Major frustration of small device resolved

The little device that caused major frustration has been fixed.
All that needed to happen was that the hearing aid needed to have
its tube replaced. The tube broke in three places in the ear
mold. I don't want to see that trick for a long time, that's for
sure.

While that time of isolation is over for me, it is not over for
many of you in the db community because of lack of services.
This is why we must all fight hard for services and that means
working together, whether we come to the community from the deaf
community or the blind community. Each group must work with the
other if we are to get anything done. It was Abraham Lincoln who
spoke about a house divided will fall. I don't remember the
exact quote right now; but it fits here.

Has this been the first experience with isolation for me? No it
has not. I experienced this last spring when I attended the last
face-to-face board meeting for a national organization of the
deaf-blind. We met at a location which is a heavy signing
environment. As I do not sign, barely knowing the alphabet let
alone many signs, I felt very much isolated and looked forward to
getting home where I was on more familiar ground. I did get
there and was thankful for it. However, the experience showed me
what isolation is and how it is so potentially devastating if
you let it be so. It is understandable that this can happen
because, as I said, I had problems with one day. Just imagine
how someone who goes through this constantly feels. It's not
pretty and this is why we must advocate for services such as SSP
services so that the grip of isolation can be broken. There must
also be opportunities for vocational training and employment.
Only then will we break the rip of isolation. This means that
the entire community must work together as one. Remember that we
must be united, not divided because if we are the latter, we will
surely fall; and I don't want to see that.

Here's to working to end isolation and increase productivity and
participation in communities where we all live and work.

The auto industry time to let go

I hear about the auto industry and what the administration did and want to
say just let go. Let them go into chapter 11 which is something that should
have been done a long time ago. However, GM has been given 60 more days to
come up with a more acceptable plan and Chrysler has been given 30 days.
The feeling is that Chrysler is less viable than GM. However I am not sure
about that one. It's time to stop throwing tax money at bad investments and
these companies as presently constituted are bad companies and thus bad
investments. If chapter 11 was good enough for the airlines, then it is
good enough for the auto companies.

Obama says that we should not, must not and will not allow these companies
to go away, or maybe he was talking about the U.S. auto industry. However,
when a politician uses words like that you should know that the opposite
usually happens. Just look at any Democrat who says that about a tax
increase. Hold on to your wallet as a tax increase is very likely coming.

Obama and the government know nothing about the auto industry just as they
know nothing about the financial industry. What makes anyone think they
know what is best for these companies? They don't and that is a huge
problem. Besides, I don't want the government in the business of running
auto companies. I was never a supporter of the financial industry bailout
and I was not a supporter of the auto bailout either.

In the case of the financial industry, many companies who did not want the
bailout money were forced to take the money even if they did not want or
need the money. This bailout was about taking control of the financial
industry, not bailing it out so that it could stand on its own once again.
The same is true of the auto industry if the government doesn't just get out
of the way and let the bankruptcy laws work as they are supposed to work.
That's the course of action which should be pursued. How many more
bureaucrats will get a job as a result of today's announcement? Several I
fear. Will the government mandate the colors of the cars? Who knows
because they can mandate whatever they want to if they are not stopped and
stopped now.

What I believe is the proper role of government is a subject for another
blog entry which will not happen today. Suffice it to say, government
control is not free enterprise where companies can and do fail. The auto
companies are going down that road of failure which happens when companies
use an outdated business model and deal with irrelevant unions. Again, the
unions are a subject for another day.

One small device causes major frustration

The title says it all. One small device has caused major frustration. I am
thankful for sick days and the fact that I have a lot of them. I just wish
I didn't have to use one of them for this purpose. What you ask is the
problem and the small device?

The small device is a hearing aid and it broke over the weekend while I was
out of town at a meeting. It picked one of the worst times in the world to
do what it did, that's for sure. I called the audiologist's office today to
see if I could get in to get it fixed and the soonest I could get in was
tomorrow morning. That didn't make me happy but it was the best I could do
under the circumstances. Thankfully it will be fixed tomorrow and all will
be back to normal.

I didn't go into work today because with only one hearing aid functioning, I
cannot be as effective as I would be with two of them functioning. My
mobility is also not good because of problems with directionality, that is
telling what direction sound is coming from, and veering.

For this reason, I am staying very close to home and not going anywhere.
It's a rotten way to spend a forced day off. I'll be glad when this day is
over and I can once again return to the world I know and love.

This day, however, is making me aware that isolation is an all too common
thing for many people with a combined vision and hearing loss. Isolation is
not a pleasant thing either. At least I have some means of communication
which is more than many people have. My means of communication may not be
as efficient without both hearing aids but it does work. Isolation makes
the days longer, or so it seems. You just want the day to end so that you
can go on to the next day and hope it is not the same as the previous day.
I personally don't know how long I could live like that either. If short
amounts of isolation can drive me crazy, I don't want to know what a long
period of isolation would do to me.

This is why there must be services for those living with a combined vision
and hearing loss no matter what the level of that loss. Being able to work,
do business in and participate in one's community is something we all need
to work toward.

While I can rejoin my world tomorrow, for many it wil take more than just
the fixing of a small device for them to join their world and make it a
world where they can be an active part of the community, of their family and
whatever other group they choose to be part of. This is why advocacy is so
important and why I stress it so much. We all need to do what we can to
make the powers that be understand the importance of providing services to
members of the db community so that we can all take our place in society.
Isolation is a nasty thing and must be brought to an end. The time is now.

No reason to trust Geithner or Emanual

Today I heard about some rather distressing information regarding Rom Emanual, Chief of Staff to President Obama.  According to an article in the Chicago Tribune published, I believe, today Rom Emanual sat on the Board of Freddie Mac for 14 months while Freddie Mac was melting down.  Apparently Mr. Emanual received some $320,000 over that 14 months for little or no work.  Does that surprise you? It doesn't surprise me, especially since he comes from Illinois which is, unfortunately, known for questionable politics which does get downright dirty.  I guess Mr. Emanual made money as an investment banker some years ago according to the article which I heard about on a conservative talk show.  The Chicago Tribune is known for usually getting it right too.  There was an accounting scandal going on with Freddie Mac at the time I believe.

 

In any case, given this information, do you really want Mr. Emanual handling the economy?  I sure don't.  He watched while Freddie Mac burned and what makes anyone think that he won't do it again?  Freddie Mac was making questionable loans and Mr. Emanual watched while this was happening.  What does that say about the effort he will put into his present position?  It doesn't say much to me.  Can you say a very cushy job without a lot of work?  I sure can; but that shouldn't surprise anyone.  As I said last fall, Obama is no reformer.  It will just be Illinois politics on a national scale and boy are we seeing that now.

 

As for Geithner, he doesn't even know how to pay his taxes, let alone come up with a coherent policy on the so-called toxic assets.  In fact, I heard a story recently that if Geithner doesn't start doing better, there is a prominent congressman who will be calling for Geithner's resignation.  That should happen because a tax cheat should not be in charge of the IRS which is under the Treasury Dept.    I thought at first that Geithner's tax problems were an honest mistake but I am beginning to wonder about that one.  Can you say politial rewad?  I sure can with both of these idiots.

 

These two idiots want broad powers to shut down financial companies that get too large.  Come on, that's like asking the fox to guard the hen house.  No way these two should have power like that as they have proven they can't handle what they have now, let alone what they have done in the past.  How much worse will they make things?  I shudder to think about that and hope we never find out.  Unfortunately we just might though. 

Universal health care or newspaper bailout run from both as fast as you can

Recently you might have heard talk about a newspaper bailout.  You might also have heard that President Obama wants to "reform" health care.  The latter is a code for universal health care and the former will trample on first amendment freedoms.  both of these ideas need to be dead  on arrival.      If they show any signs of life run from both of them as fast as you can.

 

I will first deal with the issue of newspaper bailouts.  This is a glaring intrusion on first amendment freedoms as the government would control the content of those newspapers.  At first it will control how the paper should be laid out and how much news content it should have and how much can be made by ad revenue, all of which have been discussed.  Then the control will shift to the actual news content.  In other words, there will not be content which criticizes people such as Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).  Their funding would be threatened.  In other words, the newspapers would be giving control of the paper to the government and this is something I do not want to see.  We see it in radio with the librals wanting to bring back the Fairness Doctrine which is a code word for knocking conservative talk radio off the air.  They want this because liberal talk shows cannot make it on their own.  Well I am one person who does not want to see them go on the air with government help.  If they can't make it on their own in a free market, then so be it.  It means they don't have a viable product to sell.  The same, unfortunately, is true of newspapers in their current form.  However a government bailout is something which everyone ought to run from as fast as they can.  We need many sources of information, not just one.  You see what happens in places where there is one absolute source of information and I don't want to see this country go there even remotely.

 

The other thing to avoid fervently is universal health care as this is nothing more than rationed health care and PWD will be adversely affected by this as we will be seen as costing too much, a notion which I as a PWD resent strongly.  Under universal health care, we wil be told when we can see the doctor and for what.  Excuse me but I don't want to deal with some government bureaucrat in order to make a doctor's appointment.  Decisions about my health care should be between me and my doctor and there should not be a government bureaucrat involved in that decision.  I work in a facility which serves severely disabled children.  These children deserve a chance to meet their maximum potential which I believe won't happen if we have universal health care.    They will be considered "expendable", something which I strongly resent.

 

Universal health care means waiting months for procedures.  If you don't believe that, just look at Canada or Britain, both of which have major problems. 

 

There are somethings which could be done in this country.  The first thing that ought to be done is allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices, something which was not done in the original legislation which I will maintain was largely written by the pharmaceutical companies and insurance industry.  Another thing that could and should be done is a ban on advertising of pharmaceuticals such as nexium, Spereva, Boneva, Lipotor and others.  These drugs ought to be dispensed by doctors, not advertised on TV. 

 

The long and short of the matter is that I want to be able to get information without the government telling me what information I can have and how to think about that information; and I also want to make health care decisions free of government control.  Newspaper bailouts and universal health care are two liberal ideas that scare me to death and ought to be run from as fast as you can possibly do so.  They will change the country forever and not in a positive way either.  Heck, we won't even recognize the country anymore, soemthing which also scares me to death.  I, unfortunately, think we ar eheaded down that socialist path.

Time for madness and escape

We're at the time of year when March madness begins and this year it will
likely be a welcome escape to all of the economic bad news. It's a time to
get away from it all for just a little while. If you don't know what March
madness is, you haven't been paying much attention to sports this time of
the year. March madness is the NCAA men's college basketball tournament.
There, by the way, is a women's version as well. This weekend will feature
game after game after game which will likely culminate in some upsets as is
often the case with this tournament. Can you quarrel with some of the
selections? Yes you certainly can with the most notable one of those being
Wisconsin who got in ahead of Northwestern even though Northwestern did much
better than Wisconsin this year. Well, the riggers of the tournament will
straighten this one out as they usually do because Wisconsin will be one and
done.

The play-in game will give the winning school the right to be throttled by
Louisville later this week, and throttled they will be. Three number ones
out of one conference is highly unusual with one of those three being the
weakest number one. Who might you ask is that weak number one? It is UConn
who I predict will be gone early; but that's the beauty of the tournament
because one never knows about these things.

Let the madness begin so that we can escape for just a while from all of the
bad news that permeates the world today.

The latest outrag3e

The subject line says it all. What might you ask is the latest
outrage? It is the obscene bonuses being paid out by AIG even
though the company had to be bailed out by the government which
means the taxpayers., Why the heck does a company pay bonuses
when it needs a taxpayer-funded bailout? It does so because it
has no values at all. It doesn't care about what the taxpayers
think. All it cares about are the fat cat executives that drove
it into the ground. They did not foresee the outrage this would
cause. How insulated or stupid do they have to be to not see the
outrage coming over this one? Can you say pretty stupid and
clueless? I sure can and just did.

I wasn't for the bailout of AIG either. I would have preferred
to see them go under or at least forced into Chapter 11 which I
still think would be the best remedy for them. However, there
are those who have said that the consequences of AIG going under
and failing would be much more disastrous for the world economy.
I am not sure about this as I don't fully understand the enormity
of the impact such a collapse would have; but I do understand the
outrage about the bonuses and agree with president Obama on this
point. This will be one of the few times I agree with him on
anything though.

While we are at it, let's make sure that the auto executives at
Gm and Chrysler don't get bonuses either as these executives have
caused their companies to come to the taxpayers for a bailout.
If anything, they should lose their jobs for running the
companies into the ground. Since when is poor performance
rewarded? It shouldn't be and this is only part of the outrage
over AIG. How can these companies turn to the taxpayers for a
bailout and then turn around and pay out bonuses? The answer is
because they can. This has got to stop and stop now. When you
take a bailout the rules change and bonuses become unacceptable.

Should bonuses be limited? I think so but that is a subject for
another day. I do hope though that the AIG bonuses are fully
recovered. What a stinking outrage this company has perpetrated
on the taxpayers.

The biggest fraud in history and more

Bernard Madoff is due to plead guilty to fraud and more tomorrow. Let him
plead guilty and then rot in prison for what he did. He doesn't deserve to
see the outside of a prison ever again; and I sincerely hope he doesn't. He
can lose all of his assits as well. Boy how the mighty fall in this case.

He cleaned out innocent people and organizations of a lot of money and
should pay for it dearly. I also think that those in the government who
ignored the warnings should be charged with official misconduct or other
charges that would fit that situation for they did nothing to stop this
creep. Again, let him rot in jail. I also don't give a damn about his wife.
She can fall as well. I think she knew what was going on and can't plead
ignorance on this one.

There are other problems connected with the Obama administration. You can
start with the incompetent press secretary or whatever the hell Gibbs calls
himself. He ought to be fired immediately for incompetence of the highest
order. He doesn't know a damn thing and it shows.

Now we are learning that a second stimulus bill might be necessary. Oh, I
should have called it spendulus or porkulus because that is actually what it
is. The liberals didn't get enough of the porkulus or spendulus in the
first bill so they must pillage from the private sector, that is the
taxpayers, once again. When will this train wreck stop and how much will it
cost when it is finally stopped. John McCain had the best characterization
for this when he called it generational theft and I for one want these
people to stop stealing from my nieces and nephews. They deserve a chance
at a future just like past generations have had. However, this generational
theft will rob them of that chance. What will be left for them? Not much I
am afraid. BJ is in college right now. BK is working and not in school and
the rest are still in grade school, namely high school or junior high. One
of these will graduate this year. What will she find when she enters the
world of work? It won't be pretty,that's for sure.

We've got to stop this train wreck before we all become victims of it and
the private sector becomes unrecognizable. I have heard a twist on John
Edwards theme of two Americas, with one being the private sector and one
being the public sector. This was discussed on a conservative talk show
today. The host, Charlie Sykes, was talking about how the public sector
keeps taking and the private sector keeps giving. He further noted that the
private sector has lost millions of jobs while the public sector has gained
thousands of jobs during the same time period. What does that tell you? It
tells me plenty and I am scared for the future.

Remember that 0-100 scale I talked about earlier this year, 0 being scared
to death and 100 being all hope and change. Well, at the time that
spendulus came out, I was at a 10. Now I am down to a 5 as this
administration clearly doesn't know what thehell it is doing. I kept saying
during the election cycle that I would rather have the inexperience at the
second level rather than the first. However, we got the inexperience at the
first level and it is showing much to the detriment of the country and the
world.

We live in scary times, that's for sure.
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4:35 PM

Obama playing fast and loose with tax money

We have seen another instance of President Obama playing fast and loose with
tax money. This came in the form of an order lifting the ban on federal
funding for embryonic stem cell research. This time, what he did has
serious ethical and moral consequences which he does not or won't
understand. He does not care about taxpayers like me who have ethical
concerns about what he did today. He claims this is in the name of not
holding science back but he is showing how pro murder he is. He calls
himself a man of faith yet does not believe in the sanctity of life.

Once again this is about the liberal agenda which includes pro murder and,
by the way, let's cure everyone with a disability. Give me a freaking
break. Where will that go down the slippery slope? I'm not sure I want to
go there but go there we will as Obama has opened the dorr through this
executive order today. He took jabs at Bush in doing it too, something the
liberals enjoy with gusto. That's utterly and completely disgusting. Can't
Obama do anything and leave Bush out of it? No he can't because it doesn't
fit the liberal template or agenda while the executive order does fit the
agenda.

Let's not go down this road; but I am afraid we already have. I just hope
to God that Congress doesn't overturn the federal law against creation of
embryos for research purposes. This would really cross the line much more
than it is already being crossed. Then we are dealing with someone who
voted against infant born alive legislation at the state level here in
Illinois. That's legislation that many pro murder, oh I mean Pro choice,
advocates even supported.

Hell right now we don't even have a choice as to how our tax money is spent.
It can be spent for things we don't agree with morally or ethically. The
executive order on stem cells is a great example of this.

What is the fascination with embryonic stem cells when the same material can
be gotten from cord blood or adult stem cells? These two avenues don't have
the ethical perils that emryonic stem cells have and they should be used
instead of embryonic stem cells.

For God sake don't spend my tax money on murder. Spend it on life and this
means using cord blood and adult stem cells for medical research. I knew
Obama was trouble on this subject even before the election. How many babies
will die as a result of this; and emryos are babies as far as I am concerned
and I don't want my tax money going to kill them in the name of research.
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4:35 PM

No more bailouts for the sake of taxpayers

Last week we heard tha GM is close to bankruptcy and that more money will
be needed for the black hole known as AIG. To the former I say sendthem to
chapter 11 and to the latter I say no more money for them. I am sick and
tired of our tax money being promised by politicians, who haven't run
anything in their lives, to inefficient and bloated businesses who should
be allowed to fail if that's what the market place dictates.

If GM goes into chapter 11 and fails to emerge from it, then so be it. The
business fails and this is what happens in the free market. This company is
too big, too inefficient and too bloated. If chapter 11 was good enough for
the airlines, then it is good enough for 'GM. I don't want any of my tax
money going to run such an inefficient, bloated company. This smacks of
nationalization and I definitely want nothing to do with that. This is the
United States; and the last time I checked it was not a socialist country.
Let's keep it that way!

With regard to AIG, I would like no more tax money to go down this black
bloated hole either. This is a company which got too big too fast and
should be sent into chapter 11 for the express purpose of breaking it up.
Again nationalization should not be the goal here. Unfortunately I wonder
if this is the goal of the liberals so that they can force companies to
follow their left-wing agenda. Again, let AIG live or die by the bankruptcy
laws. This may be a trickier one but it needs to be done. Do regulators
share some blame for this one? Absolutely as they let AIG grow unchecked
and unregulated in what they acquired. Why weren't the antitrust laws
applied here? Only an investigation will answer that one for sure.

If you don't want any more bailouts for companies like this, then call your
U.S. Representative and Senators and tell them to vote no on any bailout.
Tell them that you are sick and tired of your tax money being spent to bail
out companies that should be allowed to go under if necessary. Tell them
that there are services which need to be funded such as services to those
who are deaf-blind, something which would be a better use for the money than
bailing out irresponsible companies.

Keep in mind that many of these politicians who are voting for these
bailouts have never run anything in their lives. They have never had to
meet a payroll or make tough business decisions. Obama is included in this
and his Treasury Secretary doesn't even know how to pay his taxes. What
does that say about the crowd running the country right now? It tells me
that they would not make it in the private sector. They would run companies
into the ground much as the executives of GM and AIG have run those
companies into the ground. I just hope that they don't run this country
into the ground; but I am afraid this could happen unless they are stopped
sooner rather than later.

Let's stop the bailout train once and for all before it's too late.

Obama what now

The title says it all, "Obama, what now?" It is a question that
many must be asking as things get worse with seemingly no end in
site. Why is this. Those who voted for Obama, this blogger not
being one of them, voted for hope and change. However, we have
seen fear and politics as usual in Washington. To make matters
worse, every time Obama or his Treasury secretary Tim Geithner
open their mouths, the markets tank because there is absolutely
no confidence in either of them. Add to this several factors and
you have a recipe for disaster.

The jobless numbers came out this past week and they were worse
than expected. Obama can no longer blame this on the Bush
administration and their policies as these statistics are from
his first month in office. In other words, he owns the issue of
the economy and all of its problems. The statute of limitations
on blaming the Bush administration should and must run out real
quick. Unfortunately this might not happen as soon as it should
because the mainstream media is in the tank for Obama.
Everything Obama has proposed is long on ideas and short on
details which sends the markets tumbling. To say that we have
inexperience at the first level would be a gross understatement.
What we have is something worse than that but I am not sure what
that is yet.

Then there is the issue of Geithnerr. He can't begin to fill the
top positions at Treasury. I think this is a result of lack of
confidence in him and the tax issue coming back to bite; but that
gets to the whole issue of change and transparency that Obama
preached during the campaign. Once elected, we are seeing
politics as usual, which is something I thought would happen
given the fact that he is from Illinois which is viewed as one of
the more corrupt states in the union, especially given recent
events in this state. Why should the markets have any confidence
in a tax cheat who doesn't know what he is doing? They shouldn't
and don't.

Can you say scared? I sure can because I am scared for the
future and what it holds for all of us.