Lost and Found

  
Lost, near Verona Beach; 1 slightly used Higgs boson. When last seen it was accompanied by dark matter. If found, please call 417-299-xxxx for return and a possible reward. (*)

Actually, over $6 billion have been spent in the search for this critter (?) without any measurable success. It remains a goal for over 10,000 scientists, in dozens of countries with the aid of universities world wide. Opinions vary on the desirability of actually finding it. The search triggered the construction of the Large Hadron Collider on the Franco-Swiss border. This device, with a 17 mile circumference, is abetted by magnets of immense power to enable the acceleration of a variety of particles. These particles make the circuit at very nearly, 99.9999991%, the speed of light, just short of 671 million miles per hour.

If your primary interest in life is particle physics, this is pretty heady stuff. Some of these experiments, already complete include: ATLAS—a Toroidal LHC Apparatus, CMS—Compact Muon Solenoid, TOTEM—Total Cross Section, Elastic Scattering and Diffraction Dissociation, p and Pb—Linear accelerators for protons, and SPS—Super Proton Synchrotron to name a few. The Fermilab has been very busy.

All of this is allegedly aimed at establishing further knowledge of the creation of the universe. It keeps a lot of folks busy and out of the taverns or away from other undesirable activities. I find this expenditure of effort very interesting since it was pretty much settled for me in Gen. 1:1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. There are many good reasons for advanced scientific research but belief in the prior scripture does free one up for other areas of endeavor which are also productive.

On the latest test, things got a little embarrassing. It seems during the course of the operation a bird flew by and dropped a small piece of bread into the collider. The damage was extensive and the delays in testing will be even worse as a result. $6,000,000,000 just doesn’t buy what it used to.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

(*) The Higgs boson is a massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model in particle physics. At present there are no known fundamental scalar particles in nature.

Reality Check on Fort Hood

  
What do Boston, Seattle, or El Paso have in common with the United States Army? If every single person in any of those cities were in uniform, had sworn allegiance to uphold the constitution, and were trained they would be equivalent in number to that service branch. Looking at the armed forces as a whole, the equivalency would be Philadelphia.

On 6/6/07, we had 1,372,905 people under arms. The Army alone accounted for 510,024 of that number. Thus do we arrive at the comparative numbers. This is out of a population of 300,000,000 declared on that same date. Interestingly, we find the total prison population on the same date to be 1,487.940 and take note that we had more incarcerated than in uniform.

Both categories represent less than .5% of the population. One person in 600 is in service or in prison. May we then conclude that in the one case all are noble defenders of freedom and dedicated law abiding citizens and the other are hardened law breakers with little regard for society? In short, no! In both cases there is no 100% certainty that each individual represents the group. It is certain that although most have rightfully been found guilty of a crime, there are no doubt some who have also been falsely imprisoned. Also it is true that the finest of screening does not always result in a proper sorting of bad apples in the military. If that were the case, we could dispense with the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In each circumstance, blanket condemnation or endorsement, is inappropriate.

Veterans of military service constitute a number well in excess of 20 million in the United States. Former prisoners are far less quantifiable but should be reasonably assumed to equal at least half that number or, 10 million.

Overlooked in these boring numbers are those who occupy both categories. It is impossible to assign a number to those individuals who are in the service and yet have a sworn allegiance to a personal agenda. Those who consider the military sacrosanct have either never experienced it or failed to watch either “Mash” or “Sgt. Bilko” on TV. Both had an exaggerated view but not altogether false. This then brings us to the frailty of the ever popular “political correctness.”

If there is anything which can safely be declared an “enemy of the state” it is political correctness. To intentionally mis-label acts and attitudes for fear of offense to some isolated constituency at the sacrifice of truth is unconscionable. The well-documented crimes perpetrated by Major Nidal Malik Hasan suddenly turned from accomplished fact to “alleged” when it was revealed that he had indeed survived the gunshot which brought his rampage to an end. As a survivor, he is now entitled to the benefit of doubt as to his guilt or innocence.

One of his relatives, a cousin, verified his muslim association from birth and denied a late in life conversion. The FBI acknowledges possession of email messages urging retaliation for supposed grievances against his faith. His casual dress clearly identified his relationship with his background.. His deportment with patients is clearly stated in his performance review as lacking the qualifications so desired for advancement among the Army officer corps.

He made no secret of resistance to deployment to Iraq in spite of clear knowledge that his would not be a life-threatening assignment. Yet, through the dictates of political correctness, we are constrained to not say the obvious: the man has committed a ghastly criminal act in the name of islam. He is, like many of his brethren, a religious fanatic with pure evil intent. Portraying this individual as a “victim” of any shape or form should be a crime and dealt with accordingly. The method of his slaughter also represents the cowardice so typical in that part of the world he finds so attractive. He intentionally and with prior knowledge selected victims who were unarmed, innocent of personal offense to him, and extremely easy targets.

This episode will, without a doubt, reverberate throughout the command structure and affect a large number of officers involved in the furtherance of his career in the military. This is as it should be. He gamed the system to achieve an education and profession which most Americans can only dream of. Thereupon he repaid this generous contract with hate and hurt for uncounted slain and injured citizens. The defense of this vile being will become a cottage industry for defense lawyers and advocacy groups to seek “justice.” All of this could have been avoided if only our society were encouraged to speak the truth and clearly identify threats both foreign and domestic in advance of such terror. God help us all.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

A Criminal Exchange

  

For a quick view of the shenanigans of John Murtha, D-PA, take a look at this video of an exchange with James Sensenbrenner, R-WI on the floor of the House of Representatives. As the poster-boy for arrogance gone wild, Murtha has no peer. You have to see this for yourself to actually believe how this bully acts. It is one thing to read what others say about his tactics and quite another to see it unfold before your very eyes.

I greatly admired the deportment of Mr. Sensenbrenner in the face of such abuse from the speaker. When I lived in Wisconsin, he was my representative and I’ll admit that I did not fully appreciate him. I voted for him three times (unlike the other party it was on three separate occasions) and would happily do so again if I had the opportunity.

This is one of the best pieces of evidence for term limits available. Let Sensenbrenner move on to the Senate and let Murtha be consigned to the dust bin of history.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

Concurrent Tragedy

  
With limited solid information coming out of Fort Hood with critical identification on the perpetrators of that massive crime we see yet one more confusing, yet alarming, happening in our country.

Ever since last January, there has been an event which overshadowed the execution of government to distract the masses from a full realization of actual events. You don’t need prompting to recall this occurring with regularity. Some extraneous issue seems to arise to accompany each concurrent event in congress or the executive branch to provide “breaking news” cover to some nefarious activity.

The tragedy at Fort Hood is conveniently occupying the news tonight at the expense of coverage of the impending socialized medicine vote on Saturday. Tomorrow (Friday) will be totally occupied with reports from Texas, searches for motives, casualty counts, and pundits scratching their collective heads to justify the action of the person responsible. Pelosi has announced her intention to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote Nov. 7th.

This modus operendi has been part and parcel of each and every offensive move in the assault on America that the current administration calls governance. With the words of Rahm Emmanuel ringing in our ears, “don’t let a good crisis go to waste,” it is apparent that there is never any intention to do so. My suspicious nature demands to know whether Pelosi knew of the events before or after she announced the vote. If it was before, then we see a golden opportunity presented to the administration. If it was after, was there any complicity in triggering the event?

For those without military experience who wonder how it is possible to be in the presence of an armed population who were unable to halt this carnage, please understand that on U.S. military bases, arms and ammunition only come together under tightly controlled circumstance. One carries weapons to a range and only when you take a position on the firing line are you issued the appropriate ammo. No person is allowed to carry both on any unauthorized basis and without a stated purpose. Trainees are constantly supervised and discovery of any loose rounds in their possession is a serious offense.

It is possible that my “BS” (that would be “believability suspension”) meter is on a too sensitive setting. It could be my age and experience has brought me to that condition. Given the brief history of this administration the device sounds the alarm almost daily and I respond. Give it some thought.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

A Remarkable Coincidence

  

In the wonderful world of the blogosphere, Zion Beckons has reached an early landmark. Today we reached our 10,000th visitor. Part of the fun of having a blog is watching the StatCounter to see exactly who is reading, where they’re from, and seeing their point of origin. With hits from nearly every state and continent over the time of our existence, we find exotic locations, large metro areas and Podunk towns all over the world in the data. Every conceivable operating system, browser, ISP, screen size, etc.., is detailed in the report which gives us a data base to attempt to understand our readers.

I eagerly kept checking to see who, and where, the 10,000th would be. Would it come from a far away place like Brisbane, Australia, Singapore, Kenya, or Bolivia? Independence, Missouri, the Los Angeles basin, or the crowded northeast corridor of the United States would be more statistically likely since we draw heavily from those areas. When the moment finally came I discovered that the landmark hit came from—drum roll please—Las Vegas, Nevada!

The data then provided the information which I knew would follow. It was an AOL subscriber, whose OS, screen size, and browser matched the particulars which I could easily identify as belonging to one of my oldest and dearest living friends. I first met this individual in the 7th grade some 65 years ago. Over the following years we became a unit, married, had three children and shared our lives until the late seventies. As a result of my mis-behavior, we separated and continued on different paths.

In a classic study of repentance (mine) and forgiveness (hers) we renewed our friendship and it has grown stronger with each passing year. Our spouses, both saints in their own right, round out the foursome and share in the results of our past union. Even though separated by over 1400 miles, we exchange family visits and engage in near constant communication.

Although not a daily visitor to the site, she is a frequent reader and the actual odds boil down to about 1 in a 100. As a one time beneficiary of 5000 to 1 odds in Vegas, I don’t see this as a totally remarkable result but then again….. ?

So, “Sam”, thank you for your kind attention to Zion Beckons. There is no contest result of fabulous prizes. I guess you shall just have to settle for a “free” trip to Las Vegas.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

HALLEJUIAH!!!

Halleluiah!!!

Believe it or not, the top three spots in Virginia government go to Republicans--an overwhelming victory by any measure. Considering the strong population presence of government employees in Northern Virginia one can see an obvious link to disapproval of the administration’s policies.

Republican Christie won the New Jersey race for governor. Although the local issues of corruption and outrageous spending were a strong factor, the fact remains that Corzine gained little benefit from the president campaigning for him at five separate venues. A blue state goes red along with the faces of many democrat operatives.

What a night. Although all the pundits and commentators were cautious in their predictions, the races were largely decided early due to the margins of victory. It was a definite statement by the people in response to “hope and change.” The glory of America is the fact that the polls are the final arbiter.

Looking back to the elections of 1993 and 2005 in Virginia and New Jersey, we find the combination of the winning parties predicting the outcomes of following elections. In ’93 it was the Republicans who were the victors and followed with a sweep of elections nationally. You all remember 2005, the Democrat victory and the subsequent takeover of congress by their party. When these changes take place it is not etched in stone but does provide a firm indicator of future possibilities.

A timely reminder would be that although largely victorious tonight, conservatives need to press on aggressively from this point and it should remain a vital force in the formation of future campaigns. The importance of the economy, socialized medicine, real job development, and increasing control over the lives and liberties of Americans were foremost in the minds of the voters. Continued emphasis on these issues and the struggle in Afghanistan require constant repetition to separate future candidates in the perception of the electorate.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

111 Reasons to defeat Socialized Medicine

  
Many thanks to Doug M (czaraphobe) on Knowledge Is Power on 11/2 for assembling this comprehensive list and not raising a fuss when I stole it. In the 1900+ page bill coming before the house is this list of boards, commissions, bureaus, programs, plans, mechanisms, cooperatives, compliance systems, foundations, projects, workgroups, trusts, centers, grants, initiatives, partnerships, councils, funds, and offices.

Please give this list more than a cursory glance if you need confirmation of a program gone absolutely nuts. This is bureaucracy gone totally mad. The cost of personnel, office space, supplies, travel, etc., would increase costs to government at an exponential rate. This nightmare of layers of government at the least would be a budget busting effort and provoke a massive abridgement of liberty beyond comprehension.

“1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61)

2. Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62)

3. Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72)

4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76)

5. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111)

6. Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131)

7. Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138)

8. Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155)

9. Program for technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying Exchange coverage (Section 305(h), p. 191)

10. Mechanism for insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Commissioner (Section 306(b), p. 194)

Finish your assignment!



11. Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 307, p. 195)

12. State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 308, p. 197)

13. Grant program for health insurance cooperatives (Section 310, p. 206)

14. “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321, p. 211)

15. Ombudsman for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321(d), p. 213)

16. Account for receipts and disbursements for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 322(b), p. 215)

17. Telehealth Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589)

18. Demonstration program providing reimbursement for “culturally and linguistically appropriate services” (Section 1222, p. 617)

19. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648)

20. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653)

21. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672)

22. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681)

23. Independence at home demonstration program (Section 1312, p. 718)

24. Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734)

25. Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 738)

26. Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 753)

27. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412(b)(1), p. 784)

28. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 786)

29. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 796)

30. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 804)

31. National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 859)

32. Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers with respect to Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 933)

33. Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 978)

34. Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 1647, p. 1000)

35. Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 1058)

36. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1730A, p. 1073)

37. Nursing facility supplemental payment program (Section 1745, p. 1106)

38. Demonstration program for Medicaid coverage to stabilize emergency medical conditions in institutions for mental diseases (Section 1787, p. 1149)

39. Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 1162)

40. “Identifiable office or program” within CMS to “provide for improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid in the case of dual eligibles” (Section 1905, p. 1191)

41. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198)

42. Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 1214)

43. Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 1224)

44. Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 1236)

45. Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 1240)

46. Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 1253)

47. Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 1254)

48. Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 1258)

49. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272)

50. Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 1275)

51. Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 1286)

52. Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1295)

53. Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1301)

54. Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 1305)

55. Grant program for research and demonstration projects related to wellness incentives (Section 2301, p. 1305)

56. Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 1308)

57. Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 1313)

58. Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 1322)

59. Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 1330)

60. Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 1352)

61. Grant program for nurse-managed health centers (Section 2512, p. 1361)

62. Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2521, p. 1372)

63. Grant program for interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training (Section 2522, p. 1382)

64. “No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza” demonstration grant program (Section 2524, p. 1391)

65. Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398)

66. Grant program for interdisciplinary training, education, and services for individuals with autism (Section 2527(a), p. 1402)

67. University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities education (Section 2527(b), p. 1410)

68. Grant program to implement medication therapy management services (Section 2528, p. 1412)

69. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors in underserved communities (Section 2530, p. 1422)

70. Grant program for State alternative medical liability laws (Section 2531, p. 1431)

71. Grant program to develop infant mortality programs (Section 2532, p. 1433)

72. Grant program to prepare secondary school students for careers in health professions (Section 2533, p. 1437)

73. Grant program for community-based collaborative care (Section 2534, p. 1440)

74. Grant program for community-based overweight and obesity prevention (Section 2535, p. 1457)

75. Grant program for reducing the student-to-school nurse ratio in primary and secondary schools (Section 2536, p. 1462)

76. Demonstration project of grants to medical-legal partnerships (Section 2537, p. 1464)

77. Center for Emergency Care under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Section 2552, p. 1478)

78. Council for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p 1479)

79. Grant program to support demonstration programs that design and implement regionalized emergency care systems (Section 2553, p. 1480)

80. Grant program to assist veterans who wish to become emergency medical technicians upon discharge (Section 2554, p. 1487)

81. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 2562, p. 1494)

82. National Medical Device Registry (Section 2571, p. 1501)

83. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 2581, p. 1597)

84. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 2581, p. 1598)

85. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 2581, p. 1602)

86. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1610)

87. National Women’s Health Information Center (Section 2588, p. 1611)

88. Centers for Disease Control Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1614)

89. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women’s Health and Gender-Based Research (Section 2588, p. 1617)

90. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1618)

91. Food and Drug Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1621)

92. Personal Care Attendant Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 2589(a)(2), p. 1624)

93. Grant program for national health workforce online training (Section 2591, p. 1629)

94. Grant program to disseminate best practices on implementing health workforce investment programs (Section 2591, p. 1632)

95. Demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (Section 3101, p. 1717)

96. Demonstration program for substance abuse counselor educational curricula (Section 3101, p. 1719)

97. Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722)

98. Intergovernmental Task Force on Indian environmental and nuclear hazards (Section 3101, p. 1754)

99. Office of Indian Men’s Health (Section 3101, p. 1765)

100. Indian Health facilities appropriation advisory board (Section 3101, p. 1774)

101. Indian Health facilities needs assessment workgroup (Section 3101, p. 1775)

102. Indian Health Service tribal facilities joint venture demonstration projects (Section 3101, p. 1809)

103. Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873)

104. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for diabetes prevention (Section 3101, p. 1874)

105. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for health IT adoption (Section 3101, p. 1877)

106. Mental health technician training program (Section 3101, p. 1898)

107. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1909)

108. Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators (Section 3101, p. 1925)

109. Program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Section 3101, p. 1927)

110. Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1966)

111. Committee for the Establishment of the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1968) “

Take a deep breath and ruminate on the consequences of this much government control. Is this what you want? Please share your opinion with your individual representatives. Let them know how you feel about this.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon