Thursday, March 19, 2009

Obama on Leno

So tonight President Obama became the first president to appear on the Jay Leno show while in office. I watched it to see what he would say and what questions Leno would ask. A lot was said about the A.I.G scandal and President Obama said that he thought there were many Americans out there that have this sense of entitlement about them. He also said that we are in tough times right now and that the country needs to get back on its feet and the only way it'll happen is if we get back to the principles on what this country was founded upon. In other words, what our forefathers taught. I started laughing as soon as he finished that statement. Not because I don't believe in that principle, but I don't see his policies as doing that. In fact, I see them going in the opposite dirrection. A lot of his policies are trying to make government even stronger in the lives of the people and more a part of their lives. Look at health care, finance, redistribution of wealth, housing, etc. More government involvement is what's being preached.
That's not what this country was founded upon. This country was founded upon principles of hard work by the people. The government is there to protect the rights of the people, not medle in their lives. If the people can't handle themselves properly it's not the governments responsibility to come in and fix it. How will the people learn if the government is there to bail them out? When you take away those responsibilities from the people, then democracy fails and the country will be in prime setting for a dictatorship or communism.
More government involvement leads to more sense of entitlement, leads to less responsibility from the people, leads to less involvement from the people, leads to the fall of this nation. President Obama is right, we need to get back to those principles that our forefathers founded this nation on. How was this nation founded? Through revolution, abolition from a government that failed to let them live their own lives. I'm not calling for war against our nation, but I'm saying that we need to stop expecting the government to jump in and catch us everytime we fall. We need to take responsibility for our own actions. If those actions lead to great riches and benefits then that's our right. If we decide to be lazy and not work hard then we also have no right to complain that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

Payoff after 20 Years!

It's almost time, only a few months left! Ever since I was six years old I've been going to school more days than I've been able to play and have days off. Granted the only difference between kindergarten and home is that instead of mom yelling at you to clean up your mess and take a nap it's a teacher instead. But now, 20 years later, I see the end. I've gone through many different schools: Club Heights Elementary, Washington Terrace Elementary, Midland Elementary, Sandridge Jr High, Roy High, Weber State University, and now at the end of July I'll be graduating from Idaho State University. DONE! No more school! And the best part of it all...I'll have a career that pertains to all this blasted education I've been going through. It won't just be a job to pay bills, but a career that I've studied for. It's truly a great feeling knowing that I'll be done with school and will be able to focus on other things, like waterskiing, vacations, and overall play...oh yeah, that work thing too I guess.
So what's with the "payoff" statement in the title. Well, like I said I'll finally be doing work that I've studied for and that work will start at Midtown Community Health Center in Ogden, Ut. That's right, I haven't graduated yet but I've already had a job offer and signed a contract to work at that clinic starting August. I've been doing one of my rotations there just recently and have loved it. The staff are great to work with and the patients are as well, for the most part.
For those that don't know it's a clinic located in downtown Ogden, on 23rd and Adams. The patient population are mainly those of low income status and Spanish speaking only. The clinic offers family practice, prenatal care, and acute care to all patients. It has an in-clinic pharmacy that is very affordable and sometimes even cheaper than Wal-Mart. It's partialy subsidized by the government which allows it to serve the econimicaly challenged. It has deals worked out with local hospitals that allow our patients to receive diganostic imagging services and also referals to specialists at a discounted rate. Overall, it does a lot of good for the downtown Ogden community.
I'm pretty excited to start working there this fall. I think it will be a good place for me to get established back in my hometown but also a place where I feel that I will be able to help those who are truly in need of it. I also feel that it will provide me with the opportunity to further increase my medical knowledge and also better my skills.

Friday, March 13, 2009

State of the Nation - Children's Version

I got this in an e-mail the other day from a friend and got a good laugh out of it that I thought I'd let everyone get a chance to read it.

The Little Red Hen
> >
> > (The New American Way)
> >
> > "Who will help me sow my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
> >
> > "Not I," said the cow.
> >
> > "Not I," said the duck.
> >
> > "Not I," said the pig.
> >
> > "Not I," said the goose.
> >
> > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did. She
> > planted her crop, and the wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden
> > grain.
> >
> > "Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
> >
> > "Not I," said the duck..
> >
> > "Out of my classification," said the pig.
> >
> > "I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.
> >
> > "I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.
> >
> > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did.
> >
> >
> > At last it came time to bake the bread. "Who will help me bake the bread?"
> > asked the little red hen.
> >
> > "That would be overtime for me," said the cow.
> >
> > "I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.
> >
> > "I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig.
> >
> > "If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.
> >
> > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen.
> >
> >
> > She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see.
> > They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share.. But the little red hen
> > said
> > "No, I shall eat all five loaves" and she did.
> >
> > "Excess profits!" cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)
> >
> > "Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)
> >
> > "I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)
> >
> > The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)
> >
> > And they all painted 'Unfair!' picket signs and marched around and around
> > the little red hen, shouting obscenities.
> >
> > Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, "You must not
> > be so greedy."
> >
> > "But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.
> >
> > "Exactly," said Barack the farmer. "That is what makes our free enterprise
> > system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants.
> > But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must
> > divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle."
> >
> > And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who
> > smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, for now I truly understand."
> >
> > But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked
> > bread because she joined the 'party' and got her bread free.
> > 'Fairness' had been established.
> >
> > Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one
> > cared...so long as there was free bread that 'the rich' were paying for.
> >
> > EPILOGUE
> > Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs.
> > Hillary got $8 million for hers.
> >
> > That's $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years
> > repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't remember anything.
> >
> >
> > IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT?