THE BRISTOL dEPISTLE IS BACK

Newsflash: The Bristol Epistle is BACK.

It has been a good while since my last post, and my only excuse is that at my age the months seem to be flying by. Mary Lou and I have been down with some type of respiratory bug for what seems like two months. We are finally off all meds and except for an irritating post nasal drip we are doing much better.

Getting old does have its challenges. I just got special glasses to help me at the computer. They are supposed to reduce glare and associated headaches.

Lately I have been thinking about all the craziness that is happening in our world. So much war, disruption of lives, suffering, pain, and starvation. Earthquakes that have reduced towns in Turkey and Syria to ruins. The horrific war in the Ukraine. Slumping US stock markets, inflation, political gridlock that makes it unlikely that Congress will address the major challenges we face as a nation.

And what exactly is “woke”? If it means aware, caring about others less fortunate than myself, listening to all sides before forming opinions, staying informed about the issues of the day, and not joining the chorus that decries diversity and inclusion in our social and political construct, then I guess I am woke. But frankly, I am tiring of hearing politicians and even friends using this term as an answer to all our ills, too much “wokeness.” Can’t we just deal with the problems we face? I sure hope so.

In one of my posts last year, I was way too harsh on the Supreme Court. I was angry. I do respect the court and the critical role it plays in our system of checks and balances. I know many countries that lack an independent judiciary would love to have a system that is even half as strong as ours. I just regret the shameless way the political right packed the court. And while I would like to see abortion minimized in our country and adoption maximized (and simplified), I do not believe it was in the long term interests of either the court or the country to pull the plug on rights that women have enjoyed for over two generations. Enough said. In the end the people will get to choose which path to follow, and it will be different, at least for a while, in many of our states. That is our federal system.

Having lived a good bit of my life outside the US, I am amazed at how you cannot watch television for more than fifteen minutes without seeing a commercial for some prescription medicine. There must be an entire industry of actors and writers who create these ads, as I see many of the same faces in different settings. That is part of the reason why prescription meds are so expensive in our country. Why in the world do these drug companies feel like they have to push their products in direct appeals to consumers? If you watch the network evening news, whose viewers are probably 75% senior citizens, it seems like ten minutes of drug commercials in a half hour program. Outside the country, you do not see this kind of advertising on television, and prescription medicines are relatively inexpensive.

And why do I have to sign some register to make it clear that I do not want unsolicited sales calls at my home or office? Are the rights of the solicitors greater than my right to privacy? In Europe, you are assumed to not want such calls, and have to sign up to receive them. Now that is the way it should be here. Don’t you agree?

Well, my goal this evening was to restart the blog, and so I will keep this edition short. I resolve to post much more often and try to post information that will help my grandchildren. Two of my granddaughters are in their freshman year in college, training to be nurses. Each has one of the stethoscopes used overseas by their grandmother Betty. Her legacy continues to grow. What a blessing!