Make-A-Statement Commentary Blog

I don’t know about any of you, but I have always been highly suspicious of research being conducted with taxpayer money on objects none of us can see. Look at the amount of money spent on stealth bombers….if they were invisible….how would we know they existed in the first place? A smart contractor could just point to a vacant field and tell the congressional committee to “Just look over there…..isn’t that the prettiest sight you’ve ever seen?” I’m certain there are literally hundreds of research projects going on right now in all parts of the world using huge amounts of public money looking for things that cannot be seen.

I’d like to get in on those funds.

In case you don’t know, there is another project going on in Europe. This one is called the CERN project. So far, it has cost in excess of 2.8 billion bucks. The project is a giant particle accelerator and is built deep underground with a circumference of about 17 miles. The scientists (thousands of them) say the subatomic particles will travel 11,000 times around the accelerator each second when this thing gets powered up. Incidentally, the whole thing uses more power than the city of Geneva. I bet their electricity bill is going to be out of sight.


There are 9,300 giant magnets used in the construction. These magnets are used to cool the air down to a chilly -519 degrees. They say they will need that sort of cooling power since the thing is expected to heat up to a temperature 100,000 times the heat at the core of the sun. Since I don’t know how anyone could actually measure the heat at the core of the sun, I suppose this is a ‘guesti-mate’ as well. Perhaps the US or someone sent an unmanned probe to check out the core temperature…..probably would have to go at night to keep from burning up.

Anyway, all of this money and these thousands of scientists are in search of a small particle which has never been seen called a Higgs boson. At first I thought it was a misspelling and it should have been a Higgs Bison, which exists at a petting zoo owned by Oscar and Mable Higgs in Omaha, Nebraska. I don’t think they would charge 2.8 billion to look at their bison.

No, the Higgs boson has been the pet project for over twenty years for Professor Eilam Gross of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Gross has been searching for this piece of nearly invisible matter for his entire career. I wonder if Dr. Gross is about to retire after all these years? I wonder if I could get a high paying job looking for something no one has ever seen. What do these people say in staff meetings? “I know it’s there….but I can’t find it…I guess I’ll just have to keep looking…is my annual review coming up next week? Gosh how time flies.” His progress and evaluation report probably just says something like… “Still nothing found…vows to keep on looking.”

But the really scary part of this huge project is the fact that some of the scientists are saying there is about a million to one chance that they will create a black hole which if uncontrolled could swallow up the earth. I think the test starts in October and if they do manage to create a giant earth swallowing black hole, then I bet the political elections will get moved to page two of the papers. The Democrats will call it a ‘vast right wing conspiracy’ and the Republicans will blame it on some ‘far fetched liberal’ giveaway program. Of course the scientists tell us not to worry since any black hole they might create would decompose in a matter of a fraction of a second. I bet this is encouraging to anyone working close to the machine. Probably there is some sort of liability decal on the machine that says something like “ The Manufacturer of this machine is not responsible for any person or persons who gets sucked into any black hole no matter how small or large. You must be at least five feet tall to operate this piece of machinery.” Oh, yes and another thing they pointed out is the fact that these tiny black holes, which they haven’t seen or even know are able to be created are very unstable, extremely hot and could explode. I bet the folks living in the farmhouse on the ground above the control room haven’t received this news.

So here we have it, thousands of highly paid people working on a machine that might, just might create a situation that could end the world as we know it, but as they say…the odds are against it. I think I could do the job much cheaper in my garage and not take a chance on endangering the entire world.

Think of something we could be looking for that we can’t see and couldn’t prove existed in the first place. I’ll be trying to find out what kind of grant money we can apply for. Should be enough for the two of us for the next few years.

Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com

Posted by hillpehle at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I keep hearing people say they are unhappy with the choices we have running for public office this year.  The internet is saturated with members of both parties who are angry with the candidates we have to choose from.  Continually coming in contact with this type of opinions, as well as my own agreement with this position on some levels (more on that in another article) caused me to think about what we, the people, could do to fix it.
    Then as I was sitting here it just came to me.  The problem we now have is that the potential candidates are not people who we have sought out to run for office.  We, the people, had no say in the selection process of our candidates—they were ‘vetted’ by the hierarchy of the parties and the members of the media—leaving us feeling unsatisfied deep down.  
    Of course, you are probably nodding your head in agreement as you already knew that—you might even be wondering why it took me so long to get it, right?  
   
Well I did know that was the problem but I wasn’t sure how to resolve it until I realized that the answer to this question lies in the past.  In the past, the candidates were not only chosen from among those who were seeking the office.  Often, a group of citizens got together and decided, then went and asked them to hold the position or run for it.  
    Yes, I know the parties SAY they are doing that—they are choosing the best candidates for the job.  But, are they?  Are you happy with the choices they have made?  
    If you’re like me and you aren’t happy either then the best answer for us is to go out and find the people we want to represent us and notify the hierarchy of the parties and get the people we truly want rather than the ones they think we should have.
    If you know someone that you would like to see in office, notify your local party office, and spread the word.  You can write them in at the primaries, and write them in on Election Day, because I can’t simply vote for the least bad choice — my vote is more important to me and my kids for that.  And I hope yours holds the same value for you—it could mean the difference in what the future holds for your children and grandchildren—democracy or tyranny?  We must change it back from tyranny by really making the choices ourselves.  We can no longer just sit back and hold our nose while we vote or we might well lose the right of our children to vote.

Melissa Pehle-Hill
Athens, TX

Posted by hillpehle at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I can remember a time in my life, many years ago when I actually wished for more mail. As a kid I had a subscription to several comic books and was really excited when the latest issue arrived. I bet they don’t even have mail subscriptions any longer. If I received a letter from my Grandmother I was always thankful for her letter as well as the money she enclosed. Mostly the money.

But as we get older I find that going to the mailbox just doesn’t seem to be as much fun as it used to be. By the time you sort through all of the catalogs and special deals from people and companies you’ve never heard of, you are left with a pile of bills that you didn’t want in the first place.

From time to time I manage to get removed from most of the junk mail addresses, but somehow they find me again and start the process all over. There is one particular bank that sends me credit card offers a couple of times a week. I only wish I had the money they must spend on postage. Trust me….if they had access to mailing lists in the Middle East, I’d be willing to bet they could get a letter to Osama Bin Ladin in a matter of days. These people are relentless.

What makes me wonder is how do these people make any money? Most of the medical junk mail I get concerns so called ‘miracle’ cures for everything from dandruff to cancer. Some of the stuff is offered for free. I’ve made the mistake of responding to some of those and find that doing so causes your mail to increase at an alarming rate. On any number of occasions I’ve used a different first name just to see what happens. I can tell you what happens; they sell the name you give them to other direct mail companies. Thus your mail will increase. Count on it.



The quality of junk mail you receive can also be altered by using a different prefix. For example, if I write Dr. Perry or General Perry on the reply card, I find the junk mail increases for the better. I get a lot more offers to plush resorts as well as investment opportunities. If I call myself Rev. Perry, the offers seem to be somewhat different.

On the other hand if I respond and tell them that my name is Bubba Perry, then the quality drops off the chart and I start getting advertisements about hunting and fishing as well as offers on new mobile homes. Bubba Perry also seems to attract a larger number of ‘improve your credit’ opportunities and not as many investment letters as when I was Dr. Perry.

I am at a loss to explain this.

Bubba also gets offers for new wheels and rims for his truck and Reverend Perry gets offers for Christian book stores. Go figure.

What I can’t figure out is how ‘they’ know when you are doing well financially and when you are struggling to get by. Is there some secret clearing house in the country where analysts sit around and look at our income and spending habits just so they will know what kind of mail to send to you?

I don’t even want to know the answer to that one. I suppose if some folks have the ability to see you eating a ham sandwich from a satellite fifteen thousand miles in the sky, then I’d bet there are people who can track what we spend our money on and how much we have left over. They probably read these articles as well just to see what is being said around the country.

I hope this is true.

So, if you are reading this and are working on mailing lists, let me bring you up to date. I have no money; I cannot use any investment tools for a condo in Panama. I don’t need to hide my assets; I don’t play golf so stop sending me the resort packages.

I also don’t need more Irish lottery tickets or notices that some unknown uncle in Nigeria has left me eighteen million in cash. You can stop sending me these ‘secret and special’ investment opportunities that only go out to a ‘select’ few fortunate people. The general gets these, but Bubba doesn’t.

One strange thing I have noticed is the fact that the general, the reverend and Bubba all get a Victoria’s Secret catalog. Makes you wonder what their criteria for list generation is.

Maybe not.

Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com

Posted by hillpehle at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am so sick of the politics the way they have become.  Now the parties act like this is a long running football game that each is driven to win by having more members than the other side.  Of course, if either side wants to get anything done, a majority is necessary and that is also wrong.
 
    After all, isn’t what’s best for the American people what is best for the American people regardless of who is in power or who proposes the legislation?  Why do they make it such a fight between parties when the issue is really so simple?

     I mean, when it comes to legislation to drill within America there should be no dispute as it, without a doubt, serves the interests of the American people so why are the Republicans for it, as the people want, and the Democrats are so dead set against it regardless of the benefit to the American people?  Is it that they really think lower gas prices would be bad for us or do they just stand against it because the Republicans are for it?  When you pull up at the pumps the next time and see the price surpassing $3.00 a gallon, thank the Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, for this as her and her cronies are largely responsible for this situation continuing.  Of course, don’t forget that they got the majority given to them in 2006 by claiming they were going to reduce the high prices of gas.  

   
Then there is the issue of making English the national language of the United States.  The people want it, the Republican Party wants it, but the Democrats are standing against is and keeping it from becoming a reality.  So, when you have to push one for English you have Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and the rest of them to thank for that as well.

    And here’s a big one that shouldn’t be overlooked by any one of us scraping a living due to the rising cost of everything brought about by the higher fuel costs—taxes.  Either the Democrats don’t understand simple math, they are just so partisan that they can’t see the benefit because the Republicans do, or they just want you to be broke and jobless and needing government aid.  Let me explain this simply.  If you were going to have a fund raiser for whatever reason, which of these plans makes more sense to you?  

• You set the cost of the tickets at $100 and only 50 people come bringing your gross earnings to $5,000.  The cost of the entertainment for the event was $2000, so you net only $3,000.

• You set the cost of tickets at $20 and 1000 people come bringing your gross earnings to $20,000.  The cost of the entertainment is still $2,000 so you net $18,000.

Which plan would be the best in your mind?  If, like me, you see the benefit in plan number 2, then you need to ask yourself why the Democrats want to raise taxes on you and on the businesses that are within this country.  Do they not realize the benefit to both the government coffers and yours by lower taxes or do they just want you to have less money?  Honestly I’d rather keep my money for my family than give it them for their pork spending.  How about you?

    Then we must also look at the way each party reacts when a member does something wrong.  The Republicans acknowledge the wrong and ask the person to step down while the Democrats try to hide it from the people and act as though they did nothing wrong.  For example, right now, Senator Obama has been found, along with Senator Dodd and Senator Conrad (both Democrats) to have been given a sweetheart loan (lower interest rates than we pay), however the ethics committee chaired by a Democrat is overlooking Senator Obama’s wrong and busy harassing Senator Coburn (R) for a perceived wrong.  His crime?  Delivering babies back home in Oklahoma for free for low-income families.  His real crime is nothing more horrible than trying to reduce pork barrel spending, a project that Dr. Coburn has been working on during his entire time in office which inluded blocking Senator Harry Reid’s $10 billion spending bill, .  (For more information on this particular issue see: http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/dsaunders/2008/ds_08141.shtml)

Don’t get me wrong, Republicans have their problems, and some of the elected officials running under the Republican banner don’t belong holding office as dog catcher, like Betty Brown and Governor Perry, but there are many great ones out there who have been working hard to protect your interests and mine such as Rep. Louie Gohmert and Rep. Jeb Hensarling.  Stand up in November and show your support for these men by voting for them and for any others running that are like them—they need all the help they can get.

Also, the partisan politics and game playing going on in Washington needs to stop.  We, the people, need to remove from office those who can’t work together toward a common goal—the good of the American people and this great nation.  Partisans need to go home; Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Hillary Clinton to name just a few.  In the future if they can’t do the job we want them to do, regardless of party lines, they need to be sent  home to find something else to do with their time other than vote against the wishes of the people consistently.  We need people who are willing to serve the people, not rule the people, for the government is still ours.

Posted by hillpehle at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The last couple of weeks, I’ve tried changing up my weekly thoughts by going back to some satire and humor. Apparently it didn’t work since the page views onto my website have dwindled down to almost nothing. This tells me that you like to read my caustic comments on our government rather than some cutsie humorous fluff piece that I make up.  

So, here I go again with another poke at some of the common insanity that is going on in our country.

Last month I read a report that stated that the good old US government had paid out more than ninety two million of our hard earned dollars to Medicare fraud. It seems so called medical suppliers have been billing the government for wheelchairs and other pieces of home equipment for people who had already died. Not only had the patients died, but so had a large number of doctors who had originally prescribed whatever was needed.

Now, before I get too far into this article let me reiterate that this ninety two million dollars was the amount paid out by using the identification number of only dead doctors.

 Did you get that? Only dead doctors.


Some of these doctors had died at least five years earlier. It seems that the Medicare system currently is holding nearly 2,900 identification numbers as active for doctors that are known to be deceased. The might be dead, but they are still issuing prescriptions.

Doesn’t this make you proud?

The report goes on to say that the investigators pulled 1500 doctors names at random and asked them to submit medical equipment claims for the years 2000 and 2007. They found that 734 dead doctors had filed a total of 21,458 claims during that period. To compound the problem the federal investigators only counted claims that were submitted more than a year after the doctor had died.

Makes you wonder how many more were out there doesn’t it?   

It seems the feds obtained a list of deceased doctors from the American Medical Association and then compared claims made by those physicians and from that data they determined that a fraud had been committed.

You think?

Now, I don’t know about you, but it would seem to me that the government should be able to match up the names of dead people against a database of people making claims for services. Especially if the guy making claims has been dead for a period of one to five years.

No wonder we can’t find Osama. For all we know old Osama might be living in the big apple and selling hot dogs in Central Park. If we can’t deny claims made by a guy who has been dead for a number of years, how would we know if someone like Osama isn’t living here in the US of A?

I don’t expect much to come of this ‘huge’ government investigation. I predict it will all go away and nothing of any importance will be done. Some years ago, after my mother died, I continue to receive copies of invoices sent to Medicare for a wheelchair and a cane, which she never had gotten. These invoices keep coming for about 5 or 6 months after she died. I wrote to Medicare and explained that I thought this was fraud since she had been dead for a period of time and had never used a cane or a wheelchair.

You know how a letter looks when its’ been through the copier a couple of hundred times? Well, that’s what I got. A form letter that had been copied so many times it was hard to read. No phone number, no case number, no nothing except a form letter telling me ‘they’ would look into my complaint and ‘thoroughly’ investigate for any wrongdoing.

Lots of luck. I can tell you the chances of that happening are slim and none.

Medicare officials said they were making the system more ‘fraud’ proof by matching up the social security numbers of deceased Americans against doctors filing claims. I don’t know about you, but I would have thought they were doing this from the start.

All, I know is that if I were to try any of this, the FBI, CIA , IRS and God knows who else would be on me like a duck on a June bug. I’d never get dollar one.

But there is hope…..a spokesman for Medicare says that “Before our current reforms, anyone could become a supplier, but now they must be fully accredited based on strict financial and quality standards.”

Excuse me, but I think I heard the barn door slam.

Send this to your friends…..write to your congressman or congresswoman, whatever…go to www.pearyperry.com and make copies…..this kind of stuff will cause us to go broke.

Posted by hillpehle at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

While driving in some of the more remote parts of this country, I have often wondered why anyone would want to move into some area that seems to be totally beyond reach of our modern society.

I think I’m beginning to understand.

With the deluge we are subjected to through newspapers, television, radio and the internet, not to mention phone calls and person to person conversation, we process an enormous amount of information each day. Most of it, in my opinion, is of the negative nature.

Today, there is a report about some insane rider on a bus that kills and decapitates another passenger. Hardly a day goes by without an execution, multiple murders, or violence by some gang member against our society. Just when you think it might stop, up pops some more from some other part of the country. We’re still looking for Nazi war criminals from World War II. Toss in the bad guys responsible for current atrocities and well, I think you get the picture. It isn’t pretty.



The medical profession doesn’t help. One week, we can drink coffee and it has some helpful effects. The next week, it’s bad for you and will cause cancer. Sugar is good and artificial sweeteners are bad, or are it the other way around? Exercise for thirty minutes a day or exercise for an hour a day? Running is good for you, running is bad for you. Drink water with Fluoride or water without? Drink water from the tap or use bottled water with plastic bottles that pollute the environment? One glass of wine a day is good for you but two may not be. Air is good for you, but where is it coming from, and how can you be certain it’s really air?

I made the last one up.

Then on top of all of this, you throw in the crooked politician de’jure who has just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and is saying something inane like… “I didn’t know it was against the rules to take money from contractors.”  Or “That couple of hundred thousand you found in my freezer? I haven’t any idea how that got there…. someone is trying to set me up…must be my opponent.”

The newspaper in my city comes in the morning and I might have to swear off reading it altogether if my mood keeps going downhill. It starts my day off on the wrong foot. I know that if you or I were to engage in a little illegal invoicing of Medicare or sending invoices to the Pentagon for Iraq services we never actually performed, we’d be in the big house very shortly.

But, you will have to admit that if we work hard for fifty or more years to try and get some sort of decent retirement and then have to read where some corporate fat cat stole a hundred million or so and got two years probation,  it does tend to make you wonder if you could get away with it.  Oh, and you’d probably have to pay a fine of twenty five million or so.

Let’s see, I steal a hundred million, and have to give back twenty five million and stay out of trouble (on probation) for a couple of years. How hard is that?

Even so, maybe prison (at least at the federal level) isn’t so bad at all. You get three meals a day. Free healthcare. Your clothes are provided, free of charge. No dry cleaning costs. Chance to work on another college degree and certainly could find time to workout for a couple of hours at a time. You’d want to go to the federal place so you hopefully didn’t have to share your cell with someone named ‘Mongo’ or ‘Killer’. Of course, giving up your wife and kids would be hard, but I hear they have these ‘visits’ now days…so I suppose it’d be like me traveling and then coming home. Every couple of weeks.

With my luck, I’d probably end up in the same place as all of the convicted politicians and have to listen to them whine all day. I don’t think I’d want to take a chance on that happening.

No, I think I’ll just stick to my current plan and keep on going forward. If all turns out as I envision it, I might save enough to buy me a place out in the country.

Way, out in the country…where I don’t have to see or listen to anyone and can’t get good television or radio reception.

Hold on, I think I answered the question I was asking myself at the beginning of this column.

Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com

Posted by hillpehle at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)