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Vail Daily letter: Imminent changes

Recently I attended a Symposium at the Sonnenalp Hotel about the “Aging Brain,” and decay in general, most notably the perils of dementia. A brilliant collection of talented medical professionals in the areas of the brain, nervous system, and body lectured a sizable audience about stuff they already knew; just didn’t have the right medical-ese to speak intelligently about it among friends on Facebook.

One of the sought-after pearls of wisdom spoke to active brain engagement in the mature years, such as sudoku or crossword puzzles. I decided I had to comply … and the mission was obvious: Write culturally and politically insensitive articles to your brilliant Vail Daily editor, hoping the finished piece wasn’t too different from the original, for fear of liberal backlash. Hence the motivation behind my rant.

The changes I refer to are about topical matters, not for those American people monitored last spring with respect to what TV show they enjoyed the most. Seventy-two percent, at the time of data release, said their favorite show was “Roseanne.” Russia had a giggle about that (of all people!).



First, within an Industrial Revolution context for change, we will see greater IT modernization in factories and “some assembly required” businesses, leading to labor layoffs. There is a familiar sound here, really, if you listen hard enough …. a cracking sound, like a … buggy whip! Obsolescence appears to be in bed with both efficiency and shareholder profit margins. Who will be blamed?

Second, Scott Walker-type, thrift-minded Wisconsin politician, who lean toward balanced budgets in general will lead to decisions till now were unthinkable:

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1. Replace USPS delivery with FedEx. Can we re-employ the staff? Perhaps, but in this administration, there is a distaste for firing people. Government employees, typically, land laterally, amazingly as if “the job had just been created.”

2. Replace the IRS with HR Block. Good and bad here. Imagine “disaffected” prior IRS staff walking around without adequate supervision — yes, that’s you, Lois. Also, why then would you need a tax accountant? HR could collect the tax, and the taxpayer could have their taxes done also.

3. Politicians now salaried, beware. Like me, I would press you to also become 1099/commission only. When you got things done, you were paid. Lobbyists now forbidden under threat of audit.

4. Health: Insurance company employees will need to study e-surance memo sent yesterday: “Try to visualize yourself working at Travelocity.”

The most reassuring and heart-warming article in the Daily last week spoke of the return of the “house call” in Eagle with more MDs taking the time, without concern for heretofore weak profit margins. That stoked the fire of conservative rhetoric in me, the same type voting for “one size does not fit all” in medical care matters (see VA hospitals).

At this point, the sudoku game charm has left me. Also, I have learned from Men’s Health magazine that crossword puzzles were designed by women to induce dependency within Cialis contexts.

Patrick Mitchell


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