A Cuban's Dream of A Big Business Economy

Mark Cuban is now espousing his "shark tank" dream: Romney as President and the Dream Economic Plan for Millionaires.  (click on this link to read his opinion--then read my response below)

Mark's blog post reads like a businessman's dream plan but it presupposes that there is harmony and peace in the political realities of Washington. It also presupposes that men like Romney and Cuban know who and what the Middle Class is? It makes abundantly clear that these two men are focused on their objectives without consideration for the consequences of this "dream" to middle class and poverty America.  Keep in mind that Romney believes that the a middle class income is $250,000--and he has made this a public statement.

This is a plan that rewards the wealthy first then trickles down to the lowly masses in 20 years--maybe. The reality of the math used to justify this plan is that the deficit will be the first to get hit hard, despite the blustering of the GOP about spending and the hope that job creation will follow. It depends heavily the creation of 7 million jobs in the next two years--jobs that pay a "living" wage which we all know that is not possible, since corporations are trending to hire part-timers at slighty more than minimum wage with no benefits...thereby using the Walmart model to create a dream economy that rewards business at the expense of everyone else. 

One businessman, Westgate CEO David Siegel, recently sent an email to all his employees and declared that if Obama was re-elected and if his personal wealth dimished due to higher income taxes he would begin to fire employees and maybe shut down his company. 

He makes this threat despite the fact that Wall Street has earned over 100% in value in the last 4 years, which he has profited from and companies, like his,  are reporting record profits under a democratic President which they deem to be hostile to their environment. Siegel was not concerned about creating any jobs or preserving any--just using an excuse to shed them to increase his personal profitability which has nothing to do with his company's profit margin--that's how disingenuous big business Romney supporters are.  

Romney himself led a private equity firm to make money, not to save jobs or create them...he was not interested in job creation--just like he will not be interested in job creation as President. His main concern, just like Siegel's is to keep big business owners pockets fat and full with profit.

ThIs Romney-Cuban economic plan is a dressed up as an enticing, attractive box to cover up the real plan...one that destroys the middle class in favor of upper class ideology. Don't fall for it and if your boss is telling you to vote for Romney or else--don't feel threatened--you can fight back in the voting booth.  My advice to you is to keep their emails, keep their threatening flyers and record their words because when Obama is re-elected and these "bosses" try to make good on their threats--take em to court and make they pay you for their words and their efforts to quash your right to vote your way--not theirs.

My fighting Cancer with a teenie weenie stick: The Last Word

The Last Word.

Cancer.

It's a 6 letter word that changes your life.  Once you hear it from your doctor and once he tells you have it...expect to deal with it for the rest of your life.

Too many of us think that feeling good means being healthy.  I felt fine but I had cancer.  I feel fine right now but I know that I have cancer.

I will undergo the procedure to stop the cancer in its tracks.  But it is still with me, it is still a part of me and it will be that way for years to come.

Just cuz I have it...and just cuz it will have some bearing on everything I do...does not mean that I just stop.  It actually lets me know that I am mortal...and I have the chance to continue living.  Others don't have that opportunity...Cancer is killing them.

On Wednesday afternoon, after my RFA...I will be one of the lucky ones...I will go home the next day...and I will continue to live.

I implore you ... just cuz you feel good...make it a point to go to your doctor and get them to do an ultrasound...have them just check you out...make sure you catch it early if you can.

Be one of the lucky ones...just like me.

My fighting Cancer with a teenie weenie stick:Ouch!

I was in my office letting one of my colleagues know about my potential upcoming surgery.  She suggested that I get another opinion.  She had a similar experience with her father, though different illness, but his doctors had been saying one thing...when there were other options for him that they had no idea existed.  She said, search for an alternative--get a second or third opinion.  So I went to the Kansas City Cancer Center.  

The doctor walked into the office.  He was not in a white coat but in a coat and tie.  While he was a doctor, he was more of a coordinator.  He would coordinate doctor visits to get different looks from other doctors.  Thats when he mention a thing called Radio-frequency ablation (RFA).  I had never heard of it.  In short it is a needle that gets inserted into the cancer area...electricity heats up a small area to 105 degrees.  The electricity and heat kill the tumor, starve the cancer cells around it and cauterizes blood vessels to prevent any bleeding issues.  Now, of course, there are chances of bleeding but more invasive surgeries also have that chance.  He said since my cancer was still very small, I would qualify for the treatment and it had a high success rate.  History was showing that it had a very positive outcome.

Another MRI...pain and self imposed claustrophobia later--I was in my surgeons office again.  It had been several weeks ago that I met with the doctor at the Cancer Center.  When I told my surgeon about me considering the Ablation.  He did try to warn me that the cancer might return with that procedure and it was more for older people who could not withstand surgical methods to remove the cancer.  He was more about doing the surgery and with the new MRI...he was certain he could get it all without hitting the blood vessels.  BTW the ex-wife, the family nurse, came with me for the last couple of visits to make sure that questions I would not think of would get asked, she is good about stuff like that.  He then scheduled an appointment with a radiologist who was an expert in this treatment.

RFA Liver Treatment Illustration

Dr Underwood would explain the procedure...show me the device.  The device is a long maybe 8 to 10 inches with spider like prongs that are pushed through once it is inserted.  The prongs look like a naked umbrella...and hold everything in place and become electrified--creating a margin of heating to get at the cancer and surrounding cancer cells.  He then assured me that the outcomes from this procedure had been excellent.   My biggest concern was that the cancer not return.  He said in his experience doing these procedure since 1997...he did not have any patients come back to him with any recurrence.  He was confident that the outcome in my case would be positive and the cancer would be stopped in its tracks.  No surgery...no chance of losing my kidney...and I would no longer have the cancer...just slight scarring a white spot that would appear in any x-rays.  HMMMM.  I was hooked.  So, a tiny needle...an electrical device to isolate and destroy the cancer.  Sounds like some sort of weird treatment that you would see in a movie along with some sort of chant or maybe holistic approach with some grass diet.  However, it is a method touted by Cancer Centers, including the Mayo Clinic...for small cancers in the kidney and liver.  So, on September 26th, 2012...I will fight cancer, again...this time with a small teenie weenie stick.  Ouch.

Tomorrow: The Last Word

My fighting Cancer with a teenie weenie stick-Part 3

He approached me, looked at me and said he had bad news...there was a blemish found in the ultra sound.  It was about 1.5cm and instead of the right kidney it was on the left kidney.  However, it was not clear if it was a mass or fluid...thus it could be a cyst.  However to be sure...I needed to get the dreaded...here it comes...MRI.  This means another iv...contrast thru my veins...that warm wet feeling as the machine takes pictures.  They scheduled it.

I remember the doctor looking over me in my hospital room.  He looked at me and confirmed that they got the cancer and it was malignant.  I sighed a sense of relief though it was disappointing to hear it was cancerous.  I was lucky, it was caught early and I was going to be around to live another day.  Though I would be watched via X-rays and ultrasounds.  

I got to radiology.  They put on this gown...put an iv in my arm...pushed me thru this tube.  It was a tiny thing.  It squeezed me in...the headphones slipped down...no music just noise.  Breathe...stop breathing...hold it...17 seconds...we have 28 minutes of pictures to go...how do you feel?  Breathe...deep breath...hold it...this time 20 seconds...on and on and on.  Then they pulled me out of the tube...which I did not think there were gonna easily get me out.  On top of me there was some sort of lead square thing.  My hands and feet fell asleep...I hated every second of this thing.  As I closed my eyes through the MRI process...I thought to myself...it will pass...it will pass and I will go home...I was playing mind games with myself to endure the dreaded MRI.  Nothing lasts forever.

The doctor walked in and said the MRI came out ok but if it was cancer...it is in a location that may be difficult to get to.  He said because of its location, deep into the kidney, it would be tricky. Would I be ok with them removing my left Kidney.  Hell no!  I was more polite than that but NO...I only have two but if God had given me three, then maybe ok.  But I only have a less than normal sized spare and I did not like the idea of losing a Kidney.  It's like separating twins at an orphanage.  NO.  I was not about that.  He then referred me to my original surgeon.  

My hospital stay was uneventful.  I left after a week, had some problems with pain meds but got it all straightened out later.  I did get tired more often and easier.  It took every bit of the 6 weeks to recover and even after that I was still getting tired--my body was building up its stamina but surgery can be a challenge to recover from.  I did not want to go through this again.

So, Dr Park, my original surgeon looked at the MRI and concurred but he too wanted to wait to see if it would grow a little more so that it could be extracted safely without removing the kidney.  So we gave it three more months...and then off to the MRI.  That little tube that gives you a sense of entrapment.  The MRI is the one thing an illusionist cannot escape from.  

Part 4 tomorrow.

My fighting Cancer with a teenie weenie stick--PART 2

I sat on a chair in his office. Looked around.  Just thinking, "What did he find in the ultra sound?  He is probably just going to confirm that I have diverticulitis, which is what I told him already.  Why don't these doctors ever believe me.  I have been having these episodes since 2003.  I know when they are about to happen and they should just trust me."  The door opened and he walked in with a folder.  He opened it and then said, "I have the results of your ultra sound and it does confirm your diverticulitis--there is some swelling but the report also says they saw a small spot in your kidney."  Wha...Waiiittt a minute!  Small spot--kidney...what?  "What does that mean?"  He looked at me and said...not too sure it could be cyst or blemish...we need to take a closer look so we need to have an Cat Scan done.  "Ok"...and he scheduled it for me.

The gurney made very little noise as they wheeled me away...down the hall...the breeze...and then they wheeled me into a room.  It was cold and had plenty of lights.  There was about 3 people in the room and doctor had not arrived yet.  He did see me earlier when I was getting prepped.  They moved me to the operating table...and then began the sedative...and had me count backwards...100...99...98...

The Cat Scan is not too bad.  They had me drink this stuff...and I am one of the few people in the world that actually likes the drink. There was a lady in the waiting room that had been sipping the contrast drink for about an hour and they were worried that she may have to start over again.  I drank mine quickly and I was ready for the Scan.  They took me to a room in the back and put me in this room.  It was loud but not too annoying.  They took the pictures they needed...piece of cake.

Here I was again, in my doctors office.  Waiting for the results of the CT.  He walks in with my folder...and says that the scan showed a spot and believed it may be cancer.  Cancer.  A six letter word that would forever change my life...and become a part of my life for years to come.  It would be a word that would roll off my tongue like a watermelon seed.  A word that would find a permanent spot in my eardrum and ring inside my head day in and day out, like a broken bell from a gone haywire cuckoo clock.  Cancer?  A not so pretty word that would change my physical being...and deform my right kidney for the rest of my life.  So off I was to a Urologist.

As I lay unconcious...a robot called the DiVinci whirred and zipped in and out...cutting and probing...slicing and dicing.  My doctor sat in a cube like thing...using joysticks to manuver the device to cut...go inside my body...cutting...cauterizing and removing 25% of my right kidney.  Removing a 1.5cm tumor that ended up being a malignant cancer.  I was forever changed.

Now 4 years later, Cancer free...I went for my yearly check up in March 2012.  My usual xray and ultra sound.  I have had so many xrays and ultrasounds that I have lost track of which was which. Here I was in the Urologists office...next year would be my last test. The year before I had to pay for it out of pocket, even though I was unemployed because I would rather risk the financial hit than not keep up with the tests.  One year later and $1600 (I am paying monthly)...another test--this time I have insurance.  I am in my doctors office and he is going to come in and once again give me a clean bill of health and send me on my way.  The door opened and he smiled, greeted me and began to speak.

Part 3 Tomorrow...

My fighting Cancer with a teenie weenie stick

Four years ago, I sat on the edge of a narrow gurney type of bed.  It had a sheet draped over it's thin blue cusion and wheels so it would take me to the surgery room.  I was given some thin leg hose to put on, which is pretty tough to get over my feet and over both my legs.

The night before, I slept in the basement of my home due to having company and giving up my room to my Mom.  The basement, by the way was freezing--since it was only February in Missouri and it was a pretty cold winter.

Once I got the hose over my legs.  I lay down waiting for whatever was next.

A couple of months prior I had a diverticulitis episode and decided to switch doctors--to one that was nearer to my home.  I knew I would miss my old doctor cuz we got to become pretty well acquainted over the years.  I went to this new doctor--expecting him to give me the usual blood work and anti-biotic.  When he walked in and I explained what I was having, he ordered the blood test, and xray and then he would determine the type of antibiotic he would give me.  "Hmm", I thought, "this was gonna be harder than I thought".  He then had me schedule an ultra sound.  By the way--my blood work came back normal and the xrays showed nothing--they never do but the pain from diverticulitis is very extreme.  He did prescribe the anti-biotic.

The nurse came into my room--I have been here since 5:30 am--she took a look at the hose and said it looks good.  Then they were going to get the iv setup on my arm and give me some saline via iv.  That's what they do before they start the sedatives and the other stuff to put me to sleep.

The technician doing the ultra sound...pressed, pressed...then took a picture.  Pressed, Pressed..then another picture.  The cold gel they use was getting all over my stomach as she continued to press and take pictures.  After she was done, I wiped the stuff off of myself and went home.

I hate getting iv's...the stick hurts, regardless of what they tell you.  The drip is started and as I am lying there--there is some niceness from the nurses...and they begin to wheel me toward the surgery room.  I can feel a slight breeze as they push the gurney down the hall.  I am just a few minutes away from experiencing the surgery that has been on my mind for the last month and a half.

I was at home when my cell phone rang.  It was my primary doctors nurse.  She says the doctor wants me to come in tomorrow to see my doctor.  He wanted to deliver the result of the ultra sound himself.  When you get a call from your doctor...to come in...rather than the other way around...it is not good news.  And so I went the next day...

Part 2 tomorrow

Strict Constitutionalists...we know your game.

For years, the right wing of the Republican party has enveloped itself in the constitution...so far they have gone as to call the document "sacred". They even carry it with them everywhere they go, this is only for show, but when it comes to recite it or refer to it they get it wrong most of the time.

So, what is strict constitutionalism. Strict constitutionalism leaves no room for ideas. Everything must adhere to it--thus making amendments in the constitution moot. It is well known that Supreme Court justices who practice strict constitutionalist theory will typically legislate from the bench--citing the constitution to overturn Congress. However, justices who are not strict constitutionalists will typically defer to Congress unless it violates any of it's articles or amendments. However, the articles are the most important in regards to how the government is supposed to govern and how federal law supersedes state law. Plus it also provides guidelines on how states are to interact with each other.

So, don't be fooled when you run across a politician that criticizes Supreme Court rulings or rulings from the judicial as not being what the founding fathers intended. The reality is that the founding fathers left room for change and even anticipated amendments to the constitution to be added. The founding fathers had no inkling of what society would be like three or four hundred years later but they were progressives that knew change was coming and they designed a government that was willing to adapt. Those conservatives or strict constitutionalists want to turn back the clock and stick to original document so much that they are willing to erode the freedoms earned in the last 300 years. They want things to be like they were in simpler time, when only those with property voted and anyone of color was subjugated and oppressed...a time when a huge industry was...slavery.

Strict constitutionalists are not only throwbacks to that way of life...but they are people who disguise themselves as reasonable, when in reality they want to bring back a time when only the elite ruled and everyone else served them. They want to go totally against what the founding fathers wanted...they are only interested in destroying the progressive movement that has propelled us forward.