Selective socialism

We hear a lot about the government running everything, that we are sliding headlong to a socialist state, rhetoric that mainly stems from the conservative tea party agenda that we are a tax and spend tax and spend democracy. Social Security, Medicare and Workers Compensation programs are government run and clearly the beginnings of a bigger socialist agenda..
Look at each of the above programs and consider what happens if they were to be removed under a conservative America. Without Medicare many folks including these same conservatives and their families would be paying out of pocket for medical care. One really bad illness and everything you have ever worked for would be gone. Then what? One of my family members was on thirteen different medications just to stay alive. The prescription cost without Medicare looked like the national debt.
Social security is probably the center stone of the socialist ideal. Considering a majority of Americans do not have enough money to retire in the first place, Social Security was designed to help those same Americans put food on the table, keep the lights on and the toilet flushing.
Let’s say you fall off a roof or cut your hand off with a saw while at work and find yourself in a situation where you are unable to work! Workers Compensation keeps the furnace and water running. Remember, accidents and illnesses are equal opportunity destroyers.
Now let’s take it all away, no safety net. Americans could never retire; they would literally have to work until they drop on the job. You become ill and lose everything in a flash. You’re hurt on the job and then lose that job because you can’t work! Quick move in with the relatives and burden them. Maybe they will have enough room in the basement. Hope you’re not afraid of the dark!

During the heyday of our local industrial revolution manufacturing came here for the water and produced thousands of jobs. Industry for the most part is gone and probably for good. However, one thing remains the same, is still here and big as it ever was and cleaner than it’s ever been, Lake Erie.
Why is it that we have one of the largest lakes that is, in my humble opinion, underused? Why is it that Lake Erie is not filled with double or triple the number boats and jet skis? Why aren’t paragliders filling the sky and regattas, power and sail, every weekend all summer and into the fall?
We have this huge body of water to play in that travels the entire northern part of the state, and it seems that we have decided to let homes populate the shoreline leaving the chance for commercial development out. Now, I don’t disparage anyone who is lucky enough to live on the lake. However, there are plenty of sections of the shoreline that could be developed into something that looks like any one of the beaches along the east coast.
True we won’t be giving Miami any competition, but folks, I think we can give the Jersey shore a run for its money. We share a common gift with the East coast, a large body of water, and the East coast realized they had a gold mine and have taken full advantage. Multitudes of other areas have done the same thing, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, the list goes on. Moreover, we do not have to worry about the dangerous weather that the east coast and Florida must deal with. Cities that sit on the Lake Erie need to take the gift and run with it. Lakeview Park is a good example of a good start. Catawba and the area of Ottawa County is also a good example, but we need to take it to the next step. Again we need to think big and bold.

School Zone Speeders

Almost every day I travel by at least two school zones and school is in session. Every day I see drivers speeding through the zone. The speed though a school zone is twenty miles per hour. Every day, I see at least seven out of ten drivers violating the limit.
Few things rile me more than folks that feel the need to speed where children are in and around the streets and sidewalks. Some do not even attempt to slow down; some even have the nerve to speed up. I wonder what defense those who speed would have in front of a judge after causing the death of a child. “I was late for work”, “I was late to pick up my dry cleaning”… really just what excuse can you come up with that would not bring the rath of the court system on their heads.
Luckily there are few incidents where we see children injured. However, one is one too many. I would think that with so much law breaking and the need for money in the city coffers, police presence would be more evident. Couple of mornings and afternoons for a week or two might be a financial windfall and slow some of these folks down.

Mars....no cure there.

While you are reading this and should you be a male, look around the room. If there is another male in the room, one of you will get cancer. If you are female and find yourself in a room with two other women, one of you will get cancer. Those are the ugly statistics and have not changed for some time.
Having been a nurse for many years I have seen many wondrous moments and many moments that have shaken my soul. I find that death from cancer as particularly egregious and I have seen my parents succumb to the disease and watched many patients die quite painful horrible deaths from cancer
This makes me wonder why we want to spend jillions of dollars to find water and or life on mars. Additionally, why are we spending good money going back to the moon. Did we leave someone’s watch and we need to go back for it?
There is no one that was more thrilled when I watched the moon landings. I have seen every Star Trek movie ten times. However, I cannot justify in my mind spending money on the fancy of some when we have so many problems here on Terra firma.
Granted, I realize there are tons of jobs involved, national pride and everyone likes to watch the rockets roar. We have realized some gain from spaceflight. However, I would be willing to bet that laying in bed with a tube in every orifice, unable to eat or drink, in pain, delirious and unable to control your body functions you might take pause at the budget for N.A.S.A. The cure will be found here on earth with good basic research, the kind of research that found a cure for polio, vaccine for small pox and diphtheria. Moreover, it will take money to fund that research and I suspect a lot of money. Miracles don’t come cheap and the cure is going to be expensive. Maybe, we can spend a few more billion on research and when we cure cancer then we can go look for that golf ball.

Blog Note

This blog are the thoughts of a man during the time he is cutting the grass and or sitting and watching it rain. I am not a professional journalist and I do not have the time to do all of the research needed to write paper worthy stories. The words you read here are not articles, they are thoughts, ramblings and the occasional rant. Should you need all the things you find in a daily newspaper then you should probably look elsewhere.
I am attempting to spur on debate to make you think about what I have said, to make you take it a further and add to it. I also want to hear what you think and tell me why my view is right or wrong. This blog is a give and take, However, if your looking to argue just to argue then I will not take the bait. I am not looking to recreate anything on fox and msnbc.

Better stimulus package

Recently a few friends and I came upon an interesting idea. The government stimulus package is somewhere around nine billion dollars. There are approximately three hundred million people in the United States who roughly make up one hundred fifty million households but most likely even less than that. Let’s say the government gave all those households each one million dollars! Now that is a better stimulus package!
Some stipulations go with that grant of one million dollars. You must pay off all credit card debt and you must pay off your mortgage and or buy a house. Additionally, you must purchase a new car and buy your own health care coverage. After all this, most folks would probably still have at least a half million to continue to stimulate the economy in the smaller sectors of the economy.
Some folks could and would retire which would cure the unemployment problem fairly quickly. With all the vehicles, houses and televisions, furniture and appliances being bought, the private sector would be well on the way out of the red.
No, you can’t go to Vegas and try to parlay the one million into two million. I know some of you had that cross your minds. Gambling is negative stimulus and would be a deal killer with the political management, which would be all over this idea to begin with. The plan is so simple and effective, which could be why Washington hasn’t thought of it. Could there be something wrong with it? Better stimulus at a much lower price. You don’t have to pay it back and is saves billions!

Why outside the lines?

When I was a child in grade school the teacher wanted us to color inside the lines. Unfortunately, I was one of those children who just couldn’t do that. This blog will be along that same vein, I want people to realize that solving our problems large and small requires we think outside the lines.

We have been locked into what used to be! We must throw that yoke off and think with bold strokes. Have you ever thought what makes one place different than the next? Why other cities are more successful than others? My contention is that they take Robert Kennedy’s words to heart. “Some people see things as they are and say why, I see things that never were and say why not.”

We here in Lorain specifically and in the county at large must begin to think along those same lines. Why are there no wind turbines all along the shoreline? Why are there no solar cells on every tall building? Can we not find a way to have the college team with the cities to provide actual training for students and power for the city saving money in the process? Yes, there are obstacles to overcome! However, we must overcome them move on or watch our sister cites prosper while we sink deeper into the rust. I hope to explore a new idea a radical idea to get you thinking and saying “why not!