With apologies to Brenda Lee, Raul Malo and Al Anderson

Beards and World Series Winners, just for us fans
Sports Illustrated Sept 30 2013

Am I fan number one, or,  am I fan number two,
how many others have been fans of you?
I'll bet that the number is far from being small.
But I'll bet that us Mainers are the biggest fans of all.

You can watch the re-runs and look at them score,
and then rewind the thing and watch them some more.
Watch Lester pitch, or Pedoria make a play,
yes sir you can watch them, and do it all day!

Can you see the game get close, and don't want an even score?
Put Koji Uehara in and they won't score any more.
Nobody on the team can hit like Big Papi does,
when he comes up to bat, you can hear the buzz.

There are players of every stripe and size,
and you'll be a fan of theirs, if you are wise.
There's room in Red Sox Nation for you today,
and you'll be happy when you see them play.

What a great series it was, of course I didn't watch all of every game, I was awake for the final out!
Thankfully MLB TV has great coverage before and after each game, so I have certainly watched the highlight and the lowlights what a series.  Games ended as never before in 1405 games none had ended with a pick off or an obstruction call.  I'm a happy man.

Note:  Raul Malo and Al Anderson wrote the song "Fool number one", it was made a hit by Brenda Lee.  I heard the song on the radio and thought this stuff up.

It's that Medicare time of year (again and again)

cartooninanimation.net

There comes a time every year,
when my mailbox is full, front to rear;
with proposals from some or is it all?
Of offers for insurance in case I fall.

Medicare allows certain changes you know,
for 'scripts, or hospitals if you've money to blow.
But I can't partake or participate,
and I simply reject their bait.

I am harnessed by choice or by duty,
USFHBP* is really a beauty,
for military active and most of retired,
payment of Part B is required.

We get pretty good care that a bang for the buck,
and if we wanted to change it could be bad luck.
I think we'll keep what we have, no matter the offer;
while for free care for life, goes to the governments coffer.

*U S Forces Health Benefit Plan

Think, think, think

I'm going to show you some pictures of famous art works.  They all have something in common such as Adam and Eve, a serpent or leaves.  Look at each of them carefully. There are four of them.

Raffelo Sanso ceiling painting

Soluspise - A more modern work

Lucas Cranach the Elder

PPACA Another nail the the Middle Class coffin

FM; Huffington Post

The PPACA or Obamacare is another nail in the coffin for the middle class Americans.  The President openly lied when he said people of already have insurance would keep it.

There are thousands of self-insured citizens who are receiving or are going to receive cancellation notices from their insurers.  They will be allowed to "re-enroll" but at a much higher cost.  I watched on couple on TV who had been paying $199.00/month plus a $3500.00 deductible.  Their new offer had the same deductible but the monthly cost was now $638.00!  The difference is because that insurer will have to accept people with pre-existing conditions.  Is it fair for that couple to be asked to pay for someone, unknown?

Even though I know the aim is for everyone to be insured, I don't think that a very good way to make sure it works.  I have repeatedly said Obamacare will fail, I am even more sure now.  Low income people will not enroll.  A young man who works part time at a "dollar store" that a friend and I talked to yesterday at our coffee hour hadn't even heard of the Act.  Young people aren't interested enough in what's going on to watch the news!  They will not buy insurance even though it may be "free" for them (see the young couple above).

CBS News is reporting on October 29th that over two million policies have been cancelled or amended.  It is becoming more clear that this Obamacare law was written by and for the benefit of the insurance industry.  The law simply is not what the public thought it was. Period.

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/29/21222195-obama-administration-knew-millions-could-not-keep-their-health-insurance#.Um9f6dZiV_A.email

The address above has more information.  You can copy and paste to your address bar.

From: Opposing Views

Bulk mail tricksters

I was just hanging around doing nothing, when the mailman came.
There were forty-three pieces of mail.  Each one had my name.
Would you like to try our insurance?  Twenty of them said.
If you don't try our insurance, you could end up dead.

Would you like one of our credit cards?  Twenty of them said.
We'll give you one free month without interest.  Then you should dread.
The interest will increase to seventy-three percent.
And you won't have no money left.  Not one red cent.

Would you give us your money?  Three of them asked.
Just a couple hundred dollars, that's not such a task!
And we'll keep mailing you letters.  Your box will not go dry.
Go ahead and try to stop these.  Just go ahead an try!

But what's the cost of this "free mail",
That makes all those folks wag like a dog on a tail?
One hundred million trees made in to paper,
5.8 million tons in to the mail, and that's not vapor.

50,000 garbage trucks to carry it all,  (each day)
When it goes to the dump every day this fall. (90 days)
300 pieces for each man, woman and children too,
how much of it comes to people like you?

It takes 50 trees to build a nice house,
beams, studs, and sheathing, floors to prevent a mouse.*
twelve hundred square feet of living space then.
How much mail would that have been?


100 Million trees would build 2 million houses of 1200SF
*400 beams/studs
70 pieces of plywood sheathing for outer walls and roof.
80 pieces of fiber board for sub-floors.

I will be discussing the PPACA (Obamacare) more tomorrow. 

 

What's that you say?

By Jim Huber

Start speaking Spanish in ten days,
in one or more informational ways.
If you've never spoken Spanish before,
don't have to worry, you won't anymore.

Que habla English? Isn't that nice,
speaking Spanish and put it on ice.
Languages from them other places,
is for them folks that gots other faces.

You don't need that, don't you see,
unless you travel, oh wait! Oh, gee!
You mean I might need a word or two,
like please and thank you and who.

You never know when some language is handy,
you might need a word of two to get some candy.
Or maybe you need to say don't go,
and you'll need to say espere un minute!

Or maybe you could ask if you want to know,
Doko iki no? To ask where you go.
And I forgot the Ano nay to get his attention,
there's just so many ways that I could mention.

This ramble contains Spanish, Japanese, English and Slang.

Now..put that out!

www.cartoonstock.com

There comes a time when smoking, really ain't no joke,
and you do everything you can not to take a toke.
So I tried a lozenge with nicotine inside,
they are strong and belly burning and need to take a ride.

I can puff on my eCig, as long as it is charge(d),
but what happens when there's no power and the need is large?
You could scream your lungs out or pray to unknown kings;
but you're better off - - just to forget those things!

I could try wearing patches, but I don't want those things,
or I could try flying, but I can't grow no wings.
How about acupuncture?  Oh, needles give me the creeps.
and there ain't no sense in crying those heaving sobbing weeps.

No just quit and forget it, you're going to tough it out,
then in just a few short days, you'll be able to tell about….
just how you did it and how with no aids or any stuff;
you quit just like you wanted 'cause you're so god damned tough!