Premium Premiums!

The Friday the 13th edition of The Wall Street Journal had an interesting commentary by Andrew Heinze about what Health Reform would do to his health insurance. An appropriate day for such an article was my thought. He explains how his insurance, basically catastrophic, will go away unless a plan is purchased that covers more than is wanted or indeed, needed, or be fined. This still sticks in my craw. That the government is going to bully us into health care options by threatening us with fines and even jail.

You see, as Jim Hightower points out, government employees, especially Congress, have their own gold plated system that bears no resemblace to the one they are foisting on us. That includes Republicans and Blue Dogs. Even those who serve but one term have their coverage for life. There is no having to revert to what with which the rest of the country will be saddled!

Somehow I can't feel too badly for government employees who are facing an increase in their premiums whiel the rest of us will be facing increased taxes (mark my words), fines or jail!

It will never happen, but if the Republicans or the Blue Dogs really want to do something for us, even if it's for no more than satisfaction, bury in the pork that they have to give up their goodies once back in the private sector! Just think of the savings that could be derived.

On the down side, we'd probably have more of them thinking election mandates a term for life and we'd never get them out of office unless we rid them of gerrymandering!

Bottom Of The Totum Pole

One thing we learned on our trip is that the economy, at least in the Western U.S., is still in the dumps. While the southwestern United States does not have totum poles, you'll get the drift.

Our second night out was a planned stop in Las Vegas. We don't go to gamble, we go to eat in any one of many great restaurants. Try to find one open! The resorts were nearly deserted as were the gaming tables. Most of the better restaurants were closed, mostly Sunday through Tuesdays. Oops! We arrived on Tuesday!

We chose, on the strength of it's menu, the Chinese restaurant at the Wynn where we were staying. It was beginning to draw a few conventioneers about the time we were finishing - around 9:30. The service was lax, the food less than stellar and we experienced our first taste of discrimination because of our race.

We had ordered soup. We had no spoons. We waited. And waited. We had serving spoons resting next to our chop sticks, but no soup spoons. We finally flagged a busser. The only white working in the place. He told us, as he delivered the spoons, that the waiters figured whites were too dumb to know the serving spoons weren't for the soup and would ultimately use them. Curious way to treat customers!

Our next clue of how things were going was in Sedona where we visited our usual stop for rugs, kachinas and occasional pieces of pottery or baskets. Buying discretely to keep their artists working. The same held true for the sister store up Oak Creek Canyon. A larger problem looms for them. Selling mostly jewelry, they have to be aware of forgeries. The Chinese, Mexicans and others have refined the art of forgery to such heights it can be impossible to tell the difference. If a piece is being purchased because it's pretty and cheap, little matter. If you're a collector, it's crucial!

That's where a bright spot occurred. We met 'Bumper the talking deer'. He's rigged with push button sound that delivers a delightful enticement into the store. You've got to love puns! The sound at the beginning of the clip is fuzzy due to traffic but if you listen carefully you'll get the message.

The message was the same at a trading post on the Second Mesa of the Hopi reservation as we watched as a couple selling baskets was turned away. They weren't buying.

The same again at the Hubbell trading post on the Navajo reservation. The young girl helping us told of the first ever rug auction being planned - so their weavers can keep working. What really hit home was when she told us the only ones that weren't feeling the pinch were people like her grandmother - who didn't have much to begin with.

The same in Santa Fe. More auctions going on. We stayed at a new resort casino just out of town. It was nearly empty on a Friday night. We didn't even need reservations for a Mark Miller, of Coyote Cafe fame, restaurant.

We had dinner with friends Sunday evening. As we noshed on Navajo tacos (oops, that's supposed to be Indian tacos - a tale for another post!), our host and hostess regaled us with tales of how difficult the art market is from their perspective. She is a well known Navajo potter who makes the circuit of the Indian art markets. People aren't buying and therefore it gets more difficult for them to afford to participate. The shows cover the calender and the country.

Last stop of note was Jackson, Wyoming. Deader than a doornail. Yet every highway project we passed, even those we knew to be several years in the making, sported fancy new stimulus package signs!

It's very selective to say the least. We met more people hurting than those we saw standing around while one worked on a highway project! Do I believe what I'm hearing from Washington? After this trip, not on your life!

So enjoy Bumper. Unless the economy starts to turn around, this may be the only place you can come to enjoy him!

They're Keeping Us Safe?

We were driving past Colorado Springs when we picked up the Allen Hunt Show on the radio. He was in the middle of taking the media and military and the President to task for dancing around the Fort Hood slaughter. His view was it was an act of jihad pure and simple.

It puzzles me why the argument over semantics. When someone shoots 13 people to death and wounds dozens more, how can it be anything other than an act of terror? Even more to be terrified of is the lack of backbone to address it for what it is.

I think the problem goes beyond what the talking heads and the military are dithering over. I think it's a matter of order. One thing about Islamic jihadists, extremist Muslims, is that they are Muslims before citizens. Islam is a religion, not a country. They believe in the teachings of the Koran. The view of those teachings seems to vary. Some claim it's peaceful. Others say it's a dictate to eliminate, kill, infidels. Us. The non-believers.

What I see is the difference of how America views things versus other countries. We have Black Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and so on. Herein lies the problem. The distinguishing factor is always placed before America rather than after.

How are people with different ethnic backgrounds referred to if citizens of France or Italy or Great Britain? Are they Black British or Black French? Or are the merely British and French? Do they merge into the society with distinction no greater than happening to be black or brown?

Okay, that's race. Now religion. Are they Muslim Americans or American Muslims? Jewish Americans or American Jews? Do you get the drift? American should come first. Period.

But America didn't come first. He dressed as a Muslim when off duty. That should be his right? If so then why should our military women be required to cover themselves when off base in Islamic countries? Or our reporters for that matter. You see it all the time. Respect for the Islamic way? Absolutely. How about respect for ours.

Our political correctness and quest for diversity needs to be examined. This incident will make every Muslim suspect. Militia recruiting is likely to surge.

As Americans continue to be strip searched, literally, at airports in the guise of "keeping us safe", we've been missing the boat. The enemy is within. They are those of the 'Muslim first' mind set.

Mr.Hunt did some research to educate his readers. He counted the number of Muslims in the U.S. who had been arrested, tried, or convicted of attempted terrorist activity. He came up with 66 since the first of this year. Sixty six. It's out there. Here. Is it time to start paying more attention to those who are suspect? Is it time for some degree of profiling? It's going to happen again. Next time it may be a shopping center rather than an Army base. Who knows? What is known is they are here and they are active.

That scares me. It's a terrible way to live. You see, I'm just a plain American. It doesn't matter what color I am nor what faith I profess. I'm an American, pure and simple, and I'm terrified of terror glossed over by those who should know better so as not to offend those who hate us because we don't believe as they do.

Where In The World Am I?

Finally. Finally! After numerous delays we're finally going to get away for some serious down time. No newspapers, no cell phones, no television, no computer. Other than a quick trip for our anniversary it's been a couple of years since we've been able to do so.

Rather than leaving you with a stale old post, I'm posting a few photos from our travels past. Are they obvious? How well can you do? Have fun. See you in a week to ten days. Whenever the mood suits!

Could You Eat Him?

Sometimes you just have to wonder! Did you know that it is legal to eat man's best friend in 44 states? I didn't either. Kind of makes you wonder why the remaining states have declared it otherwise!

One of my more consistent themes in writing this blog is the disconnect between our culture and those of countries into which we try to insinuate our own. It usually has to do with human rights. Like stoning people to death or lashing them to serve as an example. I hadn't really given their culinary peculiarities much thought until recently. There has been a spate of articles suggesting we ought to consider having pets we can at some point in time consume in order to neutralize their carbon footprint. I don't care if it's a cat or a rat, if it's a pet I couldn't eat it.

I realize that what we consider domestic pets are often eaten by people of other cultures and have been since the beginning of time. I guess one man's delicacy is another's heartburn. Like sheep eyeballs. If I didn't know what I was eating, would I consider it a delicacy? I have no idea and hope never to find out. The closest I've come to culinary bravery was pig snout while in France. I doubt I'll ever rid myself of the image of those nostrils staring up at me from a daintily garnished bed of greens!

Those of you who follow me know I'm a huge softy when it comes to animal welfare. That being said, I have to tell you I was shocked to see the following article in today's Wall Street Journal , Let Them Eat Dog - A modest proposal for tossing Fido in the oven. Yikes!

Halloween Day! The time of year humane societies forbid the adoption of black cats! Here's an article that not only goes into vivid depictions of how dogs have been consumed past and present, but even a recipe!

Having read through all the unsettling descriptions, the summation points out that the prospect of consuming Fido is likely repulsive to everyone reading the article and that's what's most important.

Perhaps. I have to question the timing, number one, and any socially redeeming reason for the article in the first place, number two! I guess the saving grace, and don't misconstrue "grace", is that not a lot of strung out types looking for new horrors to explore on Halloween are likely to be reading the Wall Street Journal. Nor this post. I hope.