• Tag Archives Egypt
  • Fire in the Streets

    Imbolc                                                     Waxing Bridgit Moon

    See.  It helps to share your pain.  Woolly brother and cybermage Bill Schmidt gave me the number of his son-in-law, Steve Johnson, who runs a part-time business called I-tech.  He knows networks and backups, doing that kind of thing during the day for 3M.  I’m gonna give him a call.  Time to stop banging my head against this stuff.

    I’ve not kept on top of the Tunisia, Egypt coverage and have missed a lot of the analysis, so this may be ill-informed; but, it all sounds pretty healthy to me.  Dictators may seem more stable from a US foreign policy perspective, yet they often/always? do disservice to the people(s) and the nation which they rule.  Whether kept in power by US aid and good will or by their own ham-fisted acts, dictators lack a key ingredient for legitimate power, the assent of the governed.  By definition in a dictatorship there is no consent by the citizenry, yet their rule could work if the people assented to their government.  And they may.  At first.  Especially if the dictator rose to power by throwing off a corrupt state government or overthrowing a sitting tyrant.  In the end though dictators dictate and no matter what the political philosophy of the whole, no one likes being told what to do time and again with the force of arms behind it.

    It should come as no surprise when people in such situations say, enough.  In fact, to old political hacks like me, it’s more surprising people take as long as they often do, fearing the consequences of action.  Of course, from our North American vantage point, it seems the outcome of these people’s movements must be radical Islamist states, but I think it too soon to tell.

    An even more intriguing bit of analysis will come from discerning the true role of social media.    They are, of course, a new player in politics and one few people understand very well.  Except maybe those that use it for these purposes.

    Whatever the outcome, whatever the analysis, these uprisings have clear public support.  What happens next could determine the fate of the unfortunate Middle East for years to come.  One less:  beware the lure of wealth from natural resources.  They destabilize as much as–more–than they stabilize.  Just ask residents of Minnesota’s Iron Range or any of the First Nations in either Canada or the U.S.


  • A Decent Insurance Sales Agent

    Winter                                                       Waning Moon of the Cold Month

    Kathryn Kiegler has restored, no, wait that’s too strong, has challenged my opinion about insurance sales folk.  She gave us good advice, walked us through the labyrinth that is Medicare and the various parts attached to it A, B, C, and D, then helped us evaluate a plan best suited to Kate’s needs.  She was clear, patient, gave us the time we needed.  Great person to work with.

    We did hit one weird snag.  Kate had not gotten her part B card, nor her letter telling her she had been enrolled.  Without this letter or the card Kate couldn’t sign up for Medicare advantage at all.  Kathryn called Social Security, finally, after a really long and tedious animated voice, a real human came on the line.  Kathryn explained Kate’s need for the letter, the woman agreed to fax it and all seemed in order.  Except.  By the time we were ready to leave, no fax.  None of us wanted to wait the 10-12 minutes to go through the animated phone information.

    What to do?  Kathryn recommended going to the Social Security and getting the letter in person.  Not a bad solution since the SSA office is on Chicago Avenue and 18th, not all that far from Kathryn’s office near Westminster Church downtown.  So, we drove over there.  Kate went in while I waited outside.  I’m not real patient with bureaucracy.  When she returned a bit later, letter in hand, she told me why we had received no fax.  “The man told me the Social Security Administration never faxes anything with a social security number on it.”

    Hmmm.  Have you ever read Kafka?  Can you imagine, say, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles choosing to never fax something with a license plate number on it?  Yes, of course. Identity theft. I know.  Seems that such intelligent folks could have figured out a solution.  One idea.  When faxing a document to the person whose social security number is involved?  Leave it off and let them fill it in on the other end.

    The really good news in this is that our budget for Kate’s insurance costs was about double the cost we’ll pay.  That probably means the same will hold true for me.  That will remove several thousand dollars a year from our expenses, maybe a bit more.  Where was that cruise brochure?  Maybe we could afford that round the world jet junket?  Nah, even at $65,000 that sounded like a cheesy deal.  The Amazon River?  Egypt?  Possible.  Maybe possible.