AUGUST MORON OF THE MONTH

I have said many times in the past that the problem of selecting a moron of the month is not a shortage but an abundance. Let's face it, we could have picked Sheila Jackson Lee. You will remember this is the Congresswoman who took phone calls during a question from a constituent at a town hall meeting. You may also remember that this is the same moron who doesn't know the difference between the moon and Mars. She thinks we have landed a man on Mars. Identifying her as a moron would be just stating the obvious. Of course there is that bastion of wit, intelligence, and good humor, Barney Frank. Who couldn't be happy with him as this month's selection? No we have once again traveled to California, a state which seems to grow morons on vines in clusters. It would be bad enough if California voters just elected these people for their own state but no, they have to inflict them on the rest of the country by putting them in the Congress. I refer today to Barbara Boxer. Excuse me, Senator Barbara Boxer.

I am only going to cite a couple of instances where she has strongly identified herself as worthy of this month's honor. The most egregious was in her interrogation of General Michael Walsh, a man whose boots Boxer is not qualified to shine, at a committee hearing. During her questioning of General Walsh, he responded to her question and referred to her as Ma'am. She was aghast. She was offended. She then took it upon herself to try and embarrass the General by insisting he refer to her as Senator Boxer, not as Ma'am. Senator Boxer, there are a few little things you should understand, Ma'am. First, as a southern raised boy I was taught Ma'am is indeed a title of respect. As a former military man I was instructed to refer to women, especially older, or higher ranking women, as Ma'am. I am certain the General meant no disrespect. I today, on the other hand, am not under the restraint of those good manners.

The second of the latest incidences where Boxer has shown her true colors was in her description of town hall protesters of the new health care legislation now being debated as too well dressed to be actual protesters. Apparently to qualify as a protester in Boxer's world, you have to be dirty and poorly dressed. Well excuse me for bathing and dressing to go out in public. California is only one state in this great nation and in most of the country bathing and dressing is a normal activity. If she is more comfortable with dirty rag tag hippie type protesters, maybe she should return to that once great state of California to be with her people and leave the rest of us alone.

As I sit here in front of this keyboard I am in awe and wonderment. Are you telling me that in the entire state of California, Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi are the most qualified, the most intelligent, the most worthy of high office in that state? If that is the case, I truly feel sorry for you. I know California doesn't have the franchise on electing idiots to the Congress, but they do seem to elect the loudest. I am embarrassed for you.

Ron Scarbro August 24, 2009

WORD FATIGUE

I love words. I especially love words when they are strung together by great authors, poets, song writers, and stirring orators. Words are the paint and brushes by which writers create their art and speakers grasp and hold the attention of their audiences. The problem I have today is that some great words have been hijacked by special interest groups and have become quite hateful. Not all words, just some words and some of these words just make me tired. This essay will examine a few such words that have become tiresome to the ear and to the eye.

The first great word is green. I used to love the word green. It is the color of money. It is the color of trees and grass. But now if I never hear the word again it wouldn't bother me. It has been driven down my throat by so-called environmentalist radicals to the point of torture. This lovely innocuous word has, to me, become a swear word. I am a conservationist and an environmentalist but I am not green. Frogs are green.

My next word is eco-anything. Do you understand what I mean? I have lost all interest in anything that starts with eco. To those who insist that I pay particular attention to this, sorry, you have lost me with your zeal to advance your agenda. I guess I have eco-fatigue.

Word number three is diversity. This used to be a very acceptable word. It described differences. Well guess what? Today there are not supposed to be any differences. Today everything is supposed to be the same. Again I offer my apologies. There are differences, and as the French would say, "Viva la difference." Being different doesn't make you bad, it just makes you different. One can still be equal while being different. Whether or not you are acceptable to the majority is mostly up to you. It is not up to law or any other societal mores. Spare me any other mention of the word diversity. I will continue to share my time with those I wish, not with those I am supposed to.

My next problem word is bio-anything. Again an overused under-necessary word. This is another example of agenda driven political correctness. I have grown to detest anything that starts with bio, especially bio-diversity.

That brings up the next word. Organic. I believe this word serves only to increase the price of a commodity. This again is an over used worn out word that has lost all of its original meaning. I wouldn't eat anything organic if I had to starve. First I don't believe the claims of organic farming and secondly most have been proven to be false. I will just continue to wash my hands and wash my food. If that doesn't take care of it, oh well, my bad.

Rap is a tiring word also, but my music was criticized when I was young so I guess I 'll just let that be. Still, though, it is hard to use the word music and rap in the same sentence.

My final word is gay. This is definitely a word that has been hijacked by a special interest group who apparently didn't like the word homosexual. The dictionary says it means joyous and lively. That definition works for me. As for me, when it is necessary to write about homosexual people, that is how I will refer to them. I will save gay for its original meaning.

I am sure if I thought about it, there would be a lot more words that have been destroyed by people or groups for their own benefit. I am going to try to stay true to my understanding of the original meaning of words. I will continue to endeavor to write words using their original meaning and hope that you, my readers, will understand the message.

Ron Scarbro August 16, 2009

HEALTH CARE REFORM

(The following was published in the Newsleader on August 7, 2009)

Health care reform will prove to be one of the most difficult programs for our government. There are embedded traditions and habits that will not be fixed without pain. This essay will not offer all the answers but will pose some very serious questions.

Question number one is why do we need reform? To me this is obvious. It, the medical industry, costs too much and because of the cost it is not sustainable for the future. I have been asked, "What is it supposed to cost?" My only answer is that the cost must be so reasonable that the consumer of the product can and will pay. An example of this ridiculous cost is my mother-in-law's final days. She was hospitalized for three days. During this stay she was given no treatment and wasn't even fed. She received a damp sponge to keep her mouth moist. That was it. The bill was $38,000.00. I attempted to learn how this bill could possibly be justified. I was told that all of the bill would be paid by Medicare and her private insurance so why should I even care? After a great deal of effort I finally was told that many of their patients pay nothing and this is how they help pay for those. This appears to be common practice.

I know of another situation where a young man who without any health care insurance suffered a catastrophic condition. His care now costs over $300,000.00 per year. He is also now totally disabled and cannot work. Even if he had insurance, his co-pays would be $60,000.00 per year. Where is that supposed to come from? We the taxpayers are paying for his care through Medicare. He incidentally could not even buy health care insurance prior to his sudden illness because of high blood pressure. That is one of those famous and pesky preexisting conditions you have heard so much about.

The second issue which I believe is very important is the cost to the medical profession of malpractice insurance. Any reform of our health care must include tort reform as well. Of course Congress is made up of lawyers so what do you suppose are the chances of this reform? Malpractice judgments are too much like jackpots in the lottery. Medical people must be liable for their mistakes but there has to be some common sense involved. If the plaintiff lost his case and was liable for the court costs and a money judgment, don't you think that might have some cooling effect on the lawsuits?

Here is another controversial issue. I think it is unrealistic for young doctors coming out of school to expect to make incomes in six and seven figures. I suspect that ours is the only country where that is even possible. By the same token, I believe the cost of medical school is ridiculous. Young medical people coming out of school should not be facing huge debt for their education.

How about this question? Why does the same medication manufactured by the same company cost less in Canada and Mexico than it does here? Is it because our government is allowing the drug companies to charge more here? Does that mean that we, through our purchases, are subsidizing the medical cost for these other countries?

Some things are clear. We are not going to allow people just to die from lack of available medical care. There will continue to be provisions made for the uninsured and the poorer among us, but at what cost? I have been trying to learn what is in the current bill that the President is trying to get passed. I cannot seem to get the answers. I honestly don't think most in Congress know either. That should be concerning to us all.

This also is clear. The goose that laid the golden egg is dead. Reform is going to happen. We can only hope the change will be for the better and not plunge us into total bankruptcy. Ultimately we the people must decide the direction this reform will take. Stay informed and stay involved.

Ron Scarbro July 24, 2009

KOREA’S FIGHTING DAYS ARE OVER???

(The following was published in the Newsleader on June 5, 2009)

KOREA’S FIGHTING DAYS ARE OVER???

 

It was back in the early
1950s. I was a newspaper carrier. In those days when a big event happened, we
were given extra copies of the paper to sell on the street after we had
delivered to our regular customers. The event at that time was the end of the
Korean War.

 

As I was given the extra
copies, I was told that I should yell loudly that the war was over. The best
phrase, I was told, was “Korea’s
fighting days are over”. People did stop on the street and bought up all of my
extra copies of the newspaper. I remember one particular customer who stopped.
He said to me that it is foolhardy to believe that Korea’s fighting days are over. Mark
my words, he said, they haven’t been totally defeated. Maybe he was right after
all.

 

Their beloved leader and all
around moron KIM Jong Il, dictator of North Korea, seems to have a death wish, not
only for himself but also for the entire population of North Korea. His people
are either too hungry, most of their food goes to the Army, or too stupid to
see what they are facing in the world. Regardless of the reasons for their
apathy, they will be the ones to have to deal with the consequences of their
dictator’s actions. Those consequences could be severe.

 

The UN has tried general
trade sanctions and other attempts to rein in this little dictator to no
apparent avail. The time now is rapidly approaching when Kim will get his wish.
South Korea, Japan, and Russia
cannot allow North Korea
to continue its belligerence. We cannot allow North
Korea to sell nuclear weapons to the Middle
East. No, this has to come to a halt and come to a halt now.

 

I am not suggesting an all
out war with this little backward country. My suggestion is much simpler. One
of our nuclear armed subs, which is ambling about in the depths around North
Korea, should just surface for a second or two and release a couple of its
missiles and make a mud hole where Pyongyang used to be. End of story. No
ground troops. No other material at risk, just total destruction. To end Japan’s war
making in World War II, we had to bomb two of their cities. It worked. All of
the fight went out of them in an instant. Granted there was great suffering,
but the people of Japan
allowed their country to participate in the war with their apathy and inaction
and as always is the case, the people are the ones who suffer.

 

KIM Jong Il is picking at a
scab. He has apparently decided that the Armistice agreement his country signed
to end the war and prevent their total destruction is no longer valid. Regardless
of the reasons, he is putting his entire country at risk. If we don’t bring
this nonsense to an end soon, it will only create a bigger problem and sooner
or later we will have to deal with it.

 

We all know that freedom is
not free. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made. I wish we didn’t have to
intervene. I wish China
would stop this before we have to, but their record is not very good. China
stands to lose almost everything they have created for themselves if they do
not get involved and soon.

 

My customer’s comments of years
ago still ring in my ears. You just think Korea’s fighting days are over. This
time we need to end it once and for all.

 

Ron Scarbro May 30, 2009

HIKERS AND OTHER FOOLS

Well it has happened again. Three young, apparently naive, people have put themselves and their country in serious jeopardy. They were hiking in the mountains between Iraq and Iran. What? Are they crazy? Would they crawl in a pit with rattlesnakes and scorpions? What in the world were they thinking about? Why were they even in a war zone in the first place? They are not military personnel. Now they have been captured by Iranians or so we are told. They will no doubt be charged with spying or who knows what else. It is pretty easy to imagine the coming "negotiations". These morons have become bargaining chips in a battle that never seems to end.

Recently two young ladies were captured by the North Koreans for entering their mongrel country illegally. They were tried, convicted, and sentenced to twelve years at hard labor. As of this writing Bill Clinton is in North Korea trying to spring them. I wonder what that is going to cost. I already know what it has cost in prestige. We will grovel and beg. We will promise whatever we must to get them out. We should just let these little ladies serve their terms. Either that or make it clear that unless they are released immediately we will dramatically alter the landscape of North Korea and their population numbers.

We just recovered another young lady from Iran who was taken as yet another bargaining chip. She was the reporter who had put herself and her country in jeopardy by trying to report facts from a dictatorship without freedom of the press. How naive is she?

I bring these items to your attention for two reasons. Number one is this question. Why are these people allowed to travel to these dangerous places with apparent impunity? It is not a matter of if, it is instead a matter of when they will be taken and used by that country as an instrument for that country's benefit. We will cave in and give up who knows what to obtain their release. They will then come home to accolades and parades as heroes. Why do we continue to allow this to happen? There is nothing heroic about their activity.

Point number two is just this. Not very long ago no country on Earth would have defied the United States by trying to take an American citizen against their will. That just would not happen. There would have been swift and sure punishment for any such act. Countries used to be afraid to offend us. Not anymore. The reason they don't fear us is they have proven we will not retaliate against them. We are seen as a paper tiger in the eyes of these third world mongrel countries. We certainly haven't given them any reason to believe we will do anything.

Consider this. What if we, instead of trying to negotiate with these idiots, just took out one or two of their cities. What if we killed off about ten or twenty thousand of their people. Would you think this activity would continue? That is what it took to take the fight out of the Japanese. I understand that this may well cause the death of those held but they put themselves in that peril in the first place. It just might serve as an example to other morons who would travel to these war zones to just stay home.

Finally, I am a peace loving man. I don't want to kill anybody or bomb their cities. I wish there was not evil in the world, but there is, and evil has to be deterred. By continuing to reward evil behavior, we are encouraging it. The time has come for this country to show the world that we will tolerate this no more.

Ron Scarbro August 4, 2009

RACE RELATIONS

I was going to leave this alone. I was just going to let this die a slow, natural death, but something happened today that has forced me to get my two cents worth in. I am talking about the incident in Cambridge, Mass. where a Harvard Professor was arrested for disorderly conduct and the subsequent commentary by President Obama during a news conference.

In case you live in a cave without any news source, the brief facts are that a black Harvard professor had lost his house keys and tried to break down the door to get into his own house. A neighbor witnessed the act and called the police to report a break in. So far so good. A white police officer answered the call and tried to investigate the facts of the case. The black professor took offense that the white cop didn't know who he was and became belligerent. Rather than just showing the police an ID, the professor decided to be a victim. When the cop had had enough abuse from the professor, he placed him under arrest and hauled him off to jail. Later the professor was released and charges were dropped.

The events that followed caused this incident to get blown out of proportion. During a news conference, President Obama said that the police acted stupidly. Later when he came to his senses and when he read the headlines he had caused with his ridiculous comment he tried to back off of the situation. He finally decided that both parties had over reacted. Sorry but that isn't going to work either.

Rather than being grateful that the police came to protect the property of this professor, he decided that he would play his race card. I am sure that all of his life he has been told that he has been put down by white society. Never mind that he has a position of Professor in one of America's most prestigious universities. Never mind that he is probably in the top two or three percent of wage earners in this country. No, he is a victim because he is black. Nonsense. He was arrested because he committed a crime. That crime was disorderly conduct. He would have been arrested whether he was black, white, or Asian. Imagine if you will what would have happened if the professor had been white and the cop had been black. Do you suppose President Obama would have injected himself into that situation?

The incident that set me off today was the offer by the black professor to give the police department a free lecture on race relations. What absolute arrogance. He is lucky that he is not picking taser leads out of his butt and spending some serious time in jail. As an aside, the particular white police officer who made the arrest is also the officer in charge of teaching race relations for his department. If this professor wants to offer some atonement for his stupidity, he should apologize both to the officer involved and to the entire police department in Cambridge.

There are lessons to be learned here. The race hustlers who continue to inflict themselves on the black community are not helping. Their separatist rhetoric serves only to guarantee that black people will have to work all the harder to compete in this society. We will never be a color blind society as long as the black community sees themselves as second class citizens. As long as they listen to the nonsense spewed by the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton nothing is going to change for their people.

Here then is the rule. When a police officer says to you "stop", you stop. If he says "go", you go. That is the law in every city and state in this country. The cops often don't have the time to have a debate. They are just trying to protect the community and themselves. I am truly sorry for you if this rule is too tough.

Ron Scarbro July 27, 2009

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

(The following was published in the Newsleader on August 14, 2009)

On Tuesday of this week Oakland, California passed by an eighty per cent majority a new tax on the retail sales of their four medical marijuana dispensaries. A bit of research on this matter has revealed some amazing facts. According to Oakland's City Auditor sales from these four dispensaries is $17,500,000.00 per year. Oakland should realize $294,000.00 per year from the new tax. The measure ran unopposed. This column is not about taxes or the plight Californians finds themselves in concerning their budget woes however. No this is about something totally different. Read on.

Some further information regarding the legal selling of marijuana. California currently has eight hundred medical marijuana dispensaries, or pot clubs as they are called, operating today. If they all were doing the same business as the Oakland clubs, they would be generating $35,000,000,000.00 worth of business each year. That, folks is a lot of dope. More importantly, that's a lot of sick people. After all isn't this supposed to be prescribed medicine for sick people? Thirty five billion dollars represents 1,633,333,332 doses of medical marijuana. As I understand the law passed in 1996 to legalize medical use of this drug, one would have to have a prescription in order to buy it legally. That is a lot of prescriptions.

One would not have to be too skeptical to believe that the law was being slightly circumvented would they? The other amazing thing to consider is that this is just the numbers on the so-called legal sales of marijuana. Most of the users are doing so illegally. It does explain a couple of things though. The reason Californians are so strange is probably because they are all stoned. The second fact appears to be that the hippies have gotten older and are now in charge of California government and politics.

I personally am not a user of the magic weed. I tried it a couple of times when I was a kid, but frankly I find I prefer martinis. They taste better, they don't make you cough, and besides you get an olive. I don't even care if California decides to legalize the drug. That is their business. I do believe however that it is silly to call what they are doing now a medical procedure. We should call it what it is, pot heads getting stoned with the authorities looking the other way.

Legalization of this drug has been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature several times and will continue to be introduced until they win, I suppose. It would be interesting however to see what happens on the left coast before too many others step into the fray. If, like me, you have seen a person who was stoned, you would realize that they are pretty much harmless. The problem is that they are also helpless. It would be frightening to consider airline pilots, semi truck drivers, police officers, firemen, EMT personnel and doctors under the influence trying to do their jobs, let alone everyone else.

These are just some ramblings of one who is still trying to understand what it is about life in our world that is so problematic, so difficult that individuals need to medicate themselves to escape reality. I hope I never have to find out.

Ron Scarbro July 22, 2009