I was saddened to read that longtime “60 Minutes” reporter Ed Bradley died today from complications from leukemia. If reporters get any better than Bradley, I haven’t seen ’em. That man was so smooth that just about everyone opened up and spilled their guts to him. Man, I loved watching his stories. I always learned something.

When you compare him to what passes for network news today (cough Katie Couric cough) you really appreciate guys like Bradley. Can you imagine Couric walking around the dangerous streets of Baghdad the way Bradley did Saigon during Vietnam? I didn’t think so.

I went to the pediatrician for my son’s two year checkup the other day. The doctor gave him a great report, which was no surprise. Originally he wasn’t due for any shots, but a new law went into effect requiring a hepatitis shot.

For good measure, the nurse asked about giving him and my daughter an influenza shot. I am a strong skeptic of the effectiveness of flu shots and have voiced these concerns to Kelly. The nurse brushed these concerns aside, repeating that they’re safe. I grudgingly went along. Both kids got a flu shot.

As I was leaving their office, it occured to me that if the pediatric office was really concerned about the spread of the flu, why don’t they clean the waiting room seats and toys after patients come in? While there’s a “sick” and “well” side to the room, the only toy table in the room is right in the middle. I recalled a news story a few years back that elderly patients were better off not coming in for a flu shot, as their chance of infection was greater from a visit to the waiting room than from picking it up from their everyday routines.

The pharmaceutical shill in the waiting room as I left (the second I’d seen that morning) reminded me that the healthcare industry is just that: an industry. Its primary goal is to make a profit, not to make people healthy. It’s a business first. Doctors would rather sell you a flu shot than disinfect their waiting rooms.

Early this year I attended the HIPAA trade show in San Diego’s cavernous convention center. The size of the show dwarfed anything I believe I’ve been to. Floor after floor and booth after booth of vendors selling to healthcare professionals. The amount money in healthcare is staggering. I imagined it was what a military arms show must be like, with huge companies hunting huge contracts. There’s good money to be made in both taking bodies apart and putting them back together.

What a waste of money and resources. Yeah, we’ve got some smart people working on lifesaving solutions, but only with an eye to the bottom line. Sure, foreign kings come to the U.S. for their treatment, but the reason they do is because they are the few who can afford to.

But … what if the focus was different? What if profit wasn’t the goal anymore? What if patients – not their wallets – came first? What if doctors were judged by how healthy their patients are – how many doctor’s visits were avoided – rather than how much money they made? What if everyone had access to top-notch, affordable healthcare? I think you’d see a fundamental shift in thinking.

I’m still marveling at last year’s visit to an Italian emergency-room with Travis. Not that it was a lot of fun hauling a six-month-old into the hospital while on vacation, but how helpful the staff was. How genuinely concerned they seemed with Travis’s health. Our son was not just a number, or a line on a profit-and-loss chart. He was a human who needed help. We walked out with a reassurance of our son’s health as well as a greater appreciation for socialized medicine.

Instead we have bloated, faceless, expensive healthcare in this country, where dollars flow faster than IVs and media breathlessly flogging the latest virus to be feared.

Perhaps one day we’ll get serious about reforming our healthcare in this country. As long as its driven by dollars our best interests won’t be served. What a shame.

Google’s Head Geek Craig Silverstein is speaking at UNC today. If you were one of the lucky people with a ticket to this event, what would you ask him?

In my global warming kick, I was amazed to discover that for each gallon of gasoline my car burns, it produces 20 pounds of carbon dioxide. Thus, my commute produces 280 pounds of CO2 every week. That’s 14,000 pounds a year: over 6 metric tons! Put another way, my car produces its own weight in carbon dioxide every three months!

There’s something to think about the next time you’re stuck in rush hour traffic.

I had some time to myself this morning before my flight to Buffalo, so I opted to visit the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.

Oh. My. God. That was awesome.

I was somewhat familiar with his work, but seeing it in person completely blew me away. I was thrilled to marvel at each tiny brushstroke in his paintings. The level of detail he painted is just phenomenal. His use of light and shadows is masterful. No art book or print could possibly do his art justice: you simply have to see it for yourself to truly appreciate.

I was amused at the sense of humor evident in his work. His Venus De Milo with Drawers had me laughing out loud. A photo shows seated Dali in a deep-sea diver suit with wine glass balanced on his helmet, surrounded by others (including what appears to be Orson Welles) who don’t seem to be in on the joke.

He also had an intense interest in science, even incorporating DNA strands in some of his later works. Dali was also one of the first artists to use holography in his work.

There is no question the man was a genius. If I’m ever in Spain, I would love to visit the egg-topped Dali Theatre in his hometown of Figueres. And if you ever have the occasion to visit the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, do not – I repeat – do not pass up a chance to visit the Dali Museum.

I’m finally getting around to reading Al Gore’s book, An Inconvenient Truth [warning: music]. I had been unsure about man’s effects on global warming, thinking that the earth warms and cools all the time. Then Gore sprung one of his “aha!” graphs on me: a graph showing the direct correlation of global temperatures and carbon dioxide content derived from Antartic ice cores. Every time there was an increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, the temperature spiked as well, this from a core drilling that spans hundreds of thousands of years.

The other “aha” moment was the mentioning that as the atmosphere gets warmer, it can hold more moisture, which means the moisture in the ground will be drawn into the air. This makes for dry, cracked ground and more unarable land, not what a world with a growing population needs.

Say what you want about the guy everyone jokes about having invented the Internets, but Gore’s science is sound. That’s what makes it so scary. It’s not just hype. If we keep burning CO2 the way we are, we are on a collision course with disaster.

Something’s got to change.

From the day I first wore the uniform, I’ve always considered “military justice” to be an oxymoron. Military courts are more often than not kangaroo courts. If that wasn’t bad enough, military defense lawyers have to play both sides. How can the military’s defense lawyers be free to defend anyone if their careers could be jeopardized in the process?

Once such case shows the contradiction. Navy LCDR Charles Swift was recently passed up for promotion, a move that shows someone wants him out the door. Swift’s transgression? Nothing more than getting Bush’s unconstitutional military tribunal plan tossed out by the Supreme Court. Swift’s supervisor praised Swift for doing an excellent job, while calling his being passed over for promotion “quite a coincidence” in coming two weeks after the Supreme Court ruling.

Swift will surely have a successful career in civilian courts, the Navy will lose another fine lawyer, and the idea that a military defense lawyer can serve two masters will once again be turned on its head. Thank goodness for men like Swift, who never forget that the oath they took was to uphold the Constitution of the United States, not to uphold an overreaching, power-hungry president.

Though I never met her or read her words, I was really saddened to hear about the death of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who tried to get the word out about atrocities in Chechnya and corruption of Putin’s government. She sounded like a very brave woman, indeed. The cause of truth and human rights has taken a significant hit with the loss of this crusader. This could be the tipping point where Russians clean up their corrupt and lawless society, but I am pessimistic.

I fear for Russia’s future and, by extension, our own.

I had an interesting limo ride from the hotel to the airport this afternoon. It was the same guy who picked me up from the hotel this morning, only he had his dad in the front seat with him.

We’re driving along and they’re shaking their heads at all the idiot drivers pulling out in front of us. One truck full of kids comes close to hitting us, drawing the ire of the father. “Yeah, go ahead and laugh,” he mutters as they drive by. “Step out of the truck and I’ll show you laughing.”

Oooooookay. I’m raising my eyebrows at this point and trying to occupy myself with the passing scenery. Next thing I know the dad asks him about his sports bets.

“Last month I made fifty-eight hundred, and it was a slow month,” he’s telling his dad.

Damn, I think to myself. Why would a guy who makes six grand a month doing something else also drive a limo? Then I remember how useful running a cash-based business can be.

Talk turns to some schmuck who’s overextended on his betting. The driver and his old man shake their heads at the thought.

“A guy like that deserves to get mushed,” the dad says. Ooooookay Moment Two.

At that point, the driver remembers I’m here and laughs. “So you’re getting a ride to the airport and a little bit of Sopranos, too, huh?”

“Welcome to life in the big city, ” his dad laughs, adding he forgot I was here. With a nervous laugh I tell them I’m just enjoying the ride, all the while wondering what I’ll hear next.

We were soon at the airport. I told him I’d call him for a lift the next time I’m in town, not having had this much entertainment in a while.

Did I leave a big tip? You bet. And if you ever need a ride around Boston, give Gerry a call and tell him I sent ya.