Witch Doctor

I started seeing a chiropractor a couple months ago who uses a method called the Bio-Energetic Synchronization Method (BEST). It's weird.

I had never been to a chiropractor before, but several things prompted me to try him. The folks who had recommended the herbal cleanse to me also recommended this guy. Following the cleanse, my dandruff and my allergies started to come back and at the end of my cleanse, I was congested for weeks. It was far too long for a virus and it was extremely frustrating because none of my medications were able to do much about it. Some of them helped a little, but nothing cleared me up completely.

So I went to see this guy, once again with the thought that, having tried everything modern medicine can offer except allergy shots, any kind of natural/alternative treatment was worth a try. Funny how I equate natural with alternative ...

He has me lay down on an adjusting bench and for the next hour or so, I hear a lot more preaching than physical treatment. He's a really nice older gentleman with an infectious smile and a personality that I really enjoy. His method makes no sense to me, so I affectionately call him the witch doctor. But, scientist that I am, though I would really like to understand his methodology, after a few experiences with him, I'm convinced that it works. So when I visit him, I lay aside my need to analyze everything to some extent and just put my faith in him and his method.

The BEST method, as far as I can tell, lays on a philosophical foundation similar to ancient Chinese medicine. It assumes the existence of energy in the human body that seems to be indiscernible to any kind of measurement system we have available. I don't think I've heard the witch doctor use this word, but I equate it with the concept of qi or chi (pronounced 'chee'). It consists in strength testing to determine what is wrong with my body/energy/mind/spirit/whatever and then some really weird treatments. Some of the treatments seem like traditional chiropractic adjustments of joints to help things flow better in the body. Some of them include him finding and touching two points on my body simultaneously while I hold my breath. Some of them are so weird, I don't even know how to describe them.

Within two days after my first appointment with the witch doctor, my congestion was completely gone. It started breaking up during my appointment and accelerated over the next two days. After about six weeks of congestion, the timing seemed to be a bit more than just coincidental. One time I went to see him and was feeling off balance inside. I don't know how else to explain it, but it was like there was a hole inside me and everything felt wrong. At the end of the appointment, I felt great. I think I've seen him four times now and after each session, I feel better overall.

At my last appointment, we talked about dandruff. It was still bothering me even though I had started using dandruff shampoo and had been using it for a couple of weeks. During my herbal cleanse, I had stopped using it and the dandruff only came back after the cleanse was over. He did his voodoo on me and told me my liver was weak and suggested I cleanse that first followed by the kidneys. He knew about the herbal cleanse I had done, so he knew I had something that was supposed to cleanse those organs. I started using the herbs about a week ago, stopped using dandruff shampoo, and the dandruff appears to be completely gone. Weird.

I'm not sure if I'll ever really understand the BEST method, but based on the empirical data, I'm going to keep seeing the witch doctor and see if I can get my body into shape to be able to heal itself and function properly. As a scientist who's always obsessed with understanding the model connecting the observations with the physical phenomena, it's kind of refreshing to simply put my faith in the method without really having a clue as to how it works.

Expert Witness

I recently had the opportunity to serve as an expert witness in a criminal case and it was a VERY interesting experience! I was able to share some of my expertise with the attorney who retained me, but the best part for me was that I learned a little more about the history and philosophy behind common law and got a feel for the judicial process. I won't give too many details of the case in a publicly available blog, but I'll share some high level points here for anyone who might be interested.

The defendant was being charged with a crime based on a specific statute. His attorney thought the statute could be challenged and asked me to help him look at the law, define some terms, explain some technical details of how certain systems work, and help him develop a case to challenge the law. In doing this, I came to learn a little more about the litmus test that a law must pass for a court of law to uphold the law. The attorney I worked with seemed to enjoy explaining the details, which was great because I had lots of questions.

The most important thing I took away from that discussion was the need for the law to clearly and consistently define what is legal and what is not. If the statute is easily misinterpreted, it can be struck down because it can be seen as reaching too far or trampling on constitutional rights. The value of common law, or law based on judicial precedent, seems to be a certain consistency throughout the laws over time.

Apparently, the history of common law is quite extensive. He gave me a notional example of a law against breaking and entering that may have had terms in the law challenged and defined by courts back in the 12th century. This was notional; I have no idea how I would trace the history of a law against breaking and entering. But the example he gave was a law against breaking and entering after dark with the intent to steal ... and then someone charged with a violation of the law questioning whether "dark" applied to sunset. And maybe that guy was acquitted, but in acquitting him, the court would be taking a step in defining what that term means in the law so it's more clear the next time the law is used in court.

I'm a total novice when it comes to law, so take what I've said above with a grain of salt. I looked into going to law school many years ago with the idea that I could become a patent attorney. I could make a heck of a lot more money that way, but it didn't take me long to realize I wouldn't enjoy that field. I'd rather be happy than rich.

But lately, philosophy of law has been more interesting to me. I still don't think I would enjoy practicing law, but I'm interested in proper methods of governance. I'm interested in the healthy tension between order and freedom. I'm interested in finding the sweet spot in a system of law that discourages behaviors in individuals that trample on others' freedoms without taking away too much individual freedom by force of law. As an engineer, I solve a lot of optimization problems and seeking to maximize freedom in a system of law seems like an optimization problem to me. It just doesn't seem like one I'm really capable of completely solving because of the complexity of human nature. But even if I can't find a 'best' solution, maybe I can find some principles that govern what makes a really good solution.

I'm also interested in optimizing success in commercial organizations. I've been thinking a lot about corporate governance lately and trying to figure out what kind of organizational and incentive structures would maximize the probability of success in a place of business. The answer to that organizational design question will depend on the nature of the business, the collective values of the employees, the values of the customers, etc. But the first thing to do in this problem is define what we mean by success. That's a philosophical question that must be answered before any kind of organizational engineering takes place. For me, 'freedom' is about the closest definition of success I can think of for a legal system, but for other organizations, while freedom is probably an essential element of success, it probably isn't sufficient unto itself.

When I have the answers to all these questions, I'll let you know. :) I don't expect to completely solve those problems before I die, but that's what makes them so interesting to me.

In the case I described above, the defendant was offered a pretty nice plea bargain deal at the last minute, so the case never went to trial. In a way, it was satisfying to have helped create a case that rattled the confidence of the prosecution enough that they offered a plea bargain, but it was also a bit disappointing, after having geared up for a fight, to be let down like that. If I were in the defendant's position, I would have done the same thing, but it was frustrating that he had to accept any kind of sentence. In my mind, he really didn't do anything wrong. Of course, I've learned that law and justice aren't necessarily the same thing, but it's still disappointing to see something like that.

So we didn't get to really challenge the law, which is a shame because I think the law, which had good intention, really should be struck down and rewritten. But this man finally has some resolution on this issue and I think he got a pretty good deal. So I'm happy for him.

I Am A Christian

In the south, there is a sports program associated with Baptist churches called 'Upward'. It's a really nice way to get kids involved with sports without being super competitive. Every child gets equal playing time, gets to try all the positions, and we have a lot of fun. Every practice, they hold a 5 minute devotional, teach the kids a little about God and the Bible, and give them a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We've been doing various Upward sports for several years and I decided it was time for me to give a little back to the program after all the benefits we've received from it. So I volunteered to coach my boys' soccer teams. It has been a lot of fun!

On the volunteer application, I listed my religion as LDS and apparently the lead sports minister didn't realize what that meant because he assigned me to coach two teams and then called me a couple weeks later to explore my faith. He and/or some parents were uncomfortable when they learned what church I belonged to. But some of my answers on the application form about my faith had given him no discomfort, so we agreed that I would teach the devotionals and he and parents were welcome to listen in. If they felt uncomfortable with what I was teaching after a devotional or two, I would be happy to step aside and let someone else lead those gatherings.

I guess he had second thoughts because on the day we were supposed to give the gospel presentation, he asked to take over for me. :) I didn't push back. It's his church and his program, so I respect his right to do that. I'm just grateful for the service their church offers to our community by hosting these leagues. But since I missed the chance to share the gospel with those boys, I want to share some of my core beliefs here. If you're not interested in religion or my faith specifically, this would be the post to skip. But since this is at the core of what drives me, if you're interested in who I am, I recommend you read it.

The Gospel

I believe there is a God in heaven who loves us. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe that because we fall short of living according to principles of truth, justice requires a punishment that separates us from that God who loves us. But the gospel, which derives from an Old English word godspel meaning 'good tidings', is the good news that Jesus Christ has paid the price for us. He took the punishment in our place and He offers us His mercy and His grace (divine love/power/help) in place of the judgment that would befall us on our own.

An artist's depiction of Jesus in Gethsemane (Luke 22:41-44)

Knowing this, we all have the opportunity to accept or reject this gift of mercy that's offered to us. Rejecting isn't hard; you just keep doing what you're doing. Acceptance isn't really that hard either, but ultimately it will require everything we have - a total surrender to God - but the benefits are beyond imagination. We start with accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior. In my church's parlance, we call that faith. He asks us to exercise faith that this fantastic story of redemption might be true. Christ then asks us to take His gift and do good with it by trying to improve ourselves, trying each day to be a little more like Him. Again, I'll use my vernacular - He asks us to repent. The german word for repentance is 'Umkehr', which literally means to 'turn around'. He asks that we change direction when we find we're going the wrong way.

Then He asks us to formally accept His name through a physical symbolic act called baptism. Being buried in the water and coming out again symbolizes death/burial and renewal - the death of the old man of sin and the birth of a new man, born again through the power of Christ's redemption (Romans 6:6). Following baptism, we are asked to receive God's Spirit, sometimes called the Holy Ghost (see, for example, John 3:3-5). This Spirit allows us to connect with God and helps us in many other ways. Finally, He wants us to keep on the path, doing those things we've learned to do through those first four steps. So the five things asked of us to make Christ's sacrifice of value to us are:

1. Faith
2. Repentance
3. Baptism
4. Holy Ghost
5. Keep it up ... rinse, repeat, etc.

If I had been allowed to give the devotional at soccer practice, I would have used simpler wording and I would have stopped at faith because that's what the Baptist church wanted me to teach. And up to that point, I don't think there would have been any discrepancy between what I believe and what any other Christian believes. One minor divergence that we would have been close to - I have heard many churches quote a scripture that says "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Roman 10:9) and teach that such a verbal acceptance is wholly sufficient to save us. But then they go on to preach that we should be good people, do our best, etc. Which probably means we actually believe the same thing, but we use different words.

The problem with the conclusion drawn from that passage, in my mind, is that the reader is taking a single verse in isolation (for a contrary view from faith being all-sufficient, read the book of James, particularly James 2:19-20). Tolstoy wrote a whole book inspired by a single scripture taken in isolation (The Kingdom of God is Within You) and drew some conclusions that, in my opinion, really don't jive with the rest of the Bible. It's a GREAT book, actually, but I think Tolstoy is missing some things. Other passages in the Bible clearly indicate there are other things God expects of us in order for us to fully avail ourselves of the gift that Christ offers. Most notably concerning baptism. I think the five steps I've outlined above are a decent summary of those things. But I welcome feedback.

I belong to a church that is sometimes called the Mormon Church. I'm pretty confident that everything I wrote above would be accepted officially by the authorities of my church. And yet so many people are convinced that 'Mormons' are not Christians. I really think that's why my minister friend took over the devotional that day. I think he saw me as an unbeliever. And that's ok. He's a really nice guy. I know he means no harm. But here's a little more evidence that I might just be a Christian.

I Am A Christian

I don't like the term 'mormon'. I think it's confusing. I almost never use it. The official name of my church is 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'. Note the prominence of the name of Jesus Christ. That has been the name of the church since 1838, just 8 years after the church was founded. We believe in scripture in addition to the Bible, most notably the Book of Mormon (hence the 'Mormon' nickname given to the church, originally by the church's enemies). The subtitle of the Book of Mormon is 'Another Testament of Jesus Christ'. The name of Christ is all over that book. Here are a few of my favorite passages:

... we talk of Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. (2 Nephi 25:26)

... he [Christ] shall be born of Mary ... and he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind ... and he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; (Alma 7:10-12)

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah ... (2 Nephi 2:8)

The Messiah in the last reference refers to Christ. The English word Messiah comes from a Hebrew word Moshiach/Mashiach meaning 'the anointed one'. The word Christ comes from the Greek word Christos (Χριστός) meaning 'the anointed one'. Same thing. You get the idea. I recognize people of the Jewish faith dispute the idea that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but early Christians gave the title of Christ to Jesus to semantically establish that equivalence and we have been doing so for the last 2000 years or so - it's a matter of faith. Etymologically, though, there is no dispute that Messiah = Christ.

There are many, many more passages about the Savior to be found in the Book of Mormon. I believe that book to be scripture, like the Bible. With faith on those two written witnesses that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, I worship Jesus Christ as my Savior and I'm trying to become a little more like Him each day. And I claim to be a Christian. I don't think my claim is outlandish, do you?

For more on what the Atonement of Christ means to me, take a look at this post from about six months ago.

Humor Quote

"A sense of relationship and copartnership with God involves the concept of universal brotherhood and that will help to develop intelligent tolerance, open-mindedness, and good-natured optimism. Life is really a battle between fear and faith, pessimism and optimism. Fear and pessimism paralyze men with skepticism and futility. One must have a sense of humor to be an optimist in times like these. And you young women will need a sense of humor if you marry these young men and try to live with them. Golden Kimball once said in a conference, 'The Lord Himself must like a joke or he wouldn't have made some of you people.' But your good humor must be real, not simulated. Let your smiles come from the heart and they will become contagious. You may see men on the street any day whose laugh is only a frozen grin with nothing in it but teeth. Men without humor tend to forget their source, lose sight of their goal, and with no lubrication in their mental crankshafts, they must drop out of the race. Lincoln said, 'Good humor is the oxygen of the soul.' And someone paraphrased, 'The surly bird catches the germ.'"
-Hugh B. Brown

Herbal Cleanse Finale

I officially finished my herbal cleanse regimen last week ... and like the idiot I am, I added another week. I had the feeling that I should continue with three of the four pills for one more week, so I'm REALLY finishing today. Seriously. For real this time.

I had the feeling that the blood cleanser supplements may have been filling my bloodstream with garbage from surrounding tissues and the other three were helping my body to dispose of that junk. I also caught the flu about two weeks ago and I was feeling really awful at the time I should have been stopping the pills. I felt like those herbs might help my body process everything it was fighting a little better.

Oddly enough, the symptoms I've had with this flu have been exactly the same as I had when I caught the flu about 10 months ago. I've had the flu three times in my life ... twice in the last year? Maybe the herbs knocked loose a virus that lay dormant in my body? I have no idea, but it's a little too weird not to suspect something like that.

Near the end of my cleanse, I noticed some bumps forming on my head. Similar bumps had formed on my legs and arms earlier and then had faded. I thought maybe the head was finally getting the good stuff after having the lower parts worked on for a few weeks. About the same time, that old itchy pre-dandruff feeling hit me. I have fought dandruff for years and have tried several times to get off dandruff shampoo without success ... so I'm familiar with that itchy feeling that comes before my scalp falls apart. So far, the itch has come and gone ... and come again, but so far, no flakes. And it has been 2-3 months since I used any of that shampoo. The shampoo has a chemical in it that I decided wouldn't really be in keeping with the whole idea of cleansing, so I stopped using it. So far so good ...

I've maintained about a 15 pound loss and it feels stable. Except for the flu symptoms which have flared up, died down, and flared up again, I feel really healthy. I'm going to give my body a week or two to rest from all those herbs and then I've got a few cleansing and immune boosting herbs I want to try to see if I can reduce my allergic reactions. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how this cleansing experiment has turned out. If any of you out there have done something similar, I'd love to hear about it. If you decide to try what I tried, feel free to contact me with questions. I'd be happy to share more of my experiences.

Herbal Cleanse Update

As I discussed previously, Emily and I have been doing an herbal cleanse to see if we can't shape up these old bodies a little bit. The reason we got into it in the first place was to help me reduce or eliminate my allergy symptoms, which have become pretty nasty lately.

I started on a pretty strict diet several weeks before taking any supplements ... mostly to see if I could do it. The diet is intended to enable the herbs to do their jobs. If I'm gumming up the digestive tract with junk, I can't really cleanse my body very well. So, I began a diet of vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains and I found I was able to reduce my allergy symptoms dramatically - maybe 90% - by eliminating certain foods. After experimenting a little, I think dairy is the biggest culprit.

Dairy - it tastes great, but it's killin' me

Since I started the herbs, though, some weird things have been happening. I reported in the previous post that I had done a sinus cleanse and all my old sinus problems seemed to come back with a vengeance before going away ... well, it seems that a detox hurts before it helps. The toxins hurt on the way in, impair you while you store them, and they hurt on the way out. The first thing I noticed was a few small nodules on my skin that seemed to be holding something that wanted out. They weren't large and it wasn't disgusting - sort of like small zits - but they erupted in several places, localized in parts of my arms and legs.

A week or two into it, I noticed a couple of warts appearing in the exact same places where I had had warts previously. It seems the herbs were encouraging the viruses to exit the body ... and they did. They're gone now.

About a week ago, I got a couple of cold sores in my mouth. Very painful ones. One was a nodule on the tip of my tongue that hurt a lot more than its small size would have suggested. Another on my cheek that started out as a big open sore - it's still there. Not quite as open, but it hurts.

I think my weight has stabilized. Hopefully no more weight loss; I can't really afford it. I have cheated on the diet and eaten meat several times and I think that has helped me stabilize my weight. When I'm traveling for work like I was this last week, it's hard to stay off meat completely, but I think I can get by with one or two meat dishes a week and still be cleansing pretty well.

Exactly one week ago, I started to feel congestion building, a bit of post-nasal drip. And I thought - 'oh great; it's cleansing the sinuses', but it turned out to be a cold. I don't know whether a cold virus can lie dormant in the body or not - I'm thinking I may have simply caught the cold - but maybe it's related to the herbs ...

In general, I feel healthier than normal and I think these herbs are doing good things for me. I'm sure the improved diet has done wonderful things for me. We are finishing week 5 of 8, so three more weeks to go. I'm sure I'll post more fun developments as I finish this 8 week course. Wish me luck!

Colorado

We went on a road trip to Colorado recently. Along the way, we made our mark. If you see one of these, you'll know where it came from.

It's not a crazy attempt to take over the world. Hopefully the heart makes that self evident. Along the way, we made some friends,

went hiking,

 enjoyed beautiful views,

befriended wildlife,

went swimming,

and had a GREAT time!

I hope you and your family had some good summer fun too.

Ode to Fergus

We have a psychotic mutt named Fergus whom, for some reason, we really love. Sometimes we're tempted to kill him, but I guess that's what family is all about. :)

Here's a picture the girls asked me to take. They really like him.

He's pretty cute the way he finds odd ways to relax. Here's a candid shot that is fairly typical of his habit of finding uncomfortable ways to be comfortable.

He's strange, which probably explains why we love him. He fits right in.

The Seen and the Unseen

I just posted a tribute to Ron Paul, so in that spirit, here's a quote from French economist Frédéric Bastiat from his essay in 1850 entitled "That Which is Seen and That Which is Unseen".

In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them.

There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.

Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to come, while the good economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil.

Portrait of Frédéric Bastiat from Wikipedia

Tribute to Ron Paul

Check out this tribute to Ron Paul. I really like this guy.



Apparently they showed this video at the Republican National Convention today. That kind of surprised me ...

Juice Fast and Herbal Cleanse

About three weeks ago, mostly inspired by the documentary "Fast, Sick, and Nearly Dead", Emily and I decided to try a juice fast. We did it for four days and felt really good about it. We have been planning to do an herbal cleanse for several weeks and decided we'd put it off another week so we could start with a juice fast. It was really hard the first two or three days, but not too bad the fourth. Emily ended up feeling sick near the end and had to eat some food. I felt like I had more energy at the end, but I also felt like I needed more substance at that point.

Then, about two weeks, we began taking some herbal supplements that supposedly help cleanse the body of toxins. I had tried some herbal cleansing of my sinuses a couple months ago and felt like all my worst sinus problems came back as the herbs, obviously doing something, seemed to be breaking up mucus and clearing out all the junk my body had produced and/or stored in that area. This lasted maybe 3-4 days and then I felt quite a bit clearer, the nasty symptoms slowed down and then stopped, and I felt like things were moving the way they were supposed to. Based on that experience, I have felt motivated to see what a whole body cleanse might do for my allergies and overall health.

Herbal Supplements

Since the juice fast and the last two weeks of herbal treatments with a diet of vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, limited whole grains ... and not much else, I've lost about 12-13 pounds in three weeks. I wasn't expecting that, but my stomach does look a little better and I have mostly felt better. I got a bit dizzy and lethargic a couple days ago and, not really wanting to lose any more weight, I decided to introduce a little meat into my diet, which seems to be helping my dizziness/weakness and I think may be helping my weight to stabilize. I think the diet had more to do with the weight loss than the herbs, but the herbs have definitely had an effect on my digestive system - in a good way. Things are definitely working better in that department.

This coming week begins the full regimen of herbs including a combination that supposedly cleanses the bloodstream. I'll report on further positive/negative symptoms as I go along. I can't promise it will be regular or timely (see my posting track record - not always really good), but I'll do my best.

For the sake of posterity (and you, dear reader, if you're interested), the herbal combinations were inspired by Dr. Christopher and sold under his name. He died several years ago, but his company continues to operate. Although we're taking them slightly different than prescribed, the cleansing kit found here contains all the herb combinations we're using.

Inception

On a recommendation from Emily's sister, we watched the movie "Inception" last night. It was SO good!

The idea is based on a technology that doesn't exist - in the movie, it allows people to share dreams. Once I got past that bit of fantasy (didn't take me long), I just dove in and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I don't want to say too much about the details of the plot because I think that would make it less enjoyable for you to watch. Briefly though, it begins by introducing us to a group of people who are paid to steal ideas from peoples' subconscious minds while they're dreaming (they call this theft 'extraction'). The group is then hired to implant an idea into a man's subconscious with the idea that it will take hold and become his own (inception). That's when things start to get a little crazy.

I was so impressed. The plot reveals itself slowly throughout the movie. As it became clear what was happening, I was so impressed by the beauty of the plot and the way in which the story was weaved. After a single viewing, I don't see any plot holes, which is satisfying. Once you get past the basic premise (shared dreaming) and one or two of the assumptions that I found hard to believe, the rest of the story fits together pretty neatly.

The best part of the movie for me was the mental gymnastics it demanded. Trying to keep track of everything that was going on in multiple levels of dreaming while keeping tabs on the characters as they're developing and as information from their past is unveiled that helps us understand them better - it was a bit of a workout. I really enjoyed that.

There was a scene in one of the dreams where gravity is changing and then it is completely lost (I can't explain why - just watch the movie). Some of those scenes were so much fun to watch. The guy who got to have all the fun was an actor named Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I was really impressed by him. Emily was the one to notice that as a child, he was the main character in a cute little Disney flick called "Angels in the Outfield". He did a great job in that film too.

As the main character, I thought Leonardo DiCaprio did a fantastic job. Some years ago, I didn't like him, though I can't really say why. I think it was all the hype from Titanic (a shallow reason, I know), which I never saw. But in all the films I've seen him in lately, I think he's fantastic. He did a GREAT job in this one.

The only downside to the movie was the violence. Except for one instance, which is extremely sad, the only deaths occur in dreams, which means no one actually dies. But it's still very violent to watch it. Still, I'm planning to watch it again soon just so I can put everything together now that I understand the whole plot. Very cool movie.

Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead

Emily and I watched a documentary last night called "Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead". It was really cool! Similar to the idea behind a documentary we watched recently called "Forks Over Knives", but a little different. The movie last night showed the progress of several peoples' health as they conducted vegetable/fruit juice fasts. The results were amazing and inspiring.

The guy making the documentary, Joe, lost a LOT of weight by doing a 60-day juice fast. The picture above shows a before and after version of Joe. Joe made his own juice from fresh vegetables and some fruit. He was able to eliminate his prescription medication completely - medicine that was intended to help control a pretty annoying autoimmune disease - can't remember the name right now.

He traveled across the US for the second half of his fast and talked to a lot of people. Most of the people he talked to seemed to think he was crazy for doing the fast. But some of them expressed interest and a few actually followed his example and tried it. He met a man at a truck stop who had the same rare autoimmune disease and this guy decided to try a 10-day fast. He started out at well over 400 pounds - I think it was around 460. After 10 days, he felt so much better and had lost so much weight, he decided to continue it for a full 60 days. Over the next few months, he lost over 200 pounds and it was so cool to see the before and after. Not just the physical, but the mental and emotional state of the guy. He became so much happier and more confident.

Emily and I are planning to do an herbal-assisted cleanse over the next couple months. After watching this movie, I think we're going to try a week-long juice fast to start it out. I'm excited to see what it can do.

One thing I've taken away from these two documentaries is the potential for a plant-based diet to dramatically improve health and guard against some of the chronic diseases so prevalent in western society. I've seen some improvement in my own health from experimenting with such a diet and I'm going to experiment with this diet more in the next few months. I'm hoping I can report some happy results from that experiment as I go along.

One version of such a diet is shown in the following food pyramid by Dr. Fuhrman. I think it makes a lot more sense than the food pyramid published by the FDA.

Plant-based diet food pyramid

Water Basketball

A couple weeks ago, I played water basketball with some friends from church. More like rugby than basketball, I came away pretty bruised. But I had a LOT of fun!

The rules are ... well, there really aren't any rules. There are teams and you score a point for getting a ball into a bucket ... and technically, you're not supposed to 'hold' someone unless they have the ball, but I don't think we really worried about that rule too much. While not really a rule, trash talking seems to be encouraged. :) It really was fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

It was nice to get some exercise and spend some time with some really good guys. I've been getting a little more exercise this last week and it has been great. I wish I could organize my life to be able to do that more often. I feel really good when I do it; maybe it just needs to be a higher priority for me.

Report to the President

I had the opportunity a few months ago to contribute to a report that was submitted to the President today. That was kind of fun!

Image from PCAST website - used under the Fair Use Clause

For those of you interested in spectrum sharing, cognitive radio, and other geeky topics, take a look at the report on the white house website. Ok, so my name doesn't appear until page 92, but I'm happy about it. :)

Hugh B. Brown on Truth

"Sometimes during solitude I hear truth spoken with clarity and freshness; uncolored and untranslated it speaks from within myself in a language original but inarticulate, heard only with the soul, and I realize I brought it with me, was never taught it nor can I efficiently teach it to another."

- Hugh B. Brown

Wild Turkey

Random picture from a few months ago. A wild turkey walking around the school parking lot. Weird.

Love and Lust

I believe God speaks to man. Ok, and woman, but I was going for a succinct intro there. I believe that, in part, because of my own experiences. Sometimes I feel impressions that impart ideas that are surprising to me, but afterwards, prove themselves to be full of wisdom. Here's an example from a couple of years ago.

I remember talking with God one day (usually that's just me talking, but sometimes I feel like it becomes two-way communication, which is really cool). I can't remember my exact line of questioning, but I remember an idea forming in my mind that was very foreign to any thought process I can remember having before. I was talking about the beauty of my wife, the beauty of women in general, love and lust, and a bunch of other things. I think I must have said something to the effect that I felt like I was supposed to avoid lust except as directed toward my wife.

The idea came almost immediately that I should avoid lust even toward her. That I should love her, be close to her, allow myself to be wrapped up in her and let her consume me, but not to lust after her.

I'm not sure I represented the idea quite right, but that's what I remember right now. It confused me. I didn't understand how I could be consumed by my wife, how we could have a thriving, healthy sex life, and I not feel lust toward her. I think, a couple of years later, that I may have just figured it out.

I have, for a long time, been attempting to understand the distinction between appreciation for beauty and lust. I've come to the conclusion that lust represents a desire to own, to use, to consume, and often in inappropriate ways. Appreciating a beautiful sunrise doesn't imply that I want to own the sun; I simply enjoy it and feel refreshed by the natural wonder of it. The same applies to women.

I appreciate the beauty of women. In fact, I don't think there is a woman alive who isn't beautiful. Women, as God's final element of creation in this world, are among his most elegant creations - perhaps his most elegant. I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite as lovely as woman. Men are just ugly - sorry fellas. I look in the mirror and I simply don't see what my wife sees. Thank God she has a perspective that is different from mine.

And I enjoy seeing beautiful women everywhere I go. I was on a business trip yesterday and I saw many lovely women. I go to church and enjoy being among so many beautiful women, some of whom are more beautiful to me because of the beauty I see on the inside as I've come to know them. But I don't desire to own, to use, or to unite with any of them. Their beauty is simply refreshing and I enjoy being in a world with such beautiful beings.

But my relationship with my wife is a little different. Many times in my life, I have wanted to own her, to use her, to unite with her, and I realized that 'lust' as I've defined it, is an unhealthy disposition in my marriage relationship. I have come to see that even in marriage, lust is inappropriate. It is love that we're after and love can lead to a perfect union of souls, of which the physical, sexual union is simply an outgrowth, a symbol, a culmination. I don't want to minimize the importance of sex; rather, to point out that it is even more wonderful and more powerful when it flows from a motive of pure love rather than physical attraction.

I'm still physically attracted to my wife. And if you've seen her, I'm sure you understand. Pictures don't do justice. My wife is gorgeous! I was looking at her last night after seeing so many women during my one-day trip yesterday and thinking how perfect she is for me. Taken as a whole, no other woman compares to her. I really believe she and I were made for each other, our complementary strengths and the challenges we've posed for each other that have helped us to grow individually and to grow together as a couple.

One aspect of my wife I thought about last night was modesty. Some of the women I saw yesterday, beautiful as they are, weren't dressed very modestly and I thought how sad that they felt the need or desire to share so much of themselves with the world - or at least with anyone who happened to look at them. It almost felt like they were cheating their husbands from something that should rightfully belong to them.

I'm so grateful that my wife is careful to preserve her modesty and while she allows everyone to see her beauty, she preserves much of herself just for me. That aspect of her demeanor makes our relationship even sweeter. I think the women I see at church look just a little more beautiful than many others because they also, or the vast majority of them, are dressed neatly and modestly.

As we talked about our day last night, I was struck more and more by her sweetness, by the way she gives of herself and serves everyone around her. She begins with our family and moves outward, rarely giving thought to her own comfort. She has had selfish times in her life, but most of the time, she sweetly seeks to bless others. And I love and admire her for that.

As I have come to love my wife, on the inside and outside, I've come to see the wisdom of the impression I had not to allow lust to be part of my marriage. I hadn't separated the idea of lust from sex in my mind and I couldn't see how the idea was logical, but I stored it away and thought about it. And now I think I understand. Sex is about so much more than physical attraction. The attraction is a nice part of it, but the real essence of the act is a union of souls. When that union is based on love, appreciation, mutual respect, etc., it is so much more fulfilling than when it is based on attraction.

I think this separation of concepts (sex and lust), though forming in my mind for years, was really cemented by the post I read recently from a homosexual man. Funny how it took a homosexual man's explanation of love and sex to help me realize the wisdom of a divine impression that I think will continue to improve my relationship with my wife. I think everyone we meet has something they can teach us and I'm grateful that so many people are willing to share their wisdom with me.

My Sleepy Angel

I just posted about my little angel. Well, here's my other - more sleepy - angel. She gets prettier and prettier all the time. Looking at this picture from last year and looking at her now ... she is so much more grown up.

Here's a slightly more recent one from Easter.

She is going to be an absolutely beautiful woman someday. Take a guess which parent she gets her beauty from. I'll give you a hint.

You didn't really need the hint, though, did you?

Little Angel

This picture of my youngest was taken over a year ago. I think she's so beautiful.

Here's another one.

A couple months ago, she drew a couple of pictures for me on my white board at work.

The first one melted me, of course. The second ... yeah, those are angels flying over the Nativity scene. And this was in March. Cute, huh?

Forks over Knives

Emily has been trying to get me to watch a documentary called 'Forks over Knives' for several months. I guess I never understood what it was about because it took me a while to find the motivation to watch it. It's REALLY interesting!

It attempts to make the case that many of the chronic illnesses we enjoy in our western societies are directly linked to our western diet. That wasn't a new idea for me, but it was fascinating to see several pieces of evidence that pointed to a specific diet for halting and even reversing the progression of certain diseases. The "cure" is a plant-based diet.

I've always felt that limiting meat intake was a good idea, but this video suggested that eliminating meat and ALL animal-based products was the way to go. And I found it hard to argue with their data. One point was made that I had heard before, but that really sunk in this time because it was given in the context of so much supporting evidence. Cows' milk, which is supposed to be so healthy for us, is really a food that nature has produced for calves. Taking milk from one species and giving it to another does seem a bit ... unnatural. The video asserts that milk products, like all other animal products, produce some unwanted side effects in our bodies.

If you've read this far, you might be interested in watching the video. Check it out. If you have Netflix, you can stream it online. And let me know what you think.

Club Unicorn

About a year ago, I posted some thoughts about homosexuality. For the sake of blog integrity, I don't want to change what I posted then, but I came across something today that makes me want to amend it slightly in a separate post.

In a blog a couple of weeks ago, a man with homosexual inclinations named Josh Weed "came out" and described his experiences coming to love a woman and create a family with her. His post is extremely well written and identifies a nuance I didn't capture in my previous post. There is a difference between 'homosexuality' and the act of same-gender sex. My post above identifies a difference between inclination and action, but I used the term 'homosexuality' differently than he did and I think my language becomes confusing. His is very well thought out - homosexuality is something he has dealt with for most of his life. If you're interested in this topic, I highly recommend you read his post here. His comments about love and intimacy are worth reading all by themselves. I'll reproduce part of it here:

... sex is about more than just visual attraction and lust and it is about more than just passion and infatuation.... when sex is done right, at its deepest level it is about intimacy. It is about one human being connecting with another human being they love. It is a beautiful physical manifestation of two people being connected in a truly vulnerable, intimate manner because they love each other profoundly. It is bodies connecting and souls connecting. It is beautiful and rich and fulfilling and spiritual and amazing. Many people never get to this point in their sex lives because it requires incredible communication, trust, vulnerability, and connection.

He draws a distinction between love and attraction that I think is helpful for anyone regardless of their sexual orientation. He has purposefully chosen to love and nurture a woman even though he has no natural sexual attraction toward women. His point, though, is that truly fulfilling love and sex have little to do with attraction and a lot to do with choices, communication, connection, etc.

For those who thought that a gay man happily married to a woman was a mythical creature, he offers himself as evidence that such creatures exist and calls them unicorns. Having observed a unicorn firsthand through his blog, I am now a member of the illustrious Club Unicorn. Membership is free; if you're interested in joining, just read his post. And welcome to the club.

I appreciated reading his thoughts. He has given me some things to think about. I have never had homosexual inclinations myself, but I have my own set of weaknesses. I was inspired to read about his life and how he dealt with the decisions he faced as he came to see that his natural inclinations were very different than most of the people around him. It sounds like he had the strength and courage to make the choices he made in large part because of the love, support, and freedom he was given by his parents and others. I hope I can be that supportive and non-judgmental of others when they face challenges.

Cool Cake

I'm catching up on some old items here. My wife made this cake several months ago for a baby shower. I was pretty stunned. Not that I'm surprised at her supernatural abilities in general; I've known for many years that I am married to Wonder Woman. But she had never made a cake like this before, so it was pretty cool to see what a great cake decorator she could be.

We talked about her future career, but she reminded me that her passions are photography and making jewelry. I didn't push it. But I'm still amazed.

The Federal Reserve

I recently read a book called "The Creature of Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin. It offered a really interesting analysis of the history of banking and the effects of fractional reserve banking and central banking's monetary policies. The title refers to a secret meeting that took place on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia with several bankers and politicians to craft a plan for creating a central bank in the US patterned after European central banking. The ultimate result of this was the creation of the current central bank of the US, the Federal Reserve. The meeting was later documented by participants, but it was kept secret at the time because public knowledge of the banking industry's involvement in the creation of the draft plan would have killed the political possibility of it being passed as legislation.

I've dabbled in economic theory, but as any economist can attest, I'm no economist. It was helpful to have some economic background going into that book, but I found my understanding of money was dramatically improved by reading it. Griffin gives historical examples of governments that enforced a policy of money backed by precious metals and the resulting stability of the money supply and value.

If Griffin is to be believed - and I think his research is pretty thorough, though I may not be in the best position to critique his analysis - the United States has had only one brief period near the beginning of its existence in which the money supply was truly tied to a precious metal - silver. In other eras, although we haven't had central banking during many of those years (we've actually had three central banks - four if you count the bank of the colonies prior to the revolution), we have allowed publicly-chartered and/or regulated private banks to employ fractional reserve banking, which allows banks to inflate the money supply by a fairly large multiplier depending on the reserve percentage.

In other words, even when we had a gold standard, fractional reserve banking allowed our money system to be inflated by the banking industry with new money generated by debt. If a fractional reserve percentage of 10% is enforced, then as much as 90% of the money supply could be based solely on debt with the other 10% based on precious metal. That's sort of a hybrid between a gold-standard and fiat money. Now, of course, we have total fiat money with no backing by anything of value.

The stability of a gold- or silver-backed money supply, Griffin argues, comes from the fact that the money is itself something with intrinsic value. This money, then, when it becomes less valuable, can be converted into other things of value and taken out of circulation, which bolsters the value of the remaining money. When it becomes too scarce (and consequently more valuable), individuals and firms will be more motivated to conduct mining operations or find some other method by which to obtain some of this more valuable money. Those activities bring the value of the money back down. Thus, traditional market forces tend to stabilize the value of the money itself just as they do with any other commodity when there is no government interference.

With a fiat system, the government indirectly dictates the value of the money through various control mechanisms. The idea that a central control mechanism would offer greater stability is a very socialistic idea. Why would a group of bankers/economists in Washington be more capable of stabilizing the vast financial system than millions of individuals operating within the framework of a free market?

According to Griffin, the brief period following the ratification of the Constitution in which the US money supply was truly tied to silver generated an incredible period of growth and prosperity. As I said, I can't really critique his analysis, but if it's true, it begs for a closer look at the virtue of a sound money supply with value controlled by a distributed market instead of centrally controlled by bureaucrats.

Call me crazy, but I'm more and more convinced that freedom is a key ingredient in the formula for prosperity. Thanks to Mr. Griffin, I have a few more ideas solidified in my mind that give me a stronger theoretical foundation for that belief.

Running a 5K

I'm a little behind on my blog; life has been kind of busy. In early May, we went to a family 5K run and I thought I'd better report to the world how it went.

I'd love to tell you my time, but I have no idea what it was. My wife had another commitment, so I had four kids in tow and only one of them wanted to run. The rest of us didn't even finish, but we had a nice talk as we walked.

Child number three, however, has a passion for running and he gave that run 100%. He told me his time was 27:43. That's just under 9 minutes per mile. That may not be a great time for a 20 year old, but I think it's pretty darn good for a kid his age! And it's very possible he would have beaten me if I had run with him.

Ok, good. Now it's documented. I'll have to keep track of that boy's running times. I think he could be a pretty fantastic runner as he gets older.

Allergies

I had some allergy tests done today. The doctor told me he hasn't seen someone as sensitive as I am in about six months. I thought that was good news, so I told my wife what a sensitive guy I am. The doc thought that put me in the top 1% or so among allergy sufferers. A bit of an unscientific guess, but I'm proud of the estimate.

So now I'm looking at the possibility of allergy shots and wishing there was a more natural, long-lasting solution, but I'm seeing very few options. I wish I understood my body a little better.

I think one way to look at allergies is an overreaction of the body's natural defenses. We react to something that isn't really a threat, but we do so because our body's defensive cells don't recognize certain substances as friendly or benign. There are a lot of health issues that can crop up when our body has this kind of misunderstanding. Blood type mismatches, organ type mismatches, even type I diabetes, I believe, where our defensive cells fail to recognize the markers on cells in the pancreas and they attack it, disabling its ability to produce insulin. This is the western view of the body and it works pretty well.

That got me thinking a few months ago of our body reacting to impurities. And then, as I often do, I made a leap to spiritual things. I realized that being sensitive wasn't always a bad thing and I prayed that I might be as sensitive to spiritual impurities as I am to environmental allergens. Wouldn't that be great? Still working on that. But it was a nice thought and got me focused on purity a little more.

I think there's another view of allergies that stems from an oriental view of the body. It is that allergies are a natural side effect of a body whose systems are out of balance. Bad things happen when the body's communication system breaks down, when energy (the Chinese qi or chi) doesn't flow properly, when one or more parts of the body are neglected. And while I don't know of any good treatments along those lines (the Internet has a few claims that may or may not be true), I think this is a pretty good way of viewing our bodies to ensure proper health.

And so, jumping to spiritual matters once again, I thought that maybe the negative spiritual health we experience is sometimes brought about by a spiritual imbalance. Perhaps we sometimes seek after impurities because something is out of whack. An example I've found that impacts me both physically and spiritually is exercise. When I neglect to exercise, my health deteriorates and I also feel less sensitive to spiritual connections to God. I think the body, mind, and spirit are very tightly connected and what affects one will have an effect on the others. But whatever the stimulus, taking care of ourselves by balancing the needs of every part of us seems really important.

So I'll be searching for a bit more balance in the near future ... and hoping to be a little less sensitive.

His Grace Is Sufficient

I read a talk recently that I wanted to share, but I haven't had time to get to my blog lately. Work has been crazy busy! The good news is that it seems to go in cycles, so it should slow down eventually; and I foresee a badly needed day or two of vacation coming for me soon ... after a big deadline in the next week or two.

Anyway, back to the talk. I thought it was a great Easter message, so maybe the timing worked out well since Easter day will be here in about an hour. Here's a video excerpt of the talk; you can find the text of the entire talk here. I recommend reading the whole talk, but I'll post the excerpt here for the visual learners among us.



Since I was a child, I have heard people refer to life as a test. While that may be a useful paradigm for understanding why we're here on this bouncing ball, I have for many years considered it insufficient and potentially misleading. I prefer to look at life as an education. That may be just my addiction to education talking, but I think that's a useful way for thinking about the purpose in our lives here. I think God wants us to become like Him and with His help, we can do that. But not without His help. That divine help is often called Grace and that Grace was embodied many years ago in a man called Jesus Christ.

Christ's sacrifice offers us a gift to overcome our natural state and become something different - something more like God. And on the day (or at the time I'm posting, the eve of the day) when we celebrate His triumph over sin/evil and death, I think it's appropriate to spend some time thinking about the magnitude of His gift and what it can mean for us personally. I think Brad Wilcox offers some great insight on it, so if you have a few minutes, take a look at the video, or better yet, read the entire talk (here it is again in case you missed the first link) and think about what Christ's Atonement means for you.

It isn't just about salvation - from sin, from evil within and without, and from death; ultimately, for me, it's about transformation. It's about becoming pure in heart, becoming filled with a pure love for others, having no more desire to do evil. It's about becoming like Christ.

Happy Easter!

The Riddle

I discovered the music group Five for Fighting a year or two ago. I had heard a couple of their songs many times and always loved their sound.

One of the lesser known songs is called 'The Riddle'. I love the message. Their songs are so poetic and beautiful. And the video's kind of fun to watch too. :)

Mauldin on Health Care

I read a weekly email from an economist named John Mauldin ... at least, I occasionally read it when I can find the time. I pulled from one of those letters for my previous post and I think I'd better do it again.

John had some very interesting things to say about health care that I think are an important contribution to the debate about how to handle the problems in our system. As he says near the end, the problems are more complex that most of us would like to admit.

John Mauldin, Economist

This post will be really long, but I couldn't cut it shorter and still convey the complexity of his ideas, so, refraining from further comment, here's what John has to say about health care.

... [my] good fiend Mark Yusko ... noted that an acquaintance of his, who was worth north of $10 million, had just had four stents put in his arteries. The hospital bill was $288,000. As he was over 65, Medicare paid everything. He paid nothing. Yet he is worth $10 million. I am not judging, by the way. My mother gets veteran benefits and Medicare, as well as Social Security. I will most likely take Medicare and Social Security when the time comes, if it is still there for me, even though I could afford not to. If my income were of the same stripe as Mitt Romney's, you can bet I would pay just 15% of it in taxes. Hold that thought.

On the same panel, Rich Yamarone said he had a stent put in last year. The bill was $90,000, and he was also nothing out of pocket, as insurance paid for it. His employer had paid for that insurance, so he used it. Just as I use my insurance when I need it. Hold that thought.

A good friend of mine recently had hip surgery, for a problem known of in advance by his insurance company. So they are not paying, saying it was pre-existing. And will not pay for the follow-up costs that are now looming, as it looks like he will need a full hip replacement. And he can't afford it. So he lives with steadily growing pain, while an attorney tries to get the insurance company to pony up. Hold that thought.

Two weeks ago my #2 daughter (in birth order - otherwise they are all #1) had some medical work done and mentioned a lump in her throat. The scan came back, and it was not good. The growths on her thyroid were almost as big as the thyroid. I called my doctor (Mike Roizen ...) and asked what to do, and he gave us a referral to what he said would be the best doctor in Dallas for this type of thing. We went to see him last Monday, thinking we would schedule a biopsy and hoping we could do it soon.

He said we could do a biopsy, but given the scan we already had, if it were his daughter he would remove the thyroid as soon as possible, whether or not the growth was malignant, and then do the biopsy. He had an opening a week later and she is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. Both he and Roizen agreed, and both told us the odds are quite high that it is benign, although complicated by the fact that Melissa's mother had thyroid cancer some 20 years ago.

Why talk about this with you? Here is the rest of the story. She is the one child I have with no insurance. I knew it and kept hoping she would get a job that included insurance. Now that looks like a bad economic choice.

I gently asked the doctor about costs. It was not as much as I feared, but definitely not cheap. As maybe in the mid-range of tens of thousands of dollars. His fee was the minor part. (I was actually surprised at how low as it was. I make more than that for an hour-long speech, and what skills and training do I have? Just saying.) But then he quietly said that the costs would go up a lot if it was malignant, as just the drugs to kill a thyroid cancer would be $25-30,000. The good news is that if it is a thyroid cancer, there is a proven therapy to beat it. Actually, the exact same treatment (radioactive iodine) as her mother had some 20 years ago.

I didn't bother to call other hospitals to negotiate a better price, or find a less expensive doctor. I simply had them schedule it. This is my daughter. It is her life, not a new car. Time seems to be of the essence. And life has blessed me that I can afford it.

But that's the point. How many people find themselves in that situation and their father can't step in? Or there is no father? You then go to a free clinic or an emergency room and try to get someone to help you, even though it's not an emergency. Or you put it off until it is an emergency, or it's too late.

Talk to your friends in the health-care world. And especially the nurses, who are the real soldiers on the front line. The stories they tell us about how broken our medical system is have shocked even me at times. And it is not just a system that has no money. It is a system that we expect to take care of all the needs that, in my youth, were considered as minor. And that is expected to take care of the homeless and the mentally unstable. Drug users. And a lot of people who do not take care of themselves with a simple, healthy diet and exercise, but expect full service when their bodies rebel, crowding out the service and driving up the costs for those who are in real need.

Medicare fraud? It costs us into the hundreds of billions. Doctors who test for everything because they are afraid of being sued if they miss something, running up costs sky-high? An unbelievable lack of technology in this day and age, because of government rules? Insurance and paperwork? Costs that are the highest in the world by a wide margin, yet no better outcomes?

And all staffed by amazing people who care a lot but are overwhelmed and caught up in a system they want to see changed.

The litany goes on and on. So, is the answer to simply to put hour heads down and accept the higher costs and rising taxes? Or let a bureaucracy control costs and require everyone to buy insurance, even if they can't afford it on the $15 an hour the average worker makes before taxes? Or let a "free" market somehow set the price of health care, working with private insurance and safety nets? All in a world of unlimited demand? Because when you or someone you love is sick or hurt, you want the best care you can get as soon as you can get it.

It seems simple. We need to have more-universal coverage. But there is a limit as to what any nation can afford. We look at countries with universal health care, but it is not something that many of us would be familiar with. Could we really ration health care at the end of life, which is where a large portion of our expense in the US goes? Or give up our right to sue if something goes wrong?

We have promised the Boomer generation more health care than we will be able to afford, without major reforms in what we spend our taxes on. And if we raise taxes enough to even come close to what we need, the shock to our economic body will mean recessions, higher unemployment, and fewer jobs which pay less.

.... There are no easy choices. As we will see, raising taxes has consequences in the short and medium term. The transition to where 30%, then 40%, of the economy will be taxes will be wrenching. If we can believe the polls, dialing back health care will not be popular. Raising taxes is no less popular. We want more health care, and we want someone else to pay for it. But there is no one else. It is just "we the people."

And what we do will define our job market for decades. There are no easy choices. We all marshal the "facts" as we see them to support our personal choices on jobs and health care, but it is far more complicated than most anyone wants to admit. There will be costs for whatever choices we make, even if we decide to do nothing at this time.