All summer long citizens have been peacefully yet forcefully congregating to petition their Congressional representatives and asking the question, "have you read the bill?" The responses from our representatives have been nothing short of misdirection and double speak. It continues today.

The Baucus bill on health care has been voted out of the committee to be voted on the floor of the Senate. This is after the 'markups' were added. Markups are everyone's little part of what they think the bill should have in it. Mostly paybacks to big contributors and usually meaning that we as a citizenry will lose in the end. The problem is that missing are a couple of major components that were attempted to be added by amendment. These were rejected along party lines save for one democrat that crossed over to vote for the amendment with the rest of the republicans. That democrat was Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. So much for all the bipartisanship our President spoke so glowingly of this last weekend in his public blitz of our 'pravdatic' media.

First was an amendment to post the bill on the Internet 72 hours prior to a floor vote. This morning I saw Senator John Kerry (who according to Limbaugh, served in Vietnam) explain in so many words that we were just too stupid to understand it. That's my interpretation of course but he did say this: “Let’s be honest about it, most people don’t read the legislative language.” He went on to explain just how difficult it was to read these kinds of things. You can decide if he says you are too stupid to understand it or not.

This was sent to me by a friend. I checked it against several hoax and debunking sites and it is a true story. I don't know from where it originates but it teaches those that are willing to learn. The question at the end is the lesson.

"A violinist playing in the Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes:
The musician played.  Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ....
How many other things are we missing?"