Kansas Wild Life

Phill Kline, that shining beacon of anti-abortion zealotry, made national news with his crusade against abortion when as Kansas' Attorney General, he absconded with an abortion clinic's medical records for 90 girls and women. And SOMEONE gave data from those medical records to Bill O'Reilly for Phill Kline's appearance on his TV show.

Phill lost big time in his run for a second term as Kansas Attorney General against Paul Morrison, who became a new Democrat to enter the race. That left open Morrison's job as my county's District Attorney. But once again, Phill made national news when the Kansas Republican Party, in a ruinous twist, replaced Morrison with Kline. Even though we voted Phill out, he has come back, reincarnated as my county's DA.

What is the matter with Kansas? Are we all Phill Kiline clones? Nah. Our Attorney General-elect, Morrison, is a top-quality specimen of native fauna.
Sure Phill's exist in Kansas wildlife. They are similar to the demi-weasel (half-human) life form that falls prey to its own bitter prattle. We have crazy John Brown of Kansas Border Wars, KS Rep Landwehr telling me she wants to search the poorest Kansan's homes for "illegal assets", hatchet-wielding temperance leader Carry Nation & shameful Rev Fred Phelps picketer at fallen soldiers' funerals. You know the species-selling misrepresented goods at outrageous costs. Oh right another quirk, they hold grudges forever & retaliate, so if I disappear...

This strain of demi-weasles led the most hardcore of Kansas sheep into quicksands of insanity. (The rest of our sheep are identical DNA matches to your state's sheep) In the 6000-year-old world of the hardcore sheep, it makes sense for pro-lifers to shoot healers & dethroned Board of Education members to bomb science books. But it's OK, I'm about to close a deal with them on some Kansas ocean-side property.

Sure, we enjoy the usual droves of asses, sounders of boars, broods of chickens, intrusions of cockroaches, drays of squirrels, skulks of foxes & a few ferrets. But plenty of us are an amalgamation of pioneer stock-strong, tough, stubborn, smart, creative, hard-working people big on respect.

We're Amelia Earhart & 3 astronauts, Wyatt Earp & Eisenhower. We're Buster Keaton, Emmett Kelly & Ed Asner. John Cameron Swayze, William Allen White of original, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" essays, recent author Thomas Franks & Laura Ingalls Wilder. We're Charlie Parker, the Stan Kenton Band & the Jolly Green Giant/professional bass opera singer. Wilt (the Stilt) Chamberlain, the Great White Hope, Walter "Big Train" Johnson & 3 of the world's fastest men. The first female Harlem Globetrotter & the founder of the Ladies PGA. We invented basketball, helicopters, computer integrated circuits, Coleman coolers, peanut butter, ice machines, hand-held calculators, Chryslers & found Pluto when it was still a planet.

Then there's my dad, a WWII sharp shooter who traveled between General Patton and Eisenhower's offices. When Dad was discharged he returned via Chicago. The Army decided he should remain in Chicago to train soldiers. Dad said he was out. So they compromised. Dad agreed to stay but refused to salute. The Army agreed to court martial him. But then the Army yielded & sent Dad home...to Kansas.

So what species is AG Paul Morrison? A native cougar, of course. Like my Dad. Like many of us.

Why Crime Is Up

Why would crime be dramatically increasing? Well, consider that for the five past years (2001-2005) real income of average working-age households fell a total of $3,000.* And although the price of gasoline, groceries and heating have accelerated substantially, the U.S. Labor Department people seem to think they should excludes the food and energy sectors from their core price statistics. Of course, that makes quotes about the cost of living look far better than the reality. But people feel the difference in their wallets.

People who quote statistics tell us that unemployment looks good. Tell that to the people out of work or working for half of their previous salary and paying for health insurance out of pocket. Oddly enough, a guy can look for work for two years and easily evade the unemployment statistics radar. The Labor Department has a narrow definition of "unemployed", including the criterion that people must be actively looking for work for the past 4 concurrent weeks.

Why is crime up? It is simple. The economy is down the toilet for many people..

*"PRO-CON: IS THE U.S. ECONOMY IN GOOD SHAPE?", Kansas City Star, November 6, 2006.

Characteristics of Quantum Thinkers

Partial List of Quantum Thinkers' Characteristics:

• Perform tasks quickly & efficiently
• Immediately grasp the context & ramifications of complex situations
• Display marked curiosity
• Demonstrate interest in an extensive array of subjects
• Think in pictures or moving pictures
• Become easily bored
• Express creativity in multiple arenas
• Provide the wrong "right" answers
• Appear remarkably intense
• Experience impatience with ineptness
• Demonstrate high levels of intuition
• Have eidetic memories (visual/aural) in varying degrees
• Achieve intense focus for long periods of time
• Were precocious as children

Quantum Thinking: A Case Study

I invented the first commercial computerized patient chart in 1983. Some background: In 1977, I was Music Director of an educational radio station when we computerized. No one told me I had to major in IT then program years before I could do computer analysis for the station. So I just did it.

In 1980, that experience led to an implementation specialist job at a major medical center. A brilliant Sr. VP, Elizabeth Mixon, had the foresight to create that position. As a problem-solver, I had no idea how to tell whether a problem was hardware or software. So I took the Clinical Engineers' training and learned. The schematics of the computer guts made good office art.

I was responsible for implementation, problem-solving, training 1000+ employees on three shifts using the training videos I wrote/directed. I also wrote user documentation. Fortunately a gifted colleague assisted. The most challenging was working with people's fear of change and making inroads against the jargon wall. I took COBOL for credibility with the IT people. to understand the bones of programming and to speak computerese fluently.

After three years, I thought the nurses could use incoming patient information. So I designed and implemented a program that linked patient data to the nurses' station. I was just 20 years too early.

Medicare Prescription Program SANS Private Insurance Companies

If the dollars the U.S. spends on Medicare belonged to a country, it would be the 4th largest economy in the world!* We spend far more on health care than any country while the quality of that health care is abysmal in comparison.

Medicare administrative costs are generally assumed to be approximately 2%, while private insurance companies' administrative costs are projected in the range of 20-25%.** Quite a difference. Medicare costs between 18-23% less.*** Some argue that Medicare's actual administrative costs are closer to 5.2% while private insurance companies are closer to 16.7%. Even if that were true, the difference in costs is still quite remarkable. Medicare would still cost 11.5% less. The figures are staggering. Using the most conservative number of 5.2%, the Medicare cost of administering just ONE BILLION dollars in health care is $52 million. Conversely, the private insurance would charge $167 million. Private insurers charge right at three times the amount that it costs Medicare to administer its program.

The next question, of course, is why do we pay private insurance companies more than $100 million extra to administer every billion dollars of health care? Good question. Unfortunately, we do not spend $1 billion ($1,000,000,000 - that is 9 zeros) a year on our health care. Instead, we spend close to $2 TRILLION on health care every year! That is $2.000,000,000,000 (as in 12 zeros). The numbers are staggering.

People who advocate using private insurance companies claim that those costs would be far less if we omitted profits and several other line items. True. But are the private insurance companies willing to forgo their profits in order to be competitive with Medicare? I think not. Those same advocates point out that should the government not collect enough from our taxes, the cost of funding Medicare claims would raise Medicare's administrative costs considerably. True again.

However, given the savings, our government might consider Medicare funding a priority. Now could Medicare improve its services? Sure. Although it has a tight administrative budget, in 2001, it kept its claims at approximately $1-2 per claim vs. $6-10 for private insurance companies.****

Medicare could improve savings and prevent errors in the following ways: Tighten its oversight: Verify contractor report data, performance, accountability and management of contractor finances.

• Make its internal management controls consistent.
• Congress can make Medicare's Part D (prescription drug program) open to low bids like the Veteran's Administration.
• Cap all prescription costs as does every other industrialized country in the world.

My suggestion: Omit the middleman, the insurance companies, and put caps on what the large pharmaceutical companies can charge for medications. Doing either would save us a fortune. Imagine how much we would save is we did both. Then we could insure everyone in the country. Of course, the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies will probably disagree. More about pharmaceutical companies later. Stay tuned.

Sources:* United States Health Care Expenditures Spending Levels Elements of Contemporary Practice, Health Care Economics: The Larger Context: Introduction. Posted June 7, 2006 Medscape Today.
** Medicare's Hidden Admin Costs: Comparison of Medicare and The Private Sector January 10, 2006, sourcing Mark Litow, Ph.D., of Milliman, Inc.
*** Ibid
**** USGAO Testimon-The Committee on Finance, US Senate, Medicare Management Current and Future Challenges, Statement of Wm. J Scanlon Dir, Health Care Issues, June 19, 2001.

All Children Left Behind

Why does the No Child Left Behind Program leave all children behind? There is inadequate funding! The teachers have to teach to the test. Teachers don't have enough time for other curriculum. Various groups, such as non-English speakers, lower a school's overall score. The goals are unattainable. The goal milestones occur too quickly. Very good schools can obtain low scores due to any number of variables. These are all true.

However the primary reason that schools struggle with No Child Left Behind is that tests are not an adequate measure of a child's progress. No matter which tests are selected, they fail to measure learning. Why? For many reasons.

1. When children are physically uncomfortable, their scores drop. They may be sick, hungry, or even having the typical headaches. Maybe their shoes are too tight. Maybe they have sprained limbs. Maybe they have the cramps.
2. A significant number of children do well on tests...that is, unless the tests are timed. Unfortunately, No Child Left Behind tests are timed.
3. Another group of children make A's until they face a test. Then they experience test anxiety, and test scores are not accurate measures of their ability and efforts.
4. Some children see only in pictures, as I do. These children must translate each question into visual representations before they can solve it. Timed tests only compound the problem.
5. It is not uncommon for students to excel in one subject and do poorly in another. Kids who excel in English may do poorly in math, math people may do poorly in English.
6. There are many different styles of learning. Typical tests completely miss a kinetic (physical motion) learner's strengths.

There are other reasons explaining why tests fail students. I will get to those later. Stay tuned.

What is Quantum Thinking all about?

So why am I here? I keep looking for logic in an illogical world. I don't think as most people do. Most people are right- or left-brained, just as they are right- or left-handed. But I am both right & left-brained. This allows me to search for solutions to complex problems in ways that most others cannot. Instead of working from "A" to "B" to "C"..., I think "A", "B", "X".

This site will delve more into how this happens. I will also address a number of broken complex systems, such as our education system, our healthcare system, etc. Stay tuned.