Whitney Houston

What is it about some celebrities that draws so much attention when they die?  For instatnce Whitney Houston.  For many years now I hadn't heard much about her other than the terrible stuff on the cover of the tabloids which may or may not be true.  I am always curious why one persons death attracts more media attention than another?  Just a question if you have any thoughts on this matter, please comment.

Socialism will it work?

I was on Facebook the other day and I ran across this story.  It seems that a professor (I found out he was teaching at Texas Tech  from Snopes.com) had an interesting experiment with his class.  The story follows.

"An economics professor at a local college said that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich - a great equaliser.

To counter this, the professor said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little, studied even less and those who had previously studied hard, decided they wanted a free ride. So they too studied little.

The second test average was a D!

No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Couldn't be any simpler than that."

I thought this was a great example of how socialism would fail miserably.  But as I read some of the posts on Snopes.com I discovered that many of the posts said that the professor didn't understand what Socialism was.  I decided that perhaps I didn't understand what socialism is either.  I went to Wikipedia.com and looked it up.  As it turns out there are several different ideas all called socialism.  From my reading and my understanding I do believe that this professor was right with regard to what socialism means under some definitions and wrong under others.  All that aside the principle learned from this experiment is a valid strong argument against a socialist type society, wherein all work, and all profit or product produced from that work is divided equally among the entire population.  "You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." 
Much the same as you cannot legislate morality, you cannot have people give their best and strive to achieve more and more if there is no reward.  If I had a job as a door greeter at Walmart, (nothing against that job) and I had all the same perks and benefits and money as a Neurosurgeon, who spent 8 years in college and medical school plus a seven year residency for a grand total of 15 years after high school, why on earth would I be a slave to an education for an additional 15 years?  Bragging rights?  That is a little too far fetched in my opinion.  In a nutshell, socialism cant work because human nature is to be lazy, and to want something for nothing.  Many overcome that tendency but many do not.  Until you can change the true nature of the human being you wont be able to pull off socialism of any type.  I am sure many will disagree with me and that is just fine.  It makes this country I live in a fantastic place to live because I can express my opinion and so can you.

That is all   

Fighting the Turd.

I have a daughter who is a one of the biggest sweet hearts I know.  She is also "champion of the picked on".  She will always stand up for other kids who are being teased or riddiculed even if it's behind their back.  Because she is a sweet heart and a very sensitive girl she gets her feeling hurt easily, which makes it difficult for her when she stands up for other kids.  Last night I picked her up from the sport she plays, and she came out of the building crying.  She was very upset.  I asked her what had happened and she told me a story full of injustice and drama.  The story in a nutshell is this, she stood up for a friend of hers who is on the team, and the girl who was saying mean things about her friend then started being "mean" to my daughter.  This is a very common theme by the way.  I am frustrated because many of the problems she has she brings on herself by defending other kids.  I dont want to tell her to stop defending others because I think that is a good trait to have, but at the same time when she does she ends up in a bad mood or in tears.  In a moment of inspriation it occured to me that I can use her experience to teach her an important lesson in life.  I called it fighting the turd. 
One issue she had yesterday was this other girl "cut" in front of my daughter in a line they were in.  My daughter of course started it up with this girl.  So I told her that her decision to fight about, (not a physical fight) or argue about it was hers to make, and that I wasn't going to tell her what to do.  But I did tell her that if she wanted to take on this girl, who we referred to as the "TURD", she needed to expect to get some poop on her.  In other words she cant expect to stand up for others or herself with out a backlash.  I have found that in life we need to pick our battles.  We need to decide if it is worth it to fight the bullys and protect the innocent.  I happen to like the fact that she stands up for others, and tries to help those in need.  But many times that isn't the the popular way to go, especially on the grade school playground.  I could see the light come on in her eyes.  It was the first time I have really felt like she understood and agreed with what I had said.  I think that I have helped her understand that if you are going to stand up for what is right instead of being a sheep in the crowd, someone will always disagree with you, and that is ok. 

That is all

Getting older

It is a sad day when a person finally comes to the conclusion that they aren't as young as they used to be.  I don't feel old by any stretch of the imagination but as I have taken on the extremes of the workout Insanity Asylum, I have been feeling it in ways I wouldn't have 10 years ago.  I know this happens to the best of us but it is a little bit of a hard pill to swallow.  I am the kind of guy who when it is time to get back in shape I go all out, I push myself hard, I over do it really.  I am starting to realize I can't just jump in with both feet anymore. 
A few years ago I got myself into a bit of trouble.  I went for a bike ride after several months of near inactivity.  I rode hard and really pushed myself.  I arrived at the top of a hill and felt very sick.  I think I was on the verge of having a serious health event.  But fortunately I was smart enough to turn around and coast down the hill, and back to my house to recover.
I am fine I even had an EKG to make sure my heart was ok, but I know that I came very close to having a very serious event.  So what is the moral of the story?  Take it easy and work up to the extremes of exercise especially if you are middle aged and you have been inactive for a while. 
I have no doubt in my mind that I can work up to the level of fitness required to do Insanity Asylum, but I need to make sure I do it in a safe and smart manner.

That is all

This is going to be expensive

My patients who don't brush and floss regularly tend to get a lecture about how expensive it will be to fix their teeth down the road.  I usually save this lecture for kids and teenagers, because I've found that adults really don't care.  Yesterday I had a young patient sit in my chair.  He is in his early twenties and is attending university.  He is married and has dental insurance but as with all dental plans it only covers about $1500.00 a year.  He is in for a cleaning and exam.  I start to list off all the cavities he has and there are a bunch.  In fact if memory serves correct he had a cavity on almost every tooth.  I rattle off filling, filling, root canal and crown etc.  In other words cha ching, cha ching, cha ching.  I really did feel bad for this kid.  I can tell they don't have a lot of money, and he is at a major cross road with his teeth.  He either forks out almost $10,000.00, yes that's ten THOUSAND dollars, to fix his teeth or he will be in dentures in the near future.  End of options.  I'm not talking big cosmetic case with veneers, I'm talking fillings and where needed root canals and crowns. 
So as I tell my patients 1 minute a day can save you thousands of dollars, I am not exaggerating at all.  If he had flossed regularly he would be nearly cavity free.  How is that you ask?  Simple, almost every cavity he has is one that started between his teeth.  Flossing prevents those cavities.  It really is that easy.  So for what it is worth, take time to floss.  Or you can just plan on writing a big fat check to your dentist.

That is all.

Tim Tebow

I don't care if you are religious or not you gotta love Tim Tebow.  How many people in today's world are willing to stand up for what they believe?  We live in a society where the leaders of our country are swayed by the slightest breeze.  So many of the politicians out there only care about one thing, what you want them to say.  They don't really care about right or wrong they only care about getting votes.  Our country is full of people who wont take responsibility for their own actions.  It is a breath of fresh air to me that Tim Tebow is willing to say this is what I believe, and I am not ashamed.  In my own personal opinion, it is great to see someone willing to praise God and pray while in the public spotlight.  Tim you have my support.  Keep it up!!
 

My new years resolutions

New years resolutions can be a very good thing.  They are like any other goal we may set in life.  The key I think is to write the resolution or goal down, look at it often, and plan a way to achieve the goal.  I am setting a few goals for myself this year. 
The goal I would like to share with you is the goal to become healthier.  Notice I said become healthier and not just to lose weight.  Skinny people aren't always healthy.  As you may know a while ago I was using the work out DVDs called Insanity.  I really liked them but, as is typical for me, I had an obligation that interfered with my routine and it fell by the wayside.  My wife, whom I love more than I can even say, purchased the new Insanity work out DVDs, entitled Asylum for me for Christmas.  I was very excited and a little scared all at the same time.  Yesterday I did the first workout in the series.  It is a test to see how many of each exercise I could do.  I will use this test once a month to track my progress.  I am happy to say that I didn't die.  I think I am going to really like this new DVD series.
In addition to exercise I am trying to eat healthier.  I downloaded an app that tracks calories and exercise.  I like it because it helps me see just how much I am eating.  It is scary how many calories are in most fast food meals.  I suggest you get an app to see how much you are really eating.
Another trick is to keep track of your weight.  Studies show that people who weigh themselves every day tend to be thinner.  So I am breaking out the scale.  It did try to run away screaming when I approached it, but I forced it out from under my bed and hopped on.  Sad is all I have to say. 
Whatever you resolution is for this year I wish you the best, and hope you are very successful!!

That is all