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Larry and Anna Shield stand like precarious dominoes in America's health care system.

At 62, Larry is on disability retirement because he has a neurological disease. A former software engineer and educator, Larry doesn't yet qualify for Medicare because he retired on disability less than two years ago. So he's on Anna's health insurance.

Anna, 55, is an administrative assistant and grant-writer at the Art Museum of Western Virginia. But she has kidney disease. Her health is stable though not robust. If Anna becomes seriously ill and has to stop working, the dominoes start tumbling: She loses her health coverage. And Larry loses his.

The Burnt Chimney couple, who've been married for 30 years and are childless, don't want that scenario to become reality. So later this fall, they're moving.

To Rome.

Italy.

"It's an escape plan," deadpanned Larry, who, despite his illness, retains his dry wit.

Added Anna, "It's just a much more progressive plan over there. I'm not saying it's perfect, but at least you're halfway there. They do respect you as a person."

America's health care system is broken. We often lament the circumstances of the millions of uninsured in this country. But the system can be a frustrating journey for those with coverage.

The Shields' decision sounds like a case study from filmmaker Michael Moore's latest movie, "Sicko," in which he compares the U.S. health system with national systems of other countries. (They haven't seen the movie.)

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"Bruce Smith, real estate developer."

That has a nice ring to it. Particularly in light of the off-the-field conduct of other high-profile athletes, past and present.

While some folks were setting up dogfights or getting mixed up with vigilante justice, Smith, a soon-to-be NFL hall-of-famer, has spent his time learning more than X's and O's.

These days, he's the lead developer of a $50 million project in Blacksburg. We're talking nearly 300 apartments, a hotel and retail space. The cherry on top is that it will be called Smith's Landing.

When you're calling the shots, you can put your name on stuff.

Smith's quiet transition from star athlete to businessman should make fans and non-fans alike proud. I'm not an official member of the Hokie Nation, but one doesn't have to be a Hokie to appreciate Smith's foresight in preparing himself for life after the NFL.

Last year in a column, I expressed concern that too many college athletes don't take advantage of the free education their athleticism affords them. As a result, they don't have a game plan if they don't make it to the professional ranks, or if their career is short-lived.

Smith played 19 seasons in the NFL and is the all-time leader for sacks.

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If Bill Cosby walked up to Virginia Smith today, the Roanoke woman would affably extend her hand.

Three years ago, Smith would have given him a piece of her mind.

She was among blacks who condemned Cosby for calling out the black underclass for its troubling ranks of unwed mothers, absent fathers, disengaged parents, high school dropouts and prison convicts.

Smith, 63, was outraged. The entertainment icon was being "uppity," she thought at the time. She stopped watching him on television afterward.

"He didn't understand," Smith said last week, recalling her reaction. She was in the camp that believed Cosby's wealth and success precluded him from saying what many of us were thinking.

"Now, I've gotten older and see more and more of what he was saying. What he was saying was true," Smith said of the comedian.

As Shakespeare wrote in King Lear, "jesters do oft prove prophets."

In recent weeks, a number of incidents and developments suggest people are getting so fed up that they're willing to publicly confront the crisis Cosby saw on the horizon three years ago -- the same one he was lambasted for voicing.

If we can get outraged enough to trek by the busload to Jena, La., then the dysfunction destroying our communities from within should compel the same outrage -- and the energy to do something about this black implosion.

"Bill was sending that message three years ago," said Ingrid Barber, 37, of Clifton Forge. "Now it's reality."

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Coming Sunday: The inequities of the criminal justice system in America are an issue for black people in this country. But how about summoning the kind of energy and attention that we saw in Jena for some of the problems eating away at our community from within?

Now for another question that carries over from my tour of secondhand stores last weekend: Can someone please explain to me why some folks cut the sizes off clothes they donate?

I've noticed over the years during my routine trek to area Goodwills that some sizes have been snipped off. If you're embarrassed that you wear a certain size, the shoppers buying the buying the dresses don't know who the previous owner was anyway.

Any takers on the burning case of the missing dress size?

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Sincerest thanks to everyone who took time to come to my rescue in naming the blog. I know it was not an easy task, because I couldn't do it myself which is why I asked for your help. However, it was delightful to read the entries not once, not twice but many times. There were many good suggestions, but besides the winner, three others were worthy contenders::

Yours, Mine and Flowers, Connie Akers

The Flower Mill, Eric Earnhart

Civil Discourse, Roger Elkin

A special nod to the several folks who included some reference to "Straight Talk" in their suggestion. I liked that name...until I remembered it is used by community blogger Jeff Artis. Though Jeff has a very strong blog, I figured I shouldn't duplicate the name he uses.

Again I thank everyone for making time in your day to read my no-name newspaper column. and to keep reading it, particularly on those mornings when I make you want to throw your cereal bowl and scream, "WHAT WAS SHE THINKING!?"
Sincerely,

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...Now come on, you didn't REALLY expect me to tell you, did you!? But you'll know this time tomorrow. Thursday's column will announce the name of this blog, as well as the person who will join me for lunch because he or she submitted the winning entry.

I have to be honest: Selecting a name has been so hard. But it's been a "good" hard, if you know what I mean. The choices have inspired me to think seriously about what I want the blog to be. The entries have been plentiful and all over the board: no-nonsense, stoic, thoughtful, zany. I've gone back and forth but finally settled on a choice, thanks to you guys.

I couldn't have done it without you.

On to other stuff:

I'll be honest: I don't care about O.J. Simpson. I haven't cared about him since he dumped his first wife Marguerite for Nicole anyway, circa 1980. (That said, no one deserves to be savagely butchered the way she was.) But if you guys wanna squeeze The Juice here, feel free. That's what it's here for. Remember the rules of decorum on the as-of-now No Name blog: Nothing that a reasonable person would find offensive, vulgar or distasteful.

The police chief in Philadelphia is seeking 10,000 men to patrol their neighborhoods three hours a week to reduce crime. Vigilantes need not apply, the chief said. The volunteers will be trained in conflict resolution. The city has notched 294 murders this year, 85 percent of them young black men. Made me start wondering: Could Roanoke rally a similarly situated posse of committed men to stop the senseless violence and crime, or otherwise mentor a youth?

In a word: Nope.

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Big Creek, W.Va., is 213 snaking, mountain miles from Roanoke. But the inhumanity of a heinous attack against a young woman there makes things like distance and location insignificant.

The case shocks the sensibilities. A 20-year-old woman is held in a ramshackle shed behind a trailer in the middle of nowhere. She's tortured, sexually assaulted, stabbed, scalded with water, forced to eat dog and rat waste and to drink from a toilet.

We wonder how people could be so depraved to inflict such inhumanity upon another person.

"Everything I read about it, it adds insult on top of insult on top of injury," said Judy Casteele, executive director of Project Horizon. The Lexington organization assists victims of domestic and sexual violence.

Though rape was one aspect of the vicious West Virginia attack, I called Casteele because rape is unique among invasive crimes. It is a crime of violence rooted in control and humiliation.

"There's so much shame attached to a sexual assault," said Casteele, who has been a rape counselor for 20 years. "They blame themselves. 'Maybe I could have prevented it.' "

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The horrific attack against a young woman in West Virginia is something the masses can't imagine. Yet, it contained elements that should prompt all of us to think.

Stayed tuned: Later in the week, we'll name the winner of the "Name the blog" conest.

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In column writing, you never really know what you're going to get when you ask readers for some help. Such was the case as I struggled with a name for my blog, then put out the plea to you last Sunday.

But readers, you have responded. And how.

By Friday afternoon, 315 people had visited my blog. By then, 50 readers had posted suggestions for its name. Seven sent them as e-mails, and five obliged when I asked them to post it on the site.

The deadline isn't until midnight tonight, so you can still post your entry at blogs.roanoke.com/shannaflowers/

This week, though, some themes have emerged.

Of course, with a handle like "Flowers," garden names were immediately popular -- "Flower Patch," "Diversity Garden," "Pickin' Bloomin' Flowers," "Shanna in Bloom," "Petals and Pollen," "Potted Flowers," "Flowers and Weeds" and several others

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Thank God it's Friday (and Saturday)!

I confess I only heard the last few minutes of the president's speech Thursday night. I was interviewing some folks about the state of health care in this country. (Another national disaster.) Did he change anybody's mind? By the way, didn't this whole "war on terrorism" start because Osama bin Laden drew first blood on 9/11? How's that search going?

I don't much care whether the prosecutor in the horrific West Virginia case charges the defendants with a "hate crime." We know what they did was rooted in hatred. According to the prosecutor, the attackers face tougher sentences for the myriad of other charges. What I really care about is the prosecutors don't screw this thing up. This young woman deserves justice.Your thoughts?

A weekend post is the appropriate time to thank all the secondhand business owners who have called or e-mailed to invite me to their stores. In a newspaper ad promoting my column, I list one of my hobbies as secondhand store shopping. Some of my furniture and most of my wardrobe comes from secondhand stores, and I've got a pretty nice wardrobe, if I may say so.

I will be making the rounds this weekend, so maybe I'll bump into you. My favorite secondhand find was a pair of Jones New York wool slacks I bought last fall for a quarter. Now that's a steal. Anybody have a similar steal they'd like to share?

Coming Sunday: An update on the blog-naming contest. Keep those names coming. You've got until midnight Sunday.

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