Roger Allen, publisher.
Starting summer in style
The Start of Summer parade was a lot of fun and I didn’t have to walk. My daughter Beth, who now manages the Squire, provided me with a lawn chair on the trailer. In exchange, I had to wear a flowered shirt and a funny hat. Children of staff members ran around throwing candy while I sat and waved at the crowd. Life is good. I keep discovering new fringe benefits of old age. I did notice, however, that there was a lot more interest in the candy than in me sitting and waving.
Paying for health
Turn on the TV or radio and you hear talk about universal health care. Actually, we already have it. It’s the “fee for service plan.” Most of us can get medical care, even if it means going to an emergency room for a condition that may be short of an actual emergency. What we are talking about now is “health insurance.”
There are always problems when you deal with OPM (Other Peoples Money). If there is a way to abuse the system, somebody will do it. “If I don’t have to pay directly, I want the best and money is no object.” That kind of thinking can put a huge strain on any system. If we have universal health insurance, somebody is going to have to regulate usage. Sometimes we aren’t going to like it, but the present system in this country is out of control. All other developed countries in the western world have some kind of universal health insurance, and their health statistics and cost of care compare favorably with ours.
Amazing
A guy sees a sign in front of a house: “Talking Dog for Sale.” He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the back yard. The guy goes into the back yard and sees a mutt sitting there.
“You talk?” he asks.
“Sure do,” the dog replies.
“So, what’s your story?”
The dog looks up and says, “Well, I discovered my gift of talking pretty young and I wanted to help the government so I told the CIA about my gift. In no time they had me going from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running.
“Jetting around really tired me out. I knew I wasn’t getting any younger and I wanted to settle down. So I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings there and was awarded a bunch of medals.
“Had a wife, a mess of puppies, and now I’m
just retired.”
The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
The owner says, “Ten dollars.”
The guy says, “This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?”
“Because he’s a liar. He didn’t do any of that stuff.”
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