Thursday 7 November 2013

Simply Observations

Quietly, it's being reported that in North Carolina....there's just one guy so far who has moved through the maze of the web site of Affordable Healthcare (ACA).  The trouble is....after he has selected the package and cleared every single detail....he has yet to "pay" for the package.  He doesn't count....until he actually has cleared the pay-deal of this.  The truth is.....he might just think long and hard over the higher cost deal, and just walk away.....saying he'll do without healthcare.  State officials aren't saying much.  You can imagine the dismal and comic question within North Carolina....will "Joe" do it or walk?

After months of analysis....some scientist dudes have finished up examining the body and remains of the Palestinian guy.....Arafat.  Yeah, he's been actually dead now for almost nine years (less you forget).  Basically, they agree now....he died of polonium radiation poisoning.  No, it's not the kinda stuff you'd pick up at Piggly Wiggly and ingest by accident, or just stumble by in some state park or such.    Everyone and their brother all jumped on the AIDS wagen after Arafat died and died whispered over how it might have been that.  Course, doctors tested, and that just didn't come up.  Who gave Arafat the polonium stuff?  Well....so far....the only nation that has used the stuff for murder and such....has been Russia.  Course, why would the Russian intelligence guys pick on Arafat?  Israel?  Why murder the sole member of the PLO who they knew like a book and could feel reliable on his management style?  Now what?  The smart guys just aren't saying.  They merely know the exact cause of death.

Twitter and it's IPO.  Basically, you have a company that is going public today, with a marginal method of making profits.  After all these years....Yahoo has shown that it's marginally able to pull in profit.  Same for Google.  Same for Facebook.  Is Twitter worth $25 a share?  Maybe....in an imaginary world of unicorns, leprechauns, and imaginary warriors with swords.  In a year, it could be worth $50 a share.  In a year or two, it might be bought by Microsoft and built within their package.  You just don't know.  If you were looking at dependability, dividends, and stability.....you'd best invest in something like Pepsi, McDonalds, or Coke....not Twitter.

Out in some New Mexico town....local cops stopped some younger guy....believing he had dope.  They felt he had it hidden in his rear-end.  Yeah, it's no joke.  So after messing around with him....cops took him to the local hospital and had the doctors run various procedures to examine his rear end.  Yeah, colonoscopy was mentioned, along with an enema or two, and a x-ray.  Nothing.  No drugs.  The bill?  Well, that's the funny thing....it was sent to this young guy.  Six thousand dollars on the bill....to prove innocence?  The young guy hired a lawyer.  Presently, it looks like a pretty simple case to win.  The expected haul?  A million.  The young guy probably has to pay the lawyer around $300,000, but he'd get $700,000 for a couple of stupid guys forcing him to have a colonoscopy.  Me?  For $700,000....I'd do it.  Most guys from Bama would stand up and do it for $700,000. The town council in this case isn't talking much, and I'm pretty sure they are peeved over the cops.  In Bama, if cops pulled you over and demanded you do a colonoscopy to prove your innocence.....most folks would pull weapons and start making threats.

Some couple in New York....got to the final details of the cost of the new health care deal via ACA. They used the web site and got to the final estimate of cost. They were fairly shocked at the cost for a married couple.  Then, they plugged in the info....as singles, and came to realize that the guy made such a low income....that'd he'd qualify for federal subsidies, and get a really good cheap policy.  Yeah....as singles....the better pricing existed over them in divorced status.  So, under the natural way of thinking.....they got to this idea of considering a divorce....to find better pricing for health care.  For me to explain this to anyone, but particularly to a German....it gets to being awful hard.  I can only guess that the mythical formula in that 2,000 page bill that became law....creates a thousand different scenarios....being single in certain states....being married in certain states.....maybe even being dead in certain states.

Clever

“Someone has to tell the president it's not clever to be seen trying to be clever."

-- George Will commenting on the Fox News over the President, 6 Nov 2013

There are roughly four categories of clever people....at least by my humble opinion.  Folks from Bama....after a number of years....start to classify this kind of stuff, and readily identify folks falling into one of these four categories.

First, there's the clever guy who has a thousand gadgets in the garage, work-shop, house, or farm.  He's always looking for the easier way to get things done.  He wants a tool for every single job.  He desires a status within the community as Mister Gadget.  Folks go to visit him and get insight over the newest lawn mower, the best hay rake, or this new satellite radio stuff.  The guy is smart, and knows it.

Second, there's the guy who quietly sits through a long-winded fifteen-minute discussion on a problem, then utters a 11-word solution.  Folks sit in amazement at the simplicity of the solution, and how direct his words were.  He's the guy that you could dump all the parts to a 1937 Ford on the ground, and would quietly go to assemble the vehicle without any directions.  This guy never talks about his wit or cleverness....never bragging....never standing up in a crowd.

Third, there's the guy who goes off to college or university....spends four to six years there.....coming back with a university degree....and pretends he actually learned something but hasn't gained a single bit of insight or knowledge.  He's a wannabe clever guy.  He'd like to be seen as smart or clever, but the truth is....he's just a regular guy like most of us.

Finally, the fourth guy.  This is the guy in the suit.....who has some folks around him who seem bright, and thus the suited guy pretends he is clever.  The suited guy has zero cleverness in himself.  If you threw some lego bricks on the ground and asked him to assemble them....he'd ask you for the plan or ask if he can bring in his crew.  The suited guy always lays claim to cleverness, but can never explain anything in detail....it's mostly some $9 words, mentioned over and over, and he acts like you'd never understand what he and his crew did.  The suited guy tends to always talk about the future, and some clever act of accomplishment coming up.  If you asked the suited guy about clever accomplishments in the past....it'd be a limited list to brag about.  The suited guy works for some church, some company, some store, or some government office.  He's clever about acting clever.....but beyond that....he just isn't clever.

Bama folks aren't world renown for anything much....except for NCAA football, gospel music, hunting, fishing, and common sense.  We have produced a bunch of clever guys.....but since there's four categories....we are careful not to brag over our winners and losers of cleverness.