Is a celebrity hound a person seeking to be famous or a person hounding celebrities to grab a share of their status? Both, if the behavior of the likes of Trump and Oz are to be believed. Frankly, I still have not digested that there is a person named Oz whom I had not heard about until a couple of months ago.

Strangely, when he announced his interest in the Pennsylvania Senate job, there was a lot of press and quite a bit negative. But it is all a bit superficial, including a kerfuffle over his father’s will.

I get the impression that cardiothoractic surgery is not overly successful unless the patient is not very sick. But, perhaps I am prejudiced by my experience with the cardiologist who did all sorts of tests, diagnosed AFib (which I already knew I had), an enlarged heart and a leaking valve which required a surgical fix and when I said that was not going to happen, dismissed me with “take the five pills I prescribed and come see me in a year.” So, I took the pills until the prescriptions expired and did not renew. That was three years ago. That’s about how long it took for the scar on my nose from the cancer to become inoffensive.

That is also when I learned that the removal of a skin cancer at my age is elective because it is not expected to be fatal. So, how much surgery is unnecessary and elective? Health care appeals to people who feel ignored.