PUBLIC OPTION IS NOT OPTIONAL

The Public Option is not an option.It is the core of the health care plan! Stop playing games with us
The only way to reform the most corrupt health care system in the world is to let the Government run it. The doctors know this, the fat cat capitalists know this and above all the greedy Pharmasnootikal companies know this.

Our Social Security program and our Medicare program are the greatest relief efforts ever given to the poor, old,and oppressed in this country. Why do you think these loonies who want to protect their own nests are freaking out?

Every argument you hear being presented against this "option" was heard when SS was being debated and many decades later when Medicare finally passed.The rich do not want to give away one solitary dollar of their treasures.

To understand the mentality of the wealthy classes, read the classic Balzac novel, Eugenie Grandet where the miser Grandet each evening retires to his barricaded retreat in the cellar of his castle and metaphorically bathes in his gold bullions. He has the lost the love of his only daughter because of his affliction but he has all that he really needs, his bullions. With those bullions he can buy back her affection.

An over simplification perhaps but human evil and human greed are difficult to explain to people who are without desperately needed medicine or surgeries. Dramatizing what motivates the affluent is a fair weapon.

Richard H Thaler, a respected behavioral economist, addressed the pros and cons of the "public option" in yesterday's Sunday Times. Here is some of what he says:

"In debating the public option — that is, an insurance option run by the government —the politicians themselves are making exaggerated claims about its pros and cons. We hear from the right that an insurance plan run by the government will drive all private-sector insurers out of business and be the first step toward socialism, if not communism. The left claims that only a public option can give evil insurers the competition they need to create much-needed reform.

"Nailing down this detail is crucial. If the public option does not have to break even — if, in fact, it is to receive government subsidies — then it is correct to worry that it would destroy competition, not foster it. If the public plan runs a deficit, who will fix it? If it is Congress, we have to worry that what should be economic decisions will turn into political battles.

"A second detail is whether the government will grant the public plan the power to impose special deals with suppliers like hospitals and drug companies — a move that would dampen, not enhance, competition with the private sector.

Well I think Mr. Thaler is trying to straddle the middle here and that is not what this health care situation needs. It needs to be run by the government which of course is not going to foster competition. Who needs competition in life and death decisions anyhow?

Are we implying that doctors practice their profession for profits. I thought they took an oath to abide by a higher standard than collecting gold bullions.

Look,there are certain areas of life where competition is not needed. or desired and health is one of them. Let Uncle Sam monitor the doctors,nurses,surgeons,drug companies and the malpractice lawyers. It has worked out for many many years in SS and medicare

Socialized medicine will not lead to Communism. After all Medicare and SS legislation lead us to the Nixon,Reagan, Bush,Bush eras which were closer to fascism than to socialism.

Please President Obama do not short circuit your great pursuits before they get off the ground. Stand by the Public Option!

The Public Option is not an option.It is the core of the health care plan! Stop playing games with us

The only way to reform the most corrupt health care system in the world is to let the Government run it. The doctors know this, the fat cat capitalists know this and above all the greedy Pharmasnootikal companies know this.

Our Social Security program and our Medicare program are the greatest relief efforts ever given to the poor, old,and oppressed in this country. Why do you think these loonies who want to protect their own nests are freaking out?

Every argument you hear being presented against this "option" was heard when SS was being debated and many decades later when Medicare finally passed.The rich do not want to give away one solitary dollar of their treasures.

To understand the mentality of the wealthy classes, read the classic Balzac novel, Eugenie Grandet where the miser Grandet each evening retires to his barricaded retreat in the cellar of his castle and metaphorically bathes in his gold bullions. He has the lost the love of his only daughter because of his affliction but he has all that he really needs, his bullions. With those bullions he can buy back her affection.

An over simplification perhaps but human evil and human greed are difficult to explain to people who are without desperately needed medicine or surgeries. Dramatizing what motivates the affluent is a fair weapon.

Richard H Thaler, a respected behavioral economist, addressed the pros and cons of the "public option" in yesterday's Sunday Times. Here is some of what he says:

"In debating the public option — that is, an insurance option run by the government —the politicians themselves are making exaggerated claims about its pros and cons. We hear from the right that an insurance plan run by the government will drive all private-sector insurers out of business and be the first step toward socialism, if not communism. The left claims that only a public option can give evil insurers the competition they need to create much-needed reform.

"Nailing down this detail is crucial. If the public option does not have to break even — if, in fact, it is to receive government subsidies — then it is correct to worry that it would destroy competition, not foster it. If the public plan runs a deficit, who will fix it? If it is Congress, we have to worry that what should be economic decisions will turn into political battles.

"A second detail is whether the government will grant the public plan the power to impose special deals with suppliers like hospitals and drug companies — a move that would dampen, not enhance, competition with the private sector.

Well I think Mr. Thaler is trying to straddle the middle here and that is not what this health care situation needs. It needs to be run by the government which of course is not going to foster competition. Who needs competition in life and death decisions anyhow?

Are we implying that doctors practice their profession for profits. I thought they took an oath to abide by a higher standard than collecting gold bullions.

Look,there are certain areas of life where competition is not needed. or desired and health is one of them. Let Uncle Sam monitor the doctors,nurses,surgeons,drug companies and the malpractice lawyers. It has worked out for many many years in SS and medicare

Socialized medicine will not lead to Communism. After all Medicare and SS legislation lead us to the Nixon,Reagan, Bush,Bush eras which were closer to fascism than to socialism.

Please President Obama do not short circuit your great pursuits before they get off the ground. Stand by the Public Option!

Al Szekley,the Nam vet evicted from a homeless shelter for being homeless, is just the tip of a gigantic iceberg!

Some additional information about Al Szekely first, and then a broader view of the homeless vet problem in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

HERE'S AL.................



Al is an ordained minister and the founder of "Chairs for Christ"-Supplying Medical equipment-(wheelchairs,crutches,braces,& etc.) to those in need.

Here are some quotes from him back in 2006 when he lived on the streets of Bethesda,Md.:

"One thing I do is keep my faith strong with God,"said the graying and bearded man. "The more adversity people face, they're going to gain faith or lose it. My faith is stronger. I can still smile, tell a joke, make someone laugh, make their day better.If you manage what little you got, you can make do"

"There need to be more shelters," he said. "But not of the kind most people think about.Shelters are no more than warehouses. I'm not talking about handouts. Give me an opportunity to go to school. Give me an opportunity for honest work. Homeless people need educational resources, job placement and training and some form of counseling to get you back into society."

Here are some facts and figures about homeless veterans from a wonderful, informative site

http://oldtimer.wordpress.com/homeless-veterans-an-overview-of-the-problem/

750,000 total homeless count in U.S
400,000 veterans are homeless at some time in a year
200,000 veterans homeless in any one night

27% of our male U.S. population are veterans but:
43% of all homeless males are veterans – why?

7688 beds funded by the VA for homeless veterans
192,312 sleeping elsewhere – shelters, grates, creek beds, back alleys. We have Heroes sleeping on sidewalks in every big city.

95% of homeless vets have honorable discharges

If the homeless veterans were properly cared for by our country, the total homeless population would fall by more than 40 percent over night.

Pretty powerful stats. Here are some quotes from those vets and their loved ones:

"They use the “addicted” and “mental” labels to scare the public about homeless veterans. They want the money. Adult veterans do not deserve bunk beds and shared group showers and rotten food bank food. Where does all the money go? Veterans are not allowed to get real job training in the shelters just “how to write your name” classes."

"Obama is now saying he’ll at least make sure the homeless veterans get “some type of transitional housing”; all that mean is more of the same overcrowded human warehouses, forced 12 step religion, more never-ending group therapy, bunk beds, open bay group showers, and when the veterans get so sick of that because the are not allowed to get real career training/education or PRIVACY…blow their heads off or back to the streets. Homeless veterans do not need jail conditions. they want to move on! Any agency that says “We give a hand up not a hand out” means they keep all the money given for the veterans and the veterans get squat!"

"I am so thankful for a website such as your own………I am at the same time very angry at the so called Christians in our present day society.. (I am one of them).I am so tired of hearing this prosperity message while there are homeless eeking out a meager existence under bridges…They are tortured souls, yet humiliated by their own society even further.Perhaps some of our leading evangelists could do away with $650.00 shoes, and Lear jets and put their money where their mouths are…Jesus said “feed the hungry,clothe the naked.” The answer to homelessness is the church.” It is our responsibility to do these things. Can you only imagine if we stopped building these enormous churches which cost millions upon millions to build and operate (cystal Cathedral is a good example), and started to put that money into the poor and homeless of this world, what huge differences we could make…God help us all who run around with the “What would Jesus do?” bumper stickers and let a world go hungry and naked.Explain this prosperity message to me a little more one of you big shot pastors wit a jet and 7 or 800,000 dollar homes……The men who made that a reality for you are homeless….Those veterans who fought for your freedom…..The church alone has the ability to stop homelessness and hunger………We should all pray and seek forgiveness…"

"My father is veteran of the Korean War, and we live in Roanoke, VA. The Salem, VA is the regional office for the State of VA. There are more homeless vets in this small city than in a lot of bigger cities surrounding us. I am looking into private funding to renovate 1 of many old houses here and try to house some of them. They deserve proper care, or better care than what they receive in the system. Proper food (a cook), proper health care (a full-time nurse), and a clean environment, service to assist their living habits daily. Just want to give back what my Dad did for this country. He is 77, retired and enjoying his life; all vets should do the same."


Think back to the beginning of every war that was ever fought and you can recall the marching bands, patriotic songs, flags waving from every house. Think back only a few years when the initial contingent of troops was sent to Iraq.

Zillions of tiny flags waving from car antennas and even more bumper stickers on those same cars shouting "Support Our Troops"

Where are the patriots now when those troops need them most?

“They Arrested a Homeless Man in a Shelter for Being Homeless.”

So you thought that was impossible in Poor and Rich America?

( Second in a series about being poor and/or old in America)

It happened to Al Szekley,a Nam vet who was shot in the spine in Fu Bai in 1972.

I see vets like Al all over the place but especially at patriotic events in downtown assemblages all over America.

They usually sit on curbs right next to the band shell and they are usually fractured from the pot/booze combo. I am a sucker for people who are hurting, but when I see a Nam vet especially one in a wheelchair,I get a lump in my throat.There is a special glow about them almost like a halo.

Al was sitting in his permanent prison on wheels on G St. in D.C. He lives here and sleeps here now. At 62, he is just entering the ranks of the poor and old but he has been poor for decades.Eight months ago he was evicted from a homeless shelter because of an outstanding warrant which he never answered. The warrant was for sleeping on a sidewalk in a Washington suburb.

Follow me closely.

The odds are that if Al slept on a sidewalk in any city in America in his wheelchair they would just let him be. The keyword here is SUBURB.

It just happened that Al ran afoul of the law in Virginia but it could just have well have been in any ritzy suburb, let's say for an example ,Spring Lake, N.J.. They give you a ticket for parking your car in the street overnight in Spring Lake.

Can you imagine what those people in those 5 million dollar houses overlooking the Atlantic Ocean would do with this homeless vet sleeping in his wheelchair in front of one of those stately mansions?

Oh my God. Think of what it would do to their resale values? Oh the shame of it.

But back to Al Szekely. Let's look at the whole story. Obviously,I suspect you well off suburbans are thinking; Al must have a lot more in his background than is being covered by the left wing media.

Not so.

Al is an "ordained minister,who does not drink,do drugs or curse in front of ladies" according to Ms Ehrenreich, NY Times columnist.

So you see the headline to this article is real . I happens every day in Poor and Rich America.


They do arrest homeless men in a shelters for being homeless.

OLD AND POOR IN AMERICA , a series

It's not as easy to be old and poor in America as it used to be.
Poor people die younger than the affluent,and the life expectancy gap is growing.

Nevertheless, the article on the Op-Ed page of Sunday's N.Y. Times might indicate some additional factors will dispose of the aged earlier. Apparently this would make the affluent breathe a lot easier. The article, by Barbara Ehrenreich suggests this might be the case and has an intriguing title:

IS IT NOW A CRIME TO BE POOR?

Of course if they could just make it a crime to be poor maybe they could at least put the old and poor in prison. Out of sight, out of mind. Thus the affluent would not be reminded of the kind of society they have created. Make no mistake,that's what all that hub bub you saw on your TV news was about last evening.

This is not a Right vs Left battle any more.The wealthy are panicking as Obama begins his crusade;The capitalists in his own party are fighting him tooth and nail.

Combining no health care, imprisonment and a few other ideas from Glen BRECK, Rush Oxycontin and Ann Couturier should should complete the dirty deeds.

Here are a few of the current attempts to criminalize being old and poor in America as outlined by Ms Ehrenreich in her brilliant article Sunday:

A new study from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty,finds that the number of ordinances against the publicly poor has been rising since 2006, along with ticketing and arrests for more “neutral” infractions like jaywalking, littering or carrying an open container of alcohol.

Jaywalking?

I jaywalk just about every day but it's because my vision is so poor. I sometimes wander outside of the lines. Seventy eight years without an arrest and now I go to jail for jaywalking.No,they want me in jail because I am poor and old,not because I am almost blind and old.

I will be covering many similar prejudices affecting the old and poor in the next few days and weeks. Why? Because I am old and poor. Who better to write about it?

Tomorrow, "Crackdowns against the indigent," continues.

OP-ED MONDAY

FRANK RICH- IS OBAMA PUNKING US?

Believe me, I do not want to think bad about this President; I worked too hard to try and get him elected.Frank Rich does present a powerful case suggesting I,and millions like me,may have been conned. It's far too early to be sure but it's not too early to be anxious.

A real estate agent in Virginia put it this way:

“Nothing’s changed for the common guy,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been punked.” She cited in particular the billions of dollars in bailouts given to banks that still “act like they’re broke.”

There is no question that the banks are PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1

Billions in billions of handouts from the government, 173 billion to be exact. They handed out 32 of those billions in bonuses to their employees so far this year and have only paid back 50 billion.

What have they done for us with all that money. Well I can tell you what they have done for me, a very old and very poor man living on my monthly SS check and my credit cards. One of those banks, J.P. Morgan Chase cut my credit line in half from 3500.00 to 1750.00 with no advance notice. Why? Who knows. I guess so their officers can sit in those 2500.00 a game boxes in the new Yankee Stadium.

I don't mind Kate Hudson sitting in them as at least we get some eye candy but those smug bank fat cats make me sick. Their ilk will be at the U.S. Tennis Open next month in Forest Hills.

So are the well off really getting burned in this recession/depression? NOT.

Continuing with Rich's brilliant expose of wealthy America.

PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 2- LOBBYISTS

These are the parasites Obama promised to clear out of D.C. NOT.

Most of them are ex-congressmen, both sides of the aisle. Face it we have no two party system,just one giant mob of corporate gluttons. As an example Rich cites Freedom Works an outfit run by ex congressman Dick Armey. Armey has received six million in fees in five years from this influence group.

The old saw about poor countries getting rich by declaring war on the U.S. and then surrendering has been replaced by one even more ironic. Run for congress,serve a few years and screw it up enough to insure your defeat.Then go join one of the corporate firms you pretended to be fighting while you were in office.

Where have you gone Tom Daschle, a nation turns it's lonely eyes to you??? You were supposed to be the guy who could get us a health plan. NOT.

PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 3- PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

Former congressman Billy Tauzin from Louisiana (where in hell would he be from with a first name of Billy?)

Billy boy switched from the Dems to the Gop,then lost.Now he is President of PHRMA,the largest pharmaceutical trade group.Obama used to blast PHRMA for allowing the large drug companies to keep their prices inflated.Now Billy boy is a key figure in the health care plan battle and has succeeded in persuading Obama to keep these very same drug prices inflated. Frank Rich,in this week's column, wants to know what is going on here?

Why do these pharmaceutical firms charge so much? I paid $120.00 last week for 90 Benicar pills for my high blood pressure. I have no inside info but dollars to Dunkin Donuts,those pills cost about a dime each to produce.

What do these drug pirates do with all that profit? They pay mini-skirt wearing bimbos 6 figure salaries to nuzzle up to their MD customers. That's a fact;the NY Times has written several articles about it during the past 5 years.

I had a friend who dated one of these "detailers". She owned 3 condos worth a half a mil each. She didn't know the difference between a tablet and a pill and never read a newspaper in her life. She made Sarah seem like a rocket scientist

They use those profits to pay for lobbyists to sit in the Yankee Stadium box seats.So I am,in effect, paying for those seats.

As a child I used to pay $5.00 for a bleacher seat there during the Great Depression. Now I watch the games on TV and observe what's wrong with a country that treats it's poor this way?

Re the other Op-Ed columnists I would normally write about today, Dowd and Friedman, their pieces on Sunday were not up to their usual quality. They seemed to be looking forward to their vacations and repeated stuff they had already written.

There was another column this week in this same Op-Ed section, written by a truly great journalist,author, Barbara Ehrenreich. The column was earthshaking to me
personally.

Titled.......

IS IT NOW A CRIME TO BE POOR?

It influenced me so much that I am will comment on it in depth tomorrow and may change the direction of this blog beginning this week.

Does Your Computer Creep,Crawl and then Crash? Here is why!

weekend repeat of article originally published here on 7/23/09

It will run fast and smooth for many years but you have to do the routine maintenance recommended in this article!


Your personal computer, be it a laptop or a desktop can last you as long as a Volkswagen if you regularly perform some simple tasks.

My suggestions are based on my own personal experiences. I taught myself how to operate a PC in the earliest days of the Internet. I learned the hard way after repeated freezes and crashes. In those early days there was no google to go to for advice. The only way out of the simplest problem was to reboot. There were no preventive maintenance programs.

1.Do not trust the protection promised by your Internet Providers,Cable or Phone Company DSL providers or any other third party program. The "Lord helps those who protect themselves" is a good motto when you are dealing with millions of hackers who get their jollies from destroying your equipment.

Invest in a good top of the line software package and do not skimp on the price. Most are ineffective and a complete waste.

Besides the anti-virus feature they should also provide anti-spam, network security,anti-phishing,id protection, a two way firewall, anti-tracking devices,Internet worm protection, browser protection,intrusion preventions and web site authentication.

My personal favorite is the Norton Internet Security package. It is simple but incredibly effective. Run the scan feature at least once a week to see where your problems originate and delete the suspect programs. Once you have Norton installed you won't even know what horrible things are going on in the background because Norton cuts 99% of them off before they ever cause a critical problem.

Scan and delete the programs causing them anyway. Eventually they will wear your PC down much as an engine running with 2 year old engine oil in the crankcase of your car.

If your DSL constantly slows down until you would be better off with the old dial-up, be advised it is most likely a virus problem. Your DSL repairmen whether they be from Direct TV,Time-Warner, or Verizon will not tell you this as they understandably have to to justify their jobs.

The answerman tells you right now that almost all slow-down problems ruining your cyber experience are related to hidden infections you know nothing about!

Buy and install the Norton programs or equivalent software packages from reliable manufacturers. The times you are suddenly logged off will virtually disappear.
The Norton pkg costs about $89.00 at Staples, Best Buy etc.

2. Get a good Malaware program like Malwarebytes. Copy and paste this link in your browser window and then click on go:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/.

This program scans your hard drive for worms, bugs,viruses etc which are already on your PC. It identifies them by name, Vondos,Trojan, etc and removes them with a quick reboot and restart.

Dell customer support showed me where to get a free download of this program but you might have to pay for it if you find it on your own.

3. Use the chkdsk feature, monthly. Run it at night while you are sleeping as it can take hours to complete:

Follow these instructions very carefully.

Click Start and then click My Computer.
Right-click the hard disk drive to scan, and click Properties.
In the Local Disk Properties window, click the Tools tab.
Click Check Now.
In the Check Disk Local Disk window, click to select the box next to Automatically fix file system errors.
note

It is advisable to select "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" to physically check the surface of the hard disk. However, this step increases the time it takes to complete the scan. What do you care? You will be snoring away.

Click Start. A prompt may appear to perform the scan the next time the computer restarts. If so, click Yes. The computer restarts and runs Checkdisk and you go to bed.

That's it. Actually its not as difficult as it sounds.If my instructions confuse you, ask the manufacturer of your PC to help you or google check disk.

There is an optional program, DEFRAG which you can also use but I don't think its that important.


Comments and topic suggestions welcomed and appreciated.

The four Villani sisters go to a USO dance to "cheer the boys up"

1943

World War 11 has been going on for two years and the gals back home are getting restless

This week's excerpt from the World War 11 novel, S'mothered.....

Suzie suddenly stirred and asked, “does anyone feel like going to the USO dance? It’s still early enough to dress and make the 8:30 bus.”

Almost in unison, five of the six yelled back, “Let’s go, great idea Suzie.”

Lucy said she had a headache and Dorothy said she wanted to go, but had to ask Jimmy. She called to him across the hall, “Jimmy come over for a minute, have to ask you something Hon.”

Jimmy ambled over and she said “Hon, the girls are going to the USO dance at Camp Kilmer, I thought maybe I would go with them. We need to lift the morale of the soldiers there.”

Her husband looked at her with a devilish grin, grabbed her hand and said “No way Dorothy, get your tail across the hall and lift my morale.” He gently tugged on her arm,and merrily pulled her with him as she and the others laughed. Dorothy really would have enjoyed helping the soldiers by dancing with them, but she never crossed Jimmy when he made a decision. She liked his forceful nature and never apologized to anyone for her preference. Delightedly, she scampered after him.

This left the four sisters to kick up their heels tonight. They seldom went anywhere as a group. There was some slight friction between Suzie and the two younger siblings. They were all in a good mood tonight and, differences aside, they wanted to get out of the house. Lucy volunteered to watch over the children.

Quickly, they changed into almost identical outfits, tight hemmed, above the knee dresses, with padded over sized shoulders.

Susie laughed when she noticed and said, “Gina, put something different on; we can’t all wear the same outfit, we’ll look like we’re a singing group.” She was kidding as fabric had been rationed since the war started, so pleated and flared bottoms were out.

Vera sent a picture of herself dressed in this "home front uniform" to Alan before he was captured, he wrote back and kidded that "she looked like a carrot."

The bus ride took 45 minutes, so they were in the huge hall at the Military base by 9:30. The Bobbie Troup band was playing “In the Mood” as the girls entered.

The floor was packed with dancers and hundreds of soldiers milling around them, hungry for a woman to dance with. It was a woman’s paradise. There were twenty servicemen for every one female. Most of these soldiers hadn’t been near a woman, since they left home. They would dance with anyone they could get their hands on.

Tomorrow they might be on their way to Europe, to relieve the exhausted and wounded soldiers at the Normandy beachheads. A few days later, many of them would be dead._

The girls hurried to the rest room, freshened their lipstick, and returned to the hall where soldiers of all shapes and sizes pounced on them. Whisked onto the floor, they waved to each other, laughing, smiling, and feeling alive for the first time in weeks.

As usual, the oldest G.I. snatched Gina. She looked over at Jenny, frowning, as if to say “what can I do?”

Vera was being pushed around the floor by a chubby guy who was perspiring and looking anywhere but at her. Obviously, he hadn’t danced much and was painfully shy.

Her sisters were trying to smother their laughs with their hands.

Jenny was so thin you could lose her in a crowd like this. She seemed to be enjoying herself with the handsome tall soldier who was holding her, as if she might break. She had an attractive, if not classic face, but even her hair was thin, and it detracted from her wholesomeness. She looked malnourished and yet was always eating. Gina, Vera and Suzie could not figure out why she stayed so thin. Their mom said it was because she was so nervous.

Suzie had been spirited away by a broad shouldered, confident looking guy from Chicago who reminded her a little of her first husband. Within five minutes, he had told her his life story and then gradually drew her closer and closer. By the time, the band played the first slow dance of the night it was obvious he was making a play for her. He had spotted her when she came in the door.

She looked gorgeous; her brunette hair appeared streaked with a rainbow of colors because of the revolving show lights.

This used to happen to her frequently, and she was flattered by the soldier. Her husband, Hank would be home before too much longer. She would be thirty-four by then. Anxiety about her age consumed her. The attention from this stranger made her feel she was still desirable. She smiled to herself, recalling the married guy in the smoking car on her trip to California.

Her over amorous dancing partner was Tom Tilleson. He was from Illinois, twenty-eight, married two years, with one child. She was feeling some tingling in her body as he held her even tighter. She soon stopped worrying about her age.

He used all his charm telling her how pretty she was “Suzie, I have to tell you, we have good-looking dames back in Illinois but none like you. Hon. you are bewitching.”

She liked his description; many times she felt like a witch when she was with men. Without a man for more than two years, Suzie felt herself melting in this soldier’s arms. Looking into his dark blue eyes, she whispered in his ear “you know I’m married, don't you Tom?” Actually, she had told him so an hour ago when he began moving his body seductively closer to her.

He smiled and said “and you know I’m married honey bun. What’s the difference? Your husband and I will both probably be dead before this god damn war is over so who will know then? Let's go outside for a minute and have a smoke.”

She hesitated, wondering what her husband was doing at this very moment, thousands of miles from here. She knew him and his friends visited Manila when they had a weekend pass. Manila was a big, gaudy city with many clubs and varieties of nightlife.

What if Hank was putting moves on some sexy Asian girl in Manilla while Tom, from Chicago, was making moves on her here in Edison, New Jersey.

The two drinks she drank since they arrived were very strong; she felt dizzy. Tom helped support her, while almost pulling her through the door out into the cool dark night. She hoped her sister's didn’t notice her leaving. The crowded room was oppressively stuffy and the hour of continuous dancing combined with her sexual longings left her very vulnerable.

Suzie had fantasized about this scenario for a long, long time, especially on the hot sticky nights when she thrashed around in bed unable to sleep. It was torturous and humiliating, the crowded room she slept in, with her sister’s beds just a few feet away, too uncomfortable and awkward for any kind of relief.

She could have stopped his touching or tried to cool him off with her hands. Now it was too late. What he had said inside about the war had her angry and at the same time confused. This war had gone on forever; millions of men had been killed already. She was getting old and her beauty would soon start to fade.

She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Many years ago, she had vowed never again to let a man see her so sexually needy. She rationalized this thought away quickly; this was a man she would never see again after tonight, why not let herself go?

Outside now, there were too many lights near the building, too much noise, smokers talking and laughing. They walked further and further away from the crowd until they were near a wooded area. It was pitch black. They could hardly see each other.

Placing a cigarette between her lips, he lit it, let her inhale a few times, then tore it from her mouth, and stomped on it with his shoe. Grabbing her roughly, bending her over gently, he kissed her deeply, as passionately as she had ever been kissed in her life. She returned it with desperation and sadness. The world had gone mad and she and this lonely soldier had also lost their minds. Any thoughts of Hank had vanished in the cool dry air.

She tore at his clothes before he could try to undress her and in minutes, they were laying almost naked on the damp, soft earth, intertwined and moaning. She came almost instantly and he soon followed. Two years of frustration flowed out of her, and she wept softly in his arms. They lay together for what must have been 30 minutes or so, nodding off into a relaxed, barely conscious state.

Suzie heard someone calling her name and awoke with a start, momentarily unaware of her surroundings on this moonless night. She recognized the voice as Jenny’s and sprang to her feet.

Kicking at Tom with one foot while attempting to dress herself, she called back to Jenny “Be right there Jen, we went for a walk, it was too stuffy in there.” Tom finally got himself straightened out and the two of them slowly walked toward Jenny’s voice.

Suzie looked a mess and could only imagine what Jenny would be thinking but was grateful it wasn’t Gina who had been sent to find her.

Jenny was almost apologetic, very in character. “Sorry to bother you Sis, the bus is loading, and we couldn’t find you anywhere, we have to run, c’mon let's go, hurry.”

Suzie wanted to give this man, no longer a stranger, a good-bye kiss, but Jenny was dragging her away. She shouted back over her shoulder at him as they ran to catch the bus “thanks for a nice evening soldier, maybe we’ll see you again. We come here every couple of weeks."

He was shipping out to France the following week and thought about asking for her number or address but decided not to embarrass her.

She never saw him again.