It’s Easter, Passover or whatever your flavor of celebration of the season and it ain’t pretty. One can tiptoe through family, road rage, Congress, Europe, the Middle East and beyond to say we are not exactly singing out of the same hymnal…or Torah as the case may be. The older you get the more you look back at the way things used to be.

The Rite Of Spring always engenders pretty thoughts like daffodils or easter baskets and knowing that Opening Day is not far away. That is not saying yesteryear was always idyllic but I am struck by how many really earthshaking events occur today on a pretty regular basis. I always ask myself the question,”Is it chaos or growing pains?”

When you live in the Rockies the mountains are omnipresent. It may be sunny and mild in Denver but you can still see the snowcapped peaks in the distance. I can remember when we lived in Vail all you had to do was step outside your door and the landscape jumped out in front of you. You could take a hike and marvel at the thought that maybe no other human being had set foot here before.

I used to wonder to myself what those mountains thought. Over millennia they had seen just about everything from T Rexes to early settlers. People with incredible foresight and likewise immense folly had trouped through those valleys. Some had prospered and some had perished. Yet the continuity of rock and seashore endure. We are just travelers along the way.

As I approach the wonder age of a septuagenarian there is a part of me that says “Stop the world I want to get off”. Sure I could just put my feet up and chill. If I grew some hair and a stache I could be Don Ameche in Cocoon. How depressing. The world is a dynamic place and it is as satisfying as it is enigmatic. The challenge is to make it work.

Now everyone has the right way to pull this off. We seem pretty intent on spreading democracy throughout the world but the jury is still out as to its applicability everywhere. There are countries that will defy equal participation by their breadth of geography as well as multiple ethnicities. We got rid of Hussein but that created a vacuum that all manner of zealot wanted to fill. Egypt, Libya and Yemen got rid of the tyrants but maybe they weren’t the worst thing in the world at least in terms of stability. Putin’s Russia spans 10 time zones.

I have always been intrigued by Lee Kuan Yew who died last week. He appeared on the scene of a former British colony, Singapore and had nothing to work with but swampy slums. Even Indonesia cut them loose in the late 70’s and they were forced to fend for themselves. Educated at Cambridge Yew had a patrician accent and a vague idea of political science but he built and lorded over a peculiar brand of whatever. He was playing it by ear.

Slowly with a little chutzpah and a lot of resolve he created a miracle. He was dictatorial but benevolent. There were no guns nor chewing gum allowed. You don’t like it? Go somewhere else. And that crazy rag tag country grew to be the most successful nation per capita in the world. This wasn’t looking to the past because they had none. He and his subjects embraced change and innovation. They broke all the rules.

Every planner, MBA and political wizard was proven wrong. I get that same feeling today in so many areas. There was story in the Denver Post about a guy that is growing vegetables vertically in hydroponics two to three stories high. Weird arrays of pastel colored lights warm the plant to not only survive but thrive. Why didn’t I think of that?

In medicine we have a promising cancer therapy that is derived from the polio virus. There is an Israeli researcher who discovered that tissue from your nasal cavity can be grafted onto the spines of paralyzed people and they may regain sensation and perhaps walk some day. Are you kidding me?

Herein lies the rub. Let’s say I am a Republican or conservative if you will. I am a strict constructionist when it comes to the Constitution. I want less government and more defense. Free markets will conquer all. Not quite sure of all that. On the other hand if I am Democratic or liberal I think the government should provide for all. Bring up the downtrodden and all will be successful. Tax and spend beyond one’s means. It will all work out in the wash. Don’t think that is my mantra either. Still searching.

So with all this insanity going on everywhere what does a nice guy like me do? I have to learn that we as a country cannot control the world anymore. We can do pieces but not the whole magilla. That terrifies some but are we giving up power or making more nations responsible? Saudi Arabia feels deserted but is that really a bad thing? They seem like they want to step up to the plate. Ditto Europe and ditto the Far East.

Terrorism is here to stay. I don’t say we give into it but we realize that by virtue of everything from world trade in arms or the ability to harness the internet for all forms of evil it is just too easy to be in the bad guy business. Sadly there are going to be more young copilots that fly into mountains and whackos that are willing to blow themselves up in search of vestal virgins. That is life pure and simple.

Technology is both good and bad. It will drive you nuts and then save your life. Accept that fact. You can’t separate the wheat form the chaff. Just make sure there is more of one than the other.

Bottom line this a wild and wooly world. We will have to think on our feet and be open to all new things. Will it hurt? Depends on your outlook. You can embrace change and revel in it or you can let it scare the shit out of you. I am too old to worry and too dumb to be scared. I think I am just going to enjoy the ride and hope I don’t fall out.

As always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:
1 million domain names on the internet are reserved every month.At the end of 2012 there were 17 billion devices connected to the internet.

Apple, Microsoft, HP and Google all started in a garage.

Terrorism is actually quite rare in the West with 4.6 deaths per years since 2006.Over the last 20 years (which includes 9/11) average deaths from terrorism total 162 Americans per year.To put that in perspective, compare it to the 679,853 who die of heart disease each year, 52,823 who die of the pneumonia and the flu, and 17,961 who die of “falls.”

The pejorative connotations of the word terrorism can be summed up in the aphorism, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. This is exemplified when a group using irregular military methods is an ally of a state against a mutual enemy, but later falls out with the state and starts to use those methods against its former ally. This was too good. I plagiarized it.

The human mind and its maturation within each one of us has always intrigued me. A baby is born without predispositions, fears, or prejudices and is for the most part a pretty happy camper. It does not take too long for tendencies and personality traits to become manifest. They are shepherded or inhibited by the the actions of caregivers. I am sure the same is true whether it is homo sapiens or a lion cub.

Now fast forward to that wonderful age of puberty and beyond. Away from the womb and the nest you really have to find your way in the world. You are adjudged by athletic talent, book smarts and of course social acceptance or lack thereof. The is a wide gap between BMOC’s and dweebdom and you have to find your spot on the scale.

In our youth and beyond we adopt a series of defense mechanisms. They protect our psyche and present a prism through which we view the world. We tinker and fine tune so that we now have a consistent manner of looking at our surroundings that makes us comfortable. That grows into a habit and I guess we call that personality. I hesitate only in that today’s science says that persona is inbred or determined by DNA. I can’t buy that. I can’t surrender that we have no control over it.

What I think happens is we get comfortable in a soft pair of slippers. I may discover that if I am serious or even grouchy people will give me sway. Ditto a bully. If I am happy go lucky that doesn’t play well. People will think I am a pushover and even weak when actually the exact opposite might be true. Better to be a prick and let the world beware.

Moving right along we have now set some ground rules on how to operate. What’s more is we look for people of the same ilk. A club so to speak with its own set of initiation and membership rules. Misery loves company. Do you ever get in a conversation where every one is a grump? Partly cloudy not partly sunny. Obama sucks. Cruz is a whack job. Every word, email and news channel will back up their way of thinking. Makes no sense to screw up the world with alternative thinking. I’ll just sit here and wallow in it with my buddies.

In my newfound world of doctor’s offices misery is a joy to behold. Now there are people who are really hurting. I feel for them. Then there are those who know that if you are feeling chipper you ain’t going to get the attention. Moaning and groaning are strong suits. Fire back at your spouse. Sorry honey it’s just the pain is so bad. And watch everyone circle the wagons to ease your pain. I feel better already.

Now today’s media and government world have figured this out. You will not elect me if I tell you things are fine. I ask you how many New Americas and taking back Washington can we stand? But one election cycle after another has a new vision. This is the reason we don’t resolve issues like taxes and immigration.Wait until the next election. How are you going to grab a headline steering the good ship Tranquility that just tries to make decisions?

Speaking of the press if you don’t pillory Mitch and Boehner or Hilary and Obama you can’t be worth your salt as a beacon of journalistic excellence. There is an urgency and stridency to every news item from ISIS to a lost kitten. Open the Journal and there is nothing but anti Obama. Open the Times and they roast the GOP. Day in. Day out. Even if you are died in the wool doesn’t this get tiresome after a point?

I have told you of a battle with depression I had some 25 years ago. The most telling breakthrough of all my treatment was that we can change our whole way of looking at world not by gene therapy but by making a conscious effort to change our way of thinking. I and not you or others had the ability to change my outlook on life. It was startling. I had gotten myself into that pit but by tapping into a place in my mind I could get myself out.

Every day we are hit by events whether we are six or sixty. In their basest form they are nothing more than an elapse of time. It is like a lightning bolt passing through us and discharging somewhere into the ground. The residual effect is a thing called emotion. With every event we have the ability to react positively or negatively and that tends to be constant as a normal course of action. That in turn creates a predictable form of response that might be called a habit. The devil didn’t make you do it, you did.

We all want to think liberal or conservative. We crave to find our niche.Guidelines and borders. Looking at this crazy world we live in nothing could be worse. Whether it is in government or industry or world politics we have to understand our sphere is totally new and dynamic. We have to look at each situation not as an event where we can take plan A or B off the shelf but how can I look at this from a totally different perspective.

Maybe fearing the worse shields us from disappointment. If I bitch about the weather (especially those in the Northeast) then somehow that makes it more bearable. But it also robs us of possibilities. Sure life is bummer at times but if I can surmount the negative can’t I take some sort of pride in my resilience? Boston Strong and I Survived aren’t acquiescence but triumph.

Let’s attack our problems in the world and at home as challenges. What is the most practical way to combat ISIS or pot holes? Not the old hackneyed and predictable ways but a very tough but cool mountain to climb. And when you get to the top you can say I done good rather than we should have done this or that. I participated rather than sitting on the sidelines and carping. Now that feels good.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

It is estimated that pot holes cause $6.4 billion in damage to our vehicles annually. A pot hole cost $30-40 to fix. Couldn’t even hazard a guess how many gazillions are out there. We have sent people to the moon and beyond. We have created incredible technologies. Don’t you think over the years we would have figured out a way to deal with these buggers?

“It takes 43 muscles to frown and only 17 to smile, but it doesn’t take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.” Clever as this may seem it actually takes an equal number to frown or smile.

There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 million radical Muslims who want Sharia law and a new Caliphate. This is the prime recruiting ground for ISIS and Al Quaeda. This requires some serious out of the box thinking. Calling them the JV is probably not the smartest thing in the world.

We generate around 50,000 thoughts per day.The vast majority of them are pure nonsense. We often dwell in the past or the future, obsessing about mistakes we might have made, battling guilt, planning ahead or worrying. We are constantly drifting into fantasy, fiction and negativity. Yes it is sad but true that 70-80% of our thoughts are negative. Doesn’t have to be that way.

Well here we are again. As I mentioned last week I have not been goofing off but quite the contrary. Dealing with a bunch of different issues but most of all trying to steer the starship TTG upward to look at things from 30,000 feet. I am attempting to view current events dispassionately as moments in time without wringing out every bit of rancor and calamity as some of our esteemed pundits do.

It has been difficult to start writing again. Not because of writer’s block but rather a cornucopia of ideas and observations. I keep trying to refine all that mess into a few salient points but I am not sure of my progress. I keep looking for the silver bullet of cognizance that will help us all move forward in a positive and fulfilling way but alas it remains elusive.

I am struck by attitudes and two in particular. Let’s call the first a sense of survival. No matter what our lot in life we view the world as a tough place. If we have money and the good life we want to lock our selves neatly inside. See a heart wrenching story on TV or in the press and quietly say there but for the grace of God go I. Sorry to hear about your misfortune but I am a little busy right now.

If you don’t have it, making things work is a constant ordeal. Over 50% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. One misstep and you are done. Some deal with it and plod on. Some bitch and moan. I am a victim and the world should bail me out. Others just give up and succumb.

The commonality is this vision of success. For most it is defined by money and possessions. If you have them you are going to do everything in your power to keep them. There is never enough. If you don’t life is not only a struggle to survive but to demonstrate that you are worthwhile person. And both sides say, “you don’t have clue.” Distrust and rancor prevail no matter what is in your wallet. And that is a sad thing.

The other attitude is not so much one of optimism but blind faith. Some might call it denial. We tend to feel that somehow some way everything is going to be okay. As part of a daily regimen that is a good thing. As part of a long term strategy I am not sure that is in our best interest. We take things at face value without much question. For us old farts maybe that is just a technique to say let’s hope this thing doesn’t spring leak before we get out of here.

For the young generations of many names it is almost a disinterest. I am just going to keep on trucking. I don’t understand how this all works and I don’t have the time to read or study. I can’t really blame them. You watch government in stall mode or industry sacrificing everything in the name of share price and ambivalence seem the only sane way to operate.

Everyone seems to take the word of experts. I heard this from so and so and he or she really knows what they are talking about. From sports to the market to miracle cures we are beset by people you and I have never heard of but if they are in print or on TV it must be so. Dr. Phil, Dr Oz, Rolling Stone, Fox News, CNN, 60 Minutes, and now Brian Williams, all have come under scrutiny for less than factual expertise.

This may be a broad brush but I think our vaunted connectivity has had a debilitating rather than particularly positive role to play. We want everything fast and furious. Don’t bore me with details. A matter of morality or conscience? Just tell me what to do. You are hurting? You need help? Geez, I didn’t get that feeling in your last text. Why didn’t you speak up?

I think we have to get interested in our world and just as importantly in one another. We have got to see people as living and breathing organisms and not just a means to an end. How many of us really look at the world and say how can I help you? How can I make you better? How many of us just take the time to notice a fellow human being and even wonder how their life is going? This is not just a lofty goal but I really believe tantamount to our survival as a country and possibly a world.

The way we do this is a change of attitude. Not as difficult as it seems but it would take some work. Right now in your face is the national anthem. We need a consistent albeit positive message. We tell people to save for retirement but then the market goes down because consumer spending is off. Healthcare costs soar but we want our freedom to eat what we want and blow each others brains out with guns. We want to cut back on government spending but not for defense. And congress votes itself a raise every year. We want moral values but then take our 12 year old to a concert where the tickets are $600 and the bump and grind would make a stripper blush. As the old saying goes,”Me Thinks ye speak with forked tongue.”

A wonderful buddy of mine threw up his hands in disgust after reading one of my missives and said “Why can’t we all get along?” Well we can if we get serious and attack problems. But right now our DNA is soft, complicit and complacent. We are worrying about our own lives but not the motherland. Let someone else do it. I am too busy. Please tell me I’ve got it all wrong.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Pew Research has demonstrated that people are as conversant in public affairs as they were 30 years ago. This despite the vaunted Information Age. Rich more than poor. Men more than women. Old over young.

A study by Portland State University asked twelve questions regarding today’s news. 2% got all the answers right. 6% got no answers right. Only 42% got half right. Lower income and less educated people were up on local politics more than national. Of those that voted 25% were deemed LIC, lower information citizens. I think that means they voted with their heart rather than their heads.

Success is defined as the accomplishment of and aim or purpose. It seems the most successful are those that view this a dynamic process. You don’t “make it” but rather go on from there. Constantly questioning and creating and reaching out to your fellow man or woman yield more inner peace. Money may be a measure but does not assure it.

Your resume can and probably should be the most random document you own. Uncertainty breeds creativity.

The most trusted people in US? Actors and actresses: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock(she gets my vote) Denzel Washington and Meryll Streep. In the top ten are Bill and Melinda Gates and Alex Trabek. Nursing is the most trusted profession and politicians and used car salesmen the worst. .

My short break turned into a long one. Part laziness. Part vagaries of life. The day after Christmas I got the glorious news that I had prostate cancer. An unopened gift of sorts. Of course I was crestfallen. Not that I had the big C but that Superman was no longer invincible. The journey has gotten interesting.

In the true Jesuit tradition I took nothing for granted and began doing research. Books and internet articles provided me with the basics. This disease is common among those my age. The fact I was in good shape worked against me. The implied longevity of my life dictated that I do something about it, not ignore it.

I got to meet a bunch of interesting people in the medical profession. Each MD had a little different slant on things and that was just fine. One even noted that it was a matter of personality. I could watch and wait, zap it or just remove it so there were no questions. Which one do you think I picked?

After a PET scan and an MRI I got surgery a week and a half ago. I wasn’t nervous or upset. I just wanted to get it over with. I mention all this not as an “organ recital” buy rather a cause for wonder. Throughout everything I had my wits about me and wanted to absorb the experience.

I had never been in a hospital as a patient before and the University of Colorado Med Center is a great place to lose one’s virginity. The entire complex is less than ten years old. They started from scratch and did not have to make do. When we arrived at admissions at 5:30 AM I was astounded to see a dozen or so fellow travelers already there. As it turns out this place has 24 operating rooms and is building 6 more. Cut down again. They didn’t care if I was Ted The Great. Just start the process Mr. Kenny and keep it moving.

After getting checked in I was escorted back to pre op by a very pleasant nurse. It was one of many handoffs throughout the day. Each one was beyond caring. I said please and thank you to everyone but moreover wanted to know something about them. Married or single? Kids? From Colorado or elsewhere? They seemed to be surprised by my queries and were only too happy to fill in blanks. Very cool.

I met the whole team from docs to nurses and each one described what they were going to do in great detail. Beth was our OR nurse and like a good drill sergeant kept everyone in line. At precisely 7:20AM (and I mean to the second) the good ship lollipop was wending its way to OR10.

It wasn’t like being wheeled through an episode of ER and of course I was yukking it up with all involved. I peered around at every detail and was surprised how compact it was. There were tons of vials and dials but they all seemed to fit perfectly. The table was definitely a twin and no more. They actually tied my legs down which I of course found offensive. How is guy going to put the moves on nurses when I was thus constrained?

The most incredible part of the whole thing was that it was all going to be robotic. My brilliant 41 year old surgeon never laid a hand on me. They put the mask over my mouth and for the next 3 1/2 hours TTG was blissfully in dreamland while the gang inserted about one wrench short of a tool chest in my belly to extract the interloper. Mission accomplished.

A couple of hours after that Lazarus awakened but I was not jumping off the gurney just yet. Tubes and wires adorned my torso and everyone was asking if I was okay. Why wouldn’t I be with Kathy and all these beautiful women poking and prodding? I kind of just laid there and was wondering what the hell had just happened? You listen for beeps and alarms and just hope it is not you. A few patients were pains in the ass but most were just trying to grin and bear it.

It was almost like a prison where you have never met the guy or gal in the next cell but you started to conjure up what they looked like and where were they from. I probable should have passed notes. Some had come from 4-6 hours away because our rural nature as a state demands it. One was from Hawaii. I have no idea how that happened.

I continued my questioning and this new set of staff was more than willing to spill their guts. It was wonderful. One Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) was coming to the end of a twelve hours shift. from 7:00PM to 7:00 AM I said “I bet you are going home to get some sleep?” Not so. She was going to class at the Denver School of Nursing at 9:15AM. Talk about a work ethic. I guess it was almost the same for someone to go home and take care of unruly toddlers.

Well enough of this. I hope you don’t mind that this is the way I wend back into your lives. I had to have a cover story for all my goofing off. I have missed you guys and gals. I have a bunch of things to talk over with you. I have watched this crazy world we live in for some common threads. Some good. Some bad. But we will give them full air together.

I will try to stick with Tuesdays but don’t bank on it. I will also attempt to put pen to pad weekly but the times may dictate more or less frequently. In other words I will be random with a plan if that makes sense. I have been thinking a lot and I hope to prod you to do the same once again. It’s a gorgeous day here in Denver and the view from Unit #509 is glorious. You all look just fine.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Surgeons in the 1800’s were both healers and barbers. They used the same utensils for both. Today we have general and specialty surgeons. A surgeon today might perform up to 500 operations per year. The male surgeon performs up to 30% more than the female. Why? The male is trusted more. Incredible.

Intuitive Surgical manufactures the Da Vinci Robotic surgical system. There are over 3200 installed thought the world varying from $500,000- $3.0 million per unit. Last year there were more than 600,000 procedures on their systems. The stock came public for around $5 in 2000 and currently trades under symbol ISRG. Last quote was $492.59.

Minimally invasive surgery is being performed on urological, cardio, breast cancer, hysterectomies et al. They simply use smaller more precise tools and as a result your recovery times and complications are quicker.

The head OR nurse can make in excess of $100k per annum depending on location. The median salary for a general surgeon is $190,000. For a specialty surgeon it is $396,000. These may or may not seem high but consider the cost of medicine and doctor’s salaries are not the primary villains.

In the US we spend more than any other country in the world on healthcare. On the order of 40% higher than countries like Canada, UK, Denmark, Sweden. Yet our life expectancy of 78 pales to their 82-83 years.

This is #200 of Ted’s Head. That encompasses four years more or less of pondering. I have put out a lot of verbiage and I hope that some of it has made sense. I thank you all for reading and commenting but most of all just thinking. It’s what it is all about.

I have gone back through several topics I have written on to see if there aren’t some common threads among them. Partially to see if I am consistent in my words and moreover to ascertain if I have become redundant and monotone. Ergo boring. The jury is still out on this end.

Some of my vexations? Leadership or lack thereof.Whether it is business, government or church our management as a whole has been lackluster in its avoidance of doing the right thing. Everything is couched by money, power or ego.Consequential is the inability or lack of desire of people to get involved and speak out for what should mean so much to them. Wealth and power bugs me not by their very existence but for the arrogance and callousness they engender. Lastly is the victim. We are by our own hand responsible for what goes on in our lives. Every thing good or bad that happens is a result of a decision you made. No one else is to blame.

I hate what is going on with cops today. Just imagine if your whole day was spent with the dregs of society. Petty thieves or bank robbers. Drug lords or pimps. The most incredible domestic disputes that are blown up even moreso by booze or hallucinogenics.You are lied to constantly. Sometimes you are set up and ambushed. Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t. Not once in a while but constantly throughout too long a shift.Then a mayor gets voted in by piggy backing on populism and rabble rousing. That sucks.

I hate what is going on with blacks today. A ten to twelve year old kid did not ask to brought into such a broken world. Dad’s gone and Mom lives with a boyfriend who beats you. Or else she is working two or three jobs and the TV is the babysitter. Don’t sit close to the window or your ass may get shot up by a drive by. And the Sharptons and the Jacksons milk it for all it is worth rather than preaching to root out the culture of irresponsibility that perpetuates their meaning. And then some jerk tells me to pick myself up and make my way in life without a tinge of understanding. Really?

I love people with soul and a heart. There was a cop here in Denver who went to an emergency call for an old woman. He noticed the yard was in bad disrepair. He and his wife came back off hours and cut the lawn and trimmed the bushes.On another call a little boy was choking. Tragically he died and the father had no money. The attending cop paid for the funeral. Why? Some kids had bought he and his partner lunch a few months back.He thought it was only fair. There was a black kid in Seattle being hugged by a motorcycle cop. But I am sure you have heard all those stories.

I adore people who can cheer and sing. I think the choir in our church is fabulous because they offer a prayer that is so sweet but moreso sing with one voice.I get lost in revery when I hear a beautiful symphony or maybe Norah Jones belting out something right from the gut. I am humbled and grateful when someone tells me that my smile lights up a room. I grin and say hello to everyone I see and every so often a pretty girl smiles back.It is beyond wonderful to feel that somehow I have made someone’s day a little bit better.

I love to play with words and sometimes just let it rip. Puns are fun and most of the time the words just start flying out. My fingers can’t type fast enough. Some times it makes sense. Sometimes it doesn’t but I can tell you at all times it is 100% TTG. I may be harsh or obscene but it is not for effect. It is what’s going on inside and I can’t edit that out.

I am off on a variety of projects. On a personal as well as public side some things need fixing and some need a new creative look. I am going to be more involved in Hospice to try to pave the way for people to understand it better. I am also working with a close friend to help caregivers in their lot. Unless you are on the front lines you can’t even fathom the stress they have. Their souls and psyches need someone to be their champion.

The Denver Post put out an editorial on an upcoming piece of legislation that serves Death With Dignity. A form of legal suicide. I am against it. I wrote to our state senator and told her of my experience and she nicely blew me off. She had all the experts and polls she needed. Let the chips fall where they may but the process has really pissed me off. You can see my letter to the editor below.

To make it short and sweet I am going to take a few weeks off. Not so much a sabbatical but a fresh look at things. I will be debating the future of Ted’s Head as to content and regularity. I am going to go out and try to get things done. I am going to walk the walk and talk the talk of all my ramblings. How can I tell you to get your ass in gear if my tush is sitting behind this desk? Be back soon with new tales to tell

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
The Denver Post wrote an pro editorial calling for the option of legal suicide. My reply.

“The terminally ill already have an option. It is called hospice.Death is not a medical procedure for us but a process of life as  being born is also a process. We use no artificial means to keep a person alive. Their life passes as their body shuts down its systems in a very natural and most would agree beautiful way. 

As we mess with life in so many ways from genetics to replacing body parts and sustaining life by artificial means we are indeed on slippery slope. What you are really advocating here is ending life by artificial means. You say that under the guise of “Coloradans esteem independence and free choice.” Speak for yourself please. 

As a volunteer in hospice I could not have more compassion for Mr. Selsberg and his family. We have had ALS patients, Alzheimer patients, cancer and the like. If the bill’s proponents want to see “death with dignity” I would invite them to come out and spend a shift with me. They might have  a different viewpoint. 

Sooner or later science and self determination will go too far if it hasn’t already. Then the genie will truly be out of the bottle. 

Ted Kenny
Volunteer, Porter Hospice”

The people at Channel9 here in Denver were desperate for a filler piece. See the following
http://www.9news.com/story/news/health/2014/12/15/have-you-had-the-conversation/20448465/

Teds Head is viewed by over 300 people on different weeks with readership in over 20 countries last year. We usually average 5-7 replies per week which they tell me is great. Most of them are complimentary which means I hang out with a bunch of liars or at least very kind people.

As I sit reviewing 2014 I am looking at all sorts of numbers from my investments to my handicap. One can’t help but look at the figures as everyone wants to pare down and decipher what the hell this all means. It is actually quite telling how our moods and our outlook can be determined by a twist of a decimal point or integer.

So many of these are guesstimates. It is amazing how fortunes rise and fall on a survey. The unemployment rate is just that. The Bureau of Census surveys 60,000 households and asks them who is working and who is not. From this is garnered a rate and is deemed up or down and ditto your IRA.

At earnings season all the gurus try to project what the earnings or losses will be at XYZ corp. When they are announced they may hit or miss by one or two cents and the quants pick up key words in their algorithms and either reward or trash a stock accordingly. Then they have a conference call to explain everything and the stock continues to bounce around on projections. All of these are just numbers but who cares? Everyone looks knowing and C’est la vie.

You can play with numbers to make things look good or bad. A major league baseball player can manipulate his ERA or batting average to merit a multi year contract. His agent deftly surveys the market to show his man is not really that bad but actually better than most. What other industry can you be so handsomely rewarded for batting .270 or having a losing record and ERA just under 4.0?

By the way I don’t know about you but the analysis of everything cosmic in every sport takes a lot of fun out of doing something stupid like just watching the game. We regurgitate the On Base Percentage or Slugging Average of a guy just playing a sport. The golfer has a .043 chance of making a 40 foot putt. I know that stupid! But the best is always this kicker has not missed a field goal in his last 43 tries. The kiss of death!

The number of children born to unwed mothers in the US is 40% of the birth rate or around 1.6 million. They will then tell you it is 72% among black women which is horrific. It is the single most critical problem in solving poverty among African Americans. They will not tell you it is 30% among white women as if to say that is not really a bad number. Hello?

The number or Americans killed in Afghanistan from 2001 -2012 was 6,488. There were 11,766 women killed by their current or ex male partner in the US in the same period of time. Approximately 150,000 of the rest of our citizenry were murdered during this era. 93% of the blacks were murdered by other blacks. 83% of the whites were murdered by other whites. Males make up 90% of murderers and are equally divided by 50% black and 50% white. I am sorry. I am sure you already knew that.

I am not trying to make one side look better or worse. The point is I can fudge the numbers or at least make them look good by the way I present them to you. One of the easiest ways to present things is as percentages. While helpful I also find the mode a tad misleading.

For instance I can tell you that 7% of our population over twelve years of age abuse drugs. 6% abuse alcohol. That doesn’t sound all that bad until you realize that is 24 million and 17 million of our fellow soldiers respectively. A total of 41 million denizens have a serious problem and you and I are going to be paying for it for a long time in everything from lost productivity, healthcare and long term rehab if they don’t kill themselves first.

There are currently 11.3 million undocumenteds in the US today. That is roughly 3% of our populace. 80% are Hispanic which is a bunch. But 20 % or some 2 million aren’t of brown color. I don’t know about you but that is not just a drop in the bucket to me.

In my last shot at percentages think about the 1%. As Kathy and I travel the world we are fascinated at everywhere from San Diego to Vancouver and Aukland to Paris that there is such an incredible amount of high end real estate. Your first question is “Who are these people?” The 1% of the world population is 70 million. The 1% of the US is 3.3 million. We have 545 billionaires in the States.That’s a lot of money floating around in the pockets of a lot of people. Better buy Tiffany and Sotheby’s stock.

Point being is it is important to look at percentages. They and numbers are a very opportune way to decipher a lot of data. But when we reduce everything to decimal points and axes on a graph we really lose the humanity of things. We want to categorize and put things in neat piles. Worse yet we can’t look past the numbers. Sorry but even though your department is making money and has done so for years you are not meeting projections. Progress you know. Been nice knowing you and good luck in future endeavors. Nice and antiseptic. By the numbers.

I am a white, married, male, Catholic, retired and who knows what percentage. I am no longer looking for my 15 minutes of fame but I really do hope I am more than a statistic. I hope I contribute more than a decimal here or there. I hope I am a human being to be respected and in turn be able to respect you. It’s just me. Numero Uno. Happy New Year to all and and thanks for listening.

As Always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:

Workplace: 67% of American workers are planning on leaving their job this year. 46% of us will fail in our first 18 months of a new job. Square pegs, round holes. 10,000 Japanese drop dead yearly at their desks from overwork after 14-18 hour days.

Lifestyle: The average person spends 5 years of their life standing in line. Americans waste $165 billion annually by tossing away unwanted snacks and meals. The math works out to approximately $529 per person each year. On any given day there over 2 million impaired drivers on the road. There are more cell phones than toothbrushes in the world.

Population;
There are more women than men in the US population of 325 million. In the 85+ category they outnumber men 2 to 1. Guys, there will be some hot times in the rest home tonight. We were 76 million in 1900, 200 million in 1968, 300 in 2006 and will be 439 million in 2050. 81% of us live in cities and the population is moving west and south.

Peace on Earth…

I was going to write a cozy fireside piece about mistletoe and visions of sugar plums. Sorry but the facts of the day don’t lend themselves to that. I read of kids being mowed down by some maniacs in Pakistan. 138 of them. Their blazered uniforms reminded me of the ones my grandsons had on when we visited them in London a few months ago.

What about Australia? Just plain working folks were having coffee in downtown Sidney. Kind of like me having a Venti Starbucks this morning in Denver. Down Under has a tranquil and innocent feel. Just people enjoying life for what it is. No longer.

Then the tragedy in New York. Two cops with no axe to grind had their brains blown out by some crazed maniac. They were eating their lunch and probably talking about football or what they were going to do for Christmas. There were no choke holds. There were no hands up. But they still went down because of the uniform they wore. What have we come to?

I got to thinking about this whole anger and revenge thing. Sure I am Irish and can get pissed with the best of them. But could I hold a cold muzzle on someone’s temple and squeeze the trigger? What about a Bushmaster with an extended clip on full automatic spraying death and destruction everywhere? I hope not. Is this all random and aberration or evidence of a world that is going terribly wrong?

Come on TTG we are not that way. Really. How many shake their fists at the TV and abhor everything from presidents to protesters? The One Percent to nee’r do wells in our ghettoes. A love gone wrong or an uncaring boss. We seem to be able to conjure up a contrary thought on just about anything and those are the seeds that feed our unrest. We look for kindred spirits to agree and then lather ourselves with self satisfaction. An exaggeration? Think on.

Listen to our conversations and our demeanor. I can flip off a guy that cut me off in traffic and carry the visceral reaction for blocks. I can be livid at someone who just won’t see my line of thinking. I can reward someone’s supposed cruel or uncaring behavior with cold stares and an attitude that can persist for months. I continually ask my self why?

We love to have people agree with us. It shows our brilliance and insight. We then go on to reinforce that with channels and dailies that prey on our smugness. It must be so. I heard on the radio or saw it in the paper. We become pros at reading the editorials and not quite having the time for the op eds.

Now if you take the contrary you are an asshole through and through. You just don’t get it. How can you possibly feel that way? Don’t you all agree? And then we bathe in the hosannas that are proclaimed in the locker room at the club or the local red neck bar. Peace is tranquility and a sense of ease as long as you are on my side of the argument.

A simplistic way is to take everything as a personal affront. You diss me. You don’t show me no respect. You laughing at me? What are you looking at homie? I’ll show you. I’ll pack heat and brandish it because it’s all about pride and status.

Now that’s in the hood. But are we that so far removed? Power and money can exact a lot of revenge. You say one word I don’t like and you are fired. I can ostracize you with a single phone call that will soon spread the word. It can be the country club or a VFW hall.

I don’t know how to make this all better. How can we sit down and just listen? Why is your belief in this or that so fragile that you can’t look at an alternative view? Why do we need the comfort of the clan to dictate what is right or wrong. It’s gong to take some real powerful forces to change this dynamic. I don’t know that we have them.

I went to my granddaughters winter concert last week. Now we should of course call it a Christmas concert but wait. They go to a charter school that is more than diverse. I would guess the makeup is at least 35% of color. The lineup of songs was Christian, Jewish, Hispanic and African American.

The kids were great. They reeled off everything from Yiddish to Noels. There was no pecking order or self consciousness. They got it. We are all in this together but more importantly it feels good. I wish we could freeze that collegiality in time but I have a feeling they will fall to this prejudice or that. That’s life and I am not that stupid.

I can dream for both of us. Don’t worry you don’t have to raise a finger. I will continue live on blissfully in my naiveté. I think we can be a better country and even a better world. I am going to keep looking. Peace on Earth? There was a guy who lived two thousand years ago. You don’t have to believe he was God. Just think about what he had to say. Treat the other guy or girl just like you would like to be. Is that so far off the wall? Sounds like a plan to me.

As always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:
Sorry there are none. I gotta wrap presents.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Cleaning Up….

It’s close to year end and I am doing the required semi annual cleaning of my office here at World Headquarters. Confusion reigns and somehow I think that works for me. Something about a creative mind or at least that is my current excuse. Kathy leaves my cave alone. Not out of respect for my privacy but in fear of getting bitten by something even up here on the fifth floor.

I am a chronic note writer. I have tons of notebooks loaded with this idea or that. Waxing philosophically or just daydreaming. After I die and someone looks at all this crap they are going to realize what a whack job I am. There is of course my tome of “50 Great Ideas I haven’t Done Squat About”. A man has to have priorities. But it’s great to look back and see where I have changed and what stays constant.

In the corner there is a stack of bygone Wall Street Journals.I thumbed through several. I like this paper because there is a lot to it. I get the right bent and assimilate accordingly. Same as I would for the NY Times or my local Denver Post. Yet the variety of topics and analyses from the markets to latest trends is done rather bluntly and without much pretext that borders on zany. I like zany.

There was a blurb on single pilot commercial planes. Seems the aerospace industry has been at this for a while. From an engineering point of view it is close. Whatever cost savings they may realize might be off set by the cost of Prozac and booze in the back of the bus. Seriously, they want driverless cars, naval ships and now planes. What are we going to do in our spare time?

In the world of high finance Jaime Dimon has been cured of his throat cancer. He recovered quickly enough to personally lobby several congresspeople to do away with bans on derivatives. There was a fund manager from Black Rock in London who was banned from trading in the UK ever again after being caught turnstile jumping for an extended period of time on his daily trek from a trendy suburb to downtown London. They would have put Bernie Madoff in front of a firing squad. Lastly we are still dealing in the courts with the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy. I should have been a lawyer.

In Mansions there was the announcement of the listing of an educational entrepreneur’s Southampton estate for $140 million. It seems he runs a thing called Avenues, The World School. It is headquartered in Chelsea and charges $40,000 a year for primary tuition.I wonder if there is a teacher’s union?

On the same note schools are now hiring gourmet chefs for school lunches. It’s not what you learn but how you eat. I can remember a bologna sandwich on white bread wrapped in waxed paper that you downed in about 90 seconds so you could race out for the playground.

An article about Sony tugged at my heart strings. It seems they have been hacked by North Korea. Execs were caught redhanded trashing Angelina Jolie and Obama. The latter in a highly racist tone. No harm, no foul apparently. But in the height of hubris they took the press to task for printing private conversations saying the tabloids were breaking the law or at least the law of the jungle. And yes the saga of Bill Cosby goes on. Whatever side you are on it shows the seamy side of what we thought was innocence.

News becomes strikingly obvious. The recent rains in LaLa Land are mainly washing into the Pacific. Why? Because they paved over the Los Angeles River to prevent flooding. You wonder why this state is screwed up? This morning there was a picture of a coal train derailed and overturned spilling the contents into a river outside of Lexington, Kentucky. But then again the Keystone pipeline is a threat to the environment. You thought I was stupid until I craftily started connecting all these dots.

There is corruption in Haiti and various nations from Africa to the Continent. And right here at home we have the strangest of bedfellows in the persons of Ted Cruz and Elizabeth Warren. Representing the Atilla the Hun Right and Socialism at its best they have the microphone but I wonder if any one is listening. A recent articles suggests that at least a few are getting the message.

Well my fingers are dirty from all the newsprint I have transferred. I have to put out the trash and shape up my act before I succumb to any more revery. It’s good to look at day and week old newspapers. One of them goes back to November 22,2014. Right before the huge drop in oil prices. It shows the lack of predictability in our world. It betrays our schizophrenia as a human race.

I am putting things in piles not order. I will still pick from this or that. I will try not to take myself too seriously. Most of all I will go beyond the headlines and wander down dark alleys. It’s more fun that way. Cleaning up? Never.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

The recent impasse on the budget brought by Senor Cruz actually helped Obama get some long held up appointments through. Seems the Surgeon General wasn’t passing muster because as the top doc he wasn’t properly equipped to handle Ebola and was for gun control. Aaargh.

Johnny Manziel crashed and burned in his debut. Andrew Luck of the Colts trash talks in a different way. He congratulates defenders on their great moves and hits. I read it in the paper.

A 35 year old something just got $355 million invested in his company providing small office suites for startups. That valued his fledgling company at $5 billion. Where did I go wrong?

You can rent a chalet on the slopes in Courcheval France for $60,000 per night. $500,000 is what one tenant is paying for a six-bedroom suite that occupies the entire 39th floor of Manhattan’s posh Pierre Hotel.The renter is not only renting the suite for the entire month of December, but also the separate one-bedroom Getty Suite next door for $150,000 a month. That’s overflow for guests.

Finally there was the sale of a Miami Beach condo for $55 million. Weren’t these places see throughs five years ago? “All the News That Fits the Print”

The “Broken Window” theory of criminology espouses that we pay particular attention to even the most minor of infractions. In so doing we project an atmosphere of order and lawfulness ergo preventing larger crimes from happening. Many have said that what happened in Ferguson and Staten Island are emblematic of that. I don’t have any quarrel with the theory no matter how tragic the outcome.

Davita is a medical technology firm here in Denver. For years they  have specialized in dialysis treatment which has been a comfort to millions. Like any red blooded profit driven company they wanted to ensure their flow of patients. (No play on words). So they opened dialysis centers and then at artificially low prices sold those clinics to renal specialist docs. Then after the appropriate wait time bought them back at a substantial profit to the aforementioned sawbones on the condition they refer all future patients to the facility. Caught red handed as it were Davita paid $389 million in fines. Clink.

Not used to being in the headlines the oncologist industry came to the fore a few weeks ago under the watchful eye of 60 Minutes. The gist was that a new cancer drug that cost twice as much as an older competitor was adjudged by Sloan Kettering to be no more effective. After such unwanted publicity Sanofi lowered the price of the new drug by 50%. Fair enough.

The plot thickens as the price decrease was not necessarily passed on to the patient or in this case Medicare. You see the oncologist as in MD sold the life saving drug directly to his patients. Under the guise of being more convenient for his clients the practice now became more profitable by providing both care and the medicine in one stop shopping. Most did not lower the price. Medicare has to pay the going rate no matter what because Congress said they couldn’t negotiate. Which drug do you think gets prescribed? Clink.

Enter Supreme Food Service. This erstwhile friend of the armed forces had a contract to provide food and water to our troops in the Middle East. In the warlord tradition of the Middle East, Supreme buried a whole series of overcharges to the point where they were selling water at ten to twelve times the going rate. They settled with the Defense Department for somewhere in the neighborhood of $450 million. Clink.

Over the past few months the auto industry has issued recalls for more than 50 million cars. Since we sold about 13 million vehicles in 2013 that is close to a four year inventory of new cars. They ranged from auto ignition switches to air bags to bad brakes. All life threatening without any exaggeration. Takata the maker of the airbags is resisting a further recall. See the malaise is international. Clink.

Last but not least are our friends from the securities industry. Their malfeasance has ranged from selling mortgage backed securities in which they knew full well there were flaws to rigging LIBOR. In the first instance they will tell you pressure from Washington (as in the devil) made them do it. Barney and Bill wanted every American to have a home whether or not they could afford it. They had no other choice. They did pay many billions of dollars in fines but that was without admitting any guilt. Clink.

The bigger piece was the LIBOR rate fixing. This is the governing factor in interest rates for over $5 trillion a DAY worldwide. Now the boys on various trading desks got together everyday and fixed this to their own advantage. It wasn’t one firm but a bunch of dealer and dealer banks that openly colluded. Damn regulators. We can police ourselves.Billions to settle. Clink.Clink.Clink.

When you get into all of these you realize that it was not just one rogue trader or VP although we can always find one fall guy to take one for the team. It is many times a staff or department or an entire organization that commits the felony. People of all sorts big and small knew what was going on and either looked the other way or were complicit in the caper.

These were the big guys. Everyday all over America there are thousands of instances of theft, corruption, payoffs and dirty tricks. I am not trying to play moralist because indeed it is a fact of life. Yes it has gone on for centuries. There are good guys and bad guys. I just wonder if the scales are tipping so far we glibly accept the status quo as necessary to do business or that great panacea,”These are really victimless crimes” ?

A nation or body politic is defined by its mores. It is who we are. But it must be consistent. If we are gong to nail a guy for stealing cigars or selling “indie” cigarettes the same rule of law has to be meted throughout. Is there a big difference between beating a guy senseless in the ghetto or putting a competitor our of business through illegal pressure? I dunno. But sure as hell if we are going to get indignant and demand we fix broken windows in one section of the world we better be ready to do it in all.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Medicare Part D or the prescription benefit section prohibits Medicare from securing drugs at cut rate prices. Essentially they have to pay the going rate without any negotiation. The VA on the other can bargain and pays about 50% less. This was all engineered by Louisiana Representative Billy Tauzin(Cajun of the Capitol) who after passage quit Congress the following week to become the head of lobbying for the pharmaceutical industry.

The massive fines paid by banks, docs etc are a tax deductible time. So a $100 million fine actually becomes $65 million after tax. It is one case where they love the high corporate tax rate.

The In the U.S. unreported income is estimated to be $2 trillion resulting in a “tax gap” of $450–$500billion. This is the result of being paid cash or under the table for goods and services.

Illegal income is derived from drugs, prostitution, embezzlement, etc. Imagine a typical weekend in New York City. Experts estimate that at least one percent of the population – 80,000 plus – spends $200 on illicit drugs. That alone would amount to $16 million dollars a week or $832 million a year. That is just drugs and that’s just New York.

I decided to start off with a legal phrase just to get myself in the right mood. When it comes to attacking problems of course various forms of the legal profession jump to the fore. I have been pondering prejudice as well as hate, discrimination and other lowly virtues. I have been trying to do so from an intellectual point of view which of course taxes me greatly.

We as homo sapiens try to make sense of our world. As thinkers we don’t just worry about food and shelter but the incredible diversity in race, ethnicity, social groups, individual preferences and their interplay. It is normal and actually quite healthy to put people, places and things into categories.

These can be positive or negative. We tend to stereotype to keep things simple. That leads to prejudgements which can be real right or real wrong. We have “in” groups which we belong to and “out” groups who are our antitheses. Depending on your state of mind there is fluidity in the groups or an iron rod in the back once the decision has been made.

Sexism is the viewing of a gender and ascribing qualities to each side. Men are from Mars. Women from Venus. Great. We all act differently but does the role become antagonistic? Certainly when one senses fear, anxiety, jealousy or ignorance. This usually morphs into anger and a marvelous little emotion we call hate. That hate becomes so engrained that it leads to blinding rage and any absence of rational thought. Verbal or physical violence is called up at a moment’s notice.

Just look around you. The battle between good old boys and feminists is on display every day. Women think they should run things and that the world would be a better place. Men are petrified that they might be right and so give every inch grudgingly. Patience wears thin on both sides. Arguments turn petty and childish but each feels a growing sense of urgency. This can’t turn out well.

Is racism so far off? Whites think blacks are criminals at best and animals at worst. Blacks don’t understand why they scare the shit out of people. You are the greatest on the football field or basketball court but don’t move in next to me or date my daughter. Hispanics are lazy, no good illiterates. And gringos just want me to come and pick vegetables but the friendship stops there. These sons of bitches are trying to take over our country.
Go back where you came from. Oh yeah? Where did you or your forefathers come from?

Let’s finish off with a good helping of Jews, Atheists and Muslims. Can’t you just feel the juices flowing? In a crazy way it is just the best exhibit for us to say we are the better. My belief system, lot in life and athletic team are so much superior to yours. Face up to reality and recognize your place in life as long as it is second or less to mine.

Since at least the Middle Ages there has been this pecking order that is defined by land and servitude. Instead of one Holy Roman Emperors we have consistently created more and more fiefdoms. I am lord and master or mistress over my slice of the pie. I have power. I have wealth. I have knowledge. I am better than you. You are a nice person but subservient. I am not opting for socialism but as the gaps get wider and views more entrenched the chance of ever getting together become more remote.

Competition and intense rivalry have become part of our mores. Go back to putting things in buckets. The more complex the more general I have to be. I don’t have time or the desire to get to know individuals. I will just spend time with my own kind. I know them. Ant that of course begs the first step to solve this problem. I have to sit down and understand how other groups do things. I have to lay down my own beliefs for a moment and listen to yours. I have to for even the briefest of moments think that you might have some salient points.

Now as I get to know you I just may not fear you or be envious of you. God forbid I might actually get to like you. Despite what people might think we are all the same. Take us apart on the medical examiners table when we are done and everyone’s plumbing and gray matter is the same. The Human Genome Project has determined that nowhere in our gene pool is there one for race. And yet it is so built into our society.

In my wanderings I have discovered a thing called Contact Hypothesis. It says that we can cure or at least alleviate prejudice by approaching enemies on an equal basis and have the same goals. There was a show awhile back that took people and put them in very uncomfortable situations. One chapter had a homophobe right smack in the middle of some gays. He had to live with them for thirty days to win the prize.

I am sure you can figure this one out. He went in with a closed mind and came out with a whole new set of friends but more importantly a new perspective. He gained knowledge, got over his anxieties and low and behold had a different point of view. Brilliant my dear Watson. Brilliant.

I can’t even begin to understand what it means to grow up black. My wife or daughters could try to explain to me about glass ceilings or a lesser status at the club. I am not sure I get it. What if I was a nice simple fun loving family man Muslim? Can I really learn to love Tom Brady?
There are two concepts at work. Compassion and empathy. There is a simple reaching out and saying I would like to walk a mile in your shoes. Let me listen to you and maybe you could do the same in return. If you saw the picture of the motorcycle cop and black kid in Seattle I hope you get the idea. The young man was beyond upset. The cop reached out and said,”Can I have a hug?”
Some wag called it a photo op. I call it a start. How about you?

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids:
Eugenics is the belief and practice of improving the genetic quality of the human population. Hitler took this to the extreme and decided civilization belonged in a test tube. Some believe that interracial marriages bring down the quality of the species. Homo Sapiens is the species. There are no subspecies.

After pornography the most queries on the net relate to ancestry research. Just think if you go back in time we are all descendants of one another. It is also understood that as we intermarry in the next 1000 years the differences between us may be indistinguishable.

Race is actually a creation of modern day society. It did not exist in Roman times or the Dark Ages and quite probably not until the 17th century. Like race there is no known gene for skin color. It is widely accepted that color is due to climate not race. If England was equatorial then the Brits might be black instead of milky white. Go figure.

In colonial days the British were considered to be superior and Africans, Irish, Chines and Italians were inferior. The later were referred to as “Guineaus” which was actually an epithet reserved for blacks. Anywhere from 1/2 to 2/3 of the original colonists came to the Americas as indentured servants.

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