October 2009

THIS WORLD of OURS By Bob Harwood The Health Care Debate   America is seemingly at odds with the rest of the western world as it heatedly debates health care reform. Of the 30 developed countries of the OECD, its per capita expenditures on health care are twice the average and an astronomical 17% of […]

Joyful Musings By Joy Birnbach Dunstan, MA, LPC, MAC One Breath at a Time   There’s probably not a person alive who isn’t familiar with AA and the 12-step program. It’s been around since 1935 and has been phenomenal in its success, helping millions of alcoholics and addicts achieve and maintain sobriety. Some people, however,

OF FAITH AND FABLES By Bob Haynes Lessons From Chickens   Sometimes, on our journey in life, we come upon stories that really tickle our fancy. Usually we laugh and by the next day the story is mostly forgotten. Once in a while—for some reason—one such story just will not go away and stays with

UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE By Bill Frayer What You Think You Heard Me Say May Not Be Exactly What I Meant!   How often have you said something which you thought was perfectly clear, only to discover that your listener misunderstood. I remember when my daughter was a teenager, we were resisting putting specific time limits

BRIDGE BY THE LAKE By Ken Masson   While learning the rudiments of bridge, one of the first “rules” that makes a big impression on most players is that you should lead a singleton against suit contracts in the hope that partner can win an early trick and give you one or more ruffs. With

Editor’s PageGUEST EDITORIALBy Fred Mittag“Battlefield America” Americans—20 thousand of them—die each year because they don’t have access to healthcare. This is morally unacceptable. Zarathustra taught 3,000 years ago that the world is a battlefield between Good and Evil, and that we must choose sides, a belief adopted by Judaism and Christianity. Amen. All the western democracies, save