My Uncle Rich, one of my favorite people in the whole world, was giving me grief a while back, complaining I've only been addressing music and hockey on my little Blog here. Okay Uncle Rich, for you and in honor of the House Democrats rolling out their massive plan today - here's a little health care debate.

First of all - let's get real about all of this- you're going to pay more taxes. You're either going to get ripped out of your hands before you even see it like you do now with Medicare and income taxes OR you're going to pay in new property / county hospital district / city service taxes. It's going to happen. Even if you rent, when your lease comes up, "The Man" is going to raise your rent because those new taxes ain't coming out of his pocket, right?

So, the House Dems rolled out their big package today including a "Public Option" [and let's get real about this - it's a big new entitlement, okay? Another giant bureaucracy overseen by the guys in Washington, D.C. when the laws of physics and budgeting do not apply.]. According to AP / Fort Worth Star Telegram [Oct. 29], the cost of new coverage will be "slightly over $ 1 Trillion" but did not include billions for disease prevention, nor a $230 package for higher Medicare payments that was stripped out of the bill for separate voting.

Also, the bill that was supposed to cover 'everyone' only covers 96% according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Of course the Speaker revealed that she's been sipping some of the late Hunter S. Thompson's Kool Aid when she said "the legislation will reduce federal deficits over the next decade by nearly $ 104 Billion..." And the bill relies heavily on $ 400 Billion in cuts in Medicare spending.

I don't deny there are problems within the system. I have neighbors and friends who don't have health insurance and they HAVE to go to the county run hospital for emergencies, for shots for their kids. In an altruistic society we could still barter for services and everyone gets everything they need. But we're not altruistic at all. We're totally materialistic greedy pigs who keep score of our lives with little green pieces of paper in our wallets and numbers in out bank book. Doctors do something most people can't. Airline pilots do something most people can't. People with training and skills like that command high pay because they are so well trained and educated.

But let's face fact here. The Government can't run doodly squat. Social Security? Going to be broke in a decade. Medicare? Heading down the same road. So the Government ain't going to be able to take care of you after you retire and it isn't going to be able to make you well when you get sick as it is. And I say again, how's that postal service? The only thing the Government is good at is creating more Government jobs and bureaus. And hanging onto the old ways because that's what we've always done.

Do you know the Government maintains outdated radio beacons for naval navigation? These things were made obsolete by GPS, but the Government can't cut a meager $ 1 million out of the budget for them for some unknown reason. That's like cutting 1/10th of a penny out of your home budget, but they can't do it. It's someone's pork. Tea cup museums, bridges to nowhere, flood control zones, mixed development deals for the Congresswoman's brother in law... we all know what goes on in D.C. And we bitch and moan and call them all rats and dirty pigs, but the fact is we keep re-electing the ones that bring the bacon home, don't we?

Of course this is our fault, too. The Post Office announced they wanted to close 9 branches in Tarrant County and suddenly people were up in arms. "Don't close MY post office! I'll have to drive an extra two miles and that causes hardship!" Hey - they pick up your mail at your damn door, you can order and pay for stamps on line and have THEM delivered to your damn door - what more do you want?

I know, we want EVERYTHING to be perfect. Just like on TV, where your problems are solved in 48 minutes and everyone is cute and funny. Jesus, listen to the people complain about the bad umpiring in the World Series. And what's the solution? MORE instant replay! Two challenges per bench per 9 innings, like football! Phew! You know what? Anytime you have people making judgement calls you're going to have blown calls. Balls and strikes, receiver in bounds, phantom calls in basketball and hockey and obviously missed calls in all sports. It's called "The Breaks" and you either get them or you don't. When we learn that we aren't going to get every call 'Right" and sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles, we'll all be better off. And don't get me started on BASEBALL going into November.

The infrastructure is crumbling - from the interstate highway to the lowly alleys of your town. I think the amount of watering done by industrial business parks is rotting the streets around them - who designed a street to be rained on an inch a day, 365 days a year? We've had 6" of rain the last week but the sprinklers come on each and every night along Freeport Parkway.

There's an analogy there - the infrastructure of our culture is decaying. We have information superhighways and better faster and more communication but what are we doing with it? We're staring at naked bodies and putting each other down and drawing further into shells of isolation.

Worth the Hype or Not? - The Beatles Remasters

For the last month or so, you've been bombarded with commercials for the Rock Band version of the Beatles and infomercials pushing the remastered re-issues of the whole catalog, but has anyone [who wasn't paid to do so] actually told you IF and/or WHY the remasters are worthy of your hard earned bucks? I thought not. So, in the interest of the true listening public, here 'tis: My review of the best Beatles album, remastered - 1966's Revolver.

First of all, the little booklet that comes with the CD has some great photos from the sessions. But not worth the price of admission [$13.99 + tax, f'ing taxman!, at Best Buy]. But it points out one of the problems the technical people must have had. The Beatles were recorded [until Abbey Road I believe] on a 4 track machine. Which means most of the basic tracks [bass - guitar - drums] were all recorded onto one track with no separation - no way to repair or re-equalize a bass without doing the same to the drums and guitars on the same track. Then the remaining three tracks would be utilized for vocals and overdubs. With computers and high dollar software things may be possible that I can only think about.

And of course, the second issue for judging these CDs is familiarity. I was lucky that I got turned onto the Beatles when I was about 12, so I've been living with these songs for 30 years now and I know most of them backwards and forwards. The CDs we've had for 20 years now - God I still hate the awful separation on Rubber Soul, vocals on one side, instruments on the other! Even the most casual fan has to wonder if it's worth going out and shelling out for the music you all ready know. I know, we did it for the Stones, but those first CDs that CBS put out were fraught with problems. And even though ABKCO did remix and remaster the original London albums [up to Get Your Ya-Yas Out] I much preferred the vinyl of those albums - until the 24 bit remasters came out a couple years back.

But hey, enough of my yakking ... let's let the music do the talking.

Taxman: Oh geeze, McCartney's bass just pumps right out at you all ready and you can hear how locked in with the kick drum he really is. It's lockstep precision. Nice runs, Macca, in the middle eight! Never noticed that guitar line in the last two verses and I've been known to listen at ear splitting volumes in the car.

Eleanor Rigby: Well it's just Paul and a string quartet - the cello drone on the choruses stands out. There does seem to be more warmth in the vocals.

I'm Only Sleeping: Again, the bass has real tone here. Wonder who Macca paid off to fix those bass tones? Really, I've enjoyed his bass playing for years, it's crappy songs like Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Hello Goodbye I have issues with. Anyone else notice their trick there on the middle bits - John's voice goes down and Paul's goes up and it sounds so cool! [They do the same thing with the strings on the fade out of I Am the Walrus.] Backwards guitar solo. The 12 string chords seem to ring and shimmer a bit.

Love You To: This is the Indian song you skip in the car and only listen to when you're at home and don't have a remote to skip over. And it's a George song. You really don't care.

Here, There and Everywhere: Great harmonies on the background vocals. That rhythm guitar actually needs muted a little - is that Lennon on that famous Rickenbacker? Maybe he should have borrowed one of George's Gibsons for this.

Yellow Submarine: I go through periods where this makes me smile and periods where this makes me cringe. I'm sure Ringo goes through them to. I swear you can hear the boredom in George's voice in the choruses.

She Said, She Said: Wow, here Lennon's rhythm guitar really comes out of the muck.

Good Day Sunshine: Harmless Macca fluff. Again, the sound on the piano sounds rounder and fuller, less like the upright Dylan played on The Ballad Of the Thin Man.

And Your Bird Can Sing: Love those double stop guitar runs. Lennon's vocal sounds a hair crisper.

For No One: One of my favorites by Paul. Again, instrumentation seems a little sharper. The bass overdub has real warmth.

Doctor Robert: One of my faves by John. Vocals definitely sharper.

I Want to Tell You: The other George song. You don't care. More sharp vocals. Herar Paul straining at the top of his range in the background. Where did those handclaps come from in the last verse?

Got to Get You Into My Life: Paul's ode to pot. The record that gave Chicago the idea to have a full horn section in the band. That brass is really... loud.

Tomorrow Never Knows: Ah my sweet droning Lennon genius. Vocal again defiantly warmer. Wow, you can really hear the kick drum. Gosh, Ringo really was a good drummer. Again, I'm amazed how locked in he and Paul are. Not that this is a hard part, but they're just incredibly tight. Oh that Leslie'd vocal in the second verse sounds even more slippery and mysterious! Wow!

THE VERDICT: I doubt the casual Beatle fan will notice the differences, at least on this CD. Lots of people say the Sgt. Pepper is improved. I can see opening up the lower end will give it a slightly better feel, closer to good old albums.But it's not one of my favorites. I AM curious to hear some of my favorites will sound remastered: A Day In the Life, Strawberry Fields Forever. And I'm sure some of my CDs will get replaced. Probably not the later ones [Abbey Road, Let It Be] but maybe Rubber Soul. I really want to know if they've re-fixed George Martin's original fix for CDs [he remixed Help! and Rubber Soul back in 1987]. And I find I like my With the Beatles and A Hard' Day's Night in mono.

Final verdict: It's your money. But I'm not going to rush out and replace MY catalog.