Year: 2021

Recently I received an email of a full page ad published in the News-Leader, the local newspaper for Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach, Yulee and Nassau County, Florida. My friend, actually Betty’s cousin, lives on the island and keeps me up-to-date on the politics down that way. The author of the piece expresses a minority view…

As you may have noted, I’ve been AWOL for longer than usual. Potlatch was humming with guests and family for this past week starting with the 4th of July holiday. Most of all, I’ve simply gotten fed up with the state of being in America right now. It’s depressing. I’ve tried to stay away from…

Yesterday marked the six-month anniversary since the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The media was trumpeting the news most of the day along with incriminating film of the actual event as it unfolded. Republicans and Trump acolytes will, of course, complain that the media keeps things stirred up and say that we need to…

I received this timely article this morning from a friend in Canada. I found it to be most interesting and a good summary of patriotism in American history. From The Globe & Mail (Ottawa/Quebec Edition), July 3, 2021. David Shribman is an American who teaches at McGill University in Montreal. I hope you find it…

It has become de rigueur for politicians to wear American flag lapel pins to show their patriotism. For too many, their behavior and actions belie patriotism in favor of partisanship or personal gain. Patriotism is not wrapping oneself in the American flag. It is not showing off with patriotic paraphernalia and clothing. It is not…

It used to be that after much wrangling and posturing political leaders would come together and cooperate for the good of the country. Issues or problems concerning the safety or well being of the nation took precedent over politics and personal gain. Not so any more. I’m reminded of Senator Arthur Vandenberg’s declaration that “politics…

As time has passed since the 2020 presidential election, I’ve often wondered what is happening with us and our politics. I really thought that after the previous four years and the departure of the former president that our civility and sanity would be restored. Whoa; was I wrong! It almost seems as if many of…

Yesterday, I drove my granddaughter to Jacksonville to catch her flight back home to Colorado. Betty and I had picked her up a week earlier in Orlando where she and her volleyball team from Denver had taken part in a national tournament. She spent the week with us here on St. Simons, and we had…

The United States presently spends nearly five times more per person on health care than does Canada. The U.S. administrative costs came out to $812 billion in 2017 or $2,497 per person compared with $551 per person in Canada. In the World Health Organization’s ranking of healthcare system performance among 191 member nations published in…

This past Monday I posted “Straight Talk About Health Care.” I thought it also might be helpful to learn more about systems in other countries, especially those with public or nationalized healthcare. This post is submitted by George Shafer,* a Canadian friend, who lives in Almonte, Ontario, near Ottawa. “Canada’s healthcare system is run by…