Thoughts regarding the Winter Olympics: The most amazing thing about this is that I actually have any thought about the Winter Olympics. There are not many sports in the Winter Olympics that I enjoy watching. Most of the sports seem to be praciticed by crazy people. Who was the first guy who jumped off a mountain on a ski? Who was the first guy who dug up a winding trench so that he can go down it and called it luge? And who was the first guy who wanted to be the second man in the 2-man luge? There is a guy on the Canadian curling team that is 54 years old! Sorry, but I have no respect for a sport in which a 54 years old man can be world class. Even speed skating which seems like a tough sport doesn't look so impressive now that in-line skaters like Derek Parra and Chad Hedrick can come in and become champions in a short time.

Having made fun of the Winter Olympics, I now would like to compliment about some of the people I saw on television and read about over the 2 weeks. Joey Cheek deserved to be the flag carrier at the closing ceremony. His contribution to the charity Right To Play will be remembered long after these games. Don't forget Johann Olav Kloss the Norwegian speedskater who started the charity and thus is a mentor to Cheek. Speaking of Norweigians, the cross-country ski coach who handed the Canadian skier a pole after her pole broke should be considered for sportsman of the year. His gesture cost his team a medal but he shrugged it off as the right thing to do. I was impressed with Toby Dawson, the mogul skier who won a bronze medal. I was more impressed by his mother who had adopted him from Korea. Parents like her who adopt children and love them like their own are special people.

Three people who need to grow up: Bode Miller, Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis.

One person who surprisingly has grown up: Apollo Anton Ono who still looks cool but is a much better speaker than 4 years ago and showed good sportsmanship and lots of heart after a poor start in this Olympic.

One more person I have to comment on is Lindsey Jacobellis. Jacobellis lost a gold medal when she showboated at the end of her race and fell. This was a rather childish behavior. However, I will give her credit because she is only 20 years old and her action afterward was impressive. Twenty year olds do stupid things (well, even old people like me do stupid things). But she was able to speak in front of the media afterwards and handled herself well. If this happened to me when I was 20 years old, I would have been so distraught I wouldn't have been able to speak to anyone. So if this is the stupidest thing she will do in her life, Jacobellis will have a very good life.

The Medicare Drug Plan is a worthless piece of legislation that will cost the taxpayers billions of dollars that could have been better spent on other areas. The whole framework of the plan was flawed from the beginning. The Republicans, who are usually against entitlements, put their name on this one with the idea that it can also benefit their corporate friends in the insurance and drug industries. The initial price tag was 400 billion which was a staggering sum. The real figure, however, was more than 530 billion. This was known by the administration before the congressional vote but was witheld to the legislators. The plan passed narrowly and may well have been defeated if the truth was known. This seems like fraud to begin with.

This legislation prohibited Medicare from negotiating with the drug companies on prices. Sure the drug companies should make a profit but as taxpayers we should demand our government get the best prices possible. Would you hire someone to do a big job in your house without bidding and negotiating the price? The Medicaid system already have negotiated prices with the drug companies so why should we pay much higher prices for this Medicare plan?

If you are a senior who has Medicare and Medicaid, your medicine used to be paid for by Medicaid so that the government was paying the lowest prices possible. With the new Medicare plan you have been switched to a private plan for your medicine. Not only are the medicines costing the government more because of no negotiation but there is also a middle man, the insurance company, involved. Not only that, in the past your doctor knew what medicines are covered by Medicaid but now since you are assigned to an insurance company for your medications, there is no guarantee that the medicines your are taking are still covered. Each insurance plan has its own formulary. This is very confusing to the doctors and the patients. In many cases the doctor has to switch medicine for you because your medicine is not on the plan's formulary. Whereas the people who have Medicare only have a choice not to enroll in the drug program, the Medicare/Medicaid patients have no such choice.

For seniors not on Medicaid, this plan may not be better than paying a private insurance on your own or paying cash for your medicine. You have to figure out the cost of all of your medications and which plan covers your medicine need the best. This is not easy to do. I am a physician and in trying to figure it out for my parents and in-laws, I got confused. I am not sure this plan is worthwhile for them. So you can imagine what the average senior is facing.

There has been lots of foul-ups and problems in the first couple of months of the plan. California is suing the federal government to recover the costs of covering its seniors who couldn't get medicines due to the confusion. I am sure most of the glitches in the system will be worked out eventually. Nevertheless, I do not think that this plan will ever be worth anywhere the money that is costing the taxpayers.