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That Ain't Nothin'
Dannion's Monthly Rant

October, 2008

Hello Everyone,

I truly hope this rant finds you safe and well as autumn begins. I know most of you are aware that the United States is a nation is in serious peril. “The Great Free Market”, as we know it, has finally come home to roost and our economy is collapsing. The idea that we can live as a consumer based economy has been exposed for the illusion it has always been.

In reality, once upon a time, we were led to believe we could base the greatness of our country on how much money we could borrow, and then, spend. Well, guess what? The time has come for us to wake up from that dream. Those days are over.

The recent 840 billion dollar bailout is only the beginning of many more bailouts. So fasten your seat belts, we’re in for a bumpy ride! In the last two weeks, the United States government has loaned 1.2 trillion of American tax dollars to our banks, insurance companies, and mortgage lenders which unfortunately means that you and I will be unable to borrow money for any real emergency, for quite some time to come. Please, I implore you: get out of debt as quickly as you can. The national debt, we now have, will be passed on to our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. We are right in the middle of an unholy mess!

Moving along…I believe one of the most important issues we must face, in light of our overwhelming economic challenges, is to take an honest and moral look at where we are and what it means to be an American.

 The most shameful part of all this is how we have allowed ourselves to live over the last 42 years. Having gone from a savings based economy to a consumer based economy we have literally lost our way. However, it’s not just financially that we’ve failed – we have also failed in our spiritual responsibility to our country, ourselves, our parents, our children, and by default, to all humanity.

As you may know, I spend a great deal of my time dealing with the intricacies of end-of-life care issues. So, with this in mind, I’d like to share with you a few statistics: The Department of Health and Human Services studied nursing homes from 2005 to 2007. The findings of the study concluded that for-profit nursing homes had a 93.5% deficiency rating in healthcare services. The government managed nursing homes had a 95% deficiency rating. The non-profit nursing homes earned an 88.4% deficiency rating. What this means is that the quality of continuity of care for our parents and grandparents in nursing homes is grossly substandard – often to the point their very lives are at risk.

Friends, it is an understatement for me to say we have been remiss. We’ve looked the other way while those who fought for our freedom, built our country into the greatest nation ever known while taking care of us, from diapers to adulthood, are now being beaten and neglected in facilities supposedly erected to protect them. If we allow this to continue, we not only setting ourselves up for a mighty fall, we absolutely deserve to have it happen!

Our country can only be as strong, as durable, as the moral fiber of its citizens. What we have here is a shameful and devastating moral dilemma of unprecedented proportion.

Please care enough to contact your local nursing homes to find out their deficiency rating. Volunteer any time you have available at a nearby nursing home in order to observe and improve the quality of care being afforded our moms and dads, neighbors and veterans. Their lives were spent contributing greatness to this nation. Therefore, as they leave this world, their greatness deserves to be honored with dignity and tender loving care. Oh, and don’t forget – we’re next in line!

With Purpose,
 

Dannion

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