While I am writing, my beautiful wife, Chris is finishing up with the Christmas tree. We purchased it last weekend but it was just today that we decided to put it up. I am not a Christmasy type...please do not hold this against me...I could get through the whole silly season thing with just a couple of bottles of bourbon a stash of cigars and a fully charged remote. We did put up the tree together and I was instrumental in helping with the lights, garland and angel. Chrissy is putting on the finishing touches. The sentimental stuff that even as a child I had little interest in. This my defect.
We are having cold weather to go with the snow that fell last week. It is in the low 20's right now and probably slated to get down to the teens tonight. Winter was 2 weeks early this year.

It was Chrissy's Birthday Friday and we were going to go out to a nice place for dinner (now forever un-named) but that did not happen. Chris' brother Gary came over to bring Chris her present. Chris and Gary share the same birthday. Though they are 2 years apart. Gary is the older. We visited with Gary until it was too late to go to a special place for dinner. So after he left we went to McGuires Pub. Chris was very beautiful, black pants, black blouse with jewelry to match. We stayed too late but had fun.

Perhaps what I am trying to get across...badly...is what we need is a national 'preventive medicine' health program. And that prevention medicine is cheaper than heroic efforts. General Practicianers would become more the norm in the medical field.

This is like shouting into the wind...blogging. You voice your opinion and nobody hears.

The GM downsizing thing has me thinking and this is something that I have been mulling for some time anyway. It has to do with the fact that large corporations are setting the stage to default on pension and health packages that they are contractually obligated to fulfill. These multi-nationals are blaming unions for this current crisis and not taking any of the responsibility for being co-signatories on the contracts. But that is not what Iwant to discuss here.

What I would like to put forward is a way to moderate the effects of the coming defaults is to institute a national health plan. These defaults are coming and the people of the United States will be asked to financially pick up the pieces and administer the pension and health plans defaulted on. Welfare for the corporations will be the norm, and I am sure not one peep of complaint from the republican party will escape the beltway. It will be renamed, spun, and confusion will reign, but will still be welfare.


Would it not be in the interests of business to have a nation health care? Supported by wage earner and business as nothing is free. I cannot see how any business can be against having and sustaining healthy employees. What they all complain about is the cost. Each business is cutting cost wherever possible. One way to cut health cost is to spread out the cost of the program over the whole population. It costs GM $1500 per vehicle to cover their health and pension packages. Health must be the largest part of this fixed per unit cost. They are covering an aged (retired) population with many health issues. And with our broken health system as it is these cost will continue to escalate.

One idea:

Have national health insurance for all persons from birth to 18. This will insure that business will have a supply of healthy workers to chose from. What I am advocating here is a 'basic' health plan. It covers inoculations, regular checkups, physicals, dental, and visual. This will be good enough for 98% of the population.
Then from 18 to retirement employers and employees share the cost of health coverage. Employers will be getting healthy employees and be only obligated to cover the employee and spouse as children will already be under the national health plan. A major cost savings no matter how it is looked at.
At retirement a person is back in the national health plan, covering drugs, regular checkups, physical, dental and visual. This is once again a basic plan that uses regular checkups to detect and head off major physical problems while they can be handled without extreme measures.

The thing that could make this work is the Regular checkups. This is what would short circuit many expensive medical problems that seem to pop up in life. And the reason they pop up is that we do not regularly see a physician. We now only see doctors when we are sick. Seeing a doctor once every 6 months would improve communication between patient and doctor and give the physician a timeline and feeling for each patient. This is what you want to happen. The personal contact between patient and doctor is sometimes the most important part of healing and health.

The other night I was in an insomiac mode and watching CSPAN. Roscoe Bartlett (R) Maryland was hosting a panel on the future security of the United States as it relates to the energy situation. His position was that we have reached/or are about to reach the peak oil production in the World. I went to his site www.bartlett.house.gov and rummaged around and found some documentation from April 2005 that followed the arch of the discussion Monday night.

Makes a good read...though is not feel good stuff...one begins to wonder what will happen when production levels start diminishing as demand goes up. The conflicts...the changes in transportation...how much production now depends on oil for energy or as a raw material to be converted into a product. We are at a dangerous point in human history and hopefully we are not going to just hope for a technological miracle to save us.

When I left for lunch it was raining. Not your normal shower type of rain. This was a frog strangler down pour. The valley has not had a good rain in some time and this will do some good. The rain had let up some what by the time I had eaten and returned to work.

Chrissy and I will be going to the fair tonight. That is if it don't rain or is not raining too hard after work.

I doubt very much whether the paper will publish my editorial. It is a bit dramatic...and over the top. But I feel that what is happening to our educational system is over the top. Fantasy as Science. The creationist are playing the fairness card, "Well, we should let the students decide whether Evolution or the Bible are the Truth."

As if science is voted on...science is not a democracy...it is based on assembled facts that are held to be true until disproven. No votes...just facts...and that is what is so maddening about the ploy that the Intelligent Design cabal are using. Nothing that the IDeist have put forth can be supported by science. None of their research has revealed new facts about ID. The IDers have not contributed one fact to the science of Evolution or even ID.

If Intelligent Design is science, where is the Science? That is the question that must be asked over and over until it is fully and truthfully answered.

Read today that the court battle over Evolution and Intelligent Design (ID) has started in Dover, Pa.

Why this battle is going on at this time is beyond me. I will not ever understand the mind of the religious fanatic. But I am moved by it. Scared really, because it is so important that this lie of the creationist be put to rest.

I wrote a letter to the editor (Yakima Herald Republic) stating my misgivings about the inclusion of religion into science. See below:

There is a battle waging between the Enlightenment and the return of the Dark Ages. In the Dover School District of Pennsylvania the Dark Forces have gathered to force a religious precept upon all children. They call it Intelligent Design, which is Creationism under an alias.The people that are pushing this ignorance have no idea of what science is and do not care. They only care about making the United States a theocracy, with them in charge of the Word From GOD. From the Christian Imams lips will come edicts for you to follow. From those closest to GOD will come demands that you submit to them. Somehow or other the ones closest to GOD in a theocracy are also closest to power.
The best way to control a population is through religion, and government plus religion is what is the goal of this Dark Alliance.
Please America wake up and see the future. To live in a theocracy will be Hell.

The Gulf Coast Wage Cut (suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act) (see Talking Points Memo) signed into law by Prez Bush is another piece of evidence that the Republican party is has no connection with the people that do the actual work in this country. He will limit wages of people in need and continue with the patronage and graft that has come to mark this administration. If you think that patronage and graft are not important to this administration just look at who is in charge of the hundreds of billions that will be spent on Katrina's' aftermath. Karl Rove, the original Dark Prince of political patronage. Much back scratching will be going on in the future as he rewards the people that kick back the most graft to the coffers of the Republican Party.
We are now seeing what this administration has in mind for the actual people that have made this country great. Poor wages, no viable Social Security, no health care.
Poor wages, because the suspension of the Davis - Bacon Act will not save this country one red cent in the reconstruction of the destruction left in the path of Katrina. Any monies saved will only go to the crony/corporations contracting the jobs. It will only add to the hardship of a group of people that need a living wage to rebuild their homes and businesses.
Social Security can be mended by removing the cap on deductions that are taken in out for it. I believe the ceiling now about $90,000. We Boomers will not live forever and this problem will be fixable to get over the hump. The recent spate of bankruptcies being instituted by major corporations that may well abrogate their responsibilities for their pension funds, and shift the payment of those pensions at a lower % by government guarantees (thus constituting a welfare for the corporate class), should be seen as a shot over the bow in the fight on how to fix Social Security. The United States of America cannot short shrift the middle class by taking away the only, and very small, pension that they may receive.
Health care is an anathema to this administration. Even though it has signed into law the most expensive Medicare bill ever, it did so by hiding the real cost and giving the pharms everything they wanted. An idea that could be bounced around would be for the government to pay for all preventive and basic medical, dental, and vision for all citizens up until they are 18 years of age. After that all are on their own. Once again at retirement (what ever age that becomes in the future) the preventive/basic are again covered. We would be supporting the segments of our population at most risk. Insuring that a healthy cadre of workers are always available enter the work force. Plus the support that we would have for our elders as they leave the work force and begin their retirement. I am thinking these changes would be cost savers in the long run. I have not the ability to run the numbers, but basic and preventive medicine must be cheaper than what we are doing now.
What we are seeing in the actions of this administration is the deconstruction of the American middle class.

Late last night...sat on the levee and moaned...
Led Zeppelin

The information coming out of the NOLA area is just frightening. We now have a gov't which blames the victims. The facts do not support the Bush spin machine. Though this is a large area, FEMA dropped the ball. Why is a political hack in that position anyway? Who put him there?...Who put him there? I felt the question need to be asked twice, because the blame game that this administration is playing is so divisive at a time that cohesion is needed. We have an idiot at the helm. I, myself do not care that he is an idiot. It is just the fact that he is also President of the United States that makes me sick to my stomach. If I were a religious man I would say that God has saddled us with Bush as a trial. But what past sins we are paying for? I do not know. I am not a religious man, so my thinking is that as a country, we voted in the village idiot because of his lineage.
Collectively we are all to blame.

The last post had 2 areas that I had questions about. The first one was the collapse of the communication infrastructure. Land lines and cell networks were completely knocked out because of the nature of this disaster. That would leave the Shortwave and CB airwaves the most viable forms of communication in events such as this. Shortwave would be more likely to be locked into the power grid and be subverted at that point. CB's, at least the handheld, battery powered, 40 channel models would have a more than even chance of working in an environment such as happened in NOLA (New Orleans, LA). This is something that I am sure has been thought of already, but I have not heard of any information moving into or out of NOLA in this manner. Humans are very self organizing units but they need a lot of information to do it. With the use of CBs I am guessing organization of civilians and gov't would have made some difference. There used to be many CB clubs in our area (Yakima, WA.) and I am not sure of the status of them since cellphones have become ubiquitous. But it may be something to look into as an interlocking network of CB clubs would be able to hook up with Shortwave outside the affected area and coordination efforts would be better utilized. Also the passing on of civilian lists of dead and living would be of service to those with relations in the affected areas.

The second was the future of cities in general. As we have not come to the tipping point of oil exploration, yet. (When the maximum amount of oil is found and replacement will not keep up with consumption.) My speculation is just that, speculation. But when the tipping point comes, and it will come, what will be the future of cities? Will they once again be centers of commerce and society? Will the now crumbling inner cities be renewed? Will the burbs be the new inner city ghettos?

One other thing that is tapping at the back of my brain is what happens when the cost of tranporting goods from China or the Pacific rim becomes prohibitive? Does manufacturing start breaking up into regional concerns? Do commodities in order to be affordable need to be made near (and what is near?) point of sale? Has China come to the industrialization party too late?

The whole Katrina thing is raising questions that I am not sure that I am equipped to answer.

First, the almost total collapse of the communication infrastructure in and around NOLA. We (the US) pride ourselves on have the lastest and greatest when it comes to techno gear. This disaster has shown that we have over estimated our readiness and under estimated nature. How do we deal with these issues in the future?

Second, the pricing of fuel. Disregarding the obvious price gouging that will occur. How will the major increase in transportation fuel costs affect this country.What will the future of our cities be like? Think about this...we are now to a point where $5+/gal gas is not laughable. What does that do for cities? Does it force the people to move back into them? Do the burbs empty out? Does culture and neighborliness come back into vogue. The reason for cities in the past was that people needed to be close to where they worked and walking and mass transit were what was available. Time and distance had not been conquered by the internal combustion engine. Will this shock reverberate into the future? If cities come back as viable economic units, how will that affect thinking about mass transit? Will it become the new focus of government. I am not saying the auto is dead. I have too much invested in mine to abandon it without a fight and tears. I am just wondering out loud as to the repercussions of this event.

The nation is in shock at the devastation in New Orleans. The images of the destruction are like they are from a third world country. Are we going to see more Cat V hurricanes? Is this a precursor of what global warming will bring?

The complete collapse of the infrastructure is scary.

You have to love the summertime in the Yakima Valley. Hell for hot during the day, and in the 50's to 60's at night. The last few days have been high 90's to low 100's. The dry heat just crackles.

Something that has been rattling around in my psyche a while on the international labor scene. I really enjoy Talking Points Memo and he has added so much to his site that it like being in a candy store. There is now a Labor section/thread and I have been following that off and on. It is not my want to be a labor wonk or any wonk at all. But what I have felt is that the scope of the discussions are too limited. They only take in the US.
The Labor movement to my way of thinking must become international and multinational and global. This is an imperative step that must be taken before people worldwide can be a part of this global economy. A worldwide blue collar middle class can be the cornerstone on which to build a stable and happy work force from which extremism can be shunted to the back alleys as it should be.
There will always be extreme thoughts and points of views. Thoughts and POV's are not by themselves dangerous. It is when extreme actions become connected to these extreme thoughts and POV's that we are all threatened. But it is only by enlarging the middle class on a global scope that the extremist can be minimalized.

Pops funeral was this morning. People talk of closure and I suppose that is what all of us experienced. I am still empty. Still sad. Still trying to get my mind around death and its implications. Closure will take more time.

Pop died 7/28/05, Thursday morning. Moms side of the family had scheduled a family reunion for 7/29 and 30. This is an ongoing reunion on a 2 year cycle. Once, every other year on the last weekend of July we all get together. A different family hosts the reunion each time.
The Friday night get together was cancelled once and later relocated and rescheduled. Saturday we all gathered at Greg and Erins'. Food was plentiful. I did not count all the relatives but there were some that I had not seen before. Little ones abounded. It was a needed respite from the past few days.

We left the reunion early to go see Pop at the funeral home. Mom, my sisters and brother and their spouses, my wife and I were to meet there. This will be a closed casket funeral. Dad is in state (on display) up at the front of the chapel. We decided that if anyone wanted to see him they could come in Saturday or Sunday and say their goodbyes. Our thinking was that Pop would not like all those people looking at him at the funeral. In thinking about it now, I can not see the difference between him setting there for two day and having mourners file past on Monday. Anyway...we all came in to view him. Using each other for moral support.

By the time my wife and I arrived, all the rest were already up at the casket. Mom broke down several times over the course of the visit. This has not been easy for her. I wish I could take away some of the hurt. I can't.

Just before leaving the hospital room after Pop had been officially pronounce dead I kissed him on the forehead and said goodbye. The warmth of life was still with him. I can still feel the warmth. At the funeral home, Saturday, I leaned over and kissed his forehead again. This time he was cold. This time the fact that he was dead began to make its way into my psyche.

We have some things to take care of today. To get ready for the service. The women have many things that they think need to be done at the services to honor Pop. I am hoping that I honored him enough while he lived. As is probably usual I feel that I failed in that respect.

I am trying to get a handle on the death thing.

• I am not a Christian.
• I lean toward Tom Paines' Deist views.
• There is a god.
• He/She/It does not interfere with us.
• Benign neglect.
• Combined with Darwins views on evolution.

This is not a powerful or over riding belief system as far as beliefs go. I will not try to convert anyone to my belief melange.

What I am finding that is comforting is to know that I and all my sisters and brother have parts of my father in us. We are like DNA cocktails. Mixtures of our parents DNA and teachings (because DNA does not explain all). It sounds a little cold written like this, but substitute love for DNA and it softens it a little. The DNA that constructed me is a physical thing. That DNA came from my father and mother. They are both a part of me, physically, I am their construct. I have passed these physical parts of them on to my children and eventually they will pass them onto their offspring.

So what am I trying to say here? Though I have lost my father, his body has quit and will be laid to rest. He is effectively immortal regardless of any religious dogma. He is shared among his brothers and sisters and through them their offspring. He is shared among his children in combination with my mother, so Dad and Mom will always be together in a more real sense than any religious tale can concoct.

So far this has only dealt with the physical, not how he touched others. My father was a good man. A moral man. Not a religious man. He was not a perfect man. It was important for him to try and do the right thing. He did not have to have a sacred book to tell him right from wrong. He would paddle you if you needed it (not beat...a couple of swats on the butt to get your attention). Generally you would be more ashamed to have let him down than hurt by the swats.

In other words he was a human being that got along in this world. Did most of what he wanted. Was happy most of the time.

I loved him and miss him already.

7 am Thursday morning my father died. With his family gathered around him, he slipped away quietly.

He had been living with cancer for many years. It had cost him a lung and his prostate. Yes, he smoked. He had quit several times. But soon, like many I know, the addiction would draw him back. He only really quit when they took his lung out.

I keep getting phone calls from 1st Credit of America LLC of Chicago. They keep asking for a Robert Wilson. This has been going on for months now. They call at all times of the day. If I am at home I tell them that Robert Wilson does not and never has lived here. They hang up and call back later.
Tonight they called and I just went over the edge. I started screaming obsenities at the poor person at the other end. Did I say poor? Actually that is probably correct. I doubt that 1st Credit of America LLC of Chicago pays much above poverty wages for someone to make these calls. And the more that I think about it, these calls are a form of obsenity, the continual repetition of an un-natural act that does not stand up to community standards. This is a company that makes its money doing the unpleasant, filling a need, like a prostitute. It is not nice work, but it beats a real job.
Hey, if you are one of the people that work at 1st Credit of America LLC of Chicago, I am sorry for you. Your job sucks!

Two things....first is the news that Canada has normalized its marriage laws to include unisex couples. This will probably put it on the Bush boys list of terrorist countries because of its anti christian stand. I am thinking that the invasion will be close to the 9/11 anniversary just to make sure Bush can use that as a reason for another of his pax americana adventures.

Next..."the speech"...do you think he could have said all that stuff before...over and over again? Nothing new...nothing true...made me blue...how about you?

I do not at this time have a blog plan. Some of what I want to do is to keep a journal. Write short stories or observations on life in general. I can not see that anything will interest the many. The first blogs will concern my travels to Paris and London with my wife from notes and emails that I kept on the trip.
This being late in the working day and a Friday to boot, has my mind wondering. Thinking of visiting the pub and have a couple of whiskies to numb the mind and make the week seem worthwhile. Perhaps I can play a couple of games of darts too.