One of the most important issues this election year concerns health care. Whether it's adopting universal health care or sticking with the old private system, reform needs to happen. At one time I would have weighed in on the debate with a skeptical attitude if not against universal health care, but after experiencing adult life and seeing family and peers suffer from needing health care and not being able to afford it, I have come to the conclusion that some sort of  public system is needed. 

Every weekend my grandfather drives down the street to a gas station where he works the grave  yard shift. This particular job entails a bit of challenge for him being attached to an oxygen tank for a continuous supply. He does this not for himself being covered by the VA, but for his wife whose state health insurance for a time didn't cover all of her medication costs. Though he may need to work for other expenses, the cost of health care was a main priority before Medicare Part D. I think a universal health care system would allow for him more freedom and possibly allow him to retire with social security. The capitalist system turns a needed medical service into a high cost commodity where people are nickle and dimed to death.

More recently my wife had become ill with a severe pneumonia. She spent twelve days in the hospital and was sent home with an array of medication with oxygen. Now she walks around the community with a tank(only temporarily). However, in her situation she was covered under state health insurance. The state coverage comes from the federal program that gives money to states for public health care mostly for children. But Minnesota has a larger program that sometimes covers adults past 25 years of age(the imposed deadline for the federal program). 

 

In my neighborhood there’s a small ministry that opens its doors for a few hours in the evening to high school aged kids. It’s nothing fancy, just a free pool table and snacks in former video game rental store. The type of kids that frequent this place aren’t exactly the kind you want hangin’ around, especially if you’re an upstanding member of the community, like a business owner. The kids that gather there often bring with them their miss match style and drama. At times the crowd can be loud, ugly or even a little unruly. But then again, what can you expect from teenagers.
In the early years of this organization, it had to struggle against businesses in its community to exist. Many wanted it shutdown as complaints against it grew. It quickly became the neighborhood pariah. It seems the biggest problem people had with the place wasn’t only the gathering teenagers, which some deemed dangerous, but it brought in no revenue as it was non profit and operated on donations.
The place sits in a unique area, right in the center of three bars. These bars generate more noise, waste, blood, vomit, urine and violence than the kids at the hangout. (Though often there are voluntary shutdowns by the volunteer staff due to behaviors and other issues) The difference it seems is money. The bars can contribute to the local economy, but the teenagers just leech.

Is the fad over yet?

It was the kind of truck that would make America proud. A doubled sized Chevrolet ripped through the intersection, tearing a sharp right through a fleeting yellow light that left the rest of us lowly motorists in a cloud of dust. It was such a glorious display of true patriotism with an American flag bug shield, giant rear window mural of the stoic bald eagle, and pissed off bumper stickers. I had to bite my lip and solute just to hold back the tears threatening to gush out at such a monumental symbol of American strength, fortitude, liberty and justice for all to all to be in aw.
Actually, it was a rather obnoxious encounter as a driver pulled into oncoming traffic. That wasn’t the main annoyance however. It was the over stimulating and foreign made accessories, made to show some form nationalism and attitude that says “I own the road,” that was the nuisance. One has to wonder the goal of the expression. Is it really meant to strike those sentiments in people passing by? It rather appears to be the manifestations of Hubris.

Story update

Cambridge is a small town with one of the worst traffic snarls in the state for its size. The local government has looked into it and the local papers have looked into extensively. Each one of the solutions presents a new problem. My story would look into local property and business owners’ perspective that would be affected by any changes to the highway. This is where MN highway 95 runs through downtown Cambridge and runs under the highway 65 bypass causing a bottleneck, making a nasty situation.

Super Tuesday

While many may cast a ballot in the general election hoping for the winds of politics to blow in their favor, participating in a local caucus is a more solid way to engage a party by discussing issues, passing resolutions, choosing delegates, and selecting a candidate. Typically, the number of people who caucus is relatively low; however, this year a record number of people filed into long lines at public schools and public halls to engage their parties. And Super Tuesday was no different for the DFL caucus in the voting precinct of west Cambridge.
Voters were eagerly standing in line to attend the meeting in the forum of the Cambridge Primary School. As party members signed in, a line stretch out and down the hall. A man in black Obama ’08 t-shirt stood in the front exclaiming that he had been bought and sold by the Democrats; he was joking, but he was more than eager to support his candidate.
The meeting began as people filled the room and clogged the door way to vote for their presidential preference. Out of a little over 100, less than half stayed for the rest of the meeting. Most of the turnout was people over fifty, and I could recognize some former teachers in the crowd.
The precinct chair and assistant chair were elected, and the 18 delegates (which was over half of the meeting) were chosen to represent the precinct in the May 3 congressional caucus held in Duluth.
A resolution was passed unanimously supporting the platform for the deprivatization of health care, and the resolution to support a single payer system was met with just six apposed.
Jim Godfrey, who is challenging incumbent Rob Eastlund (R) for state representative of district 17A, made a visit to the meeting. He campaigned as some one who represented the people, and not like current office holders who protect the “power elites”, as he hinted at Governor Pawlenty.
Towards the end of the meeting, the results of the presidential vote were tallied revealing Barack Obama to be the winner having 10 votes over Hillary Clinton. Attending a caucus can give the citizen a more hands on experience in the democratic processes by shaping their party from the ground up.

A communtiy of slackers

It’s interesting to note that within a larger community exist many smaller ones. The website http://www.coveringcommunities.org/PDFs/SevenknowledgekeysNEW.pdf says to effectively cover a community a journalist must know their community. The website lays out seven ways to do this.
One such community-one I like to call the community of slackers- was a group of friends who would inhabit the smoking section in a local diner through the late night hours every weekend. Long nights of conversations so long it out last a wait staff’s shift. But it wasn’t just the intimate group of friends that made the smoked filled room a community, it was the diverse group of people who would drift in and out table to table engaging each other.
It was a group of people that would frequent this place that would bring with unique perspectives. The information passed between off duty cops, drunks, city officials, church groups and even habitual drug users, could provide a unique perspective on the underside of a larger community.

Introduction.

My name is Matt Dewey. I am a student at the Cambridge Campus of ARCC. I'm finnishing up my AA, give or take a semester. I currently write for the inkspot, and I am interested in writing (or at least learning how to write). I am married with two kids that keep me busy.