wither Weather...

I recall the new ice age from the 1970's.  It was a scary thought, the earth cooling and all of us freezing to death.  I remember the Man Made Global Warming, Hockey Stick Graph, showing a dramatic rise in temperature.  I remember thinking that we changed directions from the Ice age.  I figured we went too far.

Then I read an article about Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick and how Stephen went about checking the data and the stonewalls being put up to stop him.  It did not seem very scientific.  

• The Scientific method:
• Ask a Question
• Do Background Research
• Construct a Hypothesis
• Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
• Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
• Communicate Your Results
• Peers duplicate your work

No place for hiding your data or attacking scientists who draw different conclusions or gather a consensus...

Global warming got re-branded as Climate Change.  This muddied the waters.  After all, who can deny that the Climate changes over time?  So you had to press for definition of terms.  If they had held onto the Man Made portion, you would not have too.  

There was a big political side to this which made things worse.  Vilification of those who did not swallow that we are killing the planet started happening.  Some took up the challenge and made some headway.

I remember the Kyoto treaty and how it was just a big payday to a bunch of governments.  The analysis was that even if we did everything Kyoto wanted, it would not stop Global Warming.  It would siphon lots of cash though...  Which seemed to be a pattern.

One of the larger points being made against Global Climate Warming Change, was that the world stopped warming up in 1998.  This caused lots of carefully worded defense of us destroying the planet.

We were treated to news releases telling us that hurricanes were the result of Global Warming.  Then the lack of hurricanes was due to global warming.  Hot summers were due to Global Warming.  Cold Summers were due to Global Warming. Warm winters  were due to Global Warming. Cold winters  were due to Global Warming.  Lower tides  were due to Global Warming.  Higher tides were due to Global Warming.

At the same time we saw ridicule being heaped upon those who suggested that Cooler summers and Cooler winters were proof that Man Made Climate Change was a farce.  I personally wondered how a system that is millions of years old and ever so complex can be modeled without heavy guessing.


1979 through 2012, ranked from warmest to coolest:
1. 1998 0.419
2. 2010 0.394
3. 2005 0.260
4. 2002 0.218
5. 2009 0.218
6. 2007 0.202
7. 2003 0.187
8. 2006 0.186
9. 2012 0.161
10. 2011 0.130
11. 2004 0.108
12. 2001 0.107
13. 1991 0.020
14. 1987 0.013
15. 1995 0.013
16. 1988 0.012
17. 1980 -0.008
18. 2008 -0.009
19. 1990 -0.022
20. 1981 -0.045
21. 1997 -0.049
22. 1999 -0.056
23. 1983 -0.061
24. 2000 -0.061
25. 1996 -0.076
26. 1994 -0.108
27. 1979 -0.170
28. 1989 -0.207
29. 1986 -0.244
30. 1993 -0.245
31. 1982 -0.250
32. 1992 -0.289
33. 1985 -0.309
34. 1984 -0.353

Weird eh?  Maybe we should re-brand to Extreme Weather?  And so they did...
Now you had a moniker that you could throw out there with little disagreement.

So back in 2006 Al Gore, who gave up public service to be the Global Warming whore.  "An Inconvenient Truth," was his  movie documenting his efforts to raise alarm on the effects of global warming.
At the Sundance festival he's palling around with  Larry David who says, "You know, Al is a funny guy, but he's also a very serious guy who believes humans may have only 10 years left to save the planet from turning into a total frying pan."  A little over three years left... Which goes back to Ted Dansen's dire dilemma back in 1998. Which again should have heaped ridicule upon him.

Al has cashed in big time, and whenever he needed a paycheck he just appears in the limelight again.  He even got together a bunch of suckers for a TV network, that no one watched.

Recently he sold it to an anti-american antisemitic organization, because it fit better with the stations sensibilities then Glen Becks pocket book..

Is man warming the planet?  Possibly, but there are far more likely culprits.  Should we slow or stop pollutants and find better ways?  Sure.

The next big cause for the left?

The argument is that because someone is born a certain way, we need to create\extend civil rights to those folks.

So that brings us to today's topic.

The article isn't calling for laws to allow pedophiles to act on their impulses.  This is about reclassifying pedophilia so that pedophiles are not stigmatized.  This is the first step.  De-stigmatize the “orientation”.  When it becomes an “orientation” like every other “orientation”, then you confer “civil rights” on it.  Then you punish the Catholic Church for being against it.

This is disgusting, but it is something to watch out for.  The next frontier for the homosexualists will be the legal age limit.  Mark my words.

Won’t it be ironic when the last institution on Earth to oppose pedophilia is the Catholic Church?

Language Shuffling

Blame it on Tarantino.  I was treated to Django Unchained by my daughter.  Great film, lots of fun. Even though it is set prior to the Civil war, the use of the "n-word" has been touted in the media.  It seems to be a fishing expedition to get a reaction.  There is something to be said for being polite, an art lost on the internet it seems.  One of the most offensive innovations by us humans is political correctness, conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities.

This has become a strong-arm tactic used to shift the focus from points made to attacking the point-makers.
Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.~(Dumbledore via J.K. Rowling)

Cliff diving.

You have to wonder why people are for larger government.  Look at this fiscal debate going on.  To start with, the numbers being flung around the media have little or no context. Plain English is just something that politicians never indulge.  The media used to break this down.  Some still do, in all honesty.

The nightmarish fiscal cliff has been driven over.  There was NOTHING signed into law by the executive branch.  There is just an understanding of a framework.  Seriously, look for the nuts and bolts for what cuts will take place, and when...

It is such a game when you make up your accounting rules as you go along.  There is something called Generally accepted accounting practices.  Our Government should abide by them.  Also, the use of words should be the same as well.

Do you realize that "Spending Cut" does not mean spending less on a project?

Do you realize that "Fair Share" means he top 50% of wage earners pay 97% of all income taxes? Take into consideration that the TOP 1% pay 39% of all income taxes?

I would tell the house to reduce spending levels to where they were with Clinton (last time we had a surplus, according to government accounting).

Of course Lindsey Lohan might be need more of our attention...

Victimming

I have had a rough patch-o-life as of late.  As much as I am an adult and take responsibility for my actions.  I am finding that sometimes, circumstance makes us victims.

So when do you play that victim card?  Is it really legitimate?  Does reality and perceived reality actually boil into truth at some point?  Who can own truth for any given event?

I am reminded of the Blind Men and the Elephant: How each was correct but none fully.

Again with the insane

Lets all have a serious talk about gun control...

Sure... why not... oh, by serious talk you mean inane rants for banning all weapons, while demonizing anyone who's opinion differs?  Okay, let the sound bites begin!

Keep this in mind as you read the ravings.  Banning the misnamed "assault weapons" will not make people safer.  The US is not a dangerous place because we have millions of guns.  Gun control has not stopped gun massacres from occurring in other countries. Oh and banning something like high capacity magazines will not keep them out of the criminals hands.

It seems the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have a good guy with a gun.

Second Amendment Hypothetical.

Assumption: You are a teacher in charge of a classroom.  Someone with criminal intentions comes onto campus with firearms.

Per protocol you lock the door, move the kids away from open windows, making the room appear empty.  You have the kids low and quiet.  Somehow the perpetrator is able to open the door and come into the room.  You and your charges are now under dire threat.

Assumption 2:  You have a firearm and training in the same situation.

I believe assumption 2 would offer better protection for the kids under your care.

Knee meet Jerk...

Something horrible happens.  Before we can collectively breathe someone politicizes the event.  Others go defensive on the thrust of the agenda, others council now is not the time. Rhetoric ensues. Hubris meets ad hominem.  Still, few good policies come from rapid responses to deeply felt injuries.

Seems to me the question is "Why did this happen?" It is a good question, it is also one without answer.  How can we stop unforeseen heinous crimes from happening?  Is another good question, which follows the fallacy of protecting everyone from everything.  What cost liberty?

Some Bullet points to illustrate fallacious statements following the heinous murders in CT:

• Too many guns in the USA.
• The way the news media reports these stories glorify the event\murderer.
• We need to lock up mental patients.
• Hollywood glorifies violence.
• Not enough God in our schools.
• America is too violent.
• If only teachers were armed.

None of the above offer more then a straw man.

UPDATE:
Just read this.


The news out of Connecticut yesterday was terrible.
And even that sentence seems trite, cliched, nothing even close to capturing what happened and how I feel and my God, how wretched it is to think of those poor little kids, about the same age as my Sienna, dying in fear and confusion and far from their parents. And their parents…honestly, my mind keeps blocking me there, as if it won’t let me travel down that path of what they must be thinking and feeling, wandering around their houses, picking up a discarded sock from their dead child, a shoe, a toy, a stuffed animal, a shirt…anything tangible to hold onto now that they can’t hold their children. And maybe for a second they manage to get ahold of themselves, take a deep breath, and then they turn around and see a present under the tree, picked out carefully and wrapped early, that precious little hands will never unwrap. God. God. Honestly, what can I say but that? God. Where were you, where are you, and why, why, why?

I don’t know the answer. I never will. There are lots of sections in the catechism that talk about the question of evil, books written on it, even blog posts about it, but all those are cold comfort next to kindergartners  shot dead in their classrooms. On the tragedy itself, I have nothing to say. My thoughts and fervent prayers go out to the victims and their families.

On the response to the tragedy by people who call themselves Catholic, I have a whole hell of a lot to say. I’m so angry about certain things that keep popping up on Facebook that I want to scream. But I’m trying to keep in mind that we’re all doing this, a whole country of people enraged by the killing of children and lashing out at who’s nearest because we can’t last out at the nameless, shapeless evil that motivates these hideous acts. People furious about gun control or the lack thereof, about those who don’t home school or those who say it would have saved these kids, about access to mental health services and oversight for afflicted individuals…it goes on and on. There’s no one left to punish for the crime, so we pummel each other in frustration. I get it.

Yet still, there are some responses to this tragedy that are truly wrong. Not just misguided, but wrong. I came across one on Facebook last night and have been stewing about it ever since. I deliberated for a while about writing this post before deciding that it needs to be said. There are good people on facebook who will share these links, like these links, and pass them on, not because they’re malicious but because they’re not thinking. At a time like this, you need to think about what is being said and all the implications it bears.


This is the meme that showed up in my news-feed  I shared it to point out how awful it was, and the Anchoress responded with, “This is why people hate Christians and misunderstand Christ.”
I could not agree more. This sentiment is being expressed in a million different ways all over the internet and airwaves today, and every person saying it, liking it, and sharing it needs to stop. Right now. It is one of the most reprehensible things I have ever seen Christians do.

Leaving aside the outrageous fact that someone made a Star Trek Facebook meme about the slaughter of kindergartners  it’s reprehensible because this is smugness in the face of the death of children. It’s saying, “this is exactly what you get when you take God out of schools.” I wouldn't be surprised if someone added, “ ha-ha, you deserve it, atheists”, because that is exactly what is meant by this meme.

I can’t believe I have to say this, but this is not how Christians should behave. Reveling in the death of children because it proves that you were right all along about a law to ban prayer in schools? No wonder people hate us. If this is our attitude, they should.

This isn't how God works. People make laws about religion all the time. You can pray here, you can’t pray here, you can only pray to this God or that one, you can only pray at this time or that…it goes on and on. No laws can stop God from being present with us. No laws can stop God from anything. God was there, in that school, with those beautiful little children. I don’t know why he didn't stop it. There’s a lot about free will and evil I will never understand. But God wasn't sitting outside the school like some spurned teenager, sullenly saying, “I could have stopped this if you hadn't kicked me out.” Are you kidding? That’s not God, who made us, and then loved us so much that he let his only son die for our salvation. That’s not Christ, who allowed himself to be beaten, humiliated, tortured and slaughtered by us, for us. That is not Christianity. That is not what we believe. So stop sharing it, and stop saying it.

For the innocents slaughtered in Connecticut yesterday, eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Update II:  Jezebel courts the issue a similar way.

Although her premise is flawed.  The person to be mad at and blame is the shooter.

You may want to re-examine your health care.

Source

There is a democratic revolt in process over the bill the same people voted for.

The 2.3 percent tax bite is misleading, because it is a tax on gross sales. An industry spokesman with Indiana-based Cook Medical estimated that the impact on a company’s actual earnings would be closer to 15 percent.

It is interesting to note that Senators like Al Franken (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), John Kerry (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and others -- all of whom voted in favor of the law -- are aiming to delay or outright repeal parts of ObamaCare.

Interesting to note about the Independent Payment Advisory Panel (IPAB), the board of unelected officials that will determine which medical treatments and procedures are too costly for some patients, is supposed to impose cost controls on federal medical spending.  Wouldn't this be the denied death panel?

Give me all your thoughts on Hell...

Source



Here is a perfectly orthodox explanation of the Church’s doctrine of hell by Fr. Robert Barron.Compared with the whole “Hell want out with Vatican II” or “Sophisticated Christians now understand that hell was a medieval fear tactic” or sundry other attempt to say “Ain’t no such thang” what sticks out for me is simply that Fr. Barron affirms both the reality and eternity of hell. The only thing he doesn’t do–and with good reason in my view, is offer an opinion on how many–or if any–will go there.
And because of this, there is, I gather a Controversy.

I’ve never understood this.

There is, to be sure, a very dangerous presumption of Universalism among a lot of Catholics. The average Catholic tends to talk as though it’s automatic heaven for everybody except maybe Hitler or a pedophile priest somewhere. Partly that springs from a psychological habit of not presuming to judge others. Partly it springs from a conviction that, at the end of the day, most people are pretty good and the whole “need of salvation” thing is good for religious types and specially devoted folk, but as long as we keep our noses clean and pay our taxes, we’re pretty much a shoo-in. That mentality needs killin’ bad since the testimony of the Tradition is that the crucifixion not only is the payment for our sin, but a demonstration of what our species, apart from grace, really does. What is homo sapiens? Homo sapiens is the species that does *that* to God when he gets his hands on him. We really are quite vile apart from grace. And that means you, bub. You’re not a nice person. Neither am I. Without the fifty bazillion helps and supports of grace, you would be a disgusting thing indeed. And even with those helps and supports, God has his hands full keeping you out of trouble. You and I are, in the most cosmic sense of the word, jerks. So heaven is not a shoo-in and you need to get off your fat butt and cooperate with grace because you could still lose this battle of life, close your heart forever and wind up losing everything you ever desired most deeply.

That’s the warning of hell. The problem is, there is another sort of person: the one who is pretty sure he knows that there are lots of people in hell and (just between you and me) who quite a number of them are. The problem is simply this: we know no such thing. We don’t know the end of the story. So we are allowed neither presumption nor despair. We are only allowed hope. Fr. Barron seems to me to strike just that balance. He does not preach universalism. His whole point is that hell is a real possibility and he clearly warns of it. What he does not do is indulge the speculation about who or how many go there. That’s God’s job.

The Artificial marketplace.

Source:

Alternative energy is well worth pursuing.  I could even argue that our government should invest in the research and development of better energy sources.  Driving the price of electricity down or being able to live off the grid with all the accouterments would be awesome.

Recently a friend of mine took advantage of a government program and purchased some panels and an electric car.  With the life expectancy and low cost of said vehicles he should come out ahead in the long run.  Meantime his electrical bill is a nice bragging point.  You could also throw in the protecting the environment.

Still you hear the wails and lamenting of Nuclear, Fracking, coal and fossil fuels.  Personally, I feel we should be investing into all the above sources to drive the costs down.  At a certain cost point a tax should be placed on usage that exclusively goes towards solar, wind, geothermal, fusion, tidal etc.


In Germany, feed-in tariffs of eight times the market rate resulted in the installation of over one million roof-top solar systems by 2010. But the 20-year guarantee also produced a subsidy obligation of over $140 billion. German electricity rates climbed to the second highest in the world and continue to climb to pay for green energy. To stop the bleeding, Germany cut feed-in subsidies three times in 2011 and announced a complete phase-out by 2017. Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other nations cut subsidies for wind, solar, and biofuels during the last three years.

It all might be a pipe dream, still worth pursuing IMHO.

More Foreshadowing of Obamacare?

Labour MP tells of inhumane treatment and says she fears normalisation of cruelty now rife among NHS nurses.


If a Labor MP can't get better treatment for her husband, the average Briton is completely out of luck.

Interestingly enough, this has not made any US papers that I could find.


Ann Clwyd has said her biggest regret is that she didn't "stand in the hospital corridor and scream" in protest at the "almost callous lack of care" with which nurses treated her husband as he lay dying in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

Clwyd, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley since 1984 and Tony Blair's former human rights envoy to Iraq, told the Guardian she fears a "normalisation of cruelty" is now rife among NHS nurses. She said she had chosen to speak out because this had become "commonplace".

Describing how her 6'2'' husband lay crushed "like a battery hen" against the bars of his hospital bed with an oxygen mask so small it cut into his face and pumped cold air into his infected eye, Clwyd said nurses treated the dying man with "coldness, resentment, indifference and even contempt".

Owen Roberts died on Tuesday, 23rd October from hospital-acquired pneumonia. The former television director and producer had multiple sclerosis for 30 years and had been in a wheelchair for the previous two years. He had been in the flagship hospital for ten days.

"I have had nightmares about what happened," said Clwyd, speaking to the Guardian after initially making the claims on BBC Radio 4's World at One.

Clwyd said that on the Friday before Roberts died, she asked if he could have a bigger oxygen mask. "I was just ignored," she said. "I had to put my own Lypsyl on his lips because they became so chapped …by the cold air the mask pumped out and there were no nurses around. It was us, not the nurses, who put a pillow between him and the bars of the bed because the bed was too small and he was jammed so tightly against the bars.

"It was us again who covered him with a towel because he was cold and we couldn't get more than two thin blankets to cover him with. And it was us who put socks on his feet because they hung over the end of the too-short bed .

"I can't believe anybody calling themselves a nurse could fail to give someone who is very ill that kind of attention but it was completely missing," Clwyd added. Nobody should have to die in conditions like I saw my husband die in. I have tried in the past to get Bills through parliament on the welfare of battery hens. My husband died like a battery hen."

Clwyd, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group, was on the Royal Commission on the NHS and served on the Welsh hospital board. But she said that regardless of her experience and knowledge, she found it impossible to make her voice heard.

"It's uncomfortable speaking out and I don't like it but if I couldn't get anyone to listen to me, how do other people manage it?" she asked. "I want people to know that they can't leave things to the professionals in the NHS. You have to keep asking questions.

Clwyd said she "will always regret that I did not ask more questions" but that whenever she tried, she was ignored or brushed off.

"I was in on the day before he died from 2.30pm to 10.30pm, and I saw one, single ward round," she said. "When I did manage to stop a nurse in the corridor – they were usually too busy to stop – I asked why he wasn't in intensive care." She added, a nurse "told me 'there are lots of people worse than him' and walked off. A few hours later, I asked another nurse if a doctor had been to see him. She said a doctor had been – but not to see Owen because they knew what to do.

"From what I saw, that consisted of doing nothing," she added.

Clwyd described how Roberts' suffered bitterly from the cold air of a fan kept on for a patient in a neighbouring bed. His ward was full while a second ward across the hall was empty, she said, but nurses refused to move him on the day he died because, they said, the empty ward "was being kept until tomorrow".

"At eight o'clock that morning, just before he died, all the lights in the four-bed ward went on and somebody shouted 'Anybody for breakfast?'. It was obviously totally inappropriate when they knew somebody was dying in that ward," she said. "I really do feel he died of cold and he died from people who didn't care."

Clwyd said she met with a consultant two days after her husband's funeral. "We spent one and a quarter hours talking but he eventually said it was a nursing matter."

The MP is now collecting evidence from friends who visited Roberts in hospital to send to the hospital authorities, "My husband had been very courageous over the years and should have been able to die with dignity. But he wasn't," she said.

In a statement to the programme, the hospital's executive director of nursing, Ruth Walker, said they had offered to meet Ms Clwyd so that a formal investigation into what happened could be launched.

"We recognise how distressing it is when family members have cause to raise significant concerns about the quality of care their loved one received whilst also coping with bereavement. We take such matters extremely seriously," she said.

"We will not tolerate poor care which is why it is so important that each incident is fully investigated so that we can drive up standards and provide patients and their families with the quality of care they need and deserve."

The political side of Unemployment.

In September we were told the economy added 148,000 jobs.  In October the unemployment rate was going below 8%. It just seemed wrong at the time.  Well actually it waw wrong...

The numbers were off in September by approx 49,000 jobs, October by 33,000. This came out just before the election...  I'm sure it was just an error, nothing more...

When the Labor Department says, that Hurricane Sandy had no significant effect on unemployment, Which I recall those in the media said there would be a huge uptick...

Also we are being told that 146,000 new jobs created in November.  More then 33% by retail for the holidays (read: Temporary jobs).  So, why is it not seasonally adjusted, instead of just a raw number?


Fact is the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% because, 540,000 Americans have dropped out of the labor market. Taking that into account for every one person hired 1.7 people gave up looking for work or went past the 99 weeks. Yet With this news Obama is saying how much of a comback we are having...

Lets add the fact that Government hiring swelled in October and in November, adding 544,000 people to their payrolls. 73% of the new civilian jobs created in the US over the last five months are in government. Which means more money taken out of the private sector and transferred to the public sector.

Sources:

The Obama Curve, US Economy adds 146K jobs, Jobless rate edges down, Welfare spending $168 per day, Fed exit plan, 73% of jobs created last five months.,

Whence Ideal?

I have never understood those who are so adamant against the preternatural world.  There are so many interesting, amazing and fantastic occurrences in our daily lives across the universe.  Even those are only a microcosm of possibilities.

As of late the philosophical layer of being has been at the forefront of my mind.  Given that living means choices and the consequences of the same.  Take "a situation" for example.

There is an ideal situation, a concept of something in its perfection. I personally  believe that moments of perfection exist, if rare. This ideal can be stripped down to a negative.  My quandary is where this occurs.  when does the axis drop below zero?

An example of an ideal situation I have used previously: In successfully raising a child the best situation is under the care of the two genetic parents in a loving committed relationship.  I have seen this ideal situation in action among  many of my friends and family.

So how do we strip this down to a negative? I would propose when Loving is removed. Love being the easiest argument to make for the preternatural world.  Aside from the senses releasing various chemicals in the brain, there are forces here beyond our understanding.

So a child can be successfully raised by non-genetic parents, single parents or even an institution.  I would argue that the institution would be have the least likelihood of success.

Foreshadowing of Obamacare?

Source:

One doctor, acting as a whistle blower, admitted to starving and dehydrating ten babies to death in the neonatal unit of one hospital in a leading medical journal. The doctor describes it as a 10-day process, during which the baby becomes “smaller an shrunken.”

Roughly 130,000 elderly and terminally ill patients reportedly die on the Liverpool Care Pathway, or “death pathways.” LCP is now being independently investigated at the orders of ministers in England.

The whole Death panel thing that gets bandied about becomes clear when you think things through.  Even today there are insurance companies denial of coverage due to costs.  The big difference is you are not totally out of options.  Yes, it can be grim choices, even a leap of faith that someone will open their harts and wallets, still it is an option.

When you put the our health into the hands of Government you loose freedom, and rightfully so.

Raise taxes to lower revenue.

Raise taxes!  That will end our budget problems!  Wait... Only raise it on the rich, cuz they have so much money!  That will end our budget problems!

Oh really? 


In the 2009-10 tax year, more than 16,000 people declared an annual income of more than £1 million to HM Revenue and Customs. This number fell to just 6,000 after Gordon Brown introduced the new 50p top rate of income tax shortly before the last general election. The figures have been seized upon by the Conservatives to claim that increasing the highest rate of tax actually led to a loss in revenues for the Government.

It is believed that rich Britons moved abroad or took steps to avoid paying the new levy by reducing their taxable incomes. George Osborne, the Chancellor, announced in the Budget earlier this year that the 50p top rate will be reduced to 45p from next April. Since the announcement, the number of people declaring annual incomes of more than £1 million has risen to 10,000. However, the number of million-pound earners is still far below the level recorded even at the height of the recession and financial crisis.

Far from raising funds, it actually cost the UK £7 billion in lost tax revenue.


This might sound like a quaint idea, but cut government spending across the board (do not JUST reduce the growth of spending and call it a cut).

The invention of the teenager was a mistake. Once you identify a period of life in which people get to stay out late but don't have to pay taxes -- naturally, no one wants to live any other way.
-- Judith Martin

Fallout over Obamacare

SOURCE

 In addition to Olive Garden, Applebee's, Red Lobster, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, Burger King, McDonald's Longhorn Steakhouse, and the evil Papa John's ... Liberal 'Boycotters' (a.k.a. "Occupiers) need to be prepared to also 'boycott' these companies who are laying off THOUSANDS of people due to Obamacare and the Obama economy. 

Google, Martha Stewart Living, Pepsi, PayPal, Groupon, Best Buy, Cisco Systems, Kraft Foods, Lockheed Martin, Sears, Lexmark, Yahoo!, Dupont, Boeing, Bristol-Myers, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, NBCUniversal, American Airlines, United Continental Holdings, JC Penney, Wausau Paper, Procter & Gamble, Texas Instruments, Panasonic, Xerox, Citigroup, Atlantic City Casinos, Majestic Star Casino, RIM (Blackberry), Vestas Wind Systems, UtahAmerican Energy, Turkey Point Nuclear Plant FL, United Technologies, Gamesa Energy, Stryker Corp, First Solar, Solel Solar Systems, New Energy Corp, Supervalu (Albertson's), American Coal, Gamestop, Patriot Coal, Archer-Daniels-Midland, SAS, CIGNA, 169 Shaws Supermarkets, Judson University, ATI Career Training Centers ... and probably Microsoft.

And Los Angeles, California ... Niagara Falls, New York ...

But boycotting these companies may be tough if you get sick or injured ...

Nebraska Medical Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Aveo Oncology, Kaiser Permanente, St Jude Medical, Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, St Lukes Cornwall Hospital, Emanuel Medical Center, GE Healthcare, WPS Health Insurance, Lower Bucks Hospital, United Blood Services Gulf Region, NY Center for Hospice/Palliative Care, CVPH Medical Center, Ameridose, Crouse Hospital Syracuse NY, San Diego Hospice, Glens Falls Hospital NY, Wake Forest Baptist Medical NC, Southwest Vermont Health Care, St Mary's of Michigan Hospital, Orlando Health (hospitals), Carney Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Englewood Hospital, LSU's 7 Hospitals, Westchester Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, UMass Memorial Medical Center, NCH Healthcare System, PeaceHealth, Northwest Community Healthcare, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, E.J. Noble Hospital, HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, St. Joseph Hospital, St. Josepth Hospital East, Community Memorial Health System, Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, Marian Regional Medical Center, Inland Hospital, Lawrence General Hospital, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center, St Vincent Health System (hospital), Mercy Health Partners' Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Jordan Hospital, Brattleboro Retreat (psychiatric hospital), CVPH Medical Center Pittsburg, Western Maryland Regional Medical Center (hospital),

Unfortunately, you will not be able to boycott Hostess, .. or the closings of 10 Boston area Upper Crust Pizzas, or the 200 Gamestop outlets that are closing.

... and this is just the beginning. FORWARD! 

Because the Hungry need to be put on a diet...

Source


Thinking of giving food to the homeless? In New York City, that food had better comply with new nutrition standards issued by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Health Department.

The new rules require that meals and snacks served to the needy be prepared in compliance with precise nutrition standards laid out by government bureaucrats. Consequently, shelters are unable to accept food donations that are not prepackaged, because it is nigh impossible to know the nutritional content of such foods.

Welcome to the Nanny State mindset, i.e., only government can properly provide for the needy. To me that is far more damaging to the health of the nation than a free bagel or candy bar now and then.

Obama care and You...

Source:

Obama won, Obamacare is the law, and, as my wife says, I will just have to learn to dance to a new song.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Obamacare is awful. Forget all the “free stuff” it provides. Children covered on their parents’ plan until 26 years of age? A scam, making young adults — excuse me, children — pay for complete, comprehensive health insurance when all they need and should pay for is major catastrophe insurance. Then there is the “annual ” or “preventative” exam, which according to Obamacare is “free.”

You gotta love this stuff. I wish I had the chutzpah of the people who wrote Obamacare. What they did not tell you, and I am, is that it covers absolutely nothing more than the bare minimum.

I have now posted a notice in my office and each exam room stating exactly what Obamacare will cover for those yearly visits. Remember Obama promised this as a free exam — no co-pay, no deductible, no charge. That’s fine and dandy if you are healthy and have no complaints. However, we are obligated by law to code specifically for the reason of the visit. An annual exam is one specific code; you can not mix this with another code, say, for rectal bleeding. This annual visit covers the exam and “discussion about the status of previously diagnosed stable conditions.” That’s the exact wording under that code — insurance will not cover any new ailment under that code.

If you are here for that annual exam, you will not be covered if you want to discuss any new ailment or unstable condition. I cannot bait and switch to another code — that’s illegal. We, the physicians, are audited all the time and can lose our license for insurance fraud.

You, the patient, will then have to make a decision.

Do you want your “free” yearly exam, or do you want to pay for a visit which is coded for a particular, new problem? You can have my “free” exam if you only discuss what Obamacare wants me to discuss.

This happened to me personally, as a patient, when I went for my physical. It is the law. If you are complaining of a new problem, then you have to reschedule, since Obamacare is very clear as to what is covered and what is not. Obamacare — intentionally — makes it as difficult to be seen and taken care of as possible.

Patients can be very tricky. I have had patients make an “annual” exam, only to want to discuss and be treated for another ailment. I can’t do it.

I can hear the complaints from you guys already — I become the bad guy. “Why don’t you just take care of the problem, and not bill out any different code? You’re a rich doctor, and we are entitled to free stuff.”

It doesn’t work that way. First, doctors are not rich and, like most of you, actually work terribly hard for a living. Second, Obamacare is the law — and as I said earlier, we are audited all the time now.

Also — I don’t ask for free gas when I go to the gas station, or ask for free food from the supermarket. Additionally, Obamacare has a 23% cut in Medicare reimbursement to doctors and hospitals.

These lower payments won’t cover the cost of staying in practice to take care of the patient.

Private doctors are becoming a thing of the past. By 2014, less than 25% of physicians will be in private medicine. Obama was right in stating you can keep your doctor if you want to — the problem is he or she will rarely be available.

On top of all of that, doctors will be obligated — that’s right, obligated — to talk to you about things you may have no interest or need to talk about.

You may just want to have a pap smear or check your cholesterol. However, I am now mandated by the government to talk to you about your weight, exercise, family life, smoking, sexual abuse(!), and even to ask if you wear seat belts. And I am mandated to record your answers.

I am a physician. But I need to tell you to wear a seat belt and then record your answer.

I have received interesting responses from my patients since I put up the notice. Almost all are supportive and totally understand. The very few who complain? The same patients who always ask for free samples, who always complain that we do not validate parking. These are also the same patients who call my office and ask for free samples even when they are not even being seen.

Obamacare and its 2,000-plus pages are here to stay. I will still give my patients 100% of my time, energy, and knowledge. I still love being a doctor — my patients’ doctor. I will, however, abide by the law and follow it to the letter. I will have to learn this new dance. “Free” has its price.

Small Project

My house is an older one, 1950's.  So the wiring was designed for a radio and a couple of lights.  Not the massive amount of gadgets you can plug in nowadays.  We also had a scary wall heater.

It was wall mounted with 220 volt oven style heating element, with large mesh that a finger could access.  The mesh would heat up to the point of burning flesh.  As such we disabled them early on.

During the winter our non-central heated house gets rather chili.  Connor has been complaining about the cold in his room, so you know it must be damn cold.  I decided to add a wall outlet using the wiring.

So I took apart the wall heater and surveyed the wiring.  There were two sets of wires.  I called my Pop, who knows more about this stuff then most humans on the planet.  He made a few suggestions and tests.  Sure enough these wires powered this heater then went off to the bathroom.

I had to back trace the wires, change out the breakers and run the white to neutral to power down the voltage.  I also ran a ground wire to the box, so it would be that much better.

Wiring a wall socket then attaching the box to the wall is definitely the way to go!