High capacity magazines make no sense

John McCain says that banning high capacity ammunition magazines won't help. Maybe he is right, but it seems worthwhile to remove easy and very fast access to so many bullets from the hands of someone intent on killing as many people as possible in a given time.

It seems that we are pursuing the wrong issue. The sane have for many years attempted to classify the large clips for automatic (actually semi-automatic) weapons as unnecessary. The gun-toters have argued to keep them available. During these debates, I have never heard a case made for why the large clips are needed. Can you help me out here? If not for killing the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time, then why are they necessary to have available for anyone other than the military or para-military police forces? Why?

Of course the far right wacko's will tell us that the assault weapons with full automatic capability, large magazines and free access to all the armor piercing ammunition desired must be available so that we can protect ourselves from our government. I don't know about you, but even with a fully automatic Bush-Master and tons of ammo, I don't think I would want to go against our government and our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines (not to mention the Coast Guard, the National Guard, state and local police forces) and the fire-power that they, collectively, could assemble. I think I will stick to the ballot box and the power of the vote.

Guns for hunting, for the sports of target shooting, skeet shooting, etc. are fine by me. Hopefully, those out there pursuing the long tradition of hunting game animals are sufficiently good marksmen who, to stop Bambie, charging through the woods, will need less than a thirty-round clip of armor-piercing bullets to stop the wild beast running for its life. For the guy shooting skeet ...two barrels seem sufficient to knock down a clay pigeon; and the person target shooting surely can stop and reload after firing-off a more reasonable ten (or fewer) round clip.

Notwithstanding the Second Amendment rights, the argument for the NRA position of little or no regulation of firearms and their accessories has little merit in today's American society.

A path not to be taken

For more than two centuries, we Americans have wallowed in the belief that we are special. American exceptionalism has been bandied around much like a high-minded, near religious credo. No one else could measure up to our view of ourselves. Most of us felt that our high opinion of ourselves was well justified. In the past, our booming economy, the freedom our representative democracy brought to us, seemed to bear-out that we were in fact an exception to the presidential-led countries in the world's history. Most republics, headed by a president, had in the past, devolved into dictatorships.

In a recent interview by Wonkblog's, Dylan Matthews, of Juan Linz, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Social and Political Science at Yale University, Professor Linz raised concerns about America falling into the category of other democracies, many that had taken the path to dictatorship. His argument has merit and should cause us to take pause.

A major concern of the professor is that we have, as a country, lost our synergistic self-interest. In recent years we have fragmented into factional self-interest. Except on an infrequent basis, we rarely stand-up for the country. Our loyalties are regionalized, sometimes driven by one religion over another, one ethnic group, one race, one lifestyle, or by one or more of a number of identifiable separatist motives. It seems that we strive to highlight our differences versus celebrating our collective similarities. This factionalization is driving us to political grid-lock; grid-lock that will cripple any ability to govern the country.

With our current electoral process, grid-lock is more and more the inevitable outcome of our local, state and national elections. Majority rule is no longer operative. With the capability of state legislatures to modify voting districts, the House of Representatives has been gerrymandered into a completely dysfunctional law-making body. The Senate may be even worse with the militant use of the filibuster to thwart the will of the majority.

Elections become less and less an indicator of the will of the American people. In the recent 2012 election, the American people by considerable majority voted for the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives elections, yet the Republicans won a vast majority of the House elections ...gerrymandered districts was named by Republicans as the reason for the Republican win of the majority of House seats. In the Senate anytime the majority party has fewer than sixty votes, it becomes incapable of legislating.

When militant intransigence of the minority party in either the House or the Senate is added to the equation, the government effectively shuts down. It doesn't matter what the president chooses to do, the broken legislature can (and as we have seen) throttle the president and the will of the people ...even when the majority of the people have spoken (voted) in favor of the president's chosen path.

What can be the remedy to dysfunctional government? In many past democracies, a strong leader, with the aid of a supporting military has taken the power into his own hands.... In many of these cases, a military dictatorship is the resultant government. Hopefully, we in this country will come to our senses and avoid such a devastating path for our people.

Honest: To be, or not to be

When did being a candidate for the American presidency mean that you had to be or at least accept being dishonest? The headline from Huffington Post is a case in point:

Mitt Romney Reaped Huge Tax Benefits Based On 'Active' Role At Bain Capital

It appears that the Republican Party believes the lack of honesty will work for them this year.

Over the past several months, Mitt Romney and his campaign have strenuously argued that Romney cut his ties from Bain Capital in 1999. Documentation, signed by Romney and submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seem to prove otherwise.

This statement of disassociation from Bain is a central tenant of Romney's campaign meant to limit his exposure to Bain actions, occurring between 1999 and 2001, that conflict with his preferred campaign story line.

The assertion goes that the use of Romney's signature as President, CEO and Chairman of Bain was purely administrative, acting as a stop-gap measure while the company and Romney transitioned from one hundred percent Romney ownership of Bain Capital to its new owners ...apparently Romney subordinates from within Bain.

This administrative convenience extended for three years, from 1999 through 2001, ending in 2002. Romney and his campaign claim that Romney had no role at Bain after 1999.

Now we are informed that the Romney's 2010 federal income tax submission claimed more than $500,000 dollars of expenses related to his active role in his investments at Bain Capital and/or companies associated with Bain Capital. This (they claim, legal) sleight of hand reaped a half million dollar deduction from the Romney's 2010 taxable (non-capital gains) income.

The Huffington Post article (referenced above) quotes a statement from the IRS describing what constitutes being 'active' for tax purposes:

Factors that indicate active participation include:

• making decisions involving the operation or management of the activity;
• performing services for the activity; or
• hiring / discharging employees

Factors that demonstrate lack of active participation include:

• lack of control in managing and operating the activity;
• having authority only to discharge the manager of the activity; and
• having a manager of the activity who is an independent contractor rather than an employee.

So how can Romney be both an active member of Bain Capital for tax purposes in 2010 but not be involved since 1999 for purposes of his presidential campaign? It appears that Romney and his campaign are honesty-challenged on matters related to Bain Capital and his family's income tax returns.

It is well past time when Romney should come forward with his income tax returns from the time when he claims to have left Bain Capital through the current tax year. Nothing less will establish his integrity and honesty or, conversely, prove the lack thereof.

The difference is 'black and white'

In this time of partisan divide, the country is at the mercy of politicians whose main objective is to get reelected, not to serve the country's best interests. Consequently, politicians are at the mercy of those who elected them to office. The 2010 watershed election in which a large number of tea party candidates were elected to office might prove to be the straw that breaks the back of our economy.

Seldom is any issue definable in black and white terms, but today's political climate is couched in black or white. Take a look at the blue and aqua bars on the chart below to see the black and white differences.

How to name a golf group

Say you have a group of men who want to play golf on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:00 a.m. at one of the local golf clubs. Some in the group are members of the club where play will occur, some are not. So you can't rely on the Pro Shop to list the people playing each day. Some are not in the Club's computer system.

With the group being eclectic, some members, some non-members, some pretty good golfers, some not so much, it becomes the duty of the coordinator of each day's golf outing to devise a efficient and effective way to allow those who wish to play to make their wishes known.

One way to do that is for the coordinator to schedule a set of team tee times at the Club; for the coordinator to e-mail the potential player pool of the scheduled tee times and ask that prospective players reply with a reservation request to the coordinator by a specified time.

This approach works if the pool of potential players have e-mail, the members of the group are responsive to requests that they confirm their desire to play each respective day, and that they do it in a timely manner to allow the coordinator to schedule more tee times if necessary, or, conversely, to release unneeded tee times back to the Pro Shop so that others are able to use the relinquished tee times.

This is a very workable system if everyone has e-mail and each is assiduous in responding to the coordinator. The failure of the system comes in two modes: 1) Some have Internet connections, but are unschooled in the use of the Internet and, therefore, e-mail is a mystery unsolved; 2) Some, not yet introduced to more advanced electronic media are restricted to the archaic (some as deprived as land-land only) telephone or even the more primitive word-of-mouth. On the one hand, the Internet-capable but response-deficient fail to get back to the coordinator while, at the same time, the phone-restricted oftentimes fail to get the word at all.

So the answer to this dilemma of unresponsive Internet users and people without Internet capability is to have the individual group members to call the Pro Shop and indicate that they will play with the group on the date specific and at the time that the group will be playing on that date. To ensure that the group member and the Pro Shop employee communicate completely and that the player get assigned to the right group, it would help if the group has a name. Therein lies the problem. To have a name, someone must create or select the name.

If you have 50 people in a group and you ask for suggestions for a name for the group, you will get at least 100 suggestions. Most will be unworkable, profane, inappropriate in some other way or down right moronic. So what to do?

With the new media, Wikipedia, GOOGLE, and other technological marvels ...just do a search. Here's some of what you get:

• Lost Balls
• One Club Short
• Within The Leather
• Putz Out
• Diminishing Distance
• Clipped Turkeys
• Homeless Turkeys

• Old Turkeys
• Wild Turkeys
• Turkey Buzzards
• Gobblers
• The Remainder
• Hangin' On
• Men's Golf
• Herren Golf (German)
• Golf Uomo (Italian)
• Hommes de Golf (French)
• Golf del hombre (Spanish)
• Sand Blasters
• Missed Putz
• Par Plus
• Park Close

As an aside, turkey is included in many of the names because our old club was named Turkey Creek ...likewise, our former group name was the Mafia. We are taking this opportunity to drop our pseudo criminal association ...no more Mafia, Cosa Nostra, and the like.

Most of these names are lame. So, if it were your choice, what would you name the group?

Am I a conservative?

My wanting to return to a functional government wherein members of different political parties can work together to accomplish something for America ...does that make me a conservative? I don't think so.

Always in the past, I was of the opinion that divided government at the federal level was the best government.

Back in the day, divided did not mean irreparably split government. Politicians of different parties, different ideologies, different constituencies, could sit across the table and compromise on what would be best for America. No more.

Today our politics, our government is hopelessly split right to left with about a third of the people, sane and located in the middle between these polarized factions.

Radical right wing or radical left wing politics can be debilitating to government action. In fact today, polarization has brought our government to nearly a complete halt, to helplessness.

I don't need my government bureaucrats and politicians to have their arms interlocked, singing kumbayah as they work to further the nation's business. But today, government inaction is causing our country to founder at a time when we need a captain at the helm and a ship's company, not intent on punching holes in the bottom of the boat, but rowing in one direction to the nation's benefit.

Compassion v. Insurance

Historically, Americans have scrambled off to the Emergency Room when a severe medical condition, accidental or otherwise, suddenly occurred. The ER acted as its name implied to meet medical needs when the unforeseen medical emergency occurred. In the ER, at the moment of emergency, compassion for the needs of the injured or sick patient overrode any concern for payment. Treatment was delivered.

For all other medical conditions, we saw our personal physician or when there was no previous doctor-patient relationship, we asked a neighbor, a family member for a physician reference. Frequently, we consulted a phone book to find a doctor receptive to taking on a new patient. Other times, or in other circumstances, we may have walked into one of the publicly supported or privately owned clinics. Many went to the emergency room to see a doctor whatever the medical need.

Generally speaking, if medical attention was pursued, a source of service was found irrespective of one's having insurance coverage, sufficient personal wealth or other means of paying for the service requested. Because of some people's inability to pay (no money>, not infrequently the provider went unpaid by the party receiving the service leaving payment to be socialized, distributed to those who are capable of paying for their services. Oftentimes such visits are very costly.

So if it is true that the vast majority of sick or injured people find a source of medical attention when requested, then what is the need for the Affordable Care Act ...sometimes described as ObamaCare? One answer: A major obstacle to overcome in the operating practices in any reformed healthcare system is to convince the prospective patient that an early trip to the doctor will not escalate into financial ruin. Getting patients into preventive care will greatly reduce the implicit or explicit need for a trip to the Emergency Room. A process such as that afforded by the Affordable Care Act will go far in accomplishing this preventive care goal.

The concerns highlighted in the "practices to overcome" statement in the previous paragraph:

• People delay needed treatment. People with limited or no insurance or monetary resources are reluctant to request medical services prior to having what is perceived as a 'life-threatening' medical emergency. Human nature assumes that given time the condition will improve without professional intervention coupled with the fear of becoming indebted beyond an ability to pay causes many proud individuals to delay treatment. Some, while understanding the need for treatment, attempt to diagnose and treat themselves with medicines and remedies available to the lay public. Others, to their misfortune, tough-it out, reject treatment and endure the pain for a period well after initial symptoms occur.
• Delaying treatment, most importantly, costs lives, but it also adds to the costs of medical care in the United States. Treatment delayed is a formula for treating more severe and frequently more life threatening conditions. For the common good, America must join the ranks of the major industrialized countries of the world to provide the basic preventive services that early-on brings all citizens to a health care provider. Each of our people must have a receptive, welcoming physician or clinic available for preventive care and when illness strikes. No one should be reluctant to bring attention to personal or family needs based on the lack of funding, either insurance or personal wealth.

Thankfully, we are a compassionate society. When presented with the need to provide medical attention, doctors with their Hippocratic oath, the ethical standards of many private hospitals and the public responsibility of government provided hospitals, help, when requested, is made available.

The purpose of the Affordable Care Act is to deliver appropriate medical services at the appropriate time, to each of our citizens and at a more cost effective way than is currently accomplished.