Introduction

May 10 2013 (updated with each addition)

This article, MCI or CRS, why the diagnosis of a decline of memory matters. is based on a new law relating to cognitive evaluation of Medicare patients.  It is an unknown aspect of the ACA. that impacts the culture of aging in this country.  

Coast News Readers, here is annotated article on Traffic Fads and Older Driver-incorporates some articles below on dementia.

This is a story of how the renovation of a McDonalds is affecting a three decade old informal social group.

After much consideration, conversation and writing about same sex marriage, this article describes why group dynamics has obviated a more meaningful exploration of this issue.  This article references  Marriage Equality among Primates.   which is a criticism of the tendentious nature and distortions of a recent N.Y. Times OpEd. It includes reaction from the author.

The real clash of civilizations-Secularity v. Religious,


How Concierge Practice defeats  The Promise of Medicare

A front page article on the N.Y. Times that should either change the liberal perspective on gun control, or at least open the discussion.

Progress on Immigration reform, and my reality check.

Inaugural Benediction- Perhaps the only critical review around- and why this is the case

Breaking the Code of the Presidential Oath of Office, could be the title of an essay that is arcane, yet far reaching.

Response to N.Y.Times "The Stone." Notes on Pop Cosmology and it's consequences

Medicare and the AHA will fail without a change is societal values, as my essay on an ethicist's response to a rather shocking poll of doctors describes.  Comments include first person experiences of several physicians.

The presidential election of 2012 is over, and the man who lost, Mitt Romney is fading in the public's consciousness fast.  This essay describes what I found most disturbing as him as an individual and his policies. Our Sacred Pledge  

On returning from a local band concert, I initiated an exchange with the music director.  It's about the "war on Christmas"

This OpEd,  Peters' Brilliant Ad that Won the Election," was the most viewed opinion piece of the week in an on line newspaper ,"Voice of San Diego"

A Timely Thanksgiving Message to on World Peace and Tennis Conflicts


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Here's a description of some of my older essays. :

The discussion on the interview of Lee Boyd Malvo, the sniper who killed more than ten people in the D.C. area in 2002.  I wrote an essay for Dailykos.com on my personal response to the massacre Aurora CO.

Alzheimers, or dementia, or just plain memory loss of aging?  These are medical biological issues but also reflects our culture, how we handle the infirmities of aging.  Here's a first person participant research of a major research program at University of California San Diego.

Aunt Lena, 1903-2012
A personal remembrance,

End of life care in America
Some ruminations on hospice the hope and illusions of ACA

Pornography and Rape
A difficult subject, but a view rarely expressed that must be. Based on a Boston Globe article of July 31, 2012

I have been active The Soledad Veteran's Memorial issue for several years now, and report on the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to review the appeals court decision that the existing monument, a 42 ft high Latin Cross, is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.  The blog, Soledad War Memorial goes into detail of the current court action and it's history since 1989.

Although a staunch secularist, I recently attended an open house at the museum of Creationism in Santee CA, and wrote to two of the lecturers, both Ph.D scientists who espouse the belief that the earth is 7000 years old.  Here's the letters I wrote to them. I also had the opportunity to get to know the sponsor of this museum, who also is the founder of an international biotech company.  I wrote this article about my visit to his facility in Tecate Mexico. 

I opposed the comprehensive health care reform referred to as Obamacare, as described in this comprehensive essay, complete with multiple references. These represent multiple essays on the liberal web site, Dailykos.com, that were usually met with a respectful discussion.   One article referenced from the N.Y. Times was from 2011, the next article from June 2012.  Same conclusion with different focus, interesting in itself.

My report on UCSD conference referenced in the "Reader" Political Civility and Scientific Objectivity: Science, Technology and Public Policy in Democratic Societies is in this ongoing chronicle of my engagement with the issues raised there.  There is an element of confrontation with what I view as the entrenched ideological goals of the institution having an adverse effect on open inquiry.

The following are other topics that I have addressed over the years,  in no particular order:

This essay, My neighbor, the inventor of the personal computer, is a narrative of one of the less controversial issues of the conference, the effect of government research funding on major technological advances.

"Chelsea's Law, an Opportunity Lost"  is the story of a how a multiple rape murder became the impetus for a law that continues the counterproductive responses to a terrible, but thankfully rare, human aberration.

This is a discussion of my experience surrounding the 2012 Successful Aging Expo, focusing on my interactions with two speakers, research scientist James Brewer and talk show host Mike Slater.

Here is annotated  "Coast News" article on Darrell Issa, with links to sources
It is referenced above in contrast to my article on a Democratic Representitive

I often write essays, called diaries, (list of recent ones here) on Dailykos.com, under the user name ARODB.   Here's a recent on on the etymology and psychology of  Hoi Polloi,  which links to the one on Factoid.

Also the list to the right is a random selection of some recent essays.

Thanks for dropping in.  And be sure to leave a comment after reading.

Al Rodbell
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I have over fifty reviews of films on this list from IMDB, most are those that I enjoyed, or really loved for those who are looking for some recommendations.

Following are archives of essays that have been posted here that seemed important at the time, but time marches on.  It's like rummaging in an old file cabinet.: 

The presidential election of 2012 is over, and the man who lost, Mitt Romney is fading in the public's consciousness fast.  This essay describes what I found most disturbing as him as an individual and his policies. Our Sacred Pledge   is linked to Hurrican Sandy,God's Message to America  a metaphorical story of Gods sending this storm to tell Americans not to use his name in vain, like to win elections--you have to read both to to get the message.

These were about the California Ballot initiatives:

Proposal 34, to eliminate the death penalty, elicits strong feelings among most of us which may make this essay worth reading, "Arbeit Macht Frei" Thinking about Capital Punishment.  After my letter that included some of the points of the essay was printed in the LA Times. Based on some reaction to it, I wrote (really only a draft)   Abortion, Execution and California Prop 34, a speculative attempt to understand why these issues are not amenable to rational discussion.

California's Prop 35 claimed to combat human trafficking I challenged this with  "Prop 35, back to the 1950s, This LA Times Editorial also urging a 'no' vote. It passed with 80% support with few understanding the arguments against it-as I validate in my essay linked above.