Working Summer

One would think, as I am currently one of the millions of unemployed Americans, that I would have an abundance of time to post blog items. I certainly thought I would have the luxury of hours to fill a blank computer screen.

Silly me. Although this is my second turn on the unemployment scene in as many years, I was quick to forgot how much work it is, just looking for a new job. From fine-tuning a resume, to online applications, to returning messages, to phone interviews, and finally, to in-person interviews, job hunting eats up most of every day. In addition, I have networking lunches scheduled throughout the week with various friends and professional contacts.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's gratifying to have the work experience and qualifications that merit a lively level of interest.

Thrown into this summertime mix is my daughter's vacation visit from Boston, accompanied by the usual gamut of social events that customarily swirl around Kristine. The centerpiece of her trip was San Diego's annual Over the Line tournament, where she played yesterday with her teammates of the past six years. There are plenty of events, day trips, parties, and barbecues to come this week, many including Mom.

But before I do anything else, I need to fax this completed and signed form back to a potential employer...

An Independent Choice

It took someone with the star power of Sarah Palin to knock the interminable Michael Jackson circus from the headlines. Even in the media black hole of a holiday weekend, the commotion she has created by announcing she will resign as Alaska's governor has been remarkable.

I'm not the "Paliniac" that many conservatives are, but I do like Sarah Palin. She's honest, she's real, and she's got guts to spare. And, Northwestern twang notwithstanding, she is completely capable of putting a sentence together without the aid of a teleprompter and with a minimum of "uhmmms." Refreshing, to say the least.

The real reason behind her sudden departure from elected office will be a source of unending speculation. While I don't like quitting a commitment to the public trust, if I put myself in her pumps I can understand her decision. She is trashed unfairly and unmercifully by President Obama's worshipful MSM, but I do think she can tolerate that terrible treatment. Palin is one tough lady.

My theory agrees with those who say that it's the harassment and attacks upon her children and her family, and the mounting legal bills to pay for the endless investigations into her actions as governor (in all of the settled cases, she has been acquitted of any wrongdoing). I think it's the media's thirst for Palin blood at any cost that has driven this public servant to abandon her post. If I'm correct, that is very sad for America.

Today, more than ever, this country needs good, sincere people who are willing to step forward and run for office. The media's absolutely disgusting treatment of Sarah Palin has made it more likely that such good people will think twice before throwing themselves--and their families--to the unprincipled and insatiable wolves of MSM.

If she is planning to try for the presidency, I'll be surprised. Quitting the governorship mid-term was not the best tactic for such a strategy. However, stranger things have happened. We have a term-quitter as president right now, as a matter of fact. Perhaps that's why the liberals remain so viciously terrified of her.

I'm glad that Sarah Palin has a multitude of job offers pouring in. She has earned every one of them, and I wish her the best of luck no matter what path she chooses to follow next.

Freedom Rings

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

~ closing line of The Declaration of Independence

I've always been proud that a Carroll was among the signers.

Happy 233rd birthday, U.S.A.

On Socialized Healthcare

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

~ John Adams

Forbes has an insightful piece by Shika Dalmia, linked here, on five lies President Obama is feeding us about healthcare.  I advise reading the entire article--this is an issue that affects every American--but for brevity's sake, below are the Five Lies:

1. No one will be compelled to buy coverage.
   
2. No new taxes on employer benefits.
   
3. Government can control rising health care costs better than the private sector.
   
4. A public plan won't be a Trojan horse for a single-payer monopoly.
   
5. Patients don't have to fear rationing.
   

This week, I was speaking with a hospital executive in San Diego.  I asked her how the proposed changes in healthcare will impact her work.  She answered that it will make healthcare much more difficult, because so many million new patients will be infused into a system that already doesn't cope with the numbers very well.

Change is needed, we both agreed.  Costs must come down.  But we also agreed that Obama's arbitrary road leads to the government rationing of healthcare; there is no other logical conclusion.  There are simply not enough physicians.  Numbers don't lie, and, as John Adams once famously remarked, facts are stubborn things.

Parents with idealistic young adults, who hear the choirs of heaven in the background whenever the president speaks, need to ask their children some very direct questions.  If Mom gets breast cancer, are they willing to watch her wait nine months to a year to receive radiation treatments?  Are they comfortable with her being declared ineligible for an expensive chemotherapy treatment that might cure her?  If Dad needs heart surgery after age 60, or 65--whatever the "cutoff" is determined to be--are they prepared to accept his denial of treatment by a government health control board?

These are real questions that deserve honest answers, and very quickly.  Cap and trade (and tax) can be reversed, as can government control of banks and car companies.  But if we shatter our healthcare system, there is no going back.  That thought alone is enough to make me sick.

Peter's Day

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

~ Matt 16:18

On the Catholic Church's calendar, today is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.  They are considered the two pillars of the early Church, most directly responsible for its survival and growth throughout the world.

It is also my husband's "Name Day," a very big deal in his family's Latvian tradition.  While Pete was alive, he received a religious greeting card and a telephone call from his mother each year on June 29 for "Peteris Dien"--Peter's Day.

Wherever you are, Pete, I hope you've enjoyed your day.