Kenders' Musings

The tree lies in the grave shallow
Cars sun in the parking lot always
Burning never tanning
Open cans in my shoes dance
a cocaine induced ballet
Can the orange ride a bike
in blue jeans while singing?

Bleach stained dogs meow
At passing bums on trains
Of straw bales shivering
In the heat of summers juice
A flea screams rock and roll
In perfect pitch
With bombs over London
Playing the bagpipes
Can you hear Amazing Grace?

The grass on the roof
Needs mown sunday
Else church will let out early
The sheaves of winter
Hang heavy on ears
Of apple bunches in earnest
The days flow backwards
When the nights run marathons
Of drunken revelry
A DUI earns you an office
In Congress

Living underneath the Hollywood sign
Is as close to stardom as I'll ever find
For this old bum
But I don't mind
I had my 15 minutes of fame
When I saved that woman from the mugger
In the alley I was sleeping in
Back in '89
But I don't mind
Cuz I wake up every morning a free man
Able to come and go at will
In the City of Lost Hopes and Shattered Dreams
Living on a dime
But I dont mind
And while you fly by in your beemers
Or crawl by in traffic in your Hummers
Living your hurried life
Not seeing me or my kind
We don't mind
Cuz Freedom rides proud on our shoulder
Not tethered by the burdens of payments
Weighed down by the demands of bosses
Or harried by the ever present deadline
And we don't mind
So think about your shackles
Never mind our freedom
And throw away your pity
When you do notice us
When you're stuck on San Vicente Boulevard
Waiting for a light
If you don't mind
Because the only time we cross your thoughts
Is when you avoid us as you leave the store
Your cart over flowing
Your deadlines pressing
And your guilt fleeting
And maybe, just maybe
You toss us that dime
And we say God Bless You
Idly wondering
If God minds

Some very well meaning folks have sent me several links lately after my explosion regarding the health care bill. I have spent the past few days reading them and re-reading the parts of the bill I had trouble with and with the exception of a couple of points which I will cover in a moment it really doesn't look like such a bad thing after all.

It will of course drive private insurers out of business eventually. However I see the good done by this and when eventually we do have a single payer system the numbers actually add up quite nicely for being able to cover everyone at what is paid in insurance currently.

It works like this. Currently people pay for insurance and the insurance companies use that money to administer policies, pay out claims and make a profit. Even though the health insurance business has a lower than average profit margin those profit margins are more than adequate to cover the uninsured IF they were actually used for medical services and not profit.

Of course we would have to give the employees working in the industry preference in hiring for the government run program administering this program but they already know the business so that's actually a benefit as we wouldn't need to train millions of people before they could do their job.

With the profit motive taken away from insurance, doctors could get a fair wage for their work, everyone could have access to the medical treatment they need and we will show those french how it's done.

I want to thank everyone who sent me links and insisted I at least read them. You have opened my eyes and I apologize for being such an obstinate jerk. Thank you, kender