In Memory of Ric Ocasek

Last week, Ric Ocasek, lead singer of The Cars passed away. As a teenager growing up in the '80s, I listened to the band's music frequently. Their 1984 album Heartbeat City was one of the first albums I ever owned. I added it to my cassette tape collection very soon after it's release.

Courtesy : Wikipedia

Today's Music Monday video is "You Might Think" from Heartbeat City. The song was the band's first #1 single on the Mainstream Rock Chart. It also won MTV's very first "Video of the Year Award". Additionally, it won 5 awards at the 1984 Billboard Video Music Awards and 4 more at the 1985 Monitor Awards. 

Ric Ocasek left us a ton of good music. He will be missed. Today's Music Monday is dedicated to him. Video is embedded below or can be watched by clicking here.

 

THE Answer

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)

Minnesota Man Gets Second Chance to Watch His Kids Grow Up

Read More: www.kimt.com Article Titled "Revived Man Receives Heart Transplant, Second Chance at Life"

Remembering Those Who Gave All

One thing I like about the band Five Finger Death Punch is the gratitude and respect they show the U.S. Military. Those who have followed my blog over the years know that I try to post something every year on Memorial Day to honor the men and women who have given their lives protecting our freedom. 

After running across today's video of Five Finger Death Punch's cover of "Gone Away", I knew there was nothing I could write that would be anywhere near as powerful as what the band has done with this video.

They've shown us the reality and lasting effects of what it truly means when an American serviceperson "gives all". The video grabbed me and brought forth a few tears when I first saw it reminding me again as to why the fallen must be remembered and their sacrifice never forgotten or taken for granted.

Today, with the help of Five Finger Death Punch, The Sheepdog salutes and thanks all who have given their all. The video is embedded below or can be watched by clicking here.

 

The next time you see someone disrespect the military and / or the flag they fight to protect, show them this video.

God Bless America. 

An Idea for NFL Realignment

Recently, college football has undergone conference realignment, and I don't like it. Previously, conferences had been arranged mostly based upon geographical location. Now, with the push toward bigger conferences and the "Power 5", we've got teams from completely different parts of the country matched together in conferences. For example, Maryland moved from the ACC to the Big 10, and Texas A and M has moved from the Big 12 to the SEC. West Virginia in the Big 12 doesn't work for me, either. It makes no sense.

The NFL has a similar problem with teams playing in divisions outside their geographic region. So, it got me to thinking about how I might realign NFL divisions to fix the issue if it were up to me. In doing so, I used the graphic below, which shows the location of the 32 NFL teams, as a guide.

Source: Sport League Maps - NFL

The Reality of Socialized Medicine and Medicare for All

We've heard talk lately about "Medicare for All" - the most recent proposal in which the federal government provides so-called "free" healthcare insurance to all Americans. It's just another version of socialized medicine modeled after Canada's. 

Courtesy: Wikipedia

Previously, I've posted about my dislike for socialized medicine and why I feel the way I do. The question now is, what is the reality of socialized medicine? A recent Forbes.com titled "What Socialized Medicine Looks Like" answers that question by sharing details about Canada's program. I hope you will read that entire article. However, below are some of the highlights:

1. Primary care doctors in Canada provide fewer services than their counterparts in the U.S. forcing people to go to ERs more often. Average Canadian ER wait = 4 hours.
2. Number of Canadian women to never have a mammogram = double the number of American women. Has led to the breast cancer mortality rate in Canada being 25% higher than U.S. rate.
3. Less than 20% of Canadian men have ever been screened for prostrate cancer. 50% of American men have. Has led to Canadian prostate cancer mortality rate being 18% higher than the U.S.'s.
4. Canadian adults who've had a colonoscopy = 10%. American adults = 30%. Canadian death rate from colorectal cancer is 13% higher than U.S.
5. Americans are more likely to get treatment for kidney failure (i.e. dialysis or transplant) than those in countries with socialized medicine - 5 times more likely if under 85 years old and 9 times more likely if over 85. People who do not get such treatment will DIE.
6. Average Canadian wait time after referral from primary care doctor until get to see specialist = 21 weeks (over 5 months).
7. Average Canadian wait time for CT scan = 4 weeks.
8. Average Canadian wait time for MRI = nearly 11 weeks (nearly 3 months).
9. Average Canadian wait time for ultrasound = nearly 4 weeks. 
10. At 21% of Canadian hospitals, a woman must wait over 3 weeks for a biopsy to confirm a possible breast cancer diagnosis. Only 1% of American hospitals have a wait time that long.
11. At half of Canadian hospitals, a 65 year old must wait over 6 months for a hip replacement. No American hospitals have wait times that long.

Additionally, in Canada, the powerful and rich have more access to specialists and services, more choices, and shorter waiting times. In fact, the poor, non-elderly white population is 22% more likely than similarly situated Americans to be in poor health.

The Forbes.com article also tells of problems within Britain's socialized medicine program. However, I chose to focus on Canada here primarily because it is our next door neighbor.


Some Americans support socialized medicine. Generally, the ones who do are healthy. However, one day each of them could fall victim to illness, accident, or injury they never expected. If that day comes, that's also the time they will fall victim to the pitfalls of socialized medicine as it's generally the sick and weak who have their care rationed in order to save money, because socialized medicine plans are expensive to administer. The cost is also the main reason socialized medicine plans usually fail.

So, knowing what you now know, do you really want socialized medicine and / or "Medicare for All" in the U.S.? 

Living Donor Protection Act of 2019

Last month, I shared with my readers (here) about a new, proposed Kansas law that would ban discrimination against living donors by health and life insurance companies. At that time, I also called on Congress and President Trump to pass a similar Federal law.

I've since learned that such a law is in process. Known as the Living Donor Protection Act of 2019, the legislation is sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D- NY) and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA). It's sponsors in the U.S. Senate are Sen. Kirsten Gilibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).

The legislation will do 3 things:

1. Life, disability, and long-term care insurance companies would be prohibited from charging higher premiums to, or denying or limiting coverage to living donors.
2. The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will be amended to include living donation as a serious health condition. Therefore, employee absences for living donation at both public and private employers will now be covered under that law. 
3. U.S. Dept. of Human Services will be instructed to update all it's materials concerning organ donation to reflect the new requirement. DHS will also have to encourage people to be organ donors.

I found the actual text of this legislation here, and I see one problem with it - it does NOT address health insurance. Health insurance MUST be included as part of #1 above. If it's not, living donors will get hammered by the health insurance industry. You say, "But ObamaCare's pre-existing condition clause has that covered." What if ObamaCare was to get "repealed and replaced" at some point? What then. I'll tell you what - living donors will get screwed by health insurance providers claiming "pre-existing condition". Mark it down. It's a safe bet.

Here is all the information about the bill on the Congressional website. 

I'm glad this law has been proposed. It's way past time. It needs to be passed into law promptly, but with the amendment described above. Once properly amended, it should be a no-brainer, quick vote. All 535 members of Congress should be able to vote 'yes' and President Trump then sign it. This legislation transcends party lines and politics, because it's simply the right thing to do.

Read More: PRNnewswire.com article titled "American Kidney Fund Urges Congress to Make 2019 the Year Living Donor Protection Act Becomes Law" 

Heart Month Music Monday

February is designated as Heart Month each year. It is also the month I received my heart transplant of which I celebrated the 12th anniversary of last week. So, it is a special month for me.

Back in 2012, I posted a Music Monday series featuring Heart and a number of their most popular tunes. It was also in 2012 that Heart gave a special performance of "Stairway to Heaven" at the Kennedy Center Honors for Led Zeppelin. In my opinion, it was an unforgettable, legendary performance of one of rock 'n roll's iconic tunes by one of my favorite bands. It will be hard for anyone to ever top it.

I read somewhere after Heart's performance that usually the members of Led Zeppelin do not like it when their music is performed by other bands. However, in this case, they really enjoyed it. I think that is evident in the video.

If you have not scene it, today's your chance. It is embedded below or can be viewed by clicking here. Enjoy. I sure did.
 
Heart "Stairway to Heaven" (Live) from Hamilton Post Production on Vimeo.

Kansas Law Would Prevent Discrimination Against Living Donors

The Kansas legislature is currently considering a bill that would ban any type of insurance industry discrimination against living donors. Simply put, it would prevent insurance companies from charging living donors higher premiums on life, health, disability, or long-term care policies.

The legislation would also prevent insurance companies from denying living donors coverage or canceling their policy just for being a living donor. Studies have shown that approximately 1/4 of living donors endure such discrimination, and, in my opinion, it's just as wrong as discrimination based upon race, national origin, etc. 

When someone decides to give of themselves in order to save the life of another, they should be encouraged for doing so instead of receiving a form of punishment by way of financial hardship from the insurance industry. I doubt that Kansas is the only state where this law is needed. 

Therefore, I'm calling on Congress and President Trump to put an end to such discrimination once and for all by passing a federal law banning discrimination against the heroes in this country who have chosen to give the gift of life through living donation. Washington is in the news all the time with Trump and Congress arguing and bickering over things that aren't a matter of life and death while this discrimination and the needless dying of Americans on the waiting list for life-saving organ transplants continues.

In fact, Sue Herndon, who in 2009 donated a kidney to a friend, stated it best when she testified that, "Everything we do to help encourage living donation saves lives." She is 100% correct. 

Read More: cjonline.com article titled "Kidney Donor Asks Kansas Legislators to Block Insurance Discrimination"

A Holiday Gift of Life

Marilyn Walto of Dalton, MA suffered from an autoimmune disease known as Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) since the 1980s. PBC is a progressive, chronic disease which destroys the liver's bile ducts. It can cause swelling in the feet and legs, abdominal pain, and other issues.

By Nephron - Wikipedia

Back in the summer, Marilyn's health suddenly deteriorated necessitating a life-saving liver transplant. After her daughter posted on Facebook about her mom's need, scores of willing people, including family members and friends, came forward offering to be a living donor. Unfortunately, none of them were able to do so, either due to pre-existing health conditions or simply because they were not a match.

Then, on Thanksgiving Eve, Marilyn received the call that a liver match was available. She received a transplant and is now doing great. In fact, she just celebrated her 68th birthday.

Marilyn's story tells of how organ donation provides people with hope and the opportunity to reach milestones they never would have otherwise. It saves lives, including mine nearly 12 years ago. 

If you have not registered as an organ and tissue donor, please do so as about 20 Americans will die today waiting due to a lack of registered donors. To register in the state where you live, please visit the Donate Life America website by clicking here. 

Read More: www.BershireEagle.com article titled "With Her Family, A Mom Celebrates A Birthday She Never Thought She'd See"

The Sheepdog On Twitter

After announcing about 2 weeks ago that The Sheepdog's Facebook page would be going away (here), I began thinking about other ways to make my blog posts more conveniently accessible to my readers, since that had been my goal with the Facebook page.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

After some research and input from friends, and in keeping with that goal, a few days ago I set up a Twitter page for this blog. It can be found by searching Twitter for "The Second Chance Sheepdog" or at Twitter handle "@2ChanceSheepdog".

I hope the new Twitter feed becomes a useful tool for my readers. My blog posts will be shared there along with other things I run across involving organ and tissue donation, sports, music, and my other interests. Thank you all for your continued support of this blog.