Musings of Erin

In our society, everyone needs money. Every now and then, I entertain the thought of creating a self-reliant community without the need for money, but then I realize that: a) I probably couldn’t find enough people to play with me and b) I’d still have to pay property tax, therefore we couldn’t be self-reliant. *Sigh*

US Money scares me. Before 1971, dollar bills and coins were based on the amount of gold the US held in reserves. Unfortunately, dollars aren’t based completely on gold anymore — they started printing money to supply a war, to pay bills, and so forth.

So now we have a bunch of money floating around that isn’t actually worth much. The value of a dollar isn’t what it used to be (based on gold!), and the value is dropping significantly - and quick!

According to an article by Ron Paul,

“In 1934 a dollar was worth 1/20th of an ounce of gold; $20 bought an ounce of gold. Today a dollar is worth 1/600th of an ounce of gold, meaning it takes $600 to buy one ounce of gold.”

Yikes!

Of course, we could buy precious metals to stockpile our own personal cash reserves. Some companies, like Monex Deposit Company, allow you to buy silver and other precious metals for quick home delivery. The demand for silver outweighs production - so even if you’re interested in gold, silver may be a better commodity for you at the moment.

I don’t personally have any experience with buying precious metals - do you? It sounds like an interesting solution to a frightening problem.

I’m back writing on this site - I know it’s been awhile. But, now we’re back and at ‘em!

Do you think it’s time for a reform? I surely do. I know it’s been awhile since I’ve written, but this is something that has been weighing heavily on me this whole time. Look at these statistics brought to us by The Commonwealth Fund:

–Only 49% of U.S. adults receive the recommended preventive and screening tests for their age and sex.

–Only half of patients with congestive heart failure receive written discharge instructions regarding care following hospitalization.

–Nationwide, preventable hospital admissions for patients with chronic health conditions such as diabetes and asthma were twice as high as the level achieved by the best performing states.

–Hospital 30-day re-admission rates for Medicare patients ranged from 14% to 22% across regions.

–One-third of all adults under 65 have problems paying their medical bills or have medical debt they are paying over time.

–Only 17% of U.S. doctors use electronic medical records, compared with 80% in the top three countries.

–On multiple measures across quality of care and access to care, there is a wide gap between low income and the uninsured, and those with higher incomes and insurance. On average, measures for low income and uninsured people in these areas would have to improve by one-third to close the gap.

–As a share of total health expenditures, insurance administrative costs in the U.S. were more than three times the rate in countries with integrated payment systems.

I know, I know, none of us like paying taxes. But, if we could just raise our taxes by 6%, we could solve (or come close to) the healthcare predicament. Imagine, not having lines of people waiting for sub-standard care outside a community facility that isn’t staffed to actually care for people, let alone heal them. Imagine all children being able to focus because they don’t have a cavity that’s giving them hell. Idyllic? Probably. Impossible? Not at all.

16% of our GDP is already dedicated to health care, imagine if we actually put it to work for our country.

Do you need to learn how to overcome Procrastination?

I think I’ll look it over later.

The Famous Quotes blog quotes George W. Bush as saying:

“An amazing thing about our society today is wealthier white families have got the capacity to defeat mediocrity by moving. That is not the case for lower-income families. And so therefore, I strongly believe in charter schools, in public school choice. I believe in opportunity scholarships to be able to enable parents to move their child out of a school that’s not teaching.”
- President George W. Bush

And, I wonder - why hasn’t anything been done? The No Child Left Behind grandstanding does no good. I know, personally, students who have been allowed to pass grades, move from middle to high school, while maintaining D and F grades throughout middle school. I’m still trying to figure out how this helps anyone.

In response to a Dr. Laura Schlessinger broadcast in 2002 where she stated that homosexuality is ‘an abomination’ according to Leviticus 18:22, Jim pens an open letter on the internet:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

Read Entire letter here