It has always bothered me that the PTB (read House and Senate) pretty much exempt themselves from their “greatest” legislation:  case in point– Obamacare.  Consider the difference between ‘comfort care’ (aka hospice?) and lifesaving surgical intervention and it will become clear why they exempt themselves.  People become units–it’s easier to deny care that way.  But all those senior citizens in congress are too important to be a unit–according to themselves anyway. 

Not unlike the recent behavior of Beyonce and her security team when it came time to claim or have her baby, there is an elite class under construction who truly believe that they are better than most, and should therefore be permitted to run roughshod over anything that infringes on their attitude of status entitlement.  It has always been tiresome.  But fatal?  I thought that age discrimination was illegal.

Under Obamacare,  should you enter the hospital with an emergency situation involving bleeding in your brain and you are over 70 you can look forward to the very best in ‘comfort’ care.  A little euthanasia will go a long way in reducing healthcare costs, I guess.

Sounds like you can appeal to an administrator type board of pencil pushers, perhaps during business hours;  God help you if you have the need in the middle of the night.

Check this out and see what you think. . . .

Mark Levin, a Neurosurgeon Calls In About Death Panels From Obamacare and HHS

ELECTION 2012

Surprise (not!) Romney takes New Hampshire, but is he really the man who would be POTUS? Could it be more like Romney as GOP Presidential Candidate actually equals “4 More Years?”  Only time will tell.  The adventure continues. . . .

Romney hits out at Obama . . . The Washington Post

South Carolina and the Faith issue . . . .The New York TImes

Challenges to the Voting Rights Act . . . .ProPublica

Romney win provokes panic? . . .Fox News

A Wild card awaiting Romney . . . .CNN

Romney boasts big money . . . .Associated Press

HERO IN THE MAKING

If you can read about this fine young man without feeling it, your heart could stand some softening . . . .Huffington Post

YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIKE IT

And so many will just call it coincidence–I guess whatever makes you feel better.  The Tebow numbers are pretty amazing.  He is on the record as stating John 3:16 is his life verse.   Interesting details from Sunday’s game:  316 yards at 31.6 yards per completion.  It looks like a sign from where I sit:

Tebows Numbers . . . MyFoxChicago

An Uncanny link . . . The Morning Call

Some other interesting numbers:  Sundays game posted the highest ratings in 24 years, and in the moments after the last touchdown pass was thrown, the number of tweets per second re the game:  over 9,000.  Number of searches for John 3:16 in the hours after, over 96 Million.  Tebows numbers did the preaching . . . .Alice 1059

FAMILY BUSINESS

Alone again, Naturally . . . New York Times

Clean your room, or else . . . The Wall Street Journal

What’s wrong with the Left? . . . National Review Online

Hating on John Edwards . . . Time

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

Ten worst states for retirees in 2012 . . .Market Watch

How Yoga can wreck your body. . . .New York Times

Rumor is that there is weather coming in.    Snow starts appearing as a possibility in the forecast by Saturday.  Button up, Islanders!  Winter may be just around the corner.  Good thing, too–it looks like the rhodies are confused about the season.

Is anyone actually waiting with baited breath to see who will win the Republican vote going on today in New Hampshire?

A Romney assault on the right to privacy . . . New Yorker

Some places don’t need a tattoo . . . MSNBC

How to sell a book in the digital age . . . The Atlantic

What’s up (or not)  in China? . . . CNN

Bankers vs Capitalism . . . The Weekly Standard

What if Romney was president? . . . New Yorker

Here’s hoping : )

2012 is here.  2011 has been put to bed, never to rise again.  We enjoyed marking its passing with friends and we continue to be excited about the possibilities this year.

We are calling time on the visionaries with 20/20 hindsight, preferring to look ahead, instead.

10 good reasons to be excited about 2012:

10.  All those commercial vacancies in Eastsound proper will be occupied by a variety of new and optimistic  entrepreneurs before you know it.  And we’ll all be blessed with new places to go like the Island Skillet!

9.  2012 is an election year, which is always a grand adventure.   Change is good, and there will be change.   And great theatre with much drama.   Even if you don’t care for the winner, in the case of the POTUS, it will always be a limited run.   Watch over the next couple years as a third party makes the two party system obsolete.  It is an exciting time to be alive.

8.  The $US did not finish last in the currency wars of 2011.  And for those in our community, and our nation, who suffered through foreclosure and the decapitalization (what else do  you call it–especially if you had and now you don’t) of the last few years, we surely were in good company.  Meet the 99% : )

7.   Keep watching the youth driving the Arab Spring.  They will never settle for retro.   And though you can expect growing pains, and maybe a false start or two, make no mistake–the transition isn’t over. Nor should it be. Some things will take more time to change, but some things will never be the same.

6.  Watch new deep cracks in the ocean floor as a result of the devastating earthquake in Japan revolutionize energy consumption.

5.  The thing about people switching from cable (I read an article that noted cable prices have trebled in just a few years) to internet-driven on demand entertainment is the potential decline in demand for talking heads.

4.  In the 10 years since 9/11, there has been no successful attack on US sovereign soil by those enemies since.  You don’t have to agree with all the means by which that has been achieved, and the cost has been steep for our military families, but you can’t argue with results.  Not in this lifetime, nor that of our children’s children, I say.

3. Missing those who  have been forced off the island by economics, (rumored to be 1000 people) we are still hanging on and grateful for it.  Guessing you are too.  Expect that some of the missing will be back as soon as they can.  And, it will be spring again before you know it.

2. Though we were forced to say goodbye to several special loved ones, we ourselves continue indefinitely on this side of the grass.  If you are reading this, you do to!

1.   We have wonderful neighbors and good friends who will be here on beautiful Orcas Island to encourage us and be encouraged by each other in this fantastic community we call home.  So here’s to a great 2012!  With you guys as neighbors, how can it be anything but?