Outliving this Day and Coming Safe Home

The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules. The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker’s pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.

There is virtually no productivity associated with these increased salaries. The federal, as well as state and local, governments push paper and distribute wealth, they do not create it. Even the paper pushers are inefficient. Furthermore, it is tax revenue neutral. The federal government withholds FICA, Medicare, and income taxes from the tax dollars it pays the employees. Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 36.8 percent of government employees belong to unions, compared with just 7.6 percent of workers in the private sector.

The government does not care about productivity; the private sector does. Besides, it is politically incorrect (not to mention politically hazardous) for government agencies to oppose unionization. Here is one of the more insidious effects of increased government employment: Most of these employees are for more expansive government, as it is in their self-interest – their rice bowl, so to speak. They will continue to be a voting bloc for more and more government, at least until, like yeast in the fermentation process, their product kills them.

For more, see: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm

The title phrase (which I admit is a bastardization of the inscription honoring Christopher Wren in London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral) occurred to me this morning as I found myself amid an estimated 20,000 men and women starting their 26.2 mile run through the city of Dallas. The annual White Rock Marathon, named after our scenic urban lake, is only one of hundreds, if not thousands, of endurance events throughout the world each year. It has acquired sufficient prestige to attract world class runners from around the globe, and is telecast live with former Olympic champions as commentators. Still, I wonder how many of the participants recall the man who started it all.

Forty years ago, almost anywhere in America, if you saw a grown man running on the street, you would think it odd. If you saw a women, your first reaction would be that she was trying desperately to escape a two or four-legged predator of some description. Around that time, then U. S. Air Force physician Kenneth Cooper was in the midst of empirical research of the effect exercise had on the condition of the human body. Prior to then, physicians knew that some exercise was good for you, but not in what amount, or what all of the benefits could be. Myths of all kind abounded. Exercising too much could “wear you out” and athletes of all stripes (except maybe golfers) were “over the hill” by age 30, were but a few. Persons with chronic cardiovascular or pulmonary conditions were advised to “take it easy” and avoid strenuous exercise. Cooper’s research, which culminated in his best-selling book Aerobics, and later a series of similar writings publishing his findings, changed that mind set, and inspired many in his and subsequent generations to take to the street on foot, on bicycles, or in the water.

In 1971, as a 25 year old out of shape, overweight smoker, recently discharged from the Army where I had a desk job for the last year of my tour, I idly picked up Aerobics one day and ended up reading it cover-to-cover. Few other books I’ve read have had such an impact on my life. Like many others, I’m sure, I took it to heart, and began running. I got into shape a lot faster than I imagined I would, and managed to keep it up pretty much ever since, nowadays mostly by bicycle rather than afoot. It took awhile to quit smoking, as it did not seem to hurt my running that much – a tribute to the resiliency of the human body I guess – but I managed to throw off that vice, too. Never have run a marathon – 15 K was the closest I managed – but that level of exercise is not necessary for good heath, as Dr. Cooper has determined. Still, I admire those who do and am out to cheer them on every December, riding my bicycle along the way.

Speaking earlier of women runners, it is becoming more difficult to tell someone’s age these days, but I noticed at least one grey-haired female who I would judge to be at least 50, and probably older, was today 48 minutes at the 6 mile mark. Given that when I was in the Army, a 10 minute one mile was a passing score (6 minute was 100%) on the Combat Physical Proficiency Test given to 18-25 year old men, that should speak volumes of what we are capable of.

I root for the runners partly because it’s unlikely they will be over-consuming our medical care resources. A huge number of those who are over-consumers today are Type II diabetics and suffer from one or more of the other maladies brought on by obesity. Except in rare cases, these are self-inflicted diseases. Regular exercise can go a long way to preventing, and if already established, curing or controlling those conditions. Ken Cooper’s research, as well as numerous other controlled studies, have proved that.

I plan to ride 65 miles on my 65th birthday next year at about a 15 mph average. That’s not exactly Tour de France class, but 40 years ago anything close to that would have been unthinkable. That change we can really believe in and is Dr. Ken Cooper’s monument. I hope more and more of us can pay it homage.

As of this writing, Dr. Cooper at age 77 is active as chairman of the Cooper Aerobics Institute here in Dallas.

NOTE: This homily (along with some previous wiritings) was posted on my blog at http://theinfernalserpent.blogspot.com/ I started it some time ago, but pretty much ignored it until one of my readers, David P., who I understand is an IT professional, suggested I aim for a wider audience. The wider audience, such as it might be, has him to blame. David, who is a relative by affinity, does not necessarily endorse my views, but hope springs eternal.

Many libertarians and our sibling conservatives often express concern that elite nags and busybodies are constantly attempting to use government power to remake the nation’s social-economic-cultural structure in their own image. The left-wingers nearly as often answer that it is only logical and reasonable to want competent, learned, and accomplished individuals to make policy and to “run” the country.
Well, yes, persons in positions of authority need to know what they are doing. We need the best men and women to implement the policies established by the democratic-republic form of legislative system that has been in place for 220 years. Public policy, in other words, must be made by consensus. This does not mean a bare 51% in all cases, but often must require a super-majority, and in some cases, where certain rights are fundamental and unalienable, even more. No segment of the populace, no matter how intelligent, learned, or prescient should be in a position to dictate how individuals should run their lives, so long as they are not infringing on others fundamental rights. I, of course, would argue that fundamental rights include only one’s life, liberty, and freedom to pursue happiness, and their corollaries.
That these self-evident traits, bestowed on human beings by nature or nature’s God are threatened in a fundamental manner has been made abundantly clear by the latest pronouncement of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in Washington. This cabal of elite policy makers has decreed that routine mammograms are not necessary for women of average cancer risk under the age of 50, and that women between the ages of 50 and 74 do not need to undergo mammograms more often than every other year. (WSJ 11/17/09, p. A1 & 4; DMN 11/17/09, both citing the Ann Intern Med, November 17, 2009 151:716-726). The Task Force guidelines are based upon a new analysis of statistical data. They were formed by weighing benefits of screening compared with the harms of false positive, such as anxiety and unnecessary additional tests and biopsies which are expensive and time consuming.
This is yet another example of liars figuring. Statistical analysis seems to be arcane that so many of us defer to the so-called experts without question. Thus most of us pedestrians tend to swallow what these studies seem to show and shrug and go on about our business. But this advice, and the concurrent opinion of the Task Force that breast self-examination is essentially worthless, does not impress the the American Cancer Society. The society’s chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, challenged the new guidelines saying that they are “essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them.” Phil Evans, a professor or radiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School here in Dallas and president the Society for Breast Imaging related that there is a “ton of scientific data in this country and others on screening that shows a significant benefit for women between 40 and 49 to be screened. Dr. Evans said he was “shocked” by the changes. “Tens of thousands of lives are being saved by mammography screening, and these idiots want to do away with it,” said Dr. Daniel B. Kopans, a radiology professor at Harvard Medical School. “It’s crazy – unethical, really.”
More to the point, the Task Force’s “balancing test” disclosed the elitist bias of the panel. Anxiety caused by false positive? Why is that a consideration at all? Anxiety is caused by many of life’s stresses. Anyway, shouldn’t that be for the women concerned to decide? The unnecessary additional tests are not discovered to be such until they are completed. Time consuming and expensive? Whose time? The expense is discussed below. But the bottom line is that the Task Force seems to believe the anxiety, expense, and time are worth more in women over 50 than in those between 40 and 49. The one inescapable fact is that some women – even some who are at statistical low-risk – get breast cancer in their 40s. This, of course is collectivism gone wild.
As for the expense, yes, medical care can be expensive. Mammograms are probably more expensive than they otherwise would be because they are paid for by third parties, and, anyway, like the sticker prices on new cars, it is a rare instance when the third party “insurance” carrier pays full freight. Many carriers are pleased to pay for screening because discovering a condition early reduces the expense of treating it later. I broke my arm falling off my bike a year ago and my carrier sent me a letter suggesting I get a bone density test – on them with no deductible or co-pay. Anyway, if mammograms were not covered by third-party payers, and were advertised like Lasik and breast-enlargement surgery, the price would go down, as would nearly all medical care short of catastrophic trauma or diseases, which is what medical insurance was originally for and would be now except for our crazy tax code, and the mind-boggling levels of bureaucracy necessary to administer the third-party claims resulting from doctor visits for minor aliments.
The most worrisome aspect of the new Task Force guidelines is that it is a harbinger of what we can expect from the government taking over health care delivery in this country with the outrageous bill passed just over a week ago by the House of Representatives. Most of you who have read this far are intelligent to understand that the bill was 1900+ pages for the simple reason that it took that much to include provisions to buy off the special interests with earmarks and other favors. The average person reading the bill would not be able to spot the hidden boodle because of the arcane nature. Regardless of anything else, those who are responsible for designing medical care plans and doleing out the money will be under pressure to keep costs down. Politicians always vote for something that is inherently expensive and the scream at the implementing agencies, boards, commissions, et cetera, to be frugal. The Task Force guidelines are precisely the kind of standard the bureaucrats will use to cut costs. When the left-wing dream comes true, we’ll have to accept what the various panels are willing to pay for. Welcome to rationed health care, everybody. Everybody but the elitists. Most of them will have the means, mostly inherited or otherwise unearned, to pay for whatever medical procedure they want, and the limousine to take them to their doctor.

Here is a recent article from one who is only second to P. J. O’Rourke in the ability to turn a phrase:
“In the past few years, The New York Times has indignantly reported that doctors’ appointments for Botox can be obtained much faster than appointments to check on possibly cancerous moles. The paper’s entire editorial staff was enraged by this preferential treatment for Botox patients, with the exception of a strangely silent Maureen Dowd. “As the Times reported: “In some dermatologists’ offices, freer-spending cosmetic patients are given appointments more quickly than medical patients for whom health insurance pays fixed reimbursement fees.” “As the kids say: Duh. “This is the problem with all third-party payor systems — which is already the main problem with health care in America and will become inescapable under universal health care. “Not only do the free-market segments of medicine produce faster appointments and shorter waiting lines, but they also produce more innovation and price drops. Blindly pursuing profits, other companies are working overtime to produce cheaper, better alternatives to Botox. The war on wrinkles is proceeding faster than the war on cancer, declared by President Nixon in 1971.”
See the rest at
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34179
You might be aware that fees for all cosmetic plastic surgery and Lasik, both of which are typically not covered by third party payers, have consistently gone down for the past 10 years! And there are many, many expensive advertisements in the newspapers (what’s left of them) and on television. Still, our government is trying to bring costs down by mandating, not merely encouraging, medical care to be paid by a third party? Those folk are in cloud-cuckoo land for sure.
You also might be aware of the proposed tax on cosmetic surgery and pharmaceuticals
as such as Botox. That would be a national disaster. Can you imagine what Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer would look like without Botox? Yikes.Here is a recent article from one who is only second to P. J. O’Rourke in the ability to turn a phrase:
“In the past few years, The New York Times has indignantly reported that doctors’ appointments for Botox can be obtained much faster than appointments to check on possibly cancerous moles. The paper’s entire editorial staff was enraged by this preferential treatment for Botox patients, with the exception of a strangely silent Maureen Dowd. “As the Times reported: “In some dermatologists’ offices, freer-spending cosmetic patients are given appointments more quickly than medical patients for whom health insurance pays fixed reimbursement fees.” “As the kids say: Duh. “This is the problem with all third-party payor systems — which is already the main problem with health care in America and will become inescapable under universal health care. “Not only do the free-market segments of medicine produce faster appointments and shorter waiting lines, but they also produce more innovation and price drops. Blindly pursuing profits, other companies are working overtime to produce cheaper, better alternatives to Botox. The war on wrinkles is proceeding faster than the war on cancer, declared by President Nixon in 1971.”

See the rest at
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34179

You might be aware that fees for all cosmetic plastic surgery and Lasik, both of which are typically not covered by third party payers, have consistently gone down for the past 10 years! And there are many, many expensive advertisements in the newspapers (what’s left of them) and on television. Still, our government is trying to bring costs down by mandating, not merely encouraging, medical care to be paid by a third party? Those folk are in cloud-cuckoo land for sure.

You also might be aware of the proposed tax on cosmetic surgery and pharmaceuticals
as such as Botox. That would be a national disaster. Can you imagine what Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer would look like without Botox? Yikes.

This past Friday, Charles Krauthammer wrote: “One of the major goals of the Copenhagen climate summit is another NIEO shakedown: the transfer of hundreds of billions from the industrial West to the Third World to save the planet by, for example, planting green industries in the tristes tropiques. “Politically it’s an idea of genius, engaging at once every left-wing erogenous zone: rich man’s guilt, post-colonial guilt, environmental guilt. But the idea of shaking down the industrial democracies in the name of the environment thrives not just in the refined internationalist precincts of Copenhagen. It thrives on the national scale, too.” I’ll have to keep “left-wing erogenous zone” in mind for future comments. I’ve often had the impression lefties’ brains were lower down on their anatomy. Krauthammer made a point in a past column that since the modern day feudal barons cannot burn the crops of the peasants, they will try to shut off access to energy in order to maintain their control. The full column is at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/10/AR2009121003163.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter Cheers!

The New York Times reports that this year, newspaper sales dropped sharply lower to about 10 percent in the six months ending Sept. 30, compared with the same period last year, as disclosed by figures released on Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

To read the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/business/media/27audit.html?_r=1

The linked article referenced The Wall Street Journal as having actually increased circulation. It has my become my primary print news source, for many reasons. The Dallas Morning News circulation has plummeted, and that’s too bad, but I suppose inevitable. When he toured the U.S. in the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville noted that, rich or poor, town or country, you could find a newspaper in virtually every American home, and he viewed that is not only good, but part of the American character to be well informed. Most of those 19th Century papers were intensely partisan, but were balanced because there was nearly at least one for every political stripe. Today, of course, we have many other sources for news and comment – even to the point of it being an embarrassment of riches. Unfortunately, radio and television reduces the information to incomplete sound bites that can easily mislead those who have not the time or inclination to fact check. The internet is somewhat better, but the short news cycle and the surfeit of information tends to force important stories into the background sooner than they should be. And there is the factual reliability. If print journalism goes the way of the horse and wagon have in our transportation system, we will be so much the poorer. At least the coming of the automobile eliminated most of the horse manure in our society; the end of print journalism seems bound to increase it.

October 25, 1415

This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

– Wm. Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3

October 25, 2009

In addition to his titanic literary talents, William Shakespeare was politically savvy and knew how to ingratiate himself with the powers that were. Some have gone so far as to claim the Histories (which included Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV (parts 1 & 2), and Henry VI (parts 1 & 2) as well as Henry V) were written primarily as Tudor propaganda during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. His depiction of Richard III as a depraved and deformed monster who was overthrown by the noble and virtuous Henry Tudor, Elizabeth’s grandfather, is a case in point. In any event, the St. Crispin’s day speech may well have been written to remind the English of Elizabeth’s exhortation to her forces to successfully repulse the attempted Spanish invasion of 1588, and thus foster English nationalism. It evidently served both of them well.

In addition to King Henry V’s victorious battle of Agincourt in 1415, St. Crispin’s was the day of the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War in 1854 wherein the less successful Charge of the Light Brigade occurred, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 when the U.S. Navy consigned nearly the entire Japanese fleet to the bottom of the sea. Quotations from Henry’s speech have furnished many a title and pithy quote for military as well as other works of fact and fiction.

St. Crispin’s Day remains a Black Letter Saint’s Day on the Anglican Calendar (for obvious reasons), but not on the Roman. It seems that the Vatican II Council decided there was insufficient evidence that St. Crispin ever existed. Perhaps accurate history, but, as an Orthodox priest of my acquaintance once remarked, bad PR. Shakespeare, however, knew that when the legend becomes fact, print the legend. (Quote from The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, (John Ford film, 1962)

Bob

Among today’s intellectuals, pseudo and otherwise, Hitler is the standard against which moral depravity is measured. Part of the reason for that is that he lost the war he started, and was not one of the victors who could write history to suit himself. Certainly Stalin was every bit as morally depraved as Hitler, but he got away with his atrocities. Pol Pot may have been worse, and his genocide was in our own time. Historically, when it comes to genocide, Tamerlane, Genghis Kahn, and Hannibal make Adolf look like a piker. As far as depraved cruelty, any number of medieval warlords are Hitler’s equal and more. One fact to remember, the Nazis were defeated by the British and American leaders who recognized the evil for what it was and did not indulge in euphemistic characterizations of what the Nazis really were all about. Nor, of course, did they pull their punches in waging war against Hitler.
Political correctness is nothing more than euphemism on steroids. At its worst it tends to make evil palatable. Even at its best, it stifles clarity. Clarity can be offensive, particularly to those who espouse the idiocy a plain speaker is being clear about. The whining and sniveling about actually using the correct term (shudder) “Islamic fascists” is reminiscent of the shrieks and howls that Ronald Reagan’s correct characterization of the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire caused among the left. Perhaps President Bush’s making it clear who our enemy really is will cut through the doubletalk and help relegate the Islamic fascists to the ash heap of history where they belong – along with their Soviet soul mates.