I'm going to college...again

I graduated with an undergraduate degree in Biology about 32 years ago. Since then I've accomplished a lot, I went to medical school, did a residency, and built up a respected and successful medical practice. And in that time I've forgotten all I learned those many years ago.

I ended up becoming a physician because I had a deep love of the elegance of science. Everything I learned had this incredible logic and my passion that drove me was to explore and learn. Somehow as the years have gone by I have forgotten all that great knowledge.

Have you ever wondered if you went to school now would it feel different? I was so goal oriented in school sometimes I worry that I missed something about the magic of learning. I even have feared that trying to learn again would be so difficult at this point in life that I might become discouraged or frustrated.

I also worry about my mind becoming stale and unwelcoming to new ideas. I know that studies show that if we don't keep our minds stimulated there is a much greater risk of dementia. I read a lot but passive thinking is not nearly as effective at mental simulation as an active task. Puzzles and mind games have been proven to decrease the pace and even reverse cognitive decline. Unfortunately, mind games bore me. About the only time I can tolerate them is on an airplane. I listen to stimulating radio shows like TED talks, Freakonomics, and others but I still feel I need to do more.

One thought I had was to see if I could remember my old science education. I tried to remember everything I could about biology, physics, chemistry, and math. I realized I just couldn't recall chemistry or any of my higher mathematics. So, I decided to explore what was available on the Web.

Many of you probably know this, but I was not aware that the Khan Academy has essentially all of the lectures for college courses including all of the basic sciences. So about 2 weeks ago I went back to college and began studying chemistry again.

Fortunately, I discovered I haven't lost my knowledge I have only misplaced it in some dark corner of my mind. Each lecture brings back that knowledge and as it does I feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I find it ironic that I am so excited to relearn concepts like ionic and covalent bonds or how the elements interact or how to solve a stoichiometric equation.

In a very short time I have already completed about 6 weeks of learning. Obviously, I am at a distinct advantage, I did learn this all before. But, the rememory process is highly stimulating. I am convinced I will keep going until I have repeated all of those courses. I will probably toss in a few I never experienced before as well.

I would probably repeat my medical school course as well if they are available. Am I crazy? I don't think so. The second time around I get to see how this knowledge I am using on a daily basis fits. The first time learning I was so focused on cramming the knowledge in to my head so I could excel on exams but this second time I get to see the true practicality of it.

My mom asked me today if I see how chemistry fits into the practice of medicine. What I notice is that I don't think directly about the science but I realized that the problem solving process is similar. All those years of studying S and P orbitals actually makes a difference.

So while all of you are frolicking this weekend there is a very good chance my mind will be buried in a lecture on chemical equations. We'll see who had more fun!

Barbara For President

Ok, it is official, Barbara Lavorato has agreed to run for president of the United States. You may recall I mentioned that Barbara was my choice in a blog I wrote about a month ago. If all of you feel like I do that the two candidates nominated by the dominant parties have completely failed to impress then you may want to write in Barbara Lavorato as I plan in November. Now, you may feel you need to know a little bit more about Barbara so with her permission I am going to fill in some details. Today I saw Barbara and she is agreeing to run and has answered some of my questions regarding her background. The easiest way to learn about Barbara is to compare and contrast.

1. Like our two major candidates Barbara is a senior, she recently turned 72.
2. She is a strong supporter of the military but unlike the major candidates she actually has family in the military, her two beloved twin nephews who she would consider before placing them or their friends in harms way.
3. Barbara has worked her whole life, ironically she was a government employee working for the IRS. Even more ironic, she did not become one of the wealthiest people in our country by being paid for speeches. Perhaps even more ironic, she never used a personal email server for government work.
4. Like Trump she is skeptical of Obamacare, unlike Trump she would not throw it out. Unlike Clinton she would not expand it without paying for it and unlike Sanders she knows nothing is free.
5. Barbara doesn't care what happens in the bedroom and she really doesn't care who gets married to whom.
6. She thinks building a really big wall won't do really anything except make it harder to visit really nice places in Mexico. 
7. School isn't free, someone had to pay for it like she did. Her nephews joined the air force to pay for theirs.
8. Free trade isn't free, she likes her foreign built cell phone but is worried about bad deals.
9. Regarding deals, she always worked to make reasonable ones as an IRS investigator.
10. No bankruptcies
11. Actually worked with others, played well, had superiors and inferiors in the office and everyone got along.
12. Never made a corrupt land deal
13. No big inheritance and no spouse to stand on the shoulders of.
14. Really, really,really nice.
15. She cares about the environment, she's worried about global climate change, she knows that scientists know more about science than she does. And she's pretty convinced the planet is more than 5,000 years old.
16. She believes in the power of prayer when she's worried about someone she loves, she believes in the power of common sense when trying to develop a way to deal with climate change, world conflict and natural disasters.
17. Putin has neither endorsed nor critiqued her.
18. She is a strong supporter of Israel as an American ally and stabilizing force.
19. If I didn't mention it before, she's really really nice.
20. She must be really smart because she likes me.

A vote for Barbara is a vote for sanity. If you have the same level of discomfort I have about the complete lack of logic in Trump and morals and ethics in Clinton then like me you want to vote for somebody that doesn't turn your stomach.

So why vote for somebody who has essentially no chance of winning the election? I want to be able to look myself in the mirror and not feel that I am traitor to my beliefs. Face the facts, Clinton is almost sure to win. She has gotten to this position with a lot of cheating, manipulation and probably illegal activity. I certainly believe her behavior in the Whitewater scandal in the 90's was illegal. She may not be the first criminal elected to the highest office but I refuse to assist her.
A vote for Trump is not a vote against Clinton as much as it is a vote for an obnoxious, foul mouthed bully who lacks any political skills, and is mostly lacking in any substantial ideas. The few ideas he does have are either illogical, not doable, or might place us in a huge international conflict.

I know that in 20 years if my kids ask me who I voted for I don't want to feel like I chose the lesser of two awful choices. I would rather feel good that I found someone who is caring, and not controlled by big influential lobbyists or influenced by billions of dollars that they probably want to grow at my expense.

So a vote for Barbara is a vote to say something about our future. And that is "Dammit I'm not gonna take it anymore!" Yes, I know that slogan has been used before. But, it does express the fact that if the major political parties can't do better than this then they can forget about my vote. But I'm not going to stay home, I am going to vote for Barbara.

I warned Barbara today that  based upon early polling she is likely to get two or three write in votes in Santa Cruz and maybe one in Michigan if my mom can be convinced. If any of you want to join the Barbara for President campaign I'd love to know.

Heck you never know, we might get four votes in Santa Cruz.

Why I can't vote for Hillary or Donald

I feel terribly conflicted, do you? My conflict isn't about how the upcoming election will affect me but rather the impact it will have on my children. I recall as a child looking at our elections every four years as the time my parents made their choice as to the future they wanted my family to have. If your family was like mine they didn't always agree and more often than not my parents canceled each other out in their choice of candidates. But, this cancelation had more to do with political direction than the candidates themselves.

For example, my dad is fiscally conservative. He's a businessman and his primary concern has always been the survival of his company. He prefers minimal government intervention, low taxes, reasonable trade restrictions and the right to pay and benefit his workers as he sees what is best for his company. I don't think he was a big fan of Richard Nixon's personality and he probably wasn't an enthusiastic supporter but his company prospered during that presidency and he voted to reelect him in 1972.

In 1980 my father's business was in trouble, he was unable to take any income out and he worried about the very survival of his 40 year old family enterprise. As you can imagine he voted for Reagan, his business recovered and he did again four years later. I am pretty sure my dad has been a consistent Republican his entire life.

My mother has had a different feeling about how to influence the future. As a caregiver she always has been much more concerned about social issues. As many of us are aware Republicans don't have a great track record supporting social issues, primarily because they conflict with fiscal conservatism. I think early on my mother voted with dad tilting in favor of the business but as years went by I am pretty sure this changed. Her sister was disabled and depended on state support and as her mother aged she relied upon social security and Medicare. Mom supported Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.I'm pretty sure this frustrated my fiscally conservative father.

I watched my parents discuss their decisions and I saw their frustration with each other. But, I never heard them say they thought the other was making a choice for a morally or ethically bankrupt person.

Unfortunately, 2016 is such a year where I believe the two primary candidates are morally or ethically bankrupt. I wish I could just vote the impact on my wallet or the social issues. That would make the decision easy. Hillary will probably raise taxes, increase regulation and probably slow economic growth. On the other hand, she will probably be much more favorable to immigrants, legal and otherwise, support personal choices, and maintain a safety net. Trump, is more likely to keep taxes lower, minimize regulation and be less likely to retard growth, but he has little sympathy for the unfortunate and no recognition of climate change.

But, political positions are not what I an voting about this year. This year I am really thinking about my children and their future. When I parent my children I tell them not to play with bullies, avoid people who lack moral character, are prone to unethical behavior, and have a disregard of others.

So, how do I vote in an election where the two primary candidates reflect most if not all of these unsavory characteristics? Hillary has years of behaviors that reflect this. Not just the recent email debacle, but one has to look at the whole Whitewater investigation. The Washington Post has a very remindful article today, http://wapo.st/29p1x03 . OK, what about Trump? Well, he lacks any political scandals but he has many business issues which call into question his moral and ethical qualities. He has many years of hooking investors into weak business enterprises that go down in flames yet somehow he emerges unscathed and wealthier. Yes, bankruptcy is legal, but an ethical captain of a ship goes down with it. Also, is it just me or do others see him as the obnoxious school bully we all tried to avoid?

Under better circumstances I would be intrigued by a candidate with no political experience. There would be no big donors pushing an agenda, no career in politics to tank. But, Trump's lack of political experience does not mean he has avoided conflict and his long track record of questionable business practices and thorough lack of empathy and insight makes him just as bankrupt in the soul as Clinton.

So what do I do? For my children's sake I don't believe I can vote for either of these people. That would be a complete contradiction of all of the moral and ethical guidance I have been trying to instill. My friend, Barbara, offered to be a write in candidate. This pleasant, intelligent woman is fiscally conservative, cautious about international conflict, worried about social issues. She has two grandchildren in the military. She gets it!  I'm pretty sure she has the moral and ethical values I am looking for. She has never run for public office, probably doesn't even know how to sign up. I'm pretty sure there aren't any big donors influencing her.

Barbara has the lack of experience I'm looking for. Not Trump's. I bet if you look around you probably know someone just like Barbara. I have to believe in a country of nearly four hundred million people we can find at least a couple who despite having different points of view are still good people.

I'm not a politician, I don't know how to solve this problem, and I will probably be writing Barbara's name on a ballot in a few months. I know she won't win. But, I have a responsibility to my children not to vote for someone who lacks the moral character to lead the greatest nation on earth.

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