Uncategorized

Keeping it simple with Medicare

2 Comments

This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on impending retirement.

I knew this day was coming. Finally, I took the leap.

Health insurance providers have been bombarding me with reminders that my date with Medicare destiny is approaching. I’d been setting those mailings aside. Today, however, I decided to do the inevitable.

I made my initial application for Medicare.

There’s good news to report. The website is surprisingly easy to navigate. I called up Medicare.gov and went to the link that connected me to the application process. I filled out several pages of questions. I previewed them. I printed them out. I received an email alert from Medicare telling me my application had been received. I was informed that I could get the “status” of my application after five business days.

I’ll do so at the end of the week.

I turn 65 in December. I’ll be qualified to receive the so-called “free” health coverage provided by the federal government. Of course, I don’t consider it a freebie. I consider it a prepaid benefit, just as my veterans benefit was paid by my service in the U.S. Army for two years from 1968 until 1970.

I’m trying like the dickens to keep it as simple as possible. I’m not yet sure how many “parts” I’ll sign up for. I’m not even sure I understand what all the parts — Part A, B, C, D … whatever — actually mean.

I was advised by someone in the know that since I had signed up with the Veterans Administration health care system, I likely might not need to enroll in many Medicare supplemental programs. I’ll try to keep it simple as this application process moves forward.

This is a curiously exciting time in my life. My wife and I are living a good life these days. We’re both free of much of the daily pressure of working full time every day. I’m working at two part-time jobs that give me plenty of time to spend on this blog, which I’m enjoying immensely.

Our sons are successful. Our health is good.

What’s more, I’ve now begun the process of joining a federal health program that once had as many critics as, say, the Affordable Care Act. It’s working well now.

Count me in.

Uncategorized

Tradition has its place in transition

I’m a bit of a sucker for political tradition.

Take, for instance, what happens when we change presidents of the United States. There’s a long-standing tradition of the outgoing president instructing his staff to work with the staff of the incoming president. The two leaders exchange ideas, the outgoing guy gives the new guy tips on what to expect, how he might respond to certain events.

The tradition concludes with the outgoing president leaving a note in the Oval Office desk for the new president to read. It’s often a personal note of congratulations and expressions of good luck … that kind of thing.

Does that tradition exist at county courthouses?

One of my sources in the Potter County Courthouse tells me he believes not. I asked him recently about whether he detected any close working relationship between the outgoing and incoming county judges. He shook his head “No.”

Nancy Tanner is going to become the next Potter County judge in January. She’s replacing a man for whom she worked for two decades. County Judge Arthur Ware fired Tanner in 2013 for reasons he hasn’t yet specified publicly. Tanner then went on to win this spring’s Republican primary for county judge, defeating four other candidates. No Democrat is on the ballot, so her nomination was tantamount to election.

Tanner has picked a transition team. I keep wondering, though, if she’s working at all with Ware — her former boss and the guy who cut her loose.

Ware’s communication skills have been hampered since he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2010. I’m not entirely clear whether the current judge is able to verbalize effectively.

Tanner does the advantage of knowing much of the nuts and bolts of county government already. She was Ware’s administrative assistant and developed a solid working knowledge of how the various county departments interact with each other and with the county judge’s office.

Maybe she won’t need Ware to hold her hand — figuratively — as she prepares to assume the post of county judge.

Still, it would serve the cause of tradition if Ware offered some help to the new judge.

Uncategorized

Let's chill the Perry-should-quit talk

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilbert Hinojosa’s partisan ferocity has gotten in the way of his better judgment.

Hinojosa exhibited a too-quick trigger finger the other day after a Travis County grand jury indicted Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts of abuse of power and coercion of a public official.

http://news.msn.com/us/defiant-gov-perry-rejects-outrageous-indictment

Hinojosa called immediately for Perry’s resignation.

Whoa, Mr. Chairman! Let’s back up a bit.

The grand jury has accused Perry of threatening to veto money for the public integrity unit run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who was convicted of drunk driving. Lehmberg is a Democrat. She didn’t quit her office. Perry vetoed the money. Lehmberg isn’t running for re-election; neither is Perry.

So, why call for Perry to quit? Hinojosa said the governor has “dishonored” his office. However, he hasn’t been convicted of anything.

Last time I looked, I noticed that the U.S. Constitution implies that citizens have a presumption of innocence. Perry, as of today, hasn’t even been arraigned in court on the accusation leveled against him.

It well might be that Perry would be found guilty of the charges. He might be acquitted of them. He might not ever go to trial. I’m quite certain that none of this will be determined until long after Perry leaves office at the end of this year.

So, let’s dispense with the Perry-should-quit nonsense. We have a judicial process in this country that should be allowed to do its job.

Uncategorized

Facts coming in on the Brown shooting

We’re getting more facts about the Ferguson, Mo., shooting of Michael Brown.

They aren’t looking good for the police officer who gunned down the unarmed teenager.

An independent autopsy reveals that Brown was shot six times, including twice in the head.

Brown’s death has sparked ferocious rioting in the St. Louis suburb — and protests around the country.

Brown was African-American; the officer who shot him is white. Ferguson is a majority-black community, yet the police force has just three African-American officers. The case has become the latest metaphor for alleged police intolerance of young African-American males.

The U.S. Justice Department vows to perform its own autopsy on Brown’s remains to determine what, if anything, the federal government should do about this case.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has slapped a curfew on the community. State police have taken over the investigation from local cops, who’ve mishandled badly the immediate follow-up to the tragic incident.

So many questions remain about this case. I hesitate yet to make any hasty judgments.

The latest autopsy results, though, suggest that the officer who shot the young man to death, has some serious explaining to do.

We’re all ears.

Uncategorized

'Terror is alive'

Bob Schieffer is one wise Texan whose wisdom needs to be heard inside the White House.

The link attached here is of a commentary Schieffer made on the CBS News talk show he hosts each Sunday, “Face the Nation.”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2014/08/17/schieffer_i_dont_care_how_many_times_you_say_bin_laden_is_dead_terrorism_is_alive.html

He took issue with his fellow pundits’ assertion that Hillary Rodham Clinton stumbled when she criticized President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. “Of course she did,” Schieffer noted.

Schieffer took note of the implied contention within the White House that the May 2011 commando mission that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was sufficient somehow to defeat terrorism. It surely wasn’t.

Many of us noted that although bin Laden’s death was a big victory in the war against terror, other terrorists would emerge to take his place.

They have done exactly that.

Schieffer says the United States needs a comprehensive strategy to continue the fight for as long as it takes in order to protect Americans from those who vow to do us harm.

The veteran journalist knows of which he speaks.

Uncategorized

'Bipartisan foreign policy' must return

Holy cow! Texas Gov. Rick Perry is making some sense as it regards U.S. foreign policy.

Perry has penned an essay for Politico Magazine in which he says the following about the growing conflict in Iraq between the Iraqi government and the ISIS terrorists seeking to take control of the country: “The danger for the United States and other Western nations may still seem remote. And for many Americans, understandably, just about the last thing we want to think about is more conflict in Iraq and what it might require of our country. But we cannot ignore reality. We have come to a seminal moment when America’s action or inaction could be equally consequential. If anything is left of the old bipartisan tradition in American foreign policy – that basic willingness to unite in fundamental matters of security – we need to draw on that spirit now in a big way.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/rick-perry-op-ed-iraq-110088.html#ixzz3Ahd3u8t8

I’ll repeat part of it. “If anything is left of the old bipartisan tradition in American foreign policy … we need to draw on that spirit now in a big way.”

Amen to that, Gov. Perry.

I’ve long lamented the sniping and bickering regarding foreign policy that in its way gives aid and comfort to our enemies. Democrats did it to Republican presidents, and Republicans are now doing it to a Democratic president. The great Republican U.S. Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan used to say that partisanship “stops at the water’s edge.” It now splashes into the water and the waves ripple far and wide.

Perry, of course, said much more in his Politico essay. He argues that U.S. air strikes must save Irbil from ISIS terrorists, as it is home to a U.S. consulate in Iraq.

The governor argues against “rehashing the causes of today’s crisis” and says it’s now time to look forward to what we can do to bring it to an end. The targeted air strikes against military targets in parts of Iraq appear to be working. I am concerned about the so-called “slippery slope,” and whether we’re going to re-engage in a ground war — something that Gov. Perry actually called for as he ran for president briefly in 2012.

He seems to have backed away from that notion and is preaching a more bipartisan approach to solving a foreign-policy crisis.

Uncategorized

Yes, this took an act of courage

Jon Mark Beilue is a longtime friend and a former colleague.

He has become — in my view, and in the view of thousands of other readers of his work — the pre-eminent wordsmith in West Texas. Maybe the entire state. Who knows? His bounds might be beyond limits.

Jon Mark acknowledged something the other day that few of us knew about him. He has been battling depression.

He made the acknowledgment in a column published in the Amarillo Globe-News. Here is the link to the column:

http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2014-08-12/beilue-trust-me-depression-can-strike-anyone#comment-205141

It’s worth your time to read it. I’ve already shared it with my Facebook friends. It’s going out to them once more under this blog headline, along with those who follow my Twitter postings — and blatherings.

This one, though, presents quite a special message.

Jon Mark wrote this in the wake of Robin Williams’s shocking death this past week. Williams took his own life. He, too, suffered from acute depression and, the world has learned, also from early onset of Parkinson’s disease.

Jon Mark’s column, I reckon, is intended to inform us that depression is an insidious disease that can strike anyone. It has afflicted my friend and I am so proud of him for revealing it in the manner that he did.

His courageous message is worth sharing again and again.

Uncategorized

'Harvested' instead of 'killed'?

6 Comments

Maybe my idle mind is a little too, uh, idle this lovely Sunday afternoon.

With that, I’ll get something off my chest. It’s piddly and not too terribly significant, but it has to do — I think — with what I perceive to be a tilt toward political correctness.

Looking through my local newspaper — the Amarillo Globe-News — today, I noticed two captions under pictures on the Outdoor page of the Sports section. The pictures showed two hunters who had shot wild game. One was a water buck in South Africa; the other was a feral hog. The text under the pictures said the hunters “harvested” the animals.

This is not a new use of a common term. When I think of something being “harvested,” though, I think of cotton being stripped, of wheat being cut, of kids picking raspberries off the thorny bushes (which is what I used to do in the summer growing up in the Pacific Northwest).

Perhaps I should ask a newspaper copy editor, but short of that, I’ll pose the question here: When did the terms “shot” and “killed” become unacceptable for use in a daily newspaper in describing the act of hunting wild animals?

The animals shown today, as are the critters displayed all the time on that particular page, are pretty darn dead. Does the text below the pictures need to somehow soften for readers what they already can see with their own eyes?

Some folks — particularly those on the right — just love to criticize those who tend to use politically correct terminology rather than dealing straight up with whatever they’re trying to describe.

Is that what’s happening to our region’s hunting community, for crying out loud? Please tell me it ain’t so.

Uncategorized

Mexico is responsible, too

I’m trying to imagine this conversation occurring at the White House, or perhaps at Los Pinos, Mexico’s official presidential residence.

It would involve U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena.

Obama: I’m glad we’re meeting today. Let’s talk about that refugee crisis on our common border, shall we?

Pena: Certainly, Mr. President.

Obama: OK, then. What are you going to do to stop the flow of young people from your southern border, all the way through your country and into my country?

Pena: Well, we’re doing our best. But we have about 1,500 miles of territory from our southern frontier to our border with the U.S. Do you want us to stop these children en route?

Obama: Yes, I do. Look, Mr. President, I’m getting pounded by critics at home because — they contend — we’re not doing enough to protect our borders. But the way I see it, protection also must depend on our neighbors doing the best they can to protect their own territory against trespassers. Oh, and by the way, we are rounding up these children and young adults by the thousands, holding them in detention, and trying to figure out what to do with them. You said it yourself: Those refugees are traveling several hundred miles through your country to get to ours.

Pena: Well, you know what? You make a good point. From this moment forward, I’m going to mobilize our military, notify our local police authorities to ensure that they search out, locate and intercept busloads crammed with young people heading north. I would suppose they’d be easy to detect.

Obama: Good to know, Mr. President. That’s what hemispheric neighborliness is all about.

***

Has this conversation occurred? I don’t know. Should it? Absolutely.

Uncategorized

'Perry vs. Cruz' enters new phase

2 Comments

Whether the governor of Texas actually serves any jail time if he’s convicted of anything illegal remains an open question.

I doubt he’ll be eating jail food. I’m not even sure he’ll be convicted.

Rick Perry’s indictment for allegedly abusing the power of his office, however, does bring into question whether he’ll be able to challenge for the White House in 2016. Why, he’s not even the most popular Texas conservative thinking about running for the presidency.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/16/while-flirting-2016-perry-cruz-woo-same-groups/

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is the darling of the conservative movement these days, although Perry’s been making inroads with the Republican Party base. He deployed 1,000 National Guard troops to protect us against those children fleeing repression in Central America, which of course has the GOP faithful all fired up.

Texas GOP voters, though, seem to like Cruz’s fiery rhetoric. “As the Texas Tribune reports: Even before his recent legal troubles, Perry was already operating in Cruz’s shadow, as most conservative activists in attendance made clear they would rather see the freshman senator vie for the White House in two years than the three-term governor.”

The indictment issued in Travis County is resonating far beyond the Texas capital city. It gives the governor one more potential embarrassment that he must put behind him. His brief run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination ended badly in a series of missteps, misstatements, forgetfulness and downright weird behavior.

Now this.

Say this, though, for Cruz. He’s coming to his friend’s defense, issuing this statement: “Unfortunately, there has been a sad history of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office engaging in politically-motivated prosecutions, and this latest indictment of the governor is extremely questionable. Rick Perry is a friend, he’s a man of integrity – I am proud to stand with Rick Perry. The Texas Constitution gives the governor the power to veto legislation, and a criminal indictment predicated on the exercise of his constitutional authority is, on its face, highly suspect.”

That statement isn’t likely to improve Perry’s possible presidential campaign chances. Look for Cruz to ramp up the conservative rhetoric, hitting every GOP base hot button he can find, even at his “friend’s” expense.

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience