The Band Revisted, The Last Waltz

Last night I streamed “The Last Waltz” by the Band. An audio delight. I haven’t seen it since the early 1980’s, and was so happy my cheeks were aching from smiling. If you haven’t seen it, please do, it’s such a treat. If you have, and it’s been awhile, it's still a wondrous thing. Here’s a couple songs just as a taste.

Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young,  Emmylou Harris,  Ringo Starr,   Paul Butterfield,  Dr. John,  Van Morrison,  Ronnie Hawkins,  The Staple Singers, Muddy Waters,  Ron Wood  

 Neil Diamond- "Dry Your Eyes"

 One of my favorite songs by The Band "The Weight"

Veterans Administration Still an Epic Fail

Yesterday or the day before I heard Our Dear Leader has come up with a plan for heroin addicts. Same stuff that failed in the 1970’s. It’s something Statists do always, find failed policies and programs of the past and try them again. I wasn’t even aware this was an issue any more than it’s always been. Put this in the distraction file. Change the focus on important stuff going on.

Like the still terrible failure of the Veterans Administration. Heard anything about it recently? Remember the kerfuffle of Vets dying because they couldn’t get treatment? Any word from the Jurassic Press? Any comments from the political class? The Choice Act became law in August 2014.

This was to address the issue of having to wait more than 30 days to get an appointment. For awhile more Vet’s got better service. Now wait times are up 50%. It’s even worse. This, by the way, is government healthcare, and what leftists/Dems want all citizens to suffer, while they, the political elite and their financiers, opt out.   

Vets trying to set up appointments are told they’ll get a callback with the date and time, and they just don’t get it. Or scheduled appointments are canceled and the Vet isn’t told until he/she shows up. This is the same trick the VA was using before the Choice Act. Schedule an appointment within the required 30 days so all looks good, but the cancellation isn’t documented, or buried somewhere.

Vets can get Choice Cards, use it to go to the non-government doctor, and services are supposed to get paid through the VA. That’s the workaround if the Vet has to wait more than 30 days for an appointment. The cards are limited in what they cover, and often the VA doesn’t pay up. A lot of doctors have caught on and refuse Choice Card holders service because in all probability they won’t get paid.

More medical staff has been hired for VA hospitals, but the problem remains. Not surprised by this. The Obama Administration hates the military and Vets and could give a fly. The Choice Act with no follow up and enforcement is typical. Address the optics of something politically embarrassing (and ignore the morality of an issue), get a small band aid to make it look like they care and something is being done; then the Jurassic Press slobbers all over what a great guy Our Dear Leader is and how effective and caring and wonderful. Then the problem is brushed away.

What I can’t find is how many deaths are still resulting in bad administration. Just a lot of the political class saying they’re going to address the problem.  

  

North Rim of Grand Canyon August 2015

I'm calling this the "Year of the Rim". This is my fifth trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. My sixth and final for the year will probably be October. The rain, the scent of grasses and trees, the deer, squirrels, birds and vistas are incomparable.  These shots are just outside of the national park; called the Arizona trail. 

Movies, TV, Novel - Messed Up Characters and Storylines

I've just finished reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. There's much to recommend it. It won the Pulitzer Prize, which usually drives me away from reading something. They're so politically correct, so 'European', so pretentious, and not usually well written. They're usually supportive of the radical Left social and cultural mores. This was an exception. Just lovely writing. Craftsmanship. For as long as it was at over seven hundred pages, it had few lapses; kept the interest going. With a couple exceptions though, the characters, especially the protagonist, were severely messed up. Treating their most loved ones horribly, psychopathic behaviors and bad, horrible decisions with devastating results.

I thought about what some of the most popular shows have been, and what I experienced in The Goldfinch reminded me of them. The first that came to mind was the wildly popular "Dexter", exalting a serial killer that was okay because he only tortured other serial killers. Justified torture and murder. I watched much of the first season, couldn't take it, the horribleness of it, so stopped watching.  Then there was "Breaking Bad", a chemist using his knowledge to manufacture a seriously good product. It devolved, as it should have, into the most horrid storyline and monstrous people. I lasted through season one a couple more episodes. Had to stop, couldn't take it.

There was "Sons of Anarchy", so good. Even wrote about it here when it first started. It was brilliant. It too generated into horribleness. Bad people making worse decisions, bad treatment of loved ones, murder, betrayal. There were no good people, no good actions in the end, unless it was the worse of the worse getting murdered. I hung out to the end of this series, hoping some good resolution would happen. Based on "Hamlet" I knew all would die, but good grief, how they got there was appalling. Then in the end (spoiler alert), Jax, a torturer, betrayer, liar, the leader of the Sons, the worst kind of human being, is presented as a Christ archetype sacrificing himself for the group. Good grief.

"House of Cards" I gave up on after about two shows into season three. It devolved into the worst kinds of behavior, even for politicians. Every kind of human decency was violated. I just became disgusted by the whole thing. Speaking of which, "House" was the same. House was an amoral jerk that was a force of destruction. He hurt everyone, was a psychopath, plus the storyline of every episode was the same. Someone dying, someone lying, "everyone lies", and then the truth comes out and the patient (victim) is saved. Both horrible and predictable.

I came away from these shows wondering what the point was. (The Goldfinch wasn't pointless by the way.) "The Unforgiven" by Clint Eastwood at least had a point. All the bad things that happened there is what happens when there isn't forgiveness. Great point. That other stuff mentioned here is just dwelling on the dark heart of people just for the sake of the dwelling. Just can't stand it. These were hugely popular and celebrated shows. Just a reflection, I guess, of how much of our culture is dwelling on the worst, dark hearts of our spirit. A sad reflection of where we are. 

Do read though, if you're so inclined, The Goldfinch. Sad story, exquisitely told.