Healthcare overhaul - at what cost?

There are many terms and ideas being thrown around today, and one that seems to strike to the heart of many people (especially if you are getting a stint) is universal health care. Now I could bore you to death with stats and figures, show you what plans have the greatest statistical chance of success and what figures back up who's ideas.

But instead, I'd like to look at this issue from the eyes of the working class person who does not have the time or the desire to look up this information. Those of us who simply want to live our lives, be healthy, and be happy. What does universal health care mean for the average citizen and family?

You wake up one morning getting ready for work. A cry comes from the other room. You check on your toddler and feel a has a warm forehead while she coughs repeatedly. Your child is sick.

If you're a parent, you know that this event is filled with many different emotions, from no big deal to dire emergency. Is it simply a small fever, common cold, flu (swine being worse), or something worse. Step one for most parents is a trip to the local pediatricians office.

You have recently received your new government health care card in the mail, so the trip is should be a stress free one. No worry of the visit not being covered by a greedy insurance company, no co-pay, and the expectation of the beginning of great medical care in America. After all, the public officials healthcare plan is good, so yours now is too!

Upon arriving at the pediatrician, you notice the parking lot is full of cars. No worry you say, I'll park across the street. The walk into the office brings you an unfamiliar sight. The office is full, more than you have ever seen. Once again you are not worried though, the new government health care that covers everyone means more doctors because their are more people! The wait in the office beings as usual, but the emotional fatigue begins to set it after the first hour and a half have passed with many more still in front of you. Guess they didn't hire any more doctors for this office.

Finally after two and a half hours, your name is called for service. You enter the room with your child as usual, the nurse asks about the general symptoms, and tells you the doctor will be right in. At least your finally in the room.

Another hour goes by. You begin speaking to yourself of how ridiculous this is, and how it shouldn't take this long at a doctors office. A knock on the door brings relief as the doctor comes in to examine your little girl. He seems agitated, grumbling about the tests results he is constantly waiting for. After what seems like a very quick exam of your little girl, the doctor tells you "She has a cold. Take this antibiotic, and if it doesn't get better in a week give us a call."

"That's it? No further checks, no tests to be sure? Are you positive it's just a cold?" you ask as a typical concerned parent.

"If the symptoms are still there in a week, bring her back" he says with a fatigued look. You reluctantly accept the diagnosis and head home.

A week goes by and the symptoms get worse. The antibiotics haven't helped, the fever is getting worse, and you begin to get very worried. You decide you don't want to go through a three to four hour office visit again, so you decide to take your daughter to the emergency room. Didn't make much difference.

The wait in the ER is 4 hours, people from all walks of life are here to seek medical care. Everything from severe accidents to small splinters are seen in this ER today. The process repeats. A long wait for admittance, overcrowding of the hosptial areas, and what seems like the same or fewer doctors available to speak to you.

Finally a doctor arrives to take care of your daughter. After some general diagnostic work, he orders swabs and blood samples to be taken. You think to your self finally I am getting somewhere.

"The samples will be available in a few days, we'll let you know what we find."

How could this be? You go into an ER, your daughter with a fever and a bad cough, and you are sent home to wait on the results from testing. You remember the time when it seemed like things were taken seriously, when the doctors wanted to know you were ok before you left the hospital. This is not the same medical care you remember.

A few days later, as your daughter continues to lie suffering from cold sweats, fever, coughs, and is continually crying in what sounds like dire painyou get the much awaited phone call.

"Your daughter may have a possible appendix infection, appendicitis. Further testing will reveal this for sure, you must schedule an appointment for testing."

So you schedule the appointment, for one week from that day as told would be the earliest time, and continue to wait for your daughters medical care.

That little girl would have been a bright spot on this world. She had her whole life ahead of her. A life of fun, excitement, and joy of experiencing all life has to other. Now her mother, grieving in her daughters absence, will never be able to shop for a wedding dress with that girl, or hold her first grand child from her daughter. The girls father will never give her away at the alter, and will never get to give her first boyfriend a hard time. That little girl....is gone.

The rupture of the appendix was sudden. After a rush back to the emergency room, it was too late for the little girl. The doctors left others waiting int he beds to try and save the young screaming child, but instead they watched her last breath come from her little body, only to not see her chest rise again in a breath. If only they had got to her sooner, paid more attention, had the results right away, and treated her properly for the condition, she may still be alive in this world.

This is the reality under universal health care. A purely fiction story you say? Imagine 40 million more people, whom are generally those in need of the most medical care, suddenly showing up in hospitals and doctors officers. The doctors are now dictated their pay and services by the government, and must place patients in order of highest chance of survival and lowest probability of immediate danger. The waiting lists are long, the office visits are frustrating, and the obviously already overwhelmed ER's are packed to capacity.

There should be new doctors, but a flood of people have come before new doctors can come in. Less sleep for the current doctors in inevitable, more harsh working conditions, and a dictation of care from a committee of politicians sitting thousands of miles away under minds the care of which doctors are tasked with providing. People go to the ER more often for minor things now because it's covered, whether it could truly wait or not. This is the environment of Universal Healthcare.

Other nations use this system. Britain and Canada both have stories of coverage for all with longer waiting times and rationed care. Their governments decide who gets to live and who dies, not their doctors. Many people go untreated or under treated, as in our example, for lack of available doctors. Keep in mind their population is lower.

Take a look in a metropolitan emergency room on a typical weekend night before universal healthcare. They are packed with people and not enough beds as it is. Add 40 million more people to this without having a much greater infrastructure in place and you begin to see the trouble with rushing this idea through.

A better bet would be to fix this system, along with other issues, all at the same time. We are required to place money into social secruity for retirement, of which we will most likely never see the full benefit. We pay an income tax so that our government can buy car companies, give money to banks, and tax us for everything we do. It's time to realize that the answer is not the government, it's the people.

A private health care fund would be a much better investment in the health of our citizens. A system that allows people to save for their health, while at the same time decreasing the amount put into social security. As the governments own reports have said, social security and medicare are nearly bankrupt as it is. Can you imagine the medicare system when it covers everyone, along with paying for social security and income tax? In a time of slowdown all over the world, losing even more disposable income is a bad idea.

Our healthcare system isn't perfect. We have people who suffer that deserve better care. Government provided care however is not the answer. At what point do we as a society tell people that we cannot afford to care for everyone at all times. That personal resonsibility is necessary to survive in this world. When do we realize that it is not the responsibility of the government to care for our every need. I hope this epiphany comes soon, as we are most assuredly running out of time.

Moore’s Law, Why Doesn’t It Apply To Operating Systems?

So there I was, browsing my favorite tech parts site looking for some possible system parts for my brother. In doing so I noticed something that really should bother me after all these years working with and building computer systems for various needs. I built my new computer system 3 years ago and at the time had a top of the line computer, with all the bells and whistles added on as I spent quite a good deal getting the latest and greatest components. The core of the system cost me about 850, being the motherboard processor and memory. Today, I found that I can build the whole system, minus a high end video card, for $302 shipped. I am talking everything minus a monitor, with case hard drive, cd-rom, case with power supply, everything you need to get a fully functional computer.

Now I know Moore’s law says that about every two years the processing capability available to the general market should double, and it’s been fairly consistent throughout the time of the personal computer. What strikes me as odd now is the operating systems that use this capability are not keeping up to this pace. For the first time since I started really diving into the hobby and trade of system building, I am finding the upgrades in hard hardware to not carry over into real performance in the software. A dual core processor will run XP almost identical to a quad core in terms of normal use. Copying files doesn’t noticeably decrease in time, and general times of opening multiple programs at once doesn’t seem to be extremely faster on the new processors you can buy today.

Now I know that Vista is out and that it is the “latest and greatest” from M$, but when I run a new operating system that is supposed to be better than the last, and have it full of holes and bugs (ex. Windows Millenium), it makes me not want to consider it until the bugs are worked out, if they ever are. So far in my usage tests of vista, it runs slower on dual core systems than xp, and runs that same amount slower with quad core systems. The file copying is slower, the overall interface is slower, and many programs and drivers either are very buggy or just flat out don’t work.

It’s been speculated that the next O.S. from M$ will be out in the next 2 years, which would harken back to the millennium days of a declared failure. My question is, if XP has peaked out in terms of performance, and vista is having so many problems, at what point does Moore’s law become ineffective. In other words, at what point does the increase of processor speeds become irrelevant. At this time, I can have 10 programs open at the same time, while I copy files and surf the web, and go through all my menus and suffer little if any slow down. Why should I upgrade to either an operating system that is SLOWER than the previous one, giving me no real necessary extra features, or a processor that won’t show a difference in capability because the O.S. is maxed out? If it were up to me, XP would just go all 64 bit native and have DX 10 capability, with the option to have a 3d graphical interface. Wait a minute, that sounds strangely familiar…Isn’t that exactly what Vista is now? Don’t fix what’s not broke, although then M$ wouldn’t make as much money now would they.

Sennheiser e604 Drum Microphones

When looking for drum microphones, specifically well matched tom mics, my partner and I looked far and wide, listened to many opinions, and listened to as many as we could to ensure the best quality we could afford. We heard offerings from AKG, Shure, Nady, and a few others that I just can’t remember off the top of my head. When we took our annual trek to the local Guitar Center, we were determined that day to get the best we could afford, and had the idea to just get 4 SM 57’s, one for the snare and three for the toms.

While sitting at the checkout counter, we noticed in their sales case a set of Sennheiser e604 tom mics. Now I will be the first to admit to everyone that I have never been a huge Sennheiser fan. I don’t know exactly what it is about them, but Shure has always had my heart. I have tried the comparable Sennheiser products to the SM58 and the Beta 58 as well as their higher end wireless systems, and while I don’t see anything wrong with them really, they just don’t give my ears the same rich sound that the Beta58 and the Beta87 produce (just my personal opinion, I know many people that feel the complete opposite). So while I hesitated to pick up the 3 pack of e604 tom mics, I decided with advice from the salesman to give them a shot. After all I can return them if I don’t like them, so why not?

What I was expecting was a generic microphone sound, something that would amplify the toms, but not necessarily create a high quality sound worth anything more than a generic instrument mic. What I heard was an engineering masterpiece. The sound of the toms was crystal clear, with tons of headroom before peaking. The clips are perfect for the toms (or snare if you get a fourth mic). The small size is great and I have never had a drummer complain about them being in the way yet. All that and I have the added benefit of not using up mic stands.

Now when we bought these mics, our only intended use for these little marvels were for the toms of sets we had mic’ed. During a bluegrass groups performance, the bass player was using a standup bass with no pickup available. I looked at the size of the e604 and figured it was worth a try to see what sound I could get. I was amazed at the quality of the standup sound through the little mic, and began experimenting with other instruments.

I now consider the e604 one of, if not the best instrument mic for the money in my gig bag. It has a crisper sound than an sm57, and the size to be used on just about anything, amped or not. Clip one on to a saxophone and enjoy a very rich and natural sound. Guitar amps? As Gallagher would say, no problem! Hand drums are perfect candidates as well. I have yet to try them as vocal mic’s but I am sure that gig will come when I run out of all other available mic’s.

If you are looking for some drum kit microphones, I highly recommend checking these e604’s out. They won’t break the bank at roughly $139 a piece, or $339 for 3, and can take the abuse of an occasional drumstick smashing into the microphone while the local slamming drum heads soloist goes to town. The versatility of these things rates as the highest in my gig bag, and you would be hard pressed to find a better sounding instrument mic at this price range. You can also buy these inside of a Sennheiser Drum mic kit with a kick drum mic, but I have not yet used the Sennhesier kick drum mics, so I don’t have a good opinion on those…..yet…..

When Did Music Become Illegal?

So I feel I must discuss something that is a plague on the art of music more than anything else it has ever faced. The very core of the way we are fed our music today has become nothing more than a scam. A way to take your money, either by sales or by force of lawsuit. I came across an article today from the Washington post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122800693.html

The RIAA has decided ripping music from our purchased cds is illegal, after years of saying it’s ok to do that as long as we buy a copy of the cd we are ripping to change formats.

What can we do about this? How can we take back the music and get it out of the hands of the corporate greed mongers? I say we call for an all out boycott of anything involving the RIAA.

The artists have to know that we are not against them, just the industry that represents them. I want to hear great music, and I want to hear new artists that are talented, but when you sue all of the potential customers, what hope does that give of those groups succeeding. I feel saddened for all of the musicians out there with raw talent and ability that are going to never get a chance to show it to the world because the RIAA tactics cause less bands to be signed, with less pay for the ones that are because most of the music is now made by a single person through electronic loops. The music is fading, and unless we do something about it soon, we can expect the art form to dissipate until the desire is gone.

We need a change. We need to stop buying RIAA backed albums. We need to endorse our favorite artists by seeing them live, or telling them you would rather pay them directly for their music than pay the industry. Web radio is in a fight for its life because of the RIAA, and that is the future of great independent music. The movie industry realized this when they said TiVo was acceptable, and I have not heard of any cases of them suing people for making copies of their movies.

As in the time of prohibition for our grand relatives before us, we need to take a stand, not to get the industry to change it’s mind, because that is futile. The way to their pocketbooks is through a change in the horribly outdated copyright laws in this country

Canada already has a law in place stating “the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of (a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording, (b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer's performance or the sound recording.”

The keywords here are the private use of the person making the copy. If the U.S. would adopt this type of laws, we would not have these horribly frivolous and absurd lawsuits by the RIAA.

Write your elected official if you can, make your voice heard. At the very least, hit them where it hurts, by boycotting anything involving the RIAA. Support your artists through concert promotions and merchandise, and continue to obtain your music the that best suits you within the ideal legal grounds. iTunes, Napster, buying cds and ripping them, using your mp3 player. Whatever the movement takes.

I am hopeful that the artists of today will realize that they should be part of the revolution instead the end of the previous evolution. We are becoming more and more connected as a culture, and the time of one person buying a hard copy of media is fading fast. I hope the RIAA realizes it is now declaring Microsoft’s Windows Media Player an illegal piece of software by taking this stance. It can rip copy protected cds with the option “rip protected cds” checked. According to the RIAA, software which leads to the infringement of copyrighted material is illegal, as is their case in getting p2p software sites shutdown. All computers in this country running windows (something like 98%) are now considered illegal by the RIAA. How do you feel about that?

The Working DJ’s Acquiring Music Program Of Choice

So you want to be a DJ? One of the first things you will need to decide after you figure out what equipment you want to use will be how to get all the music you will be playing. I do not want to get into all the legal issues here because frankly I don’t think there is a DJ in the whole U.S. that actually does his trade 100% legally. That would involve paying performance fee’s and royalties for every song played and a requirement to track all of the song on your playlist. I have never met or heard of a DJ that does all of this, and any that tells you they are 100% legal in getting their songs is 99.9% likely to be incorrect.

With that being said, there are ways that at least feel more legal and are less likely to get you looked at by anyone when getting your songs for gigs. The two most popular are iTunes and Napster. Both let you purchase songs for around $.99 a song, and have a large selection of artists to choose from. The software is pretty straight forward on each and a few clicks will have the music flowing in no time. A different option is to go with Limewire P2P, but this has the risks of getting unedited or low quality copies of songs, and you are taking the risk of paying nothing towards license fees if anyone ever asked (although there are certain occasions that the only way to find the song you want may be this method.) So what should you pick? This DJ chooses to use Napster. A business accomplice I work with many times throughout the year chooses iTunes. It all depends on how you decide to use your music.

I have decided to take the Napster route. The majority of gigs I am involved in are at places with wi-fi connections. If you use Napster, you can actually stream the songs directly from the Napster servers without having to download. You also can use a laptop card or a tethered phone service to connect to your favorite cellular net provider and stream songs where w-ifi is unavailable. If you choose to download the songs, they are in a high quality windows media audio format and work well with any of your favorite music players, as long as Napster is installed and able to work. The biggest advantage is the price. 15 a month for a large majority of songs you could want, and library that can be played on the fly without paying $.99 per every song. You will occasionally run in to some songs that will cost you a dollar to download, but that’s much better than a dollar for every song you want. It seems hard for me to fathom having to pay a dollar for every song you want for a gig, when you may play 70 or more songs per gig. After a while of getting your library built up it would not be as bad, but why not just pay 15 a month and enjoy a large majority for nothing else.

iTunes is obviously all the craze in the portable music and DJ world. A large number of DJs I have seen use iTunes in one way or another, and are hard to show any other way of getting songs. Must be the apple craze, but I see no reason to it. It will get the job done if you need it to though, and is good to have as a quick source if Napster doesn’t have the artist you are looking for. Without he monthly fee, you are able to get only what you can’t find elsewhere (assuming it’s on iTunes,) and there is no other fee to use it.

I would almost call them compliments of each other. Napster is a good core service, while iTunes can get you few more songs that you may have a hard time finding. If I were to start my DJ gig all over again, I would go to Napster to start. The choice is obviously up to the individual, but unless someone can give me an argument for iTunes, I will stick with Napster.

Advertise Your Blog

Do you think a blog should be advertised? If so, whats the best way to do so while reaching your target audience? I would like to let others see my opinions, and I am sure all of you bloggers out there would like to advice in sharing yours. Does this call for a social strictly blogging site? Ideas are flowing here, what do you do to get your blog seen?

Southern Gospel View

Growing up as a youngster, I listened to souther gospel and quartet style music the majority of the time. Going through the teenage years saw rebellion against the "moral high ground" and thus a different taste of music. I now see looking back that my entire musical ability and keen ear is based on the hours upon hours of hearing the Kingsmen, Gold City, The Oak Ridge Boys, Gaither Vocal Band and so on. It taught me skills I use to this day and developed my ear to hear the amazing harmonies and forms of many different styles. As a core to expand upon, Southern Gospel hits the root of all modern music, and I attribute it to my appreciation of the art form of music as a whole.

My brother Kyle is a part of the Southern Gospel music rebirth as I see it, and I invite you to check out his blog, the Southern Gospel View. Enjoy!