CommenTerry

Stop the Whining About Price Gouging

I've complained as much as the next guy about the high gas prices of late. However, I wish everyone would just quit whining about so-called "price gouging."  If I own something, I should be allowed to charge whatever the heck the market will bear, even in times of crisis or disaster. While that might seem unethical or immoral, it certainly should not be illegal.

Either we have capitalism or we don't. If we don't, then we might as install some kind of socialistic system 0f government and economics! High gas prices should not be fought by law, but by gasoline conservation and the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar and nuclear power. When the demand for gasoline goes down, the price will eventually come down.

How to Avoid Sending Incomplete Emails

Have you ever accidentally sent an email while you were still in the middle of typing it? I used to do that all the time and it's quite embarrassing, to say the least. To prevent that from happening anymore, I now wait until I've finished typing an email before I type the addressee's email address. That way, if I accidentally hit the send button before I'm ready, the email won't go anywhere.

Twelve (Non-Financial) Reasons Why People Avoid Doctor Visits

We are all aware that the high cost of health care is a prime reason many people won’t see a doctor when they should. People who are the most concerned about cost are usually those not covered by health insurance. However, health insurance is overrated. It is not the “get out of illness free card” that it should be. It is not a magic bullet. It is not a be-all-to-end-all.

In fact, even many people who have good health insurance also avoid or put off seeing their doctor, often until they have developed some kind of advanced-stage illness. Here are some reasons why this happens (in no particular order):

1) Doctors’ appointments can’t always be scheduled at convenient times.

2) One often faces long waits in a doctor’s office.

3) Not every medical condition can be easily treated or cured. Some can’t be cured at all. People fear being told that they have a disease that will soon kill them.

4) Many common diagnostic tests are painful and/or humiliating.

5) Many cures and treatments are more ghastly than the disease itself.

6) Some conditions are difficult to describe, creating the potential for a dangerous misdiagnosis.

7) Some of the other patients in the waiting room often have contagious diseases.

8) When one is sick, he or she doesn’t often feel like getting out of bed, getting dressed, and going to the doctor’s office.

9) Nurses and/or receptionists often have bad attitudes.

10) Not every doctor has a good bedside manner.

11) There’s often paperwork and red tape involved, in addition to meddling by the insurance company.

12) The examining rooms are cold.

Case Highlights Immigration Enforcement Problems

The case of Elvira Arellano is symptomatic of the kinds of obstacles we face when trying to enforce immigration laws in the United States. Ms. Arellano is an illegal immigrant who was recently captured in Los Angeles and deported after having been holed up in a Methodist church in Chicago for a year. That church offered her sanctuary last August, just as she was scheduled to appear before immigration authorities for possible deportation proceedings. She had previously been convicted of using a bogus Social Security number. She has a seven-year-old son who is a U.S. citizen by virtue of his birth here during her unlawful stay.

She had planned to go to Washington in September to lobby for immigration reform. She hadn’t made any effort to become a U.S. citizen. Apparently, she was waiting for the government to pass an immigration reform bill that would have handed U.S. citizenship to her on a silver platter, as a reward for her criminal behavior.

First of all, where did Ms. Arellano get the notion that she had a right to lobby Congress? Why did she think she had a right to protest anything in this country? Those rights are reserved for U.S. citizens, not people are in the U.S. illegally.

I'm glad Ms. Arellano was seized and deported by law enforcement officials after she left the church and went to Los Angeles. However, she should have been apprehended before – from the church. Churches that knowingly provide sanctuary to scofflaws of any kind should lose their tax-exempt status. In addition, any of their property and structures used to shelter such persons should be forfeited to the government. Churches have no more right than any other entity or individual to flout the law.

Deporting Ms. Arellano did not necessarily have to break up her family, as she had claimed it would. She was free to take her son with her, even though he is a U.S citizen. Instead, she chose to leave him in the custody of the pastor of the Chicago church where she had been staying. Far too many illegal immigrants are exploiting the “birth” loophole in the U.S. Constitution as a means of remaining in this country. Our Founding Fathers never envisioned such brazen opportunism when they framed the Constitution. It needs to be amended to withhold automatic citizenship from babies born in this country unless at least one of their parents is already a U.S. citizen.

It’s Just Preseason Politics

The Ames GOP Straw Poll that was held earlier this month has come under heavy criticism from some circles. Critics have complained that it is wrong to force people to pay $35 for a ticket (or have it bought for them by one of the candidates) in order to vote in the straw poll. They say it creates a distorted example of democracy. Some even went as far as going to court to try to stop the event.

However, I believe these critics are blowing things way out of proportion. They need to keep in mind that the straw poll was not a real election, primary, or caucus. It was just a preseason game, so to speak. It did not count in the “standings,” and not a single convention delegate was selected based on its outcome. These people should save their crying for a time when there will actually be something to cry about – a time that always (eventually) comes.

Check the Facts and Stop Whining

Like many other folks, I often catch myself whining about the "fact" that things were so much better for me 10, 20, or 30 years ago than they are now. However, when we really start checking the facts, we'll discover that this "fact" is just a perception in many cases. I think we can all find aspects of our lives, e.g., our health, career, family life, etc., that are better now than ever.

Random Rants and Raves #116

Never walk up or down a flight of stairs with your hands in your pockets.          

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The least sensational account of any news story is probably the one that's true. 

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The 24-hour cable news networks have succeeded at dumbing down the concept of breaking news.

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Beware of stocks and mutual funds that offer extremely high dividends -- many of them are just giving back the value of the share price.

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Question: Who will children from Republican families be dressed as this Halloween?

Answer: Rudy Ghouliani. 

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When you're a child, you live in a fantasy world, shielded from the harsh realities of life. When you finally take on the mantle of adulthood, reality hits you right between the eyes like a brick -- and it hurts.   

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Whenever you accuse someone of taking something out of context, you are obligated to explain the context you're claiming they took it out of.  

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Why does everyone seem to think it's the government's duty to fix everyone's problems after a natural disaster? I thought it was every individual's responsibility to prepare in advance and then get off their own sorry butt and help themselves. 

A Spike at the Feet of Critics

Beginning this season, the NFL will penalize players for spiking the ball on the field of play. For each incident, a five-yard delay-of-game penalty will be assessed to the violating team. The penalties will not apply to spikes done out of bounds or in the end zone. I agree with this new rule, but there is one local sportswriter who believes it doesn’t go far enough. He believes the penalty should be 15 yards and that the ban on spiking should be extended to the end zone. He says a spike is a display of anger and that it is a "'Take that!' gesture to critics, real and imagined."

However, I don't see problem with that, assuming the player spiking the ball has just scored a touchdown. To me, the ability to rub your critics' noses in a personal success once in a while is one of the few great pleasures of life. In fact, it's a motivating factor for many people, including myself. Sometimes, even when nothing else will motivate me to do what I need to do to ensure success, the thought of a potential opportunity to "stick it" to my detractors will do the trick.

Does Poor Equal Criminal?

I get so tired of elitists constantly complaining that measures aimed at reducing crime are either biased against the poor or disproportionately burdensome on them. The attitude behind such complaints is a kind bigotry of its own. They seem to think that those who are poor can’t help but become criminals. While it is true that the majority of those who are incarcerated by our penal system are poor, laws are not written to punish the poor, they are written to punish criminals. If most of them happen to poor, so be it.

At any rate, there’s nothing about poverty that forces anyone into a life of crime, although this may come as news to those that have bought into the liberal agenda. I know firsthand. I grew up as very poor child in the housing projects. While some of my cohorts did indeed become addicted to drugs and/or became career criminals, many of the rest of us decided not to do so. We grew up to be productive, law-abiding citizens. Yes, it was a decision – one that could have just as easily been made by those who turned to drugs and crime. That’s why they get no sympathy from me.   

But now it seems that a larger portion of poor children turn to crime than they did when I was growing up. I believe this has occurred because the liberal response to crime, i.e., making excuses for people, has backfired. People generally live up to the standards that are expected from them. Kids from poor families are told over and over again they just can’t help themselves from falling into crime, and furthermore, that society expects them to become criminals. Why are we then surprised when these kids oblige?  I think it’s high time we return to higher expectations and a little old-fashioned law and order across the entire spectrum of society.

Mitt Romney’s Carter Strategy

Mitt Romney is a former one-term governor of Massachusetts who is running for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. If Romney is to capture the nomination, he must defeat several better known candidates like Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson. I see some parallels between Romney’s current run and Jimmy Carter’s successful run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976.

Like Romney, Carter was also a former one-term governor of a medium-sized state when he sought the presidency. He was competing against the likes of Henry “Scoop” Jackson, Sargent Shriver (the party’s vice presidential nominee four years earlier), Lloyd Bentsen, Morris "Mo" Udall, and Birch Bayh. All of these candidates were much better known on the national scene at that time. Each felt that he could rely on his name recognition and standing in the national polls as stepping stones to the nomination. On the other hand, Carter was little known and barely registered one percent in the national polls as the campaign got underway in late 1975. However, he used his “fresh face” to his advantage and campaigned as outsider who had not been tarnished by Washington politics or the Watergate scandal.

As Romney has done so far, Carter focused his initial efforts on building support in Iowa and New Hampshire, seeking to get some early victories and thus creating some momentum heading into the larger states. Furthermore, he sought to create a state-by-state strategy by getting his name on the ballot and competing everywhere there was going to be a primary, a caucus, or even a straw poll conducted. Carter’s opponents, however, seemed more interested in cherry-picking the states with the larger delegate counts.

We can see the same thing starting to happen now with Romney and his opponents for the Republican nomination. Note that Romney has completed vigorously in every major straw poll that has been held so far -- and was the clear winner in two recent ones in Iowa and Illinois. Like Carter, Romney realizes that one cannot simply throw his hat into the ring and have voters swoon over him -- even if he does have celebrity status. Instead, one must earn votes by aggressively pursuing them, especially in the states that conduct early nominating contests.

While he is still running third or fourth in most national and larger state polls, he has built solid leads in both Iowa and New Hampshire. In addition, he has recently taken the lead in Nevada, another state that conducts an early caucus next year. If these poll numbers hold up through January, he’ll instantly take a commanding lead in the race for the nomination and could become difficult, if not impossible, to beat. As was the case with Carter in 1976, Romney may indeed outmaneuver his higher-profile competitors en route to his party’s presidential nomination.