier apartments in our cities.  This would avoid the influx of drugs or destruction of property that caused the abandonment of these buildings in the first place.

Adequate security forces for such projects would provide jobs for returning veterans or for those who have received security training and continue to seek elusive employment.

Small businesses would spring up to serve the needs of these communities and the community would continue to develop and grow.

4.  Years ago, I purchased clothes made in the United States that I was able to wear for years.  Today, our country makes absolutely nothing.  Even Calvin or Anne Klein can't seem to make their apparel lines outside of Malaysia or China!  The goods we now purchase are often substandard and you are lucky to make it through one season with the clothes produced overseas.  Perhaps, we are not purchasing consumer items because our stores are stocked with inferior goods.

Many of the communities in our country have hundreds of empty storefronts representing the efforts of small business to compete with the foreign countries that now produce everything from our underwear to our toaster ovens, electronics and automobiles.

Our Federal government needs to sponsor a new program called: "Made in the USA."  The abandoned storefronts in our neighborhoods could be turned into shops where we start producing at least our own clothing again.  As a child, I watched my grandmother proudly work for the ILGWU and produce some of the most well made and affordable clothing offered for consumers in the United States.  Even if we started with a small storefront and some knitting machines, subsidized by state or Federal dollars,  certainly we could produce sweaters that American consumers would be proud to purchase and wear.  Let's utilize the same expertise that made the ILGWU such a great organization.  With so many unemployed, I can predict that thousands would show up for the opportunity to either practice their skills or be trained to produce quality goods.  Wages could start off on the lower end with the chance for those employed in these businesses to eventually own the business or at least share in the profits.  Stores that agree to display American made sweaters would receive an tax break for showing these items in their stores and keeping their prices competitive.

In order for us to succeed as a country, we need to stop the massive import of foreign made goods.

5.  Instead of tolerating the insane costs of heating oil or electricity, lets provide our citizens with the tools to convert part or all of their homes to solar efficient dwellings.  Today, it costs about thirty thousand dollars to install the equipment needed to harness solar energy, a cost too prohibitive for most citizens in these trying economic times.  If we want our citizens to spend money to stimulate the economy, why don't we provide them with the tools to save on the high cost of monthly energy use.  It cannot be that difficult to train employees to install such systems, creating not only new jobs in the industry but significant savings to American consumers.  Perhaps our leaders need to start with a program that is possible, instead of the loftier plans proposed each year and yet here we are, still dependent on foreign energy sources.

Solar energy would also allow us to utilize cars that are not dependent on gasoline.  Right now the cost of plugging in your car every evening would force most of us to work three jobs just to pay our electric bills.  Buying an electric car is just not an option that we could afford to adopt without solar energy to defray the cost.  Let's keep it simple people and create jobs that would allow citizens of the United States to profit from their creation.

If we calling our citizens to action and making promises that we will give them access to the American dream, we need to have the kind of leadership that spends money on programs that will allow us to grow and prosper.  If we can afford to bail out the banks, the automobile industry, and finance wars that cost us billions of dollars and thousands of American lives, perhaps we can provide our citizens with some simple solutions.

Tom Cruise, Scientology, and the Crazy Women in his life

Once again, the media is chock full of stories about the trials and tribulations of the women who have come and gone in the life of Tom Cruise.  Countless photos of Katie Holmes clutching little Suri protectively in her arms on the streets of Manhattan, as if the child could suddenly be in harms way from the wacky reach of Scientology, in the midst of hundreds of paparazzi!

Now we find out that Vanity Fair's October issue will feature a story about Scientology's auditions for a suitable spouse for Tom.  Supposedly, prior to the "Katie days," Tom's church conducted a massive search for the perfect woman who would not only worship Tom but also show the proper reverence to the hierarchy of L. Ron's disciples.   The woman in question was supposedly required to dye her hair, and shave her incisors in order to become the perfect woman for Tom and members of the Celebrity Center of the church.
When the romance went south, the poor dear was forced to scrub toilets with a toothbrush and censured  for her failure to make Tom dance across a couch in the Oprah Winfrey studios.

Obviously, the trod upon women who dated or married Cruise had only the purest of intentions and had spent much of the time before meeting him probing the surface of an obscure planet, making them totally unaware that Tom was even remotely affiliated with Scientology, let alone that they might be expected to become affiliated as well.

I don't know much about the principles of Scientology, nor would I assume to judge any form of worship, other than those who advocated doing harm to others.  I do like to think, however, that before I agreed to date or marry someone, I would have a complete understanding of my partners commitments and obligations.  Tom Cruise doesn't do much for me; I mean he is no "Baldwin," as far as I am concerned, but there is no doubt he is a man with money, power and charisma.  Perhaps, these were the charms that convinced his former partners to overlook his dedication to a religion that appears to be a major part of his philosophy of life.

When she married Cruise, Holmes had a Scientology ceremony.  His best man was a major honcho in the Scientology community, and his children, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman, practiced his faith.   Perhaps that should have given Holmes the slightest of clues to Cruise's intentions regarding their own lives and future offspring.  It not as if Cruise suddenly jumped on this particular bandwagon and experienced an instantaneous conversion and demanded her conversion as well.  Had Holmes considered his religion some crazy cultish dogma, it should have been her obligation to assign those characteristics to her future husband as well.

Maybe Vanity Fair should consider writing an article titled,"Women Who Deny."  They could interview a wide variety of women who swear to having no prior inkling that their husbands were gay, abusive, gamblers, drunks, or drug users, until well after they dressed in white and marched down the aisle.  It might be hard to swallow, since the magazine seems to cater to women who aspire to independence, ambition, and shopping for just the right shoes and handbags, but still, with the right slant, some readers might just buy it.

 

If Its Good Enough for The Congress, It's Good Enough For Me

Candidates for President on both sides of the aisle are accusing each other of trashing the Medicare system and robbing seniors of the benefits they have funded.  "Medicare is bloated," they claim. "We cannot support the system without positive change."

Ryan is suggesting a voucher system, where seniors can purchase insurance and look for the most competitive rates, even suggesting that our quest for coverage take us from state to state.  The Democrats are pushing for stronger control of any Federal program they can lay their hands on and all of us know how successful this can be!

Frankly, Are They Kidding?

Does anyone imagine that suddenly our benevolent insurance companies are going to offer first fair and then competitive rates for insurance coverage that will be covered in total by a voucher?  People, please!  We bailed out the banking industry and now it is almost necessary to hand over your first born to get even a car loan.  Can we believe that the insurance companies will suddenly sacrifice profits and provide coverage that pays 80% of medical costs and procedures?  Seriously?

I say, forget this nonsense and let all Seniors be covered by the same plan that covers members of Congress.  They have possibly the most comprehensive health care plan on the planet.  No paperwork, no vouchers, no phone calls or soliciting of quotes.  They are elected, they are covered. End of story.