New Year’s Resolutions

David C. Stolinsky, MD
Dec. 31, 2009

It is customary to make resolutions for the New Year. Often these include vows to lose weight, exercise more, or clean out the garage. Almost as often, the resolutions are broken before the end of January. Rather than these praiseworthy but easily discarded goals, may I suggest a different set of resolutions:

Hire people who at least look like they know what they are doing.

After a radical Muslim from Nigeria nearly brought down Northwest 253 on Christmas Day, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano declared, “The system worked.” Really?

The terrorist’s father, a prominent banker, reported his son’s radicalization to U.S. officials. The young man was put on the Terrorist Watch List but not on the No-Fly List. Britain refused him a visa, but we gave him a multi-entry visa.  He paid for a one-way ticket in cash and traveled with only a backpack. He may have been allowed on the plane without a passport.

The screeners failed to detect 80 grams of PETN in his underwear, more than enough to bring the plane down. The attack was foiled by a courageous Dutch passenger.

That’s the system working? No, that’s the system failing miserably at all levels, but Jasper Schuringa and the cabin crew working.

Later, Napolitano amended her statement, but the damage had been done. What will our enemies conclude from our pathetic response to the near-downing of an airliner carrying 289 people? If we cannot appoint competent officials, at least let us appoint ones who give the appearance of being competent − we may fool people for a while.

Avoid the deceptive expression, “Stop the cycle of violence.”

We did little or nothing after:

● Our embassy in Iran was seized in 1979 and 53 of our diplomats mistreated for 444 days.

● Our embassy in Lebanon was bombed by Hezbollah in April 1983, killing 63 and wounding 120.

● Our Marine barracks in Lebanon was bombed by Hezbollah in October 1983, killing 241 and wounding 60.

● USS Stark was hit by Iraqi missiles in 1987, killing 37 and wounding 21.

● Pan Am 103 was blown out of the sky by a Libyan bomb in 1988, killing 270.

● The first World Trade Center attack occurred in 1993, killing six and wounding 1042.

● Our barracks in Saudi Arabia was bombed by Hezbollah in June 1996, killing 20 and wounding 372.

● TWA 800 was blown out of the sky in July 1996 by an explosion of uncertain cause, killing 230. The explosion involved a fuel tank where the wing meets the body of the plane. Later, shoe bomber Richard Reid was blocked from igniting a bomb on American Airlines 63. He insisted on a seat over the wing. And now, a man was blocked from detonating a bomb on Northwest 253, and he too sat over the wing. But if the last two planes had been brought down, they also might have been consigned to the trash can of “freak accidents,” just like TWA 800.

● Our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by terrorists linked to Bin Laden in 1998, killing 223 and wounding over 1000.

● USS Cole was bombed by a group linked to Bin Laden and nearly sunk in 2000, killing 17 and wounding 39.

There was no “cycle of violence.” There was a series of violent attacks, and we lacked the brains, and the guts, to respond. Our enemies saw our passivity not as patience and love of peace, but – correctly – as cowardice and apathy. And then came 9/11.

Don’t confuse health, health care, and health insurance.

Perhaps the confusion began when medical care came to be called health care, and then health care came to be written “healthcare,” and finally we referred to the “healthcare industry.” The further the terminology is removed from medicine and physicians, the more we think of it as an industry, and the more we turn to economists, MBAs and lawyers. Instead of a doctor talking to a patient about what is best for that patient, we now have politicians and bureaucrats deciding what is best − or cheapest.

Health insurance is what we buy to help pay for health care. Health care is what we seek in order to retain our health. Health is a state of physical and mental well-being. Pardon me for stating the obvious, but politicians tell us that 40 million Americans lack health care. No! Whatever the correct number is, they lack insurance.

True, those who lack insurance may receive inferior care. But anyone can go to an emergency room and receive acute care. Anyone can go to a public hospital and receive acute and chronic care from doctors, nurses and technicians who dedicate their lives to caring for those in need. People may lack insurance, and they may not get optimum care, but they do get care.

Some politicians go even further and, God-like, proclaim that they will provide us all with health − perhaps a slip of the tongue, perhaps not. Those who lie to others are despicable; those who lie to themselves are even more dangerous.

Predict the future, not the past.

The word “predict” means to “say before.” Climatologists construct theories to explain the slight rise in global temperature since the end of the Little Ice Age in the 1850s. But their theories did not predict the slight fall in temperature in the 21st century. This failure is clearly demonstrated in the e-mails that were hacked − or revealed by a whistleblower.

If a scientific theory cannot predict events, it must be thrown out. Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity was verified by observations during the solar eclipse of 1919. It was further verified by GPS satellites. Had Einstein failed to predict these events, few would remember his name. A genius must have his theories verified; so must lesser men.

Richard Feynman was a Nobel laureate in physics. When a researcher presented results that were “corrected,” Feynman asked how he knew when to stop “correcting,” or which way the “correction” should go. Feynman was asking whether the “correction” was a genuine effort to remove error, or a “fudge factor” to yield results the researcher wanted all along. The e-mails reveal that the quack climatologists are in the latter category. They “fiddled” with the data to conceal their failures and further their agenda.

But the quacks can’t even explain the past. Their computer models can’t explain the Medieval Warm Period, so they are trying to erase it from climate histories. Do the words “incompetence” and “fraud” come to mind?

Save horrible insults for real enemies.

Although I am a Jew, a colleague called me a “Nazi” because I did not agree with him about Bill Clinton. Although he is black, a man I know was called a “Klansman” because of his conservative views.

Hurling terrible insults at those who disagree with us has two harmful effects. First, it poisons political dialogue. How could I continue a discussion after I was called a mass murderer? My options were to get up and leave, or to let loose a stream of obscenities that would shock a Marine gunnery sergeant. The man who insulted me was relieved from any responsibility to support his viewpoint – which was probably the reason for the insult. Vile name-calling is a poor substitute for rational discussion.

Second, and even worse, the terrible words are cheapened until they no longer carry any force. If I’m a “Nazi,” then Nazis must be harmless conservatives. If my black friend is a “Klansman,” then the KKK must be a benign group whose only activity is talking.

Trivializing racism and genocide is a terrible sin. It is also a terrible mistake. If we can’t recognize evil when we see it, how can we hope to combat it? Inflation of insults is like inflation of money − value is lost until the thing becomes worthless. If we fire off our worst insults at political opponents, we will have no ammunition left when mortal enemies threaten us. We think in words. If we have no appropriate words for evildoers, we will be unable see them clearly – and that can be fatal.

Eating less and exercising more can lead to a healthier New Year for individuals. But carrying out these resolutions can lead to a truly happier and safer New Year for all of us.

Dr. Stolinsky writes on political and social issues. He can be contacted at dstol@prodigy.net.

www.stolinsky.com