So institutions of higher education are experiencing huge surpluses in their budget, yet they cannot afford to give raises to their faculty, while programs and classes continue to get eliminated as a result of budget cuts.  This doesn’t make sense!  How can institutions afford enormous bonuses for their boards of trustees and administrators, yet cannot afford to pay professors, largely the ones responsible for developing the future of this nation?

                Across the country, there are many cases where college executives, both retiring and incoming, earn over six figures, while their faculty members barely make a living salary, many of whom have not had raises for many years.  Meanwhile, administrators are the ones that collect most of the profits while making decisions and policy, generally not in the best interest of the institution, and typically spend their time wining and dining with college contributors and benefactors.

                Are educational funds truly being invested towards the educational benefit of the students?  Are college administrators truly out to serve the educational needs of society by developing high quality graduates, or are they serving a rich influential board that has a narrow scope on what kinds of students the institution should produce and only serve a focused agenda (i.e., standardized assessment tools and products that some of its board members produce).

                Has the greed of capitalism set in our educational institutions so that a few can make a profit off our students?  After all, just look at the government charging 10.5% interest on student loans while only levying a .75% rate interest for major banks.  It’s almost as if Congress is making every attempt to privatize education and undermine the freedom of public education for the masses as well as affordable college for those who cannot afford to pursue the luxury of a four-year college degree or higher.  Or commonly known as, “The dumbing down of America.”

                Clearly, quality education in the United States is not a top priority.  Nor does it appear that the government is interested in developing high quality educated students at a minimum fare.  It seems that the government is only interested in developing a certain class of educated people in this society.  That is dangerous.  As it is, drop-out levels in high school and lower grade educational institutions are already high enough.  This is because, largely, society has not taken accountability for developing and participating in a highly developed educational system.  Rather, educational institutions are treated more like “childcare centers” for children of all ages.  Parents must be held equally accountable for the development of their offspring and companies must allow time for this to take place.  This is especially important for the future of companies in America if the United States expects to become a leader in the world once again.  However, the other factor that undermines the quality of our educational system is the government’s insatiable appetite for military spending.

                More money is invested in an over-bloated war machine that has consumed the Federal Government’s budget that takes away important investment funds for education, health care, and other social issues.  We could afford a higher quality educational system if military funding was put in its rightful place in society.  That is, the United States must transition from a mentality of serving as the world’s “police force,” to that of only having a military only for national defensive purposes.  Presently, our military services are used for offensive purposes.  The government gets it nose into the affairs of other countries far too often.  A military should only be used for peaceful and defensive purposes – to defend this country.  Too many times, we have used the military as a pre-emptive device and largely to promote a political agenda – not the will of the people.

                Another matter which interferes with a higher educational system is the dictatorship of an international banking cartel which dictates to the government how this country should invest and prioritize this spending.  These strings must be cut – especially, when they do not meet the needs of the people, but rather an elite few.

                If the government cannot change its spending priorities, then it is the responsibility of the people to ensure that the Congress changes its ways.  If elections to remove irresponsible leaders fail, then, a peaceful revolution to make governmental changes is in order through a new constitutional convention.  The present Constitution, however, works – only if people abide by the spirit of the document – not add anything special or subversive to the original framework if the original governing document.  The problem is, there is no accountability to upholding the Constitution nor are our leaders held to a binding rules of ethics.  Our leaders and government employees must be held accountable to the U. S. Constitution.  If they fail to do so, they should be removed immediately.  These representatives should be held accountable to the voters.

If we are to ensure that money allocated towards higher education is to be invested in our students and professors, classes, programs and not administrators, then a wholesale change in societal attitude is in order.  Our citizenry should no longer tolerate the greed that has crept into every crevasse of society, but must learn how to eradicate it and say, “No, we will no longer tolerate this behavior anymore.  We, the people, desire to build a higher quality educational system – not driven by test scores – but based on other more important factors.”

                The political war machine must finally be put in its proper perspective and priority in the budget.  If present government refuses to make these changes, then government changes are absolutely necessary.

                Only the ignorant will attempt to privatize education and maintain it only for the elites out of pure greed and stupidity.  The wise, however, will make education affordable and accessible to the dreamers and masses.

According to the history of the occupy movement on www.occupywallst.org:

“Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #ows is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to fight back against the richest 1% of people that are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.”

The Occupy movement continues to make its presence known.  It also continues to encounter skirmishes with local law enforcement agencies that continuously try to shut the movement down.  You can’t silence the voice of the people – particularly the 99% of the people of the United States of America.  Officers frequently arrest occupy protesters only to have their apprehensions overturned by the courts as being unconstitutional.  What disturbs me is the fact that law enforcement agencies are not out to protect protesters “freedom” as guaranteed by the United States Constitution to assemble peaceably.  It appears more like a move by city leaders, like in large corporations, to deny citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression also guaranteed by the First Amendment.  These demonstrators carry no weapons, but are treated like common criminals beaten with billysticks, mace, and pepper spray during peaceful demonstrations.

Yes, it may be an inconvenience for civic leaders to have these people residing on community property.  But one must remember, the lives of these individuals were inconvenienced by governments, banks, and corporations who displaced them by taking their jobs and exporting them to foreign countries, foreclosing on their homes and making a lot of the homeless, raising tuition on students while school administrators reap the luxury and benefits while cancelling programs and classes necessary for these students to graduate in a timely manner.  Yet, the federal government favors Wall Street by granting banks and corporations obscenely large bailouts in their distressful times, yet turning a blind eye to the average citizen.  Yet Congress still talks about extending tax favors for the rich while the national debt continues to rise on the backs of the middle and poverty classes.

Corporations are notorious for suppressing the freedom of speech and expression within their walls.  Individuals who speak out against corporate infractions, such as whistle-blowers, are often chastised and treated with impunity within these companies.  Occasionally, the Justice Department would step in to the defense of the witness -- but rarely.  Now that the Supreme Court has paved the way for corporations to act very much like “people,”  these companies are exerting their influence through law enforcement agencies to silence the 99% and their quest to voice their grievance and petition the government, also guaranteed by the First Amendment, by acting like the country is now, the “United States, Incorporated.”  What has happened to the basic principle of a government by the people and for the people?  Or should that say, by the real people, for the real people?  Or have we lost these rights when the Supreme Court sold the country out to Corporate America?

I agree whole-heartedly with the peaceful, strategic ways of the occupy movement.  But Congress should be forewarned that the people of America are crying – they’re not listening.  Such a movement can, like the rest of the world’s revolution, lead to a more aggressive approach if the voices of the people continue to be ignored and the government continues to service only the rich.  This could very well be the dawning of a brand new revolution to take our country back, reform and establish a new government that will be responsive to the people.  After all, the people are screaming for jobs and better health and financial security.  Yet Congress continues to work on other matters such as not passing a job bill or revamping Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that are not in the best interest of the people.  In addition, Congressional leaders would much rather legislate women’s health issues rather than work on the more important issues at hand.  This is certainly not representing their constituents well.  It almost appears that Congressional leaders are fulfilling an agenda paid for by special interests and parties – not of their voters at large -- such as, disregarding the will of the American people in favor of following the agenda of a political party such as making the President a one-term leader.  How narrow-minded can a governing body get?  This is almost like the illustration where Caesar fiddled while Rome burned -- only in this case, the Congress kow-towed to the rich while the United States was flushed down the toilet.  And in light of the current economic condition, this might not be far off.

Where I wish the occupy movement will improve itself is becoming more organized in its operations.  What they need is a true leader in the likes of George Washington, Nelson Mandela, or José Marti.  But, the movement will also require total participation of the 99% -- a greater voice such as the demonstrations in Portugal and Spain during the weekend of September 29, 2012 in every city of this nation.  Not thousands, but millions must rise with a common voice to make our grievance known and to make this revolution a peaceful transition -- but then, a total removal of unresponsive, unaccountable leaders.  Leaders and law enforcement officers should be held accountable for the oaths they have taken to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.”  Any violation of this oath should be brought to justice including the removal of office or position.  Such a violation demonstrates that the individual cannot be trusted in the office or position he/she has been appointed or elected to serve.  Such protection of the U.S. Constitution also includes its amendments and freedoms guaranteed in the law of the land.

A week ago, I attempted to pay my regular monthly bills in advance using the automatic bill pay system provided by my bank, Bank of America, which allows me to schedule payments via their website and provides a convenient way to avoid writing separate checks and placing them in the mail.  Anticipating my regular monthly disability deposit and considering that I would be hospitalized due to vocal cord surgery for the following two days, I used the system to schedule automatic bill payments in advance, knowing that there were insufficient funds at the time.

 

When I was completed entering all my payments for the pay schedule, I clicked on the “submit” button only to receive an error message indicating that the system could not process the requests and to try again later.  I assumed that the system was down for maintenance.  So I tried again later in the day only to encounter the same error message.  Okay, perhaps, I thought, it wasn’t permitting me to schedule payments in advance because there were insufficient funds in my account.  So I elected to defer the attempt until after the deposit was made and after I was discharged from the hospital, hopefully a day later.

 

Fortunately, the hospitalization was just an overnight stay.  I was released the next afternoon after a 24-hour observation period.  When I came home, I made another attempt to schedule bill payments using the same system, this time, I had success.  The system accepted my request and I was able to get a confirmation printout of the scheduled payments.  It did not allow me to do this on Monday.  Little did I realize that payments were actually queued in the system in the background without my knowledge for the day that it claimed was having problems processing my request.

 

When I checked the balance of one of the credit cards, I noted that there were two payments posted on July 22nd, and July 23rd consecutively.  I only authorized payment for July 23rd.

 

When I examined the checking account via the website, I discovered that the system made two payments for ten items totaling over $1,286.16.  The ten items were paid twice resulting in an overpayment of about $643.  These transactions practically cleaned out my checking account.  One set of payments were automatically made on July 22nd without my authorization or knowledge.  Then a second set of payments to the same companies were made the following scheduled day, July 23rd, as expected.

 

When I called customer support to get my money back, they were absolutely helpless.  They claimed there was nothing that they could do because the funds were already disbursed electronically.  How ironic, they could take your funds out within minutes, but in order to get your money back, it takes days, even weeks while these companies collect a profit off your money!

 

To add insult to injury, they said that I would have to contact each payee individually myself because of privacy protection laws.  I think this is pure laziness and poor customer service.  After all, it’s their programming blunder that caused this error in the first place.  Can’t they take responsibility for their own problems?  Where’s the accountability?  In my opinion, this is just nothing more than irresponsible employees trying to hide behind the “big white elephant.”

 

Corporations, especially banks, need to protect their customers’ accounts better.  Obviously, no one was monitoring these transactions.  Sure, they all blame it on the computer for causing these problems.  I blame it on humans for faulty programming and not managing the computers to begin with.  Pointing the fingers at computers is just a cloaking mechanism to hide poor quality of personnel and management.  If they are so quick to point fingers at computers for their errors and blunders, then customers should be concerned and have cause to quickly move their accounts elsewhere.

 

Consumers beware, check your bank accounts daily.  Your bank’s computer system could be debiting your accounts more than once.  Sad part about it, your bank wouldn’t even care to help get your money back.

BP’s oil disaster reminds us how delicate the Earth is when we try to explore for oil in parts of this planet where we really should keep our hands off – like off-shore drilling.No, our lust for oil has caused corporations and executives to think they are more powerful than nature and take on the forces of nature.Who wins?The answer is obvious.Let this be a lesson.

But, we all know that executives don’t learn lessons very well.In fact, they will take this tragedy and attempt to make a profit from their blunders.They have already attempted to bribe people along the Gulf Coast by offering bribes in exchange for not being sued.An obvious attempt to save some money.

Okay Mr. President and Congress – here’s the message from the people, if you care to listen.We will not be victimized by their blunders by higher gasoline prices at the pumps just because they have failed to stop the oil spill in an expedited matter.Their finger-pointing has only caused more resources to be wasted which in turn is an excuse for executives to claim a “shortage of oil” and therefore pass along higher prices at the pumps.

We will not settle for this charade once again.It’s about time that the Administration and Congress put a price cap on oil prices – especially if the cause of the shortage is the company’s mistake.And, for damaging the environment, severe penalties should be assessed against these corporations for taking their time resolving the crisis.

Congress should swiftly pass legislation that will penalize BP petroleum and its associates a mandatory 50% reduction of gasoline prices at the pump for the next ten years for each day the well remains uncapped.If this means that it will cause BP to go out of business, then let it be.Let BP serve as an example of what will happened to corporations if they try to take advantage of a crisis and pass along the cost of its own mistakes to the consumers.If this causes a price war with other oil companies, then so it shall be.

It’s about time that the corporations, not the consumers, be penalized for their mistakes.

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A while ago, President Bush and Rudolph Giuliani proclaimed America’s health care system the “best system in the world.”  Are these people delusional?  The World Health Organization, according to the New York Times, made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations.  While France and Italy took the top two honors, the United States of America was a dismal 37th in the world.  However, America leads the world as being one of the most expensive systems in the world!  And, in this writer’s perspective, perhaps the most inefficient system in the world also.

A few days ago, I’ve had one of many visits to the emergency room at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier California.  This was my second visit to the ER for severe neck pain which, by now, 7 doctors cannot explain the reason for the neck pain.  I have already seen an emergency room physician; an urgent care physician; my primary care physician; a neurologist; three otolaryngologists (head & neck physicians); radiologist; one MRI with contrasts which reveals a distended jugular vein.  To date, no one except for the radiologist looked at the MRI images.  I’ve been told that I have arthritis in the neck and disk protrusion between C2 & C3 in the cervical spine.    Yet, the pain is nowhere near the area where they suggest that I am having the severe pain.  And nothing relieves the pain.

When I was examined by the triage nurse, I was instructed to wait in the lobby where I waited for an additional three hours to get assigned to a bed.  After being put into a bed and initially examined by my nurse, I waited for an additional hour to get seen by a doctor.  Four hours had elapsed before being seen by a physician!  During that time, I was admitted by the admissions clerk who verified my insurance.  I’ll talk about this fiasco a little later on.

Back to the incident with the medical care, I finally was attended to by a physician and then had to wait for another forty-five minutes.  Then, I was rudely told by the ER physician that there was nothing he could do for me.  His intent was not to treat me – not even my pain.  He said that I would have to go back to my doctors to figure out what was wrong with my vocal cord paralysis and hoarseness and the disk protrusion at C2 & C3.  But from his point of view, since I’ve already seen seven doctors, there was nothing else he could do.  Keep in mind, I didn’t go to the ER for my problems with vocal cord paralysis or disk prolapse.  I was in a lot of pain – he didn’t even bother to relieve me for my chief complaint – not even offer pain medication.

To say the least, I was not pleased and took my anger out on the nurse.  If it were up to me, the CEO of this facility would have found about this poor treatment.  I informed the nurse that I was a commissioner with the city and was not hesitating to using my contacts and acquaintances to bring wrath upon this precious hospital in my city.  After all, my feathers were ruffled to say the least.  But this would have been too kind.  No, my profession as a writer is more influential than any appointed position in a municipality.  The pen is mightier than the sword and far more reaching to a larger audience.

After convincing the nurse of my needs, he talked to the doctor and I had orders for medication to relieve the pain and was sent home relieved of a little pain – but, still very much angered by the doctor’s attitude.  Are doctors more worried about their liability insurance rather than the oath they took when they graduated medical school?  Does money really play a bigger role in determining a patient’s health needs over ethical and moral practice to treat a patient?

Talk about money issues.  When the admitting clerk verified my insurance, I was told that Medicare still had an open case for an auto accident that was over a year old in Medicare’s records and showing up in the Hospital’s computer system.  The clerk wanted to know if the case should be billed as an auto accident related injury in which Medicare pays through a secondary provider, or does she bill directly to Medicare.  In any case, I told her that the auto accident was long settled.  Medicare had no business keeping this case open and was advised long ago that the case was settled.  Is Medicare that slow to respond, or are they just incompetent?  Or, is this just a matter of the “public option” passing the buck.

In my opinion, we have inept medical caregivers that are too worried about liability rather than providing quality medical care.  We have an insurance system that is 1) too greedy, and 2) too inefficient.  In short, we have a health care system that is broken.  And, this health care system is attempting to be reformed by a broken government subsidized by corporations.

What we need is total reform – not just the health care system.  But we need total reform of our government, sad to say.  Corporations have subsidized our legislative branch of government while our judicial branch has sold out elections to corporations.  In short, we have an ineffective government that no longer serves the people by the people, but a government for corporations by corporations.  Perhaps we have seen the death of democracy.  Has government sold the people out?

Congressional leaders and Senators claim that we have the best health care system in the world.  They are only living in Dreamland.  Have them experience reality and make them pay for their own insurance private insurance coverage.  Let them find out what is covered and what is not.  Let them find out what it’s like to be denied coverage or denied treatment.  Millions of Americans are living without health care, or even a house.

America’s health care is the best in the world?  Prove it!  Why isn’t health care still more affordable in the United States to millions of Americans?  Why do some people get luxurious care while the majority gets such crappy care?  Are men really created equal?

Many would consider my suggestion unpatriotic.  Some would accuse me of being a traitor and disrespectful toward the flag (a symbol).  Regardless of what anyone says, it doesn’t matter.  I prefer to exercise my freedom of speech and expression in protest.  Also, I am only exercising my Quakerly belief not to worship or owe allegiance to a symbol like a flag.  As I said in my previous blog entries, my allegiance is not to this country, but the world as a citizen of the Universe and of God who has no flag but His colors can be seen in glory after it rains in the form of a rainbow.

I personally have difficulties pledging an oath to a symbol of a country that cannot even care for its own citizens.  A corrupt government has abandoned its citizens in favor of bailing out the rich 2% of this nation while the remaining 98% of this country continues to lose their jobs, homes, and health care.  Yet when it comes down to reforming important issues such as health care for the people, it always is slanted not in the general interest of the majority, but favors the 2% who has contaminated the leadership of this country to the tune of $1.44 million a day while the average American continues struggling to make ends meet week by week, day by day just to avoid bankruptcy, foreclosures, and losing their homes.

And what happens when people go bankrupt?  They often lose their life-long possessions – often without compassion or mercy.  They are often displaced from their homes into the streets or forced to live in the back of their cars or trucks – if they are lucky to have even that.

To make matters worse, Corporate America adds insult upon injury by taking out “dead peasant” insurance policies on their employees.  When an employee dies, the survivors of that family get absolutely nothing – not one plug nickel.  Meanwhile, the company, having anticipating an early passing, has secretly taken out huge insurance policies and cashed in collecting thousands upon millions of dollars in claims.  This is  corporate greed at its finest – shameful to the world.  How should a society tolerate such behavior?

Then, you would say, honor the veterans.  Yes, I would honor our veterans in my own way.  By remembering all the veterans, both past and present, who were shafted by the government and corporations and forced into homelessness, poverty, and poor health care.

Why should the people continue to owe allegiance to a nation or a flag when their own rights and privacy are taken away on false premises?  A nation where once you’re poor, they (society) keep you poor?  A nation where we have no right to a national referendum or recall of federal elected officials?  A nation where the needs and desires of the people are trumped by special corporate interests?

The time I will again start to stand for the flag is when we get our own government back -- a government that will be accountable to the people.  When we are assured that we will get our second bill of rights:

1.      The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

2.      The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

3.      The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

4.      The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

5.      The right of every family to a decent home;

6.      The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

7.      The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

8.      The right to a safe and equitable life with equal life’s benefits regardless of race, sex, social status, or sexual orientation; nor fear of religious or political persecution;

9.      The right to earn an equitable living salary regardless of gender;

10.  The right to a good education.

I am a peaceful person.  But it is my firm belief that a new revolution is in order and long overdue.  There are two political parties controlling the government that no longer serve the people nor their best interest.  There is no political choice.  Not only does health care in this nation need reform, the government also needs reform.  I say, let’s cut the cost of government by eliminating one part of the legislative branch – the Senate that is easily influenced by corporate special interest and bribery.  It’s nothing but an exclusive club anyway.  Why should the taxpayers pay for an exclusive club that serves no interest of the people?

And to take reform to a greater degree, rid the country of capitalism – an evil that is not consistent with God’s plan – especially in its current state.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a few good capitalists who are not greedy and give a lot of their money away for humanity.  However, times have changed and greed has become the dominating face of this dying horse.  Eliminate the Federal Reserve and simplify the monetary system and adapt a Universal Life Credit system (paperless) that is administered by the U.S. Treasury.  Rid the nation of credit reporting companies and other means of keeping people from rebuilding their lives.

Boycott Wall Street – even if the institution itself has to be taken down peacefully.  It will no longer serve us in the 21st Century but only pacifies those of the status quo.

With the brilliant minds and scholars that we have in America, we can develop a better economical system that ensures equality and accessibility for the masses and not for an elite few.  In a country as rich as America, there is no excuse for poverty, hunger, and homelessness.  There is also no excuse for treating people inhumanely like animals when they are down on their luck.

We can replace capitalism with something better -- something that will take us into the 21st Century.  It doesn’t have to be socialism, communism, or Marxism.  We need to develop something even more progressive, fair, and equal.  And, yes, there can be a way.  But, we can’t continue to live in the past.  But, we need a democratic government that will allow this transition to transpire.  Not one that will block progress just for the sake of the status quo and the interest of only a few.

Change will come.  The people will rise to bring changes to America despite road blocks, barriers, and lies that are continually fed to Americans through media and propaganda.  The rise of change is coming.  We will not simply disappear and fade away into the night.

In Kami Jin (Paper People), I reflected on some of my personal experiences with how executives and managers in Corporate America went out of their way to squash the freedoms of speech and expression in their organizations.At places where I worked, supervisors chastised and ridiculed individuals for making constructive comments or criticisms that were contrary to management’s ideals or beliefs.If bosses didn’t agree with your suggestion, they often considered it as “an attack on management.”

This often resulted in negative consequences for the individual making the suggestion.Speaking out resulted in either being passed up for a promotion, but often resulted in a demotion or even termination if management felt it was severe enough to warrant the action.Oddly, those who often spread lies and false allegations against their peers for the sake of “climbing the ladder,” were often rewarded with promotions.

Unfortunately, corporate greed has spilled into the public sector.The national issue of health care reform has caused many obstructionist against reform to create lies, falsehoods and misinformation about the issue that are so far from the truth that it is pathetic that uniformed people in this country perceive these to be “the truth.”Underwritten and funded by corporate executives and lobbyists for insurance and pharmaceutical companies, these parties have hired out public relation firms to organize “citizen groups” to infiltrate town hall meetings sponsored by Congressional representatives intended to have a civilized debate on issues like health care reform.But rather than having the opportunity to have a “civilized debate,” these meetings have become dominated with violent outbursts and demonstrations by people who, often, are not even constituents of the representative’s district.But, people (prostitutes) planted there by insurance and corporations to intimidate gullible citizens with their misinformation and propaganda provided them by these so called “PR” firms.

It’s first of all shameful that these “public relations” firms call themselves “public relations firms.”To the profession of public relations, they are a disgrace.Unlike marketing firms, in PR, you should be telling the truth about the subject.These entities are nothing but propaganda organizations spreading lies for the sake of and preserving the status quo of insurance and pharmaceuticals that stand to lose large profit if a single-payer or a public-option were to become reality.Or the truth of the matter, if a competing entity were to be introduced to the marketplace.

They say it’s “government bureaucracy” that is out to destroy health care in America.I say, “corporate bureaucracy” has been destroying health care in America all this time.
• Why does the cost of health care in America continue to rise?
•Why does America lag (47th) behind the rest of the world in the quality of health care?
•Why are we paying so much for health care compared to the rest of the world?Why are other countries receiving better health care that we are for a lot less?
•Why does someone have to pay $200 for an inhaler here in America and only pay a dollar ($1) for the same inhaler in Cuba and Mexico?
•Why are corporate executives receiving much more in terms of salaries and benefits while average workers are losing their jobs plus their medical benefits in addition to everything else?

· Why can't our health care system find effective ways to reduce costs and make it affordable for all Americans and find a means of building a health care system that is first in the world, rather than argue about the costs that it will take to create a first class system?


The insurance companies promised the Senate their version of “reforms.”But just think, their “understanding of reforms” is what they have been doing all along.

Recently, to continue to satisfy their shareholders, insurance companies have been making efforts to remove many of their patients from their rolls.Much of this is done with very poor communications often by not telling the patient until it’s too late when a patient discovers that he or she is no longer covered by the insurance that the person once had.Or by suddenly changing a patient from a primary carrier to a secondary carrier without notification and then leaving the patient with two secondary payers leaving the patient to coordinate payment or be stuck with the bill in its entirety.

Then there is the issue of not approving coverage for an important procedure because the insurance company deems it “experimental” or “not medically necessary.”Mind you, the insurance company made this decision, not the doctor.In other words, some bureaucrat in the insurance company was practicing medicine without a license.In some cases, this has resulted in the patient’s death.This is criminal.And the person(s) responsible should not be held for manslaughter, but for murder in the first degree.

Back to the issue of freedom of speech and expression.We have the corporations so paranoid about losing their profits, that they hire “hit people” to be their “megaphones.”Do they come out and do the talking?No, they hide behind their mahogany-lined offices while others serve as their mouthpieces.Let alone, the poor people doing their lying are just as vulnerable to get the ax from their insurance rolls as part of their “reform” measures.

Are you executives too ashamed and embarrassed to come out and speak for yourselves?What are you afraid of?You didn’t let your own employees speak their mind in your own companies.Now, you don’t even let the citizens of this nation speak their mind in public town hall meetings as civilized people.You have turned these events into mass hysteria.Yet, you’re too “busy” to come out and debate one-on-one for yourselves, but you can tell a bold face lie in front of the U.S. Senate about your reforms, while stirring up a hornet’s nest full of lies on something this whole nation should be working for – health care reform that will benefit all citizens of this nation – not just your fat pocket books.And since you cannot come out and speak for yourselves, you are an embarrassment to this country.I suggest that you take a trip to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and buy a t-shirt printed with the legend, “cut on the dotted line,” just above the waist.For if you have any honor in you – which you probably don’t – you would do as the shirt says and do as any honorable Japanese businessman in disgrace would do.

Health care isnot only a right for all Americans.It’s a right for every individual on this planet.We all have the responsibility of keeping everyone healthy.Illnesses do not recognize borders, lifestyles, social classes, races, nationalities, sex, gender, and any other divide that one can think of.It attacks at will anywhere, and at anytime.Take the swine flu for example.All it takes is one airplane or boat trip.

You can silence the employees in your company.I might not agree with your management style or methodologies – but that is your right.But don’t tread your privileges on this nation.You have already tainted Congress by asserting your special interest money, which should have been better spent for the good of your patients, you have instead brought the souls of many Senators and Representatives (the “parrots”) just so that you could sway the opinion of health care reform in your greedy favor.

You have gone to the extent of getting favors from a corrupt government that has sold its soul to Corporate America.Stupidity like this has caused civil wars and revolutions in other countries.A little over 200 years ago, a king who sat on a throne, placed himself on a pedestal, and ruled a New World, over-taxed his citizens.As a result, a new country was born.That same country is overdue for a revolution – to overturn a corrupt government by and for Corporate America, and return it once again as a government by and for the people.

This corrupted government has treated you well.In a down economy, it has bailed out failing companies while continued to reward incompetent executives with taxpayer money.The next time, the taxpayers are not going to be so benevolent.

In modern times, we essentially have the same analogy.We have an elite group of people with influence who have placed themselves on pedestals ruling (hiding) in their corporate suites, influencing government with their riches, getting richer by the day while the “peasants” continually starve and lose their jobs and benefits.Prices are sky rocketing out of control, yet, the government is non-responsive.The time is ripe for a revolution.Being a Quaker, I favor a peaceful one at that.But if it means civil disobedience and unrest, I would have to favor all means necessary to bring justice to bear.

Go to Google Maps and follow Highway Interstate 10 from Santa Monica, California eastward to Jacksonville, Florida.It’s a long stretch that literally spans the nation from coast to coast.Okay, maybe you don’t want to stop the tour there.So, take Interstate 95 north and you will eventually end up in Boston where you can continue on taking Interstate 90 west towards Seattle.And, continue the trip by using Interstate 5 south towards Los Angeles where you would have come full circle in your journey through America.Have we learned a lesson?

If we look at our trip, by taking a road one way, all roads eventually come to an end.Some roads are longer than others.If we take a tour, we eventually return to the same place, back to where we had started.The same illustration can apply to the nation’s currency system.

The United States once had a great monetary system – envied by the entire world!The dollar was strong and valued in a lot of countries.But, like with every materialistic matter in this universe, there’s only so much to go around – especially if it’s man-made.And money is, regardless of whether the people “trust in God” or not, is made by man.When money was printed earlier in the United States, there was enough to support the population of the nation and maintain a healthy economy.However, with a population increase in the country, a decrease of available jobs, and people living longer in age, the nation simply cannot support its people.The prices of material items have increased through inflation, the cost of health care has skyrocketed and impacted the government.

Money is in such short supply that state and local governments are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy while major corporations lay off employees and file for bankruptcy and financial bailouts from federal governments as well.What used to be a land of the plentiful is now ridden with drought, both literally and figuratively.In California, not only is there a financial crisis in the state, but the state also cannot find a suitable supply of water to support its agriculture.State and local governments are curtailing important services and, cities are asking their residents to reduce their consumption of water.

While the nation faces a shortage of money, Washington continues to live in a state of denial by promoting the need for health care reform and other issues.The federal government has failed to recognize that it has “come to the end of the road,” or has travelled “full circle” and it is trying to fix things that are old and antiquated – such as, the current monetary system.In travelling this “circle.” it has gained such an attitude and nationalistic ego/pride that its money is too important and it cannot be replaced by any other currency system.It (the nation) has isolated itself from the rest of the world.At a time when the nation’s currency was failing on the international market years ago, it continued to borrow huge amounts of money from China.

Reforming the health care system in America will only cost more money – money that neither the people nor the government has.Sure, the government can get the money by continuing to borrow money from other countries.That’s the simplest way out.But it will continue to devalue the already weakened dollar, and future generations will be responsible for paying that money back.

The world is already in a financial crisis triggered by America’s failings.The most prudent thing to do is forgive all debts – including consumer debts – and start all over – from scratch.Nations must come together as one world.Individual nations can no longer afford to keep themselves separate by maintaining separate currencies and maintaining their own interest rates.This has historically been very costly for the whole world and very unfair to many countries.Differences in interest rates allowed some countries more supremacy over others.Along with that came inherent societal problems of distrust, selfishness, national pride, and envy.Currencies were not equal, they did not provide for an equal playing field.Some nations were treated more inferior than others while other nations were given special preferences.

Printing money also has its limitations.With the decline of trees and forests, there will become an ever decreasing supply of resources for paper.Therefore, money, in its current form will be even more limited in supply.The electronic world can provide an unlimited supply of credit and can ensure equality to every person on this planet.With a universal credit system, there will be no need for monetary exchanges at the border or when entering foreign countries.A model of this is working well with the Euro in the European Union.There is really no reason why the rest of the world cannot be unified in joining into one common global currency.The only barriers that prohibit such a benefit becoming reality is selfish nationalistic pride, ego and patriotism, and a false feeling of superiority, and greed.When nations create their currency, there is only a limited supply.There was always the trickle down thought that there would be just enough for the man on the bottom.The fallacy of this theory is, there’s never enough for the common man.

The world, however, can guarantee an unlimited supply of credit (money) – especially if the currency is electronic.The resources are not dependent on one singular nation’s.Man has placed limits on himself.He can easily remove these limits on himself as well as others just by changing national and international policies and practices.It all depends on whether a nation desires to remain isolated, or join the world community and become united as one world.

If man can be innovative and create a universal monetary system that can benefit all of mankind equally, then there wouldn’t be the urgent need to reform the health care system in America.With a universal monetary system, people will be able to afford health care – not only in the United States – but globally.There would be no need for health insurance as we know it today.A well planned universal monetary system should guarantee a living, life-time credit to each human being on this planet.This ensures that no matter where the individual is at in his or her stage of life (employed, unemployed, retired, etc.), the person will be able to afford everything including buying basic living necessities such as groceries, paying utility bills, purchasing automobiles, purchasing homes and making monthly mortgage payments, paying for health costs and medical care, domestic and international travel, and still have life credits for pleasure and recreation.All of this, without having to depend on government assistance programs or subsidies.The balance of each individual account will automatically replenish annually at the beginning of each year.

The urgency is not to reform the health care system.The urgency is to put money in the pockets of people – the common people.The average person needs the “big bailout” – not the corporate executives or the companies.States and municipalities also need money in their coffers as well for they provide invaluable services to the people (e.g., education and health services).To focus totally on health care reform without reforming the currency system first is wrong.It is here that we need innovation.We have come to the end of the road, “full circle” in the life of our current monetary system.It’s time that we seek a solution that will best fit the current population, its people and a modern solution using 21st Century solutions – not old solutions based on 19th and 20th Century models.

So says Tiffany Hsu in her article that appeared in the Business Section the Sunday, June 7, 2009 Los Angeles Times.Ms. Hsu reported that an increasing number of employers perform personal credit checks as part of the employment background check to evaluate the worthiness of a candidate’s qualifications.If the candidate’s credit history is bad, this typically implies that the candidate cannot be “trusted, is unreliable, or is undisciplined.”

While this case may be true in some rare instances, it cannot be applied to millions of Americans who are now being displaced by companies laying off their employees.Unfortunately, society does not blame companies for the individual’s inability to pay his or her bills.They still place the burden of paying bills upon the displaced individual regardless of the reason.In today’s economic environment, once a person loses their job, he or she often falls into a serious trap.Months, even years, may pass without out any success in finding suitable employment, yet the bills continue to pile up.Credit scores plumet, and one’s history is forever marked as bad the credit companies databases.As one fails to pay their bills on time, their score continues to fall even.Not only is credit harder to come by, but a job is also harder to get – yet, it is all your fault because you couldn’t pay your bills in a timely manner.Never mind the fact that you once had a pristine history of paying your bills on time, or that you may even have paid more than the minimum balance when times were good.

Welcome to the pit!Government is not listening to your concerns.Politicians could care less about your problem although there are millions of others just like you in a similar situation.I pity your unfortunate circumstances for I too have been there.Society makes it practically impossible for someone to return to a normal lifestyle – or what we used to consider as “normal.”Corporations could care less about your circumstance either.They are the ones who influenced government to write the laws to maintain databases and records against you that will reflect the fact that you can’t make payments on your bills.If government was for you, there would be a sunset clause in these laws making it easier for you to recover from your misfortunes.Not the case here!Once you’re down, society likes to keep you down, forever!This truly is not a benevolent society.

But by not changing these practices, the government has quite possibly shot itself in the foot.We hear that the Obama Administration wants to put people back to work by creating more high tech and green jobs.However, if they continue to permit employers to use credit histories as part of employment screenings, millions of jobs will go unfilled as more and more potential job seekers have bad credit.And, if the government expects to create more jobs for millions of displaced workers, then it is going to have to abandon old practices that will only hinder the return of qualified talented employees just because they were not able to pay their bills on time and therefore have a bad credit history.

The word and will of the people speak louder than corporations.If the people demand work, then we must speak up and let our will be known in the halls of Congress and to the White House.We must demand that unfair business practices be outlawed so that millions of people can return to work, be productive once again, and live prosperously in America.That an individual’s right to earn a respectable living should be guaranteed by the Constitution on the United States and any record kept against any individual infringing on that right be declared unconstitutional and be immediately sealed.

In a commentary appearing in the Lodi News-Sentinel on October 16, 2008, writer Frank Nolton concluded that same-sex marriage was not a civil rights issue, stating his views that “societal moral convictions on what is natural and normal.  And these moral convictions have been held for centuries.  No, gay marriage is not about civil rights, it is about approval.  It is about a small percentage of the population working to have their behavior, which the majority of Americans find morally wrong, accepted as normal by society.  In deciding about Prop. 8, keep this in mind.”

Obviously, the majority of Californians have had this same impression and felt that they should legislate the behavior of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and trangendered people by rewriting the constitution and using their religious beliefs in “changing behavior” of a minority group.


The fact is, for centuries, “moral convictions” have been based on false assumptions without any supporting evidence that LGBT behavior is a “choice.”  Recent medical findings have proven that these behaviors are genetically linked.  Therefore, we do not have a choice whether we are born heterosexual or homosexual.  Therefore, there should be even more supporting reasons to believe that same-sex marriage should be considered as a civil rights issue – especially when the California State Supreme Court granted the validity of 18,000 same-sex marriage, but denies the same rights to future same-sex couples.  This is purely human injustice just because some people, based on their religious and societal beliefs felt this was wrong, and that these people have a “choice” that they can easily live alternative life-styles.


The majority of us may think that it is natural for a man and woman to live together.  I am not the one to deny the freedom of speech and expression.  On the other hand, I also grant the right to those who feel that it is also natural for a man and man, and woman and woman, to live together.  They too, have the same equal right to speech and expression as granted heterosexual couples.  However, with the passage of Prop. 8, we have denied these people their fundamental rights of expression.  There are many reasons why Prop. 8 should be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Prop. 8 clearly violates civil rights of a minority group let alone having taken away fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution as well.


Who are we to dictate their behavior?  Religion should be a personal belief – not something forced upon others.  This is why we are guaranteed the freedom of religion.  And, not all Christian denominations follow the same doctrines.  In fact, many Christian denominations do not have a doctrine.  So who are you to force your doctrine on others?  Just because you just so happen to be in the simple majority at the voting booth, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is right, or should be accepted by others.  In fact, the re-writing of the California State Constitution should have required a two-thirds majority rather than a simple majority.  Clearly, Prop. 8 did not pass with a two-thirds majority.


Marriage licenses are issued by the county government – not the church.  Therefore, same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue and therefore, the church should not dictate to government who may or may not receive marriage licenses.  The Constitution guarantees equality for all, not based on preferences by the majority of a particular set of religious or societal beliefs.  It’s time that we quit living in the past, and press forward into the new millennium.  As long as we continue to hold onto beliefs that are centuries old, we will never progress as a society, but we will continue to reject men and make life difficult by creating barriers and road-blocks for living.  Each person should be guaranteed the freedom of living – free from societal or religious impositions and laws based on false or theoretical assumptions or that, “this is the way it’s always has been done.”