Cell Phone Bans

Image by Mike "Dakinewavamon" Kline via FlickrIn October, the state of Maryland became one of nine states along with Washington DC to have a complete ban on hand held cell phone use while buying.  Currently, the offense is considered a secondary offense in Maryland meaning that you can only be charged if you are charged with another moving violation.  I have made known my opposition to these types of laws here and here.

Since the new law went into effect, I purchased hands free devices for both my wife and I.  I am not crazy about the devices.  One reason is that I have not found one that I felt fit comfortably for me.  The other is that frequently, I feel like I have to hold the device in my ear when talking so that I can hear the what the other person is saying.  It kind of defeats the purpose of having the device.  The device I have now is more of an earbud type device that is wired and plugs into my phone.  This way I can leave it in my car and not worry about forgetting to take it with me.

I had a bluetooth device, but the problem I had with it is that it was losing its charge fairly quickly.  It would work for my morning commute, but not the evening commute.  Frequently, I would forget to take it with me.  I also find those that wear bluetooth devices outside of their cars obnoxious, especially when I was working retail.  I can't tell you how many times I thought a customer was talking to me only to discover they were carrying on a phone conversation.

The reason I bring this subject up again is because of an incident this morning that underscores perfectly my opposition to these laws.  I was on the DC Beltway on the way to work this morning.  A car in the lane next to me was passing me.  When I looked over, the lady in the car was applying makeup to her face.  I suppose I could say something snide like it wasn't doing her any good, but I digress.

My point is this, the woman applying makeup has to look in the rearview mirror to apply makeup to her face, thus taking her eyes off of the road.  Her activity is just as dangerous, if not more so, than the person who is conversing on their cell phone.  However, under Maryland law, if she has an accident and is at fault, she would be charged with reckless driving. The person talking on the cell phone having an accident would be charged with both reckless driving and a cell phone violation.  Therein lies my opposition to the law.  Both activities are stupid, but only one draws an additional fine.

The other thing that I started to think about in regards to these cell phone bans is it got me curious as to the political makeup of the jurisdictions that have banned cell phone use.  In addition Washington DC and Maryland, the other states that have banned cell phone use are California, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.  It should be noted that with the exception of Utah, all of these are heavily blue or Democrat jurisdictions.  I guess that should not surprise us since these are the same type of people who want to ban toys in McDonald's Happy Meals.

Decision Points

Cover of Decision Points Former President George W. Bush has been making the interview circuit hawking his new memoir "Decision Points."  According to Amazon.com, Bush takes an honest look at his flaws, mistakes, and accomplishments in the book.  He also shares the details behind how he reached various decisions during his presidency.

Of late, I have not been a big fan of Matt Lauer, however, I watched with great interest Lauer's interview with the former president broadcast on NBC last night. I actually enjoyed the interview and thought Lauer did a fair interview.  Tonight, I expect to watch Sean Hannity's interview on the Fox News Channel during the Hannity show.  I even saw a promo that Bush would be appearing on the Oprah show. 

There is a lot to be critical of Bush's presidency, but I think he was a decent man who did what he thought was right and needed to protect the country.  Take the Iraq war for example.  When the administration was considering the invasion of Iraq, I was against it, primarily because we did not have wide support.  Once the decision was made, however, I felt like we should do all we could to win that war.

I have not decided yet if I will read the book or not, but am leaning towards it.  One thing for sure, I will be avoiding a lot of the left wing blogs because no matter what the man does, it will never be acceptable.  The one thing that I find impressive about Bush is his refusal to criticize his successor, even when given the opportunity by Lauer and Hannity.  This in spite of the fact that the current resident of the White House and his sycophants have been constantly blaming him for everything that happens.  How many of us would be able to hold our tongues in that situation?  If nothing else, you have to admire the man's integrity.   

Related articles

• Bush to speak with Lauer, Winfrey, Leno among others (omg.yahoo.com)
• George Bush, Re-entering the Spotlight With Lauer, Oprah, Limbaugh Interviews (politicsdaily.com)

Music Monday-Gary Allan "Tough Little Boys

In light of the fact that today was the day we took my son to live at his new school, I felt that "Tough Little Boys" by Gary Allan would be an appropriate choice for Music Monday today.  I know that the lyrics are based on a dad for his little girl, but I can tell you having a boy is just as tough on some of us, at least for me.  It will be a long two weeks until I see him again for Thanksgiving.

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A Confession

Image via Wikipedia
I admit that when it comes to my son, I am a bit of a baby.  Tomorrow morning is the day we take him to his new school where he will live most of the year.  There has been so much that needed to be done since we found out his start date.  It is the primary reason why I have not posted anything to this blog for the past few days.

My wife has been spending a lot of time shopping with her mother for all of the things he will need to take with him.  We had to take him to the dentist for an exam.  That was an adventure.  I have been spending a lot of time burning CDs for him to listen to when he is in his room at night.

Knowing something is the right thing to do, and preparing to do it doesn't end the sadness that comes with the separation that is coming.  Even though sending our son to this school has been a goal of ours, I got tears in my eyes when my wife told me the county finally agreed he should go there, when she told me the day he was going to start, and just about any time I think about it.

It might surprise you, or perhaps not, how the littlest thing might set the waterworks in motion.  For example, my son and I headed out to the grocery store this morning to pick up a few things.  One of the things we needed was milk.  Usually I buy a gallon because milk is one of his staples.  Nobody else drinks milk, so since he leaves tomorrow, I only bought a half gallon.  I nearly started to tear up as I reached for the milk.

In light of his behaviors of late that have led to us taking these steps, we have decided not to tell him what is happening tomorrow.  We figure that if he knew he was going to a new school that he would drop to the ground tomorrow and refuse to get in the car.  He likes going over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, so all we have told him is that we are going over the bridge tomorrow.  When he says to me,"No school tomorrow, Daddy," I nearly lose it.

I expect that tomorrow will be pretty tough on all of us, probably the hardest day of my life.  I don't really know what to expect tomorrow when we drop him off.  I know he will not understand fully what is going on.  Previously, one of the toughest things I experienced as a parent was taking him for a medical test where he had to be put to sleep.  I had to go in and help hold him down as they tried to hold the gas mask over his face.  The look on his face said to me, "You are supposed to protect me, why are you letting them do this to me?"  I expect a look like that tomorrow.  
Now, back to burning CDs.

I Hate My Neighbors

Image via WikipediaI hate my neighbors!  No, this is not another rant about the group of single guys that live next door to me and their propensity for playing their music so loud that my walls vibrate and I can't hear my own TV.  Instead this is about my fellow citizenry in Prince Georges County Maryland, or as I like to call it, DC East.

The wave of common sense that swept through the country in yesterday's election that saw one of the greatest shifts in political power in the country's history didn't extend to my state of Maryland.  Prince George's County is largely to blame for that.  The Democrats have such a stronghold in PG County that I don't even bother to vote in most of the county elections.  The reason is that in the vast majority of those races, there is no race.  There is usually a Democrat running unopposed.

There were two races that I was actively involved in some small way, shape or form; the Governor's race between Bob Ehrlich and Martin O'Malley, and the 5th Congressional race between Charles Lollar and Steny Hoyer.  I was so impressed with Lollar that for the first time in my life, I had a campaign sign in my front yard.  It will not be the last. There was also a Senate race between Eric Wargotz and Barbara Mikulski, but I heard practically nothing from Wargotz until just a couple weeks prior to the election.

The 5th Congressional District consists of Charles County, St. Mary's County, Calvert County, and parts of PG and Anne Arundel Counties. Last night, while watching the election returns coming in, Lollar was holding an early lead over Hoyer.  At one point, with about 14% of the precincts in, Lollar still held 54% of the votes counted.  Then they started counting PG County and all of a sudden Hoyer jumped out to a 65-34 lead over Lollar.  In the end, Hoyer ended up with 64% of the vote and defeated Lollar by 64,000 votes.  Coincidently, Hoyer received 82% of the vote in PG County, and defeated Lollar in the county by, yes, 64,000 votes.

The Governor's race wasn't much different.  Out of 23 counties in the state of Maryland, Ehrlich won 19 of them.  The only counties he lost were Montgomery County, Howard County, Charles County, and of course PG County.  O'Malley's largest margin of victory in those counties, was in PG County where he received 88% of the vote.  If it weren't for having a special needs child and needing to stay in the county to maintain his educational funding, I would be so out of here.  Leaving the county for another would require starting the whole process over again in a new county.

On the other hand, news from around the country on election day was mostly positive.  I was particularly pleased to see the loathsome Alan Grayson get his ass handed to him by Daniel Webster in Florida's 8th Congressional district.  Also in the Sunshine state, up and coming GOP Superstar Marco Rubio clobbered the flip flopping turncoat Charlie Crist.  Too bad Lisa Murkowski didn't suffer the same fate in Alaska, though that hasn't been fully decided yet.

Sure, there were some disappointments in other races around the country.  Mealy mouthed Harry Reid managed to win re-election in Nevada.  We still have to deal with him, but at least we can tell Nancy Pelosi what she can do with her gavel.  I will close this post with a tweet that Charles Lollar sent to his followers on Twitter: "Marines don't retreat - they establish a rally point. Rest now, but prepare to regroup. This is not victory denied, but victory delayed."  I am hoping that we will see and hear a lot more from Major Lollar in the years to come. 

Related articles

• Ace: Hey, Marco Rubio, Did You Hear About This New Ellmers-Etheridge Poll?Marco Rubio: No, What's It Say?Ace: It Says Bob Etheridge Is Gonna Be Choking Strangers As A Private Citizen (minx.cc)

Open Enrollment and Health Care Reform-Update

Two weeks ago, I was getting concerned about the lateness of the open enrollment period for health insurance for the company I work for.  I had been concerned that the lateness of the enrollment period had something to do with the health care bill that was passed earlier in the year.  I was also concerned that the lateness was an indication that our share of the cost of insurance was going to go up significantly or our choices would be curtailed significantly.  Today, I received a letter from my company regarding open enrollment.  Below is the basic text of the letter.

Dear Medical Plan Participant:

As you have been hearing in the news, the Health Care Reform Bill mandates substanial changes for health care industry as well as employer-sponsored health plans over the next several years.  Accordingly, the medical plan changes XYZ Company must make for 2011 include;

• the removal of lifetime and annual limits on certain benefits,
• coverage for certain preventative care services at 100%, and
• offering of coverage for children to age 26 regardless of student status.

Since the enactment of the Bill in March, there has been intense focus by XYZ Company Senior Management on health reform and the related cost increases.  Significant analysis has been completed to determine the impact on our associates, the medical plans, and the business.  In order to make all of the necessary changes to the health care plans, the timing for annual enrollment has changed and will begin on November 29th.


In keeping with our current strategy, the Company will continue to share in the increased cost of medical inflation for 2011.  However, in these difficult economic times, the Company cannot fully absorb the combined increases of health care reform and medical inflation.  Therefore, the XYZ Company medical plan rates listed on your Annual Enrollment Worksheet will be higher than in previous years.  Increases will vary based on the medical plan and coverage level you elect.

There were a couple concluding sentences about considering all your choices and your personal situation when making your choices, but the above is the pertinent info from the letter.  It basically confirmed the bulk of the my suspicions that the delay was due to the the health care bill and that we were going to stuck with an increase of our share of the bill.  The question remains as to how much of an increase.  Though I must say after receiving a letter like this, I suspect it will not be a small increase.  Another reason I expect to see the GOP regain control of the House tonight.

Related articles

• Three Steps Employees Must Follow Now to Maintain Their Health Care Benefits During Open Enrollment (eon.businesswire.com)
• Companies Clearly Won't Stop Hiking Health Care Coverage Premiums (thehealthcareblog.com)

Music Monday-Ray Stevens "Throw the Bums Out"

Tuesday is election day. If you put any faith in the polls, it looks like the bad guys are going to lose big. I would say that the good guys are going to win, but the reality is the GOP had better realize that this is more a condemnation on the Democrats than a mandate for them. They are on a short leash and had better learn their lessons from their past sins.

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