Some People .......

As stated previously, I'm a people watcher. I love to observe people doing strange things while believing they are acting in a normal manner. Sometimes my observations are made while surfing the Internet, and on special occasions I even run across of tofer of people being ... "people"

An oxygen thief by the name of Frank Van Den Bleeken is serving a natural life sentence in a Belgian prison for the rape and murder of a young women. In my mind a major part of any prison sentence is the taking away of the felons right to choose much of what happens in his life. Do the crime and you will do the time ... endless, repetitive and boring time for the rest of your life in this case. But this guy decided that endless, boring days until the natural end of his days were causing him emotional distress and under Belgian law an unresolvable emotional state is sufficient grounds for euthanasia. A state review board (in this case an actual death panel) agreed and decided that he could be transferred to a facility in Holland where he could then (and this is my thinking) evade and abrogate the sentence imposed by the court.

Now I grant you willfully dieing is a very strange way to get out of prison, but the people who agreed with his thinking are also demonstrating a equally strange sort of logic. He was sent to prison for a reason and should not be allowed to substitute his own solution for a problem he caused by his own sick behavior.

Fortunately the Ministry of  Justice overruled the decision and Mr Bleeken remains in prison.

Good Deeds and Their Just Reward

The faculty at Harvard University rallied to the support of the Obama administration during the planning and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (now THAT is a wonderful misnomer!) and in fact several of them were central to writing the act and helping conceal  the impact of the legislation on the general public and individuals. But all good deeds are ultimately rewarded and the faculty at the school is now up in arms because the Health Care Insurance they worked so hard to implement is now biting them on the economic ass.

Their present health plans are reported to be one of the most generous plans, far exceeding the scope of plans available to the nearly everyone else... it can well be called a Cadillac to plans. Under the law they worked so hard to create they are now seeing their benefits being eroded and their cost rising exponentially ... and they are "unhappy". 

In their resolution opposing the changes to the University health plan they claim it is causing "distress" and generating anxiety" in addition to imposing a financial burden on their pocketbooks. Welcome to the world the rest of us live in

It brings a smile to my heart to see these emotionally isolated  Ivory Tower Twits coming face to face with reality. Can you say Schadenfreude?

Fresh Times are Coming

New Year always brings a moment of reflection ... what was and what might the future hold. My Lady and I have a tradition of planning where we want to be this time next year. Great plans are afoot even as we speak and only time will tell if we achieve them.

Future plans are always built on past experience, and I've had lots of experience! Some of the memorable have been:

Family - I have a great family that I'm proud of, my wife is a joy, our kids are wonderful and dear to our hearts and the grand kids are magnificent. I'm blessed that they allow me to associate.

I'm self employed and suffer from a boss that is too good to me, but in the past I've had my fair share of bosses that ranged all over the leadership landscape. The best bosses always had a sense of humor.

We need to spend more time at the range this year and hopefully expand our armoury. Not that we anticipate bad things, we just like being able to express our feeling through loud noise.

To all who know, work and associate with me, and for all who have not had the opportunity to do so

Happy New Year