connecting*the*dots

(originally uploaded by hockadilly)

This is one of those stake in the ground type posts, or put differently, a kick in the ass — my own ass.

I went through a bunch of tests with no clear diagnosis after passing out in 1999 (multiple times) and again in 2003, and I’m coming to the conclusion that on a sub-conscious level, I simply decided to stop being physically active. Instead of continuing to play ball and hit the gym with any degree of regularity and follow up with my doctors, I dove into my work and convinced myself that was a solution.

Well, it wasn’t… and it’s about time for a change.

Since I won’t be posting before pictures as motivation — this is a lifestyle change, not a reality show (and I wouldn’t do that to you anyway) — the following is a list of the behavioral changes I plan on making:

1. Pay ridiculous attention to everything I put into my mouth — cutting way back on sweets, soda, fatty foods and fried foods and upping my intake of non-processed foods.
2. Put in 25mins cardio and 25mins lifting each day, whether I’m at home or on the road.
3. Play more often (basketball, batting cages, dog park, etc.). In other words: get some friggin’ sunlight
4. Schedule a full-physical and, quite possibly, a meeting with a therapist. I’ve got so much going on right now — building two businesses, managing a number of clients, etc. — I could use an objective voice in my ear from time to time.

I guess I’m making this public to put some much needed pressure on myself to follow through — hopefully it works.

Sometimes you have to make it all about you.

UPDATE: I’m going to use the comment thread on this post to document the highs and lows over the first three months or so.

(originally uploaded by baratunde)

Come next week — knock on wood — I’ll have a relatively inexpensive health insurance plan. Not a big deal, you say? Okay, here’s a little back story:

• I’ve had a documented, red flag raising, pre-existing condition for a while now — nothing life-threatening, but a red flagger nonetheless
• For the last 18-months, I was paying $465 per month for Cobra coverage, which terminated on 11/1
• I applied for Blue Cross/Blue Shied coverage three weeks ago as a sole proprietor and the best rate I could get was $1,050 per month

With only a 63 day window to land a policy and avoid losing credible coverage, I gotta admit, I was beginning to sweat. Visions of having to find a corporate gig — strictly for a benefit package — began dancing through my head.

And then I was introduced to Dan Bulluck.

The Man With The Plan

Angela purchased a health insurance plan at Chakras through Dan’s group (Barnett-Smith), so she took the opportunity to speak with him last Friday about my situation.

Fast-forward to Monday evening.

Dan and I discussed my situation on the phone for a while and eventually settled on pursuing a short-term policy — a bridge to ensure credible coverage — until we could find a long-term plan at a better rate, which seemed like the impossible dream.

We were about to hang up when I mentioned that I heard about a law in North Carolina that gave sole proprietor S-Corp owners access to affordable group rates; I wondered out loud if that would be the case for an LLC owner (like me) as well?

Dan’s answer? Yep. And the kicker?

As the owner of a LLC, my pre-existing condition, by law, can’t adversely affect my premium by more than a 32% hike — as opposed to the 700% increase I would’ve paid through any carrier as a red-flagged sole proprietor.

With a good plan starting around $150, I’m now looking at no more than $220 per month — a savings of $830 per month!

(originally uploaded by ∙ELi∙)

Yeah, that made me happy. Talk about earning a commission!

Yesterday, Dan and I sat down to fill out paperwork and ended up having a great conversation about the ins and outs of the health insurance industry — so much so that I felt compelled to share a couple of pointers he gave me:

1. Be sure to develop a strong relationship with your primary doctor. Health insurance providers only tap into your primary physician’s records when checking the status of your health history. They don’t cull through specialist’s records, which means that your primary physician holds the keys to your premium. So when you go in for a check-up or an emergency appointment, be sure that you understand what your doctor is recording in your file and if necessary, ask him to be “off the record” if you need to talk about potential health issues that might send out a red flag.
2. Get your medical records direct from the source. Health insurance companies rely on the Medical Insurance Bureau (MIB) to do the work of gathering your health records from your primary doctor. Apparently, for $7 free, you can have a copy of your record sent to you for review, just like your credit report. Why would you want it? Well, similar to how your credit report is invaluable for understanding your standing in our credit-based society, it’s also a tool to find inconsistencies that need correction. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s much better to deal with these institutions than try to wish them away, so I’m getting my MIB report next week.

Health insurance is a friggin’ mess in this country.

The idea that a sole proprietor, a minimum wage employee or even an unemployed person can’t find affordable health insurance is a crime that needs to be addressed, either through legislation or competition that is willing to drastically undercut the current system.

Up until Monday, I thought my own situation was hopeless… and then I met a guy who wasn’t strictly into his job for a commission and explored every option with me until we found a solution. I don’t know how rare that is, but I do know that Dan Bulluck took on this second career to help people, first and foremost. So if you live in North Carolina and are having health insurance issues, give him a ring at 336-686-2220. For those of you in Greensboro, you can simply drop on by his office at 218 Greene Street.

It may sound hyperbolic, but the guy saved my life.

Diseases Of the Rich vs. Diseases Of The Poor, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Terrance—over at The Republic of T—asks a simple, yet provocative question in preparation of the 2006 elections: What’s Your Platform?

Okay, I’m game. Here are my most imperative policy reforms, in no particular order.

1) 2.0 the hell out of government
Congress was only able to see "finished" intelligence before voting to give the Bush administration power to go to war (as a last resort). In my world, anything that the Executive branch sees, the Legislative branch sees. My voice is represented by my state officials, not the president. This one example of a non-transparent government directly led to the deaths of more than 30,000 human beings.

The most applicable 2.0 philosophy for reforming government is the philosophy of openness. From open source to open content, imagine the possibilities of employing a government that makes all de-classified government documents, congressional voting records, appointee resumes, etc. instantly available in a relational database with open APIs for public use. All of this information is available now, but it’s not prepped for accessibility and reuse. This is the future of accountability. Up communication and transparency, reduce the "Fuck You!" noise of the left vs. the right blogosphere to constructive collaboration… that is until government tries to pull something, and then we get back on them like white on rice.

2) Create a nominal tax to directly supplement teacher salaries
Great teachers are few and far between nowadays. Why? Well, you try dealing with kids, administrators and parents all day, adhere to and circumvent the red-tape and legalities of this age with the grace of a seasoned politician and pull in ~$45k per year.

I’m talking about, say, a .1% tax that goes directly towards teacher salaries. I gotta admit, I got the idea from Mini-Me when he appeared as a genius teacher on an episode of Boston Public a few years back. His thesis was that the degree to which students are prepared by their public school years directly impacts their earning potential, so reward their hometown education system with a nominal, flat tax return to impact teacher salaries. Tell ‘em. Verne!

3) Rip up the Patriot Act
As alluded to in the first part of my platform, transparency of government will lead to politicians being held accountable to create humane national and global policies. It’ll also foster the innovation of extremely real-time and smart communication user experiences, which can then be applied by government in the authenticated realm of classified material.

This edict of transparency cannot be applied to individuals. Our individual right of privacy is what has distinguished us from the rest of the world for centuries. The Patriot Act is legislation with language that allows for the control, intimidation and investigation of Americans through the guise of terrorism. It’s like the old censorship debate; who defines what is terrorism? The abuse of American rights have already begun.

4) Election reforms
First, all television campaigns are free. Each major candidate (there would have to be some way to determine "major," possibly something akin to the BSC polls/stats via past political progress made) is provided a set amount of credits to apply to the "purchase" of air time. This opens up the playing field to a diverse class of politicians who can focus on the issues, not their fund raising. I bet Tom Delay would even go for this.

Second, ensure that voting is both easy to access and secure. All voting systems could easily be tied together into one database, while creating alternative voting options, such as over the internet and by phone. We’ve been to the moon people…

5) National health care for everyone… Yes, you too
Riddle me this: Large corporations get major discounts on health care coverage due to the amount of employees they staff, right? Okay, then why not treat congressional districts as semantic equivalents of large pools of employees (citizen residents) by submitting them as huge groups into the bidding process?

C’mon, try to tell me why that doesn’t make any sense.

6) Incentivize industry to reduce our dependency on oil and clean up the environment
I know, the oil industry has major power claws dug deep into our political system, but this is my platform, so I’ll risk the blunt gas nozzle to the back of my head. This current administration gave tax breaks to manufacturers who create hybrid vehicles, but capped the production of cars to 60,000 that qualify for the break. Yeah.

First, we create California-like emmission standards and apply it nationally. Second, we apply money to develop alternative forms of fuel instead of planning a fucking trip to Mars or building that damn bridge to nowhere in Alaska. Third… well, I’m not that smart, but these people are.

Well, that’s my platform. God knows there are other extremely important issues (like getting out of Iraq, impeaching Bush, etc.), but that’s all the brainpower I have for tonight. I’m sure many of you want to label me as a liberal communist or some other "sticks and stones" nomenclature, and if I just described your take on me, my message to you is grow the fuck up. These are serious times, calling for serious people. The longer you avoid engaging in honest discussions along these lines, the easier it becomes to spot your agenda.

To the rest of you, let’s work together to get these bozos out of office in 2006.

I’m An American

At one time in my life, I would even say that I was blindly proud and patriotic.

I grew up watching The Lone Ranger and John Wayne movies on WOR re-runs on Saturday afternoons. My neighborhood was full of sprawling lawns and happy families. The American dream, right?

Well, eventually I grew up, realizing that things aren’t always what they seem to be.

Over the years, I’ve become exposed to a cross-section of people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. These breadcrumbs of my travels — mixed in with my own experiences — have made me realize the truth of what being a citizen of this most powerful nation entails:

The benefits of our common goodness, as well as the baggage of our wrongful intent, is what we must continue to evolve towards enlightenment, otherwise, such power can go unchecked.

Historically, American’s dedication to the creation of democratic institutions, producing innovative life-altering government and laws, as well as products, services, medicines, the internet; all have been inspirations to other nations on the face of this planet.

Unfortunately, the DNA of our mafia-style history of murder, slavery and unchecked capitalism has seeped into most of these democratic institutions, whether it be through industrial lobbyists, foreign policy or corporate conglomerates and deregulation.

9/11 changed a lot for me.

I was living in Park Slope, Brooklyn on September 11, 2001. After the attack, my outwardly-facing patriotism far exceeded my formative peek. I shopped for hours, in sold-out stores, looking for a flag to place in my father’s car window. I mean, those were my neighbors, my countrymen that perished in a blink of an eye or worse, over hours leading up to a leap out of a 85th storey window.

But during the months leading up to the Iraq Occupation, my perspective of this nation — more specifically, this administration — went straight into the shitter. My belief in our government and our constitutional processes came to a screeching halt.

I pulled a 180.

The Flip

There’s a reason my blog has its current palette and why I refuse to buy any more blue or red clothes. It’s that sickly, deep with me. Our country hasn’t been a democracy since the end of WWII. Our leaders are heading into the 50th year of a post-WWII plan to create a New World Order.

• Why do you think the Third World can’t evolve out of its poverty ridden, corrupt, AIDS infested, pushover status?
• Why do you think we continue to run rough-shot in Latin America?
• Why do you think we invaded Vietnam?
• Why do you think we’re in Iraq?

A Conversation From “Network”

Arthur Jensen: [to Howard] They say I can sell anything; I’d like to try to sell something to you.

Arthur Jensen: It is the international system of currency which determines the vitality of life on this planet. THAT is the natural order of things today. THAT is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature. And YOU WILL ATONE. Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little 21-inch screen and howl about America, and democracy. There is no America; there is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.

Arthur Jensen: You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won’t have it. Is that clear? You think you’ve merely stopped a business deal? That is not the case. The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity. It is ecological balance. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast, interwoven, interacting, multivaried, multinational dominion of dollars.

Arthur Jensen: The world is a business, Mr. Beale; it has been since man crawled out of the slime. Our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there’s no war or famine, oppression or brutality - one vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock - all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangelic.

Howard Beale: Why me?

Arthur Jensen: Because you’re on television, dummy. Sixty million people watch you every night of the week, Monday through Friday.

Howard Beale: I have seen the face of God.

Arthur Jensen: You just might be right, Mr. Beale.

Any of that sound familiar? Up until the past few weeks, I had my doubts that we’d *ever* regain the potential of our great Republic… And then Patrick Fitzgerald finally spoke… And then the Democrats grew a pair. Something happened to me…

I became somewhat optimistic again.

This is my current mental model regarding the state of our nation. We’re pragmatically moving in the right direction.

• The blogosphere is holding corruption accountable
• The mainstream media is beginning to do their jobs
• Discourse is rampant
• Indictments are being served
• Technologists are decentralizing media more and more with each passing day

We’re slowly moving towards democracy, slowly moving towards our common Republic… but we still need to take it up a notch.

• We need to remove ourselves from Iraq
• We need to start developing progressive solutions to our issues of poverty, education, health care and foreign policy
• We need to create alternate forms of fuel
• We need to feel comfortable in that uneasy role of rapid change and evolution
• We need to hold the hands of corporate America in order to break down the old business models of the 20th century, and help instill collaborative, open business models that leverage the best aspects of capitalism, the best aspects of innovation, the best aspects of humanity
• We need to become global citizens

We need to be we, indivisible to the utmost degree.

I’m really trying to walk this walk… hard. Are you?

Until we’re all there, I’ll continue rooting for the Jets and the Suns, eating Pumpkin Pie and Broccoli and washing it down with an OJ and Lime juice smoothie. Why you ask?

Because I’m an American.

While everyone is “preparing” for that Aryan bird flu Panda thingy and that new soon-to-be-discovered fault line in their neighborhood, I’ve got to tell you, I’m taking a bit more of a practical route. If I had a bullhorn, this is what I’d shout into it (followed by that annoying ass siren):

Get out of the stock market now, sell your homes, pay off your credit cards and hide your cash under your bed!

This is the “sell high” period of the “buy low, sell high” cliche. Here’s why:

1. I have a top credit rating, and I can’t get a card with an APR lower than 12%. Plus they’re all adjustable rate cards now (their rate plus the prime). Some people are paying 29% interest. The only thing fixed anymore is the friggin’ corporate game. By the way, bankruptcy doesn’t cover credit card debt anymore. Are you listening?
2. Interest rates on mortgages are going up. I’ve heard of 8% and higher for people with pretty solid credit ratings. That’s ridiculous.
3. President Bush’s tax advisory commission wants to limit the mortgage tax deduction. It wouldn’t affect most of the country (that has rational housing costs), but in New York, San Francisco, etc. where the prices has gone through the roof? The young couples and struggling families who are scraping together the cash for a $90,000 deposit on a 2 Bedroom, $450,000 condo in a decent to nice section of Jersey City, would miss the proposed ~$390,000 limit. Do you have any idea what a 4 bedroom house in a decent neighborhood costs in NJ? The whole state just sounded a collective moan. Can you say, “Blue state *pop*” boys and girls? I knew you could.
4. Adjustable rate loans on pre-existing, first family type mortgages? Man, people are going to be living in the street. The prime isn’t slowing down with its inflation.
5. Health insurance (if you have it) will probably lose its unlimited tax deduction status. Small businesses are already behind the eight ball in trying to provide health care for their employees. That equals greater consolidation. These tax limitations will only keep health insurance away from more people, which in the end, equates with a death count.
6. People are going to be saving their money for the essentials (like food and shelter) and the retail economy will hit the shitter. We’re already in the midst of a service-based economy, making *nothing* tangible anymore as a country. Are you ready for the service-based economy to shut down as well?

~250 corporations bring in more than 1 trillion dollars in pure profit, and ~85 don’t pay taxes due to Cayman Island type of tax loopholes (via the Randi Rhodes Show). Where are those tax reforms? They’re not coming, folks. Welcome to indentured servitude and slavery in the 21st century. Those are drastic words, but they’re necessary in drastic times. Drop your political affiliation for just one minute, and look at the facts and crunch the numbers.

I’m in awe of the power Mother Nature to wreck havoc, but I’m scared beyond belief of Mother Bush, a woman with the ability to marry into evil and produce this degree of a corrupt thug. W. received his war plans directly from God? Hitler heard voices as well. I don’t want to sound apocalyptic, but I’m preparing my finances before the "every man for himself" image of Katrina looks like a walk in the park. Welcome to the first stages of something much bigger than a bursting bubble.

Tomorrow, on a lighter note, we’ll review the bombing of the Smurfs.

I haven’t posted in a while and there’s no real reason, but here’s an uplifting update:

My specialist (cardiologist) sent me to a super specialist (another cardiologist) and he finally shed some light on my fainting/strange EKG situation.

It didn’t sound too good.

Ever hear of Reggie Lewis? Lewis played for the Celtics and died on the court after numerous fainting spells AND after his doctor (the head doctor of the NBA) gave him the green light to return to the court. The first thing my new doctor mentioned when I walked in the door was Lewis.

Now, that sounds bad, and it very well could be, but at least I can now take some precautions. One is to make sure i have the right mineral supplements in my diet (I’m getting in touch with a nutritionist this week). The second is to potentially have minor surgery to monitor the activity of my heart. Check out these details:

Five years ago, Medtronic released its first implantable monitor for people with mysterious fainting spells. Though a niche product for the giant maker of pacemakers and defibrillators, it was a breakthrough, giving doctors far more data about effects on a fainting person’s heart. Two product generations later, Medtronic has sold more than 25,000 of the 2-inch-long monitors, which weigh just a few grams. They’re placed in a person’s pectoral muscle, sometimes for just a few days, and track heart activity in a 42-minute loop. When a person recovers from a fainting incident, he or she stops the monitor. A doctor or nurse can then retrieve the data with a special radio receiver, and restart the loop.

My fainting spells have been few and far between, so I may have this implant for a while until the next one, but it sounds like it’s worth it. The last time I passed out… I really think I might have passed over. Coming to was like trying to turn over a car in the middle of winter. Gha gha gha… gha gha gha… gha gha gha… I was either going to “flood” my engine and stay out for good, or come to and get back to the living. It was some fucking scary shit.

Okay, gotta go and contemplate world hunger and terrorist bombings. Eh.