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David Mitchell

There you go again little Timmy,

Advocating for common sense and realistic solutions to real problems. Where on earth did you come up with such utter nonsense! 

Don't you realize blind loyalty to the party line is all important? 

You must not realize that the whole function of government is to spend all of one's time in office, raising funds for re-election. That, and currying enough favor with lobbiests to get yourself set up for a nice defense contractor's job after your retirement - a retirement which only requitres one term in office to qualify for a nice life-time stipend. 

Silly boy!  

(Golly I am feeling old today. Why, I'm so old I can remember when Republicans were concerend about the budget deficit) 

Michael McLeod

Pretty much how I feel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icJjlg5e6l8&fbclid=IwAR2InbuzZEed8KHuPlhR5Y4c5yT7hMJFl6PN-1ZnE8hYQyHsW-M8id3exyo

John Jackson

I’ve taken a sabbatical from the Forum as I’ve been dealing with the aftermath of an extreme weather event (made a bit more likely by climate change?) that put a couple of inches of water in my finished basement.

Tim, I’m not happy with the size of the Democratic field – it’s distracting and unfocused and many of these people should run for Senate so we could at long last rid the country of Mitch McConnell, the Montgomery Burns clone and self-styled Grim Reaper who delights in burying all Congressional legislation, even the bipartisan stuff, so he can focus the Senate’s energies on confirming rightwing judges.

And, while no one can argue against the need for well thought out policy proposals, the most important thing we can do is to stop Trump from digging us deeper and deeper into the holes that he creates with every crazy, ill-informed, impulsive policy he announces (most of which he then contradicts minutes/hours/days later).  It’s like when you keep hitting yourself in the head with a hammer – sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is just to stop it.

Jim talks in very general terms about “left” and “right” as if that means something.  That’s the Fox News way – this candidate is “left” and that one is “right” so everyone line up on your respective sides but God forbid we should ever have a serious discussion about the underlying issues.  So, in that spirit, I’ll list three issues that I think this election should be about and I’ll give some specifics:

1.  Health care - our current system, which consumes 18% of our economy (60% more on average than other advanced nations), gives us the worst life expectancy in the developed world (and the U.S. is the only advanced country where life expectancy is currently dropping).  We’re also in the “second world” (but near the top!) of commonly accepted measures of public health such as infant and maternal mortality rates and hospital infection rates.  And the damage goes beyond our poor outcomes – for large numbers of Americans, the cost of health insurance, and the potential loss of it, is a major anxiety (a health emergency is by far the leading case of bankruptcy in the U.S).  Republicans tell us to hang in there - minor tweaks, better informed consumers, and the “magic of the market place” will transform our health care system, already the most privatised in the advanced world, into a winner.

2.  Income inequality/good jobs.  The economic pie is growing more slowly now than it was when the Class of ‘66 joined the work force, but people at the top (the highly educated or those with connections) are doing quite well by taking nearly all of the economy’s growth for themselves.  Many people are running in place or even losing ground.  This creates great instability and could be our undoing as a nation (as the 2016 presidential election hints).  The recent tax cut, which gave most of the benefits to well-off individuals and corporations (which have used most of their windfall for stock buybacks and not job creation) didn’t exactly turn the situation around.  I think higher minimum wages and a more progressive federal income tax will help to some degree but I’m enough of a free marketer that I don’t think government should get more involved in setting wages.  Job training (in coal country and other depressed areas) would help, but we as a nation are terrible at that.  Ideas anyone?

3.  Global warming (aka climate change).  The deniers are right (in a very limited way) – there are no scientific laws, only theories.  But the overwhelming majority of climate scientists, in this country and others, now accept the theory of serious global warming caused by humans.   And when the websites of all the major oil companies (Exxon, Shell, etc) have statements accepting the reality of climate change, and when every major auto manufacturer worldwide pours the lion’s share of its development budget into electric cars, shouldn’t that tell the Republican Party and Fox News that the debate is over?  We’ll live out our lives with only modest disruption, but our kids, and especially our grandkids (even those who don’t live in low lying coastal areas), will get hammered.  Migration issues, such as the ones we’re seeing now from Central America, will seem quaint as people stream from the earth’s warmer regions to the (temporarily) more temperate ones.  I’m really pessimistic about this issue – how do you get people (in this country and others) who struggle to put food on the table to worry about a problem that will only in 20 or 30 years start to outweigh their already serious current struggles?

I’m sure others will see these issues in a different light than I do and will choose other issues (immigration and abortion come to mind) that they think are more important.  But if we want to talk about which party or candidate does or does not have well thought positions, let’s not talk generally about “left” or “right” positions but instead about the issues themselves.

As a side note, I’m on a work trip and am writing this from Warsaw.   Lots of incredible WWII history here – the city was 90% destroyed by Hitler as punishment for the Polish uprising in 1944 but has been gloriously restored (I’ve always wondered where you find craftsmen that can rebuild thousand year old churches and not make them seem like something out of Disney World).  Also lots of scary stuff politically – the Lech Walesas and Vaclav Havels are all gone and Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have elected right wing leaders who are using immigration fears to undermine democratic norms (sound familiar?)

I know many prefer to keep politics largely off the Forum.  Anyone else who wants to respond to me here can do so, but any response I make will be on the User Forum.

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

If you weren’t so old, I’d nominate you, John!!  Perhaps one of those brilliant and creative children of yours can be recruited!! Send us a few pics of Warsaw & surroundings. I don’t think I will ever get there. Be safe. Be well.

Clare

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

And speaking of pics, Francene, you sly devil. Definitely leaving the nest, aren’t you?  You, too, must send us updates & pics of your adventure. We will miss you on our little excursion to Detroit!!

Clare

James Hamilton, M. D.

David Barbour

John,  I have a hunch they get their craftsmen from the same place as the past 1500 years.

Poland has traditional apprentiships for the trades, just like Germany and other european nations.

I worked for a stamping plant in Cleveland where the maintenance guy was from Poland.  He started

training at the age of 14 in a state sponsered apprentiship.  This guy could fix anything!  It was an

honor to work with him and very educational.  Why don't we have stuff like that?  I'd have loved it and

I know others who would have liked school if it was mostly shop class.  I'm looking directly ar you,

my revered high school!  I hated high school ,but never did badly in whatever shop class was available.

Oh well.

DB

Michael McLeod

Thanks for the well-reason post, John.

I have first hand experience when it comes to a couple of your points. On the health system: We have a friend who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She was studying to be a vet and was overseas. And we are all grateful that she being treated there - first in Thailand and now in Scotland. Better care. Less expense and red tape. It astonishes me to say it.

On climate change: I also remember when I was at ohio state getting to know a researcher that was in the artic working with ice cores that can be used to track the development of climate change and how carbon has been so steeply rising in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution - much as you can use the concentric rings on a tree stump to get a sense of the weather conditions year to year. Now I live in Florida where the effects are obvious in terms of the heat we are experiencing here and the rising water level that are threatening condos further south.

David Mitchell

John,

I am soooo disappointed in you and your timid response. I wish you would stop trying to sugar-coat everything and tell us how your really feel.

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David,

Great point. Unlike Europe, we place little value on craftmanship in the workplace. I have heard the stories about how long and detailed their "trade" schooling is. They also begin to separate kids around 16 by their aptitudes. Sounds cruel but it seems to work. I would have loved to have taken woodworking classes, mechanical drawing classes, or even pottery classes in High School. But of course I do use my Latin almost every day of my life.

Gallia est divisa in partes tres -  yo mama !

Mark Schweickart

Mike -- Thanks for the link to the new Springsteen song, "Hello Sunshine." Very imaginaitive way to do the song visually, don't you think? But the song itself is what counts, and it counts -- a nice meditation on the need to avoid the temptation to "fall in love with the blues" and instead it urges one to find a way to let a little sunshine in.  Looking forward to the album coming available in a few days.

John -- I suppose you were referring to me when you mentioned that some of us felt our message forum was not the right place for political discussion. As you may know, I couldn't agree more with your politics, and would love hearing such reasoned arguments done the way you have done here. My lobbying for more apolitcal discussion was a reaction to the fact that generally political posts don't go that way. They tend to escalate into invective, and I was fearing that we were in danger of drawing into our respective and resentful camps instead of maintaining the sort of good feeling we have come to enjoy with each other's company over the last couple of years here on the forum. If we can keep things civil, then let's have at it. But I know that I, for one, would have a hard time remaining so. The blowtorch political flames these days easily whip into larger conflagrations.

Jim -- say Doc, care to shed a little light on the medical condition tinnitus? It may be something many of us will experience as we age. I have recently become afflicted with this. My doctor told me that there is no guarantee that if I were to undergo surgery for a related hearing loss problem in my left ear (removing scar tissue from the little bones behind the eardrum that need to vibrate) that the tinnitus might still remain. He said it may be emanating from the brain, not the physical ear. Does that sound (no pun intended) right to you?

John Jackson

Since I’m trying (imperfectly, I admit) to be bipartisan, I’m posting on the main site …

Dave M, first let me say you're absolutely right - every morning as I shower and start to wake up I remember, and thank the good Lord, that  "Gallia est divisa in partes tres".  How could it be otherwise?

Jim, I accept your point about my use of the phrase “right wing judges” which does not, in any meaningful way, drive the discussion forward.  Having said that, I can't say I'm impressed with the Trump Administration's reverance for Constitutional norms.  And it can’t be good that our judiciary is being filled only with appointees that are approved on the narrowest of party line votes.  Harry Reid did get rid of the 60 vote rule for Senate approval of federal (but not Supreme Court) judges and I think he was wrong to do that - we shouldn’t be approving judges for lifetime federal jobs if they can’t get at least a modicum of bipartisan support (i.e., 60 votes).  But then Mitch McConnell ratified Reid’s misdeed and compounded it (since the Supreme Court has the final say) by removing the 60 vote requirement for Supreme Court nominations to get Gorsuch confirmed, and a year later, Kavanaugh.   

Dave B, you’re absolutely right about apprenticeships and the importance of vocational training.  I’ve read about what a great job the Germans do and it sounds from your experience like the Poles do the same - it must have to do with the old world ideal of craftsmanship.  Not everyone is interested in going to college and why should we browbeat them into thinking that’s what they have to do?  I run a (very) small company that focuses on a niche of technology and my most valuable employee by far is a machinist who makes parts for, and builds, the instruments I sell.  But beyond his skills as a machinist, he just pitches in, in any way he can, makes intelligent suggestions, and takes responsibility off my shoulders (much more so than the PhD physicist who is my principal technical employee). 

I think I’ve made this point before but, in a spirit of (limited!) bipartisanship, I’m vehemently opposed to the idea of free public college tuition espoused by Bernie, AOC and others.  A college degree confers on its holder, rightly or wrongly, a lifetime earning capacity that is considerably higher than for those who don’t attend college.  As a result, I’m really opposed that the tax dollars of parents whose kids don’t go to college subsidize tuition for the kids who do go.  I’m absolutely fine with providing aid to kids (white or brown) who want to go to college but can’t afford to, but if your parents can afford it, or you come out of college with a degree in finance or computer science or engineering and you’re making a good salary, a certain amount of debt is OK - I don’t think you should get a free ride.

And this brings up another question that is rarely asked and should definitely be a campaign issue – why does college cost so much?  I hesitate to ask this question because I worry the answers may not reflect all that well on those bastions of liberalism, the universities.  Over most of our adult lives health care and college costs have been unique in rising on average 6-7 % yearly compared to an average inflation rate of 2.5-3%.   If there are two issues that keep people in our kids’ generation awake at night, it’s the high cost of health care and how do you pay to send your kids to college.   I raise this question without any hidden “agenda” - this is a topic that gets NO coverage and it should be an issue – why does college cost so much? 

David Mitchell

John,

If I can draw on some ancient (and party forgotten) texts I once studied in my youth (before deliberately flunking out of the University of Denver over an argument with my father) - I forget whether it was Heilbrunner, Samuelson, of Friedman - or all three (we had a bit of all three over two of my four years of business school). Any time you subsidize something, you eventually fuel demand and therefore price growth. It is a factor of supply and demand.

For example - If you subsidize mortgage interest, you make the home purchase more available to more buyers, adding to demand, and causing price increase. When you subsidized highways with more highway funding, you increase the building of more highways, (given the limited amount of supply) and thus the cost of doing so. When you subsidise the cost of anything, such as college tuition, you allow more students to apply (increase demand), and with a limited classroom space, you drive the cost up. And Universities discovered that Professor salaries get more competitive when more funds are availalbe. There is so much more Federal and State finaniclal aid for college these past several decades that it has had it's natural effect,,, price increase. 

N.B. (cool Dave - more of my Latin) I am NOT taking a posishen one way or tother. I bleeve finanshel aid for collige can be a gud thing. Specially when it incloods spelling class.

I just wish Congress would come clean about the fraud of many of our "subsidies" such as subsidizing professional football players slaries, or movie production costs, or violent video game producttion, or whatever captures the public interest.  Instead we should be treating that sort of thing on a more "free market" economic manner. We have so much corporate subsidy in our tax code that the huge grossing industries pay only a tiny portion of our their fare share of our federal budget. I'm NOT talking about our lowered corporate tax rates - which I partially agree with. I am talking about the concept of what are alternativey called "incentives", or "loophoes" - depeding on which side of the argument you are on. 

And finally, to avoid any confusion with my corporate tax remarks and our new personal tax rate structure - I think the new persoanl tax rate strructure is one of the stupidest and most unfair ideas going. But it would require that people understand the meaning of the term "MARGINAL" tax rates, which most people simply do not.

I earn near the bottom tax rate and made considerably less money last year, but my taxes went up $800.00!  

 "Tax Cut"? Only in those in (correction:) top rate brackets.  Meanwhile the budget deficit is skyrocketing!

James Hamilton, M. D.

David Mitchell

Darn,

Just when I though we could be on the verge of another good pissing contest, with some nasty vitriol and political divisiveness, (to which I contribute my fair share), and all trying to make a smarter comment than the other, along comes this "kid who plays the violin" - and who sees life through a completely different pair of glasses. 

He gets it !

Michael McLeod

Mark: the songwriter in you may have noticed how strategies so simple they slip by like a canny magician's trick are at work in that Springsteen song.

One thing that hits me is his usage of the word "you," which brings the listener straight into intimacy" - "You know I always liked my walkin' shoes."  He's talking to someone who knows him, has seen him go through changes, and he's making a confession about himself knowing he won't be judged. Good songs are compositions that feel like conversations. And it's been a while since I have seen a song that strikes me so much as a great artist communicating with his fans in an extremely intimate way as this one. It's art, but you forget that it's art, and you forget how dearly bought something that comes off as being so simple and perfect actually is. Precious few can pull it off the way he does.

As the somewhat older song goes:

Nice work if you can get it, and if you get it, won't you tell me how? 

Mark Schweickart

Jim -- thanks for the info. I did have a scan done, which is what revealed the scar tissue I mentioned. I guess I just need to get used to this damn white noise. Fortunately, if any ambient sound is present, I tend not to hear it. It only surfaces when things are quiet.

Mike -- good insight on the Springsteen song. I hadn't thought of it that way, but I think you are right.

To those planning the trip to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village -- fortunately this magnificent place isn't like an amusement park where one has to queue up to see things, but there is one exception, as I recall. And that is taking a ride around the park in a Model T, which I thought was delighful, especially if you want to ask the driver questions about the idiosyncracies of the car itself. I would suggest making that an early destination on the day you visit Greenfiled Village before the line gets too long. Also, be sure to take advantage of Jack's knowledge of the place. Once upon a time, he actually worked there as a reanactor of a 19th century farmer, so he makes an excellent tour guide.

Michael McLeod

I wouldn't have cast Jack as a farmer.

Bootlegger, maybe.

Timothy Lavelle

Jim,

Recently I heard that there appears to be a link between Al's Hammer disease and imperfect teeth cleaning practice.

So, today I am sitting in a hospital in Seattle providing some limited moral suport for an aging friend. I have noticed that 97.3 percent of men my age are wearing tennis shoes. Also 94 percent of taller white or black men tend to stoop while Asian men, a bit shorter, tend to stand erect. 

My analysis shows if we brush our teeth, stop wearing tennis shoes, and try our best to be shorter and Asian, we will likely live forever, never forget anything, and have a good posture. Can you confirm? 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Tim,

Hmmm... perhaps those tall guys who wear tennis shoes (which usually are "tied shoes" and not "slip-ons") have what is known as "bendopnea", a failrly newly described symptom of congestive heart failure. That means when they bend over to tie their shoes they get short of breath. Therfore, they might stop doing things that require bending , including brushing their teeth. Since there is less oxygen the higher one goes, shorter people have a longivity advantage. As for becoming Asian we have to wait for gene transfer therapy to become available.

As always, Tim, your obsevations make perfect medical sense!

(By the way, bendopnea is a real thing - look it up!)

Jim

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

This Youtube video was shared on Facebook by both Bon Jonas and Watterson.

Joseph D. McCarthy

To change the subject back to one of Mr. Mitchell's favorite topics - misspelling. 

Dave, do you work part time for the Reserve Bank of Australia as an engraver?

The Bank of Australia's new $50 note (paper money) was recently discovered to have printed these notes using the word "RESPONSIBILTY" in the microprinting on the face of the note.  Do you think they forgot an "I" ?

Fred Clem

Mary Margaret,

I have known Troy Stemen his entire life.  He lives just 4 doors down the street.  His parents and i have been neighbors since 1996, 5 years before he was born.  He and my Godson, Spencer, were classmates for 8 years @ St. Agatha, (Spencer is now @ St. Charles).

Troy is now in my employ, taking very good care of my lawn.  He has several more customers and is saving to purchase a car.  God bless the medical teams that have brought him back to health.  Prayers of family, friends and the Watterson community have also played a major role.

James Hamilton, M. D.

David Mitchell

Very touching story about the young man from Watterson. I neve knew what "platelets" were until one of my best buddies from my Army platoon (who himself was shot down 5 times in his 18 months) began going through years of difficulties with loss of blood platelets from his Agent Orange exposure. And he's one of the best guys in the bunch - always the jokester - always upbeat. Why does it always seem to happen to the good guys?

And whay do some of us have more or less Agent Orange issues than others? We all had the same exposure within our group.

Any ideas Jim? 

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Jim and Tim,

Let's not forget to mention that research has also shown that liesure suits cause cancer in older men. That, and wearing white belts with white shoes. Burgundy plaid bell bottoms only cause arthritis.

I think the safest medical advice I ever heard was my (M.D.) Dad's own frequent warning to friends; "stay away from these doctors and hospitals - they'll kill ya" 

I just got back from a 2 hour drive (each way) to the Charleston VA hospital for some testing. (my third vist there in thee weeks - I'm in very popular demand). They laid me down in an MRI machine and warned me there will be "loud annoying sounds", but "we will play some music in your headphones."  Next time you have a 30-something female VA medical technician promise you that, be sure and ask "What kind of music?"  My Lord it was so obnoctious!  I had it confused with the "loud annoying sounds".

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Joe,

No, but I cood prolly hav goton a job theire as a prufe reader from what you say. 

James Hamilton, M. D.