Many counties and states place the seats of their governments in central and sometimes small towns, designed for relatively fair access for all. Should we change county seats and state capitols as population amasses slightly somewhere else?

For those who are willing to think of our neighbors and how our actions affect them, think about the dying town of Independence in Inyo County and the loss of still more government jobs if the new court project moves to Bishop. Is it worth what amounts to one more deprivation? Will the whole county fare well when one section dies?

Then the question – what exactly happened and did anyone suffer whiplash from the abrupt switch to Bishop from Independence? The state Administrative Office of the Courts granted a $30 million court building based on conditions in Independence. Judge Brian Lamb said it was his decision to move to Bishop. What happened? We will ask.

One more question. Why $30 million? Hey, Inyo will take what it gets, but the state is broke and online figures show that a two-story court building of 60,000 square feet in Bakersfield would cost under $12 million. Huhhhh???? One final question. Why is public life so mysterious?

Is this next item a joke? Seems that Mammoth officials,

reportedly Councilman Skip Harvey and Police Chief Randy Schienle, designed a uniform for Bear Manager Steve Searles. It’s a tan shirt and khaki pants. Wait a minute!! This sounds like a Forest Service or even Fish and Game outfit. Dressed for success, ehhh????

We’ve had lots of questions today. Few answers.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., an imperfect health reform bill passed Congress. Lots of whining and gnashing of teeth. In fact, most health insurance moguls must have dentures by now with all the grinding.

Headline in the Los Angeles Times right before the vote – “24% in state lack health insurance.” The article says nearly 1 in 4 Californians under age 65 had no health insurance last year, according to a new report. California’s uninsured jumped from 6.4 million in 2007 to 8.2 million in 2009. Unemployment has raised those numbers, for one thing.

We hear that more and more uninsured show up at the hospitals in Inyo and Mono. This puts everyone in a bad spot – the suffering patient, the hospital and the suffering patient. Come on politicians, give it a rest. The new law, if signed, will make it impossible for insurance companies to cancel your policies. Denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions for adults will end in 2014. Shame on you, politicians for making us wait four years for what’s right.

Instead of working for your own re-election, fix our health care system!!!! All of you have Cadillac insurance policies. You never worry about care. We’re downright nauseous over how many of you sold out to health insurance lobbyists. We would all love it if the lackadaisical media would ban all of you big mouths for at least a month. Maybe more. Because every time you open your yaps, self-serving falderal flies out.

Here’s our favorite story so far. Headline – “Somali Pirates Attempt Attack on Dutch Warship.” Attempt is the key word. The pirates miscalculated, you might say. Dutch troops were not about to give in to a handful of pirates in their two small skiffs. The Dutch warship NHLMS Tromp fired warning shots, the Somalis came to and said, in effect, “Oh, No. It’s the Dutch. We’re dead pirates.”

News reports say without an effective government on the Somali coast, pirates will run rampant. In fact, without an effective government life for people does not fare well. Same holds true right here as it does for pirateville.