GilsBlog

Healthcare

2010-01-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

Healthcare in America is the envy of the world. Why? Because we have, up until now, allowed the free market to constantly innovate and provide medical advances.

For example, pharmaceuticals require tremendous amounts of research and development. There is also testing, and trials which can add years to the release of a new drug. Nevertheless, since we have allowed the free market to set the pricing, this has allowed the innovators to recoup their investments, with the promise of future profits from successful products.

This profit motive is the magic of capitalism. It allows promise of future returns on investments of capital today.

Similarly, Doctors have invested time and capital in themselves, with the promise of future returns on their investment. They then established hospitals and medical centers where they could pool their talents and services. This had the effect of promoting better health, which then extended to lengthening lifespans.

Those who benefited from these advances in medical care were grateful, and often invested their fortunes in the hospitals, in order to help others receive better care as well. These endowments often became the catalyst to establish foundations and hospitals which were dedicated to finding cures for certain diseases, or for groups of people. St. Judes, The Shriners, and The American Cancer Society are but a small example of some fine organizations which have made a tremendous contribution to advancements in our healthcare.

Now we have our Government trying to take over our healthcare system. Under the guise of "Healthcare Reform" these purportedly well-meaning people think that the government can do a better job of advancing medicines and healthcare than can be done by the private sector. This is impossible, because without a profit motive, and with the natural inclination for government regulations, it can only lead to a nightmare of catastrophic proportions.

We are on the path to becoming like Canada, Europe, Cuba, and other countries that have "universal healthcare", with long waiting lists, death panels, rampant black markets, corruption, and reduced quality of care, induced by the lack of doctors willing to work under such conditions.

My point is that President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and all the other Marxists who are taking our country sharply to the Left, need to be stopped. If their efforts to nationalize Healthcare succeed, it will only result in the failure of our country. Accompanied by the other moves to take over banking, the auto industry, real estate, and provide "stimulus" funding for support of more government programs, we find ourselves at a crossroads.

If the American people don't wake up soon, and start fighting this takeover. our Constitution will be rendered useless, and our once-great country will become much like the rest of the world. Mediocrity will abound. Suffering and death will become the norm, and we will long for the "good old days" when things were so much better.

This is all about CONTROL and POWER. We all need to fight this evil takeover, or our children and grandchildren will ask why we didn't.

Earthquake

2010-01-13T20:58:00.000-08:00

A massive earthquake hit the Port Au Prince area of Haiti yesterday. It measured about 7.1 on the Richter scale. While not quite as strong as the Landers quake which shook southern California in 1992, and my wife Mary Ellen lived through, it was still a very strong earthquake, and caused a tremendous amount of damage.

Having experienced and survived several temblors myself, they are one of the scariest natural events we can experience. They usually hit without warning, and can cause buildings to topple, tidal waves to rush inland for miles, make huge fissures and faults to appear in the ground, and generally wreak havoc all in a matter of seconds.

Every time I see how God has blessed our country with such a wide variety of terrains and rivers, I am just awed at how lucky we are to live here. I mean, having grown up in southern California, and lived on or near the San Andreas Fault for many years, I guess I'm lucky to never have experienced any major earthquake damage, personally. Sure, we had some pictures fall, and cracks appear in drywall and concrete, but that was about it for me. I can hardly imagine living where your entire city has been decimated like just happened in Haiti.

I'm also thankful that we live in America, because since we are so blessed, we are able to help others. Our country is almost always the first to lend a hand, sending food, medicine, and people to help in every way, whenever such a disaster occurs. How great is that?

I doubt that Cuba, Haiti's neighbor, will be able to send much aid. They are too busy fighting the poverty brought on by decades of tyranny under Fidel's Communism. The only countries that are equipped to, and want to help, are free, capitalist societies, that value human rights, and life.

I hope America always helps others in need, including its own citizens when disasters happen here, like during hurricanes and floods, fires and tsunamis, terrorist attacks and earthquakes, and anything else that happens unexpectedly, and causes human suffering.

As long as we the people, who make up this great nation, desire to help our fellow man, I think we can overcome anything. May God bless those in need, and may we do what we can to help, too.

-Gil

Religion

2010-01-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

Uh oh. Don't you know this subject is taboo in discussions among friends?

Why?

Because most people have their own feelings and values, and beliefs, and to try to discuss them will only bring on aggravation, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, etc. etc.

Well, just what are friends for? I have lots of friends, and most of them are very different from me, and have very different beliefs and values than mine. Does this stop them from being my friends? No.

One of the great things about discussion is the opportunity to learn from someone else. I mean, if it weren't for my willingness to learn from others, I probably wouldn't believe some of the things I believe today.

I believe that God put us on this earth to learn, to succeed, to fail, to love, to hate, to hurt and to heal. All of these experiences give us wisdom.

Wisdom provides a plethora of benefits. It allows us to be able to comprehend things that less-experienced individuals might not be able to comprehend. Wisdom also tells us when not to do things, as well as when we should do things. It is the great Oz inside our brains and hearts.

So what am I talking about? If everyone lived their lives by their own set of values and morality, this world would soon be in chaos. What would be offensive and immoral for one would be perfectly OK for someone else. God knows this, and thus has provided a set of rules to live by, if we want to avoid a lot of the pitfalls available to us on this world.

He based these rules or commandments on LOVE. God says that if we love Him, and our fellow human beings, that we would be OK.

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. You see, even though God provided his words to us through His servants, called Prophets, His words have often been shortened, mistranslated, skewed, and taken out of context, with the end result being that there is little consensus about what God really wants for us to do. We now have such a variety of religions, that it seems almost impossible to figure out who or what is right and TRUE.

God is actually our Father, and Loves us, as we are His children. This may sound a little absurd, as we have mortal Fathers here on earth, but we also have a Father in Heaven, who provided His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us, to atone for our sins, if we repent, and follow his teaching and commandments.

While this may sound rather complicated, it's really not. Again, it is all based on the principal concept of LOVE.

Religion is the practicing of beliefs in a certain fashion which is in accordance with a specific set of doctrinal beliefs, which are considered true,.and from God. This allows those who believe the same things to work together and provide guidance and direction to those who are earnestly seeking the truth.

OK, so just what is TRUTH? Basically, Truth is what God has created, what He wants for us to learn, and how he wants for us to act. It is the manifestation of His Love for us, and the realization of our Love for God.

Truth is for us to find. As we discover it, it leads to more truth, much like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, we learn it precept by precept, here a little, there a little, until we can finally see the whole picture.

When you can see the whole picture, LIFE has a whole new meaning, and God then provides even more Truth, which brings happiness and joy.

-Gil

Guess Who?

2010-01-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

America's Transformation: Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

This has been an eye-opening series on the Glenn Beck show on Fox News (foxnews.com). Glenn has been exposing the sleazy, scheming, fountain of corruption that has been pouring forth from Washington DC. It is disgusting, scary, and sad to know that a once-great nation has allowed this to happen right before our eyes.

"Universal Healthcare" is a terrible misnomer. It is being purported to be a Right. This is nothing even close to being a Right. Not any more than Food, Housing, Water, Money, Soft Pillows, Nice Cars, Land, or any other such things are RIGHTS. This is all about CONTROL over US.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are RIGHTS,, given to us from God.

One of the ploys of those people who are pushing PROGRESSIVISM on us is to purport to be helping the "Little Guy", while in actuality, they are pushing a Socialist Agenda which will only serve to give them more power, and enslave the "Little Guy", who is usually blinded to what is happening to him. This system has worked well since Woodrow Wilson and FDR started it.

So we've had a rocky road ever since, and our standing in the world has suffered every time Marxist/Socialist ideas are tried. This is not to mention the massive casualties encountered in many other countries, by Socialist agendas.

So this little ditty is just my way of saying that until people wake up, and realize how much freedom we have lost, and how much government we have gained, this march toward total elite/government control will only continue, and it WILL get worse.

-Gil

Will the Real America Please Stand Up?

2010-01-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

When our country was started in 1776, with The Declaration of Independence, it was based on a then-radical concept, where the People of the new country would be Free, and established a minimalist Government, which would give most responsibility to the Individual States.

After many hard-fought battles with England, we finally won our FREEDOM from an oppressive Monarchy. Soon thereafter, a Constitution was cobbled together by brave and dedicated men who prayed every day for assistance from GOD in establishing this Grand Experiment, This Representative Republic, This United States of America.

The Citizens of each State would elect Representatives who would act on behalf of the Citizens, to enact Legislation only as needed to provide certain services which could not be provided by the States.

Our Federal Government was granted Enumerated powers, which means that it was strictly limited by the Constitution to only certain things or services it could provide.

This system worked pretty well, until the early 1900's when "Progressives" crept into the Federal Government, and began to greatly expand its power and authority. This was done under the guise of protecting the "Environment", and trying to "Help the Little Guy", the Middle Class, the Worker.

Unfortunately, while the Government was telling the people that they were "Here to Help", what they were really doing was putting America in a Headlock. This was the beginning of the Decline.

The Depression on 1932 should have been a short-lived correction in the economy, but Progressives took the opportunity to create many new Government Programs. This had the effect of prolonging the Depression, and put millions of people into the Poor class, all the while being told how the Government would help them.

Corporations and businesses were demonized. Then World War II served to allow the Federal Government to create a huge military industrial complex, some of which was later used to boost the "Space Race".

I could go on and on, but my main point is that we have allowed our great country to become a Tyranny. The Federal Government has taken control of so many aspects of our lives that I'm sure that Ben Franklin, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Alexander Hamilton, and ALL of the Founding Fathers who swore their lives, fortunes, and their Sacred Honor, are probably spinning in their graves.

The time has come for the Real Americans to Stand Up and be counted. We need to take back our Country, and restore the FREEDOM that it was established for. Otherwise, we are doomed to suffer even more oppression and tyranny as Government intrudes into all aspects of our lives.

-Gil :(

Explosive Ideas

2010-01-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

Thomas Sowell had a great column today. (See Townhall.com) He was talking about "Intellectuals" and their effect upon us. I had to agree with him that certain people have had a tremendous impact upon society, because of their "ideas". Sometimes this is very good, and sometimes it is very bad.

For example, Bill Gates' ideas for computer operating systems and application software is enabling me to write this blog. His ideas spawned a revolution in computing. I know this is debatable for all you Apple lovers, but the PC has changed everything.

Inversely, bad ideas can cause more misery and death than you can imagine. Especially when the idea comes from a psychopath, who thinks that his idea is great and will propel him to immense power. Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and many others come to mind. Millions have been killed or tortured because of such ideas.

The power of ideas is incredible. Sure, they say ideas are a dime a dozen, but when an idea is implemented, and catches hold, whether by viral growth, brute force, or economic engine, civilization can change, for good or bad.

As an inventor, I have often wondered about my ideas. Should I pursue an idea just because I think it's good? Should I work to make the idea a reality? It would require a lot of work and sacrifice. I know people who have spent their life savings pursuing their ideas, only to end up broke and frustrated.

This also gets into the subject of design, which will be discussed later. My point is, that ideas can be a gift from God or from the Devil. It is sometimes difficult to know for sure where it is coming from. The question needs to be asked, "Will this idea benefit or harm mankind?"

Even such a question does not necessarily provide a good answer, as just about everything can be used for both good and evil. The computer is a great example. All weapons can be used for both defense and offense.

So when you have an idea, think long and hard about all its implications. While there is also the "Law of Unintended Consequences," I think that every good idea should be pursued, especially if it will help to destroy a bad idea. Maybe someday, only good ideas will be rewarded.

-Gil

Snow

2010-01-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Well winter is truly here. We got about a foot of snow at Christmastime and its snowing again right now.

The neat thing about snow is how it blankets everything, and makes it look surreal. This morning, as I drove to work in my Chevy Blazer, it was still dark, and so cold that the snow looked like sparkling jewels or glitter as it blew around through my headlights. It also deadens sounds, and makes things seem more peaceful.

I grew up in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. At over 5000' in elevation, we would often get several feet of snow at a time. That was before they had nifty gasoline-powered snowblowers, so we always had to shovel out our long, steep driveway. (That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger...)

We used to dig out snow forts in the huge piles of snow made by skiploaders and plows. It was probably pretty dangerous, but luckily, none of us ever got seriously hurt. We also had skis with the old bindings that went around your ski boots. If you fell, your boot would most likely stay in the binding, making it pretty easy to get broken leg. Again, something that we somehow managed to avoid.

My brother Larry really got into skiing, and made a career at it for many years. Snow skiing in the winter transitioned to water skiing in the summer. What a life!

I eventually moved to Utah, which has some legendary snow, and great ski resorts, but never did much skiing there. I even lived in Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, CA, as well as Minden, NV, surrounded by great ski areas, but never seemed to get time to ski there either. Never broke any bones, either!

You need to slow down when driving in the stuff, or you will very quickly run into trouble. I never had any serious accidents attributed to snow, but I've seen lots of accidents that were caused by it. I just take my time and put it in 4x4, and always get where I need to go.

Driving in West Virginia snow is a special treat. This state has LOTS of mountains with LOTS of curvy narrow roads, hills, and valleys. The trees often grow out over the roadways, so after a good snow, the branches often dump their loads of snow onto unsuspecting cars. Many branches break as well, making driving even more exciting!

Nevertheless, snow is a wonder of nature. I love it and hate it, and am awed by its beauty. Our dog Tucker loves to run and play in it. It is part of the renewing season of Winter, and I thank God for it.

-Gil ;)

Never Never Land

2010-01-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about life is how you never know what is going to happen next.

We all try to get some amount of "control" over what happens to us, but there are so many variables which we have no control over, that it is really pretty amazing that we can keep from going crazy.

If you think back, you probably ended up where you are today because of many random events happening in your life. It's nice to think that we have made every decision, but most decisions have to be made once some unplanned things happen, or when a planned thing doesn't happen.

Now this is no big surprise, just an observation over many years. It's those subsequent decisions we made that put us on the paths that lead to our present condition.

Lots of people like to make New Years Resolutions. I resolved awhile back to avoid making them, because a resolution is really just a decision you can make at any time. An arbitrary date doesn't help much. What really makes a difference is the intent and commitment behind your decisions.

If you have problems with a bad habit or want to start a good habit, all it really takes is a conscious and clear decision. You may need to write it down and review it for several days, but any habit can be changed or made by changing behavior and making it part of your daily routine.

Don't be surprised if you slip once in awhile. Nobody's perfect, especially ME. But don't be too hard on yourself. Just recommit to your decision, and the chance of slipping again will become much smaller.

Now why am I talking about this? I've made lots of decisions and changes in my life. I feel that even though I have made lots of mistakes and bad choices, I have usually been able to overcome them by making some better choices.

You can be happy with your lot in life, no matter what it is, if you DECIDE to be happy. Never give up.

-Gil

New Happy Year

2010-01-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

OK, so you're asking yourself, just who is this Gil guy, and why should I read his blog?

Well, good question. I can see that you are remarkably astute, and searching for answers.

Gil is a middle-aged conservative "Latino" telecom engineer who currently lives in West Virginia.

He is married, has lots of kids and grandkids, owns an 11-acre farm, raises goats and chickens with his wife, Mary Ellen. They also have 4 inside dogs, 4 inside cats, 2 outside dogs and about 12 outside cats.

He is active in the LDS or "Mormon" Church, and presently serves as Elders Quorum President, and Assistant Branch Clerk.

Gil enjoys working on computers, CAD drafting and design.

He likes country, jazz, classic rock, and christian music. He also roots for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the West Virginia Mountaineers (as I'm sitting here watching them play Florida State in the Gator Bowl...go 'eers!)

He also listens to Conservative talk shows and studies History.

Yeah, so what?

He even writes in third person. Pleeeze.

OK OK. Thats just a short intro to this crazy guy who decided to finally start putting his thoughts down for everyone to read.

Going from third to first person isn't any problem. Not that I really like to talk about myself, I just feel it's about time that I start putting down my thoughts, feelings, and emotions into a place where I can share them with my friends, and anyone who wants to contribute.

I am an AMERICAN. This is something that I treasure. Our country is currently under attack by devious people, led by an evil power. Our Government has become corrupted, and is in the process of taking over control of as much of our lives as possible.

It is up to people like you and me to put a stop to this madness, and help return America to what out Founding Fathers envisioned, and what God wants us to be.

One person CAN make a difference. I only want to help people realize what is happening to us, and do what I can to help turn the tide away from Socialism.

So if you're still reading, all I ask is that you keep an open mind, research things for yourself, and think about what is really going on around you. All I want to do is help push insightful conversation.

Thanks for thinking.

-Gil