Waste of money

Why can't the US Mint learn from its past mistakes?! The Susan B., the Sacagawea, and now this:

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/

The first two failed. The Susan B. because it was too much like the quarter. The Sacagawea failed because no one knew what they were. Both were gobbled up by the coin collectors. This new design is nothing revolutionary. It reminds me of the British Pound coin in its size and coloring.

However, we still have a paper dollar and all the coin machines will have to be updated to take these. These are two major obstacles that have never really been solved. Also what about the cash registers. Where do these new coins go. There are only so many slots and they are all taken. How about we scrap the penny? It is truly not worth making any more. It is worth more as scrap zinc.

I just wish the US Mint would stop wasting money designing new currency they is just going to fail like the other attempts. Besides, the portraits they chose for there new coins are just plain ugly.

It takes a News Anchor...

I watched the Bob Woodruff special the other night. It was very enlightening. At first I thought, "It is sad that it takes a news anchor getting wounded in specific way to shed light on an little know battlefield injury." I felt that there are other injuries that were just as note worthy that were not getting the same coverage simply because no well known person has been injured that way. It turns out that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is very common.

The fact that a person can have TBI without showing external wounds makes it easy for doctors to misdiagnose as PTSD or simlpy miss it completely. Any person near an explosion can suffer from TBI. A helmet does not protect against the shock wave that rattles your brain.

The other part of the story was about how the VA Hospital system is unprepared to treat TBI. This was not a shock to me. The VA has never been good at its mission. There was some mention about the preparedness of the Military hospitals, but I don't remember any direct comment about it being adequate or not.

It was interesting that the Walter Reed Military Hospital scandal story broke soon after this special. I would hope that the Military and Civilian leaders of our country would listen to the media stories and investigate weaknessess in the system.

With more wounded coming home everyday, I can't see how the level of care is going to improve. The VA hospitals have always been a joke. I would say something needs to change. Less wounded would be a good start.