Eyes and ears I fear not as good as before

I must confess that I am officially one of "them" those people whose eyesight and hearing are becoming as big a problem for them as they are for others. my eyes aren't really that bad, a little glaucoma (like being a little pregnant) and cataracts are developing well thank you but my vision impaired as it is by near sightedness should continue to thrive as long as I take the eye drops and as long as I don't get the other family disorder, macular degeneration. My ears are another thing

Just know folks that when people with hearing disorders tell you not so loud, they mean it loud noises hurt weak ears . I liken it to when you turn the volume up and listen real closely as you tune an old radio then BAM! you find a station and it blares out at you. It hurts. On the other side when almost everything a person hears anymore is mumbling which needs to be filtered intellectually and then interpreted for the most likely logical order of conversation, mumbling sure as hell doesn't help, nor do rapid changes of topic or dropped antecedents. We need all the help we can get. So be nice speak clearly at a pleasant deliberate volume let us filter the sound and maybe just maybe your ears will thank you several years from now.when others do the same.

Communicating with the dead or politically opposite

You might as well argue with a corpse than try to reason with a member of  an opposing political party. I occasionally get emails from John Boehner and I wonder if he is lying through his teeth or what, but this morning I had a thought. What if, as unreasonable as it may seem, John Boehner really and truly thought he was telling the truth in his posts? What if the liberal emails that I get are also telling the truth. what if we just don't trust the other side enough to try and see the truth in what they say that they have the best interests of the country at heart.

Maybe it is true, maybe we are all to harsh on one another, but who has the courage to confront the combative nature of what passes for civil discourse in the US today? It sounds so simple. Everyone wants to balance the budget so why are taxes taboo and entitlement spending off limits? Real progress will never be made until taxes are raised on the rich and entitlement programs are realigned.

Meanwhile we will get partisan bickering and bills that no one likes passed in order to avoid the discussion.

It is time, my friends, to start to talk again.