WHY I LIKE TRAVEL

Because I can. That is the simple answer. I go places as a traveler not so much as a tourist because I want to experience the culture and the place. I am not a foodie so the food is the least of it but I like that I get to go the restaurants that the locals go to. As I get further and further away from home I still find Burger King, MacDonalds and Pizza Hut. When I am in Bangkok I am closer to Dunkin Donuts there than any that are in California. That is part of their daily culture. A very young and pretty Thai girl jumps off the back of a motor scooter taxi to get coffee at the Starbucks.

Unless you walk the streets you will never experience the people. For example I walked into a MacDonalds for an ice cream cone. It was hot and I walked about 1.5 miles so far that day and it was just 10:30am. I sat inside because it was cooler and then a very attractive lady came over and started a back massage. It was nice and she paid me some compliments. After about five minutes she said I do “boom-boom!”

Where else could that happen – not here in the San Fernando Valley? No boom-boom but a great experience that I can write about.

That is the culture at least in that area. That is only part of it. I find that people are welcoming where ever I go. Thailand is a happy place as is Cuba as is Chile and other areas of South America. Many are very curious about living in the U.S. The people I encounter ask questions about the U.S. While in Phuket I met two young ladies travelling with their parents. They were university students from China and asked about the U.S. Where I lived and what I do for fun and for work. They were curious about my family. So, answered their questions and they thanked me and I then asked them some questions about their studies and their ambitions. I also asked what they thought of the U.S.

That is what got me thinking. What do people who visit the United States actually think?  What do they see in the U.S. that is contrary to what they heard or what do they see or experience that contradicts what they though they know.

Back in the 70’s when we lived in Connecticut we hosted two Japanese girls from Hiroshima. Their English was lacking as was my Japanese, but they were really frightened. The group was planning to go to New York City the next day and they said they were afraid to go because they had no gun to defend themselves. That was an eye opener and since that time I am always cognizant of how others may see us, Americans.

Whenever I meet someone from another country I ask what that they think of America and Americans. Their answers are quite interesting. Many misconceptions travel with them and that takes time to overcome.

A number of years ago there was a book “The Ugly American.” It describes how our sense of superiority dictated our behavior overseas. “What, you don’t speak English?” I experienced some teenagers from the Midwest actually get loud, boisterous and nasty in a little café in Jericho, Israel. The obnoxious kid was bigger than me but I asked him outside any way and read him the riot act. He took it and then apologized, but he had no idea of what being considerate and a guest in some else’s country meant.

As I travel, I try not to be the ugly American.  Not being the ugly American gets you so many perks. In Tokyo a young man though I was lost so he volunteered to take me to the place I was looking for. In Bangkok recently, a young Thai man that spoke English helped me buy a mobile phone – and two SIM cards.

In Budapest a young lady helped me get to the right subway train. In Prague a young student allowed me to sit at her table at Starbucks because there was other place to sit. I bought her a muffin. A small gesture of appreciation that goes along way.

I like people who are new to the U.S. and get their take on living here or just observing our culture. Their insight is always based, as our own is, on what it is like back home, wherever that is. Since we are a very large country, the visitor my get different ideas of our culture based on where they are that time. But their view is valuable because it is a fresh look at us. Let’s face it, a visitor from the farmlands of Thailand that visits Las Vegas will definitely have a major culture shock.  (Even Americans just off the farm experience that).

It is also interesting that visitors also express how they see the difference between the country and the government of that country.  When in China I really liked the Chinese people (one cab driver excepted) but I have reservations about the governing of that country. Many years ago, in London, at a ticket kiosk, the ticket seller told us how much he loved Americans. He also expressed his displeasure with the “cowboy president.” He was very frank and did not beat about the bush.

That is the beauty of travel. You get to see their idea of what the U.S. is and they get to see what Americans are like. Most of the people of the world are not Americans – that is the fact. Most of us have one thing in common, we are curious – about each other.

That is my take, you decide.

WHERE HAVE MY HEROES GONE?

When I grew up in Boston we worshipped the players of our favorite teams. Not just the hometown teams but teams that we followed because of the players. Baseball, basketball and football. For example, we had no pro football in Boston until 1960. I moved to  Los Angeles in 1958, so I never had a hometown team until I came west. Strangely, my favorite team was the Los Angeles Rams while growing up in bean town. Now I am in Los Angeles with my favorite team.

Bob Waterfield no longer played for the Rams, but he was my hero quarterback. He became my hero coach of the Rams. Ollie Matson, Dick Bass, Merlin Olson and so many other larger than life real heroes.

I know that this was way before the 24 hour news cycle, but bad behavior is bad behavior regardless of the new cycle. We are seeing a lot of bad behavior now that is coming to light. Did it start with Aaron Hernandez who allegedly murdered some people? Nah, there were bad guys way before him.

But a lack of social dicipline, too much money and too much adoration gave these over paid idiots the license to do bad things and give them the idea that they have that priveledge. Just ask Kobe Bryant how much it cost him. It is time to change the names of the professional leagues:                           

                National Felony League (NFL)

                                                          National Bad Asses (NBA)

Major league Baseball deals with drugs and doping by their unique dopes. There  are no stories or maybe  I haven’t heard the stories about players beating their wives, kids or girlfriends. Maybe they are too "high" to perform such tasks. They beat themselves with bad behavior. That behavior should not be tolerated either. They are their own victims.

I am not a hockey fan but if these guys who are known for fisticuffs were beating their wives girlfriends or kids, we would know about it. Maybe they leave all that aggression on the ice. In any case, with 32 teams and about 1800 players there has to be some bad apples in Football. I am painting all the players with a broad brush. It is easy to do that because just a few idiots who think they can deck a woman. Then the publicity kicks in and they are all apologetic. Boo Hoo! Then there are others coming forward or being outed and that leads to the generalization that all these guys are bad news. They are not bad news what some create is bad news.

My heroes are the older guys that played. Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman. Bill Russell,  Carl Braun, Tommy Heinson, K.C. Jones and more. I recall these guys in spite of not having sensational headlines of bad behavior. Going back to baseball, Lew Burdett, Gene Conley (also a Celtic player), Warren Spahn, Johnny Sain  (pray for  rain) and then there were the Red Sox players: Wiliams, Piersall, Jensen, Goodman and Lepcio. Ted Williams was a hero on and off the field as were many major leaguers in that generation. They beat their enemies , not their wives.

The Boston Patriots didn‘t play until 1960 after I moved away from Boston. So, it took the Rams moving from Los Angeles to St. Louis for me to focus on the New England Patriots. They had a losing season in 1960 but no one went home and beat their families. The one guy I can recall was Gino Cappalletti, No. 20. No one on the Patriots wears No. 20 – it was retired.

The point of all this is that the positive heroes I recall from many years ago. These bad news guys that beat their kids, their wives, murder people will one day be forgotten but their stain on professional sports won’t be.

But who is to blame. I think some of it goes to us. Look how many Rice uniform shirts were worn in his support by women. He committed a crime, a felony, yet women support him – why? So, how does Rice decide that kicking the crap out of his wife is OK? Ladies, you said it is OK. You have told that it is OK to any other player that wants to deliver mayhem to a member of his family. Maybe he should have kicked the crap out of a dog then he would go to jail, ask Michael Vick.

By the way. The team’s owners and management need to have their heads cracked (symbolically) so they can react with some dignity and anger to the problems. And it is up to us fans to show disgust with that behavior by the players and by the teams. Where have all my heroes gone?

 

That is my take – you decide.

 

WHO HAS THE BIGGER STICK?

Arabs, Muslims and Jews always get along. That is until the hate speech takes over. As they should get along as we all come from the same father – Abraham. Yes, we can have sibling spats but that is normal. What is not normal is the fighting that ends in maiming or death. The Jewish faith protects life and values it at all costs. The Islamic faith appears to be opposite but the individuals I have met of the years appear to embrace the thinking  that life is precious. Life is precious. Life must be protected.

Here’s the rub. Especially in the Gaza area, the Israelis pulled out of the area. They left Gazans with the responsibility of electing a government that would protect them, would create jobs, would educate the people, and provide for healthcare. The Gazans elected a group that does not protect them, that does not educate them, that does not create jobs, that does not provide for health care. Is that the fault of the Israelis? No, the responsibility lies within the borders of Gaza.

There is an old expression;  you made your bed now you have to lie in it. That I what is happening now. Why are the Gazans and the world blaming Israel for fighting back? Makes no sense. I hear proportionality. Proportionality, my ass! My dad told me when I was a child if a kid picks up a stick to hit you, get a bigger stick. He was not teaching me violence. Unfortunately violence exists. The best way to repel violence is to create a scenario where the instigator sees a no win situation and backs off. That is why a bigger stick that my father talked about often works. Sometimes without having to swing it.

Hamas does not care. The get their glory from Allah, their god. To die is to martyr yourself. Then there is the politics of it. Start a fight you can’t win then ask for a truce. Hamas wants the blockade lifted – so they can acquire more weapons. Even with the blockade, the missiles that they constantly lob into Israel had to get to Gaza from somewhere. Lift the blockade they can get more and in a short time later they will start it all over again; lobbing missiles, killing Israelis. At this time it is foolhardy to allow the free flow of arms to Gaza. Get another ruling party that is not a terrorist organization and watch the Gazan economy flourish. That is the mission of the population of Gaza. That is the hope of the world.

The current argument against fighting back is not making any sense. If San Diego were being attacked by missiles from Tijuana, or Buffalo from Toronto no American would say hit just hard enough to make a point. Tijuana and Toronto would be rubble in just a few days. That will never happen because Mexicans and Canadians are Americans, North Americans. They value their citizens. They will never place a missile battery on the roof of a hospital as Hamas does. They will never store weapons in schools as Hamas does.

Billions have been poured into the Gaza. No schools, no more hospitals just more weapons. I do not understand the Gazans, their hate for Israel appears to larger than their love for themselves or their families. That hate will destroy them. No one wants that. Hamas is constantly making us look for a bigger stick.

Yes, Hamas is winning the PR war but that will only encourage them to kill and get more Gazans killed. They can proudly point to some of the world’s press and say, see the Israelis are the bad guys. When it comes to self-defense the Israeli’s don’t give a shit. PR won’t stop a grenade or a bullet. Common sense will because common sense says PR does not protect.

What makes this even more stupid is the history since 1948. The Israelis always win! They are a small country by any measurement. Yet, they stood their ground in 1948, the 1967 war, the Yom Kippur War, the intifada, the Lebanese war. There have been at least seven major conflicts in the past 65 years and Israel is still the best functioning country in the Middle East.

Now I read where their detractors are saying that this is a war of choice for Israel. I have been watching Al Jazeera as I had found that news source, till today, to be fair and factual. Now I am lost for actual, factual news. Le Monde also chastises Israel for fighting back. They should be ashamed of themselves. They let the Nazis walk into Paris – not a shot fired.

I hate seeing anyone killed from either side. But the Gazans have to make a choice: Get rid of Hamas, elect a better government and have a better life. Stop screaming for the cameras and start talking to one another so as a society you can talk to your “enemies.”  Make peace, make love. As I have seen on Facebook, there are so many intercultural marriages; Jews and Arabs, Palestinians and Israelis, Islamics and Jews. That is not the problem – the problem is who some of the people chose to be their leaders. Create the conflict and then cry because the other guy, Israel, has a bigger stick. That is not going to give your people security, healthcare, education, just PR. If, as a Gazan you do not have healthcare, or education, or food to eat and no personal security, when it comes to PR you, too, should not give a shit about the PR!

That is my take – you decide.

GOING HOME -WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!

My old neighborhood in Boston created an alumni association that has been active for about 40 years. I joined as a lifetime member in 1979 when I sent the association my ten dollars. Periodically they have reunions so that people can reconnect with other people from their school, their street, their club or pool hall. For me, the schools were the Bradford (gone) the Shaw, the Walcott (gone) and the Lewinberg. My street was Marden Avenue but I hung out on Lucerne Street, Willowood Street and Woodrow Avenue and the corners at Morton Street, Woodrow Avenue and Blue Hill Avenue. (There was a feature film entitled Blue Hill Avenue). Mickey’s Pool Hall on Livingstone Street is where I honed my skills with regard to those 15 numbered balls you heard about in the Music Man.

That was my immediate world as I matured into a teenager. Every few years I get to revisit that time and place. Times have changed and so has that place. This last visit was under the guise of attending my neighborhood reunion, but it was more than that. Five years ago I revisited my old neighborhood and my late wife’s neighborhood with my son and grandson.  It was very emotional, especially recounting the times I was in my late wife’s home, walking down her street, the local Howard Johnsons and the Circle Theater. When it came to my neighborhood we were quite cautious except for hot dog stand were we got out of the car had had foot longs.

My son and grandson got a taste of what it was like to grow up on my streets and my neighborhood back in the 50’s and 60’s. But during that visit I missed some things that have been a part of my psyche since I was a child. So, I did what I was told very dangerous – I was told that several years ago and it appeared to be the same after watching “Boston’s Finest” on TV recently. I did it anyway and it was terrific. I got out of the cah and spoke to the people.

The first place that I spoke to people was on Marden Avenue. That was, after getting my hot dog at Simco By The Bridge! I rolled down the street, which is maybe 100 yard long, and stopped by a man that was washing his car. I told him that where he is standing is about 30 feet from where I grew up. We got into a terrific conversation about the neighborhood and the condo he lives in that was the school yard for the Bradford. The layout of the complex followed the exact lines of the schoolyard.

One of the stories I related to the man was how the street was considered a “private way “  and after any snow storm the city would never plow it. The neighbors had to pitch in to get a snow plow on the street. There was always one neighbor that would never contribute and their Nash was not seen until April. The neighborhood was now almost entirely African-American but it was a much calmer place now.

There was one original building standing that was number 19. Numbers 3, 7, 11 and 15 were gone but there were some newer buildings, two family style not six family, were there where the originals stood.

Then I drove the three blocks (seemed longer many years ago) to the big shul on Woodrow Avenue, Within the radius of about two blocks from the big shul there were about five Orthodox synagogues. As I rolled by the big shul a young black man asked me if I needed help. I asked if I could go in and see the synagogue. I was invited in after I found very tight pahkin space!

This big shul  is now the big Seventh Day Adventist church. So being Saturday I wished the congregants I met a Shabbat Shalom. I explained it to them that this is s greeting wishing a peaceful Sabbath and soon many of the people in the church were speaking Hebrew! As I was escorted through the building related stories that were relative the shul. One such story was about the corner of Woodrow Avenue and Lucerne Street was Freddy Bloom square. The plaque is still there. (Remember Bloomie’s produce stand?)

The interior has changed as the sanctuary was built out from where the Torahs were stored and the rabbi gave you your Bar Mitzvah gifts to what would have been about the fifth row. Pews still had mogen dovids on the ends. The center bema was gone but the chandelier was still glowing above there it would have been. I then related the story of Rabbi Strasburg and his first Yom Kippur service as he was about to deliver a fiery sermon as he was sort of auditioning for the job of rabbi. He was standing under the chandelier on the center bema, the lights went out. Then I had to explain what a Shabbos Goy was. A non-Jewish neighborhood volunteer that could do work on the Shabbat or High Holy Days. That person was an essential and appreciated member of the community.

As the rabbi spread his arms punctuating his words in the din of the lightless synagogue, his white robes flowing as open windows provided for some air flow (there was no air conditioning then, and I was told there is still none now) his robes were flowing with the breeze. His head flung back with the big white yarmulke, his voice resonating and as he looked up at the chandelier he implored with a cry, “Let the light be kindled!” The chandelier came to life.

The three hours I spent in the synagogue were cathartic for me and informative for my new Seventh Day Adventist friends. As I walked down the steps out of the shul, I heard my black friend say “Shabbat Shalom.”

That was my experience, I hope you enjoyed it.

WHAT DOES DOING THE JOB MEAN?

Whenever some one asks me to help in getting a job or a better position, here is what I counsel. Within your organization, department, etc. take the initiative. There is always something, some task that needs to be done that is either being ignored, not thought to be crucial or someone dropped the ball. No matter what it is, if it is part of the responsibility of that group, it needs to be done. If you recognize that then do it. Get it done. Do not do a Freddy Prinze on it by saying, “Not my job, man.” It is your job to see that your department or organization is successful.

When that task is done and done well, it is recognized by peers and superiors. Some peers may see it as power grab but superiors see it as taking the reins and leading the way. Leadership.  Doing hard things, small things, easy things that others don’t want to do or failed to do.

That is what I admire about this president. Yesterday he was criticized for not leading and today he was criticized for leading. The weak leader of the House of Representatives is also seeking to circumvent the president’s leadership by suing him for doing his job. I did find out that we cannot sue the Speaker for not doing his job. He has had oversight of the House that has the worst record in history regarding legislation. However, this majority has had the best record of creating scandals that don’t exist, wasting the legislature’s time in pursuing issues that are nonissues, ignoring the will of the people regarding gun laws, immigration policy and taxation. That is precisely the opposite of leadership and the Speaker wants to sue the president for doing his job when the Speaker won’t do his. The Speaker is another Horshack – “look, look what the president did.”

The president did what he felt needed to be done in order for the country to move ahead. Did he go too far in his interpretation of the law? Maybe? He did break any laws, no. So here is what the Speaker is complaining about: the president is doing his job. He is doing the job he was elected to do. Creating and implementing policies what the speaker and other members of the House were elected to do – they didn’t do any of that, well, very little, almost nothing.

They managed to shut down the government and cost you and I 24 Billion dollars for no reason nor any result worthy of talking about, except spending 24 billion dollars for nothing.

Remember what I said about peers not liking it. Well, that is what happened. But their superiors, us, the people who put them all in office loved what was done. The NLRB and the Consumer Protection Agency are now functioning and working on our behalf. The president did what they failed to do – their job.

The speaker and his colleagues are also ticked off about Executive Orders. Since this president has created less of them than any of this predecessors, what are the pissing and moaning about? They hate it that this president is competent and his competency is showing up their lack of any competency.

I don’t know what will happen next November.  If it is business as usual people will vote against their best interest and keep these clowns in their job so they can get a paycheck and do nothing for it except complain. I am really looking forward to the rhetoric that explains that doing nothing is helping the country. Maybe not authorizing another Iraq war is a good example of doing nothing that works. That would have been great ten years ago, not so much now.

I think that speaker needs another drink. Having his impotence exposed is most disturbing to him. I am sure he is looking for a little blue pill to create some blood circulation to his brain, either one. He is on a horse that is standing still, won’t run and can’t Cantor. (My apologies).

I suggest give it some thought. The speaker’s colleagues proposed legislation that when the president agreed with it, they now hated it. The obvious is out there.

What does amaze me that many of the ideas that have been proposed and the “no nothing at all Congress” opposed are now actually being done without them. States are increasing their minimum wage laws. States that did not like the AHCA are now creating the exchanges and embracing the new laws. The scary thing is that some of the populous think that access to better and more affordable healthcare is a bad thing, but they don’t know why it is. But these are the people that sent them to Congress. I guess you get what you deserve.

That is my take – you decide.

A FAR BETTER PLACE

I suggest a drink before reading this:

When we go to some funerals we hear these words. “He/ she is in a far better place.” Really?! How do they know that? Have they been there to witness the streets with trees and beautiful flowers adorning the paths? No traffic jams? No pollution? And the two things that are for certain in this life are death and taxes. Can you be dead twice?  When you are dead who is going to tax you? The Eternal Revenue Service?

So, it may be that when laid to rest or cremated or buried at sea you may find yourself in “far better place.” If you do, call me.

We talk about spirits never dying. I would love to believe that. The persons that have died leave their energy force for us to feel. That energy, as described by many, is available to us to tap into and we are able contact those that are in a far better place. If that is true and you believe it – great!

Here is what I see. Being in that far better place stops that person from growing older and gaining the knowledge and experience and sometimes the wisdom that age brings. That person is frozen in time and will be remembered as we last saw that person. The 21 kids at Sandy Hook will never go to college or even high school. They will never experience first loves, first heartbreaks, first sex, first R rated films. Maybe in that far better place they have theaters, young women that will provide for them. But they will have been too young to appreciate or even know what they are missing.

Their far better place is in a plot of land in Connecticut that is dedicated to interment. Lowered in a box down six feet and covered with soil with the hope that their spirit will somehow emerge and give us signs that they are with us. That would be very heartening – were it true.

I had attended a funeral for a young man that went to school with my daughter who was killed in a drug buy. We all went to the grave side and listened to the clergy talk about that better pace for this young man. I guess that there are no drugs in that better place. Now this "young man with is now with his savior." Where was the savior when he was being murdered?

Seventy two virgins are provided for Islamic men who die as “martyrs.” That, if true, is a better place. Not one Islamic man has returned for treatment for STDs. With 72 women at his disposal there has to be one that got something to transmit. What about Islamic women?  Is that a far better place for them? If they are not virgins can they be reassigned? What about Islamic women that are martyred? What does their “far better place” look like?

My point is that when someone dies they do not go to a “far better place.” They go to the local cemetery. They take with them all the life experiences they have had to that point. They take their loves that they have demonstrated to friends and family with them. They take their intellect, their knowledge, their desires, their personalities but not their worldly goods to that plot of land.

In one of the readings done during a memorial service, says “do not go there for I am not there. “ Then where are you? That plot of land is the last place I saw you. It is my hope that there is a spirit that lives and somehow we can experience that spirit or that energy. But, I still do not think that it is a far better place. We cannot touch them nor them us. We cannot hear them nor them us. We cannot see them nor them us. The best that we can hope for the energy that we feel when we think of the departed, the energy we feel when we touch what that they have treasured in this life.

Recently, I have read the obituaries in the Los Angeles Times. (If I don’t see my name I feel that his is a good day for me.) So many obituaries begin by saying “he/she is in a far better place.” But then go on about where the funeral will be.

To me the better place is in our consciousness. People who die live through us. When we discuss them, when we recall them, when we relate common experiences with them, when we cry for them and when we laugh recalling them. This is the one life we know and for the people who have passed on that better place may be in our hearts and minds.

We never think of the dead in negative terms (I am speaking of close friends and family. The better place may be the positive things that we recall.) That is the place, in our memory, that gives us joy by recalling the person in life.

Kabbalah teaches us that to be with the light is actual peace. I have experienced that on one rare occasion.  When a person dies they say they are at peace. That thought is comforting but misleading. When a person dies they are in absolute darkness. They experience no light, no pain – nothing sensory, so are they at peace. I do know that some people actually crave their moment of death because of the pain they are in. I truly believe that there is something in our brains that prepares us for that moment when there is no more pain. Remember Philadelphia Story with Tom Hanks? He was in a great deal of pain but clung to life then said,” I am ready now.” Was he going to a better place? He was about to be in no pain at all and that may be a better situation, but he had to lose life to achieve it.

There are stories of “near death” experiences. The operative words are “near death.” No-one who has died has come back at a later date in time and reported on what they experienced after being dead. Even the TV Show Resurrection does not tell you where the were only that they came back. The characters come back exactly as they were when they "died."

I have pondered these questions since the moment my wife died. I was looking for some comfort in knowing that she may be in a better place. I am not trying to make you uncomfortable with death as death is a very common part of life as we all will experience it at some time. From the very instant we are born we are journeying to our death. What we do in the time in between is what defines us and what we have done in life is what keeps us alive long after we have gone. Two examples: Jesus and Hitler.

That is my take – you decide.

ARGUMENTS I DON'T GET TO HAVE - THANKFULLY

I have imaginary arguments with someone that I know really wants to call and get down and nasty on some of the latest political issues. I have severed that relationship because I have lost faith, trust, respect and confidence in that person. But nevertheless, I miss proving him with facts when he provides me with Hannity, O’Reilly and other Fox misinformation generated by these guys and others. So, to compensate I have these imaginary arguments. These, believe it or not, are quite satisfying.

Here is what I mean: I imagine the call with the question, “So, what do you think of Obamacare and the sign ups so far? Not doing what they expected. It is a failure! ”My reply: “according to whom?”

Just the other day (April 16, 2014) the Gallup Poll says that there are several million people insured that were not insured just a year ago. Eight million have signed since last October. Having proper health coverage was brought home to the populous as a result of all the publicity, good and bad.

“It is a jobs killer.”  Hmmm. Just a couple of years ago Paul Ryan was saying the not getting health care that you can take with you is “job lock.” The AHCA will expand the job market, actually placing better qualified people where they are needed and making better money!

The rates are going up as we predicted.  Not really, according to OMB premiums are actually going down. “People lost their health programs. They were cancelled.” Right. The policies that were cancelled were sub-standard. That means any coverage that might have been provide was minimal and out of pocket would have also put the insured into bankruptcy for a major medical problem. Obama lied. Not really, he said if you like your policy you can keep it. He made the assumption that people understood the policy they had and would not like it. So, they wouldn’t keep it. And many didn’t keep because they saw that the insurers screwed them. Who lied, Obama or the insurers? The insurance companies didn’t like those policies. By the way these policies were sold after the AHCA went into effect. So, the insured were sold a bill of goods and this was a problem waiting to happen that was caused by the insurance companies hoping that it would create a real back lash. Not so much.

For the record, the AHCA (Obamacare) went into law in 2011. The insurance portion of the law went into effect in 2013.

Here is the argument I would have expected from my ex-friend with regard to the Ukrainian crisis. Obama is weak. He can’t stand up to Putin. Obama needs to be a stronger leader. That is this week. Before the right wing radio and TV (from which my ex-friend gets his opinions) was saying that Obama is a dictator, he is strong arming the U.S. with his policies. They try to have it both ways.

I have a simple question: Which of your two sons are you willing to lose in a war that you are so vehemently pushing for? That is what boots on the ground means.  WAR! Remember Benghazi! That was a failure of leadership or a stupid trip by a diplomat that was warned against going. That is the truth. The cover up never happened. Even Issa has stopped looking into it. “They haven’t shown us everything.” That is the cry. It must be a conspiracy of Clinton, Obama and Soros.  The Right always manages to get George Soros in the equation.

According to Newt Gingrich, a man of dubious character, we need to get government out of our lives. I agree that there may be too much government in some cases, like vaginal probes for women as the right wants, before a woman can exercise her right to control her own body.

“Food stamps are being abused by everyone who has them.”  I have seen the lady in the Congress show you a bottle of Vodka and caviar she claims were bought with EBT cards. They actually had one guy of questionable repute talk about how he abused the system – one guy, just one. That is right, just one!

I have been in line at the market and watch as the cashier as she pulled some items off the belt after they were rung up because the EBT card would not cover them. The customer either paid cash or didn’t buy the items at all. The cashier has no decision making to do, the bar codes on the product and the program in the system insures that abuse is minimalized. The SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) helps people feed their families. Beats dumpster diving! Just look at who is against the program, people that spend more on a lunch in D.C. that a family gets for a month with SNAP.

The argument to deter Voter Fraud is also a pet issue on the right. What we have learned, and people have gone to prison for it, is that there is little voter fraud, but immense Election Fraud. Ask the guy in Ohio that is still in lock up. Obama won by more than five million votes. Even if three million were based in fraud, he still wins. If we had three million fraudulent votes, that would stick out like a black man on a Darrell Issa committee.

So, my ex-friend I am waiting. But please don’t call; there is no point in it. You have access to the internet and access to news reports. Read them. Think about them and allow Sean Hannity escape from your brain.  Take some aspirin for you GlenBeckanaitis, use some Max Factor not O’Reilly Factor to cover up your inability to rationally think.

An educated opinion is always welcome. Believe it or not, I have changed my opinion when presented with facts. Vitriol does not influence my thinking. There will be and always will be someone that does not agree with me. That is OK. I had lunch with someone like that recently. We discuss other things that we can either agree on or require no agreement.

You see, I have these imaginary arguments with my ex-friend and if he still gets his misinformation from the “Fox and Friends” group, it will remain as is: no friend and still not informed. The good thing about having this one sided argument is that I get to win – every time. Believe it or not, I would rather that record for winning be for poker.

That is my take – you decide!