HR 3200 or should that be HR Puff 'N' Stuff...

I've been reading and listening with great interest to
the debates, statements, comments and blogs on
the subject of the universal health care bill, HR 3200,
that the US are currently grappling with.

I must admit to finding it rather amusing... just like
politics here in Aus... everyone has a line to push
and by golly they'll push it.

Is it any business of mine what the US end up doing? Well
no it's not, but it does spark my ire when people knowingly
misrepresent something for their own political reasons.
And my 'ire' has really been sparked on this subject.

I'll readily concede now that I am not fully informed on
the subject of health care in the US, and so I'm not
arguing the case for or against it for that very reason. But
what I do want to suggest, encourage or persuade the
people of the US to do is...

READ THE BILL
(click)


I've caught a few interviews and 'talk' sessions on
the subject, and I've noticed a common theme emerge.
Often the commentator or interviewee will say something
that includes these words "...one of the few people in the US to
have read this bill." Now that's a worry if it's true.

Even I've read the bill... and it's not my bill. And I would even
venture to say that maybe more non-US people have read it
than US citizens... is that possible?

Anyway, consider this...

On the Fred Thompson Show, click above image to go to his
site, there's an interview with Betsy McCaughey, PhD on
the subject of how this bill is designed to kill the parents
of US citizens, who have the misfortune of being in ill
health. I kid you not. The good Betsy doesn't put it quite
like that, but it is what she's saying.

Have a listen below, and at about the 1:20 mark Betsy starts
talking about pages 425 to 430 in which she says the bill
makes it "mandatory that people in Medicare have a required
counselling session that will tell them how to end their life
sooner..." and she goes on to say "all to do what's in society's
best interest, or your family's best interest, and cut your life
short".

There's a PDF available that numbers the pages, and I have
extracted the pages in question, they're further down in this post.
But here's where you can read the original, just click the link below;

SEC. 1233. ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION.

Okay, so Betsy says that the Government has written into
legislation the requirement that everybody in Medicare be
counselled on ending their life rather than continue consuming
precious resources in order to stay alive. And at around 4:55 in
the interview she answers a rhetorical question from Thompson,
after he states that it's all about saving money in the long run,
"...where do you think he's (Obama) gonna get those savings?"
asks Thompson. "By shortening your mother or father's life."
says Betsy.

Please tell me she doesn't really believe that.

Common sense tells me that Betsy's being ridiculous, but let's
not use common sense in this argument, after all she's not,
and instead let's take a look at the bill.

Take a look at the extracts below, you can click on the images
to see larger versions;





The first 130 or so lines above address the many aspects
around meanings, terms and who the respective practitioners
are that's covered by this section. And goes on to refer to
life sustaining treatment which could easily be argued is
the thrust of this part of the bill. Then it continues, in the
highlighted section above, and I paraphrase;
The level of treatment indicated under this section may
range from an indication for full treatment to an
indication to limit some or all or specified
interventions. The bill is simply providing for the
individual to indicate either full care or no care or
anything in between. It does NOT provide the go ahead
for the Government to kill your parents, or even encourage
them to reject care.

All this section is doing is making it mandatory to counsel
and record the patients preference should the circumstance
arise that intervention is required. My father had on his file,
'Do Not Resuscitate', that wasn't a Government directive it
was his considered wish.

The other bit that got me was that Betsy suggests that you
won't be able to keep your current insurance. The section she
misquotes is actually saying that any new insurance cover provided
under this bill, if passed, will not be done to the old rules and must
be done under the new ones... makes perfect sense to me.

Anyway, that's my take on the US HR 3200 health bill and the
prevailing uninformed arguments that are getting about.

Oh by the way... the other thing that blows me away is the way
Mr. Thompson accepts without question, or even the smallest
amount of doubt, Betsy's completely unreal take on what
the bill states.

Cheers.

Psssst... wanna see my conk...?

With much insistence, from all and sundry, to
reveal that which I have kept under covers for
all this time.

I feel that I should now indulge your wishes...

That's right, I'm ready to show you a vital
bit of me... the bit I think you've all been
waiting for.




BE WARNED
If you roll your cursor over the image, a part
of my anatomy will be exposed... and it
may offend. So only do so if you are willy
to accept the consequences.





May I present...

...my Conk.

Recently I visited Muscat, Oman...

Sunrise from my room... 1.

When I travel, because the client is paying, I usually arrive the night before and spend the required days in the client’s offices and then fly home. I rarely, at least until lately, get the opportunity to see a little of the surrounds and it’s even more unusual for me to be there on a non-working day such as Sunday or Public Holiday. Therefore I would not usually have any pics or stories about my trip.

This time however, I was in Oman on a Saturday, which is actually Thursday. By that I mean, Friday in Oman is prayer day and is therefore equivalent to our Sunday, a day of no work which makes Thursday a day of no work as well. I was to be working in my client’s empty office on the Thursday, so I decided not to go in until the afternoon and do some sightseeing in the morning.

I had one place on my agenda, the Grand Mosque. Its official name is Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. I recommend that you go here and read about it because it’s quite a fantastic building. You’ll also see better pictures than mine.


Sunrise from my room... 2.


But before we look at my pictures of the Mosque, I’d like to tell you about Mohammed… no not the prophet, the cab driver… I know, everyone and their son is called Mohammed over there and I have no idea how they figure out who has just had their name called when in a waiting room, but that’s not for us to worry about, this guy was a gem.

In Oman, as with many places I’ve been to, they don’t have meters in their cabs, and so one must negotiate the price. However, over my last three or so visits to Oman, I have found that the cabbies are quite decent and honest, and above all else, consistent with their fares and they don’t try to rip you off. Perhaps, because they’re all called Mohammed, I should thank Allah for that. Anyway, having the cab go where you want it to and negotiating the price in English can be a bit of a hit and miss process.

That is, unless you have your own Mohammed.

I found Mohammed on one of my first cab trips after arriving. He has a late model cab that’s clean, neat and tidy, he has a reasonable command of English and he has a wonderful habit of making himself ‘your’ cab driver and insists that you phone him direct when you need a cab. He would take me to the office in the morning and then ask what time I wanted to go back to the hotel and to phone him when I was ready. But he wouldn’t take the fare at that point. The other end of the day, after I call and wait maybe 10 minutes, he would pick me up and take me to my hotel. But he wouldn’t take his fare at that point if I wanted him to come back later to take me somewhere else and back again, it was only after the day was done that I paid him.


Sunrise from my room... 3.


When I went to visit the Mosque, Mohammed said he would wait for me. I suggested that I could be over an hour but he just answered with “One, two hours… that’s okay, I wait”. After two and a half leisurely hours of wondering around the Mosque and its surrounds, I walked back to the car park and there was Mohammed waiting… under a tree… in the shade… in 45 degree heat. He and the cab were parked a fair way off in the shade, he jumped up and started the car’s engine and by the time I got to the car the aircon had done a wonderful job of cooling the car down.
The real test for him was when I had to leave for the airport at 3:30am. I even offered to ring him at 3:00 to wake him up but he said it would not be necessary. Well the next morning I had just finalised my check-out and was pointing out to the receptionist that, amongst the row of clocks displaying current time for various cities, the clock for Sydney was out by one hour, (hey I’m anal… I notice these things) when spot on 3:30 I heard Mohammed standing behind me saying “Good morning”.

So if you go to Muscat be sure to look up Mohammed... and tell him I sent you.


And now for the Mosque...

The ground isn't wet... it's highly polished
marble.


Looking out to the surrounds.


One of the long walkways around the building.


And off to the side...


...one of the ablutions rooms.


Shall we step inside?


The centre of the centrepiece...



...panning the camera out...



...to reveal this incredible hand made
chandelier.



Various internal images...



























And of course...
... me ol mate Mohammed.



Cheers.

Meet the other half...

The previous post highlighted the ridiculously
high placement of the bathroom mirror in
the accommodation that I stayed in whilst
in Zambia.

This post is to highlight the ridiculously low
placement of the bathroom mirror in
the accommodation that I stayed in whilst
in Darwin.

I kid you not, this is how low the mirror was.

Allow me to save you the bother of cutting and
pasting.

Go bellow and see what i really look like...













Keep going...

What... I said I'd save you the trouble
of cutting and pasting, I didn't say I'd
post a real picture of me.

Tehe.

Who's that peeping in...?

That's right, it's me.

I'm not actually back yet, I'm back from Oman
and I'm back from Africa and Adelaide, but I'm
currently in Darwin... and will be for the rest of
the week... but I couldn't wait to say hi to all my
friends.

So... Hi.


I plan to give you a report on my trips, an update
on MB and, of course, I will be visiting my blog
buddies, all three of you, over the next few days
as time allows. I have a lot to catch up on, but I will.


That pic above is of me looking in the mirror in the
bathroom of my accommodation in Zambia. No, I'm
not crouching... the mirror was actually set that high
which meant that I went to work each day confident
that my hair was immaculate... and no idea if I had done
a good job shaving. You be the judge... the pic below is
of me arriving at the office in Zambia.

I cut quite the dashing figure don't I?

Oh, and the little squares of toilet tissue came off once
the blood from the shaving nicks clotted.

Okay, that's it for now... I'll be around to visit you very soon.

Cheers.

Heavenly Smiles...

Hello Butch... I missed you so much
and I'm thrilled to be back home with you..

Twice in recent weeks, as I was
thinking of you and how I much I
missed you, I wondered if you were
thinking of me at the same moment...
and I wished that I could know.



Just then I
looked to the sky and here's the
only proof that I needed...

The moon was your beautiful smile looking
down on me.

And again, as I was boarding the plane to
come home... I wondered if you were
thinking of me...

The sun was smiling too.

I love you baby, and it's so good to be with
you again.

Bear.