Category: politics

HIPAA and other things that go bump in the night…

(HIPAA) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Being and IT guy for the last 35 years, I am no stranger to HIPAA, SOX, FISMA, and many other regulations from the government, including the federal mandates as to how this is to be accomplished.

While HIPAA is designed to protect your privacy, I wonder if that is how it is actually being used.

From a DR (disaster recovery) standpoint, your data must be backed up and off site. Your data must be recoverable; meaning that you have successfully tested the process on a regular basis.

The easiest way to do this is with CLOUD technology but, I am here to tell you that the hackers attack the cloud… If you’re data, and my data, and your competitors, is in some nebulous storage arrays out there in some data center…that is a central target for the bad guy…

You must have written policies and procedures regarding same… This would be part of your DR plan, run book; or even your living document that is your DR plan.

SOX or Sarbanes Oxley is another set of rules that apply to all publicly traded companies that share many of the same tenants of a good DR plan. E-mails must be stored and retrievable in the event the government wants to see them. Stored off-site and recoverable…

The government, for the government’s own use, has stricter policies and procedures which I wrote about some time back when the Hillary e-mail fiasco came to light… That is why this whole e-mail scandal is laughable as there is no possible way that those e-mails should have been lost, just like there is no way that she should have had a server of her own, dealing with Top Secret Classified e-mails. Why she is already not wearing orange, and living in Club Cupcake Penitentiary, is a testament to the corrupt policies and procedures that our wonderful government seems to enjoy for the rich and famous or in this case the political elites.

Calling and talking with any of the folks at your insurance carrier, you are told that your call may be recorded and monitored for security and training purposes… Now please tell me how this does not violate HIPAA?

When visiting your doctors you had to sign a release, basically nullifying HIPAA so they, the office staff or doctors can talk about your case, health or anything that is needed to whomever that they have to deal with to get paid. Again, how is this not a violation of HIPAA? Working behind the scenes at these places I have heard many cases talked about from end stage renal disease, to genital warts complete with names. I was once working in a plastic surgeons office where his desk was littered with open pictures of nude women with before and after breast augmentation etc etc. This stuff should have been put up before I was ever allowed into his office.

The simple facts are, that we are living in an age of no-privacy; either expressed or implied. The idea of HIPAA is great but, like the thousands of pages of tax code, it is virtually meaningless after the lawyers get through with it. It’s like living in Chicago with all sorts of police vehicles, and one cop who lives at the donut shop. There is the illusion of security, but it simply does not exists.

The airport is another place where you have no privacy but, still the TSA misses about 95% of the threats that their agents try to smuggle through, while testing their efficiency.

While we parade through scanners that strip us naked, and expose us to ionizing radiation, they still miss 95%…! How the hell is that possible?!

While in the waiting room the other day I could hear the office staff talking about patients and their treatment options… That was not bad enough… One of the ladies at the reception desk was calling patients who owed them money between greeting people, taking credit card info… Yep, she read back the guy’s number complete, the billing zip code and expiration where everyone could hear it. I take credit cards and I thought to myself… you did not get the CVV code… A few minutes later she called him back to get that…. And repeated it to where anyone in the waiting room could have heard.

While I have since written a letter to my Doctor…it does not end here…

This same doctor prescribed some meds that I went to CVS to pick up… While in line, the cashier, after getting your name and date of birth, grabs the meds off the shelf, and tells you what they are so everyone in line and the immediate area can hear.

Name and DOB are nobody’s business and certainly what you are buying is nobody’s business…

While I may be over sensitive to this, I don’t really think so…

Either we have HIPAA or we don’t. Either we follow the rules and policies set forth…or we don’t.

The illusions of security is not enough. The illusion of privacy is not enough. Collecting everyone’s Meta data without warrant, is wrong on many levels.

We need to look at and re-vamp all of these policies as we have given up so much of our privacy for the sake of laziness on the part of the employees.

Instead of me telling the lady behind the counter she should ask me to see my ID verifying who I am and my DOB without saying it aloud. After she pulls my meds she can show me what they are without voicing them… Simple policy changes prevent unauthorized or in this case nosey people in line getting into your business.

There are simple answers for all of these things but one simply has to think… We are too damned lazy to think…

-Best

Profligates

The word of the day is profligate…”One who shamelessly pisses away money…”

I find it interesting that of the 50 states in this country, 11 of them are totally insolvent.

I also find it remarkable that of these 11, they are all run by liberal ideologues or profligates.

There is a 12^th state, Delaware that is soon to join the other 11 which is troubling.

The amazing facts are that these states are losing their people who are traveling to states who are fiscally responsible and also run by conservatives. Now these same liberal ideologues that have made their way to states that are not in any financial trouble complain. What do they complain about? That we are too conservative…

Really?!

If you look at Greece and then at the state that you left; and cannot draw the comparison between them, than you are not only so wrapped up in your ideology that you are lost…but you may also be … well … Bless your heart!…

Look, don’t come to a state that works with your troubled ideas and screw us up… When you come to this country…you fit it with us… You offer the best that you have and fit in…

When you come to this state… You offer the best that you have, and fit in…

…When in Rome…

This is not rocket science… If you are fleeing a state or place because it is screwed up…something is wrong… Why in the world would you not examine what is wrong and accept that you might have been part of the problem…. Like maybe something as simple as the way that you voted?

We have a huge influx of people here in Texas from all over the country. Amazing as it may sound, I find that the plates from out of state are the people who cut people off, honk, and drive like crap and so on. This is Texas…Chill…. We are friendly people here but remember…Texas is one of the states where we carry concealed and soon not concealed…when you wave…use all of your fingers pardner… Just saying….

We eat BBQ that is made the way god intended, and we drink Iced Tea. We hold doors for ladies, and we say please and Thank You… We teach our children to be polite, but we also teach them not to put up with crap.

-Best

Trust and Lies

History is replete with people who prevaricate to the masses. The masses are complicit as they are either too lazy to read history or fail to remember history, or cannot or don’t want to accept the truth. The allure of a lie is better than the cold hard ugly facts otherwise known as truth.

Today the French President was hailed for using a small hammer to symbolize an agreement to a new treaty with 200 nations that would supposedly bring global warming down two (2) degrees Celsius or 3.6F.

I am not going to debate the Al Gore trumped up money making schemes of “global warming” but, I am certain that today he is celebrating as his campaign contributions are now going to pay off in the form of Carbon Credits.

Lies of the 70’s

I remember long extended lines to buy gas as there was this shortage. We are running out of Fossil fuel and there was a shortage of gas. Prices climbed from .50 cents to about a dollar to $1.32. As soon as the prices made it to the level that OPEC and other oil producing countries agreed upon, oil started to flow once again. During this time of turmoil, tankers ran aground spilling their precious cargo. Several tankers who had successfully navigated the pond for years were suddenly running aground. Why?

The oil shortage was a lie… I suspect that tankers were parked off shore holding their cargo to create the shortage. They parked in areas that they did not normally traverse thus hitting things under the water as storms pushed them one way or another…

The ozone layer going away was the next in a series of lies to make more money.

The common most abundant sources of Freon were suddenly a hazard to the ozone layer. $1.25 would get you a small can of Freon that you yourself could put into your car to juice up the air-conditioner. Most manufacturers put a site glass on top of the dryer (part of the AC Unit under the hood) that you could visually see if you needed Freon. If there were air bubbles in it, with it working, you simply hooked a can up to low pressure side and allowed the gas to go from the can to the AC unit.

Today we have gasses that have replaced them which are not as efficient, work at much higher pressures and … the compressors and coils don’t hold up as well, the failure rate is higher.

DuPont and others, now sell these precious gasses at much higher cost. The coils and compressor manufactures make much more money as they sell you replacement components, and new systems at a much more frequent rate, as the higher pressures cause failures at a higher rate.

So, you say that there is a hole over the north and South Pole where ozone is thinner…Thus all of the CFC’s that come from refrigerants and aerosol cans are to blame…

Let me make this short and sweet for you…

Ozone or O3 is created by some form of energy causing an extra molecule to stick to O2..Oxygen. When this happens we have O3…ozone. The air o2 rushing up towards the sun uses infrared light…from the sun to cause molecules to bond, O3. Lightening and other electrical discharges also create O3.

Why the ozone holes in the layer over the poles… Lack of strong UV energy over the poles as the earth is tilted… That is why it is cold at the poles…

We breathe in O2 and change it to carbon dioxide Co2 which the plants use to create O2.

Well what about these CFS that are destroying the Ozone…

CFC’s are about 5 times heavier than O3 and O2… lead does not float. CFC’s have never been found that high as they don’t float. We were lied to for pecuniary interests…another government bought and paid for by special interests.

The Washington Cartel was bought and paid for once again.

Other products were affected as well as prices went from a dollar $1 a can, to $15 a can for such things a solvents used in production.

Let there be light

Under Bush, we decide to do away with the incandescent light bulb, as they are simply too costly to run. 4 for a $1 bulbs but no…must make more money…

There is actually precedence for finding less expensive sources of light but…CFL bulbs are not the answer.

CFL bulbs contain mercury which is a toxic heavy metal. If you break one of these bulbs there is this whole elaborate cleanup procedure. If you throw the dead ones in the trash you are putting mercury into the landfills which was tied to another lie regarding, doing away with mercury batteries.

These bulbs cannot go into applications with dimmers until they redesign the circuit to work with them.

They are a fire hazard and they don’t last as advertised. They should not be used in any application where once turned on, that they are turned off within 15 minutes or less, as that will shorten their life.

“That leaves out closets and bathrooms or any other type of task light.”

LED Bulbs are making inroads but these are still way too expensive and if you try and do the cost justification, it does not exists unless you are a store operator or some sort of shop that uses lights for hours at a time.

The shrinking ice packs are in fact growing. The earth goes through cycles of warmth and cold and I suspect follows the eleven (11) year cycle of the sun which is now in an active state.

The global warming nuts cannot explain the increase in ice so they are still looking for the gloom and doom.

We have much more pressing issues in this world other than global warming. The earth has come back from the brink of extinction many times over and I suspect like fleas on the back of a dog…we too will one day either do ourselves in with our hubris or stupidity and the earth will shake off the dead bodies and something new will appear or evolve out of our leavings.

If I were the president, I would be more concerned about alleviating the pressure from underneath Yellowstone’s volcano, which will affect all life on the planet when it goes off. Notice that I did not say if…it will go off, and then all of these global warming kooks will scratch their head, or ass; which is probably interchangeable as the earth enters into an ice age. Whoever does not die as a direct result of the explosion will either perish at the hands of their neighbors, or starve to death. Some will survive but the world will be a different place for years to come.

As the jet stream carries the ash around the globe depending upon the amount released from this “super volcano” The earth may not be suitable for growing food for decades.

I would invest resources in searching for life ending events in space as well as ways to change their trajectories and, I would of course provide for the common defense of this country which they seem to be ignoring as work place violence or too many guns!

Unless you can get all of the countries/governments on board with this climate and deforestation thing, (the two go hand in hand) you are changing the global landscape of economics by pressuring companies to take their businesses where taxes and global warming nuts are simply not paid attention to.

Their air pollution is believed to kill 350K to 500K people per year.

(FILES) This picture taken 18 July 2006 shows cyclists passing through thick pollution from a factory in Yutian, 100km east of Beijing in China’s northwest Hebei province. China has no plans to radically change its reliance on coal and other dirty fuels despite already feeling the impacts of global warming, a leading Chinese meteorologist said 06 February 2007. In the first official Chinese response to a stark UN report issued last week on climate change, Qin Dahe said China lacked the technology and financial resources for a wholesale conversion to cleaner energy sources. AFP PHOTO/Peter PARKS/FILES (Photo credit should read PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)

China-Pollution.JPEG-0bfec-555x370.jpg — Your smart phone comes from here…

This administration seems more interested in paying back those that put forth campaign funding, securing future funding for more politicians and the liberal socialistic agenda.

We dissolved any hope of the Keystone pipeline while a train that has a huge carbon footprint carries the oil from Canada to the Gulf… The train of course, is owned indirectly by one of the democrat’s largest funders or donators.

This July 8, 2013 file photo provided by Surete du Quebec via the Canadian Press, shows wrecked oil tankers and debris from a runaway train in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Canada. U.S. transportation officials say the oil industry is not giving up needed information needed to gauge the danger of moving crude by rail. Several oil train accidents, including one in Quebec, have highlighted the explosive properties of crude coming from booming oil shale fields on the Northern Plains. (AP Photo/Surete du Quebec, via The Canadian Press, file) ORG XMIT: LA102

Our president is just fine with this as we don’t need to do things safely and more efficiently….

Washington elites need to go away…all of them… We need serious people, that love the country and you and I, who are looking out for “us the people….” Not their legacy or their benefactors…

The announcement at the global warming conference I am certain is a farce, and will be spun politically to make republicans look bad, and most assuredly will cost the citizens as they will have to pay for all of the upgrades and lack of fossil fuels. They will be the ones to watch factories moved over to countries that take no part in such folly, as this will further restrict and make more costly business ventures in this country. This will adversely affect our economy, even more greatly than the health care law which saw the demise of the American dream. More and more companies are working many part-time employees with few or no benefits and crappy salaries to avoid Obamacare. The employee than is forced into two part time jobs to make ends meet and oh yes, purchase their own health care or be fined.

An activist hold a poster during a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, Saturday, Dec.12, 2015 during the COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference. As organizers of the Paris climate talks presented what they hope is a final draft of the accord, protesters from environmental and human rights groups gather to call attention to populations threatened by rising seas and increasing droughts and floods. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

So we can all get together and sing Kumbia and ignore the JV team…

Once we fix global warming and find jobs for these folks they will know the love and all will be just fine…

We are being sent into battle with no weapons, our hands tied behind our backs and blindfolded by an administration that is either delusional, stupid … or bought and paid for by special interests. I would surmise that it is a combination of the three.

There is a pattern, a history of lies and I have pointed out a very few…. Watch something besides “Two Broke Girls or Modern Family…and you might accidentally learn something.

-Best

Insight

There is a theme to my blog here, and it is simply that…insight or enlightenment…

I coined the phrase “mirror-time” In that one needs to know that person who looks back at them in the mirror.

Over the years I have given you clues like “know why you like, or don’t like something.”

I have asked you to examine why you did something a particular way.

Other things included looking for the truth outside of what you would like it to be, or your particular bias and once you find it, embrace it. The truth truly will set you free….

The media in our country has divided this country driven by differing ideologies. Social media is ablaze with ideas which are diametrically opposite of one another… We have devout socialist on one side and conservative capitalist on the other, and their opinions are driven by what the media and Hollywood are selling.

These folks who espouse that guns are evil, all have body guards with guns. Folks who say that guns are a tool, turn a blind eye to the violence in this country.

Garbage in garbage out…

People who see the American way of life as “bad,” teach their children from a young age that dying while killing another people that they don’t like is glorious. We have groups working with 3 year olds showing them how to kill someone, while extoling the virtues of it, while here we have people teaching their children to stifle their free speech; as to not offend anyone…

“There are none who are so blind, as those that will not see…”

Alcoholics refuse to believe that their drinking is a problem.

Drug addicts fail to see the connection between their use of drugs and a lifestyle that they have relegated themselves to while placing blame elsewhere.

Socialist, refuse to learn from history. The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.

Some capitalist, don’t know when to stop. How much money is enough?

Most politicians, lose their souls after they are elected, as power is such an aphrodisiac, that soon they rationalize that living in an ivory tower while looking down at the “little people” is there god given right.

(That is why we need term limits.)

When you start believing your own lies, or the lies of your peers… You are lost.

The people, get it. The people understand what the problems are, and that is why they have gravitated toward non-politicians. Washington insiders are totally perplexed. Like the men who flew the planes into the buildings on 911… They truly believed what they’re doing was “right and good!” they were in fact delusional. The man in the White House truly believes that what he is doing is “right and good.” Instead of looking in that mirror taking a selfie… He should be looking in that mirror doing some soul searching… He is lost. His advisers who are all connected in some way to the liberal media, are also lost. The voters have sent resounding messages to them and their response is to ignore those messages and find more voters in swing states who they can corrupt via scientifically targeted smear campaigns, to vote for them, or their kind. Technology used in this way is in fact a cancer. To corrupt the American way of life to fit an agenda that is anti-American, is by definition evil.

Once your mind is made up, you lose your objectivity… You are of no value as a politician. You are of no value as a voter. As the matter of fact the opposite is true. If you are unwilling to watch something else other than FOX or MSNBC, or CNN… You actually harm the body that we know as the United States of America.

As the Brian Williams’s of the world are called out, you can at least know that somebody, somewhere, cares. If groups have to make up the facts and otherwise lie to sell their agenda… That should at least prompt you to dig into history.

We have lost our moral compass in this country, and somebody is trying to tell you what it is rather than what it should be. In this case, history holds the key and you should look at it quickly before somebody rewrites it. Talking with recent graduates from high school and college, one has to wonder if they have rewritten it, or simply stopped teaching it.

Back in the days of slavery it was illegal to educate them or teach them to read. I would challenge the American people to look at their school systems today. Is not teaching to the test, and ridiculous things like common core, not creating tomorrow’s slaves?

-Best

#gopdebate IV

Interestingly enough, it is not about the facts but more the style and impression that the viewers leave the debate from, which might influence them.

Kasich and Bush I feel were the two weakest up there, with RandPaul close third.

Rubio most probably came off best as he was most informed and I think we will see donations to him increase. Carson was on point, soft spoken, and hopefully the media smear campaign will be put to rest. I want to hear more about his ideas instead of what he said in the third grade.

Fiorina probably would be one of the toughest opponents against Hillary but factually I have no clue how well she would stand up.

Cruz is an animal, I think one of the smartest in the room; certainly one of the best debaters.

Again Trump was simply there…low on depth and high on platitudes… I think he has the swagger but he really needs to do his homework….If he had a little of Rubio’s facts that he could regurgitate “like Rubio does” he would be much more formidable…

The haters took to twitter tonight, as they promoted the progressive Hillary agenda…. It is almost laughable that 40 odd % of the country is behind such a corrupt individual…tens of thousands of tweets each denigrating the GOP and extolling someone who should be in prison…

Carson’s closing monologue was succinct and on message.

“During this debate we borrowed another 200 million dollars… 20 babies were killed due to abortions so many murders occurred from some sort of violence and 2 vets took their lives because they were depressed and not getting the care they disserve… “

Folks, if that does not mean something to you, than you are probably a progressive…

Of the pre-debate…the four that did not make the adult table cut…Chris Christie was the winner, and I hope that he makes it back to the adult debate…

-Best

How dare you!

So we have this principal in Michigan that thinks girls ought to dress more conservatively.

He claims that Boys will think about more sex than school work if girls show some skin.

There is simply too much material here to work with, so I am going to pick and choose.

Firstly it was not reported in the “teas” that this was in a Christian school. Schools like that do hold their students to a higher standard. If you know that there is a dress code signing up for the school, you live with the rules.

I have a news flash for you Mr. Bazen…Guys are not the only people who think about sex!

Why in god’s name do you think girls dress provocatively, because they want to be a wall flower or become a nun?

They want to be noticed!

What you have in this country is a matter of the heart. If parents don’t pass down family values to their progeny, then they are going to look up to the likes of Miley Cyrus or that Kardashian person who has a sex tape and that will be their role model.

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 30: Host Miley Cyrus attends the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images) — LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 30: Host Miley Cyrus attends the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Boys or “men” as we call them here in the south, also have role models that are no John Wayne or the Lone Rangers. They look up to people who can talk in such a way that makes a “song” about cop killing appeal to them.

No Mr. Bazen It is a heart issue, and parents who either don’t care, or don’t know how to raise their kids.

Truth be told, men and women should be able to be in the same room totally nude and behave like they would if they were dressed conservatively as you suggest.

FOR TV Ð TLC Show called "Buying Naked." — FOR TV Ð TLC Show called “Buying Naked.”

There are no excuses for bad behavior from either sex. Accountability must be restored to our youth before they become dysfunctional adults, bringing another round of kids into the world who don’t know how to behave properly and end up in the legal system or recruited by other miscreants for nefarious purposes.

If someone dresses badly Mr. Bazen, that is a sign that something is wrong in their life.

In this country we dress as we like. We don’t need anyone telling us how to dress. Now the stores or businesses can dictate standards if they so choose but then the customers can choose not to shop there.

http://www.complex.com/style/2015/11/high-school-principal-sex-objects-controversial-essay

-Best

#GOP #Debate @realDonaldTrump @tedcruz @CarlyFiorina @gretta @TheWellsReport @FrankLuntz @mdmedved @thewellsreport

Between the main stream media and Hollywood, Conservative values are constantly under attack.

The GOP debate last night called them out on their hypocrisy; which I would doubt many liberals even watched.

The government is “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Progressives want government in every facet of your life, not theirs, just yours….

Conservative values are for limited government… Keep the country safe from all threats both domestic and foreign. We don’t need you mucking with our McDonalds fries or Big Gulps!

When the MSM decries Hillary had a good week when she was exposed as the liar she is, you know that the Rachel Maddows of the world are just so biased, that they cannot be objective, therefore they are not journalist!

Journalism is finding the truth and telling the truth about it, whether it is against what you would like to see or happen or not.

Walter Cronkite was a Flaming Liberal, but you would not know it by his reporting of the facts. He was a journalist.

I would like to turn on my TV and watch the news without the Brian Williams of the world slanting the story to fit some White House agenda as they currently do….

Fox has the ratings that it does because they are for the most part “fair and balanced.”

I would exclude Hannity from that lineup, as he is entertainment, opinion related, with a biased version of the news.

The Winners last night were Cruz, Rubio and Chris Christie in that order (in my opinion.)

Donald Trump was just about a no show last night, as were the rest of the candidates.

For the record, I don’t believe that Trump knows what an H1B is.

Companies lobby to bring them over by the thousands to pollute the pool of workers keeping the price down that they have to pay for talent.

The talent is here…they just done want minimum wage for a job that is for skilled workers.

Any visit to a Walmart of hardware store you can find American people who are under employed because of H1B’s.

Our government is for sale to the highest bidder, and the American people don’t stand a chance as they are asleep!

Where greed is concerned, companies will find a way like outsourcing, shipping jobs overseas or taking their whole company to Mexico and beyond.

If you are in college now and looking to pick a major…pick something that requires English, knowledge of our mores, idioms and possibly customer service centric, as “Peggy” still does not have it….

-Best

Tonight’s #cnndebate was a love fest, for the democrats..plane and simple.

The Lines were scripted…

Bernie Sanders is probably the single person up there that like Trump, is telling the truth.

Because he looks like he is crazy, and he talks like he has dementia he; will be ignored.

Tonight no tough questions were asked of the candidates…I was seriously waiting for the group hug.

The easy target was Clinton and Bernie defender her…”We don’t care about your e-mails”

Translated…We don’t care if you are morally and ethically challenged... We don’t care that you can lie about anything and can have the Supreme court redefine the definition of “IS” …

We just want to know how much more free stuff you can get us from those awful rich people...you know, the same ones who make up the super pacs!

I was at the dentist the other day… The dental assistant, a college graduate was talking about art with me. When I mentioned that all sorts of people are artist that you would never expect. GW Bush is an artist…My distant cousin Winston Churchill was an artist…..

“Winston who? he asked?”

“You got to be kidding me…where did you go to school?”

“Dallas”

“You graduated from the school system in Dallas and you don’t know who Winston Churchill is?”

“No why was he somebody important?”

These are the idiots that vote for the likes of Clinton and Sanders… More free stuff! Free education and the rich are going to pay their fair share… “F#$%K those rich guys…GIMMEE !

Its not the rich that pay assholes, it is the middle class, who does not own the lobbyists who pay; and continue to pay their way, your way, and yes..The Fat Cat Bankers who screw everybody way!.

Bernie is correct, the system is rigged and the GOP are the only ones that are saying something about it…

So, if you are one of those pathetic few who only vote D because you wait to decide until the last days of the election vote for Sanders...At least he is speaking the truth… He is certifiable…But he thinks he is doing the right thing and he is telling you the way that it is…. His counterpart by the way is Lindsey Graham… Both are out of touch with reality, but both are telling it like it is…

This country is going to be $20,000,000,000,000.00 in dept by the time this next election runs around because of the free stuff and social justice and folks…you who vote without the facts are responsible…..

It truly will be a brave new world, and drugs better be legal by then, and free, so at least you wont care that you are living under bridges…

-Best

“Shirts vs. Skins: How We Manufactured a Mental Health Crisis”

Mental Health: A Systems Analysis

Updated from a 2015 post. June 23,2026

I have identified what I believe to be a root cause of the division pervading this country, and likely the world, as well as the problems we see reported with troubling frequency.

The Origins of Tribalism

When we grew up and played sports, two team leaders were randomly chosen. Those leaders then selected teams from the remainder of the class. Some picked based on personal affinity; others, on personal animosity.Where the boys were concerned, we then decided who would be the shirts or the skins. I preferred skins because I liked not wearing a shirt when playing sports, though your mileage may vary.The game ensued, and for the remainder of that day (or possibly the week), a rivalry existed. The winners generally taunted the losers until a rematch occurred.My school was integrated, and we held no bias between Black, Hispanic, or any other ethnic students. We were simply one team or another, and we all had a good time.This dynamic was then elevated between different schools. Each week, a pep rally spurred the team to victory against whatever school we were playing. Signs posted throughout the school bore slogans like “Crush the [insert name]” or similar sentiments. You get the point: this was rather violent rhetoric for a sport.In football, injuries were common, and I feel some of that rhetoric carried onto the field, as there was constantly “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

The Dichotomy of Competition

Here lies the dichotomy between sports as a game and sports as something personal.In our PE class, most of us left our determination to defeat the other team out on the field. We either won or lost. The winners got to brag for the day, but they were hollow victories. Most of the class consisted of people who “had to take PE” but, if given the choice, would not have participated.The unathletic kids were singled out and sometimes bullied by those who were more physical. Sometimes this was simply name calling. Often, however, it provided an easy mark for the less secure but more physically fit to elevate themselves by pummeling the weaker kids.The bullies were, in fact, mentally challenged in their own way and compensated by picking on (and in some cases physically injuring) weaker children, even though those weaker children may have possessed superior intellects. That intellect gets you nowhere when you are surrounded by several classmates who rally around the big kid, the one who needs to prove something to himself and demonstrate his physical prowess to keep the rest in line.Not everyone is Heisman Trophy material, and not everyone is suited to win a Nobel Prize for curing cancer.Everyone has gifts and talents, but navigating our youth without becoming a psychopath or agoraphobic is key.

The Systemic Failure

This year, we have witnessed yet another mass shooting that represents a failure in our system.While we can see that someone is physically fit, can hit a ball, or can run the bases, we cannot see what is going on in their heads. We cannot see what is in their hearts. Encouraging them to “tell a teacher” if they are being bullied is usually a recipe for disaster, as the person being reported will enact revenge. That revenge will come through his or her peers and could be life threatening for the child being targeted.In the animal kingdom, the weak or sickly are shunned from the pack, and predators take care of the problem. The weak or defective become part of the circle of life.Do we allow the weak or timid to become ostracized and bullied and take the attitude “save who you can”?That is what we have been doing for the last sixty years that I can attest to. Is it working?Some of the physically weak go on to invent computers or control spacecraft. Some discover cures for diseases. Some work out complex mathematical formulas while unable to move or even speak because of their infirmities.Some of the physically weak carry a grudge. One day, when life has kicked them around, when their self-esteem and lot in life have deteriorated so badly, they figure out who is to blame for their circumstances (without looking into a mirror) and use an equalizer: a gun or other device.The perpetrator was quoted by one of the victims: “I have been wanting to do that for a long time.” This was after he killed several people and started to kill more. This was a ticking time bomb, much like the person who killed the news reporter and her cameraman years ago.It would be interesting to dig into this individual’s past. Was he well thought of? Could he play sports? Was he a bully?

Misdiagnosis of the Problem

No, we do not have a gun problem in this country. As much as some want to make this a “gun problem,” it is a people problem.Some of us are simply poor actors who treat others badly and are not called on it. We are not being held accountable for our actions and are allowed to injure others for the sheer enjoyment of watching them in anguish. As we injure them, our “friends” egg us on, living vicariously through our actions, just like the Sunday couch potato quarterback who yells at the television from his popcorn laden, beer stained recliner, screaming at the players on the field or the referee for being blind or stupid. Those actions, to some, bring meaning to their otherwise unfulfilling lives.We gather behind the team in a mob mentality. If our team loses, we may even destroy our own town in defiance of bad calls by the referee, even though we were miles away sitting in some sports bar watching the game.

The Common Thread

The common thread among most of these killers is that they are left behind by the “system.” We saved the kids that we could.No. You failed. Each and every life that passes through school needs to be watched for signs of either the bully or the bullied. Neither are healthy mentally, and both should be observed and worked with so they do not become the next inmate or the next mass murderer.I also feel that the entertainment industry bears some culpability, as people are desensitized to this kind of activity.People are desensitized because violence is on hundreds of cable channels. If that is not enough, they play realistic video games that function as nothing more than training simulators, teaching them to become efficient at killing in wholesale fashion. These individuals who spend hours in a closed room or their parents’ basement playing these games must, by their very nature, become mentally impaired.The NRA is not the problem; they are an easy target for those who want to “take action” without thinking.Mental health is the problem, as only a sick person would commit such horrific crimes. I am amazed that this is not what we are discussing and looking for ways to abate. Is this because it does not fit into an agenda?Guns, the NRA, and the Second Amendment are easy targets for the unthinking among us.

Action Step

Hire mental health professionals. Place them in each and every school in this country. Get them engaged in the process of looking for tomorrow’s mass murderers or tomorrow’s inmates, and allow them to do what they do best. Bring personal accountability back into the schools.

To tackle the systemic mental health issues underlying violence and social division, the following action steps are recommended:

Embed licensed mental health professionals in every school to provide early identification, intervention, and ongoing support for both bullies and victims.
Implement evidence-based anti-bullying and social-emotional learning (SEL) programs schoolwide to foster empathy, inclusion, and personal accountability.
Establish safe, anonymous reporting systems and restorative justice practices to protect and empower students.
Promote media literacy and regulate exposure to violent content to counteract desensitization and aggressive behaviors.
Enact policy reforms to ensure sustainable funding, enforce mental health parity, and expand community-based mental health services.

My final thoughts… The Parenting Vacuum

While the ideal solution would be to have parents in the home who understand how to be parents (and not merely the child’s friend), the operative word is “parents.” That is not the case in too many instances. Consequently, there is little accountability for the child. The role models present are often not individuals anyone with two neurons firing would want as examples.

The traditional family structure, once the foundation of behavioral guidance and emotional development, has eroded in many communities. Single parent households, absentee guardians, and homes where survival takes precedence over nurturing have become increasingly common. Children in these environments are left to navigate social hierarchies, emotional regulation, and moral development largely on their own.

When parents are absent, overwhelmed, or themselves products of similar dysfunction, children seek guidance elsewhere. They find it in peers who are equally lost, in entertainment media that glorifies violence and antisocial behavior, and in online communities that may reinforce their darkest impulses rather than challenge them.

This is not an indictment of single parents or working families who struggle to make ends meet. It is, however, an acknowledgment of a systemic gap. Schools cannot replace parents, nor should they be expected to. Yet when the home fails to provide foundational support, the school becomes the last line of defense. Mental health professionals embedded in educational institutions are not a replacement for functional parenting; they are a necessary intervention in its absence.

#MentalHealthAwareness #SchoolSafety #BullyingPrevention #YouthMentalHealth #ParentingMatters #MentalHealthInSchools #SystemicFailure #HardTruths #BreakTheCycle #AccountabilityMatters

State of the Union 2015

Should America get involved in stopping the wholesale murder of Christians?

Any person with any kind of morality would give the immediate knee jerk reaction of, Hell Yes!

As Wilford Brimley might say, “It’s the right thing to do!”

In this day and age we don’t do anything. We are paralyzed by politics.

If Winston Churchill had been this worried about political blowback, we all might very well be speaking German!

There is this problem that some face in management called “analysis to paralysis.”

Today with a 24 hour news cycle, we have taken that to all new levels!

We have organizations who do polls of everything.

Frank Luntz, who is an interesting guy, makes his livelihood by putting together groups of people to gauge their emotional state, at different snapshots in time of events like speeches or debates.

There are several different pollsters and they all solicit an opinion from a low percentage of actual people who will take the time to take a poll. That in and of itself is a problem, in that it biases the results.

Polls are flawed to begin with, in that the accuracy is somewhere below 10%, depending upon the type of poll and the questions ask.

Robotic polls are the least accurate and even some of the most prestigious or respected pollsters, depending upon their particular bias, are flawed. (Aka Fox news Vs MSNBC)

Politicians today are always in re-election mode so they are in fact paralyzed. If there is a bill on the floor and some senator does not want to cast a vote one way or the other, he simply votes present or is a no show. Currently, Planned Parent Hood funding was on the floor and one of the presidential candidates was in fact a no show. This was an important bill and for his party, he should have been there. He however represents the Millennials, and a good amount of them are liberal leaning and do not distinguish the difference between the murder of a baby, and “women’s health.”

“You’ve got to stand for something, or you will fall for anything!”

We send these folks to Washington to represent us.

Obama, when he was senator voted present 130 times, not allowing his political aspirations to get tarnished with anything. The people of Chicago sent him there to represent them, and he voted present. One could infer from his votes that the people of Chicago, simply don’t care about anything!

Today on the stage of the world’s Arena, we have a president who is still voting present, and leading from the rear.

Is it politically safe to stop the wholesale slaughter of Christians in the Middle East?

No, because there are some who don’t like Christians, who happen to vote and they might vote Democrat unless of course you do anything that they don’t like. Is it the right thing to do? Hell Yes!

We watch them on the computer, and TV, and what have you, being butchered in the most heinous of ways, and there is nothing but the sounds of Crickets coming from Washington.

Today we have the Russian Dictator Putin “standing for something.” I am not certain what he is doing and if he is truly targeting the right folks, time will tell. The US has always taken the lead in such things and yet, we are dismantling our military.

“The purpose of our government is to Defend and protect the people of this country and this country from all threats domestic and foreign.”

This president has cut military spending and in fact allowed our military men and women to fight with antique equipment.

Air Force tactical aircraft: over 20 years old;
Navy and Marine Corps tactical aircraft: over 15 years old;
Army M-113 armored personnel carriers: 27 years old;
Bradley fighting vehicles: 17 years old;
CH-47 Chinook helicopters: nearly 20 years old;
UH-1 Huey helicopters: 35 years old;
Ticonderoga-class cruisers: nearly 20 years old;
P-3C Orion long-range aircraft: almost 25 years old;
B-1 Lancer bomber: over 20 years old;
C-5A Galaxy transport aircraft: 40 years old; and
KC-135 tankers: 44 years old.

Over 65% of this president’s budget goes to ….wait for it….”Entitlements” and they are really not entitlements because for it to be an entitlement, you must have done something to be entitled to it!

We are talking about food stamps, Obama phones, Obama Care, and to quote one of the people in line for her share of the free stuff, “his stash!” These are not simply for American poor folks, these are for anyone that can cross the border in any way shape of form!

The money he is giving away is not his to give, in fact he is appropriating it from places like the military, and your great grandchildren’s future piggy bank!

Which candidate will save us from ourselves?

The outsiders are leading the pack for the republicans and the Socialist is leading the pack “basically” for the DNC.

He wants the government to pay for everything! $20 Trillion is debt is nothing to this man. — He wants the government to pay for everything! $20 Trillion of debt is nothing to this man. We can simply print some more…lots of ink and paper…

How you ask? They are telling the truth, the things that you were afraid to even think about, as they need to wake you up. Even Bernie Sanders is talking trash about the Washington Elite or as one candidate calls them “The Washington Cartel.”

We need a candidate that will shake things up, and focus on what the government is supposed to be doing.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

“Establish Justice:” Appoint or elect judges who interpret, not create the law.
“Insure domestic Tranquility:” Unite instead of divide us by race, religion or sex or by any other means. We are Americans, and we need to bind ourselves together by that.
“Provide for the common defense:” Have a military that is so strong, that no one will dare to test it.

We are not doing that, and these last 7 years have proved that beyond any shadow of doubt.

Whoever inherits this mess, will indeed have to be the best of the best. We will need to start with the basics and go forward. This will take a concerted effort from everyone to put this country back up straight; we need to prepare for that.

At the rate this administration is pissing money away, we will most likely be $20,000,000,000.000.00 in debt by 2017. That is if the rate does not change one way or another.

All of these candidates except one are bought and paid for by someone, or a group of someone’s.

That is why the Keystone pipeline has never happened.
That is why 20 odd percent of our Uranium was sold to Russia in a backroom deal made by Hillary.

Do you want more of the same or would you like a change?

Campaign reform and total transparency needs to top any agenda for this next administration.
Term limits need to also top any list of to-do’s as we need to get the good old boys out of Washington.
As one man put it, we need to dismantle the Washington Cartel.
You dismantle them by holding them accountable.
You dismantle them by transparency of their funding and you force them to create term limits for themselves.
They need to live by the same laws that we live by, and by the same social security, and the same health care.

In short, you remove the incentives to be corrupt. If you go to Washington to serve, you go there to serve, not to serve yourself!

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

-Best