Archives for July 2005

I have read/listened to a number of arguments about why people think that Roe V. Wade should be overturned and on the whole I have been unimpressed with the arguments that they have put forth.

These cyberspace “Larry H. Parkers” (remember those horrible commercials) have tried to present themselves as having very well thought out arguments that are nuanced and slick, but really have just been sick.

One of the more colorful arguments said that if men were more careful where and when they stick it abortion would be unnecessary. Another threatened us all with the wrath of G-d. Cute stuff, but none of that works for me.

Here is my very simple argument about why I think that it should receive federal attention and not be a case of state’s rights.

If it goes that direction it is quite likely that there will be states that ban it. And that could negatively impact the ability of the poor to get an abortion. Now some of the diehards who want to see it abolished would be thrilled with that, but I think that this is a real problem that should be addressed.

Funding should not prevent access to those who require it.

Just to be clear I am not an advocate of using abortion as birth control and I am very concerned about late term abortions.

During my single days there were two separate occasions in which I was involved in a scare and was prepared to take those involved for an abortion.

At this point of my life it is not an option that I want to exercise because I am prepared to take care of the child that will develop.

But it doesn’t mean that I want to outlaw or ban it either.

There is much more to be said and done in a smarter way, but I don’t have the time for that right now.

Terrorism is something that I have spent a lot of time thinking about. I make no claims to be an expert nor to have any special trick/insight on this. But I have this platform and the opportunity to share some thoughts with you.

Prior to 911 I was one of those people who thought that eventually terrorists would hit the U.S. I wasn’t happy about that and hoped to be wrong.

I am old enough to remember some of the chaos that surrounded the US in the early 70s. I remember hearing about Vietnam, Watergate, Patty Hearst and more. I was around 10 when the hostage crisis broke out in Iran and I remember hearing many different things about the US. It was the first time that I really remember realizing that there were people who didn’t like America.

But terror was not a new thing to me because I had heard the stories about Munich and other events surrounding Israel. I knew that there were bad people who did nasty things.

And by the time Tim Mcveigh and company got involved in the Oklahoma City bombing I was very much aware of terror. In truth I had been through a couple of scares in Israel in ’85 so I knew it on a personal level as well as the distant.

I have been down the path on which I felt badly about terror and spent time looking inward and trying to ask what we could have done to have caused so much anger in people and I have been on the far side of that too.

Now I sit in the middle. I think that it is important to understand the motivation of these terrorist. There may be things that we can learn to help mitigate the problem, but as I have blogged about so many times I understand how ideology plays a role too.

Terrorists use fear. They thrive on it, feed off the pain and sorrow, suckle on it like candy. Fear is one of their biggest assets. So it seems natural to me that a core part of fighting terror is to demonstrate that fear is not going to motivate the action that the terrorists needs and or desires.

I think that it is ok to say that you are afraid to die, that you are concerned for your family and friends welfare too, but in spite of your fair you will not relent. You need to establish clear boundaries or you risk it all.

A friend of mine argued that this position only makes the terrorist more dangerous, that they will try for bigger and larger casualty counts but I do not buy that argument. Once you give in there is no going back.

There are no easy answers here, no Hollywood endings, life is too complex for that.

I just returned from seeing my dentist and it would be fair to say that I am spitting blood. For the past 30 years this man has been in charge of my mouth and overall I have been relatively happy with him and his services.

Within the past couple of years I have become less and less happy with the things that have been going on in his office. The rates have gone up and they have stopped accepting my insurance. Nevertheless for a variety of reasons I stayed with him.

This past January I went in for a routine cleaning. During my appointment I learned that I had a cracked tooth that might require a crown but that this would not be necessary immediately, if at all.

Today I learned that the tooth snapped and that it will need to be prepared. Strangely enough I haven’t felt any pain at all from this.

So I was meeting with the receptionist/assistant/flunky to schedule time to come in for the crown. She told me that it would be $835. Since they have stopped taking my insurance I wasn’t sure if I was going to have the work done there, but was understandably reluctant to get involved with someone new for something like this.

I asked if there was a payment plan that could be scheduled and the flunky snootily told me that I could put down 50% today and that I might be able to finance rest if I qualifed for their finance company. She also told me that she thought that I had been a very slow pay and that they have a lot of bills that they have to pay.

She then tried to chastise me about some other work that needs to be done saying that the dentist had found three teeth between January 2004 and 2005 that needed fillings and that I had failed to handle that.

I was completely taken aback by her attitude and told her that at no such time had anyone discussed anything other than the crown with me and for that matter I had a tooth filled in January.

But she insisted on telling me that I was mistaken and that they could not have made a mistake. Her haughty and obnoxious attitude really sent me over the edge and I told her not to worry about scheduling the crown because I was done with them.

I understand that they have bills to pay and I understand that there are challenges, but I aslo know that I come to a rinky dink office that hasn’t been updated since 1978, that they do not validate parking and think nothing of engaging in unnecessary conversation about this and that while I sit in the chair and that had they used a nicer manner I probably would have stuck with them.

But not anymore. Goodbye Charlie, see you later Doc I am going to find someone else who has a flunky and no attitude.

This picture is making the rounds of the Jewish blogosphere, but I had to put it up. In the midst of strife it is nice to see something like this.

This relates to James Doohan (Scotty) who died earlier today. In Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan there were two scenes that really got to me.

The first is when Spock dies and here is the kicker. At his funeral when Scotty played the bagpipes I do admit to shedding a tear or two.

And if you want to see the trailer for the film you can click here. It is not real good, but fun to watch for nostalgic purposes.